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VOL. I.

Protestant Jtonconformit^.

BY JOSIAH CONDER.

" We are to be concerned for tliis interest, not mereJy as tJie cause of
a distinct party, but of truth, honour, and liberty ; and I will add, in a great
measure, the cause of serious piety too."

Doddridge.

IN TWO VOLLMES.
VOL. I.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR JOSIAH CONDER, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD.
MDCCCXVIII.

•. A

PREFACE.

The present Work is an attempt to redeem the sub-
ject of which it treats, from the disadvantages of
fugitive controversy. Hitherto, the principles of
Nonconformity have never been fairly and explicitly
exhibited, as a coherent system of religions and poli-
tical truth ; owing, in part, to a circumstance which
must be allowed to reflect some credit upon the Dis-
senters. All, or nearly all, the publications upon the
subject have been, on their side, of a defensive nature,
originating in some unprovoked polemical aggression
on the part of their opponents. This was the case in
the controversy between Archbishop Whitgift and
Cartwright ; it was the case with the " Melius In-
" quirendum," the *' Mischief of Imposition," by
Vincent Alsop, and the other replies to Bishop Stil-
lingfleet, by Richard Baxter, John Howe, and Dr.
Owen ; with Pierce's learned " Vindication," in
reply to Dr. Nichols, and De Laune's " Plea ;" with
Boyce's Reply to the Bishop of Derry ; and lastly,
with Towgood's " Letters to White." In all of
these, consequently, the reader's attention is dispro-
portionately occupied with the business of personal

VI PREFACE.

vindication and rejoinder, with discussions foreign
from the main question, often degenerating into mere
logomachy, and with references to matters of tem-
porary interest, which, although rendered necessary
by the immediate occasion of the several publica-
tions, add but little to their permanent utility. In
controversial works of this description, if any thing
like an abstract proposition is employed as an ar-
gument, it too often assumes the shape of an inde-
finite dogma, which stands itself in need of being
demonstrated, rather than that of an admitted prin-
ciple, or established conclusion, which might serve
as the medium of proof. In some of the writers
alluded to, the reasons of Dissent are made to con-
sist of a series of objections, which a scheme of
wider comprehension would annihilate; in others,
the doctrine of political right occupies too pro-
minent or too exclusive a place among the grounds
of Nonconformity. Between moral right indeed, and
religious duty, the connexion is indissoluble, and
the present question admits of being stated in either
form, — in its relation either to right or to duty; but
in reference to a practical question, the simplest and
in every respect the most advantageous line of argu-
ment, is to be deduced from the nature of religion,
rather than from the abstract, and more embarrassed
ground of personal right. In the following pages,
therefore, the chief stress is laid upon considerations
arising out of the design and essential character of
Christianity.

PREFACE. Vll

The Author has not written with the view of pleas-
ing a party, nor yet witli the ambitious hope of ope-
rating a change in the opinions of those who enter-
tain opposite views of the subject. The work is
primarily designed for the use of Protestant Dis-
senters. To others, whose curiosity may induce
them to open it, it will perhaps afford some informa-
tion ; and if it should have only this effect — to make
them respect more the principles of those from
whom they differ, so innocent a modification of their
sentiments, will be no disservice to either party.

To one class of Nonconformist readers, some apo-
logy may appear due, for the introduction of senti-
ments on one controverted point in which they caur
not be supposed to acquiesce. On the maturest
consideration, no alternative presented itself. In
opposing the false views of the ordinance of Bap-
tism, countenanced by the Church of England,
■which constituted a prominent objection to Confor-
mity on the part of the ejected ministers, and which
have also been pleaded as one of the reasons for a
recent secession from the Establishment, it seemed
incumbent on the Writer to exhibit what he con-
ceives to be the proper light in which the Scriptures
authorize our regarding the institution, notwithstand-
ing that it led him to touch upon points respecting
which Nonconformists themselves differ. Nothing,
in his view, more directly tends to promote the
spread of the anti-paedobaptist opinions, than the
Baptismal ritual of the Church of England.

tiii PREFACE.

Deeply impressed with the dangers of controversy,
the Writer has been unfeignedly solicitous not need-
lessly to offend, but he dares scarcely anticipate that
he will be exempted from the blame so freely im-
puted, and too often deservedly imputed, to con-
trovertists of every party. In laying before the pub-
lic the present work, the fruit of some application du-
ring hours rescued from sleep and relaxation, he feels
to have performed his duty, and he does it at all
risks. He has friends, however, valued friends,
some of them ministers, attached to the Establish-
ment, to whose esteem he would earnestly deprecate
any thing which seemed to diminish his claims.
Yet not even to them can he offer any apology for
his principles, or stoop to compromise them. The
view which he has taken of the tendency of religious
Establishments, even should it be deemed erroneous,
will, he trusts, justify his earnestness, with those
who give him credit for sincerity, in advocating what
he regards not as the cause of a party, but, to adopt
the words of the excellent Doddridge *, as the cause
*' of truth, honour, and liberty, and, in a great
" measure, the cause of serious piety too."

* " Free Thoughts on the best Means of reviving the Dissenting
" Interest."

CONTENTS.

BOOK THE FIRST.

PRELIMINARY.

§ 1. Necessity of ascertaining fundamental principles common to
both sides in the controversy. § 2. Definition of religion as op-
posed to irreligion. § 3. Moral design of Christian institutions.
§ 4. Jewish and Christian economies contrasted. § 5. Nature of
Christian profession. § 6. True nature and unity of the Catholic
Church. § 7. Origin and essential character of idolatry. § 8. Po-
sitive opposition in the Jewish ritual to idolatrous rites. § 9. Spi-
rituality of the Christian economy. § 10. Idolatrous corruptions
of Christianity. ^ 11. Essential unity of the Church of Christ, the
basis of union pp. 1—69.

BOOK THE SECOND.
ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT.

Chap. I. — On Laws in general.

§1. Natureof Laws as originating in superior will. §2. Human
laws rest on artificial relations. §3. Limitation of human laws in
respect of legislative right. § 4. Limitation of human agency in
respect of power. § 5. Political laws relate to political actions.
§ 6. Moral actions essentially free. § 7. Contrast between Divine
and human schemes of government. § 8. No individual at liberty
to concede a legislative superiority to another in matters of religion.

60—78.

Ch at. II. — On the Law of Admission.

§ 1. Primary import of the term Church. § 2, Origin of Chris-
tian assembUes. § 3. Conditions of voluntary association. § 4.
Nature of reUgious fellowship, as displayed in the first Christian
assemblies. § 5. Religious Tests. § 6. The Apostle's Creed. § 7.
The Nicene Creed. § 8. The Athanasian Creed. § 9. The Tbirty-
aine Articles 79—129

CONTENTS.

Chap. III. — On the Constitution of Christian Churches.

§ I. Peculiar character of the instrumentality by which Chris-
tianity was established. § 2. On the influence of Miracles as con-
tributing to the establishment of Christianity. § 3. Corruption of
Christianity by worldly policy. § 4. Christianity not designed to
introduce new political relations. § 5. Church government has no
other object than the spiritual benefit of the members. § 6. Church
authority distinct from political power. § 7. Institution of the Chris-
tian Ministry. § 8. Source of the ministerial authority. § y. Eccle-
siastical orders. § 10. Office of Deacon. § 11. The Episcopacy.
§ 12. Origin of changes in the government of the Church. § 13.
Rise of Ecclesiastical Power. § 14. The Pastoral relation. § 15.
Ordination pp. 130 — 249

Chap. IV. — On Discipline.

§ 1. Discoveries of Revelation relative to the value of the soul.
§ 2. View of man requisite to the due discharge of the ministerial
office. §3. On ecclesiastical obedience. §4. Nature of the visible
fellowship of Christians. § 5. Obligations of church-membership.
§ 6. On Excommunication. § 7. On Penal Sanctions of Church-
censures 250—303

BOOK THE THIRD.

ON THE RITES AND SERVICES OF THE CHURCH.

Chap. I.— The Rule of Puhlic Worship.

§ 1. The sufficiency of the Scriptures, the foundation-stone of
Protestantism. § 2. Tradition not an authoritative rule. § 3. Rea-
son not a rule. § 4. Hypothesis of an authorized interpreter exa-
mined. § 5. On the authority to delorniine things not commanded
in Scripture. § 6. On the circumstances of religious actions.

305—355.

Chap. IT. — The Nature of Christian Ordinances.

§ 1. True cause of the controversy respecting the Rule. § 2. Na-
ture of Prayer. §3. On I'orms of i'rayer. §4. Eook ofConunon
Prayer. § 5. On the ordinance of Preaching. § 6. The Sacra-
ments. § 7. On Baptism. § 8, On the Lord's Supper. § 9. Ad-
vantages of Protestant Dissent 356—487

CONTENTS. XI

BOOK THE FOURTH.

ON ECCLESIASTICAL ESTABLISHMENTS.

§ 1. Dissenters arraigned for tlie consequences of their opinions.
§ 2. The question stated. § 3. On the Right of the magistrate. § 4.
On the Duty of the magistrate in regard to matters of rehgion. § 5.
Dr. Paley's View of an Establishment. § 6. EstabUshments rest
upon an Authoritative decision. § 7. Establishments viewed as a
Bounty. § 8. Establishments viewed as a Tax. § 9. Establish-
ments viewed in reference to Patronage. § 10. Establishments
viewed in connexion with a Test-Law. § 11. Establishments in-
terfere with the free exercise of the Christian Ministry. § 12. Im-
portance of religious liberty in reference to the final triumph of
Christianity pp. 489 — 606

PROTESTANT
NONCONFORMITY.

BOOK I.

§ 1. On all subjects which admit of con- Necessityof
troversy, there must be taken for granted cer- fuin3.
tain ascertained or received truths, as the com- commoiTto
mon basis of the reasonings of each party. It in acint?o.
would be not only unavailing, but impractica- ^^^^^'
ble, to engage in argument with a person with
whom we have not some ideas in common. A
difference of opinion presupposes an agreement
of understanding up to the point at which that
difference originates. If the matter in dispute
be the colour of an object, there is, probably,
no disagreement with respect to its form; or if
the nature of a thing be contested, each dis-
putant admits its existence. The necessary
preliminary, then, to all controversial discus-
sions, is, to ascertain the proper basis of agree-
ment, to discover the exact point at which the

ON THE NATURE OF KELIGION.

difference of opinion fakes its rise. If a man
lias proceeded so far in demolisiiing within his
own mind the grounds of certainty, as to doubt
the existence of a God, still, if he is possessed
of sanity, he must admit his own existence;
and this being admitted, it is not impossible to
deduce from this simple fact, a demonstration
of the truth which he denies. There is in moral
truth a force of vitalit} so imperishable, that,
like a seed, the most minute particle is capable
of multiform development, carrying forward
at every stage a nature infinitely reproductive.

The relations between moral truths the most
remotely connected in appearance, are not less
certain and necessary, than those which are the
subject of experimental induction, or of mathe-
matical demonstration. But the first principles
of moral science, are less easily ascertained,
because the facts to which they relate, do not
fiiU under the cognizance of natural reason.
Man is not purely intellectual, nor perfect as a
moral being ; his faculties, therefore, are not in
all cases adequate to trace out the order and
connexion in which things really subsist. Truth,
however, is not the less certain, because know-
ledge is uncertain : the reality of light is shewn
by the shadows which it casts. There is a de-
gree of truth, which is requisite to give plausi-
bility to error, for it is very rarely that opinions
are found to rest simply on what is false. Some-

ON THE NATUKE Ol-' RELIGION. 3

thing that partakes of the nature of certamty,
forms the substratum of our speculations and
reasonings on all moral subjects ; and to deter-
mine what these certain principles are, into
which the controversy resolves itself, and to fol-
low them out into their genuine consequences,
wheresoever they may lead us, is the only
method by which we can come to any satis-
factory decision.

§ 2. In all religious inquiries, the possibility, Definirion
the existence, and even the excellency of reli- asopp?^d
gion, are taken for granted ; bat seldom do dis- g'ionr "
putants think of comparing their ideas as to its
nature. The term Religion is so familiar, that
every body supposes there is a general under-
standing as to its meaning : it is, however, suffi-
ciently obvious, that it has two distinct accep-
tations. In its primary meaning, it denotes that
sense of a Divine Being, or principle of faith,
which is admitted to constitute the philosophi-
cal distinction of the human creature,* inas- * Herbert
much as it elevates him in capacity above the see howc^'
level of brutal imperfection. The faculty of Timjfe,
knowing and holding converse with his Divine ^"^'•^-•
Originator, is that which imparts infinite va-
lue to his being, and forms the purpose of its
immortality. " Capable we are of God, both
** by understanding and will : by understand-
*' ing, as he is that sovereign Truth which
*' comprehends the rich treasures of all wis-
B 2

4 ON THF, NATURE OF KELIGION.

" dom; by will as he is that sea of goodnesi^
* Hooker. " whcrcof whoso tasteth shall thirst no more."*
That religion is, in some way or other, neces-
sary to the happiness, as well as to the perfection
of man, appears to have been the sentiment of all
ages and all nations. The savage is conscious
of indefinite emotions, not referrible to the visi-
ble objects which surround him ; and the blind
worship which his fears prompt him to of-
fer, is not merely a recognition of an Unseen
Power, but an indication of his belief in the
possibility of holding communion with the Di-
vine presence. Religion consists in the habitual
reverence of God.

There is a secondary sense in which the term
is employed in common usage, as implying a
system of belief and worship connected with
the exercise of the religious principle. In this
sense, we speak of a true, or a false religion,
and of different religions ; but the sacred Scrip-
tures never authorize us to contemplate Reli-
gion as consisting in a system ; they describe
it as the action and business of the heart;
and the only legitimate qualifications of which,
taken in its genuine acceptation, the word ad-
mits, respect either the reality of its existence
in the heart, or the degree of its prevalence in
the character.
General dis- " ^11 mcu havc not faith." Setting aside the
tinction consideration of the origin of the fact, it must

among men, ^

ON THE NAT13KE OF KELIGION. 5

"be confessed that there is an obvious difference as either re-
among individuals, even though they may pro- llSigbus.
fess a beUef in the same religious doctrines, in
respect of the habit of belief. There are in fact
two grand classes, into which mankind have,
under every modification of their moral cir-
cumstances, been visibly divided; viz. the reli-
gious, and the irreligious. Without losing sight
for a moment of the essential difference between
a superstitious fear of " The Unknown God,"
and an intelligent sense of the Divine Attri-
butes, we may extend the application of the
remark, to the times of the darkest ignorance,
during which, while some of the heathen were
occupied in blindly feeling after the Deity, if
by any means they might find out the Almighty,
others distinguished themselves by a wanton
impiety, a profane indifference to all consider-
ations respecting the Unseen Being, and an
after-state. Profaneness is a degree lower in ir-
religion, than the very grossness of idolatry.
The term profane, has, it is true, been frequent-
ly misapplied by the votaries of superstition,
for even the first Christians were charged with
Atheism ; still, we must regard the conduct of
those who, amid all the errors and delusions of
paganism, discovered an anxious solicitude to
discharge their obligations to their unknown
Creator, as indicating principles at any rate su-
perior to those of the sensual and irreligious

ON THE NATURE OF RELIGION.

multitude. In some instances, there was cer-
tainly an approach to the character of genuine
though uninstructed piety.

This essential difference in regard to the ex-
ercise of the religious principle, is not less ob-
servable, where the doctrines of Christianity
are recognised by the nation at large as the
rule of faith and worship. There is a careless-
ness about the consequences of admitted truths,
evidenced in the practical disregard of all the
considerations founded on religious belief,
which may consist with an unhesitating assent
to the evidence of Christianity, leaving the cha-
racter of the individual to manifest its independ-
ence of the understanding by all the obvious
qualities of irreligion. In what proportion of
instances the admission of the truth of Chris-
tianity is unattended by any moral influence, it
is unnecessary to inquire; the fact is unques-
tionable. The sense of a Divine Being, as an in-
finite reality, seems to be altogether latent in the
minds of many individuals, whose apprehensions
of religious doctrine are as accurate as instruc-
tion can impart ; and although the outward con-
duct may be neither profane nor flagrantly immo-
ral, all the appropriate evidences of devout behef
are sensibly wanting. Religious instruction is
the means of awakening the principle of belief,
but it is perfectly manifest that it is not an in-
strument of inherent or universal eificacy. It is

ON THE NATURE OF RELIGION.

not a cause adequate to produce that change
ill the disposition, which is involved in the in-
dividual's becoming habitually reverential to-
wards the objects of faith, and consistent in
the regulation of his conduct by the principles
of religion. When we say that a man has
changed his religion, it does not always imply
that he has become religious ; he may only have
undergone a rational change of sentiment on
certain subjects connected with Christian be-
lief; a change which a Pagan or a Mahomme-
dan may experience, and yet remain destitute of
that faith which is the essence of true religion.
That change of sentiment which consists in
a person's receiving as true, that of which he
previously doubted from ignorance, is the effect
of knowledge rather than of faith. It is no act
of faith, for instance, to receive as true, upon
the ground of external evidence, the historical
records of the New Testament, since that evi-
dence is of a nature which renders doubt irra-
tional. There is a sense in which it may be
said that we believe in all the objects of our
knowledge ; but the principle which the Holy
Scriptures denominate faith, respects objects
which can be known to the individual only in
consequence of his believing in the testimony
which assures him of their reality : it is a know-
ledge which consists in belief; not a simple ap-
prehension of their existence, but a sense of
their truth.

8 ON THE NATURE OV KEIAGION.

Operation The end of Religion is to bring the mind into
giont^ prt- immediate contact with the unseen objects of
'"^'^' faith— to reunite the soul to God in that actual

intercourse of which spiritual beings are capa-
ble. It is evident, therefore, that Religion can-
not consist in knowledge, because knowledge
has no such property. The knowledge of the
existence or of the qualities of an object, is not
uniformly accompanied with a sense of its excel-
lency. In order to its having any influence on
our affections, there must exist in our moral na-
ture some correspondence with its attributes or
character. There must be some degree of like-
ness where desire exists. It is not then by a
simple effort of the intellectual faculty, but by
an exercise of the active powers of our nature,
that our minds become so united to an object,
as to receive its moral influence, and to derive
enjoyment from its presence. Faith, therefore,
is not to be considered as a mere act of the
understanding, because its properties, as de-
scribed in Scripture, are such as are peculiar to
the active principles of man : its tendency and
design are to unite our minds to those invisible
things which, by believing, we know to exist, as-
sured of their reality by the very feelings — the
hopes and joys which they inspire.

It is of vast importance to distinguish faith
from religious knowledge, although the con-
nexion which subsists between them, is inti-

ON THE NATURE OF RELIGION.

mate and essential. " Faith cometh by hear-
" ing :" but that in which our knowledge origi-
nates, is the means only, not the cause of our
believing. We are commanded to believe ; but
did belief, in the scriptural acceptation, relate
simply to the understanding, would it have
been enjoined as an act of obedience? Is there
any thing of a moral character in a mere exer-
cise of reason, that should constitute it a
matter of duty ? Must not Faith, then, to be a
moral act, relate to the disposition of the heart,
as essentially involved in its exercise? Faith
is, indeed, a rational act ; it is nevertheless the
result, not of reason, for then all men who can
reason would believe, but of religious obedi-
ence, in respect of which, men of exactly the
same intellectual advantages, differ infinitely.
Faith or belief implies a certain degree of pre-
vious knowledge; but the measure of our know-
ledge is so far from being the measure of our
duty, that we are encouraged to expect its in-
crease as the effect and the reward of faith:
** If any man will do the will of God, he shall
" know of the doctrine, whether it be of God."
There is as much scope for the exercise of that
disposition of mind in which Faith originates,
at the lowest degree of knowledge or of pro-
bability, as at the highest attainable points of
clearness and certainty in the comprehension
and assured persuasion of the truth.

10 ON THE NATURE OF RELIGION.

The " obedience of faith" consists in the sin-
cere reception of the mysterious facts which
compose the substance of the Christian Reve-
lation, on the ground of Divine testimony.
Christianity is a system of facts ; its doctrines
are facts, facts which could not have been
known, had they not been revealed, and which
are understood only in proportion as they are
believed. Nothing short of Divine testimony
affords an adequate or rational ground for be-
lieving them ; and it is a devout regard to the
" witness of God," that constitutes the excel-
lence of faith. To the facts themselves, and to
the practical consequences which result from
them, there exists a native repugnance in the
human heart, which is the true source of un-
belief: on this account, faith partakes of the
nature of a moral requirement. Where this prin-
ciple, however, really operates, it will secure
the admission of every essential truth ; nor can
there possibly exist a fundamental disagree-
ment among those who religiously believe, tak-
ing the Scriptures as the only and sufficient
rule of faith.

Religion, then, whether it be taken to imply
the habit of devout belief, or the act of worship,
is a principle which terminates upon the Divine
Being as its object, implying " a delightful and
*' affectionate sense of the attributes"* of his re-
vealed character. Love to the Divine Being,

Scongal.

ON THE NATURE OF RELIGION. H

must be allowed to form, even on the principles
of pure theism, the first obligation of a rational
creature. Upon the breach of this duty, the
unrelaxing severity of the Moral Law de-
nounces the penalty of everlasting death. The
Christian Revelation has introduced no change
in our natural obligations, no change in the na-
ture of religion ; but it renders a peculiar mo-
dification of this primary duty indispensable in
all to whom this revelation is conveyed. It is
necessary that the exercise of the religious
principle should in all respects correspond
with that manifestation of Deity, which forms
the basis of the Christian economy, and which
is conveyed in those words : " God in Christ
" reconciling the world unto himself" In con-
sequence of this, religion and irreligion become
respectively distinguished by new peculiarities
of feature, and " faith in the Lord Jesus Christ"
is henceforth inseparable from the idea of the
creature's primary duty to the Divine Being;
the Father having *' committed all judgement
" unto the Son, that all men should honour the
" Son even as they honour the Father." The
relative character which the Son of God has
been pleased to assume, as the Head of the
Church, constitutes him, in an especial sense,
the object of the believer's devout regard ; so
that love to the Divine Redeemer, is uniformly
represented in the New Testament, as the essen-

12 ON THE NATURE OF RELIGION',

tial characteristic of the religious principle, and
the bond of Christian fellowship. " Peace be
" with all them," says the great Apostle, " that
" love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." In
these words a definite line is drawn between
the religious and the irreligious, which no so-
phistry can obliterate. We can have no correct
notion of religion, which is not comprised in
this definition. It includes the exercise of every
duty of which the light of nature informs us,
superadding those which originate in the dis-
coveries of Revelation. It implies every fact
connected with the Christian system, the re-
ception of which is essential to the character of
a believer. It shews us that the existence of
the principle of religion, may consist with mul-
tiform diversities of opinion, respecting the phi-
losophical relations of abstract truths, the cir-
cumstantials of Christian worship, questions of
polity, or the niceties of systematic arrange-
ment. We are left at full permission to treat
with all the freedom of rational argument, hu-
man opinions on points of inferior importance,
without danger of losing sight of the insepara-
ble connexion between the existence of the re-
ligious principle, and the belief of the funda-
mental truths of Christianity.
Moral de- ^^ 3. Assuuiiug that this representation of the
nature of religion is admitted to be correct, we
proceed to remark, that the general design of

iiistitutiuns,
as means of
religion.

"DESIGN OF CHRISTIAN INSTITUTIONS, IS

all Christian institutions, is instrumentally to
subserve either the production, or the more per-
fect development, of this spiritual principle in
the minds of individuals, for this is all that can
be meant by the promotion of religion. The
ordinances of the New Testament, unlike the
typical and positive institutions of the Jewish
economy, are uniformly of the nature of moral
means ; the end they are designed to answer is,
the excitement of faith. " These things are
" written that ye might believe that Jesus is the
" Christ, the Son of God, and that believing,
" ye might have life through his name." The
ultimate object of the Apostles, in the promul-
gation of the Gospel, was far from being the
mere establishment of the miraculous facts
which constituted the basis of their doctrines ;
it was to produce a change in the hearts of their
auditors, from which alone their cordial belief
in those facts, repugnant as they were to their
prejudices, and offensive to the pride of reason,
together witli their profession of that belief in the
face of hostility and opprobrium, could be ex-
pected to result. The circumstances attending
the first preaching of the Gospel, rendered it
extremely improbable that motives of less force
and purity than such as originated in this moral
change, should induce any individual to join
himself to the Christian society. Those circum-
stances, indeed, tended to disqualify a person

14 DESIGN OF CHRISTIAN INSTITUTIONS.

who was not under the operation of superin-
duced motives of commanding efficacy, for ap-
preciating with impartiality the evidence by
which the authority of Christianity was attest-
ed. Belief, therefore, was in itself an indication
of the existence of religious principle; but the
Apostles, far from being satisfied with gaining
the assent of the understanding to the truth of
their doctrines, uniformly insisted on the neces-
sity of its connexion with suitable moral dispo-
sitions. *' Thoubelievest? thou dost well : the
*' demons also believe and tremble." " Repent
" and be converted, that your sins may be blot-
" ted out."

The propagation of Christianity was destined
to accomplish the most beneficial changes in
society. Its indirect influence has had more
effect in advancing civilization, and in meliora-
ting the temporal condition of mankind, than
all the previous speculations of human philoso-
phy. Its reflex operation on individual cha-
racter, arising from its tendency to raise the
standard of public morals, is obvious to fami-
liar observation. In these respects it may be
contemplated as a political good. But what
benefits soever to nations or to individuals,
short of the ultimate object of their mission,
might result from publishing the truth, the
Apostles appear never to have viewed them as
comprised in the design of the Gospel, or as

DESIGN OF CHRISTIAN INSTITUTIONS. |.5

worthy of being estimated in the amount of
their success. The triumphs to which they
looked forward, respected the hearts, rather
than the understandings — the salvation rather
than the secular interests of men. It was not
a sentimental revolution that they aimed to
achieve by the establishment of the Christian
creed, but the expulsion of the powers of dark-
ness from every seat of their infernal tyranny.
Christ crucified was not a mere symbol, to be
displayed on the banners of the Church ; it was
the grand reality which they proposed to the
faith and affections of all men, and in the recep-
tion of which, and in nothing short of its sin-
cere reception, all the ends they sought by their
preaching to promote, were consummated.

The objects of the Christian ministry remain
unchanged, both because human nature, as the
subject of moral influence, of whatsoever poli-
tical modification it is susceptible, does not
present itself under an aspect essentially differ-
ent, and because no power exists upon earth,
that could authorize a change in the purpose
of the ministry. It is still then to be regarded
as amoral mea7is, designed for promoting, in the
hearts of individuals, that faith which '* com-
etli by hearing:" no subordinate end, no se-
cular advantage, deserves to be associated with
this, in discussing the question of its adequacy
under particular circumstances, or in estimating

16 DESIGN OF CHRISTIAN INSTITUTIONS.

its success. The Christian ministry, not less in
Christian than in heathen countries, is address-
ed to persons of two classes of character, the
religious and the irreligious, in which grand dis-
' tinctions merge all inferior diversities of moral

and intellectual quality. If the positive opposi-
tion to the Gospel on the part of the latter class,
is, in the present day, less actively malignant,
less unrestrained than formerly; if it be compel-
led to assume more specious forms, or to content
itself with the polished warfare of contempt ;
the negative opposition to its reception, which
originates in the total absence of religious sen-
sibility, and the practical disregard of admitted
truths, is as real, and as invincible by the un-
aided arts of human suasion, as under the dark-
ness of Paganism. It requires the same means
that it ever did, to effect the conquest over ei-
ther open profaneness, or self-complacent indif-
ference. The knowledge of certain truths, the
avowal of a speculative belief, the observance
of social duties, are not the result in accom-
plishing which the design of the Christian mi-
nistry is fulfilled. That design embraces no
less a thing than the total subjection of every
individual subject of the moral government of
God, to the obedience of faith.
Design of Thc iustitutiou of Christian worship, as a
worihir social act, is likewise a moral means, having
relation to the same end. To say that public

DESIGN OF CHRISTIAN INSTITUTIONS. ]7

worship is a natural duty, is affirming more
than could be predicated of any positive insti-
tution, antecedent to that appointment which
gives the common character of duty to what-
ever is enjoined on our obedience. That it is
a reasonable service, as an acknowledgement
of our natural obligations to the Divine Being,
and that it is subservient to the shewing forth
bf His declarative glory, are considerations of
great importance as motives to enforce compli-
ance with the duty; but they by no means
serve specifically to describe the design and
end of Christian worship, or to point out the
grounds on which its observance rests. Christ-
ian worship is neither a eucharistic offerins-,
nor a Jewish rite : it is not the service of the
altar, for Christianity knows of no altar but
Christ; nor of the Temple, for the only temple
of Jehovah is overthrown. It is not the act of
men as men, but it is the association of be-
lievers in the public profession of that faith
which regards Jesus Christ as the object of Di-
vine honour and affection, with a view to the
maintenance and mutual excitement of this
principle which forms the basis of their union.
*' The edification of the body of Christ," was
the object which the primitive Christians were
enjoined to keep in view, in " teaching and ad-
'^' monishing one another in psalms and hymns
" and spiritual songs ;" the very acts of social
c

22. 5.

18 Design of christian institutions.

worship embraced this as their chief purpose.
The gift of tongues, like other miraculous en-
dowments of the Apostolic age, was " for a
*' sign," or attestation of the truth of Christ-
ianity, "to them that believe not;" and one
primary end of preaching, which appears to
have formed, from the first institution of Christ-
ian assemblies, a principal part of the public
service of the Church, was, that the unbeliever
might stand convicted by his own conscience,
and be compelled to own that God was indeed
icor.xiv. with that despised company.* But " edification,
" exhortation, and comfort," were evidently the
specific objects for which the primitive Church
were accustomed to assemble; nor does it ap-
pear that by the collective celebration of Christ-
ian worship, any immediate end was designed
to be answered, irrespective of the moral bene-
fit of individuals. In respect to that one sim-
ple social rite which the Redeemer instituted
as the commemoration of Divine love and the
most sacred pledge of Christian affection, in
the perpetual observance of which the Church
looks forward in the devout attitude of expec-
tation towards the second advent of her as-
cended Lord, the same end is evidently com-
prehehded in the design of the institution as a
moral means : no efficiency attaches to the rite
independent of the character and disposition of
the worshipper. As to " positive institutions,"

DESIGN OF CHRISTIAN INSTITUTIONS. 19

remarks Bishop Butler, " I suppose all those
" which Christianity enjoins, are means to a
" moral end ; and the end must be acknow-
*' ledged more excellent than the means. Nor
*' is the observance of these institutions any re-
*' ligious obedience at all, or of any value,
" otherwise than as it proceeds from a moral
" principle."* */^f°°^,

IT r of Natural

Public worship has, it is true, been one *"''^,?'^f^'-

* ' ' ed Keliofioii,

means of perpetuating the visible profession, svo. p.i96.
and of extending the knowledge of the princi-
ples of Christianity ; but the Holy Scriptures J;;"J;\'t^"
afford no hint that should lead us to attribute ciiristian

and the

on this account, any moral value to the cere- •J'^^'^'' ^or-

. . . . ship.

monial performance of its spiritual rites. It is
obvious that this purpose might have been suf-
ficiently effected by other means. The case •
was altogether different with regard to the ser-
vices of the Jewish sanctuary. By the very
perpetuation of the typical rites of that pro-
phetic economy, an important end. was answer-
ed : they possessed a positive ceremonial effi-
cacy, distinct from any spiritual benefit to
which they were capable of being rendered sub-
servient. Their moral significancy was so ab-
solutely irrespective of their conditional eflicacy
with regard to the individual worshipper, that it
would not have been diminished, although the
whole Jewish Church had been destitute of any
higher religious principle than might have suf-
c 2

20 JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN

ficed, and did to a lamentable extent suffice^
to prompt a blind external obedience. When
the awful tongue of Prophecy had uttered its
last pathetic v.arning-, when the Divine Oracle
had ceased, when the Moral Law had long been
practically annulled by the impious glosses of
those who had usurped the legislative chair of
Moses, the sacrifices remained in all their signi-
ficancy, preserved with the scrupulous nicety of
ceremonial precision by those blind and formal
hypocrites; till, at length, the True Glory
of the second Temple appeared, the Divine
Archetype of the priest, the altar, and the vic-
tim. Then, that one great mysterious sacrifice,
to which the bloody offerings of a thousand
years had pointed, was offered up unto God ;
the mystical veil was rent ; those observ-
ances which had hitherto been most sacred,
became thenceforth unmeaning and profane :
the whole economy was abrogated at the pe-
riod of its complete fulfilment, when Jesus
bowed his head, and said, " It is finished !"
Jewish and § 4. The Jcwish and the Christian economies;
are represented by the Apostle Paul, as possess-
ing the perfect correspondence of a shadow with
the substance, of a type with the reality ; but
as exhibiting in all other respects the strongest
contrast. The institutions of the Jewish Church
were positive^ and, agreeably to their design,
national, local, temporary. In those of Christr

CJirisliau
economies
coutiasled

ECONOMIES CONTRASTED. 21

iaiiity we perceive the character of universality
ami permanence. Scarcely any thing of a na-
ture merely positive, is to be found in the insti-
tutes of the New Testament. The will of
Christ, so far as respects his ultimate purpose
in redeeming his Church, is revealed with the
utmost clearness, so as to prevent, one might
imagine, the possibility of mistake ; but the di-
rections are extremely few which enable us to
determine or arrange the means of accomplish-
ing his will, otherwise than by a careful refer-
ence to that design which he has made it our
duty to regard as our end. How much useless
controversy would an attention to this simple
truth have obviated I

Every thing in the Jewish Church was typi-
cal. The visible church was distinguished by
the typical worship of ceremonial observances ;
the priesthood was typical, and the body po-
litic of the Jewish nation, with which the in-
tegrity of the church was identified, pre-figured
the true Israel of God. The profession of re-
ligion, under a dispensation of this nature, could
not be otherwise than visible and determinate,
for religion was in a sense a visible thing, and
the profession of it had a positive value as en-
tering into the essence of obedience. Christ-
ianity, on account of its spiritual nature, can
in no such sense be made visible, and the pro-
fession of it, disconnected with the religious

22 NATURE OF CHRISTIAN PROFESSION.

principle, is altogether worthless : it is not
obedience of any kind, but an aggravation. of
delinquency. The Christian Church, in con-
trast with the political constitution, and in
allusion to the ritual peculiarities of the pro-
totype, is represented as " a chosen genera-
*' tion, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a pe-
*' culiar people :" figurative expressions which
can be referred to no external characteristics,
but declaratory, in the strongest degree, of the
spirituality of the Christian economy. The Le-
vitical priesthood was symbolical, not of any
political order in the Christian Church, which
has no relatioji to any thing political, but of
the Christian character which belongs to every
• Romans, individual of its members. It is his own body,*

xii. 1.

himself, that the Christian priest is to present
a living sacrifice unto God, as a reasonable
service, being enrolled one of a " kingdom of
priests"! ^^^^ which the true Melchizedek

t Rev. i. 6.

Nature of §5. Tlic ChHstian Cathohc Church, then,
FotSn. to correspond to this view of the nature and
design of Christianity, must be considered as
an institution of a purely spiritual nature, and
it can be visible only in a moral sense. Con-
sidering it, therefore, as a visible company, or
a collection of visible companies of believers,
we proceed to inquire upon what principles
the incorporation of members should be found-

NATURE OF CHRISTIAN PROFESSION. 23

ed, or what is the nature of that profession
which entitles an individual to be recognised
as a member of the visible church of Christ.

In a country in which the trutli of Christ-
ianity is generally admitted, and its authority
outwardly acknowledged, no criterion of the
existence of the religious principle in an indi-
vidual, could be more fallacious, than the mere
profession of belief, or an intellectual assent
to the doctrines of the New Testament. That
profession, on the part of the individual, allow-
ing it the whole value of sincerity, canno^, at
any rate, be taken to imply more than is in-
tended to be expressed by it ; and as it is not
every kind of belief in Christianity, that consti-
tutes a man a true Christian, the general avow-
al will be significant of nothing decisive with
regard to the religious character. The profes-
sion of religion, for we take it as an admitted
point that the Church of Christ must be com-
posed of persons professedly religious, involves
something more than an assent to the truth of
the Christian system, because that does not
constitute rehgion. True religion is the prin-
ciple of devout belief rendered visibly operative
in the character; and the profession of religion
must surely bear some relation to the thing
professed : it must include some expression of
character.

Of whom is the Church of Christ upon earth

24 NATURE OF CHRISTIAN PROFESSION.

composed ? It is readily conceded, that by what
laws soever the visible boundary of the Church
•be determined, the correspondence will, at the
best, be very imperfect between any portion
of Christian society, and that spiritual church
which the outward profession faintly typifies —
" the general assembly" of those whose names
are written in heaven. Some terms of admission,
however, into the visible church, there must be;
and that more than a simple assent to Christ-
ianity was thought requisite at its first insti-
tution, is evident : " If thou believest," said
Philip to the Ethiopian noble, respecting being
baptized, " luith all thine heart, thou may est."
The profession of belief on the part of the
Christian convert, was in those days substantial-
ly the expression of religious character. It is
nevertheless certain, that the primitive churches
numbered among their members many indivi-
duals who were found destitute of the vital
principle of devout faith. Our Lord himself
has taught us, in the parable of the tares and
the wheat, that in the present world there is
no saci'ed enclosure which can be preserved
from the intrusion of moral evil, and that the
Christian communion, the immediate kiugdom
of Christ, must exhibit a mixed, and in some
respects doubtful character, until the day which
shall try the work of every man. What is true
of the visible Church in general, must be true

NATURE OF CHRISTIAN PROFESSION. 25

ill some degree of each particular association
of believers ; the purity of its comuiunion will
be at the best comparative ; the tares and the
wheat must grow together until the harvest.

All this must be conceded. But still, the
Christian Church, in order to be in any sense
visible, or to answer any moral purpose as an
institution, must be circumscribed by some de-
finite boundary, by some law of restriction.
The advocates of the most catholic principles
of comprehension, would hardly maintain that
this boundary should be co-extensive with the
national profession of Christianity, so as to in-
clude, within the pale of the church, the ob-
vious characteristics of irreligion. Unless some
peculiarity of character is to be considered as
distinguishing the professed disciples of Jesus
Christ, and as forming the basis of the organ-
ization of the visible fellowship of believers,
we can conceive of no moral end that the out-
ward profession of Christianity can answer.
Nor should we then be able to discern any pro-
priety in the language of the New Testament,
in reference to the relative duties and spiritual
privileges of the Christian body. In a church
constituted on the broad principle of national
profession, no selection of character, no disci-
pline, no communion of feeling, could possibly
be maintained. No general character could so
pervade the heterogeneous aggregate, as that

20 DESIGN OF CHRISTIAN PROFESSION.

it should form, in any degree, an exhibition of
the peculiar genius and tendency of Christ-
ianity. The existence of such a society in the
world, would be a fact wholly unimpressive;
it would convey no instruction, communicate
iio influence ; nay, since that which is undis-
tinguishable is to us the same as invisible, un-
less some ritual or political frame-work were
super-added to the circumstance of profession,
the very existence of this visible church would
soon become problematical. The Church and
the World, as there would no longer exist be-
tween them any contrast or opposition, would
soon be considered as convertible terms.
lis design. This necessary consequence, the actual con-
sequence in fact, of the adoption of the broad
principle of comprehension r.s the basis of
Christian communion, might be sufficient to
demonstrate its fallacy. The visible profession
to which the New Testament refers us, is sub-
stantially on the part of the individual, a profes-
sion of religious character; and it is designed
to distinguish him from the great mass of man-
kind. A Christian church is a company of
such " believing men," associated not only for
the purposes of religious communion, but also
as a " sign to them that believe not." Their
religious profession detaches them from the
surrounding world, imposes upon them pecu-
liar duties, and binds them by the most solemn

DESIGN OF CHRISTIAN PROTESSION. 27

obligations, to exhibit, in their collective capa-
city, the sublime and spiritual character of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the very end
of their being constituted *' a peculiar people," ^
that they might " shew forth the praises of Him
*• who hath called them out of darkness into
" his marvellous light;" that they should illus-
trate the nature of " pure and undetiled reli-
" gion," by keeping themselves " unspotted
" from the world." It was of such a company
that the Redeemer of mankind said : " I have
*' given them thy word, and the world hath
*' hated them, because they are not of the
" world, even as I am not of the world."

The possibility of the existence of such a so-
ciety, will not be seriously contested; but there
is a class of persons not altogether irreligious,
who would represent the application of these
principles to the subject of Christian profes-
sion in the present day, as originating in sec-
tarian narrowness of mind, in an ignorance of
the laws of society, or in Pharisaical presump-
tion. To be in the sense we have described,
a professor, is sufficient to excite the sneer of
wounded self-love from those who are con-
scious that their pretensions are far below this
standard. The term itself is seized as a vehi-
cle for sarcasm, as an expressive synonyme for
hypocrite; and thus transmuted, it becomes a
convenient generic appellation for the whole

28 DESIGN OF CHRISTIAN PROFESSION.

class of religionists who consider the character
of the Christian cliscipleship as still involving
nonconformity to the world.
The ciuiAb Things are sometimes aptly defined by their

and the . '^ I J J

world con- opposites. In reference to the visible church

sidered as .

terms of of Christ, tlic ncgativc conveys, in a very for-

coutra-dis-

tinciiou. cible manner, one important characteristic by
Vv'hich it is distinguished ; it is opposed to the
icorld. But this very term, the world, not-
withstanding its being sanctioned by the em-
phatic usage of the Holy Scriptures, has ever
been peculiarly offensive to the irreligious ;
and, since it could not be decently rejected al-
together, it has undergone, in common with
similar expressions, that process of interpreta-
tion, which leaves it wholly unoffensive and
wholly unmeaning. Some have contended that
" the world" is employed in the New Testa-
ment, to designate only the Heathen; others
have learnedly represented that it uniformly
refers to the Jewish nation, or the old economy.
Various are the methods of explaining away
the force of the expressions which would seem
to have a wider reference. That the term is
often used in application to a state of society
far exceeding in moral turpitude that which
Christian countries in the present times usually
exhibit, is acknowledged. Thus, when the
Apostle John used that remarkable language :
^' We know that we are of God, and the whole

DESIGN OF CHRISTIAN PROFESSION, 29

" world lietli in the wicked one," the moral con-
dition of even the most enhghtened GentiJe na-
tions at that period, justified this strength of
expression in its most literal import. But un-
less it can be shewn, that the world, in its Scrip-
tural acceptation, as comprising all that por-
tion of mankind which are not included in the
visible church, uniformly denotes the openly
profane, or professed unbelievers in the truth
of Christianity, and that the sense in which the
term is used, is so restricted that the great bulk
of mankind can no longer, with propriety, be
designated as the ivojld, we must consider
the authority of Scripture as decisive for ap-
plying this term of classification to all who are
distinguished by the characteristics of irreli-
gion. With respect to those who are destitute
of the principle of religious faith, whatsoever
semblance of moral excellence may attach to
their outward conduct, it must, upon Scriptu-
ral principles, be affirmed,, that " they are of
" the world." It is not indeed for us to pro-
Jiounce upon the actual state of individuals,
but their visible character must refer them to
the one or the other grand moral division of
mankind. The church has acquired a vast no-
minal extension of boundary, at the expense of
her internal purity: beyond that boundary, at
any rate, we cannot mistake in making this ap-
plication of the term; and exactly in that sense,

30 DESIGN OF CHRISTIAN PROFESSION.

and to that degree, in which the church of
Christ is visible, the world, in its distinguish-
ing character of irreligion, as opposed to the
church, is visible also. Nor would the phrase
be deemed objectionable, but that the idea of
an essential separation between the two classes,
is in itself offensive to men of secular princi-
ples, whose taste and habits are in alliance
with the one, while their fears lead them to
seek to be identified with the other. The op-
position of such persons to any distinguish-
ing profession of religion as included in the
terms of Christian discipleship, forms a strong
verification of the fact we are attempting to
establish. That the pi^ofessor, to whatsoever
sect he may belong, who attempts to realize
this moral separation from the world, should
be assailed with unkind aspersion and injuri-
ous invective, is only a fulfilment of our Lord's
declaration: " The world hath hated them, be-
" cause they are not of the world, even as I am
*' not of the world."

Although the sacred writers uniformly em-
ploy the phrase in question, to convey a similar
idea, yet it occurs in a rather different refer-
ence. When the Apostle Paul enjoins the Ro-
man converts " not to be conformed to the
*' world," he must be understood as referring
to the moral character of the society by which
they were surrounded, and the word must be

UNITY OF THE CHURCn. ^|

taken in its concrete sense, as denoting a des-
cription of persons. In other places, it is used
as an abstract term, in reference to the evil
principles with Avhich the Christian has to sus-
tain perpetual conflict. '' Who is he that over-
" cometh the world, but he that believeth that
*' Jesus is the Son of God ?'' In this remarkable
passage, there is the most distinct exposition of
the essential nature of the religious principle, ac-
companied with an express intimation, that this
belief, so far from being restricted to a specu-
lative assent to the truth of Christianity, ope-
rates as a motive of transcendant and visible
efficacy, impelling the Christian to persevere in
a course irreconcileably at variance with the
habits and practices of a corrupt world. The
sense, therefore, and the only sense, in which
the Church of Christ is visible, we maintain to
be that of a distinguishing profession of reli-
gion, resting upon the basis of that peculiarity
of character which affords a rational criterion
of the existence of the religious principle ; the
purposes of that profession being no other than
" the communion of saints," and the vindica.
tion of the genuine tendency of Christianity, in
the sight of the world. " I believe in the holy
" Catholic Church."

§ 6. The Church of Christ is " one body," Tmenamre

•' •' ' and unity of

one by the necessity of its nature: "One Lord, the cath"oii«

*' . "^ ' Church,

" one faith, one baptism." — '* There are differ-

3*2 UNITY OF THE CIIURCir.

" ences of administration, but the same Lord ;
" and there are diversities of operation, but it
" is the same God who worketh all in all." This
general truth, the Unity of the true Church, has
been admitted on all sides; but the utmost per-
plexity has seemed to attend the question. What
is the nature of this unity, or in what respect
does it form a distinguishing characteristic of
the true church?
Unity dis- To him who considers the religion of Jesus
ftomunlioi- Christ as a system of opinions, or a code of
'"''^* ritual observances, this unity must appear a

monstrous chimera.* The aspect which the
Christian world presents to him, is that of a
vast empire partitioned out into so many petty
independencies, nominally confederate, but ac-
tually hostile to one another, actuated by a spi-
rit of rivalry, and incapable of unity. Should
he be inclined to scepticism, he may imagine
that in the supposed difficulty of determining
which among so many discordant systems to
embrace, he has a sufficient justification of his
resting in the neutrality of disbelief; and his
self-complacency may even induce him to re-
gard this scepticism as the attribute of superior
intelligence. Or should an educational bias,
or natural temperament, have given a different

* " It is a great fault that men will call the several sects-
" of Christians by the names of several religions." — Jeremy
Taylor, Liberty of Pxopkeci/ing, § xvi.

UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 33

determination to his intellectual character, and
shaped his opinions into some definite mode of
belief, he will easily persuade himself that this
diversity of sect and of opinion in the Church, is
a scandal upon Christianity, and that, as origi-
nating in mere perversity of will, it should be
corrected by the restraint of power; that it
would therefore be highly advantageous to fix
on some definite standard of belief, and to im-
pose peace upon the members of the Christian
communion, by a law of uniformity.

It is remarkable, that a peculiar repugnance
to the diversities of religious opinion, arising
from the exercise of private judgement, should
have displayed itself in individuals who have
otherwise manifested a singular indiflference to
the claims and the honour of the Christian re-
ligion. There has in fact been found no diffi-
culty in bringing the most irreligious and most
imbecile men to discern the moral beauty and
necessity of uniformity in the Church of Christ,
and to take an active interest in the holy at-
tempt to reconcile the lips, the knees, and, if
possible, the consciences of the Christian bro-
therhood, by the mild suasion of ecclesiastical
authority. In the darkest ages of Christianity,
when all other indications of zeal and piety
were extinguished, this peculiar kind of jea-
lousy for the honour of our holy religion, mani-
fested itself in the utmost vigour, in the joint

D

34 UNITY OF THE CHURCH.

labours of the prince and the prelate, to perfect
the mechanism of the Church, so as that every
component part sliould revolve, or beat, or
strike in unison. Those were indeed times of
uniformity, the dreary uniformity of darkness.
The iron compression of power bonnd up the
minds of men in the semblance of unity, and
peace was obtained in the stillness of desola-
tion. Meantime, that which arrogated to her-
self the name of the Church, intoxicated with
secular power, while the grim smile of lethargy
sat upon her features, still maintained, in the
failure of every moral energy, an unrelaxing
grasp of the forms and symbols of religion, al-
though the glory of the temple was departed.
The ciiurch Scripturc declares, that " the natural man
" receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God;
*' for they are foolishness unto him : neither
" can he know them, because they are spirit-
*' ually discerned." Uniformity assuredly does
not come under this description ; it is not an
object of spiritual perception. On the con-
trary, it might be sufficient to lead to the sus
picion that it could have little connexion with
spiritual things, that the men of this world have
discovered so much solicitude to promote it.
The very term, however, implies, that it is a unity
of a merely external or political character: it
is unity of form. How far, with regard to par-
ticular societies, an external uniformity may be

defined.

UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 35

a legitimate, or a desirable object, it is not our
present business to inquire. With regard to
the Catholic Church, this can manifestly form
no part of its essential unity;* first, because in * "They be
this wide reference, the thing is in itself morally unity S'
impossible, unless we subscribe to the defini- Tor7BMon.
tions of the Romanist with respect to the visi-
ble Church ; yet we know that the unity of the
Church is not a thing impossible, but actual and
necessary : secondly, because neither outward
rites, nor forms of polity, nor human creeds, in
respect of which this uniformity is required,
belong to the essence of religion, or to the es-
sential nature of the Church, as a visible reli-
gious society ; but the unity of the Church enters
into its very nature. For what constitutes the
visible Church ? " Seeing," says Hooker, " that
" church is a word devised to sever and dis-
" tinguish that society of men which professeth
" the true religion from the rest which profess
*Mt not, we must define the church, which is
" a religious society, by such differences as do
" properly explain the essence of those things"
whereof Religion consists, or, as he subjoins,
by the object and matter of religion. " Where-
" upon, because the only object which sepa-
*' rateth ours from other religions, is Jesus
*' Christ, in whom none but the Church doth
*' believe, and whom none but the Church doth
" worship, we find that accordingly the apo-
D 2

36 THE VISIBLE CHUKCH.

" sties do every where distinguish hereby the
" church from infidels and Jews, accounting
" them which call upon the name of our Lord
" Jesus Christ, to be his Church. If we go
" lower, we shall but add unto this certain
" casual and variable accidents which are not
*' properly of the being', but make only for the
" happier, and better being, of the Church of
*' God, either indeed, or in men's opinions and
*' conceits. This is the error of all popish de-
*' finitions that hitherto have been brought.
" They define not the Church by that which
" the Church essentially is, but by that wherein
Ecci.Poiiiy, " they imagine their own more perfect than the

B. V. §68. ,, , ,1

" rest are,
On ihe The Church is a visible society : it is not,

phrase, the , • -i i i i i •

visible however, visibly one body ; that is to say, its
essential unity is not and cannot be made visi-
ble. It is not evident in the present world,
who constitute the Church of Christ. " Parts
"thereof are some in heaven ' already with
" Christ, and the rest that are on earth, (albeit
*' their natural persons be visible) we do not
*' discern under this propriety whereby they
'' are truly and infallibly of that body." The
Unity of a thing may be ascertained by reason,
but its unity cannot be visible, unless the ob-
ject itself can be viewed as a whole. This is
the case with the Church of Christ in a moral
sense, but in no other. The whole Church can-

ibid.

$1-

THE VISIBLE CHURCH. 37

not be locally visible ; it cannot be locally one.
It is no less impossible that the wliole Church
of Christ should be politically visible; that is
to say, as a whole, comprised in one political
society ; it cannot, therefore, be politically one.
No conceivable plan of uniforniity, that is con-
sistent with Christian charity, could be co-ex-
tensive with the unity of the Church ; yet if that
uniformity were not total, its wliole value as a
supposed attribute of the visible Church, would
be annihilated. Nor can we imagine for a mo-
ment, that the visible profession of the whole
Christian Church, could be conformed, were it
ever so desirable, to one exact standard of opi-
nion; yet if, as respects the whole, this unity
is impossible, it cannot constitute that unity
which it is incumbent upon all the members of
Christian societies to preserve among- them-
selves, for there are no duties binding upon a
part of the Church which are not binding upon
the whole Church; no properties attaching to a
part, that do not attach to the whole. The
Church of Christ is, indeed, mystically one
body, but it is the body of Christ, and, in that
sense, like its Divine Head, invisible. It is
a temple, " a holy temple, fitly framed toge-
" then" but no metaphor is adequate to express
all that belongs to the nature of this spiritual
edifice; for it is a temple framed of living
stones, a " growing temple," the dimensions

38 THE VISIBLE CHURCH.

of which cannot be taken, for the work is still
going forward. It is an object which as much
transcends our conception in point of magni-
tude and glory, as from its very nature it eludes
our senses. It has no relation to time or place ;
it is a purely spiritual reality.

There is, indeed, a period, at which this
Church of which we speak, shall become visi-
ble, when every creature which is in heaven,
and on the earth, and under the earth, and such
as are in the sea, shall be collected in one vast
assembly, and the Universe shall form the
mighty temple. " After this," says the Apoca-
lyptical Prophet, " I beheld, and lo, a great
*' multitude, which no man could number, of
" all nations, and kindreds, and people, and
" tongues, stood before the throne, and before
" the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and
" palms were in their hands." Then Christ
himself shall also be visible, as the Redeemer
of that triumphant company; for " we know
*' that when he shall appear, we shall be like
" him, for we shall see him as he is."
J^'fthS' The notion of a visible Catholic Church, as
J[3si,"co'r- ^ political institution, was the offspring of that
rupiions. monstrous system of errors, which so soon be-
gan to overspread the Church of Christ, after
its alliance to secular power, and which ended
in nearly extinguishing the light of Christianity.
The Church of Rome dealt largely in visibili-

THE VISIBLE CHURCH. 39

ties. It had a visible head, and therefore a
visible unity under that head ; visible altars,
visible sacrifices ; it made the Saviour visible ;
nay, it ventured so far in impiety, as to repre-
sent in the paintings which adorned its temples,
the Deity himself as visible. Nor was it to the
sense of sight only that it sought to accommo-
date spiritual realities. That which was not
visible, was made palpable ; prayers were con-
solidated into beads, grace was poured out in
the form of oil or water, merit was an article
of merchandize, faith was bestowed as a gra-
tuity before reason could appreciate the gift,
and the very body and blood of Christ, were
substantially imparted in the Eucharist. Under
pretence of enlisting the senses ifi the service
of Faith, it converted religion itself into sensu-
ality. Nothing could be better adapted to the
prejudices of the heart, than the Romish super-
stition, which systematically compromised the
spiritual for the sensible, connected the asso-
ciations of taste with the impressions of sense,
only to make those impressions the more capti-
vating and delusive, and by combining them
with false notions of religion, and with that
instinctive sort of devotion, which readily at-
taches itself to an indefinite object, effectually
excluded from the mind all appropriate ideas
of the invisible realities to which pure faith and
spiritual worship have reference, and chained

40 THE SPIRIT OF IDOLATRY.

the immortal principle to semblances and sha-
dows. Thus did the Church of Rome revenge
the cause of the demon gods, whose lying ora-
cles the new religion had silenced, whose very
temples it had usurped, by converting Christ-
ianity itself into a system of more refined but
scarcely less impious idolatry.*
Origin and ^ 7, Thc csscntial character of the spirit of

essential ...

character of Idolatrv, iu whlch it is the natural tendency of

Idolatry. . .....

the heart to indulge, consists in a disposition
to transfer to material objects, those indefinite
emotions and that moral homage, which belong-
to the Unseen and the Infinite. In its operation
it is the very reverse of the religious principle,
through which " we understand that things
" which are seen, were not made of things
" which do appear." " For the invisible things
" of God are to be clearly seen, being under-
" stood by the things that are made, even his
" eternal power and Godhead ;" so that idola-
ters are left without excuse. If we seek for
the origin of this tendency, it may perhaps be
traced to that pride which leads men to make
their own experience and consciousness the

* Some of the remarks in this and in two or three subse-
quent paragraphs, were introduced into an article which
appeared some years since in a Critical Journal ; but the
Author conceives that he is not on that account precluded
from giving them a somewhat more advantageous place iu
tlie present volume.

THE SPIRIT OF IDOLATRY. 41

test of truth and the limit of their belief, refus-
ing to acknowledge the existence of objects
infinitely transcending their conception ; and
it may be further accounted for from the vain
desire to bring within the horizon of the pre-
sent, every object of hope or fear, every thing
that could add value or dignity to this brief
existence, or ennoble that world which man
impiously claims as his possession.

To exalt, to ennoble, to deify human nature, Spirit of an-

1 /> 1 • II /> 1 • cient idola-

and for this purpose to make the scene of his try.
present existence all that might satisfy the
fancy and soothe the pride of man, was the
uniform design of the institutions and religious
polity of classical Heathenism. The perfection
of the arts aided this design, not only by pre-
senting, as if in rivalry to the wonders of Na-
ture, the creations of human fancy and the
triumphs of human genius, but by being em-
ployed to give a definite shape to every thing
abstract or imaginary, to change the intellectual
into the sensible, and thus to contract or lower
every idea to the level and compass of his na-
ture. By a more daring impiety than the fabled
rebellion of the Titans, Heaven was brought
down to swell the pride of Greece and of Rome.
Every hill and every valley had its tradition,
every city, its tutelary god ; every spot was con-
secrated in the eyes of the native. Though an
Elysium and a Tartarus formed part of the

42 THE SPIRIT OF IDOLATRY.

system of the priest and the fable of the poet,
still, a future state had no place in the general
feeling of the nation. Death was a joke ; in
their epigrams and even their epitaphs, it is re-
ferred to as a termination of hope and action.
The fictions of their poets nourished and per-
petuated these sentiments. The object of phi-
losophy and the arts seemed to be alike, to lo-
calize every object of fear, of hope, or of vene-
ration, to appropriate to every indefinite feeling
some definite form, and to merge the future
and the infinite in the present circumstances of
man's incipient existence. " They changed the
•' glory of the incorruptible God into an image
*' made like to corruptible man, and to birds,
" and four-footed beasts, and creeping things ;
" and worshipped and served the creature more
*' than the Creator, who is blessed for ever."
Positive op- § 8. The methods which the Divine wisdom
the je°vi"h has employed, in order to counteract this de-
idoiatrmis pravcd tendcHcy in the heart of man, have va-
"^^^* ried, together with the character of his dis-

pensations, in adaptation to the peculiar cir-
cumstances of mankind. One great end for
which the Jewish people were selected and pre-
served miraculously distinct from all the na-
tions with which they were sm-rounded, or
through which they were dispersed, was, that
they might serve as the depositary of that
grand truth, which had otherwise been wholly

DESIGN OF THE JEWISH RITUAL. 43

lost, that " Jebovali He is God," and that be-
sides Him tliere is no other. For this jinrpose
it pleased the Almighty to institute a code
of positive observances, corresponding to the
typical nature of the Jewish ritual, and at the
same time marked by so peculiar a contrariety
to the customs and prejudices of the Egyptians,
and other Pagan nations, as to render an ad-
herence to the prescribed forms of Divine wor-
ship, wholly incompatible with any admixture
of idolatrous rites. Many of the apparently
arbitrary ordinances of the Levitical institute,
are in this view susceptible of historical illus-
tration ; they seem to have been expressly de-
signed to perpetuate an antipathy between the
Jews and the surrounding heathen, founded on
a total opposition in their habits of veneration
in reference to the objects of relative sanctity.
By this means, a moral barrier was raised
against the very entrance of idolatrous corrup-
tions, which all their national prejudices con-
tributed to strengthen. Yet so strong was the
propensity of this gross and sensual people, to
imitate, and blend with, the nations they were
commissioned to extirpate, that every moral
restraint was insufficient : a series of the most
awful judgements, succeeded by the most signal
interpositions of Divine power for their deli-
verance, could hardly compel, for any length
of time, their external obedience to the institu-

44 DESIGN OF THE JEWISH RITUAL.

tions of their great legislator. It was neces-
sary, therefore, that in the ritual and circum-
stantial peculiarities of the Jewish worship,
there should be a defined and obvious line of
separation drawn between the worshippers of
Jehovah and idolaters, which, when the prin-
ciple of spiritual obedience was eradicated,
they might still tremble to overstep. So
long as they maintained a reverence for those
observances, there still existed a record of the
true religion in th€ world, and of the miracu-
lous events which attested the supremacy of
the God of Israel. The circumstance of their
peculiar separation from other nations, and
their relative consecration to Jehovah, connect-
ed with their preservation from idolatry, re-
mained in undiminished force, when they them-
selves had lost all sense of the moral design of
their separation.

This positive ritual opposition between the
true religion and idolatry, extended to the cir-
cumstances of time and place. In the arbitrary
sanctification of particular portions of time, and
of particular cities and habitations, was testi-
fied that universality of empire which belongs
to the true God; a universality both implying,
and resulting from, the Unity of his Being.
The imaginary deities of the heathens, were
gods of the hills and gods of the valleys ; they
had local altars, and prescribed ligaits of em-

DESIGN OF SABBATICAL INSTITUTIONS. 45

pire. The God of all the earth, vindicated
his supremacy over the whole, in the act of
sovereign choice, by which he selected one na-
tion from all others, as his people, and one city
of that one nation, as the abode of his manifes-
tative presence. " I Jeliovali am holy, and
" have severed yon from other people, that ye
" should be mine." To that *' holy hill" on
which stood the only temple in the world in
which it w as lawful to sacrifice to Jehovah, the
whole nation were once a year to rejiair ; to-
wards that temple they were to worship, that
thus the growth of local idolatry might be ef-
fectually counteracted, by a constant reference
to that sacred spot in which the Divine Ma-
jesty chose to dwell.

The sabbatical institutions illustrated the sabbatkai
sovereignty of God as the proprietor of time '"^'''"^'""^
itself, and therefore of existence, of which time
here constitutes the law, the visible measure of
our finite being. They illustrated the unity of
God, by demonstrating the exclusive character
of the Divine prerogative ; and they formed a
standing memorial of those signal manifesta-
tions of Omnipotence, which attested his su-
premacy, as Creator, over the visible objects of
idolatry, and his infinite superiority, as the Re-
deemer of Israel, over all created might. *' The
*' original observation of a Sabbath on every
*' seventh day," remarks Bishop Horsley, " was

46

Sermons,
Vol. II.
p. 224.

Spintuality
of the
Christian
economy.

SPIRITUALITY OF THE CHRISTIAN ECONOMY.

" a public and distinguishing characteristic of
" the worship of the Creator, who finished his
*' work in six days and rested on the seventh.
*' This was the public character by which the
*' worship of the true God was distinguish-
" ed, that his festival returned every seventh
" day; and by the strict observance of this or-
" dinance, the holy patriarchs, and the Jews,
" their descendants, made as it were a public
*' protestation once in every vreek against the
" errors of idolatry." In fact, the solemn ob-
servance of one day in seven, may be considered
as forming under every dispensation, one of the
most important out-works of religion, and as
one of the most effectual means of preserving
the profession of Christianity, no less than that
of the Jewish religion formerly, in any degree
of vigour or of purity.

§ 9. The whole system of the Mosaic ritual
and polity, however, although of Divine origin,
was designed to have but a temporary duration,
being destined to give place to an order of
means wholly different in character from the
typical institutions of the old economy, yet hav-
ing the same end as respects the promotion of
religion and the counteraction of idolatrous
propensities in the heart of man. " The hour
** Cometh," said our Saviour to the woman of
Samaria, " when ye shall neither in this moun-
" tain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Fa-

SPIRITUALITY OF THE CHRISTIAN ECONOMY. 47

" ther. The hour cometh, and now is, when
" the true worshippers shall worship the Fa-
*' ther in Spirit and in truth ; for the Father
" seeketh such to worship him. God is a
" Spirit." These words clearly intimate that
an important change had taken place, not in
the Divine purpose, but in the method of his
providence ; they announce that a dispensation
of a sublimer character had arisen upon the
world. National distinctions were to cease;
ritual consecrations were abrogated. Nothing
local or ceremonial formed part of the new eco-
nomy. The true worshippers, who had hereto-
fore worshipped the Father by the imperfect
medium of typical observances, were henceforth
to worship him in the simplicity of spiritual
obedience, no longer attaching sanctity to
places the most hallowed by association, nor
efficacy to any circumstances of national pri-
vilege. No sacrifice, no rite, no service, could
henceforth be acceptable to God, but such as
should correspond with the recognition of the
cardinal truth which our Lord promulgated as
the law and the basis of the new economy :
*' God is a Spirit."

It is evident, from the Apostolic records, that
the genius of Christianity was not more hostile
to the spirit of Gentile idolatry, than it was
opposite to the prejudices of the Jewish nation.
After all the pompous array of figurative rites,

48 SPIRITUALITY OF THE CHRISTIAN ECONORfY/

after the splendid preparations made by suc-
cessive monarchs for the promised Heir of Da-
vid, after a long series of inspired harbingers,
who announced in the loftiest terms the trans-
cendent glory and celestial dignity of the Desire
of nations, Christ appeared, not merely " in the
" likeness of men," but in " the form of a ser-
" vant," in the mean garb of poverty, as if to
shew that the moral glory of holiness refused
to blend with the gross elements of worldly
pride. " He was despised and rejected of men."
Even his own disciples were unable to recon-
cile to their anticipations of a mighty deliverer,
the sufferings and ignominious death of their
Master. And when at length, after his resur-
rection and visible ascension, the film of pre-
judice fell from their eyes, and they boldly de-
clared themselves the followers of that young
Galilean whom his enemies had procured to
be crucified as a malefactor, throwing back the
contempt of the world upon itself by triumph-
ing in his very cross, and authoritatively pro-
claiming his resurrection and his deity, — even
then, how slow were they to relinquish their
educational prejudices as Jews! How fondly
did they still linger around that temple which
had once been holy, and that city which had
once been glorious, and which had now become
thrice endeared by sacred recollections ! What
a tenacity of attachment did they discover to

SPIRITUALITY OF THE CHRISTIAN ECONOMY. 49

that ritual bondage from which the Gospel was
designed to emancipate them ! And among the
first converts, how obstinate was the propensity
still to observe '* days and months, and times
" and years," in the very imbecility of super-
stition, and to cling to the obsolete ceremonies
of the Law, till at length an Apostle was roused,
in the indignant earnestness of his feelings, to
declare, that " were they (with these views)
*' circumcised, Christ would profit them no-
*' thing."

And what aspect did Christianity wear to
the rest of mankind ? — a religion devoid of all
external attraction, that had reference to no-
thing visible, that promised no temporal ad-
vantage, the very symbol of which was a type
of ignominy ! Such a religion was to the sen-
sual Jew an utter stumbling block, and to the
proud Pagan foolishness. Yet, at this very pe-
riod, when the Church was externally charac-
terised by the closest resemblance to the mean
condition and poverty of its Divine Founder
while on earth, it reflected, with the most evi-
dent lustre, his moral glory. It was during
this very state that it best answered the design
of its institution, and justified, in its actual cha-
racter, those lofty expressions and that bold
imagery in which the sacred writers love to
describe the Church of Christ. The Jew, how-
ever, blind to the true glory of the second

£

50 SPIRITUALITY OF THE CHRISTIAN ECONOMY.

temple of which the voice of prophecy spake ;
the Ephesian glorying- in the splendid fane of
his great goddess ; and the Roman, whose
boast was of that proud structure, the Capitol,
raised to " the guardian of the empire, the
" father of gods and men ;" all met with
equal hostility and contempt the simple forms
and the purely spiritual worship of primi-
tive Christianity. They viewed, with haughty
derision, that novel sect, destitute of posses-
sions and of the means of external splendour,
without a temple or a priesthood,* whose very
religion seemed to consist in waging war with
the appearances, the captivations, and the plea-
sures of sense ; whose belief seemed to pour
contempt on worldly grandeur by asserting as
its object and its founder. One, whose birth-
place was a manger and whose end was cru-
cifixion. How sublimely does the Apostle, as
if in allusion to this very prejudice, avail him-
self of the associations connected with the glo-

* " Another circumstance that irritated the Romans
*' against the Christians, was the simpHcity of their worship,
*' which resembled in nothing the sacred rites of any other
" people. The Christians had no sacrifices, temples, images,
" oracles, or sacerdotal orders ; and this was suflicient to
" bring upon them the reproaches of 9n ignorant multitude,
" who imagined that there could be no religion without
" these. Thus they were looked upon as a sort of Atheists."
Mosheim's Eccl. Hist. Vol. II. Cent. i. 1. C. v. § 7,

CORRUPTIONS OF CHRISTIANITY. 51

ry of those rival temples, to illustrate the in-
tellectual and transcendent nature of the reli-
gion he taught! The Christian temple, built
upon the foundation of the Apostles and Pro-
phets, " Jesus Christ himself being the chief
" corner-stone," was framed of living materials,
of human intelligences: the building was still
proceeding under the Divine Architect, and in
a sense applicable to no earthly structure, it
was a holy temple, the habitation of The Eter-
nal Spirit.

§ 10. The Christian revelation has dispelled woiairous

, 1 • 1 corruptions

the thick darkness which overspread the most of chrisu-
enlightened pagan nations, respecting the Ob-
ject of religious worship, but it has not changed
the natural tendencies of the heart. The ido-
latrous propensities by which the patriarchal
religion, and the Mosaical insHtntinns had so
soon been corrupted, began early to exert
themselves in the Christian Church ; and when,
after its alliance to the secular power, the ex-
tension of its nominal empire became the ob-
ject of ambition to its rulers, were manifested
in a studious accommodation of the external
character of Christianity to those very preju-
dices it was designed to destroy.* As if the

* ^' A remarkable passage in the life of Gregory, sur-
Kamcd Thaumaturgus, i. e. the wonder-worker, will illus-
trate this point in the clearest manner. * When Gregory
E 2

52 IDOLATROUS CORRUPTIONS

worldly spirit the Church had imbibed, bore
equal affinity to every moral corruption, it gra-
dually absorbed into its institutions so large a
portion of both pagan and Jewish superstition,
that the truth was at length lost in the vast
concretion of errors. Idolatry has reference
either to the object or to the mode of religious
worship. The religious honours paid by the
Romish Church to imaginary orders of angelic
and beatified mediators, by whatsoever sub-
tleties of distinction those honours were made
to differ in theory from adoration, necessarily
degenerated in the gross minds of the illiterate
into idolatry of the worst kind : these guardian
or mediating angels and patron saints, became
as much the ultimate objects of religious faith
with the vulgar as ever Jupiter Capitolinus, or

" • perceived that the ignorant multitude persisted in their
*' ' idolatry, on account of the pleasures and sensual gratifi.
" ' cations which they enjoyed at the pagan festivals, he
" ' granted them a permission to indulge themselves in the
" ' like pleasures, in celebrating the memory of the holy
" ' martyrs, hoping that, in process of time, they would re-
** ' turn of their own accord, to a more virtuous and regular
*• * course of life.' There is no sort of doubt, that, by this
" permission, Gregory allowed the Christians to dance, sport,
*' and feast at the tombs of the martyrs, upon their respective
" festivals, and to do every thing which the pagans were
" accustomed to do in their temples, during the feasts cele-
" brated in honour of their gods." Mosheim, Cent. II. 2.
Ch. iv. ^ 3.

OF CHRISTIANITY. 53

any of the hundred gods had been, in whose
fanes the semblance of Christian worship was
solemnized. But idolatrous corruptions of the
mode of worship are not less at variance with
the religious principle."* Whatsoever tends to
compromise the spiritual for the sensible, what-
soever transfers the attention of the mind from
invisible realities to material forms, directly
opposes the spirit and tendency of Christianity.
Through every modification of superstition, the
principle of irreligion preserves its essential
identity, as characterized by an absence of
faith, connected with a sensual disinclination
to spiritual objects. The Holy Scriptures de-
scribe this indevout disposition as natural to
the human mind, — as presenting in the case of

* " The descent of the human mind from the spirit to the
" letter, from what is vital and intellectual to what is ritual
" and external in religion, is the true source of idolatry
" and superstition in all the multifarious forms which they
*' have assumed ; and as if it began early to corrupt the
" religion of nature, or more properly speaking, of patri-
*' archal tradition, so it soon obscured the lustre and destroyed
" the simplicity of the Christian institute. In proportion as
" genuine devotion declined, the love of pomp and ceremony
" increased ; the few and simple rites of Christianity were
*' extolled beyond all reasonable bounds ; new ones were
" invented to which mysterious meanings were attached,
** till the religion of the New Testament became, in process
" of time, as insupportable a yoke as the Mosaic law."
Hall on the Terms of Communion, p. 97.

54 LAW OF CHRISTIAN UNION.

every individual the resistance of enmity to the
influence of the truth. The spirit of the world
is irreconcileably hostile to the humihating ten-
dency and to the spiritual requirements of
Christianity; and the Church can only exist
by maintaining her separation from the world.
All attempts, therefore, to conciliate the ho-
mage of the irreligious to Christianity, by an
accommodation of its principles, its rites, or
its moral requisitions, to the imagination and
taste of worldly men, in whatsoever motives
they may originate, must be stigmatized as
frustrating the primary design of the Gospel,
and as partaking of the nature of idolatrous
corruptions of religion. The Church and the
world must for ever remain at variance; and
nothing can be more abhorrent from Christian-
ity than all endeavours to force them into an
unnatural alliance.
Essential & n. The uuitv of tlic Church of Christ is

unity of the •' ^ *'

Church of essentially connected with the spirituality of its
suiting from uaturc. It is a unity opposed to multiplicity,

its spiritual- . . t^ , • r •

ity, the ba- uot to internal variety. By the necessity of its

sis of Christ- •••t'-ii>-w i • i

ian union, natuic it IS ludivisibly Ouc, and it ought not,
as respects the duty of its members, to be
otherwise than morally united. The notion of
union, however, includes that of individual dif-
ference. As in physical combinations, sub-
stances of various configuration of parts, as-
sume, in consequence of secret affinities, the

LAW OF CHRISTIAN UNION. 55

character of a homogeneous whole ; so moral
union requires neither an identity nor likeness
of external form, but simply the presence of
predominant qualities in the character of each
individual as the basis of the cohesion of sym-
pathy. There is, however, a wide difference
in the laws of physical and moral agency : the
spontaneous union of individuals takes place
by no necessity of operation, nor does any
change in the individual character result from
it, neither can it subsist any longer than the
operation of the moral principle of union con-
tinues in force. Union, considered as the act
of uniting, cannot be compelled : like all other
moral actions, it is essentially voluntary, the
production of rational motives influencing the
understanding. The relations which constitute
the members of Christ one body, are necessary
and immutable, and they are relations far more
real and more important than any in which
they mutually differ. The consideration of
this bond of relationship is a most cogent ar-
gument to the exercise of Christian affection ;
but it cannot be made the basis of compulsory
enactments; nor is it possible that the union
of Christians should be co-extensive with the
unity of the Church, since it is impossible to
determine in the present world, with any cer-
tainty, who actually belong to the number
of true believers. A unity in which persons

5g LAW OF CHRISTIAN UNION.

are compelled to take part, cannot be the
unity oi faith on which the Church of Christ is
founded. That which forms the basis of Christ-
ian union, is, a spiritual identity of nature and
of character. In the following respects true
Christians cannot differ :

1. As to the real existence of the religious
principle, how different soever the degree of
its prevalence. Faith is that principle of spi-
ritual life, which constitutes an individual a
member of the true Church of Christ.

2. As to the origin of this principle in the
heart : for what diversities soever of operation
may be apparent, it is " the same God who
" worketh all in all." The existence of reli-
gious faith can be ascribed only to one effi-
cient cause, the Divine agency on the heart ;
and the results of that Divine operation must
be of a uniform character.

3. As to those essential doctrines, a belief
in which forms the basis of the exercise of
the religious principle, as well as the appro-
priate evidence of its reality. " Other founda-
*' tion can no man lay than that which is laid,
*' which is Jesus Christ." On this chief cor-
ner-stone " God's building" must rest. " For
*' every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ
•' is come in the flesh is of God : and whoso-
" ever confesseth that Jesus Christ is the Son
" of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in

LAW OF CHRISTIAN UNION.

" God." This is the foundation of faith, and
the exercise of Christian charity can have no
different standard. The terms of Christian
communion ought, so far as possible, to be de-
termined by the terms of salvation.

" While the truth of the Gospel remains,"
remarks Mr. Hall in his Treatise on the
Terms of Communion, " a fundamental con-
" tradiction to it is possible, and the difficulty
" of determining what is so, must be exactly
** proportioned to the difficulty of ascertaining
" the -import of Revelation, which he who af-
•* firms to be insurmountable, ascribes to it
*' such an obscurity as must defeat its primary
" purpose. He who contends that no agree-
" ment in doctrine is essential to communion,
" must, if he understand himself, mean to assert
*' either that Christianity contains no funda-
*' mental truth, or that it is not necessary that
" a member of a Church should be a Christian.
" The first of these positions sets aside the ne-
" cessity of faith altogether; the last is a con-
** tradiction in terms."

It is manifest that a diversity of belief among
the members of the Church of Christ, with
respect to the fundamental truths of Christ-
ianity, would be altogether destructive of the
Tery notion of its unity. " One faith, one
" Lord, one baptism," — there is no other sense
in which that Church is one. If we believe.

57

58 LAW OF CHRISTIAN UNION.

however, that religious faitli is the production
of the Spirit of God, we must conclude that
the operations of the Holy Spirit are uniformly
in accordance with His dictates ; nor is it cre-
dible that the communication of the Divine in-
fluence, necessary to constitute a man a true
believer, ever stops short of producing the m-
telligent reception of the essential doctrines of
Revelation, so long as that promise made to
the Church is on record : " He shall guide you
" into all truth."

If, in these respects, and in these respects
alone, the unity of the Church of Christ forbids
the possibility of an essential difference among its
members, those subordinate diversities which
do not interfere with their spiritual relation to
each other as constituting one body, ought not
to form any bar to their recognizing each other
under this character, as belonging to the visible
fellowship of believers. On all points of an
extrinsic or circumstantial nature, things su-
perinduced upon Christianity, or which attach
to it merely as the deductions of human opi-
nion, the Church of Christ may be externally
divided without schism, may admit of diversity
without disunion. No inconvenience can re-
sult from the disagreement, so long as the dis-
agreement or diversity is tolerated. It is the
attempt to reconcile, by unhallowed means, this
difference of opinion, by forcing men to agree;

LAW OF CHRISTIAN UNION. 59

the attempt, in fact, to do that which being im-
possible to be done it cannot be necessary it
should be done, and if not necessary, all pre-
tence for attempting it as a thing expedient or
desirable is taken away ; it is the imposition
of other tests of union than those which have a
relation to the essential unity of the Church : it
is these which are the original source of all the
mischiefs charged upon diversity of religious
opinion. The evil may in short be traced up to
this simple circumstance— intolerance armed
with power. Differences of opinion are not the
cause, they are only the pretence of intoler-
ance ; but what gives venom and energy to in-
tolerance, is ambition, and what makes ambi-
tion dangerous, is secular power. By this
means inroads have been made by w^orldly
policy into the spiritual kingdom of Christ, and
the boundary of separation between the Church
and the World has been, as a natural conse-
quence, practically involved in utter obscurity.
To resist this unhallowed usurpation is a duty
resulting from our allegiance to the " One
" Lord" of the Church; and it is enforced by
every consideration that respects the spiritual
integrity and unity of that Church whicli " He
" hath purchased with his own blood."

BOOK II

ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT.

CHAP. I.

On Laws in General.

Nature of § 1- XT beloiigs to the constitution of cre-
n^Tai.'asorl- ^tcd beliigs, to bc, if! all their operations, sub-
fipSwUi JGct to fixed laws, which originate in the sover-
rondbrrc- eign will of the Creator. That limitation of
laiions. nature which is implied in the notion of a finite
being, and which forms a boundary between
distinct orders in the scale of being; that
which imparts to the necessary actions, whe-
ther of inanimate or of living agents, order,
uniformity, and continuance ; that which guides
the voluntary actions of moral agents, in refer-
ence to a final end, suitable to their nature;
are so many laws originating in the appoint-
ment of God, by which term we in general im-
ply either a physical necessity, or an obligation
on the agent as a rule of action. It is the pre-
rogative of the Divine Being, to be incapable
of obligation in any sense but that which re-
spects the perfection of his own nature, or
those promises which are the very expression
of his will. " The being of God," is, indeed,

NATURE OE LAWS. 61

to use the words of Hooker, " a kind of law
** unto his working; for the perfection which
*' God is, giveth perfection to that he doeth."
That perfection implies, in conjunction with
the power of doing all things, the necessity of
doing what is best. But in respect of his na-
ture, the Divine Being is infinitely free.

Laws necessarily presuppose superior au-
thority on the part of their author, and they
are uniformly founded on corresponding rela-
tions between the legislator and the subjects of
their obligations. The laws to which all cre-
ated being is subject, have their cause in the
will of the Supreme Intelligence, the Creator
and Governor of all things. The relations
subsisting between the works of God and their
Divine Author, are those of physical and of
moral existence. The material universe, which
emanated from the will of the Almighty, is
described in the sublime language of Inspira-
tion, as yielding obedience to His commands;
as if the blind agent, Nature, were itself con-
scious of the statutes which it obeyed. Man
is, as a creature, equally subject with other
creatures, by the necessity of his nature, to
the operation of physical obligations ; while
those higher relations of which as an intelligent
free agent and as a social being he is capable,
constitute the basis of other laws, — the law of
reason, the law of conscience, together with

g25 NATURE OF LAWS.

positive laws superinduced upon these, having
reference to the designs of God as the righte-
ous Governor of the accountable beings he has
formed. As the Mill of the Creator is the ori-
ginal reason of physical necessity, so the will
of the moral Governor of the Universe, that
will which is the expression of his perfections,
is the only possible basis of moral obligation.
Both have a necessary existence in the nature
of things, which is only another phrase for the
nature of God : only, moral obligations, being
founded, not upon the simple exercise of Di-
vine power, but upon the essential character of
the Divine Being, and the necessary conditions
of finite existence, are incapable of termination
or of change. Positive. institutions, however,
notwithstanding they are of Divine origin, may,
by the interposition of the same authority, un-
dergo repeal ; because, although so long as they
remain in force, they are equally binding with
natural duties, and rest upon the same basis, —
the relation of intelligent creatures to the Di-
vine Legislator,— they originate, not in the ne-
cessary operations of the Divine will, but in
an act of sovereign appointment, prior to
which there was no necessity that the creature
should be made subject to such particular
laws. Our essential obligations, as creatures,
remain immutably the same, and these form
the fundamental law of moral action. Our

BASIS OF HUMAN LAWS. 63

positive duties spring out of these natural ob-
ligations, and relate to the variable circum-
stances of huQiaii existence. But in all cases,
the Divine will, expressed in the constitution
of nature, or made known by Revelation, is the
source of moral obligation, the original cause
of what is necessary, the ultimate standard of
what is right.

§ 2. The relations subsisting between man numaniaws
and man are the basis of human laws. What arundai re^-
imparts, however, the force of moral obligation man as a so-
to any human enactments, is the Divine origin *'"^' ^""^'
of those necessary social relations on which
they are founded. Obligations are either na-
tural or voluntary ; the former are necessary,
and cannot originate, therefore, in the will of
man ; the latter rest upon those relations which
originate in actual or implied compact. Laws
of this nature can neither supersede nor add to
natural obligation, because the will of man, in
which they have their origin, is not the basis
of moral duty, since it cannot make any alter-
ation in the esse^j^j^ial relations of accountable
creatures, or control the moral nature of man.
Human laws are founded on the artificial re-
lations of society : they respect man in no other
capacity than as a social being, for in this cha-
racter alone man can be the superior of man.
All laws presuppose a superior will,* and a * black-

n 1 • T • 1 J 1 1 STONE, vol.

superiority of this kind can attach to a human i. p. 42.

64 BASIS AND LIMITATION

being only in consequence of the artificial dif-
ferences of society, the exaltation of power or
rank. In a moral respect there exists a per-
fect equality among all men, which forbids the
exercise of superior will : the conscience, there-
fore, or moral nature of man, cannot be the sub-
ject of human legislation.
Laws pre- ^ 3 ^\i jaws arc foundcd upon relations

suppose le- •'

gisiaiive which connect legislative riaht with superior

right: limi- , , * ,

tation of hu- will. Thc rclatious of created beings to their

man author- i • i • 1 •

ityinihis Maker, are such as imply a supreme right m
'^^^^'^ the Divine Legislator, as well as infinite sove-
reignty of will. These relations are necessary
and immutable, and so must be the laws which
' rest upon them : they respect the creature as
he is, and extend to his whole being. The mu-
table relations upon which human government
is founded, are not morally necessary; they
cannot, therefore, be the basis of moral laws
which are necessary : the legislative right which
originates in these relations, cannot extend to
any thing beyond the social duties of indivi-
duals. And inasmuch as all duties imply cor-
respondent rights on the part of those to whom
our duties relate, and our duties to our fellow-
creatures spring from their social claims, it
may be affirmed, that it is only as the con-
duct of men is a virtual infringement of the so-
cial or political rights of others, or, in other
words, tends to subvert the interests of so-

OF HUMAN LAWS. Q^

ciety, that they become amenable to human
laws.

Man, considered as a moral being, cannot be
under the legislative control of his fellow-man,
or he would cease to be a free agent. We in-
fer his absolute free agency, absolute as re-
spects the authoritative interference of other
creatures, as a necessary consequence of his
being individually the subject of the righteous
government of God. *' Who art thou, O man,
*' that judgest the servant of another?" — " God
" is Judge himself." In his sight all men are
naturally equal, for " there is no difference."
What is more, '* all have sinned," and in ad-
dition to the natural equality of man, there is
the consideration of the corrupt and fallen con-
dition of his nature, to shew how utterly inade-
quate any human being must be to sustain a
delegated authority over the conscience of his
fellow-sinner. Those who have pretended to
such an authority, have betrayed an awful un-
consciousness of their moral impotence, and ex-
hibited a proof of their participation in the com-
mon calamity of our nature. It is true that
the constitution of society unavoidably places
us under the moral irifluence of each other, and
that example often acts with all the fearful effi-
ciency of direct evil power. But power of this
kind does not interfere with individual respon-
sibility, since it offers no compulsion to the

F

60 BASIS And limitation

will : our circumstances in this respect con-
stitute, in fact, an important part of that moral
exercise, which, in this state of probationary
discipline, it belongs to the plan of the Divine
government that our characters should undergo.
Power of all kinds is to be distinguished from
right : power may be usurped ; right cannot be.
The power of man may control our actions;
human influence may bias our convictions, and
contribute to the determination of our charac-
ters ; but a legislative right of any sort over
the souls or consciences of others, the Al-
mighty has never delegated to a created being;
nor could he delegate so awful a trust, without
a surrender of his indefeasible claims as God ;
without putting it into the power of his crea-
ture, who would then no longer be his free sub-
ject, to appeal from the Divine jurisdiction,
and excuse his disobedience by alleging, —
" the man whom thou didst set over me to be
" a god, he commanded me and I did it." And
as for that mortal who should be emulous of
sustaining this overwhelming accumulation of
responsibility, by interposing between the crea-
ture and his Maker, — what would this dele-
gated authority be, separated from the perfec-
tions of Deity, but the right to command, with-
out the ability to aid ; the power to condemn,
without the prerogative of shewing mercy !
Where then were the refuge for the sinner? If

sanctions
and exe-
cHlive pow-
er: limita-
tion of hu-

OF HUMAN T,AWS. 67

Christ were not God, though even it were pos-
sible he might "■ come to be our Judge," it is
most certain he could not be our Saviour.

§ 4. All laws are framed with reference to Laws imply
an ultimate design in the breast of the legis- LSifs
lator: they suppose not only superior will and
legislative right, but power adequate to enforce
that right by the sanctions of the law : the end TnlhT^
designed must therefore lie within the com- *''^^'"
pass of his power. Human legislation has in
this respect also its limitation. The laws of
nature imply both the right and the power of a
Creator, nothing short of creative energy being
competent to ensure their unvaried operative
force throughout the universe of physical
agency. The proper ends of human laws must
correspond with the design, and fall within the
scope of human government: they cannot re-
late to objects incapable of being accomplished
by the power of man, and in respect of which
the utmost sanctions of the laws of man would
be unavailing. Any thing, therefore, beyond
the social conduct of individuals, is in this view
manifestly not a subject of cognizance by hu-
man legislation, because the moral nature of
man lies wholly out of the reach of human
power. It can undergo no change either for
the better or for the worse, by virtue of the ut-
most that man can do for his fellow-man, by
the mere exertion of power. What can his
F 2

63 BASIS AND T.TMITATION

power effect? It cannot heal the disorders of
the mind; it cannot rectify the tendencies of
the will ; it cannot impart sensibility to the con-
science, or reconquer the heart to the love of
God. It is as impossible for human power to
rescue a living soul from sin, as it is for human
skill to save from death. Man can have over
the spirit of man, no immediate, no absolute
power. Were it possible in the nature of things
that the administration of the moral govern-
ment of this unhappy part of the universe, could
be so delegated to a mortal, as that those who

■ were committed to that inferior jurisdiction
should be exempted from accountability at a
higher tribunal, how many degraded beings
would rejoice to surrender up the burden of

■ their abused free agency, and welcome the
heaviest doom that the stern retributive wrath
of man could inflict, so that they might not
have to contend with the terrors of the Al-
mighty ! Man, though a merciless judge, were
a feeble avenger. As his arm is too short to
save, so it is far too weak to hurl the thunders
of the Almighty : he could no more punish than
he could create. Vain then were all the sanc-
tions of the Divine laws in the hands of a mor-
tal. Man cannot be made by man to suffer,
except in the outward perishable frame to
which his immortal part is mysteriously allied,
and in the transitory interests of this shadowy

OF HUMAN LAWS. QQ

state of being. Chains cannot for one moment
fetter his thoughts, or force detain them. The
conscience is wholly impassable amid the tor-
tures which may agonize and consume the
body. The flames of martyrdom form but a
triumphal chariot to the rejoicing spirit. The
ultimate effort of man only places his victim
altogether and eternally beyond his jurisdic-
tion, conferring enfranchisement upon that im-
perishable principle which He alone who cre-
ated can control ; which none but itself could
make miserable, none but God can make
happy.

§ 5. But are not moral actions, it may be political
objected, punishable in this world, as obnox- InTy t?^*
ious to the sanctions of human laws? Certainly, ^i^^] **'"■
all the voluntary actions of reasonable agents
are moral actions ; it is not, however, the moral
nature of those actions, but their social ten-
dency, or their effects on society, which ren-
ders it essential to the purpose of government
to restrain or to punish the offender. Crime
is a political as well as a moral evil, and it is
in the former respect only that it is punishable
by the laws of society. Those moral disposi-
tions which are the very root of crime, do not,
when they have only a negative operation on
the character, fall under the cognizance of hu-
man legislation. Unbelief, covetousness, ingra-
titude, irreligion under every modification, are

po-

70 FREEDOM OF MORAL ACTIONS.

not less directly opposed to the Divine precepts
and to the ends of moral government, than ido-
latry, murder, or fraud : yet, the former are
crimes not obnoxious to the laws of man, be-
cause they are not offences against the rights
of society, and because the character is not the
subject of magisterial government, any more
than the conscience is the subject of legislative
authority: were it otherwise, it would follow,
that civil government could not answer its le-
gitimate purpose,^ — could not be, in fact, en-
titled upon valid grounds to obedience, unless
the rulers of the state were possessed of moral
qualifications by which, it is notorious, they are
seldom pre-eminently characterized. To hold
that moral discipline constitutes one end of
civil government, and that nevertheless it re-
quires in the magistrate no correspondent sense
of virtue or religious principle, would be the
height of absurdity. But if, as we maintain,
political good is the only end of social insti-
tutions, then, political character is the only
qualification requisite for the due administra-
tion of social government.
Moral ac- <^ 6. As thc puuitivc Operation of human

tioiis essen- . . . . ,

liaiiy free, laws, IS neccssanly restricted to actions violat-
ing the rights or endangering the peace of so-
ciety, so it is equally manifest that their com-
pulsory force can avail no further than to se-
cure a compliance in the outward acts of social

FREEDOM OF MORAL ACTIONS. 71

conduct: it cannot produce a moral action. A
moral action must be in its very nature, as pro-
ceeding from a free and therefore accountable
agent, a voluntary action. Every thing in re-
ligion is of a moral nature ; every thing, there-
fore, in order to possess the character of reli-
gion, must be uncompelled. Nothing short of an
obedience purely voluntary and spiritual, can be
acceptable to the great Object of religious fear,
and the production of this principle in the heart
is the design of Christianity. If this obedience
could be produced in any other way, it would
be of no value. Secular inducements may bias
the mind to the side of truth, may dispose a
man to believe on the strength of a less degree
of evidence than would otherwise have been
suflScient to satisfy the pride of his understand-
ing; but if his belief, or his obedience, partakes
of no higher character than that of an action thus
involuntary as respects the understanding, or
impure as respects the motive, it is not religion:
the ends of the Divine government are not ful-
filled in the character of that individual.

The whole of an action, morally considered,
consists in the motive by which it is caused.
Even human laws admit of a moral distinction
in actions, a distinction founded on obvious in-
tention; not, indeed, as venturing to decide upon
the positive motives of the agent, but as allowing
the absence of the will to negative the criminality

72 FREEDOM OF MORAL ACTIONS.

of the offence, by divesting the action altogether
of moral character. What human laws thus par-
tially and incidentally advert to, forms the ulti-
mate and simple consideration in the procedure
of the Divine Lawgiver. The essence of that obe-
dience which He requires, lies in the incipient
intention, the secret desire, the tendency of the
will: human requisitions terminate at the act
of obedience, and with that they are satisfied.
Actions of this kind continually take place
under the influence of the sanctions of human
laws, or of selfish motives, in which the will,
strictly speaking, has no part : either the free
agency of the individual is suspended by phy-
sical or social restraints, and the action is in-
voluntary, or, the intention is morally defec-
tive. The will of an agent must be according to
his nature: itisimpossible thataman of evil dis-
position should will that which is good as good.
No motives can impel the will of the individual to
act in contradiction or repugnancy to his nature,
and the disposition must therefore be changed
before the moral obedience of the will can be
secured; that is to say, a voluntary intentional
subjection to the authority of the Divine law.
No human power, however, can be brought
to act upon the moral nature of man ; no hu-
man power, therefore, can necessitate actions
of an intrinsic moral value. The operations of
the will in the choice of good or evil, are capa-

NATURE OF MORAL GOVERNMENT. 73

ble of being influenced only through the me-
dium of the moral disposition, and no influence
of this kind can attach to legislative enact-
ments.

^ 7. Laws, it must ever be remembered, do contrast be-

^ ' tween Di-

not in themselves partake of the nature of in- y^'^ ^"'1

* human

diicement; they furnish neither motives nor the schemes of

government,

povrer to obey: they are only rules of action.
Law may be considered as a light thrown upon
the path of duty. Its influence on the charac-
ter is derived from the sanctions by which it
is enforced :* these furnish the inducements to SeeBLACK-
obedience. The ultimate sanction of human llemtw
enactments, is force, and that which force can- foi.L^i.V.
not restrain or compel, the law of man is ob-
viously incompetent to enact. The penalties
attached to human laws respect the social in-
terests or the social existence of man : there
the utmost vindictive severities of the law must
terminate. The sanctions of the Divine laws
respect a future state of being; they address
the fears of man through the medium of faith ;
they consist not of arbitrary enactments, but
of consequences inevitably resulting, in the na-
ture of things, from wilful opposition to the
perfections of God and the moral order of the
universe; they regard man not in any social
relation, but in that only essential relation of
his being which he sustains to his Maker.
These circumstances form but a small part of

74 NATURE OF MORAL GOVERNMENT.

the contrast between Divine and human legis-
lation. As subjects of the moral government
of God, we are not merely under a dispensation
of law, but under a remedial system of moral
expedients, under an economy of grace, by
which, inducements partaking of the nature of
reward, though not connected with meritori-
ous conditions, are brought to act, in combina-
tion with penal sanctions, upon the moral con-
stitution of man. The operation of law is, to in-
terdict, to restrain ; rewards have no place in
such a system, which is founded on pure jus-
tice. But the dispensation of Christ, is a dis-
pensation of mercy. On the one hand, " the
" wages of sin is death ;" on the other hand,
" the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus
" Christ our Lord." To this twofold system
of motives is superadded, the promise of an
adequate power to those who seek for Divine
aid, which shall render the subject of this won-
drous scheme of moral government capable of
performing his part in its requisitions, and of
yielding a free and sincere obedience. What
analogy, then, can be traced between the im-
perfect systems of human polity, and that to
whicli as moral agents we are individually
subject? What part dares man pretend to take
in the administration of this infinite scheme,
when all the perfections of Deity are essen-
tially involved in its development, and the Son

PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY. 75

of God himself assumed our nature in order
to make us partakers of its benefits?

§ 8. The principles, then, of moral discipline No indiyi-
and of social 2:overnment, are altogether dissi- i^e.ty to

. . . . concede a

milar. Moral obligations cannot originate with legislative

superiority

man, and cannot be enforced by the ultimate to another

T . , /-w 1 . . in matters of

sanctions of political rule. Compulsion is religion.
wholly foreign from a system which regards men
as rational and accountable agents, because
outward force cannot act as a motive upon
the conscience. Political rule is substantially
a delegated power ; it is founded on a conceded
superiority, by which a certain portion of indivi-
dual liberty is compromised for the general weal.
But no one is at liberty to concede a superior-
ity of a legislative nature to another in matters
of religious duty, or to surrender any portion
of that moral freedom which is the basis of ac-
countableness. Power in relation to conscience,
cannot be delegated : the will of another can-
not become our law ; the usurpation is im-
piety. The free agency of man not only in-
volves a sacred unalienable right which the
magistrate cannot lawfully infringe, but it im-
poses upon every individual a duty from which
there is no discharge. There may be a public
will: a public conscience is a monstrous chi-
mera. A sense of personal responsibility lies
at the foundation of all religion, and in propor-
tion as this sense is awakened in the minds of

76 PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY.

men, they become excited to think and to act
as moral beings. Whatsoever tends to weaken
this consideration, by leading them blindly to
confide in the proffered guidance of others, has
the most baleful effect upon the intellectual
character. The argument of Cicero referred
to by Montesquieu, "A chief or head is sensible
" that the affair depends upon himself, and
" therefore he thinks," may be applied to every
individual in the case of religious duty. In
proportion as a man is sensible that the affair
depends upon himself, he thinks*

* " That outward force," remarks Milton, " cannot tend
" to the good of him who is forced in religion, is unquestion-
" able. For in religion, whatever we do under the Gospel,
" we ought to be thereof persuaded without scruple ; and
" are justified by the faith we have, not by the work we do.
*' ' Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.' — If
" not by the works of God's law we are justified, how then
*' by the injunctions of man's law 1 Surely force cannot work
" persuasion, which is faith ; cannot therefore justify nor
" pacify the conscience ; and that which justifies not in the
" Gospel, condemns. We read not that Christ ever exer-
" cised force but once ; and that was to drive profane ones
" out of his temple, not to force them in. If by the Apostle
" we are * beseeched as brethren, by the mercies of God, to
" ' present our bodies a Hving sacrifice, holy, acceptable
" ' to God, which is our reasonable service,' or worship,
" then is no man to be forced by the compulsive laws of men
" to present his body a dead sacrifice, and so under the
•'Gospel most unholy and unacceptable, because it is his
" unreasonable service." — Ti'eatise of Civil Power in Eccle-
siastical Causes. Pkose Works, Vol. III. p. 342.

CHURCHES VOLUNTARY SOCIETIES. 77

In pursuing the inquiry into the nature of TiieCharci.,

...... 1 • • I 1 • • ^* subject to

ecclesiastical jurisdiction, the preliminary ques- imman ia\ys,
tion to be determined is, whether the laws of ofvoiuntary
the Church, which we are about to examine,
are Divine or human. If they are Divine, they
must regard man simply as a religious being,
and the interference of political authority is
altogether excluded ; if they are human, they
must respect man as the subject of social ob-
ligations. The Church of Christ, in its genuine
and most comprehensive signification, is not a
human society ; it is not susceptible of human
government ; its character is that of universali-
ty, and its members are attached to each other
only by relations of a spiritual nature, the
only Head of this Church being the Great
" Shepherd and Bishop of souls." But the
visible Church must necessarily consist of hu-
man societies, of which there are only two
sorts ; those which are natural or political, and
those which are voluntary. Christian churches
cannot be considered as natural societies, of
which a person becomes a member by birth or
heritage: (what modification they may assume,
in consequence of the alliance of ecclesiastical
jurisdiction to secular power, does not at pre-
sent come under our consideration :) a society
which originates in no natural or political ne-
cessity ; which in its primitive character pos-
sesses no features of a political institution ; can

78 CHURCHF.S VOLIJNTAKY SOCIETIES.

be no other than a voluntary society. As such,
we shall accordingly proceed to contemplate
the constitution of a Christian Church, and
the natural order of the inquiry will lead us to
consider, first, the laws respecting ihefoiination
of such a society, or the terms of communion ;
secondly, the laws of its constitution, including
the consideration of the sacred functions ; and
thirdly, the laws relating to discipline.

CHAP. II.

On the Law of Admission.

§ 1. A Christian Church, taken in its sim-
ple primary import, is an assembly of the pro-
fessed disciples of Christ. Before the organ-
ization of Christian societies, while " all that
" believed were" as yet " together," " conti-
*' nuing with one accord daily in the temple,
" and breaking bread from house to house,"
the collective body of the disciples are spoken
of under this designation, as " the Church."
At first, they constituted, strictly speaking, an
assembly, meeting " with one accord in one
" place ;" but when *' the number of the dis-
*' ciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly," three
thousand converts being added in one day, and
a great company of the priests having become
obedient to the faith, one room would be in-
sufficient to contain the assembly, and unity of
place would soon cease to be included in the
term. For some time, it is certain that they
continued to assemble together in large com-
panies in the Temple, for the purpose, pro-

Primary im-
port of the
term
Churcli.

30 ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN ASSEMBLIES.

bably, of collectively testifying before the Jews,
the truth of the Apostles' doctrine ; but many
of their religious meetings, especially when
they became as Christians the objects of per-
secution, must have been held privately and in
small companies, at the houses of some of the
brotherhood. When Peter was delivered from
prison, " he came to the house of Mary the
" mother of John, where many were gathered
" together, praying." Still the Church consti-
tuted one society, but, as disciples multiplied in
other parts, they began to form distinct bodies,
to which the term churches was applied, in the
sense of Christian societies, although the use
of the word continued to be retained as compre-
hensive of the unity of the whole Christian bro-
therhood throughout the world.
Origin of § 2. The Apostolic writers, however, having
Ssembfies ^^ regard to any etymological niceties, appear
not to have scrupled employing this term in
reference to any collective assembly of Christ-
ians. The Church that was at such a place,
or in such a house, would seem in many in-
stances to intend nothing more than the com-
pany of disciples residing or accustomed to
assemble there. Thus, we read of the Church
that was in the house of Priscilla and Aquila,
of the Church in the house of Philemon,
and, at a very early period, of " Churches
" throughout Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria."

. ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN ASSEMBLIES. 81

The disciples met together, for the purpose of
social prayer and the breaking of bread; more
particularly on the first day of the week, to
celebrate the resurrection of the Saviour ; not,
so far as appears, in consequence of any
Apostolic mandate, but under the influence
of common principles and the strong identi-
fying bond of Christian affection. No po-
sitive law had been issued by our Lord, di-
recting the formation and organization of such
societies; but they had a promise which carried
with it the virtue of a law, in that declaration
of our Saviour : " Where two or three are ga-
" thered together in my name, there am I in
" the midst of them ;" and there, doubtless, was
the reality of a Christian Church.* The go-
vernment of the Churches was at first wholly
vested in the Apostles, who continued for the
most part to reside at Jerusalem long after the
Church itself was scattered by the persecution
that arose about Stephen, throughout the neigh-
bouring regions. The institution of an order of
officers to superintend the equitable distribution
of the Church funds among the poorer brethren,
an order to which the title of deacons or mini-
sters became subsequently appropriated, — was
the first step, according to the records of the
Apostolic history, in framing what may be

* Ubi tres.ecclesia est, licet laid. Tertullian. Exhort
ad Castit.

G

'82 ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN ASSEMBLIES.

termed the constitution of Christian churches.
This measure originated purely in expediency,
being primarily designed to relieve the Apostles
of a most laborious, and in some respects irk-
some business, and to enable them to give
themselves without interruption " to prayer,
*' and to the ministry of the word." It was not
till some time after societies of Christians had
been collected in various parts by means of the
preaching of the Gospel, that " elders" were,
after the manner of the synagogue, " ordained
" in every city," who at length, when the go-
vernment of the churches assumed a more
settled and definite character, came to be dis-
tinguished, as the rulers of the congregation, by
the appellation of bishops. The Apostles them-
selves could not possibly exercise a personal
superintendence in the formation and internal
management of the various churches which
were so soon formed in all the countries into
which the converted Jews of the dispersion car-
ried the tidings of the Gospel. The Christian
doctrine was first promulgated at Antioch by
disciples, " natives of Cyprus and Cyrene,"
who, contrary to the practice of the Church at
Jerusalem at that period, and without any spe-
cial instruction, as it should seem, from the
Apostles, who during the persecution remained
there, preached ChristtotheGrecians in that city.
Barnabas, in consequence of the tidings which

ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN ASSEMBLIES. 83

reached Jerusalem, was accordingly deputed
to visit Antioch, where he found a numerous
Church already existing; in which " certain
" prophets and teachers," four of whom are
mentioned by name without any distinction of
rank, " ministered to the Lord," and sustained
the presidency. From this very Church, in
which it is obvious no Apostle had ever pre-
sided, Barnabas, and Saul, the great Apostle of
the Gentiles himself, were sent out, under the
immediate direction of the Holy Spirit, on a
special mission, to which, according to the Jew-
ish custom, they were ordained by the other
elders. In the Church of Corinth there were a
number of prophefs and teachers endowed with
miraculous gifts, wdiich involved the discharge
of correspondent functions ; but there appears
to have existed in the society, neither peculiarity
of office, nor distinct government, nor, indeed,
any fixed regulations for their proceedings, prior
to the injunctions received from the Apostle
Paul, to speak in course, and to observe a de-
cent order. Had any form of ecclesiastical
government been at this period common to the
churches, the necessity could not so soon have
arisen for Apostolic interference; or, if it had,
St. Paul would doubtless have adverted to their
departure from the primitive model, and en-
joined a subordination to the authority of their
presiding pastor, as the most natural expedient
g2

84 INDEPENDENCE OF

for preserving that decorum which was violated
by the ebullitions of their zeal.
independ- Althous^h thcse socicties ori2:inated in volun-

ence of pri- '-' '-'

mitive tary association, their formation nevertheless

Churches.

took place as the result of a conviction of re-
ligious duty. The outward profession of Christ-
ianity was required of every believer, on the
ground of the most solemn obligations, and this
involved both a separation from the surround-
ing world, and the taking part in every social
duty, and in the fellowship of suffering, with
the Church of Christ. Throughout the Christ-
ian societies, the moral authority of the Apostles
as the inspired prophets of Jesus Christ, his
companions during the days of his flesh, and
the witnesses of his sufferings, claimed to be
recognised on every point included in their
Divine commission. No Christian church could,
in respect to their authority, aspire to inde-
pendent rights, on the ground of being a volun-
tary association, without a dereliction of the
very principles of Christianity, without disre-
garding the moral evidence which attested the
truth of the Gospel. No such contempt of
Apostolic authority is chargeable on the primi-
tive churches : on the contrary, there was a
general disposition to defer in all respects to
their directions; and in the first ages of the
Church, the societies in wdiich an Apostle or
the companion of an Apostle had presided^

THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHES. 85

were looked upon as claiming a sort of pre-
eminent dignity. The Apostles, however, were
studiously careful to lay upon the Churches no
greater burden than those restraints* which * Acts xt.
were morally necessary, and those obligations! tGai.ii. lo.
which were consonant both with kindness and
equity. They combated in every form tlie
spirit of imposition, exhorting the disciples to
stand fast in the liberty with which Christ had
made them free, and not to be again en-
tangled wdth the yoke of bondage, St. Paul, in
writing to the Corinthians, evinces a remark-
able solicitude to avoid the stern language of
authority; while he reproves them for their ig-
nominious and servile subjection to those false
teachers who had usurped a lordly pre-emi-
nence over them, he explains to them that he
does not wish that they should be burdened,
and other churches eased by their contribu-
tions : " And herein," he writes, " I give my
" advice.'' Even with regard to those rights
which were not peculiar to the Apostles, the
claims which he participated in common with
other ministers, he magnanimously refused to
avail himself of them : " Nevertheless we have
" not used this power, lest we should hinder
" the Gospel of Christ." If, then, the inde-
pendence of Christian Societies was thus respect-
ed even by the Apostles themselves, we may be
•confident that it could not be legitimately subject

candidate.

86 CONDITIONS OP VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS.

to other restrictions. No authority, save theirs,
could extend to societies formed bj^ the vohm-
tary concurrence of the individuals of which
they were composed, for purposes of a purely
religious nature. Free, therefore, from all fo-
reign control, they must liave been constitution-
ally independent, although morally united and
spiritually one Church.
First coiidi- ^ ^ Such henvj: the origin and primitive cha-

tion of initi- •' o o r

ation, the racter of Christian societies, as voluntary

voluntary _ _ "^

actof the congregations of believers, the ternis of ini-
tiation, in order to be consonant with the essen-
tial nature of a Church of Christ, must comprise,
in the first instance, the voluntary act of the
candidate for admission. Compulsion, it has
been already shewn, is destructive of the moral
character of any action, much more of actions
purely religious, which have absohitely no
meaning except so far as they are the expression
of internal dispositions. If it is the duty of
Christians to unite themselves to the Church of
Christ, it is their duty to be willing to do this ;
the will is the essence of the duty; but the will
cannot be compelled. To make an outward pro-
fession of the religion of Jesus, is, in every age,
and under all circumstances, not less than in the
Apostolic days, the bounden duty of his disci-
ples ; but this implies the antecedent obligation
to embrace that which is to be thus professed :
profession dissociated from sincere belief, is no

CONDITIONS OF VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS. 87

better than hypocrisy. Compulsion cannot in
fact be exercised by the Church, inasmuch as
no society can exercise legislative jurisdiction
beyond itself: all that it can do is, to offer in-
ducements, to exhibit advantages that may ope-
rate as rational motives upon those without the
pale of its authority. The consideration of
duty is one of the strongest inducements that
can be offered to a virtuous mind, and to this,
with respect to uniting with a Christian society
in religious communion, is added that of the
privileges which it involves; but these con-
siderations derive their appropriateness from
the moral nature and free agency of the indi-
vidual to whom they are addressed. Farther,
the nature both of the duties and privileges
connected with Christian communion, renders
it necessary that he should freely and sponta-
neously join himself to the Christian society :
otherwise, he would not only fail of deriving
any personal benefit, but form a positive ob-
struction to the circulation of the vital prin-
ciple of union.

The second condition essential to the charac- secoudcon-

.p. , ...,.,,, dition, ab-

ter ot a voluntary association, is, that it shall not sence of

, 11 1 • cimipulsory

be compelled to receive any person contrary to obligation
the general will. A compulsory law of tliis church.
nature originating within itself, would be self-
destructive, or rather, a contradiction in terms ;
and were it imposed by foreign authority, it

88 CONDITIONS OF VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS.

would no longer possess the character of a vo-
luntary union. The right of admission, and the
power of exclusion, must be inherent in every
free society; but in a religious association,
formed for the purpose of Christian communion,
the act of admission on the part of the society,
partakes of a moral character ; it is an act of
religious duty, and viewed in this light, it must
be a voluntary transaction. Societies are, not
less than individuals, morally responsible for
the exercise of their rights, and Christian
Churches lie, most certainly, under peculiar
obligations and restraints in respect to the ad-
mission and exclusion of persons claiming the
privileges of communion ; but they cannot be
subject to any imposed necessity in this par-
ticular, without losing altogether their volun-
tary, and in that their moral character.
Third con- A third condition implied in the very nature
exclusion is of a Christian Church considered as a volun-
ment of" so- tary society, is, that since it originates in moral
tig Its. (.Qjjgifjgpa^^iQjig unconnected with either natural
or civil relations, the exclusion of any indi-
vidual is no infringement of his social rights:
that, even allowing it to be, in certain possible
cases, an act of moral injustice, it is not a po-
litical wrong. A voluntary society must be one
to which no individual has either a natural
claim to belong, or is under any natural or
political obligation to attach himself. A Christ-

CONDITIONS OF VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS.

ian Church differs indeed in one material re-
spect from every other voluntary society, in
that its laws do not originate with itself^ nor are
its proceedings simply optional. The will of
Christ is the law and basis of its formation ;
and its members lie under the strongest obli-
gations to conform in every respect to the di-
rections of his inspired servants, as the only
rule and authority npon which they are at liberty
to act. But its correspondence with the notion
of a voluntary society, holds good in this re-
spect; it has no relation to any political in-
terests whatsoever. In the primitive ages of
the Church, to become a member of the Christ-
ian community was esteemed by the powers
that then were, a breach of political duty, and
involved the sacrifice of every secular interest.
It was in fact an act of total separation from
the world, a renunciation of its manners and
pursuits, which brought down upon the reso-
lute adherent to the Christian faith, contumely
and persecution. Political changes in the ex-
ternal circumstances of the Church of Christ, can
surely make no alteration in either the claims or
the obligations of men, to become its professed
members. Those who would not have claimed
admission into the Christian society, in defiance
of the interdictions of the civil power, choosing
rather to suffer affliction with the people of
God, and to bear the reproach of Christ, can

89

^Q CONDITIONS OF VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS,

have no valid claim to be received at a time
when the profession of Christianity has become
safe and even reputable. No new obligation
results from the prosperity of the Christian
cause, nor from the circumstance of its being
patronised by the civil ruler, which makes it
more a man's duty now, as a member of so-
ciety, to embrace a profession with which he
would then have trembled at being identified.
Christianity itself has undergone no modifica-
tion in consequence of its assuming, in the esti-
mation of the world, a more polite and social
aspect. The person who should yield obedi-
ence now to any of its requii ementG, merely be-
cause they are sanctioned by political authority,
would be acting from a motive that as much
negatives the religious character of his com-
pliance, as though it were the result of compul-
sion. He is as really giving the preference to
the authority of man, as if, under circumstances
which placed its claims in direct competition
with those of the Divine authority, he carried
out the principle to its extreme tendency, and
rejected Christianity at the command of Caesar.
Let it be proved to be a man's civil duty to
enroll himself a member of a Christian society,
and it must be granted at the same time that it
is his civil right; for it cannot be his duty to
perform what he has no right to the means of
performing. That very enactment, therefore,

CONDITIONS OF VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS. QlJ,

which renders it obligatory on any one to join a
Christian chnrcli, annuls the power of exclu-
sion on the part of its members, and thus at
once destroys the voluntary character of the
association. Bat though this consequence does
in fact attach to all ecclesiastical incorpora-
tions which rest upon the basis of political au-
thority, the Christian fellowship, as it existed
in the primitive churches, was estabUshed upon
opposite principles. No individual could claim
to be received into their communion, but on the
gronnd of religious character, or the visible
evidence of his belief; and if excluded, he suf-
fered no injury; he was done no wrong: nor
can voluntary societies equitably subsist on
other conditions.

The purpose for which a society is formed, Fourth con-
dition, suit-
imposes a necessary restriction upon its recep- able quaiis-

tion of members, by rendering some qualifica- the candi-
tion in reference to that purpose a pre-requisite sp.,miing'^^"
to admission. This is a fourth essential con- Iig„' o7 the
dition of the voluntary association of Christians. ^'^°*'*''^*°"'
The purpose for which Christian churches were
instituted, is purely spiritual, and cannot be
fulfilled except so far as there prevails in the
characters of their respective members, a moral
correspondence with the design and object of
their formation. To the evidences of this cor-
respondence, the principle of selection must
exclusively relate: in other words, to those

92 CONDITIONS OF VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS.

dispositions and characteristics by which men,
whose social claims are equal, are, as religious
beings, essentially distinguishable. The ne-
cessity of certain moral pre requisites to initia-
tion, is recognised even in those ecclesiastical
incorporations in which the principles of selec-
tion and voluntary association are abandoned.
Faith and repentance are exacted from the in-
fant at the font, previous to his ceremonial
initiation into the national Churcb; andalthough
these conditions are strangely supposed to be
discharged by proxy, and the qualifications
exist only in the hypothesis of future perform-
ance, still, it is manifest that the original notion
of a Christian Church, as a congregation of be-
lievers, is to be traced in the corrupt institutes
of a secular establishment. It may pernaps be
contended, that faith and repentance are indeed
the moral conditions of becoming a member of
the true and spiritual Church of Christ; but
that simply the profession of belief is requisite
to entitle the candidate to be received into a
Christian Society, as part of the visible church
upon earth. In what light then are we to con-
template admission into the visible church, —
as a civil, or as a religious transaction ? If it
be only a political society into which the pro-
fession of faith constitutes a term of introduc-
tion, the condition may well enough be per-
formed by a legal fiction ; and the profession

CONDITIONS OF VOLUNTAEY ASSOCIATIONS. 93

of a proxy may, if the civil authorities be
pleased so to determine it, be valid : only, it
may reasonably be inquired, what faith and re-
pentance should have to do with an individual's
Ciualifications for admission into a political com-
munity, or why any qualifications should be
required that may so easily be dispensed with,
by means of a legal fiction. But if, on the con-
trary, the view we have taken of what consti-
tutes a Christian Church, be correct, if it be
a voluntary association of believers for pur-
poses purely spiritual, admission cannot be
considered as either a civil or a ceremonial
transaction ; and the terms of communion,
therefore, must respect the religious character.
The profession of religions belief is, in truth, as
much a moral action, as faith itself: it must be
so, considered as a duty, and it consequently
lies wholly out of the province of compulsion.
A profession that is not spontaneous and vo-
luntary, is justly liable to suspicion ; but should
it obviously originate in impure motives, so far
from its being the discharge of a religious duty,
or its forming a personal qualification for ad-
mission into a Christian society, it would be
absolutely fatal to the pretensions of the in-
dividual, by bringing in question his moral cha-
racter. How fearful, then, must be the amount
of guilt entailed by the irreligious attempt to
force indiscriminately upon all descriptions of

94 CONDITIONS OF VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS.

persons, the profession of what there is every
reason, in the majority of cases, to believe they
do not actually possess. Yet, if a man's civil
rights and privileges are snspended on his out-
ward profession of religious belief, what is this
but to hold out the strongest inducements to
either a thoughtless or a deliberate hypocrisy?
This is indeed doing evil that good may come;
but evil in the hands of man can bring forth
only evil. To require all men to make a pro-
fession of Christian belief, and to enforce that
requisition by penal sanctions or secular induce-
ments, is to take away all that is distinguishing
in that profession as an expression of charac-
ter; to confound together those two grand
moral classes into which mankind are divided,
as believers and unbelievers ; and to destroy
the only basis upon which religious commu-
nion, as a practical reality, can be established.
It is of the more importance to place in a
clear point of view, the primitive character of
Christian assemblies as voluntary societies, be-
cause upon this point hinges the whole contro-
versy respecting ecclesiastical polity. The
terms of communion in Christian Churches,
their constitutional form, and the nature of
discipline, would be with far less difficulty ad-
justed, were these first principles of religious
union admitted as furnishing a key to the in-
quiry.

NATUBE OF CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP. 95

§ 4. The first Christian comiu unities were far Nature of
from being held together by the mere tie of vo- feiSiip
luntary association. Religious union includes i'nf/.Ssf
the idea of mutual affection, the genuine result astembiTes.
of those common views and principles which
are peculiar to the Christian character. One
design of the institution of the Lord's supper,
was, to cement this mutual attachment, to con-
stitute a pledge and expression of Christian
fraternity ; while, as a solemn memorial of the
transcendent love of Him who loved them so
as to give his life for them, it presented the
strongest conceivable motive to the exercise of
that love which he enjoined upon his followers.
" By this shall all men know that ye are my
*' disciples, if ye love one another." In the
conduct of the early Christians, this charac-
teristic w^as distinctly recognised. *' Behold,"
it was said, *' how these Christians love one
" another !" This love to the brotherhood " for
" whom Christ died," was not an ideal bond,
or a mere sentiment; it formed the very life
and essence of religious communion, infusing
itself into every social rite. It was indispen-
sable, therefore, that he whom they received
into their society, should not merely pro-
fess his assent to the truth of Christianity,
but exhibit some correspondence of cha-
racter, in order to his being received with con-
fidence and affection as a Christian brother.

QQ NATURE OF CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP.

In the absence of secular motives, especially
during seasons of persecution, the probability
would be extremely small that any individual,
destitute of the religious principle, should, un-
less under the influence of self-deception, seek
to join himself to the Christian society. The
very profession of belief, under those circum-
stances, formed a presumptive evidence of sin-
cerity. The Apostolic history presents to us,
it is true, some lamentable exceptions ; but the
signal and miraculous judgements by which
these were attended, marked at once the cri-
minality and the danger of an insincere pro-
fession of Christianity. The consequence was,
that " great fear came upon all the Church,
" and upon as many as heard these things."
The tenor of the Apostolic exhortations, ne-
cessarily implies that the societies to which
they were addressed, were persons whose collec-
tive character at once distinguished them from
other men, and bound them, in accordance and
sympathy, to one another. For them to " walk
icor.iii.3. "as (other) men," is represented as incon-
sistent with their spiritual character. The
duties which devolved upon them, as members
of the Christian brotherhood, were altogether
peculiar, and pre-supposed a radical change to
have been superinduced upon the character of
every individual upon whom they were enjoin-
ed. The preaching of the Gospel was the

NATURE OF CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP. ~ 97

instituted means of effecting this change, and
the formation of Christian Churches uniformly
took place a.^ the consequence of its success.
To collect together a Church under some form
of government, and then to attempt the con-
version of the individuals of whom it was com-
posed, was not the [)ractice of the Apostles:
but " they that gladly received the word, were
" baptized,"'* and thus " believers were added *Actsi!.4i
*' to the Lord."t Religious character was the tibicw. i4
indispensable, and it may be as truly affirmed,
the sole pre-requisite to Christian communion.
Who then can be authorized to introduce any
change in the essential laws and constitution
of the churches of Christ? to institute other
terms of communion, or to dispense with these
qualifications, by compulsory statutes, which
supersede and preclude all selection founded
on discrimination of character? Why should it
be deemed unlawful for Christian men to asso-
ciate together on the very same principles as
those on which the primitive churches were
established, to employ the very same means
in order to their formation that the Apostles
employed — the preaching of the word, and to
attempt to realize those spiritual objects which
they had exclusively in view? Of this alone
are Nonconformists guilty, in declining sub-
mission to the claims of Ecclesiastical esta-
blishments.

H

98 RELIGIOUS TESTS.

On terms of § 5. Biit, It may be said, admitting that the qua-
as a means lincatioiis forChnstiaii communion have under-

of ascerlaiii- i, j" a\ ^ r

iiigquaiifi- gone no alteration, trie terms oi communion,
*^''"""' considered as a means of ascertaining the re-
ality of those qualifications, may admit of being
circumstantially modified, in order to meet the
varied aspect of society. It must be granted,
then, that a religious community have a right
to be satisfied as to the fact of the religious cha-
racter of the individual candidate, and they
must be allowed to decide upon the requisite
evidence. So long as the terms of communion
maintain an ultimate reference to religious sin-
cerity, as the only object of their restrictive
operation, they can be considered as illegitimate
only so far as they can be proved inefficient,
unnecessary, or unjust: their propriety must
in fact be determined by their expediency.
Articles and Articlcs and Confessions of faith are among,
the most ancient tests of character, that have
been introduced with a view to preserve the
purity and unity of Christian Churches; and
so long as they constituted the terms of a vo-
luntary union, they possessed a degree of posi-
tive efficiency. The connexion between belief
in the peculiar doctrines of Christianity, and
the existence of the religious principle, being
attested by experience, it was instituting a le-
gitimate criterion of character, to require the
explicit assent of every individual to a declara-

RELIGIOUS TESTS. 99

tion of what the Church held, with one accord,
as essential truths. It might also be deemed
the most likely method of preventing differences
of opinion among its members, to put forth a
specific statement of the doctrines respecting
which it was judged necessary to secure an
entire accordance. It is true that even in vo-
luntary societies, the utility of creeds, viewed
as tests of character, is extremely limited, and
if they are substituted for other means of de-
termining the religious qualifications of the indi-
vidual, they will frequently prove fallacious;
since they can operate as a restriction only with
persons of integrity. But when Subscription
to articles of faith is enforced by civil authority,
their inexpediency becomes aggravated to the
height of absurdity ; their original design, as
tests of character, is wholly frustrated ; they
are then tests of nothing but political obe-
dience— of obedience in that one sole respect
in which it is wholly unauthorized by Christ-
ianity ; and the imposition becomes as useless
as it is illegitimate. The articles thus enforced,
may be unobjectionable, or even highly valu-
able, as a summary of Christian doctrine, but
they serve no purpose as a declaration of belief
on the part of those who subscribe them, for the
essence of profession is destroyed when profes-
sion is no longer free. It is, indeed, matter of
historical notoriety, that the faith of political so-
h2

100 • RELIGIOUS TESTS,

cieties, has very rarely corresponded with their
formularies.*
Legitimate We must distino'uish between the use of creeds,

design of re- , . _

ligious tests, and the imposition of creeds. f The former may
be inexpedient, the latter only is unjust. The
opposition to creeds has, no doubt, in some
instances, originated in a disbelief of the truths
which they contained; sometimes in a rather
fastidious disapprobation of the expressions in
which those truths were imbodied ; or in a secret
wish that the points should be surrendered
as unimportant, respecting which there existed
in the mind only a half-persuasion that they
were true. There is an indecision, — an in-
tellectual cowardice, which sometimes keeps
men halting and wavering all their lives about
the most evident propositions of Scriptural
truth, while they take to themselves the credit

* " Composed under the influence of secular authority,
*' they may serve to ascertain the faith of the court, or of the
" convocation which composed them, but they are not the
** faith of those who were never consulted about the business.
* '' They possibly may contain the faith of these societies, but

*' they do not ascertain the fact." — Grahame's " Review
" of Ecclesiastical Establishments."

t " Creeds in themselves, so far from being an invasion
** on the rights of mankind, are the necessary exertions of
*' these very rights. All free societies have a right to use
*' their own understandings in choosing what they shall be-
*' lieve and profess. Were they precluded the right of taking
*• care that their public teachers and members be of one and
** the same faith, in order to answer the purpose of commu-
*' nion, they would cease to be free." Ibid. p.

RELIGIOUS TESTS. 101

of peculiar candour and discernment ; they are
afraid to believe ; they dare not disbelieve. No
individual could reasonably hesitate to satisfy
the society he claimed the privilege of joining,
as to the accordance of his religious sentiments
with their views of the doctrines of Christianity ;
and were he required to subscribe to the written
expression of his own sentiments, his refusal to
comply with that formality would wear the
appearance either of prevarication or of per-
verseness. It is exactly the same thing if, with
a view simply to ascertain the fact of his be-
lief, not to dictate laws to his conscience, a
declaration previously drawn up by the com-
munity, is presented for his voluntary signature
of assent. The Church has a right to demand
the explicit avowal of his faith, as part of that
confession before men which is required of every
disciple of Christ ; and it has a right to appoint
the manner in which this avowal shall be made,
as a term of admission, because no natural
claim can be pleaded against exclusion, and no
civil privileges are suspended on compliance.
What is required in this case of the individual,
is, not that he shall believe what the Church
believes, for this duty rests upon far other
grounds than human authority, and no one has
it in his power to believe at the requisition of
another ; — but that he shall openly express that
belief which, from his voluntary application to

J()2 RELIGIOUS TESTS.

be received into that Christian society, it is pre-
sumed that he aheady possesses.

Articles of faith may, as imbodying the dic-
tates of Divine truth, lay claim to an intrinsic
moral authority^ but this authority is of a
species wholly distinct from human legislative
power, and is not susceptible of hmnan sanc-
tions. The moral authority of articles and
creeds, is derived purely from the Scriptures,
to the claims of which on the human heart
they cannot possibly add any thing, since tiiose
claims rest upon the character of God, and the
evidences of Revelation. Articles of faith do
not partake of the nature of evidence, and
therefore they make no alteration in the cir-
cumstances of duty ; for were all the world to
require us to believe a proposition contrary to
the Scriptures, our compliance would be im-
piety; and what God commands us to believe,
the authority of all the Churches upon earth,
cannot render a whit more our duty to believe,
or more impious to reject. Nothing but ad-
ditional evidence can increase the force of our
obligations to receive the truth ; and human
authority is not evidence.
^ , . Articles of faith, w hatever moral claims to

Creeds m- '

beS^'^en"*^ our asscut tlicy may derive from their con-

forcedby fomiity to ScHpturc, do not admit of being

authoritatively imposed as a law of belief: they

are serviceable only as they constitute the ex-

RELIGIOUS TESTS, 103

pression of relis^ious sentiments. Belief does
not take place in the mind as the consequence
of any law: were that the case, all men would
believe, for the Divine law which commands
them to believe, is binding upon all men : but
if Divine laws are not adapted to produce
this effect, how absurd were the idea that belief
should be in any way the result of human le-
gislation? Yet, articles of faith connected with
penal sanctions, not only involve this monstrous
supposition, but include three others equally
false. They suppose, first, that man is account-
able to man, for his religious actions; secondly,
that those religious actions can be compelled ;
and thirdly, that a compulsive authority is
vested in the Church for this purpose: whereas,
nothing is more certain than that belief, when
•it deserves the name of a religious action, is the
result of principles in the heart, which no hu-
man agency can of itself originate.

Men, as religious beings, or beings capable on belief, as

... . 1 . 1 connected

of religion, are not to be viewed in the mere ca- «uii thede-
pacity of subjects of the legislative government ofcbaiaci«r.
of God: they are under a peculiar mor^l dis-
pensation, as being placed in a state of proba-
tion, liable to temptation, and compassed with
difficulties; one design of which, it is evident
from the whole plan of Divine Providence, is
the manifestation of their individual cliaracters.
It constitutes part of this probation, that the

104 RELIGIOUS TESTS.

evidence of religion, as well as the moral evi-
dence by which mankind are called to deter-
mine many of their ordinary actions, is not so
obvious, or of so high a degree, as to leave no
scopeforthemoralexerciseoftheunderstanding
in accepting or in rejecting it. " That religion
" is not intuitively true," remarks Bishop But-
ler, " but a matter of deduction and inference;
" that a conviction of its truth is not forced
*' upon every one, but left to be, by some, col-
" lected with heedful attention to premises ;
*' this as mnch constitutes religious probation,
<' as much affords sphere, scope, opportunity,
*' for right or wrong behaviour, as any thing
*' whatever does. And their manner of treat-
" ing this subject when laid before them, shews
" what is in their heart, and is an exercise of it."
" In the great variety of religious situations,"
he adds, " in which men are placed, what con-
*' stitutes, what chiefly and peculiarly consti-
*' tutes, the probation, in all senses, of some
" persons, may be the difficulties in which the
" evidence of religion is involved ; and their
*' principal and distinguished trial may be, how
*' they will behave under and with respect to
*' these difficulties." The Bishop adverts to
the sceptical objection against Revelation,
founded on the supposed deficiency in its proof,
and represents the objector as arguing, that,
*' were a prince to send directions to a servant.

RELIGIOUS TESTS. 105

" he would take care that they should always
** bear the certain marks whom they came from,
*' and that their sense should be always plain,
" so that no doubt should exist as to the au-
" thority or the meaning of them." The full
answer to this objection, he remarks, " lies
*' in the very nature of religion. The reason
" why a prince would give his directions in this
" plain manner, is, that he absolutely desires
" such an external action should be done, with-
" out concerning himself with the motive and
" principle upon which it is done: i. e. he re-
" gards only the external event, or the thing's
" being done, and not at all, properly speaking,
" the doing of it, or the action. Whereas the
" whole of morality and religion, consisting
" merely in action itself, there is no sort of
** parallel between the cases."*

Nothing can betray greater ignorance of the
nature of religion, than the notion, that the mere
sentiment of belief is of any moral value, so
that the production of it in the heart by an act
of human authority, should, were it possible,
be a service acceptable to God. Is it not ma-
nifest, that under circumstances which should
render belief unavoidable, by removing the pos-
sibility of doubt, there would be no room for

* Butler's (Bp.) '' Analogy of Natural and Revealed
<' Religion." 8vo. pp. 278, 291.

106 RELIGIOUS TESTS.

the manifestation of individual character? Will
not death place us in such a state of certainty?
And of what value will belief be then ? Will it
be then an act of obedience in the unhappy out-
casts of Heaven, that they believe? But in a
state of probationary discipline, faith is an ex-
pression of character: it is not forced upon the
mind by an outward necessity, but is the result
of a religious exercise of the dispositions of the
heart; and it is this exercise of religious obedi-
ence in believing the testimony of God, not be-
lieving considered in itself, that constitutes our
duty our " reasonable service, acceptable to
" God."— Creeds, then, and Articles offai th, since
they do not partake of the nature of evidence,
since they are not susceptible of the authority of
law, have no properties calculated to produce
religion in tlie mind, and tlieir being assented to,
is a circun^stance of no moral consideration, un-
less it be the result of a voluntary religious act
on the part of the individual.

The legitimate design of declarations of re-
ligious belief, is, to ascertain, not to produce ac-
cordance of opinion, i)y presenting a standing
record of that faith which is the basis of religious
union. But accordance of opinion is no fin*ther
necessary than as it relates to those points, a
belief in which is essential to the Christian
character : articles and symbols, therefore,
which aim at securing uniformity on non-essen-

THE apostles' CREED. ]07

tials, are justly condemned. If they comprise
propositions which a religions man may safely
disbelieve, they infallibly lead to thvit worst
species of schism in the Christian Church — a
separation among- good men. Subscription, in
that case, ceases to deserve being termed a con-
fession of faith; it is no longer an expression of
character, or an act of religions obedience ; it is
a mere intellectual deference to human opinion.
Human opinion is possessed of no intrinsic
authority : hence has arisen the supposed po-
litical necessity of arming it with power.

§ 6. The most ancient symbols of faith are, of The apo»
course, the most simple: they were designed cr^e'e^d.
only to separate the believer from the unbeliever,
and to hold forth to the infidel world that faith
in which all the disciples of Christ were of one
heart and of one mind. That brief summary
of the principal doctrines of Christianity, known
under the name of the Apostles' Creed, has,
indeed, no pretensions to be considered as the
production of the Apostolic age; but some of
the articles of which it consists, were certainly
derived from the very days of the Apostles,
being found in all the ancient creeds.* The
creed itself was not all composed at once, but,
as Mosheim states, " from small beginnings,
" has imperceptibly augmented in proportion

* See Lord King's Critical History of the Apostles'
Creed. Loudon, 1702. Page 24, et seq.

108 THE apostles' CREED.

" to the growth of heresy, and according to the
*' exigencies and circumstances of the Church,
" from which it was designed to banish the
*' errors that daily arose.'* Its origin may
clearly be traced to the brief and simple con-
fession of faith demanded of the Christian con-
vert previously to his being baptized ; such as
was conveyed in the declaration of the Ethio-
pian nobleman to Philip : " I believe that Jesus
** Christ is the Son of God." This was the
purpose which the Creed itself was primarily

* SeeMosHEiM's Eccl. History, Vol. 1. P. 116 — " As for
*' the other articles of the Creed, viz. Such as are predicated of
" Christ, as, His being conceived of the HoIyGhcst, horn of the
i( yirgin Mary, S)'c. and those other two. The Holy Catholic
" Church, and, The Forgiveness of Sins, I conceive thein to
'* be introduced in opposition to heresies, as they sprung up
" in the Church : as, Was conceived by the Holy Ghost, in
" opposition to the Carpocratians, Ebionites, and Cerin-
" thians, who taught, that Christ was born in the ordinary
" and common way as other men and women are: Was born
*' of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, Sfc. in
" contradiction to the Docetaj, Simonians, and others, who af-
" firmed Christ to be a man, not really, but only phantastically,
*' or in appearance: The Remission of Sins, against the Basi-
** lidians, who held, that not all sins, but only involuntary
*' ones would be remitted; or rather against the Novatians,
" who denied remission to the lapsed ; The Holy Catholic
" Church, to exclude thereby all hereticks and schismaticks
*' from being within the pale thereof. The Communion of
** Saints \V2LS brought in last of all." Lord King's Enquiry
into the Constitution, &c. of the Primitive Church. Second
Part. ch. iii. p. G6.

THE apostles' CREED. 109

designed to answer;* for, indeed, we cannot
imagine that the members of a primitive church
should need have had the few elementary pro-
positions of which it consists, mechanically en-
forced upon their memories by a reiterated
formal confession of believing in them. Christ-
ian Churches were not, in the first age at least,
composed of nominal converts, strangers to the
first principles of religion.

Even this Creed, however, is not, as respects
some of the later interpolations, unexception-
able. The proposition, He descended into hell,
descendit ad inferos, bears the mark of a paren-
thetical origin, and is clearly referrible to the
traditions of men. Bishop Pearson has shewuf
that it is in none of the ancient rules of faith,
either Roman or Oriental. It was first used in
the- Church of Aquileia, towards the latter end

* " Cyprian writes, that at baptism, they asked tbebaptized
" person's assent to this Creed, Whether he believed in God
** the Father^ Son, and Holy Ghost ^ Remission of Sins, and
" Eternal Life through the Church? And that at baptism
*' they asked. Dost thou believe the Life everlasting and Re^
" mission of Sins through the Holy Church ? These articles
** of faith, to which the baptized persons gave their assent, are
"called by Cyprian, The Law of the Symbol; and by No-
** vatian, The Rule of Truth." Lord King's Enquiry into
the Constitution, &c. of the Primitive Church. Second Part,
ch. iii. p. 56.

f See Bishop Pearson on the Creed, vol.ii. p. 341.
Lord King's History of the Apostles' Creed, p, 260.

110 THE APOSTLES CREED.

of the fourth century; it was subsequently in-
troduced into the Roman creed ; and from the
Church of Rome it has been faithfully copied
into the English Prayer-book. Rather more
solicitude, however, has been manifested, to
preserve the letter, than to define the meaning
of the original ; for, as the Bishop expresses it,
this article " has always been accepted, but
*' ivith a various exposition T so that, it seems,
this very declaration of faith, which is designed
to banish all error, and to terminate all contro-
versy, stands itself in need of an Expositor, to
rescue it from a doubtful meaning! At its first
adoption by the Eughsh Church, in the fourth
year of King Edward the Sixth, " it was," we
are informed, " propounded with a certain ex-
" plication," which referred to the 1 Peter iii. 19,
as the authority on which it rested : thus seem-
ing to countenance the interpretation of the
article given by Calvin, that by ad inferos, or ad
inferna, was designed, not hades, but gehenna,
the place of torment. But this explication and
reference being in the reign of Elizabeth sup-
pressed, the Bishop argues, that " the Church
" hath not now imposed the interpretation of St.
*' Peter's words which before was intimated, "and
that therefore we may " w ith the greater liberty
** pass on to find out its true nieaning, accord-
" ing to the latitude of whicli the original is ca-
" pable." It is rather strange, that latitude of

THE APOSTLES* CREED. HI

meaning should be the acknowledged charac-
teristic of any part of a declaration of faith de-
signed to exclude controversy, and that while
assent to it is imperatively enjoined, we should
still be at liberty to find out the meaning ! It is,
however, well known, that it was one of the
charges of heresy brought against Archbishop
Usher, by the famous Peter Heylin, that he did
not believe, as the Church believed, that Christ
descended to gehenna, but maintained, that by
" hell" was intended the state of separate spi-
rits.* This, no doubt, is the original import of
the English word, which is derived from the Sax-
on Ml, to hide ; and answers to the Greek aSr/c, the
unseen place. The word hell has, however, no
such acceptation in the present day, being al-
ways taken in an evil sense : the article, there-
fore, conveys to the common people no correct
or intelligible meaning. A similar objection lies
against the use of the word in the present au-
thorized version of the Bible. This, however, is
not the only article in the Apostles' Creed, that
is chargeable with equivocal meaning. Tliefor-
giveness of sms, added in the days of Cyprian,

* " This year (1560) another great controversy arose,
" which afterwards was the occasion of much persecution; it
*' was about Christ's descent into hell ; and there were seve-
" i*ai of our Bishops, who were for ruining those who would
*' not hold that Christ went into the hell of the damned."^
Pierce's Vindication of the Dissenters. 8ro, Pt. i. p. 60.

112 THE NICENE CREED.

is susceptible of a dangerous latitude of inter-
pretation, since it may justly be suspected,
from the original purpose of the Creed, as de-
signed to be repeated by the person to be bap-
tized, that it refers to the supposed efficacy of
baptism for the remission of sins ; agreeably to
the article in the Nicene Creed : " I acknow-
" ledge one baptism for the remission of sins."
Taken in connexion with the exalted epithets
bestowed upon this ordinance by the Latin Fa-
thers, it seems to countenance those notions of
a sacramental virtue inherent in the rite itself,
and a ministerial power residing in the Church,
for the forgiveness of sins, the traces of which
are still extant in the offices of the Church of
England.
The ni- & 7. The Nicene Creed had its origin in the

CENE

Creed. fourth ccutury, when the Church of Christ had
suffered the destruction of its spiritual charac-
ter, by means of the fatal alliance between eccle-
siastical discipline and secular power. In con-
sequence of the rise of the Arian heresy, the
Emperor Constantine, " in order," as Hooker
relates it, " to reduce the Church unto the uni-
*' ty of sound belief, gathered that famous as-
" sembly of three hundred and eighteen bishops
" in the Council of Nice, where, with common
" consent, for the settling of all men's minds,
" that other confession of faith was set down,
*' which we call the Nicene Creed, whereunto

THE NICENE CREED. 113

" the Arians themselves, which were present,
*' subscribed also; not that they meant sincere-
" ly and indeed to forsake their error; but only
" to escape deprivation and exile, which they
" saw they could not avoid ; openly persisting
" in their former opinions when the greater part
*' had concluded against them, and that with
- the Emperor's royal assent."* ^.^^^S;;

Here let us pause, to contemplate with be- b. v. §42.
coming admiration, this first attempt to expel
heresy from the Church of Christ, by the inter-
position of the secular power; — the First Act of
Uniformity passed by virtue of an Imperial de-
cree ! Behold its wondrous efficacy ! The Arians
subscribed to the Confession, in order to retain
their benefices : what more could they have
done? They could not believe at the requisi-
tion even of the Emperor Constantine; unless
indeed the royal assent had proved more avail-
ing than the authority of the Scriptures, to settle
their minds respecting the perfect Deity of
Christ. They could not lay down their opi-
nions, because they were outvoted in the Coun-
cil ; but they had learned the lesson of eccle-
siastical submission; they subscribed: that is
to say, they recognised, as far as they could do,
the authority of the Church in controversies of
faith. Would the learned writer blame them
for this? But they did not mean " sincerely to
" forsake their error!" Wherefore should they
I

114 THE NICENE CREED.

have done s5? What should have kept them
from hoping, that as the question of sound be-
lief was thus determinable by the sentence of
a Council sanctioned by royal assent, another
Council and another Emperor might in a short
time be prevailed upon to settle all men's minds,
according to those very errors which they were
now called upon to resign. And what, if, out
of the three hundred and eighteen bishops who
composed the Council of Nice, one hundred
and fifty-nine had been Arians, and the deci-
sion of the Church had trembled on the Em-
peror's casting vote? It would then have been
a fearful chance which way all men's minds
should be settled after all. The Nicene
Creed might have assumed a very different
complexion, and deprivation and exile might
have awaited the orthodox impugners of the
authority of the Holy Catholic Church. What,
then, would have been the incumbent duty of
the dissenting bishops of that same Council,
had the Arians obtained a majority ? If it was
the duty of the latter to forsake their opinions,
in obedience to the decision of the Council and
the royal assent, it must have been no less,
under similar circumstances, the duty of the
former. The authority of Councils and Em-
perors is only valid, perhaps, when it is the
faithful interpreter of Scripture ; but with whom
rests the prerogative of deciding upon the fide-

THE NICENE CREED.

lity of this interpretation? Is the authority
which claims to interpret the truth, the judge
of its own fidelity? If not, we must refer the
determination, at last, to individual judgement.
Yet what becomes of a conditional authority,
the validity of which is absolutely suspended
on the rectitude of its decisions ? Has an Arian
council no authority, while an orthodox council
is in its very nature infallible, so that an Arian
dissident has no right to persist in his own
opinion, but an orthodox schismatic is perfectly
justified? Whatever distinction there may be
between the two cases on religious grounds,
there can be none in ecclesiastical polity ; for
in either case, if the scruples of the conscienti-
ous recusant went counter to an act of uni-
formity, deprivation and exile would have been
alike the penalty.

The Emperor's object, in summoning this
Council, was to reduce the Church " unto the
" unity of sound belief." No doubt, he was led
by his spiritual cabinet, to expect that all men
would obediently believe whatever, as the re-
sult of the deliberations of those three hundred
and eighteen bishops, should be set down for
the direction of their faith. It does not appear
to have been part of the design, to exclude any
persons from the episcopal functions, by fram-
ing such a declaration of faith as they should
be incapable of subscribing: it was wished that
i2

li

116 THE NICENE CREED.

all should subscribe and assent to it. No pre-
concerted plan of the ascendant faction was, as it
should seem, frustrated by the Arians who were
present subscribing to the Declaration : their
refusal was not anticipated with complacency,
as a pretence for consigning them to exile or
imprisonment; nor were any fears expressed,
that the terms of subscription might not prove
strait enough to prevent some of the bishops from
complying with them. The Emperor's design
was simply to terminate dissention by imposing
a definite standard of religious belief. His
error consisted in imagining, that Declarations
of Faith would have any efficacy to produce
conviction, or to reconcile hostile opinions;
that they could either operate any change as to
what persons did in fact believe, or affect the
question of duty, as to what they were bound to
believe; that they could have either the au-
thority of a law upon the conscience, or the
force of evidence upon the reason. Such an
error in Constantino, was, however, natural, if
not pardonable : but what must have been the
ideas of the nature of religion and the design
of Christianity, entertained by his episcopal
counsellors? Did they conceive that belief or
unbelief was a mere matter of opinion, which
could be adjusted by the fiat of an Emperor?
Who, then, were these contending parties?
Were they rival sects of philosophers, each

THE NICENE CREED. 117

seeking to establish its own favourite hypo-
thesis? No : they were the assertors of the
equal Deity of Christ on the one hand, and the
impugners of his Divinity on the other, striving
for the mastery, threatening each other with
deprivation and exile for not believing what
themselves believed, and calling in a semi-pagan
Emperor, to accomplish their conversion by a
decree which was to settle, by imperial au-
thority, the truth, or at least the import of Di-
vine Revelation !

The result was such as might have been an-
ticipated. Not only heresy refused to give place
to the imperial Divine and his episcopal exor-
cists, but it acquired fresh strength, so as to over-
power the prophets who sought to eject it by
so unhallowed means. Jesus it knew, and Paul
it knew, but who was Constantine? The Arians
increased in numbers and in influence, till at
length, as Hooker conducts the narration, —
" Osius the antientest bishop that Christendom
" then had, the most forward in defence of the
" Catholic cause, and of the contrary part most
" feared ; that very Osius, with whose hand the
" Nicene Creed itself was set down and framed
" for the whole Christian world to subscribe
" unto, so far yielded in the end, as even with
" the same hand to ratify the Arian Confession.
" But such was the stream of the times, that all
" men gave place unto it. So that this was the

118 "^HE NICENE CREED.

" plain condition of those times ; the whole
" world against Athanasius, and Athanasius
^' against it; and half a hundred of years were
" spent in doubtful trial which of the two in
" the end would prevail."

With respect to the Nicene Creed itself, it
is, in those articles in which it differs from the
more ancient symbol, about as serviceable and
as intelligible to the greater part of those who
are taught to recite it, as if it were given in the
original Greek.* If one person in ten were
asked to explain what distinct idea he attached
to " begotten of The Father before all worlds;
*' begotten not made; being of one substance

* " They who framed the Apostles' Creed," says Bishop
Jeremy Taylor, " thought it not fit to use any words but
^' the words of Scripture, particularly in the Article of Christ's
*' descending into hell, and sitting at the right hand of God,
" to shew us that those creeds are best which keep the very
'* words of Scripture; and that it is better in all cases hum-
" bly to submit, than curiously to inquire and pry into the
** mystery under the cloud, and to hazard our faith by im-
*' proving our knowledge: if the Nicene fat hers had done so,
*' possibly the Church would never have repented it. And,
" indeed', the experience the Church had afterwards, shewed
** that the bishops and priests were not satisfied in all cir-
'* cumstances, nor the schism appeased, nor the persons
" agreed, nor the canons accepted, nor the article understood^
" nor any thing right, but when they were overborn with
" authority, which authority, when the scales turned, did the
*' same service and promotion to the contrary." Liberty
of Prophesying. Chapter ii.

THE NICENE CREED. 119

" with the Father; light of light;" he would
find himself ill the predicament of the peasant,
who, in reply to a similar interrogatory, declared,
That he believed what the Church believed;
and on being asked what the Church believed,
answered, That the Church believed what he
believed ; and on being pressed still further as
to what both the Church and he believed, could
only reply. That the Church and himself be-
lieved the same thing. Indeed, the sense of the
original creed, in some of these articles, was
esteemed so ambiguous, that it was disputed
whether the Nicene Fathers meant any thing
more by oiuo^mog than likeness to the Father. The
word substance is, in this connexion, a purely
scholastic or metaphysical term, conveying no
proper idea to uneducated persons, and the
theological subtilties which are enveloped in
the other phrases, are not less transcendently
incomprehensible: but, nevertheless, they may
possibly be believed in, on the same ground
that Jeremy Taylor assigns for the implicit re-
ception which was given to the terra hypostasis,
when first invented : " It was so long before it
*' could be understood, that it was believed
" therefore, because they would not expose
" their superiors, or disturb the peace of the
" Church, in things which they thought could
" not be understood."

To clear the Church afresh from its heretical

120 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.

The atha- coiTections, a third Creed was privately drawn

WASIAN * *'

CttEED. up, composed, according to Hooker, about the
year three hundred and forty, but not at that
time " so expedient to be publicly used in the
" Church of God, because," as he alleges, " while
" the heat of division lasteth, truth itself en-
" during opposition, doth not so quietly and
" currently pass throughout all men's hands,
" neither can be of that account which after-
" wards it hath, when the world once per-
" ceiveth the virtue thereof, not only in itself,
" but also by the conquest which God hath
" given it over heresy." It may be questioned
whether the Apostles ever anticipated that all
the world should perceive the virtue of truth ;
or that it would ever pass quietly and currently
through all men's hands. This was not the result
to which they directed their exertions as the
ministers of Christ ; they never entertained the
idea that the praise of men, or the authority
of men, should be employed to enforce the Di-
vine authority of the gospel, or the claims of
God. " Your most religious wisdom know-
*' eth," writes Saint Hilary unto Saint Augustine,
" how great the number is in the Church of
" God, whom the very authority of men's names
" doth keep in that opinion which they hold
" already, or draw unto that which they have
*' not before held." And is the Church of God
to be built up of such lifeless stones, such ill-

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 121

assorted materials, thus artificially cemented
by the art of men ? Was the religious wisdom
of St. Paul acquainted with these expedients
for keeping- together '' God's building," the
habitation of the Eternal Spirit? How striking-
ly do such specimens of ecclesiastical polity
evince, that " the foolishness of God is wiser
" than men, and the weakness of God is
" stronger than men!"

The Athanasian Creed is a monstrous speci-
men of the perverted zeal, and Anti-Christian
animosity, which at that period infected the
minds of good men ; it shews how mistaken
the most learned theologians may be as to the
very nature of religion. As if the difficulty lay,
not in bringing men to recognise the evidence
and authority of the truth, but in enabling them
to. understand it, we have here an attempt to
familiarize and explain, with the utmost logical
precision, the doctrine of the Trinity, in order,
as it should seem, that no excuse might be left
for the most ignorant person to remain an un-
believer. So little did the doctors of the Church
understand the nature of those spiritual things
which, while hidden from the wise and pru-
dent, are revealed by our Heavenly Father unto
babes. The most objectionable peculiarity,
however, of this Creed, is the impious presump-
tion of the vindictive Anathema with which it
closes, on account of which several distinguish-

122 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.

ed prelates of the English Church have openly
protested against its being imposed upon the
members of a religious community. The
Apostle Paul, under the guidance of inspira-
tion, has pronounced one solemn and emphatic
denunciation, and only one: " If any man love
" not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be ana-
*' thema maranatha." In this awful sentence,
it is remarkable that it is the disposition of the
lieart, as the seat of the religious principle, that
is expressly referred to : it is not error of be-
lief, whatsoever degree of culpability may at-
tach to it, but malignity of character, that
brands the unhappy being as accursed. The
author of this Greed, or of this appendix to the
Creed, has dared transfer the burden of cri-
minality from the heart to the understanding,
and having ventured to define what Scripture
has not defined, and to explain what reason
cannot fathom, has had the audacity to declare,
that unless a man believe the Catholic faith
thus explained in the unauthorized words of
human wisdom, " without doubt he shall pe-
" rish everlastingly. Glory be to the Father,
" and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost!!"*

* '' But now, if 1 should be questioned concerning the
" symbol of Athauasius, (for we see the Nicene symbol was
" the father of many more, some twelve or thirteen symbols
" in the space of a hundred years,) I confess I cannot see
" that moderate sentence and gentleness of charity in his

THE THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES. 123

The Thirty-nine Articles of Religion adopt- the thir-
ed by the Church of England, are, with a arTic'I'es.
few exceptions, deemed by the greater part
of the Protestant Nonconformists, unexcep-
tionable as a declaration of religious tenets:
similar objections, however, may be brought
against their being authoritatively imposed.
The pious founders of the Reformed Episcopacy
of England, were doubtless actuated by the
best intentions, and they achieved all that the
state of things at that period allowed of their
accompbshing: but still, " the high places were
"^ not removed ;" — the grand principle of Po-

" preface and conclusion as there was in the Nicene Creed.
" Nothing there but damnation and perishing everlastingly,
*' unless the article of the Trinity be believed, as it is there
** with curiosity and minute particularities explained. For
*' the articles themselves, I am most heartily persuaded of the
'• truth of them, and yet I dare not say that all that are not
** so, are irrevocably damned. Besides, if it were considered
*' concerning Athanasius' Creed, how many people understand
**^ it not, how contrary to natural reason it seems, how little
" the Scripture says of those curiosities of explication, — it had
** not been amiss if the final judgement had been left to
" Jesus Christ, for he is appointed Judge of all the world,
" and he shall judge the people righteously, for he knows
*' every truth, the degree of every necessity, and all excuses
" that do lessen or take away the nature or malice of a crime;
" all which I think, Athanasius, though a very good man, did
*' not know so well as to warrant such a sentence." BiSHOP
Taylor's Liberty of Prophesying. Ch. ii.

124 THE THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES.

pery, human authority in matters of religion, so
far from being rejected, was employed as the very
engine of establishing a purer system of doctrine.
These Articles, drawn up by Cranmer and Rid-
ley on the model of the Augsburg Confession,
were appointed by royal commission, and en-
forced by penal sanctions. A succeeding des-
pot reversed the decree of her predecessor, and
the nation vibrated between Popery and Pro-
testantism, till, at length, Elizabeth, as Supreme
Head of the National Church and Defender of
the Faith, decided, in opposition to her bishops,
that the people of England should be Protest-
ants, and that the laws should make them so.
The Thirty-nine Articles, revised and improved,
were again established for the preservation of
the newly-settled faith of the nation, and the
laws which laid the foundation of episcopal
uniformity, were sealed with the blood of the
Puritans. At no period, however, have these
Articles constituted, in point of fact, an expres-
sion of the sentiments of the established clergy.
At the time of their being first imposed, the
majority were sunk in the most deplorable ig-
norance, and still clung with fondness to the
Papal superstition. When the Act of Uni-
formity took place, the opinions of the dominant
faction were avowedly opposite to the whole
tenor of the Articles, and the ejected clergy
alone adhered to them as the model of their

THE THIETY-NINE ARTICLES. 125

preaching. In the present day, two hostile
parties in the same Church are contending, the
one, that the Articles should be interpreted by
the Liturgy, the other, that the Liturgy should
be interpreted by the Articles, while in truth,
although the authority of the Articles is pro-
fessedly recognised on both sides, the doctrines
which they contain, are openly impugned, and
inveighed against by the very prelates of the
establishment.

Archdeacon Paley, indeed, sensible of the
notorious discordance between the tenor of
these Articles, and the belief of the English
clergy, contends, that the subscriber needs not
concern himself respecting the sentiments of
the compilers ; who are no more, he says, to be
considered as theimposers of subscription, than
the framer or drawer up of a law is the person
that enacts it. The legislature of the 13th
Elizabeth, is the imposer whose intention alone,
it seems, he is bound to satisfy. The argument
he adduces, in support of this singular position,
affords a striking illustration of some of the pre-
ceding remarks. " They who contend," says
the Doctor, " that nothing less can justify sub-
" scription to the Thirty-nine Articles, than the
*' actual belief of each and every separate pro-
*' position contained in them, must suppose,
*' that the legislature expected the consent of
" ten thousand men, and that in perpetual

126 THE THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES.

" succession, not to one controverted proposi-
" tion, but to many hundreds. It is difficult to
" conceive how this could be expected by any^
" who observed the incurable diversity of hu-
" man opinion upon all subjects short of de-
• MoraiPui- " moustration."*

vou/p. ^ut, did the learned and candid writer forget,
^'^'^' that the principles of Moral and Political Phi-

losophy were not quite so well understood in
the days of Elizabeth as in the present age?
How difficult soever it may be to conceive of
the fact, we well know that the incurable di-
versity of human opinion, was not in that day
either observed or admitted ; for authority was
considered as possessing the force of demon-
stration, and as therefore superseding all coun-
ter-argument. The Church of which Elizabeth
was the head, expressly claimed this authority
in matters of faith ; and the implicit consent of
ten thousand men, was expected as part of their
political allegiance. The number of proposi-
tions contained in these Articles, is a consi-
deration of no moment ; for upon the same
ground that implicit assent can be required or
given, with regard to one single proposition, it
may be with equal reason exacted with regard
to a thousand : the same individual who could
bring himself to recognise human authority with
respect to one point of doctrine, would find no
difficulty in taking for granted the remaining

THE TIItRTY-NINE ARTICLES. l27

thirty-eight, or thirty-eight hundred, on the
same ground. Dr. Paley conceives, however,
that the authors of the law of subscription in-
tended to exclude from the exercise of eccle-
siastical functions merely the following three
classes : " all abettors of popery ; anabaptists ;
" and the puritans, who were hostile to an
" episcopal institution." He contends, more-
ever, that " during the present state of ecclesi-
" astical patronage," the danger of contentions
maybe effectually provided against, " by con-
" verting the articles of faith into articles of
" peace:" that is to say, that although a man
cannot undertake to believe in them, contrary
to his conviction, he is nevertheless at liberty
to enter into an engagement with the legisla-
ture, to preach the doctrines he is hired to pro-
pagate, whether they accord with his private
sentiments or not ; or, at least, to preacli no-
thing repugnant to the Articles which he has
subscribed : a principle upon which a good
Christian might obviously, with a safe consci-
ence, accept of a benefice in a Mahommedan
establishment, and live oti good terms with the
Koran itself.

What then is the real state of the case ? The c.mciusion.
Churchmen subscribe the Articles, but for the
most part do not agree with them ; the Dis-
senters, on the contrary, believe them, but
scruple to subscribe. The reason is this; the

128 THE THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES.

one class look upon subscription as a compli-
ance with a political arrangement imposed by
the legislature; the other, as a religious actj
which no human authority is competent to de-
mand or compel. The one consider the impo-
sition as a necessary condition of exercising a
species of magistracy emanating from the State;
the other, as an invasion of the most sacred
rights of men as moral beings, who can be under
no obligation to believe at the will of man, or to
take out commissions from the secular power
to preach the Gospel of Christ. In the Church
of England, the terms of communion consist of
an expression of political obedience ; among the
churches of the Nonconformists, they relate
solely to the religious character. In a National
Church, articles of faith are subscribed to be-
cause they are imposed : in a voluntary society,
because they are believed. In the one case, it
is the authority of man which is recognised ; in
the other, the authority of God. Asa rule of faith,
articles have no claim to implicit deference:
*' the Bible, the Bible only is the religion of
" Protestants." As a test of religious charac-
ter, articles, when authoritatively imposed,
can be of no avail ; and as a criterion of the
sentiments or the preaching of those who sub-
scribe them, experience has evinced their abso-
lute fallacy. There is far less diversity of re-
ligious opinion among the orthodox dissidents

THE THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES. 129

from the Church of England, than among those
who subscribe to her standard of uniformity.

Unity of sentiment in matters of religion, can
be obtained by no other means than such as
lay the foundation for congeniality of ciiarac-
ter. It is in vain to attempt to produce it
by legislative enactments -^ .!: must originate
in the development of principles uniform in
their operation, as well as in their origin: The
Christian character is not an ideal formation : it
is the genuine result of the faithful pronjulgation
of the Gospel; and it cannot prevail without giv-
ing birth to a unity of spirit w^hich will consti-
tute the strongest bond of peace. Church
polity attains its perfection, when it is wholly
imconnected with every thing except reli-
gion, and altogether unsupported by irreligi-
ous motives. Coercion, by suspending the
exercise of free-agency, and corrupt influence,
by vitiating the motives of action, are equally
destructive of the very principle of religion, of
every thing which constitutes religious actions
acceptable to God or beneficial to man.

CHAP. III.

On the Constitution of Christian Churches.

Peculiar § 1- Xhe attempt has been sometimes made,

tt'hSm-"'^ to fownd an argument for the truth of Christ-
whicb ianity, on the rapidity and extent of its diffusion
ciiristiaDity ^y^j. ^j^g wodd : and the remark of the Jewish

was csla- '

Wished. politician, *' If it be of men it will come to
" nought," has been referred to, as possess-
ing the weight of Apostolic wisdom. The
argument, however, presented in this naked
form, is ill adapted to command attention from
the infidel, since the religion of Mahommed,
which is emphatically the work of man, a sys-
tem of imposture and sensuality, so far from
having come to nought, as, in order to verify
Gamaliel's general prediction, it should have
done, was attended at its first promulgation with
astonishing success, and has for a series of ages
maintained an empire over society, more exten-
sive than that of Christianity. It is not the rapid
spread, therefore, of the doctrines taught by
the Apostles, which forms in itself the pre-
sumptive evidence of their truth, but the re-
markable mode in which the Chjristian faith was

CHARAPTER OF DIVINE AGENCY. 131

planted, and the peculiar nature of the agency
by which it triumphed over all the opposition
of earthly power and infernal malignity. la
this respect, the early history of the Church
presents a direct contrast to the manner in
which any scheme of human policy has ever
been carried into execution; and the infidel
can neither deny, nor on his own principles ac-
count for, the phenomenon. Yet, the argument
is seldom brought forward in its native force.
The greater part of those who believe in the
truth of Christianity, content themselves with
the mere knowledge of the fact, that it was
established in spite of opposition; and they
account for the event, as every other event is to
be accounted for, by ascribing it to the pro-
vidential agency of God ; but the character of
the means employed by Divine wisdom to effect
this great moral achievement, and which im-
parts to the fact all its value as an argument in
favour of the truth of Christianity, is very in-
distinctly apprehended, and therefore only ca-
sually referred to.

Christianity was established — and it is utterly
impossible that any false religion should have
been so established, — on the subversion of every
prejudice and every interest of worldly pride.
It would have evinced nothing short of insanity,
in any man who should have devised such a
method of bringing into repute a system of hu-
K 2

132 CHARACTER OF DIVINE AGENCY

man invention, and the attempt would only
have exposed him to pity and ridicule. Pity
and ridicule, though mingled with more hostile
feelings, were the very emotions which the pre-
tensions of a crucified Messiah awakened in
the minds of the politicians of that day; and
that simpleinstrument — preaching, by which his
Apostles aimed to establish his kingdom over
the world, was an object of their derision.
The contrariety of the circumstances of our
Lord's appearance, to the anticipations of the
Jewish nation, has already been adverted to, as
well as the opposition which the spiritual re-
ligion he taught, presented to the universal pro-
pensities of mankind ; but it was not the moral
or the physical obstacles which Christianity had
to surmount, so much as the peculiar nature of
the policy employed, which vindicated its Di-
vine origin. — That policy was, human weak-
ness rendered instrumentally omnipotent in the
hand of God.
Character Thc Diviuc agcucy is in no respect more re-
Tineagencj' uiarkably distinguished from that of human
power, than in the silent potency with which
physical causes operate often through means
of qualities opposite to the effect, and which
contribute to that effect in a mode altoge-
ther inscrutable. Substances of the most
yielding and unsubstantial texture, are made
the vehicle of strength and energy inconceiv-

IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CHRISTIANITY. 133

able. To impalpable winds, to waters that part
beneath the hand of an infant, are given the at-
tributes of the mightiest agency ; a cause un-
seen imparting to the mere passiveness of soft
and flexile matter, irresistible force. In the
phenomena of cold, of heat, of snow, of vapour,
we have illustrations of the same wonderful ac-
commodation of an instrumentality the most un-
substantial and perishable, to the regular and
certain production of the most extensive effects.
An analogous peculiarity characterizes the ge-
neral methods of the Divine Providential agen-
cy. The effects produced by means of human
actions, are far from being the results of corre-
sponding qualities in the moral agent. Weak-
ness, evil passions, ill design, are employed by
the Almighty, as the blind and passive instru-
ments of working out his beneficent purposes, in
a way the very opposite to what human policy
would have dictated, and which precludes our
ascribing to the means the efficiency of a cause.
Nothing could wear more the appearance of
feebleness and inefficiency, than the physical
instrumentality which was selected for laying
the foundations of the Christian Church. The
native character of the individuals chosen by
our Lord for this purpose, was ill adapted to so
vast, and what must have appeared, so daring
an enterprise. At the first approach of danger,
" they all forsook him and fled." The change

134 CHARACTER OF DIVINE AGENCY.

which was superinduced upon their intellectual
character subsequently to our Lord's ascension,
made no alteration in their physical circum-
stances. They no. longer shunned danger, but
they remained as defenceless as before ; they
became intrepid, but no accession was made to
their resources. The power of working mira-
cles, with which they were endowed, did not
extend to their personal security. Peter could
not deliver himself from prison, nor could James
save himself from the sword of Herod. Their
physical impotence, as opposed to the extermi-
nating fury of their enemies, was consummated
by the character of the religion they professed,
which enjoined upon them an unresisting pas-
siveness, forbidding all retaliation, all violence
of defence, and leaving them wholly exposed
to become the victims of the first aggressions of
power, at a time when power united the fea-
tures of cruelty and despotism. It was by
* Milton. " the unresistible miglit of weakness"* that they
triumphed, " shaking the powers of darkness."
God, who has made the sands to be a bonndary
to the waves, imparted to this passiveness the
character of unconquerable strength, working
by the instrumentality of contraries. Every
hostile attempt on the part of the enemies of the
Church contributed to the advancement of
Christianity. *' Because the foolishness of God
" is wiser than men, and the weakness of God

INFLUENCE OV MIRACLES. 135

" is stronger than men, God chose the foolish
*' things of the world to confound the wise, and
*' God chose the weak things of the world to
** confound the mighty." The light of the
world was deposited in vessels of the most fra-
gile materials, that the excellency of the power
might appear to be of God, and not of men.

§ 2. Nothing is more manifest than that the onthemfiu-

ence

of

success of the Gospel is attributable entirely to rades

., I'l T'l T ' -I contributing

means with which political power and wisdom toiheesta-
have not the remotest affinity; nor did the cSknity
nature of the religion of Jesus Christ admit of
the adoption of other expedients. " My king-
" dom is not of this world; else would my ser-
" vants fight." A religion of faith, of endurance,
of love, was incapable of coalescing with the
elements of compulsory force: as well might
mechanical power be resorted to in order to
accelerate the process of vegetative growth.
The Apostles were invested with a high and
peculiar anthority, but their authority had no
relation to the political circumstances of man-
kind. They disclaimed alike all legislative
functions and all magisterial power. They
stood forth simply as the accredited witnesses
of the resurrection of Christ, and as the in-
spired promulgators of the doctrines they had
received from him. Their whole authority was
derived from their Divine commission, and by
this it was limited. The miraculous credentials

136 INFLUENCE OF MIRACLES.

with which they were endowed, were requisite
in order to afford sufficient evidence of the va-
lidity of their testimony, and the truth of their
pretensions ; and in no instance do we find
them displayed for any other purpose. That
such an attestation of the miraculous facts to
which they bore witness, was requisite, we
may gather from our Lord's declaration : " If I
" had not done among them the works which
" no other man did, they had not had sin."
The distinction between credulity and faith,
rests, not upon the antecedent probability of
the fact to which our assent is invited, but upon
the sufficiency of the evidence with which it is
accompanied. .Tesns Christ himself did not re-
quire the exercise of faith in his Divine character,
without affording abundant rational evidence,
by the miraculous demonstration of his omni-
potence, that He and the Father are one. His
answer to the disciples of John the Baptist,
presents a remarkable illustration of this : " Go
*' your way and tell John what things ye have
*' seen and heard ; how that the blind see, the
" lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf
*' hear, the dead are raised, and unto the poor
*' the Gospel is preached." The sacred records
furnish no instance of belief in Jesus Christ,
marked by the tokens of Divine approbation,
which had not respect to sufficient evidence as
its basis. The faith of Nathanael, which is

INFLUENCE OF MIRACLES. 137

represented as so peculiarly exemplary, was
founded on the intimation afforded him by the
Divine sfranger, that he knew what was in
man ; whence he drew the conclusion that he
could be no other than the Son of God, the
King of Israel. In like manner, the woman of
Samaria inferred, that the person who disco-
vered so perfect an acquaintance with her cha-
racter, must be the Messiah ; and she used this
argument to excite belief in her acquaintance:
" Come, see a man who told me all things that
" ever I did : is not this the Christ ?" The resur-
rection and ascension of our Lord, were mira-
culous facts which absolutely required that the
validity of the testimony upon which they rest-
ed, should receive miraculous confirmation. The
" wonders and signs" wrought by the Apostles,
had this for their specific object: they were de-
signed to establish the authority of the Apos-
tles, in no other character than that of witnesses:
"If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching
^' vain ; and your faith also is vain: yea, and we
" are found false witnesses of God, because we
" have testified of God, that he raised up Christ."
The judgements inflicted upon Ananias andSap-
phira, and upon Elymas, might seem at first to
have a somewhat different design ; but in nei-
ther of these cases will it appear upon examina-
tion, that the Apostles availed themselves of their
iniraculous gifts, either to enforce an implicit

138 INFLUENCE OF MIRACLES.

obedience, or as sanctions of delegated power.
Both miracles partook of the nature of moral
evidence: the deputy, accordingly, who wit-
nessed the infliction of blindness upon the sor-
cerer, " when he saw what was done, believed^
" being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord."
opeintionof It is mauifcst from the very character of the
^viUeiice."' miracles wrought by our Lord and his Apo-
stles, which were almost invariably of an imme-
diately benevolent nature, that they were
adapted to convince, but not designed to compel
conviction. They were addressed to the under-
standings rather than to the fears of mankind.
We are apt to ascribe to miracles a sort of ne-
cessary effect upon the mind, as if they must
in all cases act with the force of demonstration.
Facts, however, incontestably prove the reverse;
nor does their operation appear to differ from
that of any other species of evidence. The
instance of Pharaoh, and the whole history of
the Israelites, evince to how dreadful a degree
of impenetrability the human mind may be
hardened against the strongest sensible evi-
dence, if resolved to disbelieve : " If they hear
" not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they
" be persuaded, though one rose from the
*' dead." What could be a more literal fulfil-
ment of this declaration, than the infatuated
conduct of the chief priests, in consulting how
they might put to death Jesus, and " Lazarus

INFLUENCE OF MIRACLES. 13^

" also,"* after our Lord had raised him from •joimxii.
the dead? " That indeed a notable miracle
" hath been wrought by these men," said the
rulers of the council which examined Peter
and John, " is manifest to all them that dwell
" at Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it: but that
" it spread no further among the people, let us
" threaten them that they speak henceforth
" to no man in this name."t It is a vulgar pre- t acis i^',
judice to suppose that miracles are adequate
to compel belief. Pretences would never be
wanting, on which their force might be with
fatal success evaded, by resolving them into
natural or accidental causes, into ocular de-
ception, or diabolical influence. Those who
flatter themselves that miraculous attestations
would gain more attention in the present day,
do not consider that the impressive character
of supernatural agency would be destroyed, in
proportion as it should become familiarized by
frequency; and that evidence quite as nearly
approximating to demonstration, is continually
presenting itself to the minds of modern unbe-
lievers, and is still resisted. It may indeed be
questioned, whether any degree of moral evi-
dence, of which the present state admits, is ab-
solutely sufficient to suspend the voluntary
exercise of the understanding under the influ-
ence of the passions, or to interfere with man's
unhappy prerogative, of wilfully rejecting

140 INFLUENCE OF MIRACLES.

the evidence as well as the authority of
truth.

Miraculous agency was undoubtedly an im-
portant means of establishing Christianity; we
must however guard against ascribing too much
to its actual share in the production of the ge-
neral results. The impression produced by
miracles equally signal, was so far from being
uniformly the same, that we must ascribe the effi-
ciency of their operation in particular instances
to some other cause than the natural force
attaching to them as evidence. Miracles were
not the ordinary means by which the first mi-
nisters of the Gospel succeeded in gaining con-
verts to the faith of Christ; and we shall find
upon reference to the Apostolic history, that
they contributed for the most part but indi-
rectly to the spread of the Christian religion.
In inquiring into the nature of the instrumen-
tality by which its establishment was effected,
it seemed important to shew, that the miracu-
lous power exercised by the Apostles, never
assumed the character of physical might, never
formed in their hands a weapon either of hosti-
lity or of defence ; that it was not an instrument
of conquest, nor even of intellectual violence ;
that its operation was purely of a moral nature;
and that therefore it does not in the least affect
the representation which has been given, that
the triumph of the Gospel was achieved, " not

CORRUPTION OF CHRISTIANITY. ]4J

" by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of
** the Lord."

ion

§ S. It was not long, however, that human ^jj' ^Ei"
weakness contented itself with beinj^the passive »a"'iy by

'^ * wuildly po-

but efficient instrument of Divine power, or 'i-^yandse.

cular power.

that the expedients which God had chosen to
confound the wise and the mighty, were left to
approve their superiority to the strength and
policy of man. The miraculous facts which
form the basis of Christianity being sufficiently
established, their credibility at least being ex-
tensively admitted, while the evidences of
Christianity were receiving perpetual augmen-
tation from the testimony and the character of
believers, miracles ceased ; but the successors
of the Apostles were left amply provided with
every other moral means of extending the tri-
umph of Divine truth, and in full possession of
that spiritual authority which attaches in every
age to the office of the Christian minister. These
means, however, were not sufficient to content
the over-wise eagerness of the pastors and
teachers of the subsequent centuries, to convert
the world. The slow progress of rational con-
viction, the silent efficacy of holy example, were
ill-adapted to satisfy the impatient spirit of do-
mination which soon began to infect the lords
of God's heritage ; and secular authority and
worldly policy being called in, soon superseded
the tardy operation of moral influence. " At this

142 CORRUPTION oe LHKiSXlANITY.

" time," says Milton, " Antichrist began first to
" put forth his horn, and that saying was com-
" mon, that former times had wooden chalices
" and golden priests; but they, golden chalices
*' and wooden priests." In the Christianity of
the subsequent ages, it becomes impossible to
recognise any features of the sublime and spi-
ritual religion of Jesus Christ. That which
assumed the name, was a mere engine of popu-
lar dekision and of political oppression ; a
monstrously complicated system of fraud, ab-
surdity, and cruelty. The human mind, so re-
cently emancipated from the darkness of Pagan
superstition, was doomed again to be delivered
up to the triumpliant thraldom of infernal agen-
cy. Its moral history at this period, presents a
striking analogy to that of the demoniac, out of
"whom had been cast an unclean spirit ; *' but
" that evil demon took to him seven other spirits
" more wicked than himself; and they entered
" in and dwelt there ; and the last state of that
*' man was worse than the first." To those an-
gelic beings who rejoiced at our Redeemer's
advent, anticipating with intense desire, and
affectionate sympathy, the development of the
mysterious counsels of Heaven respecting this
rebel portion of the universe, — to those attentive
spectators of our unhappy world, who joy at
the conversion of a sinner, and minister to the
heirs of salvation, the moral aspect of mankind

CORRUPTION OF CHRISTIANITY. 143

at this period, must have presented a scene the
most awful and affecting. As it is said, in ac-
commodation to the language of erring beings,
that God, on beholding the wickedness of the
antediluvian world, repented that he had made
man, it might almost seem to those superior
intelligencies, unless they were made acquainted
with the glories that still lie concealed in futu-
rity, that God then repented that he had re-
deemed him : so completely did the benevolent
design of the Gospel appear at that period to
be frustrated by the corrupt inventions of men !
The study of ecclesiastical history is, in some
views, of the highest importance, but perhaps
no study renders it more requisite that the
mind should be previously fortified in the prin-
ciples of Christianity, and imbued with the ge-
nuine spirit of the Gospel. The emotions which
it excites, are of the most painful kind, and the
reader has need constantly to recur to the cer-
tainties of Revelation, in order to regain the per-
suasion that Christianity is not a delusion, and
that his faith is not vain. His feelings will some-
times resemble those of a man just awaked from
a dream of horror, who, bewildered by the vivid
impressions it has left, grasps at the sensible
objects around him, in order to assure himself
of their reality. The painful impression which
ecclesiastical history must leave, will, however,
receive some degree of alleviation from the re-

144 CHRISTIANITY UNCONNECTED

flection, that that must necessarily be, with few
exceptions, the worst jjortion of human nature,
which is thrown into prominence by the circum-
stances with which the historian is chiefly con-
versant ; that the worst predicament in which
the human character can be exhibited, is that
which arises from the possession of temporal
grandeur ; that, therefore, the univritten history
of the Church of Christ, as it is preserved in
that Book of Remembrance which shall one day
be unfolded, would doubtless supply, even in
the darkest ages of the Romish superstition,
abundant instances of the genuine results of
Christianity. The building up of the spiritual
temple is never at a stand: it is ever receiving
silent accessions of human souls, as its living
materials, although no sound of mighty achieve-
ments may give intimation of the process. Amid
all the circumstances which may seem to endan-
ger the existence or to obscure the character of
the Church, "the foundation of God standeth
" sure, having this seal : the Lord knoweth
*' them that are His."
cinJsiianUy § 4. lu prosccutlng thcjnquiry, however, into
notdesigned ^-^^ ^j.^^ naturc of thosc laws which respect the

to introduce •■

1.C.V poiiti- constitution of Christian churches, and of that

cal relations.

rule to which they are subject, it is obvious
that ecclesiastical history can afford us no
assistance. We must dismiss altogether from
our minds the ambitious pretensions of popes

WITH POLITICAL TIELATIONS. 145

and prelates, wliile we endeavour to deduce
from the inspired records, notions as simplified
from traditional corruptions as possible, re-
spectiui;- the true design of Christian institu-
tions. The following- preliminary considera-
tions will be of service in the investigation.

In the first place, it may be confidently af-
firmed, that Christianity was not designed to
make any alteration whatsoever in the political
relations of society : it addressed itself to man
in that moral capacity in which all men are on a
perfect equality ; and this their absolute ecpiality
as religious beings, which leaves undisturbed
all their political relations, forms one of the
first principles of the Christian fellowship. As
members of the Church of Christ, all respect
of persons is forbidden ; all distinctions of rank
cease. The Apostle James severely rebukes
the early Christians forgiving an invidious pre-
ference to " the man in gay apparel," or the rich
man over the poor. " Hearken my beloved
*' brethren. Hath not God chosen the poor of
" this world ?— But ye have despised the poor."
The Saviour of the world appeared in the garb
of poverty, and his Gospel was first preached
to the poor; nothing, therefore, could be more
unsuitable to the character of his followers,
than to carry into those religious relations to
each other, which originated in their common
union to their Divine Lord, notions borrowed

146 CHEISTIANITY UNCONNECTED

from the empty and artificial distinctions of
rank and grandeur. Christianity did not, it is
true, abolish any political distinctions, but its
influence went directly to correct false esti-
mates of their importance ; and it is therefore
wholly incredible that it should comprehend
in its design, the creation of fresh distinctions
of a kind so calculated as are ecclesiastical
dignities, to feed the pride of man and to
separate from one another the members of the
Christian brotherhood. Whatsoever influence
it was requisite should attach to certain offices
in the Church, influence derived from secular
circumstances, and resting upon worldly pre-
judices so much opposed to the spirit of the
Gospel, must clearly be foreign from the design
of Christianity. An individual might acciden-
tally unite in his own person the possession of
secular influence and the genuine character of
moral authority, and so long as no attempt
was made to apply the force of such influence
as a sanction of moral or official claims, no
practical evil would ensue from their being
thus associated. But as soon as wealth be-
came systematically annexed to office as an es-
sential part of a sort of compound dignity of
station, a political difference was established
between the njembers of the church, as such,
which was fatal to their religious equality.
Since Christianity, however, was not designed to

WITH POLITICAL RELATIONS. 147

exclude the wealthy and the great, some of this
class, it ma}^ be argued, would gain early ad-
mission into the church, and would inevitably
succeed in obtaining a natural ascendency ;
as must be more or less the case in all so-
cieties, how excellent soever their constitution.
But the question is not, whether this be a
natural consequence, but, whether it be not an
evil that requires the most jealous guard to
be provided against its prevalence? To the
weight of mere rank or of wealth in all free so-
cieties, the influence of talent, of character, of
age, of integrity, furnishes a considerable equi-
poise, while the operation of moral principles
serves to regulate the balance ; but the system
which associates wealth and power with ec-
clesiastical station, adopts an accidental evil —
that is to say, the illegitimate ascendency of
these corrupt sources of influence — in the cha-
racter of a good, and renders nugatory the force
of every counteractive principle. In the case
of the conversion to the faith of Christ, of the
wealthy or the powerful, it may please the Al-
mighty to render their influence and example
instrumental in promoting the interests of
Christianity, by overruling, as it is his Divine
prerogative to do, evil for good ; but when the
rulers of the Church were invested with the in-
signia of secular grandeur, the administration
of the government of the Church became then ce-
L 2

148 CHRISTIANITY UNCONNECTED

forth entrusted to men in whom moral qualifi-
cations were likely to be soon merged in poli-
tical character. Wealth and temporal dignity,
in addition to their natural influence over the
mind, received a mysterious accession of autho-
rity, by being thus associated with spiritual
functions; and the Christian ministry, which
has not the remotest legitimate connexion with
temporal concerns, was transformed into an
object of worldly ambition. The greatest pos-
sible obstacle was thus created, to its being
entered upon with pure motives, as well as to
the operation of Christian principles in the de-
termination of all ecclesiastical appointments.

The aggrandisement of Christian bishops,
was the first step towards the Papal usurpation.
The chance that ecclesiastical honours and
emoluments should devolve upon religious men,
more especially after the office itself to which
they were attached, ceased to be elective, be-
came precisely equal to the chance that civil
offices should be so bestowed. By whom can
wealth and honour be conferred, but by the
powerful and the wealthy ? With whom can ap-
pointments which admit to secular emoluments
and civil privileges, ultimately rest, but with the
civil magistracy, the only legitimate fountain
of temporal prerogative? And when the Church
is thus made to depend upon the State for her
pastors and rulers, that is to say, upon the po-

WITH POLITICAL RELATIONS. 149

licy and will of worldly men, how is it possible,
under the present circumstances of human na-
ture, that the government of the Church should
fall into other hands than those of the ambitious
and the worldly, or that the average character
of Christian bishops should exhibit any greater
correspondence with the spirit and purity of the
Gospel, than is common to that portion of so-
ciety by which they are surrounded ? What has
been, under all the varying circumstances of ec-
clesiastical history, the fact, is sufficiently noto-
rious. But how, we may ask, could the result
have been different ? What is — what can be the
ruleand measure of worldly men, in thedistribu-
tion of their patronage, but political expedien-
cy ? How should they be able to judge of those
moral qualifications which are essential to the
discharge of the sacred function? or, allowing
them to be competent to appreciate such quali-
fications, how can the possession of them on the
part of an individual, constitute, in their minds
any reason that he should be advanced to sta-
tions of splendour and opulence? The piety of
a man forms no reason that he should be made
rich; his religious capacity, as a minister of
Christ, constitutes no claim to secular emolu-
ments. The claimant, then, must be distin-
guished by other recommendations, in order to
his gaining the favour of the dispensers of this
world's gifts ; and those recommendations will

150 CHRISTIANITY UNCONNECTED

have little reference to the spiritual ends of the
Christian episcopacy. The moral purpose of
the office, must, at the very best, be a secondary
consideration with those who have the disposal
of its emoluments. Although the honour might
originally have been designed to form a circum-
stance of the office, the office must come to be a
mere appendage to the honour ; since political
qualifications are those on which the greatest
stress will uniformly be laid, or such as will be
exclusively regarded, by the persons who, hav-
ing the disposal of the gift, must have the deter-
mination of the claim.

But even were it possible that ecclesiastical
dignities should be uniformly appropriated by
men possessed of the genuiue episcopal charac-
ter,— as sometimes Providence has ordained
that individuals of this stamp should be so distin-
guished, and the Hamans of the State be com-
pelled to do them homage, as the men whom the
kingdelightethto honour, — still, those honours
"would form no legitimate part of the official
character which adheres to ecclesiastical stati-
on. No deference would be due to the indivi-
dual in his religious capacity on that ground.
The civil respect due to rank, has no affinity to
the moral deference which we yield to the cha-
racter of the minister of Christ. His authority is
entirely of a different description, and can re-
ceive no additional force from considerations

WITH POLITICAL RELATIONS. 151

which respect the artificial distinctions of socie-
ty. These Christianity teaches us to respect ; it
leaves them inviolate ; but at the same time it
passes sentence upon their nothingness, and
disdains to employ their aid. It addresses
men as moral agents, as religious beings only,
in which capacity " there is no difference :"
" there is no respect of persons with God."
^ 5. A second preliminary position of no small ^''"''=^' 5^'

•^ I .'IT verniiient

importance, is this: that all the institutions of 'ifs»ooii'er

* object than

Christianity, and therefore whatsoever offices i''^ edifica-
tion of the

or orders exist in the church, and with whatso- body.
ever power or authority they may be severally
endowed, are designed purely for the spiritual
benefit of its members at large ; whether they
be apostles, or prophets, or evangelists, or pas-
tors and teachers, they are, as St. Paul declares,
*' the gifts of Christ for the perfecting of the
" saints, for the work of the ministry, for the
'* edification of the body of Christ." If the sab-
bath itself was madefor man, andnot manforthe
sabbath, the bishop, we may be Avell assured,
was made for the Church, not the Church for
the bishop. The proprietorship of the Church
belongs to Jesus Christ alone : it is his heritage,
and no part of it can be claimed by niun as his
freehold, without impiety. In the love which
the good Shepherd bears to his riock, and
which induced him to lay down his life for his
sheep, the meanest individual may rest satisfied

152 CHURCH AUTHORITY DISTINCT

that he is equally interested with the highest
and most distinguished of his servants. His
soul is of as much importance, his comfort and
welfare are as much tlie objects of the Re-
deemer's care, as those of the most privileged
Christian. If there is any point of view in which
fellow-Christians can be considered as posses-
sing a species of proprietorship in one another,
it is the very opposite to that which is claimed
by governors in the governed. " Let, there-
" fore, no man glory in man. For all things,"
says the Apostle, addressing the general body
of the Corinthian believers, " are your's; whe-
" ther Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas" — he re-
peats it, ''■ All are your's, for ye are Christ's,
" and Christ is God's." Our Saviour had him-
self previously taught the same lesson : " The
" kings of the Gentiles exercise dominion over
" them, and they that oppress them are called
** benefactors; but it shall be otherwise with
" you." The Scriptural scheme of ecclesiastical
government, can then, we may be persuaded,
have nothing in common with those temporal
sovereignties which regard human beings as
subservient to the will or tributary to the dig-
nity of a fellow creature. Whatsoever be its
constitutional form, or how great soever its im-
portance, the polity of the Church of Christ has
no other object than the spiritual benefit of its
members.

l.ower in-
voh oil ill
llii- aiitlioii-
Iv .if llie
iiileis of the
CLurch.

FROM POLITICAL POAVER. 153

§ 6. Once more, it must be premised, that ec- No poinicai
clesiastical rule differs from all sorts of jDoliti-
cal jurisdiction in this essential respect, that it
has no bearing' upon the civil interests of man-
kind ; it does not in the least affect either their
persons or their property. The Apostles were
anxious to impress upon the members of the
primitive Christian societies, that their having
embraced the religion of Jesus Christ, did not
release them from any civil obligations, and that
neither did they undergo any change in their
rights and privileges, as the subjects of civil
government. The freeman was still a freeman,
the slave was still a slave : the former might
still lawfully claim his birthright as a Uoman ;
the latter, though even his master were a Christ-
ian, was still under the bonds of servitude. In
no way were the members of the Christian com-
munity withdrawn from either the control or
the protection of their natural governors ; they
could, therefore, as respected their political
capacity, be brought under no new obligations
but such as were purely religious. The
Apostles laid claim to no jurisdictive power.
To believe, to repent, were commands which,
as the ministers of Christ, they felt warranted
to enforce in the language of authority, but
they never assumed that tone in reference to
matters of a secular nature ; they never preten-
ded to any species of political domination.

154 CHURCH AUTHORITY DISTINCT

" While it remained, was it not thine own, and
" after it was sold, was it not in thine own
*' power?" — would have been an appeal wholly
destitute of propriety or force, had the Christ-
ian profession involved any political subjection
to the Apostles as the rulers of the Church.
St. Paul indeed declares, that " the Lord had
*' ordained, that they who preach the Gospel
*' should live of the Gospel." It was but rea-
sonable, he argues, that those who sowed unto
the Church spiritual things, should reap their
carnnl things. He speaks of his not having avail-
ed himself of " apower over them" in this respect,
which must be understood in the sense of an
undoubted right; a right, it appears, extending
to the maintenance of their families, which
the pastors of the Church did not scruple to
use. It is however manifest, that as these mi-
nisterial rights rested upon religious considera-
tions, the correlative duties on the part of the
Church were moral, not political duties; en-
forced, indeed, by the strongest religious mo-
tives, but not by the decrees of jurisdictive
power. It was as members of a voluntary
society these duties became binding. It was
as a voluntary act of professed " subjection
" to the Gospel of Christ," as an expression of
attachment to their minister, that the Apostle
insists upon the duty of their contributing to
his maintenance, as well as to the relief of

FROM POLITICAL POWER. 155

the poor. Precisely the same arguments ap-
ply in all their force to the case of Christian
pastors in the present day, who, possessing
no political claims, are yet not the less enti-
tled, on moral and religious grounds, to live
by the Gospel which they preach. The Apo-
stle urges the example of our Lord Jesus
Christ, as the most affecting incentive to bene-
ficence. " Ye know the grace of our Lord
" Jesus Christ, who, though he was rich, yet
" for your sakes became poor, that ye through
" his poverty might be rich." He adduces the
consideration that " He who soweth sparingly,
" shall reap also sparingly, and he that soweth
*' bountifully, shall reap also bountifully." He
adds : " Every man according as he purposeth
" in his heart, (so let him give:) not grudgingly,
" but of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful
" giver." Neither was there any proportion
specifically commanded, nor did any sort of
compulsion necessitate the gift: the stress is
laid altogether upon the motive. It is also ob-
servable, that the rights of the poor, to which
in this last passage the Apostle alludes, are
placed on precisely the same ground of obliga-
tion as the rights of the ministry.* Had the

* This is obviously recognised in the original tripartite
division of Tithes; according to which, the clergy were ad-
mitted as claimants only in common with tlie poor and the
necessitous.

156 CHURCH AUTHORITY DISTINCT

first ministers of the Gospel been possessed
of any claims but such as were founded,
on the principles of equity and benevolence,
there could have existed neither occasion nor
scope for the " bounty." Whensoever Christ-
ian ministers become invested with claims of
a civil or magisterial nature, it is in conse-
quence of an acquired power, not inherent in
the sacred office, not originally attached to the
ministerial character, and therefore wholly de-
rived from a foreign authority. The State, in
conferring political independence on the clergy,
performs a gratuitous act of patronage, bestows
that to which the Church had no previous title,
and which, if withdrawn, would leave unim-
paired all the native rights, and the essential
moral claims of the ministers of Christ. The
expediency of this patronage, with all the con-
sequences it involves, is a question perfectly
distinct from the subject of the present inquiry,
which relates to the true nature of simple eccle-
siastical rule, as it existed in the age of primi-
tive Christianity.
Absurdiiyof Wc may notice here, in passing, the extreme
{"etenSon's. absurdlty of resting any supposed political
claims of the Church on Divine right. Divine
rights appeal to men as religious beings, in
which capacity they are accountable to God
alone. Divine rights must carry with them ap-
propriate evidence ; otherwise to recognise them

FROM POLITICAL POWER. 157

would not be an act of rational obedience. We
must not be called upon to answer for a breach
of obligation Avhere we can have no certain
knowledge of the law ; nor for disobedience to
a delegated authority of which it is impossible
to exhibit the credentials. Divine rights ad-
dress themselves to our faith, but it is necessary
to an act of belief that it should proceed from
conviction, and that the agent should be free :
compulsion tends to destroy the appropriate
character of that obedience which is due to the
ordinances of God. If they are Divine rights,
it is my duty to believe in them ; but human
laws cannot necessitate my belief, and ought
not to do it violence. If the penal sanctions of
human law be resorted to, then lam not allowed
the opportunity of free obedience to the claims
which are supposed to rest on the higher ground
of religious obligation : the plea of Divine right
becomes in that case worse than superfluous; it
is in fact virtually abandoned. Nor can Divine
rights constitute a reason for the institution of
such enactments, for human laws rest altogether
upon political obligations, and it is no part of
their object to enforce the Divine commands,
any further than they comprehend the ultimate
objects of civil magistracy.

Pretensions, on the ground of Divine right,
to any species of political power, are a flagrant
insult on the common sense of mankind. Had

158 TRUE NATURE OF

any such claims been advanced by the Apo-
stles and first rulers of the Church, there would
have been good reason for the hostility of hea-
then emperors, to a religion which so directly
interfered with their prerogative and contested
their authority. It would form a rational ob-
jection against Christianity, on the part of any
state, that it introduced an independent juris-
diction, underived from the legitimate fountain
of political power, and under pretence of ec-
clesiastical discipline, actually interposed be-
tween the sovereign and the subject. If any
authority resided in the rulers of the Church,
that extended to the levying contributions on
its members, or exerting a punitive discipline,
it would manifestly be a political authority, and
the pretensions to a political authority inde-
pendent on the civil power, would be justly
characterized as usurpation and treason. A
church is not a political society ; neither secu-
lar rank, nor proprietorship, nor power, the
circumstances and conditions of political com-
munities, can, therefore, inherently attach to its
rulers. A church is a voluntary society, and
the will of its members must be the source and
the limit of the power exercised by its officers.
Power of a jurisdictive or magisterial charac-
ter, cannot belong to the ministers of Christ.
Soru'*^ It is, however, a capital error to represent
(of aspiii- the Christian minister as invested with no spe-

MINISTERIAL AUTHORITY. 159

cies of authority, but that which he derives mai nature,
from the choice of the people over which he is fore)uiide-
appointed to preside ; as if liis being a minister Linanap"
of Christ depended upon their will, and they p°'"""^°*-
could make or unmake him such by suffrage.
Persons have been driven into this extreme of opi-
nion, by the arrogant pretensions of ecclesiastics
to political jurisdiction; forgetting that although
a church is a voluntary society, it is not founded
upon the will of man, but upon religious obliga-
tions, which constitute the relation between the
minister and his people, the basis of mutual du-
ties of the most sacred nature. Surely, the deny-
ing to the Christian pastor all political authority,
does not tend in the slightest degree to weaken
the foundation of his moral claims ; these are
as real, as unalienable, as much demand our
respect, as any rights which arise from the re-
lations of civil society. It must be confessed,
that much evil has been connected with a de-
preciation of the moral authority of the Christ-
ian minister. The people who have been led
to regard their pastor as, in respect to his au-
thority, the creature of their choice, are not
very likely to have an adequate sense of the
importance of the sacred relation which sub-
sists between a minister and his charge, so as
to be duly influenced by this consideration in
their election of a minister, or to be habitually
regardful of the obligations under which that

160 MINISTERIAL AUTHORITY.

election places them. The Christian teacher
who has [10 higher idea of the ministerial office
than as originating in human appointment,
who imagines that he needs no other creden-
tials of being constituted a minister of Christ
than the will of men, is in great danger of
imder-rating the responsibility, as well as the
just authority, which adheres to the sacred
character he has assumed. He is indeed un-
suspectingly symbolizing with the advocates of
opinions from which his own may seem to be
the most remote: he is guilty of not less ab-
surdity in supposing that he could receive his
appointment to be a minister of Christ, from the
hands of the people, than if he ascribed a simi-
lar efficacy to the imposition of episcopal
hands. The pastoral office must, it is true, be
conveijed by human appointment, and that ap-
pointment, according to the principles we are
advocating, must rest with the members of the
Church considered as a voluntary society ; but
as the exercise of the ministerial function is not
bounded by the pastoral relation, so it is not
in any way dependent upon it; and tlie spiri-
tual authority which, distinct from the super-
added claims of the pastorship, is vested in
every fliilhfnl minister of the Gospel by virtue
of the appointment of Ciirist, cannot, we are
persuaded, be in any wise conveyed as a cir-
cumstance of office, by either popular or sacer-
dotal ordination. The laying of undue stress

INSTITUTION OF THE MINISTRY. 161

upon either mode, may be equally prejudicial,
as tending to withdraw the attention from the
true source of ministerial authority.

§ 7. When, just before he ascended to the insiUntion
right hand of the Father, our Lord delivered to christian
the eleven disciples, that commission which is """"'''^•
generally considered as the warrant for all mi-
nisterial labours in the Church, he accompanied
the command to evangelize all nations, with a
promise evidently co-extensive in respect of
time with that long succession of ages which it
would occupy to carry forward the work to its
consummation: "Lo! 1 am with you always,
" even unto the end of the world." On this
command, connected with this promise, we may
safely rest the evidence of the Divine institution
of the Christian ministry. There is, when the
words are properly explained, an Apostolical
succession ; there is a transmitted commission ;
there is an authority derived from Divine com-
mand ; there is such a thing as the presence of
Christ with his faithful ministers, " even unto
" the end of the world."

Nothing would seem to be more clear, than
that the eleven were hereby invested with a sa-
cred office; that the office consisted in " teach-
** ing all nations, baptizing them in the name
" of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
" Ghost ;" and that it was an office capable of
being devolved upon others who should, as

M

162 THE APOSTLESHIP.

co-adjutors or successors in the execution of
the Divine command, carry on the work to its
final accomplishment. St. Paul speaks of him-
self as " appointed to be a preacher, and an
" apostle;" to which he adds his special de-
signation, " a teacher of the Gentiles ;" and he
charges his adopted son Timothy to commit the
" things which he had heard of him, to faith-
*' ful men," or believers, " who shall be able to
" teach others also." In these words we seem
to have an illustration of the true nature of the
Apostolic succession in the Christian ministry.
Nature of The Apostlcs, howcvcr, sustained an office
2b>^''"^''° and a character altogether peculiar, and in the
nature of things untransferable. St. Luke re-
cords the words of our Lord, which expressly
refer to this part of their ministerial character:
" Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ
" to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third,
" day — and ye are witnesses of these things."
St. Paul vindicates in this peculiar respect his
claims to be received as an Apostle of Christ:
** Am I not an Apostle? Have I not seen
"Jesus Christ our Lord?" And in another
passage : " Last of all, he was seen of me also,
*' as of one born out of due time : .for I am the
" least of the Apostles, who am not worthy to
" be called an Apostle, because I persecuted
" the Church of God."
The authority of the Apostles is distinguish-

THE APOSTLESHIP, J (J3

ed from that of all succeeding- ministers, by
another circnmstance of equal importance.
They acted not only under a commission re-
ceived immediately from the hands of Christ,
but with that certain knowledge of his will,
which they derived from inspiration. They
stood forward invested with the peculiar cre-
dentials of the " ambassadors of Christ;' a de-
signation which, although sometimes thought-
lessly arrogated, cannot apply to any indivi
dual on the mere ground of his sustaining the
function of a preacher, unless in a very second-
ary and restricted sense. The Apostolic cha-
racter is strictly analogous to that of the Pro-
phets of the old economy : they were called by
name; they were furnished with their awful
burden, — they were sent by God himself; and
the miraculous agency of the Spirit who dictated
their message, visibly attested their authority.
The Scriptures of the New Testament, are the
communications of the Apostles speaking and
writing by the Spirit of God, not in their mi-
nisterial capacity, not merely in the character
of witnesses, certainly not in the discretional
exercise of any legislative functions, but as the
inspired messengers and prophets of Jesus
Christ; — a character and an authority which
most assuredly extended to no second link in
the ministerial succession, for they had no
power to delegate it to any human being. " But
M 2

164 THE APOSTLESHIP.

" I certify you, brethren," says St. Paul, " that
" the Gospel which was preached by me, is not
" after man; for I neither received it of man,
" neither was I tanght it, but by the revelation
" of Jesus Christ." He is carefully explicit in
stating that, after his conversion, he purposely
forbore for some time to go up to Jerusalem, to
visit those who were apostles before him, lest
he should seem to recognise any human au-
thority as the sou rce or basis of his apostleship ;
and when, long afterwards, he went up by
special direction, to communicate to the Church
at Jerusalem the dispensation of the Divine
mercy towards the Gentiles, he declares that
they who appeared to have the presidency, " in
♦ Gai.ii.6. " coufereuce added nothing" to him * He was
equally with James and Cephas and John, " an
" apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by
" Jesus Christ." It is " upon this foundation
*' of the Apostles and Prophets," that the
whole household of God is " built together;" —
the foundation of inspired authority, to which
the faith of every individual Christian must have
an immediate reference. There can be no suc-
cession of foundations. No supervening au-
thority can interfere with this relation of de-
pendence between the exercise of faith and its
legitimate basis. No transmitted authority can
be interposed between any individual member
of the Church and the Apostles of the Lord.

rial SQCces-

MTNISTERIAL SUCCESSION. 165

In this peculiar character, they can have no
successors, because their office is not expired,
their authority has not ceased.

There is, however, an inferior sense in which Natnrcof
we may extend the designation of an apostle to rU
every faithful teacher of the Gospel, whom we
may consider as the sent of Christ; but the
word, in this acceptation, is significant, not of
either rank or peculiarity of office, but simply
of the ministerial character. Among the mi-
nisters of Clirist, as such, there is no possible
room for gradation of rank, because the mini-
sterial office itself admits of no such modifica-
tion : it consists in preaching the Gospel, and
if the Gospel is faithfully and intelligently pro-
mulgated, the office is fulfilled. It is this offide
which the Apostles committed to faithful men,
charging them to commit the things which they
had heard, to other believers, who also should
be able to teach. The perpetuity of this mi-
nisterial succession in the Church of Christ, is
obviously essential to its existence. There is
no other way of gathering together its members
out of the world, than by the preaching of the
word. '* Being born again," says St. Peter,
** not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible,
" by the word of God which liveth and abideth
" for ever: and this is the word which by
" the Gospel is preached unto you." And
St. James declares : " Of his own will begat he

iQ(j MINISTERIAL AUTHORITY.

" US with the word of truth, that we should be
" a kind of first fruits of his creatures." The
building- up of the body of Christ by the acces-
sion of these living stones, the evangelizing of
all nations by the " foolishness of preaching,"
is " the work of the ministry:" it is the same in
every age. The providential agency by which
the truth of Christ has been hitherto per-
petuated in the Church, and the ministry car-
ried forviard in unbroken succession, notwith-
standing the general corruption of Christianity,
and the almost total extinction, at one time, of
tlie light of the word of God, presents a most
remarkable verification of our Saviour's pro-
mise to his Church: " Lo! I am with you al-
" ways, even unto the end of the world."
Source and § 9- Evcry faithful preacher of the Gospel, in
mbSaf' fulfilling the will of Christ, claims to be con-

aulhority.

sidered as invested with a necessary ministerial
authority; an authority simply and entirely re-
sulting from the message which he promulgates,
and the command which he fulfils; an authority
under which the Christian evangelist goes forth
to execute a commission extending to all na-
tions, and to every individual of every nation
under heaven; a moral or rather spiritual au-
thority, distinct from the pastoral jurisdiction,
which rests upon particular relations originat-
ing in appointment and choice; distinct from
whatsoever has its source in the will of man;

MINISTERIAL AUTHORITY. J(]7

and attaching to whomsoever, as the bearer of
the evangelical message, we may regard as the
organ of Christ. The ministry is of necessity
one in kind : it must, therefore, as regards the
discharge of it by any individual, be either that
of " the Spirit of truth," or of '* the spirit of
" error ;" it is either efficient, as the preaching
of Christ, or it is wholly inefficient and unau-
thorized. Official designation, ecclesiastical
dignity, can make no difference in the charac-
ter of the ministry exercised by any man in the
Church of Christ. The humblest self-consti-
tuted teacher, who is possessed of the appro-
priate credentials of the ministerial character,
in the purity of his doctrines, the success of his
labours, and the unblemished tenor of his life,
is invested with an authority to which no cir-
cumstantial additaments of human appoint-
ment are requisite to impart validity: it re-
quires no sanction from man, for with man it
does not originate. A preacher may be unde-
niably deficient in some of those subsidiary
qualifications which constitute a natural fitness
for the office of teacher; but the capacity for
preaching the truth of Christ, so as to fulfil the
purposes of the Christian ministry, is, let it never
be forgotten, a spiritual capacity; and where
this is possessed, it is in vain, and worse than
vain, for us to withhold our recognition of the
essential character and authority of the Christ-

1(58 MINISTERIAL AUTHORITY.

iaii minister as existing in that individual, how
humble soever his station or his acquirements.
With the utmost propriety such a man may ap-
peal to those to whose consciences he has been
commended by the efficacy of his pious labours:
*' If I be not" a minister " unto others, yet
" doubtless I am to you ; for the seal of my"
ministry " are ye in the Lord."

Perhaps it may serve the purpose of illustra-
tion, although we must be cautions not to lay
too much stress on the analogy, if we contem-
plate the ministerial authority as bearing the
same relation to the laws of Christ, as that of
the magistrate to the laws of which he is the
administrator. In neither case does the derived
authority extend beyond the law or the com-
mission in which it originates ; but up to that
point it becomes identified with the individual
who sustains the ministerial capacity; so that
the respect and obedience which are respective-
ly due to the ordinances of man and the reve-
lation of God, are due to the person of his mi-
nister, inasmuch as his person and his capacity
cannot be in our feelings separated. The char
racter of the magistrate is, it is true, a visibly
determinate character, founded on political dis-
tinctions, the credentials of which cannot be
feigned or mistaken ; and respecting his au-
thority or province there can arise no contro^
versy. The character of the Christian minister,

MINISTERIAL AUTHOBITY. 169

on the contrary, is of a moral nature, determin-
able only by the moral evidence which attends
the truth, and by the rule of the Scriptures, its
claims being addressed entirely to the con-
science : hence we are commanded " not to
" believe every spirit, but to try the spirits vvhe-
" ther they are of God ; because many false
" prophets are gone out into the world." The
analogy, however, holds good to this extent :
there is an authority attached alike to the civil
and to the sacred office, which in the person of
the officer we are bound to recognise and to
respect ; an authority not personally inherent,
but derived from the laws of which he is the
minister.

False views of the somxe of the authority vest-
ed in the Christian minister, have led to a very
different and pernicious use of this very analogy.
The magistrate, it has been argued, is not a self-
constituted officer: mere ability constitutes no
right to act in any political capacity ; his com^
mission must be regularly obtained from the
source of civil power. It is therefore, we are
told, subversive of the interests of the Church,
to allow of the legitimacy of a self-constituted
ministry, or to admit that " mere sufficiency
*' gives a man authority to set up as a public
*' teacher of what he really knows."* The ne- -bp.fj,
cessity of human appointment, has been repre-
sented as a principle equally applicable to civil

ky's Sri-
iiiaiif.vol. 1.
1>. 313.

170 MINISTERIAL AUTHORITY.

and to ecclesiastical polity, and disturbers of
the ecclesiastical constitution, it is contended,
should not be suffered to go loose, while other
madmen are confined.
^ the Self-constituted implies the notbeins: consti-

phrase self "^ "

constituted, tutcd by the authority competent to legitimate
and appoint: in this general sense we may
safely unite in deprecating a self-constituted
ministry. But the question is, whether human
appointment is the source of spiritual authority,
as it is of civil power. The Apostles were not
self-constituted; yet man had no share in their
appointment: they were constituted apostles
by Jesus Christ. There is a preliminary point,
then, to be ascertained ; zvhat constitutes a
Christian minister. The qualifications for the
exercise of political functions are communicated
in the power conferred. Are the qualifications
of a Christian minister derivable from a similar
source? We maintain that they are of a purely
spiritual character ; that the authority vested
in the preacher of the Gospel, is derived im-
mediately from the message which he publislies,
under the warrant of Christ ; that the creden-
tials of this authority are to be sought for in
the correspondence of his ministerial labours
with the dictates of inspired truth, by which he
commends himself to every man's conscience as
in the sight of God ; and that this spiritual
magistracy is not transmitted by commissions

LIBERTY or PREACHING. 171

issuing from any human authority, but has it=;
source in the supreme fountain of power and
dominion in heaven and on earth. He alone
can constitute and appoint his faithful minis-
ters, who has the omniscience requisite for that
purpose. The self-constituted minister is the
man whom he has not appointed, to whom his
word affords no warrant, whose commission
is the forgery of human wisdom, and not ob-
tained from the legitimate source from which
all spiritual qualifications emanate.

Truth, by whomsoever it is promulgated, General
cannot but possess the same intrinsic authority, preach Ihe
The fact that an individual does or does not '"*'^"
preach the truth of Christ, cannot be made to
depend upon any hypothesis respecting his hav-
ing, or his not having the right to preach it. If
he preaches the Gospel, the fact is placed be-
yond dispute that he is competent to the exer-
cise of the Christian ministry, and what is there
that can be interposed between the competence
and the right ? Were our assent required to this
position, that it is not every one who chooses to
assume the ministerial function that is compe-
tent to discharge it with fidelity and efficacy,
there would be no difficulty in coming to an
agreement; but the advocates of ecclesiastical
restrictions, proceed upon the supposition that
the self constituted teacher is possessed of the
requisite knowledge, the moral competency; a

172 LIBERTY OF PREACHING.

thing very different from mere choice ; never-
theless, his right and his authority are repre-
sented as dependent on human appointment.
If, however, as we believe, this authority is of
a purely spiritual nature, and the preaching of
the Gospel is one of those religious actions
which are not subject to magisterial control,
while we deny that any man may preach merely
because he chooses, we affirm that his choice,
which may possibly spring from a sense of duty,
is a sufficient reason in the sight of man. A
person cannot be said to believe because he
chooses to believe; he does not understand that
which he preaches because he chooses to under-
stand it. The will is not itself the adequate
cause of such voluntary actions. If there is
any truth in the Scripture declaration, that
" the natural man receiveth not the things of the
*' Spirit of God, neither can he know them,
" because they are Spiritually discerned, but
*' he that is spiritual judgeth all things," — then,
we must admit that a capacity for preaching
the Gospel wnth intelligence, is not a matter de-
pendent either on human fancy on the one hand,
or on political regulations on theother. The usur-
pation of the sacred office by incompetent per-
sons, is an evil which the interposition of eccle-
siastical restrictions is ill adapted to mitigate.

But farther: every individual has a natural
right to the free assertion and argumentative

LIBERTY or PREACHING. 17S

maintenance of his own opinions, provided
those opinions are not subversive of social order.
If no objection lies against the nature of his
sentiments, no criminality can attach to the
most unreserved expression of them. It would
be indeed strange that this natural right should
be lessened in proportion to the certain truth
and supreme importance of what he teaches.
Yet those who would restrict the exercise of the
Christian ministry, rest their arguments on this
consideration, that it is the Gospel which is
preached. The objection is taken, not against the
truth of what is taught, but against the authority
of the teacher, as if his natural freedom in re-
spect of the assertion of what he knows to be
true, and feels to be infinitely consequential,
underwent some mysterious modification, when
the truths which he labours to propagate relate
to the salvation of the soul. " Master," said the
disciples to our Lord, " we saw one casting out
" demons in thy name and we forbade him, be-
" cause hefolloweth not with us." Our Lord's
reply stands on record as a reproof of the offi-
cious zeal of those who, in a similar spirit of
worldly wisdom and sectarian policy, would
impose laws on the Church which Christ has
not imposed, and exclude from the ministry
those whom he has not excluded : — " Forbid
" him not ; for he that is not against us, is for
^' us." — " Wherefore I give you to understand,"

174 L BERTY OF PREACHING.

says St. Paul, when treating expressly of spiri-
tual gifts, and of the essential unity of the
Church, " that no man speaking by the Spirit
" of God, calletli Jesus accursed, and that no
" man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by
" the Holy Ghost. There are diversities of
" operation, but it is the same God which work-
" eth all in all." Neitlier the right, then, to exer-
cise the ministerial function, nor the authority
annexed to it, originates in the will, or is de-
pendent on the appointment of man.

The term Minister has all along been used in
reference to what must be considered as the
main purpose of the sacred function, the
preaching of the Gospel, and it has been the
object of the preceding remarks to place in their
true light, its moral claims and intrinsic autho-
rity. It is not meant to deny the existence of
specific offices in the Churches of Christ : these
of course imply appointment as the source of
whatever power is requisite for discharging them,
and to office, which comprehends in some way
or other a representative trust, no man can be
considered as having any natural right. Of this
nature are those two distinct offices of rule and
superintendence, which we recognise as belong-
ing to the primitive constitution of Christian
societies,^ — the pastorship, and the office of the
deacon. The province of the preacher is of
far wider circumference, and may be termed in

LIBERTY OF PREACHING. 175

sreat measure extra-ecclesiastical. In this
point of view, we might contend that it could
not come under the control of ecclesiastical
jurisdiction, unless that jurisdiction were,
agreeably to the Papal hypothesis, co-exten-
sive with universal empire. A Church has
a right to withhold its sanction from any ac-
tion, whether performed by its own members,
or by persons without its pale; but the power to
hinder any individual from exercising any na-
tural right, must, after all, rest with the civil
magistrate. The State is not, however, a com-
petent judge in these matters, and since it is
not the source of religious rights, or spiritual
authority, it cannot legitimately interfere in their
exercise. Yet, if the State confers this power
on ecclesiastical rulers, in its very appoint-
ment of the persons with whom the discretional
authority is to rest, it is guilty of this interfer-
ence ; it assumes to be a judge in matters of
religion ; and thus the power or right to preach
the Gospel of Christ, supposed to proceed from
the Church, is made ultimately to depend upon
the will of the civil magistrate. The Rabbini-
cal apologue employed to illustrate the conspi-
racy of the body and the soul in the act of sin,
may be well applied to this monstrous strata-
gem for blending ecclesiastical jurisdiction with
secular power. The one, like the body, is
strong, but blind ; the other, like the soul, has
sight, but is lame and impotent; but let blind

cal officers.

17g ECCLESIASTICAL ORDERS.

Power take the Church upon its shoulders, and
what the one cannot see, and the other could
not reach, although it belongs to neither, be-
comes the prey of both.
Ecdesiasti' § 9. Protestant Nonconformists hold, that
there are two distinct orders of ecclesiastical
oflficers, and only two specified in the New
Testament, as having the ordinary superinten-
dence of Christian societies, — bishops and
deacons. By bishops, they understand the pas-
tors or ruling elders of the congregation ; by
deacons, the officers appointed to manage the
secular conceins of the Church, more especially
to take care of the poor. On this point they
are at issue with Episcopalians, who contend
for three orders of clergy, as of Apostolic in-
stitution, under the threefold distinction of
bishops, presbyters, and deacons. These three
orders are, in fact, only three gradations of rank;
the same office, with the exception of certain
prerogatives arbitrarily attached to each, being
common to all the three. That distinction which
we observe broadly laid down in Scripture, be-
tween the province of the pastor and that of the
deacon, on the ground of office, is, upon the
Episcopalian hypothesis, made to consist entire-
ly in subordination. The office of the deacon,
as consisting in the management of the Church
funds, is not indeed altogether lost, but it is ad-
ministered by persons distinguished by an ap-

ECCLESIASTICAL ORDERS. 177

pellation which, strange to say, does not rank
among the ecclesiastical orders of the hierarchy.
In the Church of England, what in the New
Testanixent phraseology would be termed dea-
cons, are the churchwardens, who are em-
powered to exercise a species of parochial
jurisdiction more extensive, and in some re-
spects more important, than that of the rector
himself. The hierarchy, howeverj instead of
consisting of only three orders, is found to be
composed of archbishops, bishops, deans, pre-
bendaries, archdeacons, presbyters, and dea-
cons; the latter two classes being distributed
into rectors, vicars, and curates : so that the
question of the Apostolic origin of three orders,
except as respects their supposed subordination
of rank, becomes wholly impertinent. Bishop
Horsley,* indeed, with characteristic boldness,
ventures to maintain, that in the Corinthian

* " When it is considered that not fewer than nine difFer-
" ent ecclesiastical offices, distinguished by their different
*' gifts, appear to have been subsisting at Corinth when this
** Epistle was written, — and that by the consent of the most
" learned in ecclesiastical chronology, this Epistle was writ-
*' ten so early as the fifty-seventh year of our Lord, — it
" should seem that the formation of a Church — the constitu-
" tion of a hierarchy, composed of different orders, which
" orders were appointed to distinct duties, and invested with
" distinct rights, — was a thing of so great antiquity, as may
" leave no doubt remaining with any reasonable man, of the
" Divineauthority of the Institution." Sermons, Vol.J. p. 314.
N

178 ECCLESIASTICAL ORDERS.

Church, there existed, under Apostolic sanc-
tion, a ninefold gradation of rank ; and he at-
tempts to substantiate his strange assertion, by
the enumeration, in parallel columns, of the
gifts, and what he deems the corresponding of-
fices, as specified in the eighth, ninth, and tenth
verses, compared with the twenty-eighth verse,
of the twelfth chapter of St. Paul's first Epistle.
All the distinct gifts were, his Lordship admits,
of the extraordinary kind : these having ceased,
the offices may fairly be presumed to be obsolete.
Upon examination, however, it would be found
rather difficult to clear up the imagined relation
between " the gift of Prophecies or Predic-
" tions," and the office of " Helps," (AvTiXt}-^Hg)to
which it is assigned; unless indeed we risk the
conjecture, that these Helps were a species of
lay-preachers. Again, there does not appear
to be a very satisfactory connexion between the
gift of " Discerning of Spirits," and the office
of *' Governments" (KvjSe^ v»)<t£ic) ; but the learned
Bishop doubtless perceived the relation. Aban-
doning, therefore, the trite hypothesis of uni-
formity of government in the Church, he thought
it more prudent to adduce the precedent of
this imaginary nine-fold institution, in vindica-
tion of the ecclesiastical frame of the Church
of England, than to rest the whole weight of
the hierarchy upon the slender platform of bi-
shops, priests, and deacons. But, did the learned

OFFICE OF DEACON. 179

writer overlook a passage occurring in an Epi-
stle written to another primitive Church, and
which is not less decisive on this point? " Having
" then gifts," says the Apostle, " differing ac-
" cording to the grace that is given us, whether
" prophecy, letus prophecy accordingtothepro-
** portion of faith ; or ministry, let us wait on our
" ministering; or he that teacheth, on teaching ;
" or he that exhorteth, on exhortation ; he that
" giveth, let him do it with simplicity, he that
" ruleth, with dili2:ence: he that sheweth mer- 'Rom.xn.

. . 6-8.

" cy, with cheerfulness."* Now, if the essential
beingof a Christian Church, consisted in its form
of government, and every function must be ap-
propriated to some distinct order, it might be a
suitable exercise of critical speculation, to ar-
range the rank, and define the rights and titles,
oi the givers, and the skewers of mercy, who, to-
gether with the prophets, the ministers, the
teachers, the exhorters, and the rulers, made up
this sevenfold hierachy of the first Church of
Rome; as well as to find a reason why " he
*' that giveth" is assigned a precedence, in the
order of enumeration, over " him that ruleth."
Leaving, however, these reveries of the learned
Bishop, we shall proceed to institute an inquiry,
in the first place, into the nature of the Christ-
ian deaconship.

§ 10. Mosheim supposes, that the Church at o"*ce of

* ■* Deacon,

Jerusalem had, from the first, its inferior mi-
N 2

180 OFFICE OF DEACON.

nisters or deacons, and that these are referred
to in the fifth of the Acts, under the appellation
o^ young 7nen. He considers the seven deacons
chosen by order of the Apostles, as having been
added to the original number ; and as having
been purposely selected from the foreign Jews,
in order to remedy the dissentions which arose
on the part of the Grecians, from the suspicion
of partiality in the distribution of the offerings
presented for the support of the poor. This
notion receives, however, no support from the
New Testament ; for it is evident that the ap-
pointment of the seven deacons, was expressly
designed to relieve the Apostles themselves of
a laborious service which interfered with their
discharge of the higher and more peculiar func-
tions of their ministry. It is also clear, that
these officers were not chosen from among the
young men of the Church, nor was the office
itself one of a subordinate nature, or of inferior
dignity. The multitude or congregation, were
directed to look out for " seven men full of the
" Holy Ghost and of wisdom:" they were to
elect them ; which suggests the idea of their be-
ing invested, in consequence of that election,
with official superiority, otherwise, it would
hardly have been necessary that the Apostles
should so solemnly refer it to the choice of the
people. Their appointment was moreover ac-
companied with all the significant circumstances

OFFICE OF DEACON. 181

that could dignify the transaction. Besides, is it
credible, that any ministers of at all similar
functions, should have been previously appoint- ^

ed, and the inspired historian maintain an utter
silence as to their names and their office ? The
deacons of the church at Jerusalem, were, it
is manifest, not servants, but governors; and it
appears from St. Paul's Epistle to Timothy,
that so far from deacons being in general young
men, they were required to be fathers of fami-
lies and men of gravity, who had been first
*' proved" and " found blameless ;" or, as it is
expressed in the Acts, " men full of the Holy
" Ghost and of wisdom."

Although the deaconship pertained exclu-
sively to the temporalities of the Church, it was
a service which the Apostles themselves had
not thought it beneath them to discharge, and
which they relinquished only because it inter-
fered with their higher duties. It was, in fact,
a service which demanded all the discretion and
all the authority of age. Both Stephen and
Philip, if not the other deacons, exercised the
function of preacher ; the former accompanied
his ministry with the performance " of great
" wonders and miracles ;" the latter baptized
" both men and women." That the deacon did
not, however, by virtue of his office, belong to
what ecclesiastical writers have been pleased to
term the priesthood, that he was properly a laic,

182 OFFICE OF DEACON.

appears from the reason assigned for the insti-
tution of the order. The Apostles said : " It
" is not reasonable that we should leave the
*' word of God, to serve tables ;" and they re-
commended the congregation to select seven
men for this express purpose, that they might
be relieved from the interruption which such
cares occasioned in their spiritual engagements :
" But we will give ourselves continually to
*' prayer and to the ministry of the word,"
The ministry of the word would not, then, be
the proper business of the deacon, nor indeed
any spiritual charge, since the Apostles found
it impracticable to give attention to both the
temporal and the spiritual concerns of the
church, and ordained the deacons for the spe-
cific superintendance of the secular business.
Nevertheless, they were laid under no restric-
tions, in consequence of the appointment, which
rendered it contrary to order that they should
preach the Gospel. They had no spiritual
charge, but the exercise of the function of
preacher, was open to the members of the
church; it was in fact, in many cases, a du-
ty resulting from the extraordinary gifts with
which the first disciples were for the most
part endowed. The distinction of clergy and
laity had then no existence ; it receives no
countenance from the Apostolic records. All
the members of the Christian community were

OFFICE OF DEACON. 183

alike " God's clergy," " a holy priesthood," by
virtue of their regeneration, " a kind of first
" fruits of his creatures."

The deacons were, in common with the rest
of the brethren, subject in their private ca-
pacity to pastoral jurisdiction. Gradations of
rank, however, had no place in the primitive
Church, nor is it to be supposed that any
inferiority was considered as attaching to the
office of the deacon in consequence of the
secular nature of his services. It was a de-
gree, indeed, in point of order and authority,
below that of the bishop, but it was a most
honourable degree. Any station, any office
in the Church, how humble soever, was doubt-
less esteemed a post of dignity ; and the com-
mon sentiment which pervaded the Christian
brotherhood, was in unison with the devout
spirit of the Psalmist: "I had rather be a door-
*' keeper in the house of my God, than dwell in
" the tents of wickedness." But the deacon
was the officer to whom, had any species of
magisterial power existed in the Church, that
power, by right of office, belonged. He was
the most suitable person to exercise that spe-
cies of jurisdiction, which consisted in arbi-
trating differences among the members of the
Church, respecting matters of civil property and
right; a jurisdiction which, when assumed by
the pastor, laid the foundation of a further and

184 OFFICE OF DEACON,

most dangerous extension of the episcopal pre-
rogative. The reason assigned for the institu-
tion of the deaoonship, ought to have prevented,
as it evidently discountenanced, the assumption
of judicial functions on the part of the bishop;
but, when once a spirit of ambition began to
actuate the pastors of the Church, and the no-
tion of a Christian priesthood founded upon
supposed analogies between the Jewish hie-
rarchy and the New Testament ministry, began
to prevail, " prayer and the ministry of the
" word," no longer engaged the exclusive atten-
tion of the spiritual overseers of the flock. Jea-
lous of pre-eminence, tenacious of the supposed
rights of the sacred order, they grasped at every
thing which promised to strengthen theirascend-
ancy. The separation, first of rank, and then of
order, introduced between the people and their
ministers, on the pretence of an ecclesiastical
sanctity attaching to official character, was wi-
dened more and more, as all moral distinctions
gradually faded before that of authority. In this
manner, the oflice of deacon became degraded,*
as that of presbyter was extended and mag-
nified. When, however, the presbyters began
to emulate the bishops themselves in ambition
and luxury, the deacons soon followed their
example, and, aspiring to higher privileges and

* Ignatius terms deacons " the Church's servants,*' and
" deacons of meats and drinks."

OFFICE OF DEACON. 185

rights, were naturally led to despise those
meaner functions which were all that the usur-
pation of the higher orders had left them.*
Then were brought into the Church that strange
multiplicity of orders — sub-deacons, acolythi,
or attendants, ostiarii, or door-keepers, readers,
exorcists, and copiatcB, a sort of superior sex-
tons ;t all, according to Roman writers, of tMosHEm,
Apostolic institution; and the hierarchy, thus p.ii.p.ses.
extended at its base, and narrowing as it tow-
ered, approached its pyramidal perfection.
The sub-deacoiis were held to be so subordinate
to the superior rulers of the Church, that by a
canon of the council of Laodicea, they were
forbidden to sit in the presence of a deacon,
without his leave ! So rapid had been the re-
trogression of the human mind, and the decay
of the spirit of Christianity, towards the end of
the third century.

In the Nonconformist churches, the office of
deacon is preserved, under its primitive appel-
lation, in strict conformity to the regulations of
the New Testament. The persons chosen for
the deaconship, are generally elders of the
church in respect of age, men of standing and

* '' The deacons, beholding the presbyters thus deserting
" their functions, boldly usurped their rights and privileges ;
" and the effects of a corrupt ambition were spread through
" every rank of the sacred order.'' Mosheim, Cent. iii.
Part ii. Ch. 2.

136 OFFICE OF DEACON.

of piety. Upon them are devolved the care of
the poor belonging to the church, and the few
secular concerns of the community. The pro-
vision made for the support of the minister, is
also usually confided to their superintendance.
In the absence of the pastor, one of them, in
capacity of elder, presides over the occasional
meetings of the church, whether for social prayer
or for ecclesiastical business. It is strictly
witliin their province, to visit and relieve the
poor and the sick of the congregation. In the
celebration of the Eucharist, it is their office,
agreeably to the ancient practice referred to by
Justin Martyr, to deliver the elements to the
communicants; the business of preparing the
bread and wine, and of cleansing the sacramental
cups, which anciently devolved upon the sub-
deacons, being performed by the door-keepers,
who are the hired servants of the church. In
some respects, the Nonconformist deacon cor-
responds to the churchwarden of the Esta-
blishment.

With regard to the appointment of deacons,
it should seem to be out of question, that in the
only instance upon record in the Apostolic an-
nals, it took place by popular nomination or
suffrage, sanctioned by the solemn ratification
of the Apostles. When Paul and Barnabas
ordained elders in ev^ry city which they visit-
ed in which there existed a church, it does not

OFFICE OF DEACON. 137

appear that they considered themselves as au-
thorized to appoint deacons over the secular
affairs of the community : this they in all pro-
bability left to the discretion of the members
of the several societies. It may be thought,
from St. Paul's direction to Timothy, that al-
though the people elected their deacons by suf-
frage, the ultimate appointment rested, in some
degree, upon the sanction of the presiding pas-
tor, since the description given by the Apostle,
of the requisite qualifications, was, it is evident,
primarily designed for the guidance of Timothy
himself in the discharge of his extraordinary
commission. The character of the deacon
would, however, require to be approved by the
same tests, with whomsoever the election rest-
ed. Nor can it be with any propriety inferred,
from the extraordinary commission given to Ti-
mothy, as the delegate of the Great Apostle, and
which comprehended the appointment both of
bishops and deacons, that any such prerogative
attached to the ordinary pastors of the church.
That such directions occur in the Apostle's
charges to Timothy and Titus, and not in any
one of his Epistles to the churches, is easily to
be accounted for, since the latter were for the
most part written subsequently to his personal
visits to those churches, of many of which he
was the actual founder; at all events, some time
after tliey had assumed the form of a church:

188 TITLE OF ELDER.

there was, therefore, no occasion to transmit to
them instructions similar to those given to Timo-
thy and Titus, which respected the constitution
of societies not yet formed. The nature of the
deacon's office, indeed, renders it indispensable,
that it should be conferred with the consent, if
not by the nomination, of the people, forasmuch
as to him are committed the care and distribu-
tion of the funds voluntarily contributed to the
maintenance of the poor; a trust which involves
a responsibility of which the members at large
would claim to be the proper persons to take
cognizance. Among the Protestant Dissenters,
the deacons are not unfrequently elected by
ballot. Thus much may suffice, then, to illus-
trate the nature of this ecclesiastical office.
On the title §11. Wc uow procccd to the consideration
of that higher official character which we find
referred to so often in the New Testament, un-
der the titles of presbyter or elder, and overseer
or bishop; the identity of whose rank and
office, is the principal subject of controversy,
in relation to the primitive form of ecclesiastical
government.

That the term elder, and the office of bishop,
are ascribed in the New Testament to the same
individual, is a point clear beyond all dispute.
The passage in the twentieth chapter of the
Acts, (v. 28.) would be sufficient to establish
this position. It is not less certain, that elders

TITLE OF ELDER. 18C

and bishops are never referred to in any one
passage, as co-existing different orders. We
read repeatedly of " the Apostles, the elders,
*' and the brethren" of the church at Jerusalem.
In the Epistle to the Philippians, St. Paul par-
ticularizes the bishops and deacons of the
church. In the Epistles to Timothy and Titus,
also, the offices of bishop and deacon are spe-
cially adverted to, while no mention is made
of elder in the same connexion. When the
title of bishop occurs, that of elder is dropped, '
and w^hen the Apostolic writers speak of the
elders, they are silent with regard to bishops.
Had there been more than two orders in the
church at Philippi, when St. Paul addressed to
them his Epistle, it cannot be imagined that he
would have omitted to specify the third in his
salutation, especially since the deacons, whom
he does mention, are supposed to have sus-
tained the inferior station. Had he asso-
ciated the words elder and deacon, it might
have been contended, that under that in-
definite term, more than one description of
officers was included ; but the title of bishop is
confined in its application to one. Again, when
we read of elders being ordained in every
church, no mention is made of there being like-
wise bishops appointed. Lastly, the Apostle,
when specifying the requisite qualifications of
a Christian bishop, and of a deacon, is

190 TITLE OF ELD^K.

wholly silent as to the qualifications of a pres-
byter.

It would seem to be sufficiently manifest,
therefore, that the terms presbyter and bishop,
as used by the New Testament writers, never
imply different offices. It does not, however,
follow, as it has been sometimes hastily taken
for granted, that the two words are of identical
import. There is reason to doubt, whether
presbyter is ever used in the sacred writings, as,
strictly speaking, a term of office, in reference to
the Christian ministry. It frequently means
nothing more than an elder or senior in respect
of age; as, for example, when St. Paul directs
Timothy not to rebuke an elder, but to intreat
him as a father, the elder women, {pr eshyter esses y
the same word with a feminine termination,) as
mothers, and the younger men as brethren.
It is applied to persons occupying very different
stations in the Church, and it is assumed by
the Apostles themselves.

In reading the Apostolic history, it is neces-
sary to bear in mind, that not only were the
sacred writers themselves, by birth and by
education, Jews, retaining in all their habits
and predilections the national character, but
that in the events and transactions which they
record as taking place in the Christian Church,
and in Christian society, the agents were for
the most part Jews likewise, in every respect

TITLE OF ELDER. ]J>1

but that of Christian belief. The Apostles,
whensoever their prejudices were clearly in
opposition to the dictates of the Holy Spirit,
did not hesitate to sacrifice every consideration
and every feeling to a sense of duty ; yet they
displayed on all ordinary occasions, in their
modes of thinking, and in their line of conduct,
a natural preference for the customs of their
fathers ; and this was strengthened by a desire to
conform, as far as was lawful, to the prejudices
of their less enlightened fellow-countrymen.
In some respects, they were disposed to carry
this conformity to a dangerous extent, so that
the Apostle Paul felt himself compelled openly
to reprove Peter for consulting tlie national
prejudices of the Jewish converts, so far as to
refuse to eat with the Gentiles. In all the in-
stitutions of Christianity, we may perceive a
Jewish origin, and the traces of Jewish cus-
toms. This similarity was not, I apprehend,
always designed, but rather arose out of the
natural operation of previous usage. It is not
a little remarkable, that while the Jewish
writings of the Old Testament, have been so
industriously searched for the types and pre-
cedents of supposed analogical institutions in
the Christian Church, so little account should
have been taken of the accidental influence
of early habits and national manners on the
minds of the I^ew Testament writers, as illus-

192 TITLE OF ELDER.

trating both the facts of ecclesiastical history,
and the language in which those facts are re-
corded.
On the With regard, more especially, to the govern-

Synagogue • • • .^i i /-i •

govern- mcttt of thc primitive Churches, (jrotius con-
tends that it was wholly modelled on that of
the synagogues.* The Jewish synagogues were
under a government peculiar to themselves, dis-
tinct from the civil consistories ; there being in
every synagogue so many elders as to make
a bench or consistory, who had a place ap-
propriated to them as the governors of the
synagogue. Not only the rabbins, but also the
preachers or lecturers, were ordained by impo-
sition of hands; a ceremony which accompanied
the conferring of all public offices, civil as well
as ecclesiastical. In every synagogue there
was, besides the other elders, a superintendent

* " Totum regimen Ecclesiarum Christi conformatum fuit
" ad synagogarum exemplar." Grotius, as quoted by Stil-
lingfleet. " We are to take notice,'' remarks the Bishop,
in this connexion, " how much our Saviour, in the New Tes-
" tament, did delight to take up the received practices among
'• the Jews, only with such alterations of them as were suit-
<' able to the nature and doctrine of Christianity; as hath
" been abundantly manifested by many learned men, about
'^ the rite of the Lord's Supper, taken from the post ccenium
" among the Jews ; the use of baptism, from the baptisms
" used in initiating proselytes ; aud excommunication from
"their putting out of the synagogue." Irenkum, P. ii.
Ch. vi. § 4.

TITLE OF ELDER. 193

of the public service who called out the seven
readers in order, and whose peculiar office it
was, to pray for and to bless the people : his
primacy in rank included, however, no juris-
dictive pre-eminence. This presiding minister
is supposed to be the officer intended by Jew-
ish writers under the title of the Angel of the
Congregation,* and he is alluded to in the
Sacred Scriptures! as the archisynagogue, or tAcisxviif.
chief ruler. Epiphanius, indeed, parallels the

Apyi(7vva.y(jjyisg, Trpta/SurECirc:, and A^'ai'tVoc, amOUg

the Jews, to the Bishops, Presbyters, and Dea-
cons, of the Christian Church; but little stress
is to be laid upon such analogies. There ap-
pears, however, to be a strong probability, in-
dependent of these coincidences, in favour of
the supposition, that the Apostles did in great
measure adopt the customs of the synagogue,
in the modelling of the Church. Our Lord
himself had set them the example of a conde-
scending conformity to the manners and habits '
of the Jews. No other plan was familiar to
them ; no other could have been introduced
with equal facility ; nor was there any reason,
as Bp. Stillingfleet remarks, that they should
slight the constitution of the synagogue, since

* " He was Angelus Dei, as he was Inspector Ecclesite,
" because the angels are supposed to be more immediately
" present in, and supervisors over, the public place and duties
" of worship." Ireniciim^ Ch. vi. § 7.
O

194 TITLE OF ELDER.

** it had no dependence on the Jewish hie-
" rarchy, and subsisted not by any command
** of the ceremonial law." It imported nothing
typical; it involved nothing of a nature bur-
densome or offensive to the Gentile Christians ;
it was, therefore, in every respect suitable to
the churches in Apostolic times. " For church
*' officers acting then," remarks the learn-
ed writer already referred to, " either in ga-
*' thering or governing churches, without any
" authority from magistrates, such a way of
*' government was most suitable to their seve-
*' ral churches, as whereby the churches might
*' be governed, and yet have no dependence
" upon the Secular Power, which the way of
" government in the synagogue was most conve-
" nient for. For the Jews, though they enjoyed
" a bare permission from the civil state where
" they lived, yet, by the exercise of their syna-
** gogue government, they were able to order
" all affairs belonging to the service of God,
" and to keep all members belonging to their
** several synagogues, in unity and peace among
" themselves. The case was the same as to
" synagogues and churches; these subsisted by
'* the same permission which the others en-
" joyed; the end of these was the service of
*' God, and preserving that order among them
" which might best become societies so con-
" stituted. There can be no reason then as-

TITLE OF ELDER. 195

" signed, why the Apostles in settling particii-
" lar churches, should not follow the synagogue
*' in its model of ii'overnment."* * irenicim,

^ Pt. II. C.TI.

And is there any sufficient reason, (to digress $ 9.
for one moment from the immediate subject,)
that particular churches in the present times,
should not be allowed to follow the Apostolic
model, and to adopt this most convenient
mode of government? In what do the legitimate
ends of ecclesiastical government, now, differ
from those which the Apostolic constitution
of the primitive churches was found the most
suitable to accomplish ? The learned writer,
in this description of the circumstances and
discipline of the Jews and early Christians, has
drawn an exact representation of the state of
Protestant Dissenters in this kingdom. Al-
though they " enjoy a bare permission from
'* the civil state in which they live," — and this
bare permission is, as respects the exercise of
their religious rights, all that they require, —
yet, by the exercise of that congregational go-
vernment which bears so close a resemblance
to that of the synagogue, " they are able to
*' order all affairs belonging to the service of
'* God," and to keep the members of their re-
spective societies in unity and peace ; and these
they conceive to be the only ends of ecclesi-
astical institutions. How shall we account for
it, that the learned writer, after candidly set-
02

Ig6 TITLE OF ELDER.

ting down this as his deliberate opinion relative
to the model of the primitive church polity,
and after keenly exposing the absurdity of the
attempt to establish the Divine right of Dioce-
san Episcopacy, should end in disputing the
right of Christians in the present day, to adopt
that ancient mode of ecclesiastical government,
and in contending for the very Diocesan Epis-
copacy, as established by the Civil Power,
which he has shewn to have had no existence
in the Apostolic age?
origuiaiiin- To rctuHi to the consideration of the term
Presbyter, prcsbytcr. Its Original import, like that of
the Hebrew ]pi it is well known, denoted
age. Among the Hebrews, age was an object
of peculiar veneration, and was considered as
conferring a natural authority and pre-emi-
nence. The title of age, therefore, agreeably
to many similar facts in the history of lan-
guage, became significant, first of the species
of patriarchal presidency it involved, and then
of official authority. Bishop Stillingfleet re-
marks, in explanation of the origin of its se-
condary meaning : " Because wisdom was sup-
" posed to dwell w^ith a multitude of years,
" therefore persons of age and experience, were
" commonly chosen to places of honour and
" trust, and thence the name importing age,
" doth likewise carry dignity along with it;"*

* See, for a further illustration of this use of the word,
Gen. xxiv. 2. " And Abraham said unto the eldest servant

TITLE OF ELDER. 197

but it is perhaps a more simple way of ac-
counting for this extension of its application, to
refer it to the natural progress of government.
In the early stages of society, every head of a
family possessed a species of magisterial au-
thority over his household and dependents,
which, in the heads of the chief families,
amounted to a princely dignity. The elders
of the tribes are continually referred to, in the
sacred writings, as exercising a species of feudal
jurisdiction. The title of elder is given to the
seventy whom INIoses appointed to share with
him the burden of magistracy. The word
subsequently occurs in connexion with some
species of civic office. We read of " elders
" of the city,"t and of " the elders of every t Deut.x.x.
" city :'"J a use of the word which brings to jEzrax.i4.
mind our Saxon elderman, or alderman. In all
these instances, the appellation appears to de-
note the original source of the authority which
became in process of time attached to office,
irrespectively of the circumstance of seniority.
The elders of the synagogue were ordained
officers, exercising ministerial and judicial func-
tions. They are generally designated by the
specific appellation of rulers, and are never sim-

*' of liis house, (Gr. -KpiafivTepoc, r oLKiac) that ruled over all
" that he had,'' &c. In this passage, age is to be considered
as either a term importing, or a tircurastance conferring,
pre-eminence.

198 TITLE OF ELDER.

ply mentioned as presbyters ; the former being a
term of office, the latter, an indefinite term im-
porting power and dignity in general.

In the New Testament, the word presbyter
is used with similar latitude, but uniformly as
conveying the idea of honourable pre-eminence.
Sometimes, it denotes sitnply the seniors of the
church, or heads of families, on whom, prior
to any constituted form of polity, the govern-
ment of the assembly would naturally devolve;
at other times, it is indiscriminately apjDlied to
all the officers of the church. The Apostle
John, in both his second and third Epistles,
styles himself The Elder; and since we can-
not suppose that he designed to waive in those
Epistles his Apostolic authority, we must con-
clude that he employed the term as one of
equal weight and significance. Nor would the
Apostle Peter, in exhorting the elders to take
upon themselves the episcopacy of the church,
have asserted his authority under this very
title — " who am also an Elder," — unless with
that word had been associated ideas of presi-
dency and dignity.

The first mention that is made in the Apo-
stolic history, of Christian elders, is incidental.
The disciples of Antioch transmitted relief to
the brethren dwelling in Judea, which, it is
said, " they sent to the elders by the hands
» Act* xi. of Barnabas and Saul."* In a subsequent

TITLE OF ELDER. 199

chapter, we read of a second deputation being
sent to consult the church at Jerusalem, re-
specting the disputes raised by the Judaizing
teachers, with regard to the ceremonial law ; on
which occasion, the " Apostles, elders, and
" brethren" of the church at Jerusalem, are re-
peatedly mentioned. We have, however, no
proof that at that period any specific office, ex-
cept that of deacon, had an existence in the
church at Jerusalem, for the Apostles them-
selves sustained the episcopacy. The Apostles
and elders, to whom the mission was directed,
" came together to consider of the matter,"
*' the multitude" of the disciples being also pre-
sent. In other words, the Apostles, who on all
occasions on which they did not act by imme-
diate inspiration, consulted with the members
of the church, and acted in concert with their
suffrage, summoned the aged members to de-
liberate upon the answer to be returned to the
Christians at Antioch, the result of which de-
liberation appears to have been submitted to
the whole church for their sanction. " Then
" pleased it the Apostles and elders, with the
" whole church, to send chosen men of their
" own company to Antioch." And in the in-
strument transmitted to the Syrian churches,
*' the Apostles, elders, and brethren," are as-
sociated in the accustomed salutation, as aeon-
joint authority.

200 TITLE OP ELBEK.

Ill the preceding- chapter occurs a passage
already adverted to, in ^vhich it is stated, that
Paul and Barnabas, in re-visiting- Lystra, Ico-
iiium, and Antioch, " ordained elders in every
" church." The word in this place translated
ordain, intimates, it has been contended, the ap-
pointment by suffrage, as denoted by the lifting
up of the hand, in contradistinction to the im-
position of hands, which was the usual ex-
pression of the conveyance of official power:
this, however, appears very doubtful. Nothing
more is necessarily implied, than that they left
these churches under the special superintend-
ence of chosen elders; elders, in rank and age,
the persons so appointed were previously, but
now,theepiscopacyof the assembly was solemn-
ly committed to them, as the rulers of the Christ-
ian synagogue. These elders became, hence-
forth, the ultimate authorities in those churches:
they were subject to no higher jurisdiction.
Even the parent church, as it niay be con-
sidered, at Antioch, from whence Paul and
Barnabas had been originally sent forth on this
special mission, was not at any period under
the presidency of an Apostle, was not even
founded by an Apostle. St. Paul could not
possibly maintain an episcopal superintendence
over their concerns; that " care of all the
*' chur'ches," therefore, which he speaks of as
daily devolving upon himself, could intend

TITLE OF ELDER. 201

only the deeply anxious and affectionate in-
terest which lie took in the spiritual prosperity
of the churches which he had planted.

When St. Paul touched at Ephesus, in his
way to Jerusalem, he sent for " the elders of
" the church," and in the solemn and pathetic
address which he delivered to them in that in-
terview, he expressly styles them the overseers
or bishops of the flock, describing- it as their of-
fice to " feed the Church of God," wliich clearly
refers to their sustaining* the capacity of teach-
ers, if not the pastoral function. The passage
must in all fairness be admitted to prove, that a
plurality of elders or bishops, without, as it
should seem, any distinction of rank, existed
at that period in the Ephesian church, and that
upon these elders devolved the episcopacy of
the church, and the work of the ministry.

On his arrival at Jerusalem, Paul, together
with those who had attended him, had a special
interview with James, on which occasion, we
are informed, " all the elders were present."
This expression suggests the idea of a numerous
assembly, and there can be little doubt, there-
fore, that in this case, as on the occasion before
referred to, the senior members, or heads of fa-
milies, are intended by the phrase. This is the
last time the word elders occurs in the eccle-
siastical history of the New Testament, and in
no instance does it appear to be used as,
strictly speaking, a term of office.

202 TITLE OF ELDER.

That the elders of Christian churches were,
from the first, entrusted with the general super-
intendence of the assembly, is highly probable ;
in many cases, as for instance on the conversion
of the whole or the major part of the members
of a Jewish synagogue, the form of government
was doubtless left undisturbed, and the same
elders, perhaps, continued to preside over the
Christian society, as had ruled the assembly
before they had embraced the faith of Him of
whom Moses and the Prophets had spoken.
From the elders of the church, the bishops
were usually chosen : we say usually, because, if
Timothy was, as some have imagined, a bishop
at the time that the Apostle Paul addressed
to him his first Epistle, it is certain that hp was
not then, properly speaking, an elder. The
case of Timothy, and that of Titus, must how-
ever be considered as altogether extraordinary.
They were entrusted with a special commis-
sion, to which nothing either in the Jewish
priesthood or in the synagogue government,
presents an analogy. The presbytery of the
synagogue was an authority of a local nature ;
but neither Timothy nor Titus appears to have
been appointed to a local episcopacy.* Theirs

* On the contrary, it appears from tlie sacred records,
that Timothy, by the direction of the Apostle Paul, super-
intended for a short time several churches in various places.
Compare 1 Cor. iv. 17, 1 Tim. i. 3, and 1 Thess. iii. 2, which
shew, that he was successively " sent" to Corinth, to Ephesus,

TITLE OF ELDER. 203

was " the work of an evangelist," a work not
essentially different, it may be presumed, from
that ^vllich Paul and Barnabas were sent forth
from the church at Antioch to discharge. To
this office, whatever it involved, Timothy, we
are informed, was set apart by the imposition
of the hands of the Presbytery; and as St.
Paul, iu his second Epistle, speaks of the gift of

and to Thessalonica, in the character of the adopted son and
fellow-la bour«.'r of the Apostle. The Apocryphal subscription
to the Second Epistle to Timothy, describes hitn as the first
bishopof the churchof the Ephesians. With more plausibility
might he have been designated the Bishop of the church of
the Corinthians, since in the First Epistle to that church,
he is referred to, as being specially sent to them, as the re-
presentative of the Apostle, to bring them into remembrance
of his ways and doctrines; and in the salutation prefixed to
the Second Epistle, he is expressly associated with St. Paul
as f' Timothy our brother." Moreover, in the Epistles,
wbich St. Paul wrote to the churches at Ephesus and Co-
losse, to the Hebrews and to Philemon, during his imprison-
ment at Rome, Timothy is mentioned as his companion. As
to Titus, he was the Apostle's companion in his journey to
Jerusalem. (Gal. ii. 1.) Subsequently to his being left for a
short time at Crete, he was sent for by St. Paul to Ephesus,
which he left for Corinth, and aftei-wards joined the Apostle '

in Macedonia. (2 Cor. vii. 6, 7.) Titus returned, with Silas,
to Corinth, to prepare the church for contributing to the relief
of the poor saints at Jerusalem, He was w ith Paul at Rome,
and went thence, not to Crete, (his supposed diocese,) but
unto Dalmatia (2 Tim. iv. 10). " Whether any do inquire of
" Titus," writes St. Paul to the Corinthians, " he is my
" partner and fellow-helpen" See Whitby's Preface to his
Com. on Titus. *

204 TITLE OF ELDIiE.

God as having been coni'.niinicatecl to Timothy
by the imposition of his o\vn hands, we are war-
ranted in concluding that 8t. Paul himself, as
one of that Presbytery, assisted in his ordina-
tion. In like manner, Paul and Barnabas were
ordained to their mission, (the same cere-
mony of the solenm imposition of hands, ac-
companied with prayer, being employed,} by
the prophets and teachers of the church at Au-
tioch, of whom three, the number required in
Jewish ordinations, are specially mentioned.
That ordination was, unquestionably, not the
source of St. Paul's Apostolic authority, nor
did it constitute Barnabas an Apostle: it was
simply a designation to a particular mission. It
is equally evident, that it was not requisite that
the rite of ordination should be performed by
superiors in office, since an Apostle submitted
to be ordained by those who cannot be con-
sidered as occupying a rank higher than that
of Presbyters.*' The right to ordain, attached

* " \^'liy should the i>erfor)nance of ordination, which is
'' a lower office, exalt a prelale? Verily, neither the nature
" nor example of ordination doth any way require an im-
" parity between the ordainer and the ordained ; for what
" more natural than every like to produce his. like, man to.
" beget man, fire to propagate fire? And in example of
'' highest opinion, the ordainer is inferior to the ordained ;
" for the pope is not made by the precedent pope, but by
'' cardinals, who ordain and consecrate to a higher and
" greater office than their own.'" Milton. " Reason of
"■ Church Government inged against Prelaci/." B. i. C. iv.

TITLE OF ELDER. 205

alike, according' to the Jewish customs, to
every one who had himself been regularly or-
dained, and it was unquestionably vested in the
presbyters of the primitive churches, previously
to the rise of ])iocesan Episcopacy. " Indeed,"
remarks the right reverend writer so often re-
ferred to, "■ were we to determine things by
" importance of words, and things signified by
*' them, the power of ordination was proper to
*' the name Presbyter, and not Mishop, because
" the former name did then import tiiat power,
" and not the latter.'"*

The custom of ordination was peculiar to the
synagogue; for it is remarkable, that while the
rulers or elders were ordained by the imposi-
tion of hands, the priests and Levites of the
Ceremonial Law, were never instituted into their
functions in this manner, but simply underwent
an examination before the great Sanhedrim, as
to the purity of their birth, and their freedom
from corporal defects; after which, if approved,

* The learned Bishop, although he thuiks that " this power
" of ordination maybe restrained by those who have the
" cave of tiie Church's peace," strenuously supports the law-
fulness and validity of Presbyterian ordination ; and he gives
his deliberate opinion in favour of Medina's judgement, that
" Jerome, Austin, Ambrose, Sedulius, Primasias, Chrysos-
" tome, Theodoret, and Theophylact, were all of Aerius's
"judgement, as to the identity of both name and order of
" Bishops and Presbyters in the primiti> c Church." See also
the Confessions or" the Romish Canonists themselves, and of
Jerome, Jrenicum, Pt. ii. Ch. vi. § 11.

206 TITLE or KLDER.

they put on white raiment, and were admitted
with great rejoicing into the Temple. To this
custom our Saviour obviously alludes, in his ad-
dress to the church atSardis: "Thou hast a few
*' names even in Sardis, which have not defiled
" their garments, and they shall walk with me in
*' v^'hite, for they are worthy. He that overcom-
*' eth, shall be clothed in white raiment." In
this passage, we have another striking instance
of the figurative application of the priestly
character, so frequent in the New Testament,
not to any office in the Christian Church, but
to the individual Christian, as a priest unto
God, constituted to offer up spiritual sacri-
fices, a consecrated person, belonging to a
kingdom of priests. This metaphorical lan-
guage serves strongly to expose the fallacy and
the anti-scriptural nature of the hypothesis, that
the ministers of the Gospel succeed, by way of
correspondence or analogy, to the priests under
the Law. This gross mistake, as Bishop Stil-
lingfleet justly terms it, has been the foundation
and original of many errors; " for when," as he
remarks, " in the primitive Church, the name
" of priests came to be attributed to Gospel
" ministers, from a fair compliance (as was
" thought then) of the Christians, only to the
" names used both among Jews and Gentiles,
" in process of time, corruptions increasing in
*' the Church, those names that were used by

TITLE OF ELDER. 207

" the Christians by way of analogy and accom-
" modation, brought in the things themselves
*' primarily intended by thosenames ;* so by the
" metaphorical names of priests and altars, at
" last came up the sacrifice of the mass, without

* Upon this mischievous fallacy, it might be shewn, rest
the whole fabric of ecclesiastical rights, the Divine right of
tithes, the power of benediction, and absolution, as well as
that distinction of clergy and laity, which is in itself an
error of no small practical importance, inasmuch as it in-
volves the notion of a mediatorial order in the Church of
Christ, analogous to the Jewish priesthood. To this notion
is to be referred the power supposed to be inseparable
from the Apostolic succession, of regenerating by baptism,
of confirming, of absolving, and of ordaining to the like
functions. A high-church writer, indeed, Mr. Law, does
not scruple to declare that Christian priests " are left us in
" Christ's stead, to carry on his great design of saving us ;"
a claim which Bishop Burnet justly stigmatizes as impious,
opposing to the bold assertions of that writer, the reasonings
of St. Paul, in the 5th, 7th, and following three chapters of
the Epistle to the Hebrews, respecting the Jewish priest-
hood. The Bishop thus concludes his brief exposition of
their contents : " Having therefore boldness, every one of
" us, who is a Christian, (and therefore not to be frightened
*' with the terrors, or outcries, or vain words of men) to enter
" into the holiest by the blood of Jesus (and not with any
" intervention necessary from other men,) by a new and liv-
** ing way which he hath consecrated for us, through the
" veil, that is to say, his flesh; let us draw near with a true
" heart, in full assurance of faith. And let us not be driven
" from this, by any trifling pretences and dreams of men,
" or by threatenings from them, or even mure real mischiefs
" they may be at any time able to bring upon us, for opposing

208 TITLE OF ELDER.

*' which they thought the names of priest and
" altars were insigniticant. This mistake we
'* see run all along through the writers of the
" Church, as soon as tlie name priests was ap-
*' plied to the elders of the Church." Thus,
Isidore, Ivo, and Jerome roundly affirm, that
High Priests, Priests and Levites, have a place
in the Christian Church under the appelhition
of Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons ; the ab-
surdity of which is the more glaring, from the
consideration that, as there could be only
one High Priest in the Levitical economy, the
parallel must be sought for, not in the epis-
copate, but in the impacy. It is not to be
wondered at, that the Deacon, when these
notions became prevalent, was transformed
from an overseer of the poor, into a mere at-
tendant on the Presbyters. Such a substitution
of the terms and honours of a ceiemonial priest-
hood for the simplicity of the synagogue govern-
ment, was not, in all probability, in accommo-
dation to the prejudices of the Jews, (who, we
may reasonably suppose, were equally attached
to all their institutions,) so much as to those of
the heathen converts, from whom, as Christ-

'' their enormous claims, and defending our Lord's prerogative,
" of being our sole High Priest, and Mediator with his Fa-
" ther." Bp. Burnet's " Full Examination of several Points
" relating to Church Authority." 8vo. 1718. p. 100.

TITLE OF ELDER.

ianity began to spread, the most numerous ac-
cessions were made. It was in the estimation
of the latter, more especially, that it presented
such an appearance of unattractive poverty
and meanness, as a religion destitute of temples,
and altars, and a priesthood ; and to meet this
feeling, the Christian fathers had recourse to
the fatal expedient of coining these false analo-
gies, and setting up a priestly hierarchy and a
pompous ritual. Is it to be wondered at, that
the spirituality of Christianity, which consti-
tuted its true grandeur, should have been
wholly lost by means of this unhallowed stra-
tagem ?*

The authority with which Timothy was in-
vested, would seem to be of a nature not usu-
ally conferred upon persons so young as he was,
which induced the Apostle to caution him
against giving occasion to any person to " de-
*' spise his youth." It was an authority very
extensive, far exceeding the powers vested in
the ruler of a synagogue, not only as regarded
the local sphere of his jurisdiction, but inas-
much as even the episcopal elders of the
churches, the formation of which was entrusted
to him, appear to have been subordinated to
his presidency. St. Paul exhorts him not to
rebuke an elder, as by virtue of his office he

* Consult Mosheim. Second Century. Pt. ii. Ch. iv.
P

209

210 TITLE OF ELDER.

might seem authorized to do, but to "intreathiiu
" as a father;" and not to receive, in his judicial
capacity, an accusation against an elder, except
before two or three witnesses. Some, at least,
of these elders, had " rule" in the Church; (not
perhaps, that by that word we are to under-
stand official authority, further than what na-
turally attached to the presidency of elders;)
some also, and only some, " laboured in the
" word and doctrine," on which account they
were to be " especially counted worthy of
" double honour," — of honour as elders, of
double honour, as elders ruling well and la-
bouring in tlie ministry. The commission
with which Timothy was charged, was clearly
archiepiscopal, or, if we must employ mo-
dern phraseology, resembled the powers of a
cardinal legate, or vicar apostolic. On the
supposition, therefore, that it was not purely
extraordinary and specific, but that it forms
a precedent for an order of ecclesiastical go-
vernors superior to that of ordinary pastors, it
must be an order as much superior to that
of bishops, as that of bishops is held to be
superior to that of deacons. And yet, dis-
missing our artificial notions of rank and office,
the functions, the purely spiritual authority with
which Timothy was invested, will be found to
attach in reality to an office far below, in human
estimation, the lordly prerogatives of Episeo-

TITLE OF ELDER. 21 I

pacy, — an office not even comprehended in the
hierarchy, — the office of the Christian Mis-
sionary.

The episcopacy of the primitive Christian so-
cieties, was, then, a local charge, strictly analo-
gous, as it should seem, to that of the elders
of the synagogue, as relating simply to the re-
gulation of the public service of the Church,
and the general superintendence of ecclesiasti-
cal affairs, but differing from the synagogue
government, inasmuch as it comprehended no
species of civil authority. There was nothing
in the primitive episcopacy, that was adapted to
operate as an incentive to ambition : it was not
a source of wealth; it conferred no secular
power. It is even probable, that it might appear
to many, an office of unenviable labour and re-
sponsibility, and that, on this account, there
might be a remissness on the part of those on
whom it naturally devolved, to undertake its
duties. Such a conjecture might seem to be
warranted by the language of St. Peter, on one
occasion, where, asserting his own authority as
an elder, to exhort the elders of the Church, he
charges them to " feed the flock of God,"
which was among them, taking the oversight
thereof, " not by constraint^ but willingly ; not
** as being lords over God's heritage, but as
" being ensamples to the flock." He urges it
upon them as a most sacred duty, to take upon
p 2

212 ORIGTN OF VARIATIONS

themselves this charge, iu order that the churcli
might not be left without its natural guardian-s,
the aged shepherds of the flock, and the sheep
remain unfed. Perhaps the declaration of St.
Paul, " If a man desireth the office of a bishop,
" he desireth a good work," is susceptible of a
similar illustration. In times of persecution, to
desire an office which exposed the individual to
more than common danger, and brought with
it no compensation of a secular nature, was a
noble emulation. Some there might be, even
then, w ho, like Diotrephes, were actuated by a
mere love of pre-eminence. At the period^
however, at which the Apostle addressed this
epistle to Timothy, circumstances had scarcely
rendered it an equivocal evidence of zeal, to
desire the spiritual oversight of the church, in
connexion with all the arduous duties of the
pastoral office.
Origin of § 12. How many elders there were originally
inUiego^^* in a church, and what were the precise nature
iSThurch. and limit of the episcopal functions, it is impos-
sible to ascertain. All that we know on this
subject, from the New Testament, is, that their
office was to " take care of the Church of God/*
to " feed the flock," to preside over it as a fa-
mily. So long as the churches maintained their
primitive purity, no occasion would be likely to
arise, that should bring into question the extent
of their authority, or call for any invidious ex-

IN CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 213

^rcise of their prerogative. That the primitive
government of Christian churches, underwent,
at a very early period, very material changes, is
4icknowledged on all sides. Upon this fact con-
siderable stress has been laid by the advocates
of Diocesan Episcopacy, under the idea that it
vindicates, if not the Apostolic derivation, the
next to Apostolic origin, and undoubted ex-
pediency of that form of ecclesiastical polity.
How can we account, it is asked, for so early
a departure from the Scriptural model as is
involved, on these principles, in the rise of
Episcopacy ?

To this question it may be replied, in the first
place, with the learned Bishop to whom we are
under so great obligations, that there is reason
to believe, that the Apostles did not themselves
observe a fixed uniform rule in settling the go-
vernment of the primitive churches, but adapted
their course of proceeding to the circumstances
of the persons with whom they had to deal.* * irenkum.
The same reason that induced them, under cer- § 17.
tain circumstances, to adopt the form of the
synagogue government, led them to prefer, un-
der different circumstances, a forrn of govern-
ment better suited to the national customs of
their converts. Where the churches were small,
the number of rulers would be proportionably
few, the episcopacy being, there can be no
doubt, in some instances confided to an indi-

214 ORIGIN OF VARIATIONS

vidua! pastor; in others, vested in a consistory
of elders answering to that of the syna,2:o|^ue.
Of the existence of " a college of elders," as it
is termed, acting in concert with the presiding
pastor, or arch-presbyter, there^ are uiidonbted
traces in the annals of the early ages. Ignatius
terms the Prt^shyters, " tlie Sanhedriii of the
" Church." Other Fathers allude to them
under the title of clergy. Jerome speaks of
them as the Senate or Conunon Council, by
whon» the church was governed. Eutyrhius
remarks, that there were twelve [)resbyters
who constituted the government of the Cliurch
at Alexandria. Dismissing, however, the doubt-
ful testimony of the Fathers, there is nothing in
the New Testament, to lead us to snppo e that
either the Pastoral, or the Presbyterian form of
government was exclusively adhered to. On
the contrary, St. Paul's Epistle to the Corin-
thians, would seem to warrant the conclusion,
that in that church at least, there existed no
order for the public service, and consequently
no ordained elders or archi-synagogue. Jt is ob-
servable, that no officers of the church are speci-
fied in the opening salutation of either of the
Epistles to this church ; and that the Apostle,
after reprobating their party spirit and their
disorderly meetings, recommendsthem, towards
the close of the first Epistle, to " submit them-
" selves" to the house of Stephanus, who had

IN CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 21'

" addicted themselves to the ministry of the
** saints," intending, probably, to convey by
this recommendation, the wish that they should
elect Stephanus and his companions as the go-
vernors of the Church. The existence of pro-
phets and teachers in particular churches, as at
Antioch, and the distinct offices connected
with miraculous gifts, necessarily produced
some variations in the mode of government,
although the general form might still be Pres-
byterian. In some cases, the Apostles and the
Evangelists may be supposed to have exercised
in person an episcopal presidency, which was
probably devolved at their decease, or removal,
on the senior Presbyter, as their successor.
This, it may be said, is building upon conjec-
ture; but the burden of proof rests with those
who maintain the opposite opinion, that the
Apostles did adhere to one settled plan, and
that that prescribed form of government has
Divine right in its favour; for if, in any one in-
stance, there was a deviation from uniformity
in the proceedings of the Apostles themselves,
or, if the churches were allowedly left to frame
their own regulations, independent of Apostolic
directions, the positive duty and perpetual ob-
ligation of a stern adherence to certain forms,
are disproved ; and the departure from the
original model ceases to excite that surprise
which it occasioned when contemplated as a

216 tDRlGIN OF VARIATIONS

direct infringement of A postolic law. To those
who are accustomed to attach superlative im-
portance to the constitutional form of Christian
churches, it may appear a notion bordering
upon heterodoxy, that the New Testament,
our only rule in matters of faith and practice,
does not furnish specific directions in what is
deemed by them so essential a particular.* Let

* Agreeably to this representation, is the assertion of
MosHEiM, that " Neither Christ himself, nor his holy
" Apostles, have commanded any thing clearly, or expressly,
" concerning the external form of the Church, or the precise
" method according to which it should be governed.'' —
Ecclesiastical History, C&nt I. Pt. ii. P. 97. That no form
of Church government is prescribed by the Scriptures, is the
admission of Archbishop Whitgift, the great defender
of the English Hierarchy: nay, of King James himself.
(See Si illincjFLEEt's Irenicum, Pt ii. C. 8.) Bishop
BuRNKT acknowledges, that even " The order of the clergy
** does not appear from Scripture to be a positive institution,
" in any manner, as the sacraments were. The appointing of
*' elders, by the Holy Ghost's immediate direction, to a
'* church, or congregation; or by the Apostles, who had the
*' infallible Spirit, which was the same thing; and their di-
•' recting others to appoint elders in the several cities where
*' Christianity prevailed, is not a sufficient ground to go upon,
" for calling the order of the clergy, a positive institution of
" Christ; because it does not appear, that Christ gave any
"directions about that matter; and because the Apostles
*' never mention it as such ; but only as a prudential, proper,
*' and useful office; they never represent it as being of the
** essence even of the Visible Church of Christ; and besides,
" because it has been fully made out by the most learne<l

IN CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 217

it, however, be remarked, that while the fonn
of government is left thus indefinite and uncer-
tain, the principles of ecclesiastical government
are laid down in the Apostolic writings with
the utmost clearness; principles invariable,
common to every modification of outward cir-
cumstance, and which are all that the Divine wis-
-flonj has seen fit to render binding. Had these
been adhered to, departures from the primitive
model, which w^re in fact unavoidable, would
have been attended by no evil results.

But, secondly, there are some considerations
which may serve to shew, that a departure from
the form, as well as the spirit of the primitive
governmentof Christian societies, was naturally
coincident with a declension in their religious
character. If, even during the life of the Apo-
stle John, the seven churches of Asia Minor
had, with one exception, suffered so awful a
declension in the latter respect, the early
changes in ecclesiastical government might
seem to aflford little scope for wonder, as ex-
hibiting a correspondent deterioration. Some
slight modification of the original plan might
originate in the simple circumstance of the ex-

" writers, to be entirely takeij from the model of the Jewish
" synagogue, which, we are pretty sure, was not of Divine
" institution." " Full Examination of several Important
" Points f" &c. 1718. P. 109.

218 ORIGIN OF VARIATIONS

tension of Christian churches, and the conse-
quent multiplication of elders. This, perhaps,
gave rise to the election of the senior presbyter
as moderator or chief ruler of the church,
agreeably to the custom of appointing an archi-
synagogue in the Jewish consistories;* the

* That the early introduction of a Presidency in the
bench of Presbyters, had its rise in the custom of the syna-
gogue, is the opinion of the learned M. Basnage, in his
History of the Jews. (Book v. P. 408). Mr. Boyse gives the
following extract: — " The government of the synagogues
" hath been often changed. In our Saviour's time they were
" regulated by a certain number of doctors. There were
** one or two persons set over these doctors. Dr. Lightfoot
*' gives this title to three persons who were set over ten
" leaders. 'Tis also from tiience that the Christian Church
" has taken its discipline. For in the beginning of every
" chutch, there was a certain number of Priests (or Presby-
** ters; ordered, proportioned to the number of Christians.
" Wht^n the cities were as large as Jerusalem and Rome, they
''placed two bishops in them: but most of the Christian
" Churches had but one bishop, as most of the synagogues
*' had but one head. There was no other difference put
** between bishops and priests, but that of presidency, which
" was given to age and merit. And, therefore, the names of
" bishops and priests are so often confounded in the gospel,
" as well as among the Jews. All the doctors that took care
" of the synagogue were of the same order, and held the
" same rank. In following this original discipline, which is
*' natural, since the Jews, who are jealous of their rites, laid
" the first foundation and peopling of churches ; 'tis easy to
"take off the objections against Episcopacy, which would
" become difficult, by following other principles."

IN CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 219

adoption of which, there is reason to suppose,
had hecoine pr; tty general, when St. John ad-
dressed his Epistles to the angels of the Asiatic
churches. This primacy of rank, as in the
case (>r the Jewish precedent, involved at first
no supremacy over the other Presbyters, nor
did it denote any difference of office. Both
the ruling and the ministerial functions devolved
in common upon all the presbyters, and it was
a long time before the title of bishop, became
exclusively appropriated, as a term of superior
dignity, to the chief elder.* Cyprian, who in-
sists so much on the necessity of submission to

* *' Such was the constitution of the Christian Church in
" its infancy, when its assemblies were neither numerous nor
*' splendid. Three or four presbyters, men of remarkable
" piety and wisdom, ruled these small congregations in per-
** feet harmony ; nor did they stand in need of any president
" or superior to maintain concord and order where no dis-
" seutions were known. But the number of presbyters and
"deacons increasing with that of the churches, and the sa-
*' cred work of the ministry growing more painful and
*' weighty, by a number of additional duties, these new cir-
" cumstances required new regulations. It was then judged
" necessary, that one man of distinguished gravity iirui wis-
*•' dom should preside in the council of presbyters, in order
" to distribute among his colleagues their several tasks,
" and to be a centre of union to the whole society. This
" person was, at first, styled the angel of the church to which
" he belonged, but was afterwards distinguished by the name
" of bishop, or inspector." — -Mosheim's Eccl. History,
byMACLAINE. Vol.1. P. 105.

220 ORIGIN OF VARIATIONS

the bishops, speaks repeatedly of his compres-
hyters. It is certain, that the bishop was not
only chosen from the number of the presbyters,
but for a long time, according to the testimony
of Jerome, Eutychius and others, elected by
them. The vestiges of this primitive right of
election may be found within the church of
Rome itself; the Pope or supreme Bishop being
still elected by the Cardinal Presbyters. Thus,
too, in the Anglican church, the shadow of
elective right, vested in the dean and chapter,
is perpetuated in the Coyis^e delire. The ori-
ginal reason of instituting this office of presi-
dencj% we are expressly told by some ancient
writers, was to prevent schisms, and to remedy
the inconveniences of opposition or division
among presbyters whose prerogatives were
equal.* Agreeably to this representation, Cy-
prian distinguishes between Presbytery as " a
*' law of Jesus Christ," and Episcopacy as *' an
" act of God's special favour to the Church," it
being deemed the means of preserving its unity .f

* Quod autem postea unus electus est qui ceeteris prae-
poneretur, in schismatis remedium factum est, ne unusquisque
ad se traheiis Christi ecclesiam rumperet. Jerome quoted
by Stillingfleet.

+ Quouiam subjectus est Episcopo ut gratiai Dei, et
presbyterio ut legi Jesu Christi. Archbishop Usher's Ver-
sion. Ibid. " This difference between bishops and pres.
" byters,"says Dr. Whitaker, (the learned defender of the
Protestant cause,) remarking upon St. Jerome's confession

IN CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 221

At first, nothing of importance was transacted
by the bishop without the concurrence of his
presbyters; but by degrees, and on various
pretences, tlie Episcopal prerogative was ren-
dered more and more exclusive and arbitrary.
To this nothing tended more effectually to con-
tribute, than dissentions among the presbyters,
which, by elevating the bishop to the character
of an umpire, gave him a species of judicial
power, and rendered it an object with each
party, to secure, by any compromise, his fa-
vourable decision. The indiscreet use of the
right of ordination on the part of the presby-
ters, as tending to create schisms in the
church, was eagerly seized as a pretext for re-
stricting this prerogative, first to certain per-
sons in the church, and ultimately to the
bishop. Other circumstances, however, con-
spired still more powerfully to consolidate the
Episcopal supremacy.

When once the government of Christian so-
cieties became ultimately vested in a president,
or archpresbyter, and the idea of a supreme
authority resident in one chosen officer, was

that it was brought in as a remedy against Schism, " is a re-
" medy ahnost worse than the disease, for it begat and
" brought in the Pope with his monarchy into the Church."
See VVhitaker de Eccl. Regim. Contr. 4. Q. i. § 29.
p. 540. (Quoted by Boyse, Works, fol. Vol, 2. p. 153),

222 ORIGIN OF VARIATIONS

identified with the preservation of Christian
unity, it was the natural progress of opinion,
that under the pretence of rendering this unity
still more comprehensive, the episcopal presi-
dency should be so extended as to comprise
within its jurisdiction larger and larger portions
of Christian society. A new and dangerous
sphere of emulation was now opened to the
rulers of Christ's kingdom.* The superior
dignity of the bishop came to be dependent on
the number of the presbyters over whom he
presided, as arising from the extent and im-
portance of the seat of his episcopacy. This
gave rise to a correspondent change of phrase-
ology. The presbyters of the Christian syna-
gogues were now supposed to rank more appro-
priately with elders of the Sanhedrim, of which
the bishop, disdaining the humble parallel
of the archi-synagogue, was esteemed to repre-
sent the Nasi, or Prince. The Levitical ana-
logy was an after-thought. The unity of the
Church of Christ having now come to be con-
sidered as consisting in unity of government,
the word Church itself became henceforth tech-
nically significant of whatever fell under the
jurisdiction of one supreme ecclesiastical ruler.
Whensoever churches were formed in the vil-

* " The enlarging of dioceses," remarks Bishop Burnet,
" has altered the whole figure of Primitive Episcopacy," — >
Vindication oj the Church oj Scotland. P. 56.

IN CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 223

lages and territories adjoining to a city in which
a bishop presided, these were considered as
coming under the presidency of the city
church, and consequently under the rule of its
bishop. This was the origin of Diocesan Epis-
copacy. It was but a step further to subordi-
nate associated churches throughout a pro-
vince, still under tlie notion of consolidating
its unity, to a Metropolitan or Patriarch. At
length, to complete the progress of ecclesiasti-
cal ambition, the universal company of metro-
politans, archbishops, patriarchs, and ex-archs,
was summed up in the unity of the Popedom.*
In the New Testament, we read of the church
at Jerusalem, the church at Philippi, the

* ** At first," remarks the learned Dr. Barrow, " every
** church was settled apart under its own bishops and pres-
" byters ; so as independently and separately to manage its
** own concerns; each was governed by its own head, and
" had its own laws." " The metropolitieal governance,*' he
adds, " was introduced, by human prudence following con-
" siderations of public necessity or utility :" and he shews,
that it was by the moulding of the ecclesiastical government
in a conformity to the civil, that the power of metropolitans,
primates, patriarchs, and at length, the papacy, successively
originated. " There are, indeed, some," he remarks, " who
" think it (the metropolitieal government) was instituted by
" the Apostles ; but their arguments do not seem convincing;
" and such a constitution doth not, (as I take it) well suit to
" the state of their times, and the course which they took
" in founding churches," Treatise of the Pope's Supremacy,
Works. Vol.1. P. (5(5-2.

024 ORIGIN OF VARIATIONS

church at Antioch. Ecclesiastical history in-
troduces us first to diocesan churches, then to
provincial churches, then to national churches,
the ecclesiastical government being still con-
tempered, as Bishop Stillingfleet terms it, to the
civil, till we are at length conducted to the two
grand divisions of ecclesiastical empire, the
Eastern and the Western Churches, and to the
perfection of the hypothesis of unity in the pre-
tensions of the Church of Home.

It is not, as has been remarked, the mere
change in the form and titles of government,
consequent upon the rise of Diocesan Episco-
pacy, that niarks the corruption of Christianity ;
but words are the signs of things, and a change
of name is generally indicative of some internal
alteration that has already taken place. The
circumstances in which the outward modifica-
tions of the primitive ecclesiastical government
originated, of necessity affected the character
of Christian societies, and those circumstances
must have been for some time in operation, be-
fore the nominal changes, for which they pre-
pared the way, were ripe for general adoption.
Thus, in the substitution of analogical terms,
borrowed from the Levitical priesthood, for
those of the synagogue government, we may
detect an unequivocal symptom of a spirit hav-
ing begun to infect the Christian ministry,
wholly opposite to the genius of the religion of

THE TITLE OF ELDER. 225

Christ. In the adoption of terms borrowed
from the Roman government, we may in like
manner trace the consequences of an influx of
nominal converts from the Gentile nations,
whose prejudices and notions of authority,
seemed to require a different adaptation of ec-
clesiastical phraseology. As it was in ac-
commodation to the heathen, rather than to the
Jewish converts, that terms borrowed from a
ceremonial priesthood were first brought into
the Christian Church, so, it may safely be pre-
sumed, that it was also in consequence of the
growing ascendency, in point of numbers, of the
former, that the monarchical form of government
so soon began to displace that of the primitive
presbytery, and that the simple term Episcopus^
which to a Jew must have been far less signi-
ficant and dignified than that of Elder, came to
be exclusively appropriated, as expressive of pre-
eminence, to the highest order in the ministry.
Originally, the word imported duty rather than
honour, not being exclusively appropriated,
among the Greeks and Romans,* to any very ex-
alted office. When the Apostle Paul wrote his
Epistle to the Philippians, under the high sound-

* " Les Atheniens donnoient ce nom au President de la
" justice, et le Digeste donne la meme qualite aux magistrals
" qui out I'inspection sur le raarche au pain, et d'autres
'* choses de cette nature." Calmet's Dictionary. Article,
Evisque.

Q

22(i

Chi llie rise
of Ecclesi-
astical
power.

ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF

ing- titles of bishops and deacons, be probably
conveyed no other idea than would now be sug-
gested by aliteral version of his salutation: "Paul
" and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to
" all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philip-
" pi, together with the overseers and ministers.''
Yet, strange to say, in process of time a Christ-
ian bislioj) came to signify the lord paramount
of an extensive territory, a temporal prince,
enthroned amid all the insignia of worldly dig-
nity, and holding a judicial empire over the
property, and even the lives of vast portions of
mankind ! Our Lord's declaration, in reference
to the lordship exercised by Gentile princes —
" It shall not be so among you," can be recon-
ciled with this fact, only by concluding that
with the church of which He spake, the king-
dom to which he referred, the bishops of eccle-
siastical history had no connexion.

§ 13. In order to account for the rise and
rapid maturity of ecclesiastical power, we must
bear in mind, that the principles of civil liberty
and of individual right, were at that period
very imperfectly understood. It was no un-
common thing, even in the days of the Apo-
stles, for some of the Christian converts to fall
into the mistake, that they were, in consequence
of their admission into the clinrch, discharged
from their former political obligations, and
brought under a new and distinct species of

ECCLESIASTICAL POWER. 227

magisterial jurisdiction. Tlie Apostle Paul
labours to guard the Roman Christians against
this dangerous error, and he takes frequent oc-
casion in his Epistles, to shew that Christianity
was not designed to interfere in any way with
the political relations of society. In writing to
the Corinthians, he has occasion to combat this
error, in a different shape, on account of the dis-
position manifested by some of the members of
that church, to attach themselves, in the slavish
spirit of party, to a favourite leader: "' Ye
*' suffer a man to bring you into bondage, if a
" man devour you, if a man take of you, if a
" man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the
"face."* It appears, that even at that early •scoi.xi,
period, the spirit of ecclesiastical domination,
to which allusion still more express and em-
phatic occurs in the second Epistle to the Thes-
salonians, had begun to work, and had found
in the carnal passions and party spirit of the
Corinthian disciples, its ready instruments.

The growth of Episcopal power is not, how-
ever, altogether attributable to ambitions design
on the part of those by whom it was first exer-
cised. So far from this, the effect, as Dr.
Campbell has remarked, " is much more justly
<' ascribed to their virtues."* How paradoxical

* " There is nothing which men are not ready to yield to
" distinguished merit, especially when matters are in that
" state wherein every kind of pre-eminence, instead of pro-

q2 •

228 OKIGIN AND PROGRESS OF

soever this may sound, it is difficult to account
in any other way for the unopposed ascendency
which was so soon obtained by men whose am-
bition, had it betrayed itself when as yet un-
armed by wealth or power, required but to be
withstood, in order to be rendered harmless.
That deference was, however, lavishly con-
ceded to personal character, from a principle
of veneration and unbounded confidence, which
it would have been next to impossible openly

" curing wealth and secular advantages, exposes but to dan-
" ger and to greater suffering. Even the small distinction
'' of being accounted the first in the society, and, as it were,
" the senior brother among the pastors, would be a strong
" incitement to a faithful and zealous minister to distinguish
" himself by being the first also in every difficulty and in
*' every danger. This would beget in the people a more im-
" plicit deference to his judgement, and respect to his per-
" son. A deference at first merely paid to virtue, comes at
" last, though the gradual operation of habit, to be consi-
" dered as due to office. What was gratuitously bestowed
•' on the meritorious predecessor, is claimed by the unde-
" serving successor, as a right. And the very principles of
" our nature tend to favour the claim. But when ease and
" affluence succeed to danger and distress, then indeed am-
" bition on the one side, and dependence on the other, will
" be able to secure what virtue alone could earn. Such is
** the ordinary progress of human things. Similar to this,
*' if traced backwards, will be found the origin of almost all
*' the governments that are not founded on conquest." —
Campbell's Lectures on Ecclesiastical History, Vol. i.
Sect. G.

ECCLESIASTICAL POWER. 229

to wrest from people roused to a jealous sense
of their rights.

The manner in which the Episcopal power
was, by successive grants and successive en-
croachments, enlarged to so formidable a mag-
nitude, are not however left to the uncertain
deductions of speculation. The distinct steps
may be traced by which it ultimately reached
a height which enabled it absolutely to over-
shadow the secular authorities. From the
writings of Fra Paolo Sarpi, the celebrated his-
torian of the Council of Trent, Principal Camp-
bell has drawn materials for a succinct and
luminous sketch, contained in his third Lec-
ture, of the origin and progress of this wonder-
ful usurpation, up to the point of its consum-
mation, when all church power came to centre
in the Roman Pontiff.*

* The learned Dr. Isaac Barrow, in the Treatise before
cited, " Of the Pope's Supremacy," offers, in a series of pro-
found remarks, a solution of the problem, " By what ways
" and means so groundless a claim and pretence should gain
'' belief and submission to it, from so considerable a part of
<< Christendom ;" or, as he otherwise expresses it, how " from
" so very slender roots, this bulk of exorbitant power (the
" papacy) did grow." The whole series of causes alleged
to have concurred and contributed to this result, would, if
transcribed, swell this note to a disproportionate length.
The following are all that bear immediately upon our subject.
In the Treatise itself, some of them are considerably ampli-
fied:—

" 1. Eminency of any kind (in wealth, in honour, in re-

230 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF

One other circumstance deserves to be ad-
verted to, as having concurred in producing

" putation, in might, in place, or mere order of dignity,) doth
" easily pass into advantages of real power and command
" over those who are inferior in those respects, and have any
*' dealings or common transactions with such superiors. For
*' to persons endowed with such eminency, by voluntary de-
** ference the conduct of affairs is wont to be allowed ; none
*' presuming to stand in competition with them, every one
*' rather yielding place to them than to their equals. Then
" from a custom of managing things doth spring up an opi-
*' nion or a pretence of right thereto ; they are apt to as-
" sume a title, and others ready to allow it. Men naturally
*' do admire such things ; and so are apt to defer extraordi-
*' nary respect to the possessors of them.

** 2. Any small power is apt to grow and spread itself.
*' Encroaching (as Plutarch saith) is the innate disease of po-
" tentacies. The first chief was a leader of volunteers.

" 3. Spiritual power, especially, is of a growing nature,
" and more especially that which dcriveth from Divine institu-
** lion, for it hath a great awe upon the hearts and consci-
•' ences of men. It useth the most subtle arms, which it
** hath always ready, which needeth no time or cost to fur-
'' nish, which cannot be extorted from its hand ; so that it
" can never be disarmed.

*' 4. Power is easily attained and augmented upon occa-
*' sion of dissensions.

*' 5. All power is attended by dependencies of persons
** sheltered under it, and by it enjoying subordinate ad-
" vantages; the which proportionably do grow by its in-
*' crease.

" 6. Hence, if a potentate himself should have no am-
*' bition, nor much ability to improve his power ; yet it would

ECCLESIASTICAL POWER. 231

the destruction of the spiritual character of
Christian societies; namely, the degraded state

" of itself grow, he need only be passive therein ; the interest
" of his partizans would effect it.

" 7. Even persons otherwise just and good do seldom
** scruple to augment their power by undue encroachment,
" or at least to uphold the usurpations of their predecessors ;
" for even such are apt to favour their own pretences, and
" afraid of incurring censure and blame, if they should part
" with any thing left them by their predecessors.

" 8. Men of an inferior condition are apt to express them-
*' selves highly in commendation of those who are in a su-
" perior rank, which commendations are liable to be inter-
" preted for acknowledgments or attestations of right, and
" thence do sometimes prove means of creating it.

*' 9. Good men commonly, (out of charitable simplicity,
" meekness, modesty and humility, love of peace and averse-
'' ness from contention,) are apt to yield to the encroach-
" ments of those who any wise do excel them ; and when
" such men do yield, others are ready to follow their ex-
" ample. Bad men have little interest to resist, and no heart
" to stand for public good ; but rather strike in presently,
" taking advantage by their compliance, to drive a good
*' market for themselves.

" 10. If in such cases a few wise men do apprehend the coii-
" sequences of things, yet they can do little to prevent them.
" They seldom have the courage with sufficient zeal to
" bustle against encroachments ; fearing to be overthrown by
" its stream, to lose their labour, and vainly to suffer by it.

*■' 11. There is a strange inchantment in words ; which
*• being (although with no great colour of reason) assumed,
" do work on the fancies of men, especially of the weaker
** sorts. Of these power doth ever arrogate to itself such as

232 ON ECCLESIASTICAL POWER.

of ignorance and superstition into which the
people at large had sunk, owing to the defici-
ency of intelligent instnicters, and the almost
total failure of an evangelical ministry. " Ye
*' are the salt of the earth," said our Lord to
his disciples, '* but if the salt has lost its sa-
" vour, wherewith shall it be salted?" " Ye are
" the light of the world ;" — but when the lights
of the world were darkness, how great was that
darkness ! When the lust of empire led the
rulers of the church to regard men as the sub-
jects of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, rather than
as the subjects of the gospel ministry ; when it
became their object, not to convert the souls,
but only to change the creeds of men, — noi; to
bring sinners to Christ, but Pagans to the font;
it mattered not to them how ignorant, how de-
based were the flocks of which they had as-
sumed the pastorship, so long as they kept
within the fold of their jurisdiction ; nor with

" are most operative, by their force sustaining and extend-
*' ing itself.

'' 12. All princes are forward to heap honour on the
" bishop of their imperial city : it seeming a disgrace to them-
*' selves, that so near a relation should be an inferior to any
" other ; who is, as it were, their spiritual pastor, who is
*' usually by their special favour advanced. The city and
" the court will be restless in assisting him to climb." —
Treatise of the Pope's Supremacy. Works. Vol. i. pp. 669-
674.

THE PASTORAL RELATION. 233

what they were fed, so that the desire of better
instruction was extinguished. The neglect of
the Scriptures on the part of the clergy, was
followed, as a necessary means of security, by
forbidding them to the laity ; and now the dark-
ness was complete ! Power was the blind mo-
narch that ruled the powerless blind. The
moral world suffered an awful eclipse, during
which it may be appropriately affirmed, in the
language of prophecy, " The sun and the moon
" were darkened, and the stars withdrew their
*' shining.* ♦Joeiiii.is.

^ 14. The primitive Christian churches, O" the Pas-

•> ^ ' toraliela-

then, according to the representation it has ^'o"-
been attempted to substantiate, were vo-
luntary societies, altogether spiritual in their
nature, independent of the secular power, sub-
sisting by its bare permission, and presenting,
in many other points, a striking conformity to
the Jewish synagogues. In these several re-
spects, the churches of the Protestant Dissent*
ers, must be allowed to exhibit, both in their
form and their external circumstances, a close
approximation to the primitive societies. What-
ever opinion may be maintained as to the
grounds of their adherence to the Scriptural
model, this simple fact cannot be set aside.
It is readily admitted, that in some subordinate
details of ecclesiastical government, the cor-
respondence may be imperfect ; that Dissenting

234 "^^^ PASTORAL RELATION.

controvertists, in attempting to make good
every ramification of their system, have occu-
pied positions hazardous, if not untenable; and
that Divine right and Scriptural law have been,
on all sides, too eagerly pressed into the service
of hypothesis. An instance of this occurs in
the stress injudiciously laid upon those prece-
dents in the New Testament, which are usu-
ally held to be in favour of the right of the
people to elect their own pastors.* The truth
is, that the circumstances attending the forma-
tion of many of the primitive churches, did not
allow of such a right being called into exercise.
The purely democratical nature of the primi-
tive churches, is another point which Scripture
precedent has been too hastily adduced to sub-
stantiate. The first Christians, it has been for-
gotten, were Jews, who, exceedingly attached
to their own institutions, and utterly unaccus-
tomed to democratical forms of government,
carried into the Christian Church no higher no-
tions of liberty than adhered to them as Jews ;
they still looked to be governed by their pres-
byters ; nor is it probable that the Apostles,

* Nevertheless, that the ordination of pastors by the
Apostles, never took place without the consent of the peo-
ple, is the admission of some of the most learned Episcopal
writers. See Dr. Barrow's Treatise before referred to,
(Works, vol. I. p. 171) where he cites the words of Clemens
Romanus — ** the whole church consenting" — in proof of
this remark.

THE PASTORAL RELATION. 235

being themselves Jews, should have introduced
any form of polity foreign to their national
habits. With the Gentiles the case was dif-
ferent, and they were doubtless left, in like man-
ner, to follow up their accustomed notions of
order and government, in the constitution and
management of the respective Christian soci-
eties into which they were distributed. For
the very same reason that the Jewish converts
would not adopt the forms of a pure demo-
cracy, we, in modern times, and in a free
country, should find it a chimerical scheme,
to attempt the revival of that strictly Presby-
terian discipline, in which age claimed so au-
thoritative a pre-eminence, but which was fami-
liar to the subjects of the Theocracy. Neither
of these points, however, is involved in the
grounds of Nonconformity, nor is the deter-
mination of these and other minor points which
have employed the acuteness of logical oppo-
nents, essential to the maintenance of that fun-
damental principle of the constitution of con-
gregational churches, the voluntary and spirit-
ual nature of Christian societies. This being
once admitted, the right of every one to choose
his own minister, as well as the necessarily
democratic character of voluntary societies,
may be vindicated by general reasonings.

With regard to the former, in particular, it
may be argued, that the nature of the pastoral

225 THE PASTORAL RELATION.

relation is such, that no individual can be
brought under its authority in any other way
than by his own spontaneous consent; that
wheresoever the right of election, in respect to
ecclesiastical appointments, may be deposited,
nothing can supersede that act of choice on
the part of the individual, which it enters into
his religious duty to exercise. Again : the
connexion between a pastor and his flock being
of a purely moral nature, and not either a na-
tural or a political relation, it must needs be
the result of reciprocal consent and choice :
it cannot, for any spiritual purposes, originate
in the decisions of a foreign authority. What-
ever be the ostensible source of a minister's
official claims, as regards his appointment by
man, (and into this individuals may not feel
. themselves concerned to examine,) of his cha-
racter, his conduct, his doctrine, they are com-
manded to take account, to bring them to the
test of " the law and the testimony." We are
to " try the spirits whether they are of God ;"
to " search the Scriptures, whether the things
" declared unto us are so ;" to " beware of
" false prophets." These are duties of personal
and universal obligation, and, upon these con-
siderations rest both the validity and the im-
portance of the right for which we contend,
as arising out of the very nature of the obli-

THE PASTORAL RELATION. 237

gation.* Opposed to this, there can exist no
right in another man, that interferes with the
free exercise of mine. No man can either
have an inherent natural right, or derive from
the civil authority a political right, to be re-
ceived by an individual, or by a body of indi-
viduals, in the capacity of a spiritual instructer.
His claim to be so received, must be of a moral
nature, must arise from his qualifications and
character; the corresponding obligation must
likewise be moral and not political ; but, in
the discharge of a moral obligation, there are
necessarily involved, an intelligent recognition
of the claim which constitutes the ground of
the requirement, a competency to judge of its
vahdity, and a consequent voluntary act of
obedience to the Divine Authority by which
moral obligations are enforced. To receive a
man in the character of a teacher, without
examining his claims, without, in other words,

* " In reason, the nature of any spiritual office consisting
** in instruction in truth, and guidance in virtue toward
" attainment of salvation ; if any man doth lead into per-
" nicious error, or impiety, he thereby ceaseth to be capa-
*• ble of such otfice : as a blind man, by being so, doth ,
*' cease to be a guide. No man can be bound to follow any
" one into the ditch, or to obey any one in prejudice to his
** own salvation. If any pastor sholud teach bad doctrine,
" or prescribe bad practice, his people may reject and dis-
" obey him.'' Barrow's Works. Vol. I. p. 744.

238 ^^^ PASTORAL RELATION.

making our reception of him in that character,
depend upon the truths which he preaches, is
an act of implicit faith or submission wholly
unauthorized by the Gospel, and infinitely pe-
rilous. Implicit faith has no other legitimate
object, than the Divine testimony ; and, when
transferred to human authority, whether it be
that of a Pope or a Presbyter, a national church
or an individual teacher, it not only becomes
irrational, but precludes the proper exercise of
the principle of religious obedience. Human
testimony is, in many cases, the only means by
which we discover truth, but it never can con-
stitute the evidence of moral truth, or, in re-
spect to that species of knowledge, the basis
of certainty ; it can never, therefore, be the
ultimate source of religious belief.

This natural right of every Christian to
choose his spiritual instructer, attached to
every individual member of the primitive
churches, not less than to Christians in the
present day, and the voluntary nature of the
association by which they were held together,
prevented any infringement of this right ; but, as
has been remarked, there did not then exist the
same occasion for its exercise. There was not,
in the first place, the same diversity of doctrine
in the Church of Christ, as now imposes upon
every Christian the necessity of discriminating
between truth and error. There were, indeed.

THE PASTORAL RELATION. 239

false teachers even in those times, against
whom the disciples were exhorted to be on
their guard ; but heresy was at that period a
more evident, and a more wilful thing than it
is now, inasmuch as there did not exist so
much room for involuntary mistake. The Gos-
pel of Jesus Christ was, for the most part,
either received as a whole, and preached in
simplicity from a deep feeling of its truth and
Divine excellency ; or it was altogether reject-
ed and contemned. The character of Christ-
ian ministers was, moreover, frequently at-
tested by sanctions which left no room for
hesitation as to receiving them in that capacity.
And in the case of Apostolic appointment,
the riglit of choice, on the part of the members
of a church, over which the ordination of a
pastor took place under these circumstances,
was as really exercised in the act of ready sub-
mission to the authority of those inspired ser-
vants of Christ, as if the election had origi-
nated in their undirected decision. So long as
a society remains in its constitution a volun-
tary society, wheresoever the actual power of
appointment rests, whether in an individual, or
in the elders of the congregation, or in a ma-
jority, there must frequently take place a com-
promise of choice on the part of some, a sur-
render, to a certain extent, of individual pre-
ference; but that surrender being, from the

240 THE PASTORAL RELATION.

nature of the society, purely voluntary, the
right of choice is not only preserved inviolate,
but is substantially exercised by every member
of the community. In order, however, to ren-
der that submission reasonable, there must be
a conviction of the legitimacy and the pro-
priety of the appointment ; there must be moral
reasons for acquiescing, all things considered,
in the decision on which it rests ; and this
acquiescence must really take place in the
mind of every individual before he can receive
the person so appointed, in the capacity of a
Christian pastor.

The reason that a minister is appointed to a
particular station, may not be, indeed, the pre-
cise reason for my attaching myself to his
ministry. The appointment may originate in
an authority which I do not recognise, or under
circumstances of which I disapprove, and yet
the individual chosen may be the object of my
affectionate attachment. The choice may be
good, although the right of nomination should be
questionable. The only adequate reason, how-
ever, for the appointment of a Christian minister
to a specific charge, is the general concurrence
of the people in desiring him to be their pastor.
The power of appointing, wheresoever it is
vested, does not include in itself a reason for
the particular act of appointment; still less
does the circumstance of a person's being no-

THE PASTORAL RELATION. 241

minaled by another to a station which con-
fers certain political advantages, constitute any
reason for my submitting to receive him in a
pastoral capacity. That is an act in which I
must be guided by far different considerations.

The strongest reason for an appointment of
this responsible nature, as well as the most im-
pressive consideration that can influence indi-
vidual choice, is conveyed in that pathetic ap-
peal of the Apostle to the Corinthian Church:
*' For though ye have ten thousand instructors
*' in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers ;
** for in ChristJesusl have begotten you through
*' the Gospel. Wherefore, I beseech you, be
" ye followers of me."* The pastors of many * icor.ir.
of the primitive churches, had no doubt been
instrumental in gathering from among the hea-
then, by the preaching of Christ, the members
of which those churches were composed ; and
this circumstance conferred the highest claim
to the legitimate authority of the pastorship.
Under the present circumstances of Christian-
ized society, the pastoral relation cannot, as
respects collective bodies of believers, originate
in such a claim ; but that which gives it em-
phasis, that which forms the strongest mutual
tie, is the individual's being indebted for his
conversion from the world, to the instrumenta-
lity of the man whom he is called upon to
receive as his instructer in Christ. Appoint-

tion

2-42 ON ORDINATION'.

merits determinable by collective bodies, must
be subject to considerations which do not bear
upon the question of individual duty ; but in
both cases, as respects the appointment or re-
ception of a man in a capacity so purely spi-
ritual, the grand point to be ascertained must
alike be, his being possessed of those moral
qualifications which commend themselves to
the conscience and the heart.
On Oidjna- i^ 15. Whcrc, thcu, it may be asked, resides
the right, or power, and in what consists
the importance of Ordination ? It is not the
source of ministerial authority, for that, as it
has been endeavoured to shew, does not, and
cannot, rest on any human foundation. It does
not admit to the pastoral office ; for even in
the Episcopal Church, the title to office, which
is an indispensable pre-requisite, is derived from
the nomination of the person who has the dis-
posal of the cure. It is not office, but official cha-
racter, which Episcopal ordination is supposed
to convey, together with whatsoever the advo-
cates of Episcopacy may choose to understand
by those solemn words, used by the ordaining
bishop, (an application of them which Noncon-
formists deem awfully inappropriate) " Re-
" ceive the Holy Ghost." The Jewish ordi-
nation, on the contrary, although sometimes
accompanied, when administered by the Apos-
tles, by the communication of miraculous gifts,

ON ORDINATION. 243

was in itself no more than a significant form of
benediction on admission to a specific appoint-
ment. Of this nature were the offices con-
nected with the synagogue, in contradistinction
from those of the priesthood. When Paul
and Barnabas were sent out from the church
at Antioch, they submitted to the same im-
pressive ceremony : not surely that either au-
thority, or power of any kind, or miraculous
qualifications, devolved upon the Apostle and
his illustrious companion, by virtue of the im-
position of Presbyterian hands ! What then is
Ordination? The answer is, a decent and be-
coming solemnity, adopted from the Jewish
customs by the primitive church, significant of
the separation of an individual to some specific
appointment in the Christian ministry, and con-
stituting both a recognition on the part of the
officiating presbyters, of the ministerial cha-
racter of the person appointed, and a desirable
sanction of the proceedings of the church. It is,
however, something more than a mere circum-
stance, the imposition of hands being designed
to express that fervent benediction which ac-
companied the ceremony, and which constitutes
the true spirit of the rite. To an occasion which,
when the awful responsibility of the pastoral
charge is adequately felt, imparts to the prayers
and the affectionate aid of those who are
fathers and brethren in the ministry, a more
R 2

^44 ON ORDINATION.

especial value, the sign and solemn act of bene-
diction must appear peculiarly appropriate.
This venerable ceremony may also be regarded
as a sort of bond of fellowship among the
churches of Christ, a sign of unity, and an
act of brotherhood.

Repugnant as this view of Ordination is to
the modern advocates of Episcopacy, the sen-
timents of Archbishop Cranmer, and the first
Protestant bishops of the Church of England,
were not widely different. The following ex-
tract from a highly interesting document, con-
tains the answer of the venerable prelate him-
self, to certain questions propounded to a select
assembly at Windsor Castle, in the reign of
Edward the Sixth.
Cranmei's " In the admissiou of many of these of-

declaration ... ,. ,.*. f r-^ i^

respecting " ficcrs (civu mmistcrs and mmisters of God s

Ordination, t\ i t

&c. " word) bee divers comely ceremonies and so-

" lemnities used, which be not of necessity,
" but only for a goodly order and semely fash-
" ion. For if such offices and ministrations
" were committed without such solemnitye, thei
" were nevertheles truely committed. And
" there is no more promise of God, that grace
" is given in the committing of the ecclesiasti-
*' cal office, then it is in the committing of the
" cyvile. In the Apostles time, when there was
*' no Christian princes by whose authority mini-
" sters of God's word might be appointed, nor

ON ORDINATION.

^5

" synnes by the sword corrected ; there was no
*' remedy then for the correction of vice or ap-
" poinleinge of ministers, but only the consent
" of Christien multitude amonge themselfe,
'• by an uniform consent to follow the advice
" and perswasion of such persons whom God
" had most endued with the spirit of wisdom
" and counsaile. And at that time, for as
" much as Christien people had no sword nor
" governour among them, thei were constrained
" of necessity to take such curates and priests,
" as either tliey knew themselfes to be meet
" thereunto, or else as were commended unto
" them by other, that were so replete with
" the Spirit of God, with such knowledge in
" the profession of Christ, such wisdom, such
" conversation and councell, that they ought
*' even of very conscience to give credit unto
" them, and to accept such as by theym were
" presented. And so some tyme the Apostles
" and other unto whom God had given abun-
" dantly his Spirit, sent or appointed ministers
'* of God's word, sometime the people did chose
" such as they thought meet thereunto. And
" when any were appointed or sent by the Apo-
" sties or other, the people of their owiie volun-
*' tary will with thanks did accept them ; not
*' for the supremitie, imperie, or dominion, that
*' the Apostells had over them to command
" as their princes, or masters: but as good

246 ON ORDINATION.

" people, ready to obey the advice of good
*' counsellors, and to accept any thing' that was
" necessary for tlieir ed ideation and benefit.

" The bishops and priests were at one time,
" and were not two things, but both one office,
*' in the beginning of Christ's religion.*

* Id temporis idem erat Episcopus, Sacerdos. Presbyter ;
are the words of Jerome. That this was, indeed, the cur-
rent doctrine of the principal instruments of the English Re-
formation, in the reigns of Henry VIII. Edward VI. and
Elizabeth, is a fact incontrovertible. The learned Joseph
BoYSE, of Dublin, in the Postscript to his Vindication of
** Remarks on the Bishop of Derry's Discourse," has collected
together amass of evidence on this point, of which the fol.
lowing is a brief summary. The testimonies of Tyndal,
Lambert, and Barnes, who sealed the reformed faith with
their blood, are extant in the " Healing Attempt." They are
to the following effect: that " there were but now two officers
" of Divine institution in the Church, viz. elders or bishops to
" feed the flock, and deacons to minister the charity of the
" church to the poor and needy." In " A Declaration made
"of the Functions and Divine Institution of Bishops and
*' Priests," issued in the reign of Henry VIII. and subscribed
(A. D. 1537, or 1-538) by Thomas Cromwell, the Arch,
bishops of Canterbury and York, eleven bishops, and many
other doctors and civilians, it is asserted, " That in the New
" Testament there is no mention made of any degrees or dis-
" tinctions in orders, but only of deacons or ministers, and of
** priests or bishops.'" The same declaration occurs in the
book called " The Erudition of a Christian Man, composed
*' by the Ecclesiastical Committees appointed by the King,
•' and published by royal authority, A. D. 1540." It is stated
in conclusion, that it is " expedient and necessary ^ that all

ON ORDINATION. 247

** A bishop may make a priest by the Scrip-
" tures, and so may princes and governors

" men should be advertised and taught, that all such lawful
*' authority and power of one bishop over another, were and
" be given them by consent, ordinance, and positive laws of
'' men only ; and not by any ordinance of God, in holy
*' Scripture." (See Burnet's History of the Reformation,
Part I. p. 36G). St. Jerome's opinion, " that the Scriptural
" bishop and presbyter were the same in office as well as
" uarae,"is expressly approved by Bishop Alley, in the reign
" of Q. Elizabeth; (Poor Man^s Library, Tom. i. page 95-
6, and Tom. ii. p. IG.) and by Bishop Pilkington,
(Healing Attempt, p. 16). It is vindicated more at large by
Bishop Jewel in the defence of his " Apology," against
Harding; in which he cites St. Austin, St. Chrysostom,
and St. Ambrose, as additional testimonies in favour of the
identity of the order of bishop and priest. The same senti-
ment is defended by Dr. Willet, another famous writer of
the same reign, in his Synopsis Papismi; by Bishop Morton,
m\\\% Apologia Cath ; by Dr. Whitaker, as cited above;
by Dr. Laurence Humphrey, in his work against Cam-
pian, the Jesuit; and, lastly, by another Oxford divine. Dr.
Holland, who delivered the same doctrine in the act, July
9, 1608, in which " he concluded the contrary opinion to be
" most false against the Scriptures, the Fathers, and the
" doctrine of the Church of England. And he was so of-
*' fended with Dr. Laud for his asserting, in his disputation
" for his degrees, that ' Episcopacy as a distinct order from
" Presbytery, was of Divine and necessary right,' that he told
" him, ' He was a Schismatick, and went about to make a di-
" vision between the English and other Reformed Churches.' "
To these it is scarcely necessary to add, the judgement of
Archbishop Usher. See Boyse's ^For/c5, folio. Vol. ii.
pp. 149-153.

248 RECAPITULATION

" alsoe, and that by the auctority of God com-
" mitted to them, and the people alsoe by their
" election. For as we reade that bishops have
" done it, so Christien emperors and princes
" usually have done it. And the people before
*' Christien princes were, commonly did elect
" their bishops and priests.

" In the New Testament, he that is appointed

" to be a bishop or a priest, needeth no conse-

" cration by the Scripture ; for election or ap-

" pointing thereto is sufficient."*

Rccajiiui*- Such was the decision of the founders of our

tion.

present Establishment — a decision imbodying
some of the main positions laid down by Non-
conformist writers, and which ought, one would
imagine, to have some effect in moderating the
confidence of their polemical adversaries. The
principles of Nonconformity, as respects the
constitution of Christian churches, are briefly
these: the purely voluntary nature of religious
union; the necessary independence of societies
so originating; the spirituality of the objects
they are exclusively designed to promote; the
moral nature of the authority to which they are
subject, as opposed to all adniixtuie of secular
power; and, finally, the unalienable right vested

* See a transcript of the whole of the original, which was
sabscribed with Cranmer's own hand, in Bishop Stilling-
fleet's /rfni'cMm, Part II. ch. vii. §2. See also Burnet's
History of the Reformation.

OF THE ARGUMENT. 249

in every such society to choose its spiritual
pastors and teachers. It only remains to ex-
amine more particularly into the laws which
relate to the discipline of societies established
upon these principles.

CHAP. IV.

On Discipline.

ent sciences.

Peculiar § 1. JN OTHiNG is iiiore remarkable tbaii the

ilfmanbe-*' Very different associations which the same ob-
ed^brdiffeJ- j^^ts awakcn in the minds of individuals whose
habits of thinking- iiave been formed by associa-
tions of a dissimilar nature. Let an abstract
truth of pure science be projDOsed to the me-
chanical philosopher, the chemist, and the
physiologist ; if they arrive at the same conclu-
sions respecting it, it will probably be through
a course of ideas, and by the help of figures
and abstractions extremely different ; a differ-
ence which will frequently affect the identity
of their conclusions. But let an object not of
pure science, the matter of familiar observation,
be presented to them, and it is very possible,
that in the ideas respectively suggested by it,
there w ill be very little in common ; the attention
of each will instinctively select those qualities
or circumstances attaching to it, which fall
within the scope of his most familiar habits of
thinking.

Let, for example, the subject be Man, — a

DIFFERENT VIEWS OF MAN. 251

subject common to almost all science and all
philosophy, as comprising that with which, in
some reference or other, they are princij)ally
conversant. It is evident, that no view can be
taken of the human being, that shall include all
that belongs to the complex wonders of his
nature. One class of phenomena is selected by
one science; a distinct order of facts is appro-
priated to another; in a third, the pursuit of
knowledge is directed to properties of a still
different kind; and these several physical, mo-
ral, or political views under which men may be
contemplated, are susceptible of subdivisions,
and modifications, under each of which the at-
tention is fixed upon the object under some
peculiar aspect, to the exclusion of all ideas not
connected with the particular inquiry. And
when the attention has been so long habituated
to this particular direction, that it has become
the most natural and familiar point of view in
which an object can present itself, the person
insensibly acquires a mode of thinking, and an
intellectual character, .bearing in some degree
the impress of his favourite pursuit. The physi-
ologist, for instance, is apt to overlook, and has
sometimes been seduced to disbelieve in, the
existence of any higher principle in man, than
that which gives impulse to his sentient orga-
nization. The politician, in speculating upon
the general laws of society, is led to disregard

252 VIEW or mam peculiar

all that essentially characterizes the indivi-
dual.

Nor are these partial or contracted views,
the result only of habits of abstract inquiry.
The ideas of persons whose attention is en-
grossed with the daily concerns of life, with the
petty details of the social economy, and who
are in the habit of regarding men exclusively
in relation to these concerns, are found to differ
from those of men accustomed to regard their
fellow creatures with more comprehensive
views, as widely as the speculations of the ge-
neral at the head of his army respecting its
human materials, are remote from those of the
philosopher in his closet, investigating, with
regard to the same beings, the laws of consci-
ousness.
View of the Religion claims the prerogative of science in
ingpecuilar cousidcring Man under an aspect altogether pe-

lo Religion.

culiar to itself, and in fixing the attention on an
order of facts totally distinct from the phe-
nomena which arrest the attention of the ana-
tomist, or which employ the speculations of the
philosopher. Religion exhibits to us Man sim-
ply as a being possessed of what in Scripture is
emphatically termed tlie soul, in reference not
to the living principle common to the animal
creation, but to the spiritual faculty, in respect
of which he is distinguished from every other
creature in this world, and individually sepa-

TO CHRISTIANITY. 253

rated from every fellow being-, as rational, ac-
countable, and immortal. This view of man is
so peculiar to religion, that we discover scarcely
any traces of it, either in the ordinary con-
versation of men, or in any of the speculations
of science or of philosophy. It is a view alto-
gether alien and repugnant to the notions of the
generality of mankind ; one which they can
with difficulty be brought to entertain, and
which they with reluctance realize. Yet of so
much importance is it in the discussion of any
religious question, that till the habit be attained
of regarding man simply and solely under this
aspect, it is impossible to understand aright the
purpose and bearings of Christianity.

The view which religion unfolds of the value Di^^coveries

of Revela-

of the human soul, is peculiar in two material tionreiatire

. to tlie valne

respects; first, as regards the mtegral value of ofihesoui.
the individual, and secondly, as regards the
absolute parity of all human beings. The
doctrine of the Gospel, while it exalts the im-
portance of the moral being in the scale of ex-
istence, strips him of all the artificial trappings
of earthly pride. It passes over all that dis-
tinguishes man in the view of his fellow, or that
constitutes the subject of his self-complacency,
by pronouncing all men to be in a state of spi-
ritual death, " shut up under sin." " All have
"sinned;" all must die: these circumstances,
in respect of which no one human being is dis-

254 VIEW OF MAN PECULIAR

tingiiishable from another, are the only circum-
stances attaching to his condition, of which
Christianity takes cognizance. Upon each in-
dividual member of the vast aggregate upon
which the man of science, and the man of
power, look so proudly, the Gospel teaches us
to set an inconceivable value, but a value which
admits of no disparity of degree, inasmuch as
it does not originate in any qualities by which
certain portions of that aggregate are capable
of being separately characterized. " Thy^bro-
" ther for whom Christ died," is a consideration
which forbids that contemptuous estimate of
the mnny, in which it is so flattering to self-love
to indulge, imparting to the foolish things of
the world, to the weak, the base, and the de-
spised, an importance fully equal to all that
can be claimed by the wise and the mighty.
The same price has been set upon the soul of
every man. " Christ died for all," because
" all were dead," and because all are alike ca-
pable of the same salvatian. Redemption
stamps a dignity upon the soul of the meanest
participant of our nature, that does not allow of
our esteeming him " common or unclean," or
of our considering his actual salvation as in
itself less important than that of the highest
among intelligent beings. Such is the view
Christianity exhibits of the sovereignty of God,
the value of the Atonement, the transforming

TO CIiniSTIANlTY. 255

efficiency of Divine Grace, the capacity of the
soul itself, and the glorious change w ch the
whole human being shall vmdergo at the resur-
rection, that all that diflferences man from man
in any other relation than his relation to his
Maker, is lost in the contemplation : " It is the
" same God who worketh all in all."

The excellence of the soul is purely a doc-
trine of Revelation. Its immortality might be
made out as probable by the light of reason,
but what is immortality, as attaching to a de-
rived, dependent being, but a negative circum-
stance, the whole value of which arises from
the condition and the character of which it is
the ordained consummation? Did Revelation
simply inform us that man is immortal, it would
only have descended from heaven to bring us
*' a message of despair." The excellence of
the soul is not to be deduced from its immor-
tality, but from the stupendous nature of the
interposition by which its Divine Author has
been pleased to express his concern for its final
happiness, his knowledge of its inestimable
worth. " God so loved the world, that he
" gave his only begotten Son," that the souls
of all might not perish. Apart from the re-
velation of this wonderful fact, it would have
been impossible to form an adequate idea of
the value of the soul of man in the Divine mind.
The love with which the Father hath loved the

256 HABIT OF MIND PROPER

human race, cannot, in possibility, have any
respect to the qiiahties which distinguish the
individual from his fellows. The gift of his
Son was not purchased by the merits of those
whom he died to save, for, while they were yet
sinners, " Christ died for the ungodly."
This view of § 2. This being then the view which Christ-
SoTe ianity teaches us to take of mankind as the
charg^of subjects of the Gospel message, it must be-
lieriaioffice. loug to the charactcr of the Christian minister
to maintain an habitual reference to these their
essential circumstances, to the comparative ex-
clusion of every other consideration ; it must
be his business to regard the soul of man, as
the Divine Being regards it, stripped of all the
extrinsic investments of mortality. Viewed
under this aspect, it will appear a matter of
small account, what is the external character
of the individual whom he shall be able to
rescue from the common danger that envelops
the whole race. In this sense, the minister of
Christ will " know no man after the flesh." It
will be his habitual effort to contemplate human
beings with the feelings with which he would
gaze upon so many disembodied spirits, could
they be made visible to his senses. The moral
evils which others, while they share in their in-
fluence, are so impatient to resent, he will re-
gard with commiseration, chiefly as they op-
pose the holy and benevolent purposes of the

TO THE MINISTERIAL CHARACTER. 257

Redeemer. Disregardful of his selfish interests,
he will gladly spend and be spent for the souls
of those whom he labours to reconcile to God,
although the more abundantly he loves, the less
he be loved. A peculiarity of character, the
genuine result of the principles which Christ-
ianity originates, will be gradually formed by
this habit of holding converse with men under
the impressions of eternity; a peculiarity which
separates a person from the sympathy of men
in general, still more sensibly than the studies
of the recluse theorist, or the technical habits of
a profession. Some degree, however, of this
habit of mind, is an essential qualification in
order to the competent discharge of the sacred
function ; it is the true professional character of
the Christian minister. Nor is it less neces-
sary, in prosecuting such inquiries as the pre-
sent, which involve the nature of Christianity
and the design of its institutions, steadily to
bear in mind the peculiarity of reference which
every thing in religion bears to the soul as the
spiritual reality of man.

It is scarcely necessary to contrast with this contrast ia

, . . 1 • 1 certain

representation, the opposite views which en- abettors of
gross the minds of ecclesiastical politicians. It cafciaims,
has been already shewn, how entirely at vari-
ance the fact of the separate accountability of
moral beings, is, with the assumption of a spi-
ritual jurisdictive power: the equal value of

258 ON ECCLESIASTICAL OBEDIENCE.

the souls of all mankind is a consideration not
less fatal to the assumptions of a spiritual su-
periority. It is remarkable how the abettors of
ecclesiastical claims uniformly speak of men
at large, as persons to be taught, or as things to
be governed, instead of regarding them as be-
ings to be saved. Their notion of Christianity
seems to be, that it is nothing more than a dis-
pensation of intellectual discovery, or a system
of government founded on certain modifications
of political science, by means of which the
subjects of their divinely-chartered powers, are
to be ruled, and guided, and led, and com-
manded, all along the way to heaven. They in-
deed admit, that the salvation of mankind is the
end of the Gospel, and that the means of salva-
tion is faith, in the Son of God ; they admit,
moreover, that the preaching of the Gospel,
provided it be in certain places, and by certain
persons, is, to be the instrument of their salva-
tion; but it is the more manifest, from the very
tone in which these admissions are made, that
their views are those of a secular mind, wholly
unhabituated to feel the reality of its own spi-
ritual condition, and to look upon the souls of
others as, individually, equally precious in the
.sight of Him who died to redeem them by his
precious blood.
onecciesi- §3. Thcrc is, UHqucstionably, some descrip-

asticalobe- . „ t i i /•

diftiice tion 01 government proper to the churches oi

ON ECCLESIASTICAL OBEDIENCE. 259

Christ. " Obey them," says St. Paul, " that
" have the rule over you, and submit your-
" selves, for they watch for your souls, as they
" that must give account." In this passage, we
have the sum and substance of ecclesiastical
government. An obedience is claimed, the
ground of which is the character of those to
whom it is due: this is not the ground of po-
litical obedience. Submission to the authority
of rule is enjoined, but the object of this rule is
also specified, — the guardianship of the soul :
this cannot be the rule of power. The passage
consists of an adjuration, rather than a com-
mand. By the watchful solicitude and holy
zeal of those primitive pastors, by the moral
authority which attached to their office, by the
solemn responsibility connected with their
charge, the Apostle enforces the duty of an
uncompelled submission, reminding them that
it was their souls, their own souls, to which
that rule, that oversight had reference. What
argument could be more impressively affecting?
What, on the other hand, coidd have been more
inappropriate, had that rule consisted in a
power underived from character, unattended
by the circumstances which gave weight to
this exiiortation; had it been a rule enforced
by temporal sanctions, which left no alterna-
tive but an involuntary, uudiscretional sub-
mission ?

s2

260 ON ECCLESIASTICAL OBEDIENCE.

The use which has been made of this pas-
sage, to enforce a passive obedience to eccle-
siastical authority, is founded on a gross per-
version of its true meaning. The rule which it
refers to, was of a nature exceedingly different
from that which is exercised in the ordinary
government of Christian societies, since the
authority of these elders obviously related to
doctrinal guidance. " Remember them," says
the Apostle in a parallel passage, " who are
" your guides, (had the rule over you) who
" have spoken unto you the word of God,
" whose faith follow, considering the end of their
'* conversation." To " preach the word," to " re-
" prove," to " rebuke/' to " exhort with all long-
*' suffering" — were the duties which these rulers
were authorized and commissioned to fulfil ;
and no other species of power, or authority,
was vested in them, than was requisite for the
uncontrolled discharge of these sacred duties.*

* *' And sure if a man must undertake the care of no more
" souls than he may be able to watch over in order to his
" giving an account of them, we may easily conclude that
*• he will never take all the souls in a numerous modern
" diocese for the objects of his inspection and care, if ever he
'' expect to give up his account with comfort or hope. He
'•' will rather think the souls of a numerous congregation a
" heavy weight, and be under very anxious thoughts, lest
*' many of them should miscarry for want of his vigilance
*' and care." Boyse's Sermon on the Office of a Scriptural
Bishop. Works, folio, p. 82.

astical
power.

ON THE CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP. 261

The nature of the power and authority which True source

ofecclesi-

attach to the pastor of a church, has, however,
been sufficiently illustrated in the preceding
chapter; and it follows, from the principles
there vindicated, that that power cannot be the
proper basis of any thing like what is called
ecclesiastical government. In a voluntary so-
ciety, power, strictly speaking, must have its
source in the general will ; by whatsoever moral
considerations, therefore, the exercise of juris-
dictive power, in a religious society, may be
regulated, or enforced, it cannot, in this respect,
differ from that which belongs of right to every
free association. A Christian society is not
left to frame its own laws irrespectively of the
general rules provided in the word of Christ ;
but so far as the enforcing of those rules de-
volves upon the church, the power must reside
in the society at large, and the act must be
substantially that of the church itself. The
same arguments that were employed to estab-
lish the necessary conditions of a voluntary
society, in reference to the terms of communion,
apply with equal force to the ultimate sanction
of the laws of a free society, — the exclusion
of the offender, and of course, virtually, to every
intermediate exercise of authority.

<& 4. When a person joins himself to a com- Nature of

.... . , ^^^ visible]

munity of individuals who have, by their reli- fellowship

. 1 /. 1 ofChrisl-

gious profession, separated themselves from the iaus.

262 ON THE CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP.

world, he, in that voluntary act, recognises the
principles and the objects of that separation.
In making his selection of a particular commu-
nity, for the purpose of uniting with its mem-
bers in the most solemn actions of which our
social nature renders us collectively capable, it
must be supposed, that he is influenced by a
regard to the spiritual advantages such asso-
ciation is designed to afford ; and by the con-
viction, more particularly, that the ordinances
of religion are, within that society, administered
in their purity, and that the Christian character
is exhibited in the general conduct of its mem-
bers. His joining himself to such a community,
includes the open profession of a belief in " the
" holy Catholic church, and in the communion
" of saints," as an existing reality; for in thus
uniting with a definite portion of the Visible
Church, he first becomes a visible member of
the Church Universal. It is at this period that
he becomes capable of exercising towards his
fellow Christians, in that particular relation,
those special duties which bind together the
members of the Catholic Church. To speak of a
visible member of the Church Universal, yet in
couiuiunion with no portion of its members, must
be considered as a contradiction in terms. As
well might it be said of any individual, that all
the inhabitants of the town in which he resides
are his relations, when he is not connected, by

ON THE CHRISTIAN F KLI.OWSHIP. 263

either blood or marriage, with any one of them.*
An alliance to the Visible Church can take
place only by means of a specific relation to
some association of its members. The choice
of the particular religious fellowship, rests with
the individual, but, having made his election,
he enters himself not merely a member of that
particular society, but by his profession, re-
cognised by the church that receives him, a
member of the general society of true be-
lievers throughout the world. A church is
nothing more than " a congregation of be-
** lievingmen," and every congregation is a por-
tion of the true Catholic Church, which is com-
posed of true believers.

An introduction into the Visible Church, how-
ever, it may be said, takes place at baptism ;
bow, then, can it be represented as consequent

* " First, Every Christian is under an obligation to Join
" in Church society with some others ; because it is his duty
" to profess himself a Christian, and to own his religion
" publickly, and to partake of the ordinances and sacraments
" of the Gospel, which cannot be without society with some
" church or other. Every Christian, as such, is bound to
" look upon himself as the member of a body, viz. the visible
" Church of Christ ; and how can he be known to be a mem-
" ber, who is not united with other parts of the body? There
" is then an obligation upon all Christians, to engage in a
" religious society with others, for partaking of the ordi-
" nances of the Gospel." Stillingfleet. Irenicum, B. i.
Ch. vi. $3.

264 ON THE CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP.

upon an after-act of religious profession? An
answer to tliis may, in tlie first place, be given,
by referring the objector to the formularies of
the Church of England itself, in proof that the
person baptized is not considered as ipso facto
in actual communion with the Visible Church.
The rite of Confirmation evidently supposes,
that some other species of profession, than that
of sponsors, is a pre-requisite. The sign of
comnumion, indeed, is generally held to be a
participation in the Eucharist. The laws of
ecclesiastical incorporations, however, have
little to do with the present subject. The broad,
undistinguishing national profession of Christ-
ianity, which belongs to them, involves no sepa-
ration from the world, admits of no selection of
character, and precludes, therefore, whatever
spiritual advantages are connected with an as-
sociation of believers, founded upon opposite
principles. Baptism, then, it may be replied
to the objector, according to the views of those
who recognise the right of infants to be so
brought nnto Christ, is not symbolical of initi-
ation into the visible Church, nor does it con-
stitute the child a member of any Christian so-
ciety. Into an actual voluntary association like
that of the Christian fellowship, no person can
be introduced, who is incapable, as an infant is,,
of exhibiting the recjuisite qualifications, and of
performing the consequent duties. Baptism is

ON THE CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP. 265

the seal of a covenant which relates, not to the
outward social relation of the members of the
Church of Christ to one another, but to the
spiritual relation of all the members to the Head
of the Church, which is Christ. At the first
promulgation of Christianity, Baptism, as it
formed an expression of religious obedience,
was of necessity a term of communion ; but
Baptism, in itself, apart from its forming an
evidence of conversion, constituted no cKiim to
fellowship with a particular society. It was
an initiatory ordinance, and may still be consi-
dered as such, in a figurative sense; an iriitia-
tion into the school, the religion of Christ. As
respects, however, the visible company of be-
lievers. Baptism does not form an introduction
to actual communion. An individual can be-
come a member of the Visible Church only by
publicly joining himself in Christian fellow-
ship to some association of its members.

Viewed in this light, the transaction itself of
a first introduction into a Christian society,
will appear to possess an importance and a
solemnity, far beyond what might seem to at-
tach to the mere circumstance of voluntary
association with others in Christian worship.
Next to the nuptial bonds, upon which the
New Testament impresses so sacred a charac-
ter, the connexion with a Christian church is,

OQQ OBLIGATIONS OF CHURCH MEMBERS.

of all voluntary relations, unspeakably the most
important. If there is such a thing as the Vi-
sible Church of Christ upon earth, if the Christ-
ian fellowship is not an absolute chimera, the
privilege of belonging to a congregation of its
genuine members, does not admit of being
lightly appreciated ; nor will any one who has
the least degree of intelligent reverence for the
institutions of Christ, on whose commands
such an association is built, be so heedless of
the social obligations which it involves, as to
connect himself with any church, without a sin-
cere intention of submitting to its laws and its
discipline. It is of little consequence what the
external character of that church may be, as
respects the rank, or number, or intellectual
qualifications of its members. The authority
of its ministers, the claims of the brotherhood,
the value of the ordinances of Christ, are unim-
paired by such circumstances as these: and
what serves to dignify tlie connexion upon
which he enters, is this, that it is a fellowship
which binds him in visible union to the ge-
neral company of true believers throughout the
world, — to the holy Catholic Church.
Obligations § 5. The positive duties which devolve upon
wenibci? the member of such a community, arise out of
*^'^' its very nature and design; they are compre-

hended in his attendance upon the ordinances

OBLIGATIONS OF CHURCH MEMBERS. 267

of social worship,* and in his compliance with
such regulations as may be adopted for the
general government or order of the church.
The moral duties of the Christian relation, may
be summed up, in the general duty of sustain-
ing a personal character in correspondence,
both as to belief and religious conduct, to
that of the society to which the individual has
voluntarily attached himself; as well as of re-
specting the claims of the pastor, and the obli-
gations of mutual charity. Ecclesiastical dis-
cipline has no legitimate object, save the en-
forcement of some one of these points of duty.
Three cases only justify the infliction of the
extreme expression of church censure, viz. wil-
ful heresy,! flagrant immorality,^ or, a con-
tumacious disregard of the previous censures of
the elders of the society. |1 In a voluntary
community, either of these cases will be of ex-
tremely rare occurrence. Few would court an
association with persons whose sentiments they
must regard with repugnance, or whose cen-
sures they despise.

* " Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as
" the manner of some is/' Heb. x. 25.

f " A man that is an heretic, after the first and second
♦* admonition, reject." Titus iii. 10.

X " Therefore put away from among yourselves that
" wicked person." 1 Cor. v. 13.

II " If he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee
^* as a heathen, and a publican." Matt. x.viii. 17.

2<>8 OBLIGATIONS OF CHUECH MEMBERS,

Circumstances, however, may occur, which
justify the suspension of a member of a Christ-
ian church from actual communion, as demand-
ing* the institution of inquiry, but which do not
"Warrant the infliction of censure. Thus, for
example, it has been customary among Pro-
testant Dissenters, for a member becoming
bankrupt, voluntarily to suspend his attendance
upon the Lord's supper, and to request an ex-
amination of his conduct that may clear his
moral character from imputation. Even when
clearly attributable to unavoidable misfortune,
bankruptcy has used to be considered as such
a stain upon religious profession, that a deacon
or elder, placed in such a predicament, would
not hesitate to lay down his o ce, lest the cha-
racter of the society should be at all compro-
mised in his own. The true-bred Christian has
his nice notions of honour, as well as the man
of the world ; they form a safeguard to his
principles; they are the out-works of morality.
Deeply is it to be deprecated, that the tone of
Christian society should in this respect suffer
any depression, or that a sense of justice, a
sensibility to reproach when *' not the reproach
*' of Christ," should cease to characterize those
whose profession distinguishes them as men not
of this world. " If ye be reproached," says
St. Peter, " for the name of Christ, happy are

OBLIGATIONS OF CHUKCH MEMBERS. 269

" ye — but let none of you suffer (reproach) as
*' an evil doer."

Where a regard to the honour of the Christ- on stnci-

... nefs of dis-

ian profession is the actuating spirit of the so- cipiine.
ciety, it may possibly induce what will by some
persons be regarded as rigid notions of disci-
pline; this is, however, a ruling motive, strictly
consonant with the spirit and design of religi-
ous separation; nor is any worse consequence
likely to ensue from it, than the self-exclusion
of the worldly-minded, or the insincere, from
so unattractive an association, by which means
what the church might lose in point of compre-
hension, it would gain in respect of spirituality
of character. How strict soever may be the
discipline of a church, some palpable deviation
from the strict line of Christian propriety, it is
to be remembered, can alone render the con-
duct of an individual obnoxious to censure.
Where there exists that real unity of feeling
and interest which characterizes true Christ-
ians, love will constitute " the bond of perfect-
" ness ;" while to attempt to keep up the sem-
blance of discipline, when the spirit of Christ-
ianity is fled, will always prove unavailing. The
charge of strictness, and even of intolerance,
has sometimes, however, been very improperly
laid against religious communities, in conse-
quence of their maintaining principles and laws
repugnant to the more liberal views of the ad-

270 OBLIGATIONS OF CHURCH MEMBERS.

vocates for unrestricted communion. But tole-
rance and intolerance are terms which cannot be
justly applied to rny rules, by which a voluntary
socieiy may bind itself to act, in reference to
a particular standard. The utmost laxity is
compatible with the bitterest intolerance. Ec-
clesiastical regulations may be arraigned on the
ground of expediency, as injudicious; but the
charge of bigotry or uncharitableness, can be
deserved only by the avowed sentiments or
conduct of the members of such a society, to-
wards those who are not of its communion.

That the conduct of a member of a Christian
society, falls under very different cognizance
from similar conduct in a stranger, out of the
pale of its communion, is clearly deducible from
the language of St. Paul, in which, alluding to
the exhortation he had given the Corinthian
brethren, not to associate with fornicators or
idolaters, he deems it necessary thus to explain
his meaning: " Yet not altogether with the
*' covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters of this
*' world ; for then must ye needs go out of this
*' world ; but if any man that is called a brother t'
(be chargeable with such immoralities) with
such a one not to associate; " no, not even to
" eat." " For w hat," he adds, " have I to do to
•'judge tliejn that are without? Do not ye
*' judge them that are within? But them that
" are without God judgeth." Surely, if the

OBLIGATIONS OF CHURCH MEMBERS. 271

honour of the Christian profession, demanded
that this broad distinction should then be drawn
between the Church and the World, the same
right to judge those who are within the pale of
its communion, and a similar reason for exer-
cising it, must now belong to Christian soci-
eties. As to those who are without, we are
neither called upon to pass sentence upon their
characters, nor allowed to resent their crimes.
The Apostle adduces a consideration adapted
to extinguish every feeling of resentment or in-
tolerance, when he adds, " Them God judgeth."*
Wheresoever the line of religious separation may
be drawn, it forms no legitimate boundary for
either the sentiment of charity or the exertions
of kindness. The Christian is expressly bound
by the laws of his profession, to " do good unto
*' all men;" while he is to " love the brother-
" hood," he must " honour all men," adding,
*' to brotherly kindness," universal " charity.'
The specific exhortation to " walk in wisdom
*' towards them Ihat are without," implies that
a conduct the very reverse of what shall de-
serve to be stigmatised as uncourteous or in-
tolerant, is the peculiar duty of the Christian.

* Perhaps the religious societies which are the most strict
and rigid in their discipHne, of any churches in modern days,
are those of the United Brethren : yet none are perhaps in
their general character more tolerant, or less infected with the
spirit of sectarian proselytism.

272 ON EXCOMMUNICATION.

Nevertheless, the standard of rehgious profes-
sion must not be lowered to the level of worldly
society; nor must we suffer the heavenly name
of chanty to be employed as a pass-name by
latitudinarian indifference. There is, doubtless,
such a thing as a sectarian narrowness in the
discipline of Christian churches, often proceed-
ing fiom the spirit of intolerance. Whatso-
ever regulations virtually tend to divide good
men from one another, by excluding from com-
munion with the church any sincere Christians,
whether they relate to the terms of communion,
or to the nature of its discipline, partake of the
very essence of schism, and are absolutely at
variance with the spirit of the Gospel.
On Escom- § 6. Although submissiou to ecclesiastical
discipline is, in the first instance, voluntary on
the part of the individual, since it is by his own
free act he becomes connected with any Christ-
ian society at all, yet it is not to be imagined
that no other species of power or authority at-
taches to the decisions of a Christian church,
than what is derived, as in other free societies,
from common consent. The same moral
authority which attends the promulgation of
the Gospel, is vested in the church for edifica-
tion, and attends the administration of the laws
of Christ, with respect to the conduct of its
members. To the spiritual censures of a
Christian society, when in accordance with the

mnnicalioii.

ON EXCOMMUNICATION. 273

dictates of the Scriptures, and the secret voice
of conscience, an importance not ideal, a fear-
ful efficiency belongs.* From the consequences

* " The right of inflicting censures, and of proceeding
*' in extreme cases to excommunication, is an essential branch
" of that power with which the church is endowed, and bears
*' the same relation to discipUne that the administration of
** criminal justice bears to the general principles of govern-
" ment. When this right is exerted in upholding the * faith
*• once delivered to the saints,' or enforcing a conscientious
** regard to the laws of Christ, it maintains its proper place,
** and is highly beneficial." — " I am far from thinking lightly
" of the spiritual power, with which Christ has armed his
" church. It is a high and mysterious one, which has no
" parallel on earth. Nothing, in the order of means, is
" equally adapted to awaken compunction in the guilty, with
" spiritual censures impartially administered : the sentence
" of excommunication in particular, harmonising with the
" dictates of conscience, and re-echoed by her voice, is truly
** terrible: it is the voice of God, speaking through its legi-
*' tima'te organ, which he who despises, or neglects, ranks
" with * heathen men and publicans,' joins the synagogue of
" Satan, and takes his lot with an unbelieving world, doomed
" to perdition. Excommunication is a sword which, strong
" in its apparent weakness, and the sharper, and more keenly
'' edged for being divested of all sensible and exterior en-
" velopements, lights immediately on the spirit, and inflicts
" a wound which no balm can cure, no ointment can moUify,
" but which must continue to ulcerate and burn, till healed by
'* the blood of atonement, applied by penitence and prayer.
" In no instance is that axiom more fully verified, • the weak-
'' ness of God is stronger than men, and the foolishness of
" God is wiser than men,' than in the discipline of his
" church. By incumbering it with foreign aid, they have
T

274 ^^ EXCOMMUNICATION.

of such a sentence, it is not at the will of the
offender to withdraw himself. The voice of
the church, in such a case, is not the voice of
man, but the voice of God, and "be that de-
•iTh«s.iv. « spiseth, despiseth not man but God."* An
unjust sentence, it is true, can have no such force,
but would seem to fall back upon the church
that inflicts it. " A groundless sentence of ex-
" communication, or absolution," remarks a
very judicious Expositor, " cannot possibly
" make any alteration in a man's state or cha-
*' racter: all such decisions being merely de-
" claratory. This has been entirely overlooked,
" in all those scandalous perversions of church-
" censures, which are the real cause of that re-
" laxation, or rather destitution of discipline,
t Scott, " which uow SO generally prevails.f
I^mJu The cognizance of matters of offence and

scandal, as distinct from civil offences, and the
practice of excommunication, as the ultimate
sanction of ecclesiastical censure, were exer-
cised, it is well known, by the Jews in their
synagogue government. Many expositors sup-

" robbed it of its real strength; by calling in the aid of tem-
" poral pains and penalties, they have removed it from the
"■ spirit to the flesh, from its contact with eternity, to unite it
" with secular interests; and as the corruption of the best
" things, is the worst, have rendered it the scandal and re-
" proach of our holy religion." Hall On Terms of Com-
munion. 8vo. pp. 138-140.

xriii. 18.

ON EXCOMMUNICATION. 275

pose that this circumstance is alluded to by our
Lord, in a passage often cited in connexion
with the subject of church-government, to
which the above-cited comment refers. " More-
" over, if thy brother shall trespass against
" thee, go and tell him his fault alone : if he
" shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
" But if he will not hear thee, then take with
" thee one or two more, that in the mouth of
" two or three witnesses, every word may be
" established. And if he shall neglect to hear
*' them, tell it unto the Church; but if he neg-
** lect to hear the church, let him be to thee as
" a pagan and a publican." At the period
when these words were spoken by our Lord, no
Christian society was in existence, and the
moral duty which they enforce, could not, it is
argued, be understood as suspended on the fu-
ture circumstances of Christian society. There
is nothing in the passage which looks like the
institution of a new ordinance, or a reference to
an order of things not then existing. It must
therefore allude, and must have been appre-
hended by the disciples as alluding, to the esta-
blished usages of the synagogue discipline.*
The intention of our Lord was not to enjoin

* This opinion has received the countenance of both Cal-
vin and Beza. Nam certe tanquam de Judceis hcee did ap-
parel, saltern ex eo quod addit, sit tibi stent Ethnicus et
Publicenus. Beza, in \oc.

t2

276 ON EXCOMMUNICATION.

submission to any species of ecclesiastical au-
thority, but rather, to inculcate a peaceful and
placable spirit, and to prescribe rules for ob-
viating' either the indulgence of private revenge,
or the scandal of litigation before heathen tri-
bunals. In this view, the observance of these
directions, was not less practicable under the
existing circumstances of the times, than it
has been at every subsequent period. Neither
the worship of the Temple, nor the discipline
of the Synagogue, was as yet abrogated. The
disciples still retained an attachment to all the
forms of the Jewish polity, and, doubtless, still
considered themselves as members of the Jew-
ish Church. It was as such, rather than in refer-
ence to anypeculiarityof character that was sub-
sequently to attach to them as Christians, that
our Lord usually addressed them, opposing to
the corrupt glosses of the Rabbins, the true
spirit of the laws of Moses, and superadding
those " new commandments" which were con-
genial with the more spiritual nature of the new
economy. When, however, the followers of
Jesus Christ came, after his ascension, to form
themselves into distinct synagogues, their adhe-
rence to this peaceful and equitable mode of
proceeding, was enforced by considerations of
still greater urgency. " Dare any of you," writes
*t Cor. vi. St. Paul to the Corinthians,* " having a matter
" against another, go to law before the unjust,

ON EXCOMMUNICATION. 277

** and not before the saints ?" With just indig-
nation he reprobates the practice of one Christ-
ian going to law with another, " and that be-
•* fore the unbelievers." " Why," he exclaims,
" do ye not rather take wrong ? Why do ye not
** rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?" It
was not that any persons in the church were
possessed of judicial authority to decide in
such matters, except in consequence of a com-
mon appeal being made to them ; — on the con-
trary, the Apostle, as if to remind them of the
insignificance of the objects for which they
contended, tells them to appoint such as were
of the least esteem in the church, to be judges
of secular things. The case adverted to by St.
Paul, differs in no material respect from that
which is specified by our Lord. Both pas-
sages refer us to an ecclesiastical authority,
wholly distinct from the civil jurisdiction, and
having nothing in common with any species of
political power; the appeal to this authority
resting wholly upon moral considerations, and
submission to its decisions, although enforced
by the strongest religious obligations, being the
free act of the indiA^idual. The possible case ,
of a contumacious disregard for this tribunal, is
expressly provided for : " If he neglect to hear
" the church, let him be to thee as a pagan or
" a publican." The church could go no fur-
ther.

278 ON EXCOMMUNICATION.

In such a case, indeed, the principles com-
mon to all human societies, would lead us to
regard the individual who disputed the autho-
rity of the church, as self-excluded from its
communion; but it must never be forgotten,
that a Christian assembly is not altogether a
mere human society. Whatever may have
been the primary import of our Lord's direc-
tions, certainly, in reference to the Christian
Church, they become susceptible of a still more
emphatic application. If we connect with this
passage the subsequent verses, — " Verily, I
" say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on
" earth shall be bound in heaven," — there is rea-
son to suppose that a hardened disregard of the
voice of a Christian society, places the offender
in a state of fearful peril. It is therefore con-
tended by many commentators, that the words
" the Church," in the preceding verse, must be
considered as spoken in anticipation of the
formation of Christian assemblies; that they
relate to the Church which our Lord was about
to establish ; — as in the address to Peter :
" Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I
" build my Church." The declaration, " what-
" soever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound
" in heaven," appears, it is true, to be immedi-
ately connected with a promise of the miracu-
lous fulfilment of any request in which two of
the disciples should agree ; a promise evidently

ON EXCOMMUNICATION. 279

of a special nature, and limited to the existing
circumstances in which the disciples were
placed. Yet, when our Saviour adds, " Where
" two or three are gathered together in my name,
*' there am 1 in the midst of them," this solemn
assertion of his omnipresence, and the promise
it includes, must surely be considered as ex-
tending to all the future ages of the Church, and
as having, indeed, a more peculiar reference
prospectively, to the period when his followers
should be deprived of his bodily presence, and
should gather themselves together in the name
of their ascended Lord.

Exclusion from the visible Church of Christ,
by the voice of a Christian society, is surely an
awful sentence, one that might well strike the
conscience with dismay. But it may, perhaps,
on this very account be doubted by some per-
sons, whether even a declaratory power of ex-
communication of this extensive nature, is com-
mitted to any human society, or to any portion
of the Christian Church; whether, in fact, the
exclusion of an offender from a religious com-
munity, is to be regarded in a light essentially dif-
ferent from that in which we should v!e'v?^. shnilar
transaction on the part of any other free society.
Passages of Scripture, it must be p^dmitted,
have often been injudiciously cited in connex-
ion with this subject, which, at least in their
primary application, had reference to the con-

280 ON EXCOMMUNICATION.

tempt of Apostolic authority, or to wilful de-
partures from the faith, and that under the very
peculiar circumstances attendant on the estab-
lishment of Christianity. These have been
arrayed as the artillery of the Church, with a
view to over-awe the impugners of ecclesiastical
authority, it being too hastily assumed, that
they precluded the necessity of argument.

It might serve to dissipate much of the mys-
terious obscurity which seems to rest upon
this part of our inquiry, to bear in mind, that
the power to excommunicate evidently corre-
sponds, in its nature as well as its source, to ■
the power to admit into the visible Church: the
commission to bind, and the commission to
loose, are co-relative, and must be of similar
extent. In the same sense that admission into
" a congregation of faithful men," is to be con-
sidered as an initiation into the visible Church,
excommunication from such a congregation, has
in it the force of an exclusion from the Church.
If the Church of Christ upon earth consists of
such as exhibit the visible character of his pro-
fessed disciples, then, by his religious charac-
ter must it be determined, whether an indivi-
dual belongs to the family of believers; and
the same society which were acknowledged as
competent to decide this point in favour of his
admission to their communion, must be not less
qualified to determine it in the negative, or to

ON EXCOMMUNICATION. 281

pronounce upon the forfeiture of that character
as the ground of his exclusion. Nothing, in fact,
can justify the suspension, or at any rate, the
exclusion of a communicant, but what would,
if previously ascertained to exist, have abso-
lutely debarred him from being received into
the church. Religious character is, it has been
endeavoured to prove, the sole indispensable
requisite for admission. Excommunication,
when just and appropriate, is the formal de-
cision of the church, that the individual has for-
feited that character, and is no longer worthy to
be regarded as a member of the Church of Christ.
In any other case, exclusion becomes an act as
unmeaning as it is arbitrary and unjust. It
has been, it must be admitted, resorted to, as
the ultimate sanction of laws of discipline,
when it could not be pretended, that resistance
to what it was employed to enforce, involved
the forfeiture of religious character; and in
such instances, the act may be defended as
being nothing more than the exercise of a right
common to all societies, to enforce its own re-
gulations, and to maintain agreement among its
members even on points of order. But a Christ-
ian church can have no right to consider itself
at liberty to frame regulations, which, if en-
forced, shall have the effect of excluding any
true members of the Christian body from com-
munion, in the character of offenders. The

282 ON EXCOMMUNICATION.

laws of such a church, or the spirit of its disci-
pline, must be regarded as decidedly schis-
matic and anti-christian. Excommunication
can be viewed in no other light than that of a
punishment; and it is a punishment which can-
not be justly incurred, except by some offence
against the laws of Christ. In treating that as
an offence against itself, which is not an offence
against Him, the church stands self-convicted
of having a separate interest distinct from the
honour of His cause. Moral obligation is the
only authority by which the conscience can be
ruled ; and as this authority cannot be imparted,
by any act of the church, to things in themselves
indifferent, obedience, with regard to them,
never can be constituted a religious duty, or an
expression of religious character. Acts, there-
fore, which enforce compliance with such laws,
whether they are the regulations of a national
or of a congregational church, do but interpose
so many arbitrary conditions of performing the
will of Christ, and of enjoying the privileges of
Christian society. To impose things indifferent
as terms of communion, supposes that the
church is possessed of some kind of authority
which has not the spiritual advantage of its
members for its object, and which does not
rest upon religious obligation. To enforce the
imposition by the severest punishment the
church can inflict, is to confound all distinc-

ON EXCOMMUNICATION. 283

tions of character, and the consequence must be,
to bring both the authority and the disciphne
of the church into contempt.

A person who joins himself to a rehgious so-
ciety, under the influence of right motives, acts
under the conviction that it is his duty to make
a pubUc profession of Christian belief; and he
testifies also, by that act, that he considers it as
within the line of his duty, to attach himself to
that particular church, and to observe towards
its ministers and members those relative duties
which arise out of the connexion. What im-
parts to excommunication all its propriety, is,
that it is inflicted as the penalty of the breach
of solemn obligations thus voluntarily incurred ;
that it is occasioned by a wilful dereliction of
what the individual at his admission recognised
as religious duty. His exclusion, if legitimate,
does not discharge him from those obligations :
the way is always open to his return. Where
communion, however, does not constitute a
duty, excommunication cannot be deserved, —
cannot have any force as a punishment.

Communion with a religious society, is con-
nected with the most important spiritual advan-
tages : these constitute the design of Christian in-
stitutions, and a desire to participate in them, is
the only proper motive by which a person can be
actuated in applying to be received into such a
society. If the applicant be a true Christian,

284 ON EXCOMMUNICATION.

he will set a high value on the privilege, and will
dread nothing that can befall him in this world,
more than the loss of these religious advan-
tages, connected as they are with the esteem of
the good, and the prayers of the servants of
Christ, — of those whom he has publicly recog-
nised as such by joining their communion. Ex-
communication involves the forfeiture, there-
fore, of all that he most values, and in his view
it will form a transaction of the greatest so-
lemnity, as amounting to a virtual exclusion
from the visible Church; — a decision which, if
it harmonize with the dictates of conscience,
cannot be evaded by obtaining admission into
a different society, should he find one disposed
to receive him. The effect of the monitory dis-
cipline in that case, will be consonant to the
very design of Christian discipline: " He will
" be ashamed," and repent. If, however, he is
found to despise the privileges he has justly
forfeited, and " neglect to hear the church,"
the church, in rejecting him from its commu-
nion, has sufficiently vindicated its own cha-
racter: the example, as it relates to others,
loses none of its efficiency by this circumstance;
every purpose of discipline is fulfilled, except
that which is frustrated by the obstinacy of the
contumacious offender.

Such, then, appear to be the nature and the
legitimate purpose of ecclesiastical discipline.

ON EXCOMMUNICATION. 285

according to the power, or moral authority
vested in the church " for edification and not
" for destruction;" a species of authority which,
so long- as it remains unmixed with secular in-
fluence, unincumbered with foreign aid, is suf-
ficiently guarded from abuse by its spiritual
character, which confines it wholly to the con-
science. The Christian minister, or the church
at large, in the administration of this power,
" can do nothing against the truth, but for the
" truth." " As therefore the church may pro-
" ceed thus far," remarks Jeremy Taylor, " yet
" no Christian man or community of men may
*' proceed farther. For if they be deceived in
" their judgement and censure, and yet have
" passed only spiritual censures, they are to-
" tally ineffectual, and come to nothing: there
" is no eflfect remaining upon the soul, and such
" censures are not to meddle with the body so
" much as indirectly. But if any other judge-
*' ment pass upon persons erring, such judge-
*' ments whose effects remain, if the person be
" unjustly censured, nothing will answer and
*' make compensation for such injuries."* But * Liberty of
in truth, all that imparts force to such cem "'^> $ ^^.
sures,— the secret conviction of their justice,
the moral evidence of the authority from which
they emanate, the piety, the afl^ection, the reli-
gious character which concur to give weight to
the decision of a Christian assembly, together

286 ON EXCOMMUNICATION.

with the peculiar claims of the society upon the
individual, and whatever solicitude may have
been manifested to preclude the necessity of the
final appeal; — all the circumstances, in fact, that
constitute the real validity and impressiveness
of such a proceeding, viewed either as a means
of awakening the conscience, or as a judicial
sanction, can receive no accession of force, no
aggravating effect, from the aid of any thing
extrinsic, — from either the supervention of fo-
reign authority, or the addition of temporal pe-
nalties. The administration of discipline, in the
first instance, constitutes an important part of
the pastoral episcopacy. Upon the pastor it
peculiarly devolves " to exhort, to rebuke with
" all authority," and, as he would avoid the
guilt of partaking of other men's sins, to " re-
" buke them that sin before all, that others may
" fear," " without partiality," yet " in meek-
" ness instructing them that oppose themselves,
" if God peradventure will give them repent-
" ance to the acknowledging of the truth." If
further measures are necessitated, it devolves
upon the members of the body collectively, to
" put away the wicked person" from among
themselves;— to withdraw from a brother that
walketh disorderly ;^to clear themselves, in
the case of open criminality, from participation
in the scandal, with indignation, with fear, with
.2Coi. vii. zeal, with sorrow.* This being accomplished.

ON EXCOMMUNICATION. 287

ecclesiastical discipline has no other object.
*' Sufficient to such (an offender) is the punish-
*' ment thus inflicted by many." To punish
otherwise than by excluding from spiritual pri-
vileges, cannot possibly belong to a church of
Christ: it were an express violation of the spirit
of the Gospel. Such an act were to pour the
greatest contempt upon the reproof given by
our Lord to those disciples who asked his per-
mission to call down fire from heaven to destroy
the persons who refused him the rites of hospi-
tality. The Church cannot punish the ungodly.
She has no weapons of defence but such as are
spiritual; much less any weapons of vengeance.
Her prerogative does not extend beyond the
correction of those who respect her authority ;
to all others she must be content that her
might should be weakness, her authority fool-
ishness, and that like her Divine Lord, she
should be despised and rejected of men.*

* " That the Church hath peculiar laws to be governed
" by, appears by the distinct nature, end, and design of the
" constitution of it ; which is not to preserve any outward
" rights, but to maintain and keep up a religious society for the
" service of God; and therefore the penal sanctions of these
" laws cannot properly be any corporal or pecuniary mulct,
*' but somewhat answerable to the nature of the society. It
*' must be then somewhat which implies the deprivation of
" that which is the chiefest benefit of that society. The
" benefits of it are the privileges and honour which men en-
" joy by thus associating themselves for so high an employ-

288 ON PENAL SANCTIONS

On penal § 7. There have been doctors of the Church,

Church- however, who conceived that they found in the
New Testament a warrant for making the good
of the soul a pretence for tormenting the body
of the ecclesiastical offender; who imagined
that the identical inspired Volume which con-
tains the message of mercy from Heaven, which
teaches us to love our enemies, and to return
blessings for imprecations, sanctions the utmost
ingenuity of demoniacal invention, in punishing
those whom no principle either of reason or of
Christianity allows of our regarding with other
feelings than the tenderest compassion, either
as erring brethren or as the captives of Satan.
They have thought it conducive to the honour
of Christianity, that the Church should have
credit with the world for possessing a power
with which Christ never invested her, in order
that she might gain by striking with terror,
what she couhl not accomplish by conciliating
love. The passage which has been deemed
sufficient to support pretensions so repugnant

" ment. That punishment then must be the loss of those
" privileges which the corporation enjoys, which must be by
" exclusion of the offending person from communion with
" the society. Hence we see it is evident, that which we
" call excommunication is the greatest penalty which the
" Church, as a society, can inflict upon the members of it,
" considered as such." Bp. Stillingfleet's Irenicum^
B. I. Ch. viii. §2.

OF CHURCH-CENSURES. 289

to the whole tenor of the New Testament in-
stitutes, is that in the Epistle to the Corinthians:
" To deHver such a one unto Satan, for the de-
'* strnction of the flesh, that the spirit may be
" saved in the day of the Lord Jesus."

Had ecclesiastical rulers simply adhered to
the letter of this passage, had they formally
delivered over the offender, " in the name of
" the Lord Jesus," and left Satan to do the part
assigned him in the words of the Apostle,
(which the best expositors understand id relate
to the miraculous infliction of diseases by the
agency of evil spirits,) then, it would have been
seen whether the spirits knew their masters, —
whether it was the authority of Paul, or the
incantatious of the sons of Sceva, by which
they were let loose upon the offender. But
that men, styling themselves ministers of
Christ, should take into their own hands the
office of the destroyer, and become the bloody
executioners of the uninspired dictates of their
own fallible judgment, — that they who are for-
bidden even to " strive," should yet dare per-
secute,— that ihey who are commanded to be
gentle to all men, should become their tor-
mentors, as grudging Satan his proper work,
and impatient of the slow vengeance of the
Almighty; — this must be regarded as the very
consummation of the mystery of iniquity.
Punishment of a miraculous nature, is dis-
u

290 Oli I'ENAL SANCTIONS

tiHguisbed from every other kind of punish^
iiieutby this essential circumstance, that being
the evident result of supernatural agency, it
is adapted to act immediately upon the con-
science, and by this means to conduce to the
" saving of the spirit" It is, besides, impossible
that miraculous punishment should in any in-
stance take place, but as the just consequence
of wilful impiety. The inspiration of infallible
wisdom, is indi.spensable to the administration
of Divine power: we may therefore be confident
tliat the commission, or the power of Satan, is
oever suspended on the erring will of man. The
passage in question ailbrds not the shadow
of an authority for substitiitiug in place of mi-
raculous punishment, the penal sanctions of
liuman power. These cannot be brought to
act upon the coi^cience; they have no con-
trolling force upon the reason; they attest no-
thing— prove nothing ; and therefore avail no-
thing towards the saving of the soul.
On penal To rctum, liowcvcr, to the subject of spiri-
tual censures; when the Church is, to use Bi-
shop Stillingfleet's phrase, '* incorporated with
" the commonwealth, and the right of supreme
*' management of ecclesiastical power doth fall
'* into the Magistrate's hands, Excommunication
^* becomes of necessity a very different trans-
*' action ;" it assiuiies the character of a civil
proceeding. It then is rendered necessary that

saHCliOiis.

OF CHUECH-CENSURES. 291

*' matters of so great weight should not be left
" to the arbitrary pleasure of any church-offi-
*' cers." " The right of adding temporal and
" civil sanctions to Church-censures, and so
" enforcing the spiritual weapons of the Churchy
" with the more keen and sharp ones of the
" civil state," must attach solely to the magis-
tratCi To him lies " the appeal in case of un-
" just censures ;" " not," adds the learned Pre-
late whose words we are using, " that he can
" repeal a just censure in the Church as to its
" spiritual effect, but he may suspend the tem-
*' poral effect of it; in which case it is the duty
" of pastors to discharge their office and ac-
" quiesce." For " the force and efficacy of all
" church-censures in foro humano, f]ow from
" the Civil Power, there being no proper effect
" following them as to civil rights, but from
*' the Magistrate's sanction."* * Bishop

There can be no question, that Church offi- fleet/dis.
cers ought not to be entrusted with the dis- tlTvl'^er
pensation of political power: it would lead, it muaicaUon,
has uniformly led, to the most intolerable spe^
cies of tyranny. In a political church, there-
fore, or in other words, an establishment, it is
highly proper that ecclesiastical jurisdiction
should be defined and settled by Acts of Par-
liament, and referred, as to its actual admi-
nistration, to doctors of civil law, to chancel-
lors, officials, surrogates, and proctors. Ex-
u2

&c, p. ult.

292 ON PENAL SANCTIONS

communication, by the Church of England, is
attended by civil penalties of no insignificant
nature. The offender is " excluded from the
" body of the church, is disabled to bring
*' any action, or sue any person in the com-
" mon law-courts: he is disabled to be a
*' witness in any cause : he cannot be attorney
*' or procurator for another : he is to be
" turned out of the church by the church-
*' warden, and not to be allowed Christian bu-
*' rial." Happily, it is not every jone*^ who is
possessed of so formidable a prerogative. The
sentence can be pronounced only by the bishop
or other person in holy orders, being a master
of arts at least ; also, the priest's name pro-
nouncing such sentence, is to be expressed in
the instrument issuing under seal out of the

* Gibson, court.*

1095.*^ ' Surely, it is the obvious dictate of reason and
equity, that civil penalties of this fearful nature
should be consequent only upon civil offences.
The Canons of the Church of England shew,
however, what a perfect anomaly ecclesiastical
power is in a free country; how utterly incom-
patible the existence of such an engine of arbi-
trary tyranny, is with a constitutional govern-
ment. The Canons declare, that Whosoever
shall hereafter affirm that the Church of Eng-
land is not a true and an Apostolical church ;
or, that the form of God's worship contained in

OF CHURCH-CENSURES. 293

the Book of Comraon Prayer and Administra-
tion of Sacraments, containeth any thing that is
repuiiiiant to the Scriptures;* or, that any of
the Thirty-nine Articles are in any part super-
stitions or erroneous, or such as he may not
with a good conscience subscribe unto; or, that
the government of the Church of England,
under his Majesty, by Archbishops, Bishops,
Deans, Archdeacons, and the rest that bear
oflace in the same, is Anti-Christian or repug-
nant to the word of God ; or, that the form and
manner of making and consecrating Bishops,
Priests, and Deacons, containeth any thing in
it, that is repugnant to the word of God; also.
Whosoever shall hereafter separate from the
communion of saints, as it is approved by the
Apostolic rules in the Church of England, and
combine themselves in a new brotherhood ; or,
who shall affirm that such ministers as refuse
to subscribe to the form and manner of God's
worship in the Church of England and their
adherents, may truly take unto themselves the
name of another church ; or, that there are
within this realm other meetings, assemblies, or

•&'

* And by the Act of Uniformity, it is enacted, " That if
" any one shall declare or speak any thing in the derogation
*' or depraving of the Book of Common Prayer, he shall, for
*' the first offence, suffer imprisonment one whole year with-
*' out bail or mainprize; and, for the second offence, shall
" be imprisoned during his life."

294 ON PENAL SANCTIONS

congregations of the king's born subjects, than
such as by the laws of this land are held and
allowed, which may rightly challenge to them-
selves the name of true and lawful churches;
or, finally. Whosoever shall affirm, that it is
lawful for any sort of ministers and lay pre-
sons, or of either of them, to form together, and
make rules, orders, or constitutions in things
ecclesiastical, without the king's authority, and
shall submit themselves to be ruled and govern-
ed by them : *' Let them be excommunicated
" ipso facto, and not be restored until they re-
" pent and publicly revoke these their wicked
" and anabaptistical errors." So that according
to the unrepealed decrees of what its advocates
represent as the most tolerant and Catholic of
Churches, the whole body of the English Dis-
senters lie under one sweeping sentence of ex-
communication, as wicked persons, deserving
to be visited with the vengeance of the Civil
Power! — Such is the discipline of the Church
of England !

It is true, that these ecclesiastical decrees
have never passed into tlK3 law of the land ;
and their operation, as regards civil rights, has
been rendered nugatory by subsequent Acts of
Parliament. A constitutional government has
been established on the overthrow of an arbi-
trary despotism, and has taken under its im-
mediate protection those whom the Church ol

Ot CHURCH-CENSUKES. 295

the Stuarts anathematized. The Convocation
has been silenced, and the Church itself placed
iinder the control of the legitimate Legislature.
Its ecclesiastical constitution remains, however,
unchanged ; the clergy still swear obedience to
its obsolete canons, and boast of its Apostolic
claims; and still the brand of Anti-Christian
intolerance remains stamped on its very fore-
head, to testify its parentage. It is the State
only that has become tolerant. No act of the
Church has reversed these decrees ; they still
formally survive in the exclusive regulations of
her colleges, the obligation of her ministers, and
the provisions of her ritual.*

Yet there are some apologists for the Church Wam of
of England, who, with singular waywardness, theci.ur.i,
while they will hardly listen to any other charge LJif."^ '
that can be brought against the Establish-
ment, would fain, with deep regret, acknow-
ledge, that in respect of discipline, their Church
is defective. They are far, indeed, from wish-
ing to see enforced by civil penalties, its ex-
communicating decrees upon those without the
pale of the establishment; but as respects the
professed members of their Church, they ima-
gine that the deficiency of discipline, is w^ith
great propriety made the subject of annual hu-

* See more especially, Canon xx vii, entitled Schi&mafkks
tiot to be admitted to Communion.

206

ON PENAL SANCTIONS

Parochial
discipline
commilled
to the
Church-
wardens.

miliation and regret, in the service for Ash-
Wednesday.* Whereas, the jolain truth is this:
The discipline prescribed by the Canons Eccle-
siastical, could not be carried into effect, with-
out the most oppressive injustice. What is thus
feelingly deplored by many excellent indivi-
duals, from the purest motives, as though it
were an evil accidentally connected with the
object of their fond and almost idolatrous vene-
ration, arises from the very constitution of an
establishment, and is, in fact, a good instead of
an evil; a mitigation, rather, of what would be
in a free country an intolerable evil ; the result
of those happy changes which have taken place
in our domestic policy, and the all-modifying
spirit of more enlightened times.

The xxvith Canon provides that notorious
offenders shall not be admitted to the Com-
munion; an exclusion which is generally con-
sidered as a *' lesser excommunication." But
the way in which the minister is instructed to
proceed, renders the direction nugatory. The
discipline of the parish is ostensibly vested in
the Churchwardens, who are bound by oath to
present their ordinaries all such public offences
as they are particularly charged to inquire of
in their several parishes; in particular, in the
cases of such as are openly known to live in sin

See Comminution Service.

OF CHURCH-CENSURES. 297

notorious without repentance, or who have ma-
liciously and openly contended with their neigh-
bours, and have not been reconciled: their said
oath and their faithful discharging of them,
being the chief means, according to the express
language of the Canons, whereby public sins
and offences may be reformed and punished.
It is unnecessary to remark, that this part of the
Churchwarden's office is never attempted to be
discharged ; and for this simple reason, the thing
is morally impossible. It would only become,
if attempted, the source of endless vexation and
dispute, and the means of exercising a petty
tyranny in every village ; while the office itself
would become identified in ignominy with that
of a common informer.

May not, then, the minister himself, in the
conscientious discharge of his sacred function,
exclude from Christian communion the noto-
rious offender? In the Church of England, as
by law established, he has no such power. If
he refuse to administer the sacrament in the
church to the most infamous person, the man
may appeal to the ecclesiastical court, and
there, if he can secure the favour of the lay-
chancellor, he may securely set both the mi-
nister and the bishop at defiance: nay, the
minister, should he persist in refusing, is liable
to be suspended, and even excommunicated
for his contumacy. And in the Court of Arches,

Jnjuslicc of
eiitorriijtj
t!.o disri-

298 ON PENAL SANCTIONS

bishops themselves are subject to the sentence
of the chancellor.

In the case, hoMever, of an individual who
comes to demand participation of the Lord'j^
cimrdior supper, as a qualification for an office in the
^^''"*'* army o-r the fleet, it is at the peril of incurring a
suit at law, that the clergyman resists the appli-
cation. The Church to which he has attached
himself, has obtained from the State the boon,
that all persons previously to admission into
such posts, shall submit thus to qualify them-
selves; and the State, in its turn, exacts from
the Church, as the price or condition of this
grant, that all persons seeking to become thus
qualified, shall be admitted. And is this any
thing more than what is just? In the event
of refusal on the part of the Church, though the
wiatter be spiritual, a temporal damage is sus-
tained by the individual; for this, accordingly,
an action would be uiaintainable hi the civit
courts, and the defendant, if unable to bring
legal proof of the fact on which he grounded
the refusal, would be liable to damages.* Re-
volting as this gross profanation of the Lords
Supper ujust be to every pious mind, and in-
tolerable as the predicament of the conscien-
tious Episcopalian must sometimes be founds

* Sec the opinions of Mr. Serjeant IliH and others, m
Towgoocrs Letters to White. Appendix. P. 300.

or CHURCH-CENSURES. 299

•when he finds himself compelled to prostitute
the symbols of the body and blood of Christ
to persons who, he knows, are eating and drink-
ing their own condemnation, — still, the minister
of religion has no Q^ight to stand between a man
and his temporal interests, — to deprive him of
his post, or, it may be, his subsistence, — his ho-
nourable promotion, or his hard-earned pension.
How flagitious soever may be the man's moral
character, his services deserve from the country
for which he has fought, their just reward. Were
he, in voluntary, gratuitous hypocrisy, to offer
himself as a communicant at the Lord's table,
it would be highly fitting that the minister
sliould have the discretional power of repelling
him; but when he comes at the command of
the Legislature, to perform a rite which the
Church has procured to be made a condition
of secular benefits, — if he be the sinner, who is
the tempter? Surely the Church has no right
to punish him for the crime which it in a man-
ner necessitates.

The Church is, however, in such a connexion,
a mere term of art. The person by whom this
discretional power would be exercised, which
would have the effect of inflicting civil penalties
for offences of a spiritual nature, is the parish
minister. But would it be consonant with the
principles of the British constitution, that one
man should be punishable at the discretion of

300 ON PENAL SANCTIONS

another private individual? Or, on the sup-
position that this power of exclusion were
vested in some bench of ecclesiastical superiors,
vrould it be endured that a man chargeable
with no civil misdemeanour, obnoxious to no
law^ of his country, should be amenable to a
court of character, and subjected to severe
temporal penalties, by the verdict of his judge,
without a trial, without any legal process what-
soever? For what are laws instituted but for
the protection of our civil interests? If spiritual
censures are suftered to interfere with these, is
it not manifest that they not only require the
sacrifice of a greater portion of individual li-
berty, than what is requisite for the purposes
of civil society, but that they do in fact coun-
teract the design, as well as violate the spirit
of civil law itself ? It is the unavoidable conse-
quence of constituting that a crime by ecclesi-
astical canons, which in the civil courts is no
crime, — of attemping to enforce religious disci-
pline by temporal penalties, — that either the
government of the church must be surrendered
altogether to the magistrate, or the protection
of the laws rendered nugatory, and the rights
and liberties of civil society invaded, by the
exercise of a most arbitrary and tyrannical
jurisdiction.
impraciica- Ecclcsiastical dlscipliuc, then, adverting to

bility "f . . 1 ' ' »

inaintaining its primary import; the cognizance of matters

OF CHURCH-CENSURES. 301

of offence or scandal, or the carrying into effect
the Apostolic directions with regard to those
who walk disorderly, cannot have any exist-
ence in a political incorporation. The only
end to be answered by appeals to the church,
was, the prevention of litigation between fellow
Christians before heathen tribunals, by the
amicable adjustment of their differences. This
end is completely frustrated by the constitution
of a national church, and by the necessary pub-
licity of ecclesiastical proceedings. A religious
separation from the world, analogous to that
which characterized the primitive Christian so-
cieties, is impracticable in a church in which re-
ligious character does not form an essential pre-
requisite to communion; where the association
of its members takes place under the stern con-
trol of secular authority, and neither the mi-
nister has power to reject, nor the people are at
liberty to withdraw. Those mutual duties,
therefore, which are enjoined in the New Testa-
ment upon the members of Christian societies,
and which pre-suppose a voluntary separate
association of believers for purposes of religious
edification, cannot be discharged, where there
subsists no such mutual relation, as the basis
of communion. Whatsoever moral purpose,
then, is designed to be answered by the exhi-
bition of the Christian character collectively, as
distinguishing the fellowship of believers, (and

302 SUMMARY OF rRINCIPLES.

this was a principal design of the institution of
Christian CImrches,) that purpose is wholly
frustrated by ecclesiastical incorporations,
which present to the world only the general
nniiieanin;^ character of national profession.
The " communion of saints" may be maintained
as an hypothesis in the creed, but, unless in
the intercourse of private life, it cannot be, by
the members of such a church, substantially
realized. So far as relates to the Church itself,
it is reduced to a non-entity.

We may sum up the principles of Noncon-
formity, relative to the subjects treated in thisj
Book, (principles, we may perceive, the very op-
posites to those on which national establish-
ments are founded,) in the following positions.

First, That inasmuch as all moral actions
are essentially voluntary, that is to say, inca-
pable of being compelled, the conscience can-
not be the subject of human legislation, or, in
other words, that men, considered as religious
beings, are accountable only to their Maker.

Secondly, That inasmuch as Christian
churches are founded upon no political rela-
tions, and have reference to no political ob-
jects, the terms of religious communion must
con-espond to their constitution as voluntary

SUMMARY OF PRINCIPLES. 303

associations, and to their design as societies of
a purely spiritual or religious character.

Thirdly, That neither political power of any
description, nor secular superiority of rank, at-
taches inherently to any officers in the Christian
Church ; that the authority of the Christian
teacher is, therefore, purely of a moral nature;
that ecclesiastical power is abhorrent from the
spirit of the Gospel; and that individual elec-
tion or consent, is the only proper basis of the
pastoral claims.

Fourthly, That Church-government, or reli-
gious discipline, in a Christian society, has no
legitimate purpose but the edification of the
whole body, or the spiritual good of the of-
fender; and that spiritual censures, having re-
ference only to the conscience, are incapable of
being enforced by the sanctions of civil ma-
gistracy.

END OP THE SECOND BOOK.

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