■■)-.- ■ 
 .1 , 
 
 I \ 
 
BY 
 
 THE VERY REV. JAMES CARMICHAEL. M.A., D.C.L. 
 
 • DEAN OF Montreal. 
 
 f 
 
 hapeh Of Bngland 
 
 eaehing 
 
 4 
 
 WILLIAM .DRYSDALE 6. CO., PUBL9SHERS. 
 
 232 ST.JAJMfS STREET, 
 
 1890. 
 
I 
 
 Church of England 
 
 TEACHING. 
 
 TEAOT ]S"o. 1. 
 
 ' '■ BY 
 
 THE VERY REV. JAMES CARMICHAEL, M.A.,D.C.L. 
 
 DEAN OF MONTBEAL. 
 
 MONTREAL : 
 
 WILLIAM DRYSDALE & CO., PUBLISHERS, 
 
 232 St. James Street. 
 
 1890. 
 
Entered, according to Act of Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand 
 eight hundred and ninety, by W. Drysdale & Co., in the office of the Minister of 
 Agriculture at Ottawa. 
 
This tract is written to meet what I have long regarded as a 
 great need. Many persons, brought up in other churches, drift 
 into the Church of England without a clear realization of the 
 great landmarks of her distinctive teaching, and not a few of 
 her native-born children, either through defective home training 
 or Sunday-School teaching, are in much the same position. 
 This tract aims at condensing into a small and readable space 
 what every one professing to belong to the Church of England 
 should naturally realize and understand, and it is published 
 with a sincere prayer that God's blessing may go with it, and 
 make it the means of doing good to those in whose interests it 
 is written. If it proves useful, other tracts will be published ; — 
 on the Prayer Book, etc, 
 
 JAS. CARMICHAEL. 
 
The fundamental doctrine on which the Church of England is built, is 
 
 that which teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ has founded in the world jjjg church. 
 
 a Church, based on the confession of his divine nature, and that such 
 
 Church is his ordained channel for conveying his gifts and blessings to 
 
 the world, and the instrument through which his work of saving the 
 
 world is in he carried out. This Church is "a visible institution com- 
 
 " posed of faithful men (persons) within which the pure Word of God is 
 
 ** preached, and the Sacraments duly administered according to Christ's 
 
 *' ordinance in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the 
 
 *' same."* It is also a witness for and a keeper of Holy Writ, ordaining 
 
 nothing that is contrary to God's written word,f and is built upon the 
 
 teaching of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the 
 
 head corner stone. J It receives and believes the three Creeds: the 
 
 Nicene, Athanasius' Creed and the Apostles', because they can be proved 
 
 by Holy Scripture, § which Holy Scripture contains all things necessary 
 
 to salvation, so that whatsoever is not read therein nor may be proved 
 
 thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as 
 
 an article of faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation. || In 
 
 short, the Church is the guardian and teacher of Scripture, and Scripture, 
 
 the guide of the Church and the Divine truth itself. 
 
 The Church of England holds that God intended the Church to be one 
 *' universal body " within the world. In all her Creeds and articles and 
 prayers she speaks not of distinct churches, but of The Church — the 
 Holy Catholic Church, the one Catholic and ApostoUc Church, the Body 
 of Christ's Church, the Church and Household of God, the whole body 
 of the Church, the Congregation of Christ's flock, the Church of Christ, 
 God's household, the Church. Recognizing how far this glorious inten- 
 tion of God has been broken in on by the errors of the Eastern Church, 
 by the heresies of Rome,^[ by schisms and causeless divisions,"** the 
 Church of England has never lost sight of God's original intention, and 
 one of the most beautiful prayers in the whole Prayer Book, the prayer 
 for unity,! f gives the keynote to the feelings, desires and teaching of the 
 
 * Article 19. f Article 21. X Collect St. Simon and St. Jude. 5 8 Article. 
 i; 6 Article. TJ 19 Article. ** Prayer for 20th of June, tt Prayer for 20th of June. 
 
Clniroh. 
 
 6 CHURCH OF BNGLAND TBACHINO. 
 
 Church of England on this all-important point. 80 tenacions is it with 
 regard to God's will, that, whilst admitting the rent and torn condition 
 of things as they are and have been, it n(3ver ceases to speak of the church 
 as Qod intended it to be, and in every utterance upon the subject looks 
 forward hopefully to the time when the church " with one mind and one 
 mouth may glorify God, through Jesus Christ our Lord." 
 With regard to the constitution of the Church of England itself, it is 
 _. . . . composed of faithful men (persons) gathered into one body, or congrega- 
 Laity Id the tion, or household ; within this one body are teachers and taught, but all are 
 members of the same body ; those taught being just as tnily in the church, 
 part and parcel of it, as the teachers. When the church meets for wor- 
 ship, the worshippers are as much part of God's Church as the * ' ministers," 
 or "priests," or "clergy " who i.old the services. All are baptized child- 
 ren of God, and as such, ministers and people alike, are regarded as 
 " members of Christ, children of God, and inheritors of the kingdom of 
 heaven " — wayward and erring children it may be sometimes, but children. 
 And in all the services of the church this oneness of right and privilege 
 is very apparent. Whilst every service is held by a minister, or one 
 appointed by a Bishop to held it, all present in the church are in a large 
 sense ministers themselves, exercising the priestly functions of offering 
 up " spiritual sacrifices to God by Jesus Christ."* By right of their 
 baptism they take their part in the priestly work of the church ; and are 
 meant to take it as clearly, as distinctly as any of the clergy present. 
 Indeed the clergy could not hold a service, as the chnrch intended it to 
 be held, without the presence of the lay priesthood anymore than music set 
 as a duet could be properly rendered by one person. For every service 
 of the Church of England takes for granted that the clergy and laity 
 must unite together to offer prayer and praise to God. There are por- 
 tions, large portions of each service that belong solely and alone to the 
 lay priesthood present. It was never intended that the oflSciating clergy 
 should use these portions : — they are meant to be used by the officiating 
 priesthood in the body of the church or building where the service 
 is held. According to the spirit of the Prayer Book the lay priests, 
 men, women and children forming the congregation pray with, or after, 
 or apart from the priest ; they do not attend to Usten to prayers, 
 but to render to God with their own voices that portion of Divine 
 Service of which they are ministers— and they are given a very large 
 portion to render. In the Morning Service there are sixteen rubrics, 
 or directions; eleven of them refer to the officiating of the lay 
 priesthood or congregation, five to the clerical priesthood. In the 
 Litany there are one hundred and three petitions, fifty-two of them are 
 
 ♦I. Peter; 2-5. 
 
CHURCH OF ENGLAND TEACHING. % ' 
 
 littered V^ ♦ho clerical priesthood, lifty-one by the lay priesthood ; and 
 in iitteritrt . .0 Creeda of the church the clerical and lay priest- 
 hoods stand on a jrerfect equality in ministration, for each have equal 
 rights in officiating. In short, the position taken by the Church of 
 England with regard to worship through the use of Common Prayer is, 
 that when tho church in any one place m'jets to worship God, the whole 
 congregation officiates, and does so on tho high ground of the priesthood. 
 
 The teaching of the Church of England with regard to the position of position of 
 the clergy is clear and delined. It calls them " ministers," ** priests," nlf '^J " *'^^ 
 ** clergy," " pastors," ** curates," and asserts " that it is evident to all 
 men diligently reading the Holy Scriptures and ancient authors, that 
 from the Apostles' time there have bjen these orders of ministers in 
 Christ's Church: Bishops, Priests and Deacons."* The "calling" and 
 "sending" of ministers is vested in tho Bishops. A Deacon must be 
 twenty-three years of age, a Priest twenty-four, and a Bishop thirty. 
 The Deacons and Priests on their ordination, promise obedience to the 
 Bishops, who have "the charge and government over them," and "with a 
 glad mind and will to follow their godly admonitions, and submit them- 
 selves to their godly judgements." The Deacon is appointed to assist the 
 Priest in divine service and tho administration of the Holy Communion ; 
 to read Holy Scripture and the Homilies (of the reformers) in the church ; 
 to instruct the young ; to baptize in absence of the Priest ; to seek out the 
 sick and poor, and to report to the Curate (Priest); to preach, if allowed 
 by the Bishop ; and to act as a wholesome example of the flock of Christ. 
 The Priest is appointed to preach the word of God, and to minister the 
 Holy Sacrament in the congregatiuu, to forgive and retain sins ; to banish 
 and drive away erroneous and strange doctrines ; to be be diligent in 
 prayer and reading of Holy Scripture, and in such studies as help to a 
 knowledge of tho same ; and to frame and fashion his life and the lives of 
 his family according to the doctrine of Christ. The Bishop is appointed 
 to " edify and govern " the church ; " to be faithful in ordaining, sending, 
 or laying hands upon others ; to conflrm those already baptized 
 by the laying on of hands ; and act as a teacher of God's word ; 
 a defender of the faith ; and as an example of good works iinto 
 others, t 
 
 The continuity of the ministry lies in the Bishops who give authority Continuity of 
 to Deacons and Priests to minister in holy things, which authority every ^"^ ^' 
 
 Bishop receives on his consecration by the laying on of the hands of the 
 Bishops consecrating, they having received authority from their conse- 
 crators; and bo on backward to the primitive bishops of the early 
 church. 
 
 * rreface to Ordination Services, t Ordination and Consecration Services. 
 
8 CHURCH OF ENGLAND TEACHING. 
 
 The second great doctrine of the Church of England is the doctrine of 
 Baptism. The church administers baptism to infants on the ground 
 
 tism"'^*^ "that the baptism of young children" is "most agreeable with the 
 institution of Christ."* It is administered by a priest or deacon either by 
 immersing the child in water (a mode seldom adopted in this country) or 
 by pouring water upon it, and repeating the divine words : " I baptize 
 thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." 
 Baptism is administered according to the directions or rubrics of 
 the Prayer Book during public service, but "upon a great and 
 reasonable cause," such as sickness, it may be administered within the 
 house or home of the child. As a child cannot speak for itself it is repre- 
 sented, if a boy, by two godfathers and one godmother ; if a girl, by two 
 godmothers and one godfather. These godparents, or spiritual guardians, 
 were originally intended as a provision against the negligence of parents, 
 or as persons conscientiously responsible for the child's spiritual education 
 in case of the parents' death ; but of late years the parents themselves 
 have largely assumed the office, and much may be said in favor of such a 
 usage, although it was never originally so intended. These godparents in the 
 baptismal service speak as if the child spake, and there is great beauty 
 in this method. It teaches that the church regards the infant from 
 its birth as an individual soul, with, the seeds of responsibility to God 
 and man within it, and therefore through its ministers it addresses the 
 child as if it were a conscious being, so that when it comes to years of 
 understanding and is directed back by its teachers to its baptism it 
 learns that the church ever recognized its individuality, and that when it 
 could not speak for itself, the church caused others to speak in its place 
 
 Lay Baptism, and stead. The question as to whether a layman may in case of 
 extreme necessity administer baptism to a dying infant has been 
 twice decided by the Ecclesiastical Courts of England during this 
 century in the affirmative; and any jierson realizing +he announce- 
 ment of the Catechism that baptism is "generally necessary to salva- 
 tion " and the circumstances of the vast country in which we hve 
 may well feel happy that such decisions have been given. 
 
 The poBition of The fundamental thought that underhes the baptism of infants in the 
 
 Schurch!" Church of England is, the value of the state of infancy in the sight of 
 God. The church begins with the infant, for infancy begins with the 
 existence of an individual sou' , and the infant is received into the family 
 of God on earth— the church — as a child of God. As Samuel was given 
 to God ; as our Lord himself was presented to God as an infant : so every 
 
 * 27 Article. 
 
CHURCH OP ENGLAND TEACHING. W 
 
 infant born of Church of England parents is given to Gk)d in baptism, 
 and received by the church as hia child. Thus -every parent, godparent 
 or guardian of v '^hU.d is in a position to appeal to the child's better 
 feelings, as it grows in years, from the standpoint of loving and divine 
 relationship, reminding it that it belongs to God, and that it has a right 
 to call God Father and regard itself as God's child. 
 
 This point is brought forward very clearly in the Baptismal Service. 
 Prayer is made for the highest blessing that God could bestow on the child 
 as " one of his faithful and elect children." It is ** received into the con- 
 gregation of Christ's flock;" signed "with the sign of the cross as a 
 token" that it belongs to Christ, and that as "his faithful soldier and 
 servant it may fight under his banner to its life's end." As a human being 
 it was "born" into the world; by baptism it is "regenerated, bom 
 again," into the family or church of God ; "grafted into the body of 
 Christ's church ; " and received as God's child " by adoption," and as 
 such is regarded as " a member of Christ's " body the church, as " a child 
 of God," to whom it was given in baptism, and as "an inheritor of the 
 kingdom of heaven " an heir to all blessings of the gospel in the church on 
 earth, and to the glories and happiness of the church in heaven, if only, 
 true to its baptism, it continues " Christ's true and faithful servant unto 
 its life's end." 
 
 Apart wholly from the unseen yet real blessings that God through The value of 
 Christ may bestow on an infant in baptism, (of which blessings he who 
 dogmatizes and defines, is as faulty as he who ignores), one cannot 
 but see great beauty in this treatment of infancy and childhood. When 
 the child's mind opens out to the perception of religious thought it is 
 met if properly instructed, with an ideal of God and Christ, well 
 calcidated to work on its childish sympathies and affection. God dawns 
 on it as a Father who loves it ; the Lord Jesus Christ as a Saviour who 
 showed his love by dying for it, and to whom it belongs as a soldier 
 belongs to his sovereign. The Christ side of human life is brought 
 before it, and the great thought " I belong to Christ ; " "I am a cliild 
 of God;" "I have been given to him in my baptism" is made the 
 foundation thought of the coming life. Where this thought is not 
 realized it is not th j fault of the intention of the Church of England, 
 but arises frcr.. imperfect teaching, either in the family or in the 
 Sunday-School which the child may attend. 
 
 Apart from the service for the baptism of infants there is a service for » j„u BaDtism 
 the baptism of adults ; the only difference being that the adult answers 
 for himself in the presence of witnesses, and is received into the Church 
 on the strength of his own personal vows. There is also a form of bap- 
 tismal words which may be used by the officiating clergyman where there 
 
10 CHURCH OF ENGLAND TEACHF a. 
 
 is an uncertainty as to tlie baptism of a child : * ii' tiuu art not already 
 baptized (N) I baptize thee in the name of the /' iher, and of the Son, 
 and of the Holy Ghost." 
 
 At the close of the service for the baptism of infants the godparents 
 are ordered to have the child instructed in the Church Catechism pre- 
 paratory to presenting it to the Bishop for the laying-on of the Bishop's 
 hands, or the rite of confirmation. This leads us to the consideration of 
 the catechism or instruction to be learned of every person before he be 
 brought to be confirmed by the Bishop. 
 
 ^k^ (Entcrhtam. 
 
 The Catechism consists of a system of religious instruction, compiled 
 under the direction of James I, by Bishop Overal, and based on the fact 
 of the child's baptism ; of the vows then made, and of the necessity of 
 The keynote of making these vows the rule of the growing life. The keynote of the 
 e a ec ism. (^j^tggjjjgjj^ jg ^jj^t the child, because baptized, is treated as ** a child of 
 God;" "a member of Christ," and "an inheritor of the kingdom of 
 heaven ; " that it is spoken to as a member of God's visible church, and 
 taught that it has a positive right to look up to God as its Father, and as 
 his child to live in acco) dance with his will. It is as if the church said 
 to the child : " My child, as a cliild of God I desire to teach you what you 
 should beUeve, and how you should live as ' a member of Christ, and 
 as an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven.' " 
 
 First, the Catechism teaches the child what it should believe. It does 
 this with the wisest spiiit of brevity, leaving it to parents and teachers 
 to expand its beautiful description of the divisions of the Apostles' Creed. 
 First, the child should believe in God as its Father and Creator ; in God 
 the Son as its own personal Saviour, and as the Redeemer of all manldnd ; 
 and thu'd, in God the Holy Ghost as the source of all divine strength. 
 Then, as if to show that this belief should not be merely intellectual, it 
 calls on the child to repeat God's great laws of holy living in which 
 the individual proves the reality of his faith by his daily life, through 
 seeking to do his duty to God, and his duty to his fellow-man ; and this 
 the child answers by repeating the ten commandments, thus acknow- 
 ledging the Bible as the source of divine teaching ; and also that faith 
 without works, knowledge without life, is dead, being alone. 
 
 Then the Catechism, reading the natural thoughts that would rise up 
 even in a young (child's mind as it realizes the pure, spotless law of God 
 and its own drift towards wrong doing, proceeds to comfort and sustain 
 the baptized child of Christ by pointing out the helps that God has 
 given us to make this law our rule of life. Already it had pointed to 
 
CHTTRCH OF ENGLAND TEACU.NQ. ' 11 
 
 the Bible as God's word, written, " our Guide and Counsellor ;" and now 
 it directs to Prayer and the Supper of the Lord, which in union with 
 the Bible, it claims to act as channels of God's " Special Grace." The 
 Lord's Prayer is given as a model of prayer — a prayer that claims the 
 Fatherhood of God, that brings us before him, not as trembling slaves, 
 but expectant children — a prayer in which God is praised for his love ; 
 his will acknowledged to be supreme ; in which in simple language he is 
 told our needs, both bodily and spiritual. This prayer the child repeats 
 as a model of the spirit and thoughts which should mould its own praye/s 
 as in the onward progress of life it seeks help from God to keep his com- 
 mandmetits, which "are holy, just and good." Then in the portion of 
 the Catechism relating to the Holy Communion, or the Lord's Supper, 
 the child is taught that added to the divine helps to holy living that may 
 be found in the Bible and in Prayer, is this oi the Holy Communion, in 
 which our souls are kept " in continual remembrance of the sacrifice of 
 the death of Christ," in which his personal atonement is brought home 
 to our hearts, and his gospel of loving devotion made clear to our souls. 
 Under the guidance of a wise and loving parent, or faithful Sunday- 
 School Teac' ^r, the Church Catechism may be expanded into one of the 
 most useful systems of religious teaching that could well be imagined. 
 There is not a single doctrine " necessary for salvation " that cannot 
 naturally and easily be deduced from its massive outline, and thus it 
 furnishes a field of instruction that is largely inexhaustible. But parent 
 or teacher must understand its object before they can teach it profitably, 
 which object may be thus described : — The Catechism teaches that every 
 baptized child is God's child, and instructs it what to believe and how to 
 live to God's glory. 
 
 Confirmation. 
 
 The third great landmark of the Church of England is the Confirma- 
 tion in the faith " of those who are baptized and come to years of dis- 
 cretion."* The object of this ** order " is, that after fuU instruction in Object of Rite, 
 the Church Catecliism, baptized children ** now come to years of discre- 
 tion," may with their mouths and consent in the presence of the church 
 "ratify and confiiin," and "renew" the promises made by their god- 
 fathers and godmothers in their baptism," befon being admitted to tho 
 Holy Communion as communicants of the church. The rite is adminis- Administration 
 tered by a Bishop, who, after receiving the renewal, confirmation and °' ^"^" 
 ratification of the baptismal promises personally and publicly from each 
 candidate, lays his hands on their heads (" after the example of the Holy 
 Apostles,") and prays for the defence and spiritual guidance of each one. 
 
 * Oonfirmation Service. 
 
12 
 
 CHURCH OP ENGLAND TEACHING. 
 
 Preparation for As a mle, a full course of instruction goes before this Episcopal act. 
 * *• Each clergyman gathers into a class or classes all seeking confirmation, 
 
 and taking the Catechism as a basis of church teaching, proceeds to 
 instruct them, not only on the doctrines of the church, but on all things 
 1 elating to the higher life — the life "hidden with Christ in God," which 
 baptism calls ua to. The method and mode of such classes are left wholly 
 to the discretion of each clergyman. He is responsible for the spiritual 
 preparation cf the candidates ; and he is naturally left to do his work 
 under a deep sense of responsibility, as he thinks best. Sometimes the 
 instruction is given in private, generally in classes, and sometimes in 
 classes which are thrown open to the congregation at large to attend as 
 listeners. A Church Eegister is kept in each congregation, containing the 
 names of all confiraied, and as a rule the Bishop at the close of each 
 confirmation gives each person a card certifying that the holder of it 
 has been confirmed, and is entitled to receive the Holy Communion sub- 
 ject to the rules and regulations of the Church. This card is recognized 
 by the Bishops and clergy of the church everywhere as a valid certificate 
 of church membership. 
 
 %ht ICori's (Su^y^r^r cr ^olg Comnmnion. 
 
 Having been baptized, steadily instnicted at home and in Sunday-school, 
 confirmed by the Bishop, ** the Child of God " is now entitled to receive 
 the Holy Communion, and become a full member of the church. 
 Sacramental " '^^^ Sacrament of the Lord's Supper " is also styled " The Supper of 
 
 Tithes. the Lord," "The Lord's Supper," "Holy Mysteries," "The Holy Com- 
 
 munion," "Communion," "The Most Comfortable Sacrament of the 
 Body and Blood of Christ," "Holy Sacrament," "Holy Supper," "The 
 Lord's Table," " Thy Table," " Our Sacrifice of Praise and Tlianksgiving." 
 It is administered to the communicants by a Bishop or Priest ; a Deacon 
 may assist, but the act of consecrating the bread and wine is limited to 
 Bishops and Priests. The Elements are placed on the " Holy Table," or 
 "Table," or "Lord's Table" after the reception of the offertory; and 
 after the prayer of consecration is received kneeling by the communi- 
 cants, not in order to adore the bread or wine, or any corporal presence 
 of Christ's natural flesh and blood, but as signifying our humble and 
 grateful acknowledgments of the benefits of Christ's death. The bread used 
 is "such bread as is usual to be eaten ;" "the consecrated elements" 
 actually received are called " thy creatures of bread and wine ; " and the 
 " consecrated elements " remaining over after communion are spoken of 
 as " bread and wine," and are reverently consumed as such by the Priest 
 and such others of the communicants as he shall call unto him imme- 
 diately after the blessing. 
 
 Elements. 
 
CHURCH OF ENGLAND TEACHING. IS 
 
 The doctrine of the Church of England with regard to the Holy Com- 
 munion is found in the Catechism ; the order for the administration of 
 the Holy Communion ; and the Articles of the Church. 
 
 The fundamental doctrine is that the Lord's Supper is a Sacrament, Doctrine of 
 that is " an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual Grace ;" J^on. *^°""'"* 
 that as a Sacrament "it is generrlly necessary to salvation," because it is 
 "our spiritual food and sustenance," that in it we "verily and indeed" 
 and " spiritually" " take and receive the body and blood of Christ," eat 
 the flesh of Christ, and drink his blood, which, when received "in repent- 
 ance, and good purpose, and lively faith, and thankful remembrance," 
 "strengthens and refreshes our souls as our bodies may be refreshed with 
 bread and wine. But this "veritable" and "spiritual" reception of 
 the body and blood of Christ is a "partaking of bread," and is 
 "given" by the Priest, and taken and eaten by the communicant, " only 
 after a heavenly and spiritual manner," and the "means whereby the 
 body of Christ is received and eaten in the supper is faith " — the faith of 
 the communicant — and this faith is so clearly a personal act of mind and 
 "spirit that if any man," by reason of extremity of sickness, etc., do not 
 receive the Sacrament (i.e. elements) of Christ's body and blood, but 
 truly repents him of his sins, and steadfastly believes that Jesus Christ 
 hath suffered death upon the cross for him, and shed his blood for his 
 redemption, earnestly romembering the benefits he hath thereby received 
 and giving him hearty thanks therefor, he doth eat and drink the body 
 and blood of our Saviour Christ profitably to his soul's health, although 
 he do not receive the Sacrament with his mouth.* 
 
 But the Stjcrament of the Lord's Supper received by faith is not only 
 a means of inward and spiritual grace, and spiritual food and sustenance, 
 but it is " a sign of the love that christians ought to have among themselves, 
 one to another :f a remembrance of the sacrifice of Christ's death ; a 
 pledge of Christ's love; a source of spiritual "comfort ;" and " a per- 
 petual memory of his death until his coming again." Thus the Church of 
 England regards the Lord's Supper as the highest privilege to which the 
 baptized child of God can be admitted, assuring the faithful receiver that 
 he is " a member incorporate in the Mystical Body of Christ," an heir 
 through hope of his everlasting kingdom, and hence the whole training 
 of the child makes towards the Holy Feast as the ultimate privilege of 
 christian Ufe. 
 
 Here in connection with the Holy Feast it is well to notice the views of Teaching on 
 the Church of England in connection with God's grace in the heart of Grace, 
 man. All through its services and teachings it asserts the positive need 
 
 * Communion of the Sick, f Article 28. 
 
14 
 
 CHURCH OF E: LAND TEACHING. 
 
 The Christian 
 Life. 
 
 Holy Commu- 
 nion a help to 
 Holy Living. 
 
 of the Holy Spirit to aid and assist, and defend the baptised person, who 
 through thttt very baptisn\ professes to depend *' on the merits and death 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to have faith in his blood." The holiest 
 need to confess to God. They need the constant comfort of a sense of 
 God's forgiveness of their sins, negligences and ignorances ; to have 
 " their darkness lightened ; " to be preserved from " sin, from the crafts 
 and assaults of the devil ; " from pride, vain glory and hypocrisy ; to be 
 rescued out of all evils " which the craft and subtil ty of the devil or man 
 worketh against them ;" and to have daily grace and power given to them 
 " that they may not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, 
 and manfully to fight under his banner against sin, the flesh and the 
 devil, and to continue Christ's faithful soldiers and servants unto their 
 lives' end." 
 
 In short, the baptized are called to live a life of holiness in a world of 
 sin, and the battle is often fierce and ferocious, for "the infection of 
 (an evil) nature remains even in them that are regenerate,"* and the 
 enmity of the world, the flesh and the devil is undying, and the holiest 
 " are sore let and hindered in running the race that is set before them."f 
 Hence the Prayer Book is one cry, divided into various services, for daily 
 grace, for the help of the Holy Spirit of God that we might "daily be 
 renewed by the Holy Spirit ;" J that God would "mercifully look upon our 
 infirmities and stretch forth his right hand to help and defend us ;"§ that 
 he would " grant us such strength and protection as might support us in 
 all dangers, and carry us through all our temptations ;"|| that " God would 
 send his Holy Ghost and pour into our hearts the gift of love ;"^[ "that by 
 the Holy Spirit we might have a right judgment in all things ;"*♦ that 
 " the Holy Spirit might in all things direct and rule our hearts ; "f f that 
 "God would make clean our hearts within us, and take not his Holy 
 Spirit from us." Thus the life of the faithful baptized is an unbroken cry to 
 God sent up from the great battle field of life. Cries for daily helps, thanks 
 for daily victories, and these go up through the whole strife, until at last 
 through "the grave and gate of death," we come to those unspeakable 
 joys which God has prepared for those who love him. J J In short, the 
 Church of England plainly and distinctly teaches that faith and baptism 
 call us to a life, which life lived out in the midst of sin, demands all the 
 grace that God will give us to enable us through the cross and death, and 
 passion of Christ to persevere and win. 
 
 Now the church plainly teaches that the Holy Communion, faithfully 
 received, is a positive spiritual help, and a means of grace, enabUng the 
 soldier of Christ to fight his battle bravely. The church does not define 
 
 • Article 9. f Collect 4th in Advent, t Sunday after Christmas. § 3rd after 
 Epiphany. !l 4th after Epiphany. U Quinquagesima. ** Whit Sunday, ft 19 Trinity. 
 Xt Collect All Saints. 
 
CHURCH OP ENGLAND TBACHING. 15 
 
 how this strength comes. It simply asserts that God uses the Holy Com- 
 munion for "our great and endless comfort" that "we might receive 
 benefits thereby," namely, "the strengthening and refreshing of our 
 Boula," and that as a Sacramen^ it conveys "inward and spiritual grace." 
 
 Hence Communion is open to all, however weak and faltering, who jhoBe entitled 
 desire to obey Christ and live to his glory. The Church of England does to receive it, 
 not regard the right to receive Holy Communion as something earned by 
 a Ufe of christian faith and purity ; as a badge of exalted piety ; as some- 
 thing meant for the old rather than the young, but it regards it as a 
 means of grace for the weakest Christian, for the youngest confirmed boy 
 or girl: so long as "they truly and earnestly repent them of their sins, 
 and are in love and charity with their neighbours, and intend to lead a 
 new life." The standard that must be reached is that which enables the 
 communicant to say : " We are not worthy so much as to gather up the 
 crumbs under thy table" — not, "we are fit to kneel," but, "we are not 
 worthy through our manifold sins to offer unto God any sacrifice." The 
 more worthless and weak we feel ourselves, the more need for constant 
 reception of this holy feast : so long as our sense of wortiilessness arises 
 from our knowledge of Christ's love, and our own sins, failings and 
 shortcomings in his sight. 
 
 The distinct barriers against receiving the communion are few, for the 
 simple reason that Christ instituted it for the benefit of weak and sickly 
 Christians as well as strong, hence the responsibility of reception is thrown 
 on the communicant. But it draws the line where the evil life " is oppn 
 and notorious," or where positive wrong by word or deed is done to a > 
 neighbour, or where the Curate knows that "malice and hatred reign" 
 between communicants. In all these cases communion may be refused, 
 the names of such persons reported to the Bishop; but such parties 
 may be restored to communion on repentance and amendment of life. 
 
 Thus the Church of England follows her children from baptism until 
 they face the battle of life, and then it leaves them within the church 
 depending upon the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for 
 righteousness ; and aided to Uve a Ufe of good works "springing out of a 
 true and lively faith" "pleasing and acceptable to God in Chiist" by the 
 three great channels of grace : The Word of God, Prayer and the "Holy 
 Communion," " the most comfortable sacrament of the body and blood 
 of Christ."