DISSERTATIONS 
 
 VINDICATING 
 
 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, 
 
 WITH REGARD TO 
 
 SOME ESSENTIAL POINTS 
 
 POLITY AND DOCTRINE. 
 
 REV. JOHN SINCLAIR, A.M. 
 
 OP PEMBROKE COLLEGE, OXFORD, PELLOW OP THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH, 
 AM) MINISTER OP 8T. PAUL'S CHAFEL, EDINBURGH. 
 
 LONDON: 
 PRINTED FOR J. G. & F. RIVINGTON, 
 
 ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD, AND WATERLOO PLACE, PALL MALL } 
 
 AND SOLD BY BELL & BRADFUTE, EDINBURGH. 
 1833.
 
 LONDON: 
 
 GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS, 
 ST. JOHN'S SQUARE. 
 
 LIBRARY.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE necessity for some work explaining in a 
 popular form the peculiarities of the Church of 
 England in respect to doctrine, to rules of faith, to 
 discipline, and public worship, has for some time 
 been impressed upon the mind of the author. The 
 unhappy continuance of a hostile spirit, both among 
 Roman Catholics and Protestant Dissenters, not- 
 withstanding the repeated measures of conciliation 
 taken by the legislature, has not tended to efface 
 that impression. Publications of a tendency to 
 disparage both in England and Ireland our esta- 
 blished ecclesiastical institutions, and to withdraw 
 from them the affections of the nation, seem to 
 have increased in number, and perhaps in viru- 
 lence, proportionably as the political causes of 
 complaint and hostility have diminished. 
 
 A 2
 
 IV PREFACE. 
 
 Under these circumstances the appearance of a 
 Theological series, edited as well as written by the 
 most distinguished luminaries of our Anglican 
 
 Church, gave the author hopes that some writer 
 
 \ 
 of acknowledged learning and ability, would have 
 
 availed himself of so obvious a channel for con- 
 veying, in a cheap and compendious form, such 
 materials as would furnish ordinary readers with 
 means of reply, when exposed to insinuations or 
 arguments from the host of miscellaneous objec- 
 tors by whom our establishment is assailed. Dis- 
 appointed in these hopes, the author was led to 
 think, (on being invited to undertake some contri- 
 bution for the work just mentioned,) that the task 
 which he had expected to see fulfilled by others 
 had better be performed imperfectly by himself, 
 than remain unperformed altogether. He accord- 
 ingly prepared the present volume with a view to 
 its insertion in that valuable and well-timed mis- 
 cellany. When afterwards he ascertained from 
 the Editors that their plan necessarily restricted 
 each volume to one subject, and required that 
 doctrine and polity should be discussed in separate 
 publications ; he was apprehensive that whatever 
 might be the case with others who enjoy the
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 enviable talent of giving popular interest to the 
 dryest subjects, he would not himself be able, 
 (throughout an entire volume of the description 
 required,) to fix the attention of the general reader 
 on Church polity alone. He has thought it there- 
 fore advisable, with the concurrence of his excel- 
 lent friends, the reverend Editors of the Theological 
 Library, to publish the following dissertations in 
 their present independent form. 
 
 The kind of publication which the author thinks 
 most likely to be useful is of such a rudimental and 
 familiar character, as may be perfectly intelligible 
 to ordinary understandings, and although, in these 
 pages, quotations in the original languages of Chris- 
 tian antiquity have been occasionally made, such 
 passages will not be found essential for comprehend- 
 ing his line of argument. They have rather been 
 introduced from a desire to prove himself correct, 
 and to prevent the least suspicion of unfairness. 
 If in any instance his translations have been imper- 
 fect, the reader of education will have no difficulty 
 in discovering the error. 
 
 Writing as the author at first intended, for a work 
 published in London, and designed for members of 
 the English establishment, he assumed in general
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 the language of an English clergyman ; though the 
 present sphere of his professional labours is without 
 the territorial limits of the Anglican church. He 
 
 has been induced to continue this method of com- 
 
 v 
 munication, not merely as more convenient, but 
 
 also from the respect which he naturally entertains 
 for the establishment in Scotland ; the reputation 
 of whose ministers, for eloquence and talent, as 
 well as piety, forms a pure and sacred source of 
 honour to his native country. 
 
 In the first of the following dissertations on the 
 subject of Church polity, he has stated as suc- 
 cinctly as that extensive subject would permit, the 
 whole argument for Episcopacy, both from Scrip- 
 ture and antiquity. Without referring to indivi- 
 duals, in the present day, who have written against 
 this important Apostolical institution, he has en- 
 deavoured to condense their objections, and to offer, 
 (in a manner impossible to be thought personally 
 offensive,) a satisfactory refutation. 
 
 Next to Church polity he considered forms of 
 Divine worship to require discussion. On this 
 topic He has confined himself at present to a general 
 view of Liturgies. Another treatise in continuation, 
 (for which he has already collected materials, and
 
 PREFACE. Vll 
 
 which bears a particular reference to the Church 
 of England liturgy,) may, he conceives, be more 
 advantageously laid before the public at some future 
 opportunity, after the doctrines have been vindi- 
 cated, of which that liturgy must be regarded as 
 an invaluable compendium. 
 
 As the chief weapon of assault in the hands 
 of the Romanist is the assumed authority of his 
 Church, the next subject introduced is Infallibility. 
 Under this title the author has enumerated the 
 various and insuperable difficulties which beset the 
 Romish assailant in his assertion of that lofty claim : 
 opportunity at the same time is taken of bringing 
 forward and exposing other not less dangerous pre- 
 tensions ; and of pointing out, from the canons of 
 the Church of England, a safe and Scriptural guide 
 for the attainment of religious truth. 
 
 The last dissertation here published is on the 
 doctrine of Mediation. The greater number of 
 heretical opinions at the present day, and, indeed, 
 at all times throughout Christendom have arisen 
 from regarding in a partial and confined view the 
 great principle of atonement ; and from limiting- 
 attention to one only among the offices of Christ. 
 As the office of Mediator includes them all, a dis-
 
 Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 cussion of his Mediatorial character is calculated 
 to repel on either side, the aggressions of our 
 Socinian and Antinomian adversaries. Throughout 
 
 the whole essay general expressions are systema- 
 
 \ 
 tically employed, and all allusion to those articles 
 
 of belief respecting which the members of the 
 Church have adopted different explanations, is 
 carefully avoided. 
 
 Thus four subjects have been chosen for vindica- 
 tion in this volume. First, the form of Church 
 polity in the English establishment ; secondly, our 
 received mode of Divine worship ; thirdly, the 
 rules for the attainment of sound doctrine ; and 
 fourthly, the leading doctrines themselves, which 
 the observance of those rules has led the Church 
 to adopt and promulgate. 
 
 Other topics in addition to those just specified 
 might have been introduced ; but the author, besides 
 a natural dread, at his first appearance before the 
 public, of abusing unreasonably the patience of his 
 readers, feels desirous for the present to confine 
 himself to general and introductory branches of 
 ecclesiastical discipline. On one subject, however, 
 connected with establishments, he feels assured 
 that any eiforts from him must be for ever super-
 
 PREFACE. IX 
 
 seded by the admirable vindication of Ecclesiastical 
 endowments from the pen of an eminent professor; 
 whose genius, ever piously and eloquently active, 
 will long, it is hoped, be continued to his admiring 
 country, and to the establishment which he adorns. 
 The author cannot conclude without expressing his 
 hope, that the sentiments of an individual so highly 
 valued by our dissenting brethren as Dr. Chalmers, 
 on the subject of establishments, will soften their 
 asperities, and lead their minds to greater delicacy 
 and hesitation in opposing long-established Chris- 
 tian institutions. 
 
 133, George Street, Edinburgh, 1832.
 
 >
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 DISSERTATION I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ON EPISCOPACY, CHAP. I I 
 
 CHAP. II 46 
 
 CHAP. Ill 108 
 
 DISSERTATION II. 
 
 ON LITURGIES 160 
 
 DISSERTATION III. 
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY, CHAP. 1 225 
 
 CHAP. II 272 
 
 DISSERTATION IV. 
 
 ON MEDIATION 301 
 
 NOTES 345 
 
 INDEX 385
 
 X
 
 DISSERTATION I. 
 
 ON EPISCOPACY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 " The foul practices which have been used for the overthrow of Bishops, may, 
 perhaps, wax bold in process of time, to give the like assault even there, from 
 whence at this present they are most seconded. Nor let it over-dismay them 
 who suffer such things at the hands of this most unkind world, to see that 
 heavenly estate and dignity thus conculcated, in regard whereof so many their 
 predecessors were no less esteemed than if they had not been men, but angels 
 amongst men. With former Bishops it was as with Job, in the days of that 
 prosperity which at large he describeth, saying, ' Unto me men gave ear ; they 
 waited and held their tongue at my counsel ; after my words they replied not ; 
 I appointed out their way. and did sit as chief: 1 dwelt as it had been a king in 
 an army.' At this day the case is otherwise with them ; and yet no otherwise 
 than with the self-same Job at what time the alteration of his estate wrested 
 these contrary speeches from him ; ' But now they that are younger than I 
 mock at me ; the children of fools, and offspring of slaves, creatures more base 
 than the earth they tread on ; such as if they did shew their heads, young and 
 old would shout at them and chase them through the street with a cry, their 
 song I am, I am a theme for them to talk on.' An injury less grievous, if it 
 were not offered by them whom Satan had through his fraud and subtilty so 
 far beguiled, as to make them imagine herein they do unto God a part of most 
 faithful service. Whereas the Lord in truth, whom they serve herein, is, as 
 St. Cyprian telleth them, like not Christ (for he it is that doth appoint and 
 protect Bishops) but rather Christ's adversary and enemy of his Church. A 
 thousand five hundred years and upwards the church of Christ hath now con- 
 tinued under the sacred regiment of Bishops. Neither for so long hath Christ- 
 ianity been ever planted in any kingdom throughout the world but with this 
 kind of government alone ; which to have been ordained of God, I am for mine 
 own part even as resolutely persuaded, as that any other kind of government in 
 the world whatsoever is of God." Hooker. Eccles. Polity. 
 
 THREE distinct ecclesiastical orders existed at the 
 period of the Reformation, throughout every part 
 of the Christian world, under the name of Bishops, 
 
 DISS. I. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Episcopacy 
 universal 
 till the time 
 of the Re- 
 formation.
 
 2 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. Priests, and Deacons. To each of these three 
 orders were allotted separate duties, and different 
 degrees of rank and power. Not only among all 
 the churches subject, in the west, to the Roman 
 Pontiff; and in the east and south, to the Patri- 
 archs of Antioch, Byzantium, and Alexandria ; 
 but also among the numerous Christian societies 
 who rejected their doctrine and disowned their 
 authority, were the three orders in question estab- 
 lished and maintained. The polity of the Nesto- 
 rians, Monothelites, and Armenians, on one side 
 of Christendom, as well as of the Albigenses, 
 Waldenses, and Bohemians, on the other, was 
 uniformly episcopal : however widely most of these 
 numerous sectaries were opposed to the rest, and 
 to the great communities from which they sepa- 
 rated. The most industrious explorer of Church 
 antiquity, searching from the shores of the Atlantic, 
 to those of the Indian Ocean, from Abyssinia to 
 Scandinavia, has never yet distinctly traced a 
 single Church, in which a hierarchy possessed of 
 diocesan rights and privileges did not, at the 
 period here referred to, prevail \ 
 
 As the Christian hierarchy were in actual and 
 
 s universal possession of these peculiar rights and 
 privileges, so they claimed them also for their 
 ancient and undisputed inheritance ; an inherit- 
 ance transmitted and held, by the venerable title 
 of prescription, during fifteen centuries ; and by 
 
 1 See note (A), at the end of the volume. See also in con- 
 firmation of this assertion, Hooker and Charles Leslie.
 
 EPISCOPACY. o 
 
 the still more venerable and sacred tenure of apos- DISS. i. 
 
 , T i . ... ,. CHAP. I. 
 
 tolical institution. == 
 
 Nor is this all. For when the general adherence 
 of the episcopal order to the errors and corruptions 
 of the Romish creed, presented, in some countries, 
 formidable obstacles against the progress of Re- 
 formation ; those pious Presbyters who had en- 
 gaged in that great work, and who were thus re- 
 duced to the necessity of abandoning their design, Reluctantly 
 
 /->ii departed 
 
 or of contriving a new system of Church govern- from. 
 ment and discipline, adopted this latter alternative 
 with reluctance. They deplored as a calamity, the 
 necessity for this innovation. They regarded it as 
 defensible mainly on the ground of political expe- 
 diency. They appear to have been overborne 
 equally by the governors and the governed ; by 
 the jealousy and cupidity of rulers, as well as by 
 the prejudices and clamours of the multitude, 
 whom the obstinacy and mismanagement of their 
 spiritual superiors had goaded almost to frenzy. 
 In that celebrated symbol of faith, the earliest de- 
 claration of doctrine among Protestants, entitled 
 the "Augsburg Confession," these conscientious Augsburg 
 
 confession. 
 
 and reluctant innovators, express openly their sor- 
 row that the canonical form of Church govern- 
 ment which they earnestly desired to maintain, 
 should, in some places, have been dissolved l . In 
 another passage of the same important record they 
 thus express themselves: "Nowhere again we 
 
 1 Quam tws magnopere conservare cupiebamus. See Bishop 
 Hall's " Episcopacy by Divine Right," p. 11. 
 
 B2
 
 4 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. desire to testify to the world that we would wil- 
 
 JL HAP ' *' lingly preserve the ecclesiastical and canonical 
 government, if the Bishops would only cease to 
 exercise cruelty upon our churches. This our 
 desire will excuse us hefore God, before all the 
 world, and unto all posterity ; that it^may not be 
 justly imputed unto us that the authority of Bishops 
 is impaired amongst us ; when men shall hear 
 and read that we, earnestly deprecating the unjust 
 cruelty of the Bishops, could obtain no equal measure 
 
 Meianc- at their hands 1 ." The venerable Melancthon, by 
 whom this Confession was drawn up, thus expresses 
 in an epistle to Luther the congruity of his own 
 private sentiments with those of this public docu- 
 ment. " I know not," he says, " with what face 
 we can refuse Bishops, if they will suffer us to 
 have purity of doctrine 2 ." And he elsewhere 
 quotes his illustrious correspondent as maintaining 
 the same opinion. His words are (in allusion to 
 
 Luther. this question), " Luther did always judge as 
 I do 3 ." 
 
 The sentiments of allegiance to the episcopal 
 system of Church polity, here expressed by the 
 original Protestants in Germany, were promulgated 
 with equal earnestness by other eminent Reformers, 
 who, under the pressure of the same necessity, 
 departed from a system which they revered. 
 
 Caivin. Calvin reports himself to have subscribed willingly 
 
 1 Ibid. p. 11. 
 
 2 See Brett " on Church Government." p. 121. 
 
 3 Ibid, in 1. c.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 and heartily to the confession above quoted ! . DISS. i. 
 " Bishops," says he, in another passage of his 
 writings, " have invented no other form of govern- 
 ing the Church but such as the Lord hath pre- 
 scribed by his 'own word." Again, in another 
 place, after describing the character of a truly 
 Christian Bishop, he subjoins (in that strong lan- 
 guage for which he was remarkable), " I should 
 account those men deserving of every the severest 
 anathema, who do not submit themselves reverently 
 and with all obedience to such a hierarchy 2 ." 
 This great man was by no means adverse to a con- 
 siderable variety of grades in the Church. Speak- 
 ing of Metropolitans or Primates, he observes that 
 their appointment was of primitive institution, " to 
 the end that the Bishops might, by reason of this 
 bond of concord, preserve a closer union among 
 themselves 3 ." And lest the supremacy of the 
 
 1 The words of Calvin are, cui pridem volens ac libens sub- 
 scripsi. Vid. Epist. ad Martin Schaling, quoted by Barbon in 
 the Preface to his work on Liturgies. 
 
 2 Talem si nobis hierarchiam exhibeant in qud sic emineant 
 episcopi ut Christo subesse non recusent, ut ab illo tanquam unica 
 capite pendeant, et ad ipsum referantur, turn vero nullo non ana- 
 themate dignos fatear, si qui erunt qui non earn reverenter sum- 
 mdque obedientid observant. Tractat. de Reform. Eccles. 
 
 3 Fetus ecclesia Patriarchas instituit, et singulis etiam provinciis 
 quosdam attribuit primatus ut hoc concordiae vinculo melius inter 
 se devincti manerent episcopi. Quemadmodum si hodie illus- 
 trissimo Polonitf regno unus prceesset Archiepiscopus, non qui 
 dominaret in reliquos, vel jus ab illis ereptum arrogaret, sed qui 
 ordinis causd in Synodis primum teneret locum, et sanctam inter 
 collcgas suos etfratres unitatcm foveret. Essent denique provin-
 
 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. Roman Pontiff should be inferred from this conces- 
 sion, he makes the following distinction. "To 
 bear a moderate rule is a very different thing 
 ^ rom comprehending under one vast dominion, 
 
 and the fa e wno i e circuit of the world V The same 
 
 Lpiscopate. 
 
 favourable view of episcopacy was Entertained 
 by other celebrated fathers of the Genevan church. 
 Bucer on all occasions expressed his anxiety, that 
 those churches which enjoyed an episcopal con- 
 stitution, should not, without sufficient reason, re- 
 linquish this advantage ; nor obliterate, by excessive 
 change, their resemblance to the Christian com- 
 munities founded by the Apostles. In his book, 
 De Regno Christi, he writes to this effect. " We 
 see by the constant practice of the Church, even 
 from the time of the Apostles, how it hath pleased 
 the Holy Ghost, that among the ministers to whom 
 the government of the Church is especially com- 
 mitted, one individual should have the chief ma- 
 nagement both of the churches and of the whole 
 ministry, and should, in that management, take pre- 
 cedence of all his brethren. For which reason the 
 title of Bishop is employed to designate a chief 
 spiritual governor." 2 Beza, the friend likewise of 
 Calvin, and one among the most learned and in- 
 defatigable commentators upon Scripture, writing 
 
 ciales-vel urbani Episcopi, Sfc. Calvin, Seren 1 " - Regi Polon. 
 p. 190. 
 
 1 .liniil est moderatum gerere honorem, quam tolum terrarum 
 orbem immense imperto complecti. Vid. Epist. cxc. 
 
 * See also Brett on Church Government. Chap. v. page 85. 
 
 10
 
 EPISCOPACY. / 
 
 to the English Primate in the name of the Genevan DISS. i. 
 Church, warmly eulogizes the church polity of CHAP " ' 
 England. He elsewhere refers emphatically to 
 the authority of Bishops and Archbishops in our 
 English establishment, and pronounces what we 
 may consider his benediction. " Let England en- 
 joy, by all means, that special benefit of God, and 
 God grant that it may be perpetual unto her 1 ." 
 In another passage he describes it as a thing 
 incredible, that the episcopal order should be re- 
 jected. " If," says he, u there be any who reject 
 altogether episcopal jurisdiction (a thing I can 
 hardly be persuaded of), God forbid that any one 
 in his senses should give way to the madness of 
 such men 2 ." 
 
 Passing from Geneva to the East of Europe, we Reformers 
 
 . . J of Poland 
 
 find the same attachment for the primitive con- and Hun- 
 stitution of the Church. In the book of ecclesias- 
 tical canons agreed upon by the Reformers of 
 Poland, and Hungary, anno 1623, the following 
 oath of canonical obedience was required of every 
 candidate for admission to Deacon's orders. 
 " I. N. N. swear before the living God, the Father, 
 the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and before his 
 Holy Angels, that I shall yield unto the Bishop 
 
 1 See Durel's view of the Reformed Churches, 4to. 1662. 
 p. 280. 
 
 2 Si qui sunt (quod sane mihi non facile per suaseris) qui omnem 
 episcoporum ordinem rejiciant, absit ut quisquam sance mentis 
 furoribus illorum assentiatur. Theod. Beza ad tractat. de minist. 
 
 Ev. gradibus ad Hadr. Sarav. Belgae editam.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. I. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Reformers 
 of Italy. 
 
 Zanchius. 
 
 and Presbyters (senioribus) all due obedience, 
 as unto niy superiors. So help me God 1 ." In 
 another canon of the same church and synod, after 
 enumerating the several authorities from Scripture 
 for different ranks in the ministry, the assembled 
 Fathers make a declaration as follows. ^" We also 
 do acknowledge in our churches the orders and 
 degrees aforementioned, insomuch that we have 
 certain Bishops, as also Presbyters eminently so 
 called, or Seniors, who ought to govern, according 
 to established rules, the other persons termed in 
 Scripture Ministers of God, and Pastors of the 
 Churches 2 ." 
 
 Among the Reformers of Italy, there was the 
 same respect for episcopacy as among those already 
 noticed of Germany and Switzerland. Jerome 
 Zanchius, a very learned native of the Venetian 
 territory, in his thesis on the true method of Reform- 
 ing the Church 3 , makes this strong protestation. 
 
 1 Ego N.N. juro coram Deo vivo, fyc. Episcopo et senioribus 
 tanquam superioribus meis debitam obedientiam prcestiturus. Sic 
 me Deus adjuvet. Canon. Eccl. Synod. Comiathinae in Hungaria. 
 Class iii. Can. 8. 
 
 2 Nos quoque in ecclesiis nostris hos ordines vel gradus ita 
 agnoscimus, ut cerlos habeamus Episcopos, Presbyteros item emi- 
 nenter sic dictos, seu seniores, qui cceteros Dei ministros et ecclesi- 
 arum pastores scripturce phrasi sic vocatos, certis legibus regere 
 debeant. Ibid. Can. 2. 
 
 3 His Treatise is entitled, " De verd Reformandarum Eccle- 
 siarum Ratione." He was by some reputed among the most 
 learned of Calvin's contemporaries. He succeeded Peter Martyr 
 at Strasburg, when the latter, in 1549, was called over by King 
 Edward the Sixth to be Professor of Divinity at Oxford.
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 "I profess before God, that in my conscience, I DISS. i. 
 repute them no other than schismatics who make s 
 it a part of Reformation of the Church to have no 
 Bishops, who should preside over their Presbyters 
 in degree of authority, where this may be had. 
 Furthermore, with Mr. Calvin, I deem them worthy 
 of all manner of anathemas, as many as will not be 
 subject to that Hierarchy which submits itself to the 
 Lord Jesus ! ." In another work he argues the same 
 point at greater length. Speaking of the different 
 orders established in the Church, "I believe," he 
 says, " that such things as have been decreed and 
 received by the holy Fathers, assembled in the 
 name of the Lord with a general consent of all, 
 without any contradiction of holy writ ; I say, I 
 believe that such things (although they be not of 
 the same authority with the Holy Scripture) are 
 also of the Holy Ghost. Hence it is, that I neither 
 can, nor dare disapprove, with a good conscience, 
 things of that nature. Now, what is more certain 
 out of histories, councils, and all the writings of 
 the Fathers, than those orders of ministers of which 
 we have said, that they were established and re- 
 ceived in the Church by the common consent of 
 the whole Christian commonwealth ? And who 
 am I that I should disapprove what the whole 
 Church hath approved 2 ?" 
 
 1 Ibid. And see also his Tract de Necessitate Reformandae 
 Ecclesiae," quoted by Barbon. 
 
 Credo enim quce a pits Patribus, in nomine Domini congre- 
 gatis, communi omnium conaensu, citra ullam saerarum literarum
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 10 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. Respecting the Lutheran churches of the North, 
 throughout Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, we 
 need here observe no more than that they adopted 
 and acted upon the episcopalian principles of the 
 Augsburgh confession already quoted. 
 Reformers Proceeding to Scotland, we find that even Knox, 
 the uncompromising reformer of that country, had 
 no desire to introduce a needless innovation ; but 
 adopting the ecclesiastical axiom of Calvin, that 
 " parity breedeth confusion," was desirous to have 
 maintained a form of Church Polity more agree- 
 able to the primitive model than the prejudices of 
 the Scottish people would allow. Indeed, the 
 superintendents or Bishops (for the latter term is a 
 translation of the former) whom Knox contributed 
 to establish in Scotland, were invested with such 
 ample powers, that many Prelates, in later times, 
 publicly declared their perfect readiness to be satis- 
 fied with the same jurisdiction l . Knox in his own 
 
 contradictionem definita et recepta fuerunt : ea etiam (qwnquam 
 hand ejusdem cum sacris literis auctoritatis), a Spiritu Sancto 
 esse ; ea ego improbare, nee velim, nee audeam band conscientid. 
 Zanch. in Observ. ad suam ipsius confessionem in cap. 25, ad 
 Aphor. 10 et 11, quoted by Durel, p. 252, and referred to by 
 Hooker, Ecc. Pol. book vii. .11. 
 
 1 Among various authorities, we may specify the three follow- 
 ing : Archbishop Spottiswood, in his " Refutatio Libelli," A. D. 
 1620'; Lindsay Bishop of Brechin, in his " True Narrative," 
 A. D. 1618 ; and Maxwell first Bishop of Ross, and afterwards 
 Archbishop of Tuam, in his " Episcopacy not abjured in Scotland." 
 See Bishop Sage's Vindication, Chapter IV. 
 
 Knox refused a bishoprick offered him by Edward VI., and his
 
 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 11 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 life describes himself as having been for some DISS. i. 
 years an officiating minister of the Church of Eng- : 
 land, both at Berwick and at Newcastle. He is 
 stated by his biographers to have been chaplain to 
 King Edward the Sixth, at a time when, as now, 
 the common prayer-book contained in the intro- 
 duction to the ordinal for consecration the following 
 declaration : " It is evident unto all men diligently 
 reading holy Scriptures and ancient authors, that 
 from the Apostles' times there have been these 
 orders of ministers in Christ's Church, Bishops, 
 Priests, and Deacons." The family of this great 
 Scotch reformer gave hereditary proof of episcopal 
 partiality by becoming members and ministers of 
 the English establishment 1 . 
 
 To the above testimonies might be added others 
 to an unlimited extent. We have only selected 
 
 refusal has been interpreted into an evidence of his aversion to 
 Episcopal government. But he himself assigns a different reason 
 for that act of self-denial. In a private letter to Mrs. Bowes 
 (his mother-in-law), he ascribes his forbearance to " the foresight 
 of trouble to come," alluding to the anticipated persecutions under 
 Mary. He elsewhere complains that Bishops did not oftener come 
 forward as preachers, and that no minister had authority, by the 
 existing laws of England, to prevent the unworthy from partici- 
 pating the Sacrament, which he pronounces to be " a chief part" 
 of the ministerial office. See Knox's Historic. Fol. 
 
 1 His two sons, Nathaniel and Eleazer, were sent for then* edu- 
 cation to England. Both of them were matriculated at St. John's 
 College, Cambridge, A. D. 1572, and both became Fellows of that 
 Society : the former remained till his death, A. D. 1580 ; the 
 latter was instituted to the living of Clacton Magna, and dying 
 A. D. 1591, was buried at St. John's College.
 
 and the LOW 
 
 countries. 
 
 12 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. the most prominent out of the different countries of 
 ^ Christian Europe. We must not conclude, how- 
 ever, without some notice of one further eminent 
 individual, and of one other remarkable Synod 
 connected with a distinguished seat of theological 
 learning. Grotius, the celebrated lawyer and 
 statesman, the acute metaphysician and divine, 
 well known to all the Christian world as an able 
 " defender of the Faith," thus sums up the argu- 
 ment between the Episcopalian writers and their 
 adversaries in his time. " So light and foolish is 
 what the latter have put forth in answer to the 
 former, that to have read the one is to have already 
 refuted the other : especially touching the angels 
 of the Churches, concerning whom, that which the 
 disturbers of ecclesiastical order bring, is so absurd 
 and contrary to the sacred text itself, that it de- 
 serves not confutation 1 ." In another work he 
 remarks that " Episcopacy had its beginning in the 
 apostolic times." " The Bishop is of approved Di- 
 vine right. For this assertion the Divine apocalypse 
 affords an irrefragable argument." " The histories 
 of all times manifest the vast advantages that have 
 accrued to the Church by Episcopacy."-" Those 
 who think Episcopacy repugnant to God's will, 
 must condemn the whole primitive Church of folly 
 and impiety 8 ." 
 
 1 Discussio de Primatu Papae. 
 
 * Grot, de imper. Summ. Potest. circa sacra. Cap. XI. sect. 5 ; 
 also Brett on Church Government, and note (B) at the end of the 
 volume.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 13 
 
 To quote, as was proposed, one more authority DISS. i. 
 from the same quarter namely, Holland and to 
 end as we began, with the judgment of an Assem- 
 bly of Divines : the Presbyterian Synod of Dort, Synod of 
 called together for the establishment of Calvin- 
 ism in that country, bear the same testimony with 
 Grotius, who belonged to the Arminian party, 
 their opposers. The Synod, on being urged by the 
 English Church respecting the necessity of Epis- 
 copal government on the Apostolic plan, replied, 
 that " theyhad a great honour for the Church of 
 England, and heartily wished that they could 
 establish themselves upon this model ; lamenting 
 that they had no prospect of such a happiness ; 
 and since the civil government had made their 
 desires impracticable, they hoped God would be 
 merciful to them V 
 
 The reader may perhaps imagine that we have 
 
 1 Collier's Eccles. Hist. Vol. II. p. 718. 
 
 The testimonies in the text have reference principally to the 
 subject of Episcopacy, but I cannot forbear subjoining an eulogium 
 from the celebrated M. Daille, on the entire polity of the Anglican 
 Church. " As to the Church of England, purged from foreign 
 wicked superstitious worships and errors, either impious or 
 dangerous, by the rule of the Divine Scripture ; approved of by 
 many and illustrious martyrs ; abounding with piety towards God, 
 and charity towards men, and with most frequent examples of 
 good works ; flourishing with an increase of most learned and 
 wise men from the beginning of the reformation to this time : I 
 have always had it in true and just esteem, and till I die, I shall 
 continue in the same due veneration of it." De Confess, advers. 
 H. Hammond, c. i. p. 97. 98.
 
 14 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. adduced supernumerary evidences for establishing 
 "*'*' this point ; but it is important for the purposes of 
 this essay to ascertain the opinions of the principal 
 reformers, while their minds were as yet neither 
 biassed by party spirit, nor heated in the struggles 
 of controversy. 
 
 origin of The veneration for Episcopacy entertained at 
 palladia- first by persons whom necessity compelled to the 
 adoption of a different system, could not be ex- 
 pected to continue long. Hostility to the Church 
 of Rome would naturally be increased by opposition 
 and persecution. It would seem desirable, in the 
 tumultuous conflict, not only of words, but fre- 
 quently of the sword ; when strife not only raged 
 in the polemic theatre, but in the field of blood ; 
 and when, to a multitude of sufferers by inquisi- 
 torial torture, in the dungeon, on the scaffold, 
 or at the stake, were added the victims of open war ; 
 to remove as far as possible, both in doctrine and 
 in discipline, from that detested communion. It 
 would also be thought expedient, by persons thus 
 severely tried, to stand on higher ground, with 
 respect to Church polity, than the ground of mere 
 necessity ; and to make some show of argument 
 from Scripture, or from primitive antiquity, in 
 behalf of the new constitution which had been 
 devised. Accordingly, many of those very persons 
 whose writings have been quoted, spoke afterwards 
 with far less favour of the ancient system for which 
 they originally professed and felt so much esteem. 
 The enmity of their disciples grew more and more
 
 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 15 
 
 decided and unequivocal. The authority of Bishops DISS - ' 
 was represented as a presumptuous encroachment 
 on the rights and privileges conveyed to Presby- 
 ters by the apostles. Popery and Prelacy were 
 declared to be so closely in alliance, as even to be 
 virtually synonymous. For the space of above two 
 centuries and a half, up to our present times, a 
 regular system of aggressive warfare has been main- 
 tained by the scholars and successors of Calvin, 
 against that very form of Church government, 
 respecting which we have seen their great master 
 declaring, that the man was worthy of all condem- 
 nation, who should not reverently and with the 
 utmost deference receive it. 
 
 The question then proposed for examination in statement 
 
 , . -iii i r oftheques- 
 
 tms essay is, whether the opinions on the subject 01 tion. 
 Episcopacy entertained by the founders of the anti- 
 episcopalian system, or the opinions entertained by 
 their successors, were more correct : in other words, 
 whether an ecclesiastical constitution prevailing, as 
 we have seen, at the period of the reformation, 
 throughout the whole Christian world ; handed 
 down from remote antiquity as an apostolical insti- 
 tution ; and nowhere departed from but by neces- 
 sity : did possess, in reality, the high origin which 
 it claimed, and was actually entitled to the uni- 
 versal reverence which it received. 
 
 But before examining the question, there are Three pre- 
 three particulars necessary to be premised, in re- 
 ference to the kind and degree of proof in this case 
 to be expected ; that the examiner may be pro-
 
 16 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. perly prepared to enter on the discussion. For 
 _ CHAI !L I I_ though the subject is not necessarily obscure, yet 
 from inattention to the meaning of ancient words 
 and phrases, from the introduction of irrelevant 
 inquiries, and from the frequent demand of evidence 
 which could not possibly be afforded, nd which, 
 in corresponding instances, is not required, conti- 
 nual sources of confusion and perplexity have 
 been opened. 
 
 First preii- ] m \v e mav begin by premising, that on the sub- 
 ject of Church polity, we cannot reasonably look 
 in Holy Scripture for any regular discussion, or 
 explicit statements. What has often been re- 
 marked with respect to doctrine, and to morals, 
 is also true with respect to discipline and to go- 
 vernment. As the New Testament contains no 
 systematic treatise on Christian doctrine, nor any 
 formal digest of Christian morals, but leaves the 
 teacher or the disciple to construct his moral and 
 theological system by a diligent comparison of text 
 with text, and of precept with precept : so we see 
 also in the case of discipline and of polity, a similar 
 disregard of scholastic arrangement. The Apostles 
 arid Evangelists, not addressing themselves to the 
 learned, but writing more immediately for the 
 use of ordinary persons, all of whom were well 
 acquainted with the existing constitution of the 
 Church, rather make allusion to things with 
 which the persons addressed were familiar, than 
 afford explanation for the satisfaction of others. 
 It is, therefore, not only necessary, but a proper
 
 EPISCOPACY. 17 
 
 exercise of candour and fairness, to compare one DISS. i. 
 with another the various scriptural passages con- 
 nected with the subject ; to consult the authority 
 of history and the analogies of language ; and to 
 use the various aids to interpretation which, in 
 common cases, are thought desirable, nay, indis- 
 pensable. And the conclusion would be unwar- 
 ranted, that because Church polity is not fully and 
 systematically treated of, the question, therefore, 
 must be unimportant, or must remain obscure in 
 spite of all examination. 
 
 There is, in this respect, a striking contrast be- 
 tween the Jewish and the Christian revelation. 
 The law of Moses, being written in the wilderness 
 before the Israelites had effected the conquest of 
 the promised land, and before their system of 
 Church polity could be fully brought into operation ; 
 is minutely accurate in prescribing the regulations, 
 ceremonial and civil, which were to be afterwards 
 established. Without some such distinct previous 
 delineation in a regular code, it would have been 
 impossible for the intended scheme of ecclesiastical 
 polity among the Jews to have been put in practice. 
 The Christian dispensation on the contrary was 
 already complete ; the great sacrifice for sin offered ; 
 the Holy Ghost sent ; the Church constituted ; and 
 its ministers in their various grades appointed and 
 ordained, before the Gospels and Epistles were 
 composed. It seems, therefore, idle to expect in 
 those writings any formally digested rules for 
 Church government. Allusion, indeed, is often
 
 18 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. made by those writers to ordinances already exist- 
 CHAP ' *' ing, and to circumstances which required the exer- 
 cise of apostolical authority; and from these allu- 
 sions, a system may be clearly gathered or infer- 
 red, although no system be didactically enlarged 
 upon 1 . 
 Secondpre- 2. Again, we must not imagine it an infringe- 
 
 liminary. s ^ f 
 
 ment of sound protestant Principles, to consult, on 
 the question now before us, ecclesiastical as well as 
 scriptural antiquity ; to consult the records of the 
 Church as well as the Bible itself. The maxim 
 that " the Bible, and the Bible only, is the religion 
 of Protestants," has been sometimes supposed to 
 signify that no appeal to the primitive Fathers on 
 any point, whether of doctrine or of discipline, is 
 allowable in a true Protestant ; but that all points 
 must be decided by Scripture, and by Scripture 
 alone. How far this rigid and unbending applica- 
 
 1 " When they farther dispute, that if any such thing" (as 
 Episcopal government) " were needful, Christ would in Scripture 
 have set down particular statutes and laws, appointing that 
 Bishops should he made, and prescribing in what order, even as 
 the law doth, for all kind of officers which were needful in the 
 Jewish regiment ; might not a man, that would bend his wit to 
 maintain the fury of the Petrobrusian heretics, in pulling down 
 oratories, use the self-same argument with as much countenance 
 of reason ? If it were needful that we should assemble ourselves 
 in Churches, would that God, which taught the Jews so exactly 
 the 'frame of their sumptuous temple, leave us no particular in- 
 structions in writing, no, not so much as which way to lay any one 
 stone ? Surely such kind of argumentation doth not so strengthen 
 the sinews of their cause, as weaken the credit of their judgment 
 which are led therewith." Hooker's Eccles. Pol. B. vii. Sec. 13.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 19 
 
 tion of Chillingworth's maxim would be approved 
 by that pious author himself 1 , and how far Protest- 
 ants ought to support their interpretation of the 
 word of God from the writings of the Fathers during 
 the three first centuries, it is not our purpose here 
 to inquire. The ablest, however, and most learned 
 impugners of Romish errors, we may remark, have 
 always endeavoured to show, that those errors are 
 of comparatively recent origin ; that the testimony 
 of the early Fathers is favourable to Protestantism ; 
 and that the Protestant views of Scripture truth 
 have the sanction of antiquity. But we are not now 
 concerned to maintain the authority of the Fathers 
 on points of doctrine, however easy might be the 
 task. Without insisting on the importance of their 
 
 1 Chillingworth himself published a short treatise on Episco- 
 pacy, the main argument of which is drawn from universal tra- 
 dition. He concludes somewhat singularly in a syllogistic form, 
 as follows : 
 
 " Episcopacy is acknowledged to have been universally re- 
 ceived in the Church presently after the Apostles' times." 
 
 Between the Apostles' times and this " presently after," there 
 was not time enough for, nor possibility of, so great an alteration. 
 
 And, therefore, there was no such alteration as is pretended : and, 
 therefore, Episcopacy being confessed to be so ancient and Catholic, 
 must be granted also to be Apostolic. Quod erat demonstrandum ." 
 
 The writer of the present essay would have introduced Chil- 
 lingworth's treatise in a note at the end of the volume, did he not 
 conceive that his readers must have already seen the same quota- 
 tion, if not in the original, at least in a recent and very able pub- 
 lication by Mr. Rose, on the Christian ministry. The brief argu- 
 ment, however, of Bishop Stillingfleet, will be found quoted in 
 note (C) at the end of the volume. 
 
 c 2
 
 20 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. opinion with respect to doctrine, we are only here 
 :HAP ' ' obliged to state, what cannot but be universally 
 admitted, the value of their testimony with regard 
 to facts. We only wish to ascertain from them 
 whether, in the apostolic times, Bishops did or did 
 not exist. 
 
 The advocate of Presbytery, who would deter- 
 mine all questions of Church polity by Scripture 
 alone ; who would allow no voice whatever to 
 antiquity ; and who depreciates, for that purpose, 
 the character, both moral and intellectual, of the 
 Christian Fathers : proceeds on very dangerous 
 ground. Is it not on their testimony, that we re- 
 ceive the most important of all facts, the genuine- 
 ness and authenticity of the sacred canons ? Do 
 we not believe the fact, that the Gospels and 
 Epistles were written by the inspired persons whose 
 names they bear, because the Fathers, as credible 
 and competent witnesses, have attested it ? Is it 
 not to the weight of their evidence that, in our dis- 
 putes with unbelievers, we constantly and uniformly 
 appeal ? And the fact that Episcopacy was or was 
 not the form of church government established by 
 the Apostles, is a fact to which the Fathers are as 
 competent witnesses as to any other whatsoever. 
 It is, as Bishop Hoadley somewhere tersely ex- 
 presses it, "a fact plain and simple : perfectly 
 within their knowledge : not dependent on length- 
 ened investigations or subtilty of reasoning, but 
 perfectly level to all capacities : a fact in which 
 they might very easily have been contradicted, had
 
 EPISCOPACY. 21 
 
 they represented it falsely ; and a fact in respect to DISS. i. 
 which they could not, in the first ages, be biassed CHAP - ' 
 by self-interest." When, under such circum- 
 stances, the anti-Episcopalian advocate denies the 
 Fathers to be good and sufficient witnesses, does 
 he not invalidate and virtually call in question their 
 testimony in every other instance ? Does he not, 
 in his indiscreet and foolish zeal to extol the Scrip- 
 tures, at the expense of antiquity, go far to de- 
 molish altogether that authority which he pretends 
 to uphold ? 
 
 3. The other circumstance remaining to be Third P re- 
 
 , . , . . . , P liminary. 
 
 premised is, that the same precision in the use ol 
 terms to denote the different offices in the Church, 
 must not be looked for in the Holy Scriptures as 
 may be found in the writings of later ages. When 
 Christianity was originally promulgated, the offices, 
 as well as rites and ceremonies belonging to the 
 newly modelled religion, could not at once possess 
 appropriate designations. For, as Hooker notices, 
 "Things are ancienter than the names whereby 
 they are called 1 ." To supply a deficiency of this 
 kind, either new terms must be invented to express 
 the new ideas ; or a new appropriation must be 
 made, of terms in previous use. The latter method 
 was the easier and the more natural, and seemed to 
 offer less violence to language : the latter method, 
 
 1 And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of 
 the field, and every fowl of the air, and brought them unto Adam, 
 to see what he would call them : and whatever Adam called every 
 living creature, that was the name thereof. Gen. ii. 19.
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 22 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 > 
 
 DISS. i. therefore, was uniformly adopted. Words used 
 before in a general acceptation, were set apart to be 
 employed henceforward in a peculiar and restricted 
 sense. One considerable disadvantage would at- 
 tend this arrangement. The restricted sense of 
 the word would not for some time be ^thoroughly 
 established : and confusion might occasionally arise 
 from the employment of a term in -the old signi- 
 fication interchangeably with the new. Thus the 
 word KK\r)aia, which had previously meant an 
 assembly of any kind, and which came to signify in 
 Scripture language an assembly of Christians re- 
 ligiously employed ; is yet, without scruple, applied 
 by St. Luke in its previous unrestricted sense, to a 
 concourse of Heathens unlawfully and riotously met 
 together 1 . Again, the word /3a7rn<7/uoc, or baptism, 
 which denotes the initiatory rite of Christianity, 
 meant originally nothing more than an ordinary 
 cleansing by water, and is employed by St. Mark, in 
 its old signification, to express the washing of com- 
 mon furniture and utensils 2 . 
 
 In like manner the term cTrtWoTroc, or Bishop, 
 equivalent in the Greek language to overseer or 
 superintendant, and now restricted to the highest 
 order of Christian ministers, is employed, sometimes 
 
 1 He dismissed the assembly (IncXifpfay*) Acts. xix. 41. 
 
 2 And when they (the Pharisees) come from market, except 
 they wash (ftairriffdtfrai) they eat not. And many other things 
 there be which they have received to hold : as the washing 
 (/3a7rri(T/Ltoi)c) of cups and pots, brazen vessels and of tables. Mark 
 vii. 4.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 23 
 
 to denote an overseer of the laity, and at other times DISS. i. 
 an overseer of the clergy ; sometimes a Bishop CHAPj I- 
 properly so called, and at other times the pastor of 
 a congregation. Even the dignity of the apostle- 
 ship is occasionally termed an Episcopal office '. 
 So also the word irptafivrtpoQ, appropriated, in a 
 modern sense, to the second order of Church officers, 
 was formerly expressive, in general, of advanced 
 age, or of high dignity. In the New Testament the 
 word is applied sometimes to the Apostles ; and 
 sometimes to the persons whom the Apostles or- 
 dained, and over whom they exercised authority. 
 St. John more especially terms himself presbyter 
 or elder 2 . And lastly, the title Stafcovoc or dea- 
 con, which is now peculiar to the third order of 
 Church officers, meant originally a servant or minis- 
 ter ; and is used by the sacred writers with so much 
 latitude of signification, that even the apostolic 
 office is expressed by the word diaconate (Steucovia) 3 , 
 and our blessed Lord himself is styled a Deacon 4 . 
 
 It is therefore evident, that the Scriptur-al mean- 
 ing of these three terms, referring to the three 
 elders in the Christian ministry, can only be ascer- 
 tained by strict attention to the passage where these 
 
 1 Acts i. 20. It is remarkably illustrative of our present state- 
 ment, that in the 25th verse of this chapter, the same office should 
 be termed at the same time a ministry (duuooyta) and an apostle- 
 ship (dTrooToX?/.) 
 
 2 2 Johni. 1. 3 John i. 1. 
 
 3 Acts i. 25. 
 
 4 Matt. xx. 28. Mark x. 45. Luke xxii. 27.
 
 "24 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. terms occur, and to the general tenor of the writer's 
 argument. We must not expect words and phrases 
 to be used with the same precision on their first 
 appropriation to ecclesiastical things and persons, 
 as we find them in later ages ; when their peculiar 
 and restricted meaning was establishedpand when 
 familiarity with their new interpretation had dis- 
 solved ancient associations. 
 Arrange- Having thus far cleared the way for a full dis- 
 cussion of this question, I shall proceed to state 
 
 essay 8 so m e arguments in favour of Episcopacy, both 
 drawn from Scripture and from ecclesiastical anti- 
 quity. I shall afterwards examine the validity of 
 popular objections alleged against Episcopacy by 
 the advocates of other systems. 
 
 Foundation T ne Founder of the Christian Church is Jesus 
 
 of the 
 
 church. Christ the Son of God, and Saviour of the world. 
 This Divine person ordained twelve Apostles, whom, 
 previously to his ascension into heaven, he autho- 
 rized to form in his name, a spiritual society, by 
 virtue of a commission conveyed in the amplest and 
 most authoritative terms. " As my Father hath 
 sent me, even so send I you. And when he had 
 said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, 
 
 order of Receive ye the Holy Ghost : whose soever sins ye 
 
 Apostles. . 
 
 remit, they are remitted unto them, and whose soever 
 sins ye retain, they are retained '. All Power is 
 given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, 
 therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in 
 
 1 John xx. 21, 22.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 25 
 
 the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the DISS. i. 
 Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things CHAP - ' 
 whatsoever I command you, and lo, I am with you 
 alway, even unto the end of the world 1 ." 
 
 Invested with these high powers, both for them- 
 selves and for their successors unto the end of the 
 world ; and inspired with wisdom from above by 
 the descent of the Holy Ghost : the Apostles pro- 
 ceeded to the formation of a religious community, 
 which, under the protecting care of Heaven, should 
 gradually extend itself throughout the earth, and 
 should continue till the consummation of all things. 
 This spiritual society at first consisted of a single 
 company or congregation. The members all re- 
 sided in the same city. They performed their 
 sacred rites together. They even had their pro- 
 perty in common ; and their whole affairs, both 
 temporal and spiritual, were, managed by their 
 divinely constituted overseers. 
 
 In proportion to the increase of members in the 
 Church, by the conversion and baptism of many 
 thousands both in Jeusalem and in adjoining dis- 
 tricts ; the charge of all ecclesiastical affairs became 
 burdensome and oppressive for so small a number 
 as the apostolic college. A new order, therefore, 
 of Church officers was introduced under the name 
 of Deacons, that is, of ministers or servants, to rderof 
 
 Deacons. 
 
 whom the care of the sick and the poor was en- 
 trusted ; with authority to supply the wants of 
 
 1 Matt, xxviii. 18, 19, 20.
 
 26 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. both, out of the common funds of the Church 1 . 
 These Deacons were permitted also (at least in some 
 instances) to baptize, to preach, and to assist at 
 the administration of the Lord's supper. 
 
 This arrangement seems to have continued for 
 some time ; but afterwards, when the Apostles, by 
 Divine command, beginning from Jerusalem, made 
 converts throughout Judea, Samaria, and the 
 various provinces of the Roman empire, (not only 
 among the Jews in those countries, but also among 
 the Gentiles,) another order of Church officers was 
 appointed. This order was found necessary to 
 govern and direct, in different towns and confined 
 districts, certain small communities placed under 
 their charge; to preside also in their religious 
 meetings; to administer the sacraments ; and to 
 order of superintend the conduct of the Deacons. On this 
 
 Priests or . . . 
 
 Presbyters, superior rank ot ministers was bestowed the name 
 of Presbyters, Elders, Pastors, or sometimes even 
 of Bishops, in the sense of overseers of the people. 
 
 General su- At the same time that the Presbyters and Dea- 
 
 perintend- 111 /> i i 
 
 ence by the cons took the charge ot single congregations, the 
 Apostles exercised over the whole Church a general 
 control. They retained in their own hands the 
 exclusive power of ordination : they gave directions 
 to the inferior ministers for the administration of 
 Divine service ; they instituted forms of worship ; 
 they prescribed rules of discipline ; they silenced 
 erroneous teachers ; they inflicted censures on 
 
 1 Acts vi.
 
 EPISCOPACY. / 
 
 notorious offenders ; they expelled the contuma- DISS. i. 
 cious from the society. As, however, congrega- J^jJ^ 
 tions in various quarters of the earth continued to 
 increase and multiply, the care of all the Churches 
 became too great a labour for the small number of 
 Apostles originally ordained ; which number had, 
 from the first, been diminished by the apostacy and 
 death of Judas, and afterwards by the martyrdom 
 of James. Accordingly St. Matthias, St. Barna- 
 bas l , and St. Paul were added by our Lord himself 
 to the apostolic or episcopal college 2 , and invested 
 with the same powers as the original members. 
 
 But even this addition was at last inadequate to 
 the increasing exigencies of the Church : besides 
 that the advancing years of the apostles, and their 
 prospect of removal from the sphere of their earthly 
 labours, made it necessary to provide for the spiritual 
 wants of future generations. They, therefore, under cessation of 
 the direction of the Holy Ghost, consecrated other apostolical 
 
 , i i -i authority 
 
 persons, to be invested with powers somewhat andsubsti- 
 similar to their own ; but who, deriving those powers episcopal. 
 not immediately from Divine, but from human 
 election, would in some respect be inferior and 
 subordinate. 
 
 1 "Which" (design to offer them sacrifice) "when the Apostles, 
 Barnabas and Paul heard of, they rent their clothes." Acts 
 xiv. 14. 
 
 2 " The first Bishops in the Church of Christ were the blessed 
 Apostles. For the office whereunto Matthias was chosen, the 
 sacred history doth term i-n-iffKOTr^v an episcopal office, which 
 being expressly spoken of one, agreeth not less unto all, than 
 unto him." Hooker's Ecc. Pol. Book vii. Sec. 4.
 
 28 
 
 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. Thus St. Paul, in the prospect that he might not 
 = be able, in his own person, to visit the Church of 
 Ephesus for some time, and never perhaps again ; 
 Timothy appointed Timothy to preside over it with apostoli- 
 Bishop of cal or episcopal authority. In his first epistle to 
 this beloved disciple, whom he calls "Kis own son 
 in the Faith," he instructs the newly consecrated 
 bishop " how to behave himself in the house of 
 God," and expresses his apprehensions of being 
 " constrained to tarry long" away from his Ephe- 
 sian friends and converts. And in his second 
 epistle, written in the last year of his life, he incul- 
 cates diligence on the Ephesian bishop, from the 
 consideration that his own ministry was now about 
 to close. " Preach the word," says the Apostle 
 to his youthful representative and successor ; " be 
 instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, 
 exhort, with all long suffering and doctrine : for 
 I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my 
 departure is at hand 1 ." 
 
 That the powers entrusted to Timothy were the 
 same with those which have been assigned by all 
 churches to bishops ever since, will be abundantly 
 evident from the following instructions : " I be- 
 sought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went 
 into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some 
 Powers that they teach no other doctrine, neither give 
 Timothy, heed to fables and endless genealogies. Let the 
 Presbyters that rule well be counted worthy of 
 
 tendence. 
 
 1 2 Tim. iv. 2. 6.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 29 
 
 double honour; especially they who labour in the DISS. i. 
 word and doctrine. Against a Presbyter receive CHAP ' ' 
 not an accusation but before two or three witnesses. 
 Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also 
 may fear. Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither Ordination. 
 be partaker of other men's sins. Keep thyself 
 pure l ." In these words we see the power of grant- 
 ing ordination, together with the peculiar rights of 
 jurisdiction and coercion to be exercised not only 
 over the laity, but also over the two subordinate 
 ranks of clergy, conveyed in the amplest form. 
 
 Another example of a Church officer elevated to Titus made 
 
 . o T- i Bishop of 
 
 episcopal authority is Titus, whom St. Paul ap- Crete, 
 pointed over the Presbyters and Deacons of Crete, 
 investing him with the same powers which he gave 
 to Timothy over those of Ephesus. Titus is directed 
 to "ordain Elders (Presbyters) in every city," after 
 due inquiry into the character and qualifications of 
 each candidate : he is instructed " to set in order 
 things that were wanting," by providing rules of 
 discipline, and formularies of public worship : he 
 is required to " exhort and to convince the gain- 
 sayers;" to " stop the mouths of unruly and vain 
 talkers and deceivers;" to " rebuke" the Cretans 
 " sharply, that they might be sound in the faith :" 
 he is empowered and enjoined to " rebuke with all 
 authority ;" to "admonish heretics," and if they 
 continued contumacious " after a first and second 
 admonition," to " reject" or excommunicate them. 
 
 1 See 1 Tim. & 2 Tim. passim.
 
 30 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. More extensive powers than these, or more unequi- 
 CHAP- ' vocally expressive of episcopal pre-eminence could 
 
 not easily be devised. 
 
 These ap- It has sometimes been conjectured that Timothy 
 notocca- anc ^ Titus may have held the government of the 
 plrmLne U it. Ephesian and Cretan Churches, under the title 
 and character of Evangelists. This office of Evan- 
 gelist is imagined to have been superior in rank to 
 that of Presbyter, though inferior to the Apostle- 
 ship : and to have been intended only for occasional 
 purposes and for temporary duration. The original 
 notion of an Evangelist is that of a person bringing 
 glad tidings, (cua-yyeXta,) or to speak more strictly, 
 the glad tidings of salvation through Jesus Christ. 
 Sometimes the term is applied to a person miracu- 
 lously inspired to write a gospel, (evangelium^ in 
 which latter sense two of the Apostles, St. Matthew 
 and St. John, were Evangelists ; as well as St. 
 Mark, who, in the capacity of Deacon, accompanied 
 Paul and Barnabas in their apostolic journey 1 . 
 St. Luke, the remaining Evangelist, seems to have 
 held the same rank of Deacon. The other sense in 
 which we find the word Evangelist employed is to 
 designate a preacher among unbelievers ; or, as we 
 should call him in modern diction, a missionary. 
 Philip the Deacon is on this account termed an 
 Evangelist 2 . 
 
 These ancient missionaries, like missionaries of 
 the modern Church, might be of various orders in 
 
 1 Acts xiii. 5. J Acts xxi. 8.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 31 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 the ministry. Eusebius informs us, that "who- DISS. i. 
 ever planted the Gospel first in any country was 
 entitled an Evangelist 1 ,'' and another ancient but 
 somewhat later authority, seems to intimate, that 
 Evangelists generally held the station of Deacons. 
 " Evangelists," he says, " are Deacons, as was 
 Philip 2 ." 
 
 When, therefore, St. Paul gives a charge to 
 Timothy, " Do the work of an Evangelist 3 , "he could 
 not mean that the Ephesian Bishop was to exer- 
 cise his episcopal functions in the character of a 
 missionary : more especially as the Apostle subjoins 
 immediately afterwards, in the very same verse, 
 "make full proof of thy ministry or deaconship," 
 (SiaKovtav,) from which expression we might as well 
 infer that Timothy governed the Church of Ephe- 
 sus, in the capacity of a Deacon ; as we might infer 
 from the previous title given him, that he exercised 
 his authority in the character of an Evangelist. 
 
 What St. Paul meant by " the work of an Evan- 
 gelist," may be sufficiently gathered from a. preced- 
 ing verse already quoted from the same chapter : 
 " Preach the word : be instant in season, out of 
 season : reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffer- 
 ing and doctrine 4 ." These duties cannot surely 
 
 1 Prima apud eos fundamenta evangelii collocantes EVANGELIST- 
 ARUM fungebantur officio. Euseb. Hist. eccl. lib. iii. c. 37. 
 
 2 Evangelists Diaconi sunt sicut full Philippus. Ambros. in 
 Ephes. iv. 11. 
 
 3 2 Tim. iv. 5. 
 
 See Bishop Taylor on Episcopacy, sec. xiv. p. 61. Potter 
 10
 
 32 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. be pronounced incompatible with the episcopal 
 CHAP - ' office. 
 
 Timothy To prove that Timothy resided constantly at 
 
 and Titus, T-I rrvj /~*\ 
 
 why not ai- i^pnesus, or 1 itus in Crete, is not necessary to our 
 argument. Both of these distinguished individuals 
 derived, without question, episcopal powers, imme- 
 diately from the hands of an Apostle : and this fact 
 is all that our case demands. If, therefore, it 
 should be alleged that Timothy and Titus were 
 not constantly resident, each in his own diocese, 
 we are not, on this account, warranted in supposing 
 that they discharged a merely transient or tempo- 
 rary function : or that their occasional departure 
 from Ephesus, or from Crete, dissolved their eccle- 
 siastical connexion with the Presbyters and Deacons 
 over whom they were appointed. For, as the 
 Apostles themselves could not but be generally 
 absent from many churches over which they re- 
 tained episcopal authority ; and which they con- 
 tinued to regulate by means of such visitations and 
 correspondence as circumstances rendered needful : 
 so also when they delegated that authority to 
 Bishops, it would happen that those Bishops, 
 though holding a permanent jurisdiction, might, 
 from time to time, be indispensably called away 
 to other districts, by the exigencies of the infant 
 Church '. The probability is, that Timothy and 
 
 on Church Government, c. iii. and note (D) at the end of the 
 volume. 
 
 1 It has been insinuated that the occasional absence of Timothy 
 and Titus from Ephesus and Crete respectively, would be a dan-
 
 EPISCOPACY. 33 
 
 Titus did in the end reside permanently, each in DISS. i. 
 his own diocese. They are denominated Bishops CHAP - * 
 of Crete and of Ephesus, respectively, by the una- 
 nimous voice of all Christian antiquity ; by no less 
 than twenty distinct authorities, which mention 
 the one as holding the Episcopate of Ephesus; and 
 by eighteen equally plain authorities, which allude 
 to the other as enjoying the episcopate of Crete l . 
 So that we might almost as reasonably call in 
 question the fact, that Epistles were ever written by 
 St. Paul to either of these distinguished overseers of 
 the Church, or deny that they ever were at Ephe- 
 sus or Crete, as doubt the fact that they were actual 
 Diocesans of those places. 
 
 It was before observed, that the Apostles, when NO scriptu- 
 ral warrant 
 
 they appointed Presbyters, and bestowed on them forordina- 
 
 ri T1 .., ,... . . i tionbyPres- 
 
 the honourable privilege ol ministering in the con- byters only, 
 gregation, reserved to themselves exclusively the 
 power of granting ordination. This is evident from 
 the circumstance, that, on this subject, there is not 
 a single precept in Holy Scripture addressed to 
 Elders ; nor any passage in which they are repre- 
 sented otherwise than as assistants merely to their 
 
 gerous precedent for episcopal non-residence. But the difference 
 must be obvious between the case of an infant church and of an 
 ancient establishment : between the absence of a primitive bishop, 
 called from his own peculiar see to other places of laborious exer- 
 tion ; and the absence of a modern prelate from his only sphere of 
 diocesan labour. 
 
 1 See for the list of these authorities Taylor on Episcopacy, 
 sects, xiv. & xv. 
 
 D
 
 34 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 .x 
 
 DISS. i. Bishop or their Apostle, in the performance of this 
 AP ' Ij solemnity. We find their other duties in other 
 parts of the New Testament, clearly and fully 
 pointed out, but not one direction, not one injunc- 
 tion with respect to their laying on of hands. All 
 regulations on this point are addressed to persons 
 of a higher order. This total silence of the word of 
 God, on the subject of non-Episcopal ordination, 
 is calculated to leave the deepest impression and 
 conviction on every candid mind. 
 
 Alleged ex- As an exception to this rule respecting ordina- 
 thfonTie? tion, the only case which can with any plausibility 
 be urged, is that of Timothy, alluded to by St. Paul 
 in the following injunction : " Neglect not the 
 gift that is in thee, which was given thee by pro- 
 phecy, with the laying on of the hands of the Pres- 
 bytery 1 ." From this passage it has been contended, 
 that, at the time of Timothy's admission to the 
 priesthood, the right of conferring orders belonged 
 to certain colleges of Presbyters, by whom it was 
 regularly exercised : but there are several decisive 
 reasons why this allusion of St. Paul will not bear 
 out the hypothesis in behalf of which this text is 
 adduced. 
 
 First argu- 1. For first of all the learned Calvin affirms, that 
 against this the word Presbytery does not, in this passage, refer 
 to any college or assembly of Presbyters as confer- 
 ring the gift on Timothy ; but to the gift itself, 
 namely, the function of a Presbyter, which Timothy 
 
 1 1 Tim. iv. 14.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 35 
 
 received. According to that able interpreter the DISS. i. 
 passage should be thus translated : " Neglect not _^*_ p '_^ 
 the gift (or honour) which by prophecy, with the 
 laying on of hands, was conferred upon thee, of 
 priesthood:" and he alleges that this is the only 
 interpretation compatible with the Apostle's lan- 
 guage elsewhere on the same subject '. 
 
 2. Again, supposing that, contrary to the opinion Another ar- 
 of Calvin, the word translated Presbytery, should 
 mean a College of Presbyters ; a question imme- 
 diately arises as to the rank of those Presbyters in 
 the Church : for, as we have already noticed, and 
 as the adversaries of Episcopacy are continually 
 reminding us, the highest officers of the Church 
 are often spoken of under the denomination of 
 Presbyters ; oftener, perhaps, than those of lower 
 degrees 2 . It would consequently be unwarrantable 
 to conclude, because a company of Apostles, in 
 other words an assembly of the highest Church 
 officers, acting in solemn synod, laid their hands on 
 Timothy ; that therefore a company of inferior 
 officers, in other words an assembly of Presbyters, 
 properly so called, might have done the same, and 
 might, unsanctioned by the presence and co-ope- 
 ration of their Diocesan, have conferred the same 
 orders. 
 
 1 2 Tim. 1. 6. 
 
 2 " I betook myself," says St. Ignatius, " to the Apostles, as to 
 the Presbytery of the Church/' Ignat. Epist. ad. Philadelph. 
 Coteler. ed. sect. v. See also the Apostolic Constitutions, lib. ii. 
 cap. 28. 
 
 D 2
 
 36 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. 3. Further, granting all that the anti-Episcopa- 
 
 AF ' K lian advocate can contend for ; granting him that 
 
 A third ar- the word translated Presbytery meant a college of 
 
 gument. T^ i i i i -r\ 
 
 Presbyters ; and granting that those Presbyters 
 were merely Elders or Pastors of congregations ; 
 what would these concessions amount to ? No 
 more than this, that Presbyters, in subordination to 
 an Apostle, possess the power of conferring orders : 
 for to this effect we find St. Paul elsewhere declar- 
 ing, that he himself was the person by whom 
 Timothy was ordained. " Stir up," says he, " the 
 gift of God which is in thee, by the putting on of 
 my hands." In conformity with this high example, 
 ordination by a Bishop, and his assistant Presby- 
 ters, is the very form appointed in the Church of 
 England. 
 
 st. James Among the examples from Holy Scripture of 
 Bishop of a church officer fixed by Apostolical appointment 
 
 Jerusalem. . < * r 
 
 in a local Episcopate, none is more important than 
 that of St. James, the brother of our Lord. This 
 Apostle seems to have enjoyed a pre-eminence, 
 and to have exercised an authority in the parent 
 Church at Jerusalem, not otherwise to be accounted 
 for than by admitting, in conformity to the suffrages 
 of all antiquity, that he was constituted Bishop of 
 that city. Proofs are frequent, both in the Book 
 of Acts and in the Apostolical Epistles, of the pecu- 
 liar influence possessed by St. James at Jerusalem ; 
 as well as of his constant residence in that metro- 
 politan see. Thus the first direction given by St. 
 Peter, when delivered out of prison, was " Go
 
 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 37 
 
 shew these things unto James, and to the bre- DISS. i. 
 thren 1 ." Again St. Paul declares to the Galatians, CHAP ' '' 
 that on his first arrival at Jerusalem, after his con- 
 version, he saw, besides Peter, " none other of the 
 Apostles save James the Lord's brother 2 ." At a 
 later period, when the same Apostle returned to the 
 holy city, he mentions "James, Peter, (Cephas)," 
 and "John," as the acknowledged " pillars of the 
 Church," assigning the priority to James 3 . St. 
 Luke, also, recording the journey in which he 
 accompanied St. Paul to Jerusalem, gives this 
 account : " The brethren received us gladly, and 
 the day following Paul went in with us unto James, 
 and all the Elders were present 4 ." On this passage 
 St. Chrysostom observes, that St. James deter- 
 mined nothing by his sole authority as a Bishop 
 
 (ou^ we tTriWoTTOt,' av%evTiKtt)<; StaXeyerat) with regard 
 
 to the important question then in debate ; but, in 
 conjunction with his assistant Presbyters, took Paul 
 into council with him. The learned Father adds, 
 that the Presbyters conducted themselves, on this 
 occasion, with all due reverence (/' vTrocrroX^c) 
 towards their ecclesiastical superior 5 . 
 
 It is further very remarkable respecting the 
 local Episcopate of St. James, that in the celebrated 
 assembly, entitled the first general council held by 
 the whole Apostolic college, together with the 
 Elders and Brethren of the Church in Jerusalem, 
 
 1 Acts xii. 17. a Gal. i. 19. 3 Gal. ii. 9. 
 
 4 Acts xxi. 18. s Chrys. Comm. in Act. xxi.
 
 38 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. St. James, the resident local Bishop, presided in 
 CHAP- '_ the conclave. We read that there was much ear- 
 nest discussion : that St. Peter first addressed the 
 assembly : that Paul and Barnabas next expressed 
 their opinion, contending for the exemption of the 
 Gentiles from the Mosaic law : and tl^at finally, 
 St. James, as president, summed up the arguments 
 and the evidences advanced on all sides, and de- 
 livered his sentiments in authoritative terms as 
 follows : " My sentence is, that we trouble not 
 them, who from among the Gentiles are turned to 
 God V In this sentence the whole council unani- 
 mously concurred : and yet it is remarkable that 
 the other members, even those of Apostolic dignity, 
 are passed over in silence ; and that when messen- 
 gers were sent to notify this decree among the 
 Churches, they are reported by St. Paul as having 
 " come from James V On this peculiar expression 
 of the Apostle, St. Augustin has observed that the 
 "coming" of the messengers "from James" de- 
 noted their being sent by the Church of Jerusalem, 
 over which James presided. 
 
 Another conclusion has been very appositely 
 drawn from Scripture, that because St. James ad- 
 dresses his canonical epistle " to the twelve tribes 
 scattered abroad 3 ;" he must have conceived those 
 Hebrew Christians, who came up annually from 
 various quarters and worshipped at Jerusalem, to 
 be under his peculiar charge as Bishop in the 
 
 1 Acts xv. 19. 7 Gal. ii. 12. 3 James i. 1.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 39 
 
 city and neighbourhood to which they annually DISS. i. 
 resorted. CHAP - ' 
 
 The fact, however, that St. James was Bishop of 
 Jerusalem, must be admitted by every person at all 
 conversant with scriptural or ecclesiastical authori- 
 ties. It is a fact to which, as Heylyn remarks, 
 * ' there is almost no ancient writer but bears wit- 
 ness 1 ." Ignatius, a contemporary of St. James, 
 mentions the proto-martyr Stephen as Deacon under 
 the latter Bishop 2 . Hegesippus, the earliest of 
 uninspired ecclesiastical historians ' ; Clement of 
 Alexandria 4 , Eusebiusof Caesarea 5 , Theophylact 6 , 
 Epiphanius 7 , Ocumenius 8 , Ambrose Bishop of 
 Milan 9 , St. Jerome 10 , St. Chrysostom", St. Augus- 
 tine 12 , (to whom we may subjoin the assembled 
 Fathers, to the number of two hundred and eighty- 
 nine, in the sixth general council (A.D. 680) held 
 at Constantinople ;) all unite in affirming James, 
 the brother of our Lord, to have been Bishop of 
 Jerusalem. St. Cyril himself, Bishop of that city 
 (A.D. 351,) speaks of James as the first of his 
 
 1 Peter Heylyn's Reformation Justified, part i. c. 2. p. 199. 
 
 2 Ignat. Epist. ad Trail. 
 
 3 Heges. in Hieron. vid. etiam apud Euseb. Hist. lib. iv. 
 cap. 21. 
 
 4 Apud Euseb. lib. ii. cap. 1. * Euseb. lib. vii. cap. 14. 
 
 6 Comment, in Gal. ii. 7 Advers. Haeres. xxix. n. 3. 
 8 Comm. in Gal. ii. 9 In Gal. i. 
 
 10 De Scriptor. eccles. ! Horn. ult. in Joann. 
 
 12 Advers. Cresconium, lib. ii.
 
 40 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 L predecessors ' : Epiphanius not only describes him 
 ===== as the earliest of Bishops, but as occupant of " the 
 Lord's own throne by the Lord's own appoint- 
 ment 2 :" and lastly, Eusebius even particularizes 
 the chair or seat (cathedra episcopalis) on which 
 St. James sat as Bishop, to have beei* carefully 
 preserved as an interesting memorial, and readily 
 shown to all visitors (TOIC 
 
 er Whether the person whom we have now proved 
 
 jSusfiem to nave filled the Episcopal chair in Jerusalem, and 
 th"tffeive f . wno was certainly our Lord's kinsman, was or was 
 not one of the twelve Apostles, is a fact much dis- 
 puted. But this fact is not essentially connected 
 with our argument. For, in either case, we have a 
 Church officer placed over Presbyters, and fixed 
 in a local Episcopate. If, however, St. James was 
 not one of the twelve Apostles originally chosen by 
 Christ himself, the circumstance would be still 
 more decisively in our favour. The elevation of a 
 disciple of inferior rank to a station so dignified, 
 that he pronounced sentence as the local, and, 
 therefore, presiding Bishop, in an assembly of 
 Apostles ; would not only be remarkable, but 
 would show the weight and importance attached 
 to Episcopacy, locally, fixedly, and regularly esta- 
 blished. 
 
 There were two of this name in the number of 
 the- " twelve." James, the son of Zebedee, and 
 
 1 Catech. iv. cap. de cibis, & catech. xiv. 
 
 2 Epiph. advers. Haeres. 78, n. 7.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 41 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 James, the son of Alpheus. The son of Zebedee DISS. i. 
 was martyred soon after our Lord's ascension l , and 
 could not, therefore, have been the Bishop of 
 Jerusalem. If the son of Alpheus held that office, 
 we must suppose Alpheus to be another name for 
 Cleophas. Cleophas was, we know, the father of 
 that James, who, under the appellation of "the 
 Lord's brother," held the Episcopate of Jerusalem. 
 But, that Cleophas and Alpheus were the same per- 
 son, there are several good reasons for disputing, 
 drawn both from Scripture and from ancient unin- 
 spired writers a . 
 
 Passing over other less important proofs from 
 Scripture in favour of Episcopacy, we shall termi- 
 nate this part of our discussion, with an argument 
 arising from the book of Revelations ; where we find 
 
 1 Acts xii. 2. " And he (Herod) killed James the brother of 
 John with the sword." 
 
 2 See note (E) at the end of the volume, for Bishop Taylor's 
 enumeration of them. We may add to their testimony the con- 
 cessions of the more modern authorities, Salmasius and Calvin, 
 held in the greatest reverence by our opponents. Salmasius, 
 speaking of James, says : " Certum est, non fuisse unum ex duo- 
 decim." It is certain that James mas not one of the twelve, v. 
 Wai. Messalin, p. 20. Calvin's words are " Non nego alium, 
 (alium scilicet, non Apostolum) fuisse ecclesiae Hierosolymitanae 
 praefectum et quidam ex discipulorum collegio. Nam Apostolos 
 non oportuit certo loco alligari." I do not deny that some person, 
 and that person not an Apostle, but merely one of the Disciples, 
 presided over the Church at Jerusalem ; for no Apostle could be 
 fixed to one definite place. Vide Prof, ad comm. in Jacobi 
 Epist.
 
 42 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. our blessed Saviour sending messages or epistles by 
 the Apostle John, to the Angels of the Seven 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 The seven Churches of Asia \ Who these Angels were, is a 
 
 apocalyptic _ . . 
 
 angeis were point lor carctul consideration, Inat they were, in 
 
 bishops. , . . . . . . . 
 
 our popular sense, Angels, that is heavenly spirits, is 
 too absurd to be maintained. A second supposition 
 might be, which is equally unreasonable, that the 
 Angels of the Churches were the Churches them- 
 selves : for, in the explanation of St. John's vision, 
 at the conclusion of his first chapter, the candle- 
 sticks, which represent the seven Churches, are 
 clearly distinguished from the seven stars, which 
 are emblems of the angels. Nor, thirdly, would it 
 be a satisfactory hypothesis to explain the term in 
 question, as meaning a collective body or Presby- 
 tery. These Angels are always addressed as in- 
 dividuals and not as colleges. For each of them 
 is always addressed in the singular number. There 
 is no example, under similar circumstances, through- 
 out the sacred volume, of the same mode of ex- 
 pression being used towards a collective body 2 . 
 
 1 Rev. i. 20. 
 
 a A respectable and learned anti-Episcopalian authority, Pro- 
 fessor Campbell, considers the supposition (we are here opposing) 
 untenable, and rejects it for the reasons we have stated. " With 
 this interpretation," says he, " I am dissatisfied. Though we 
 have instances, especially in precepts and denunciations, wherein 
 a community is addressed by the singular thou and thee, I do not 
 recollect such an use of an appellative as the application of the 
 word angel here would be on the hypotheses of these interpre- 
 ters." Lectures on Ecc. Hist. vol. i. p. 159. For further infor- 
 mation on this point, see note (F) at the end of the volume.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 43 
 
 After ascertaining that the Angels in the Apo- DISS. i. 
 calypse were individual persons, our next inquiry CHAP - * 
 is with respect to their rank and jurisdiction in the 
 Church. That they were important persons, and 
 occupied a high official station, appears from our 
 Lord's selection of them, before all others, to 
 receive and communicate his divine messages. 
 Indeed, the word angel is frequently used in the 
 sacred writings as an appellation necessarily im- 
 plying distinction and authority. Among the Jews 
 the High Priest was often termed angel, from the 
 idea that he was God's messenger l : as also were 
 the Rulers of the synagogue, who were often termed 
 angels of the congregation. And the Angel of the 
 congregation had under him inferior ministers, 
 corresponding to the Presbyters and Deacons of the 
 Christian Church 2 . In the prophecies of Malachi, 
 our Lord himself is termed the Angel of the cove- 
 nant 3 . And as the titles Angel and Apostle are 
 very nearly synonymous 4 , we find the Apostles 
 actually called Angels in the very book now before 
 us 5 . 
 
 1 Vide Diodor. Sicul. apud Photium Bibliothec. cod. 244. 
 
 3 See Dr. Russell's sermon on Episcopacy, with whose views 
 of the subject the author very much coincides, and who, on all 
 questions connected with Jewish antiquity, must be acknowledged 
 of the highest authority. 3 Mai. iii. 1. 
 
 4 Potter with very curious accuracy remarks this nice gram- 
 matical distinction, that an Apostle means a person empowered 
 to deliver a message, and an Angel a person who actually delivers 
 it. On Church government, p. 149. So small a difference is 
 equivalent to identity. 5 Rev. xxi. 12. 14.
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 44 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. The high prerogatives belonging to these Apo- 
 calyptic Angels, or as we should term them, 
 Bishops, of the seven Churches, are remarkably 
 apparent from the language of our Saviour himself, 
 addressed to them in his divine epistles. He makes 
 them responsible for their respective Churches. He 
 ascribes to them the powers of jurisdiction and 
 coercion. He blames some of them, for not exert- 
 ing these powers with sufficient vigour : he bestows 
 praise on others for their energy and faithfulness. 
 And it was not merely over the laity that this 
 spiritual jurisdiction was exercised ; for Presbyters 
 and Deacons undoubtedly existed at that time in 
 the Asiatic Churches. We read of St. Paul, many 
 years before, sending from Miletus to Ephesus, 
 " to call the Presbyters of the Church 1 ." To com- 
 plete this argument, it may be noticed that the 
 very names, in some cases, of these Asiatic Bishops, 
 are still preserved in ancient Church writers 2 . 
 We are, therefore, warranted to affirm, (agreeably 
 to the concurring testimony of all ecclesiastical 
 antiquity,) that the Angels of the seven Churches 
 of Asia were Bishops, appointed by the Apostles, 
 and recognised by our blessed Lord himself, as 
 
 1 Acts xx. 17. 
 
 2 For several of their names see Potter on Church Government, 
 chap. iv. p. 151. Tertullian mentions an example; " Sicut 
 Smyrnaeorum ecclesiae Polycarpum ab Joanne conlocatum refert." 
 As the Church of Smyrna relates that Polycarp mas installed by 
 St. John, c. xxxii. InThorndike on Religious Assemblies, p. 81. 
 See also Blondel. Apol. pro sent. Hieron. praef. p. 6.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 45 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 presiding over Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thy- DISS. i. 
 atira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. 
 
 We have now traced the progress of the Christian 
 Society, from infancy to full maturity ; from the 
 period when Christians first assembled regularly 
 for divine worship, to the time when our Saviour 
 addressed messages of consolation or of rebuke 
 through his beloved disciple, the writer of the 
 Revelations, to the Bishops of the Seven Churches 
 of Asia. We have plainly seen the gradual distri- 
 bution of sacred functions among three distinct 
 orders of Church officers ; and we have more espe- 
 cially ascertained the right of conferring ordination 
 to have been vested exclusively in the highest of 
 these orders, and never in any instance to have 
 been imparted to, nor exercised by the inferior 
 Clergy.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ARGUMENT FROM ANTIQUITY. 
 
 DISS. i. THE reader has already been prepared to find the 
 CHAP ' " preceding arguments from Scripture supported by 
 the authority of antiquity ; and, therefore, without 
 repeating what has been already stated, we shall 
 at once bring forward ancient testimonies to the 
 fact, that Episcopacy was the original and apos- 
 tolical constitution of the Church. 
 
 Testimony As witnesses in every cause are valuable propor- 
 toiic Fa- tionably to their means of information, we shall 
 begin with those venerable writers, who have re- 
 ceived the name of Apostolic Fathers, because they 
 not only lived in the days of the Apostles, and en- 
 joyed the benefit of their instructions and conver- 
 sation ; but also were by them ordained to the 
 ministry. Living at that early period, and emi- 
 nently distinguished for zeal and piety in the purest 
 and most pious age, these holy men can neither 
 be suspected of falsehood, nor of ignorance ; neither 
 of deceiving others, nor of being themselves de- 
 ceived. 
 
 Rome e " tof Tne ** ret of these autnors to be quoted is St. 
 Clement, of whom we read in Scripture, that he 
 
 10
 
 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 was a " fellow labourer" with the Apostle Paul, 
 and that his " name was written in the book of 
 life 1 ." This excellent person was afterwards ap- 
 pointed to the Bishoprick of Rome, and wrote an 
 Epistle in the name of that Church, to the Church 
 at Corinth, with the benevolent view of quieting 
 some dissensions among the Corinthian converts, 
 with respect to their spiritual guides. 
 
 Near the opening of his epistle, Clement eulo- 
 gises the Corinthians for their previous obedience 
 to ecclesiastical authority, before these jealousies 
 and seclusions had arisen among them. " Ye 
 walked, "he says "according to the law of God, 
 being subject to your supreme rulers, and yielding 
 due honour to the Presbyters 8 ." He afterwards 
 subjoins an exhortation: "Let us venerate our 
 supreme rulers, and let us reverence our Presby- 
 ters 3 . The term ^-you^u-Voi which we have here 
 translated supreme ruler; in Yxiiin^prcepositus, was, 
 in later times, among the ordinary designations of 
 a Bishop ; just as in our own times we hear every 
 day the words Prelate, Bishop, and Diocesan, used 
 interchangeably in our own language 4 . 
 
 1 Phil. iv. 3. 
 
 2 viroTaoaofievoi role ^yov/jievoif v^Htv, KOI rtpt)v TIIV KaQifKovaav 
 airovp.ovTs role Trap' vp.~tv irptafivTepoic. Epist. Clem, ad 
 Corinth. 
 
 3 TrpOT]-/OVfJ.VOVC 7/yUW V ai$ffd(i>[JLV, TOVf TTpfafivTCpOVf ?/U(Jv Tt- 
 
 fii'l<T<>)p.v. Ibid. 
 
 4 Cyprian applies the word prcepositus (in Greek /yoiyzj/o.) 
 even to the Apostles. " The Lord himself," he says, " chose the 
 Apostles, that is the Bishops and Rulers of the Church." Quoniam 
 
 47
 
 48 
 
 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 DISS i. This pious Father declares farther in the same 
 epistle, that the constitution of the Church, and 
 the succession of Church officers, were determined 
 and arranged under the express sanction of the 
 Divine Founder himself. " The Apostles" he says, 
 "knowing of the Lord Jesus, that contests would 
 arise concerning the Episcopal name (or order) and 
 for this cause, having a perfect fore-knowledge" 
 (of these things) " ordained those ministers before 
 mentioned ; and, moreover, established a rule of 
 succession, that when they should die, other ap- 
 proved persons should succeed to their ministry 1 ." 
 The same apostolic writer elsewhere traces a cor- 
 respondence between the Christian and the Jewish 
 polity. He observes, that " the High Priest had his 
 proper services to perform : that the Priests had 
 their proper place appointed : that to the Levites 
 appertained their proper ministries: and that the 
 layman was confined to the proper bounds of what 
 was prescribed to laymen 2 ." The exhortation 
 
 Apostolos, id est episcopos et praepositos, Dominus elegit. Cyp. 
 lib. iii. ep. 9. 
 
 1 icat ol aVooroXot ;/i<Jv eyvutaav Sia row Kvplov 7//i<Jr 'lijtrov 
 Xpiorov on epic eoreu eirl row ovd/iaroc rqc tiriffKoiriJQ' Sta ravrriv 
 ovv Tt)v alriav wpoyvw<rtv tlXrj^ortq reXttav, jcarcffnjffav roi/e 
 Trpoetpij^fVoue, teal /urav ivivofiflv <;e$wKa.(TLi> oirus eay Kotpi]8wffir, 
 ciati^uirrai erepoi SfSoKifiafffilvoi &vSpe<; TT)V Xeirovpyiav ai/rwr. 
 S. Clement. Epist. ad Corinth, cap. 44, ad init. 
 
 1 Ty yap a'p^upcc "tStai XetTOvpyiai Sedofuvai elfft, KCU rolg 
 lepevffiv t^ioc o roVoc irpoarre'reucreu, icat Xeufratc "tSuu tiuKnai 
 iiriKtivrai' 6 Xa'tKOf avdpwjrot; ro?c Xaecotc Trpotrra.yp.a.(Jiv federal. 
 Cotel. Ed. cap. 40.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 49 
 
 which St. Clement grounds on this analogy, is ex- DISS i. 
 pressed immediately afterwards as follows : ' ' Let, CHAP - " 
 therefore, every one of you, my brethren, bless God 
 in his proper station, keeping a good conscience, 
 in all honesty not exceeding his appointed rule of 
 service 1 ." He proceeds to dissuade from irregular 
 and schismatical proceedings, by instancing the 
 case of those offenders, who, under the Jewish dis- 
 pensation, received the punishment of death. 
 " Consider, brethren," he adds, " that the greater 
 our knowledge, the more fearful our responsi- 
 bility 2 ." 
 
 The next in order of the Apostolic Fathers is Ignatius. 
 IGNATIUS, Bishop of Antioch, in Syria. He was 
 appointed to that see within thirty-six years of our 
 Saviour's crucifixion ; presided over the Church of 
 Antioch during a period of forty years ; and at last 
 suffered martyrdom in the cause of truth. He was 
 torn in pieces at Rome by wild beasts, A. D. 110. 
 " He was personally intimate with the Apostles," 
 says St. Chrysostom ; "was perfectly acquainted 
 with their doctrine ; and had their hands laid upon 
 him." Eusebius states of him that he received con- 
 secration (Sta rrig TOV /ueyaXou Hf'rpou Striae) imme- 
 diately from St. Peter, whom he here styles "the 
 great." No witness could be imagined less liable 
 to exception than Ignatius, either in point of 
 character, or of information : and happily, his 
 evidence, with respect to the constitution of the 
 
 1 Cotel. ed. cap. 41. 2 Ibid. 
 
 E
 
 50 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 I 
 
 DISS. i. Church, is as clear and as explicit, as his authority 
 CHAP " "' is important and decisive. He wrote to various 
 churches, after the example of the Apostles, letters 
 much admired by antiquity ; which are quoted by 
 various writers, and which tend peculiarly to in- 
 terest the reader, from the affecting consideration 
 that the writer of them was a prisoner, on his way 
 to Rome, anticipating a cruel death. His feelings 
 on this subject, combine the courage of a hero with 
 the piety of a Christian : " Nothing," says he, 
 " shall move me, that I may attain to Jesus Christ ; 
 let fire and the cross ; let hordes of wild beasts ; 
 let breaking of bones, and tearing of members ; let 
 the scattering in pieces of the whole body, and all 
 the wicked torments of the Devil come upon me, 
 only let me enjoy Jesus Christ." 
 
 To quote all the passages from this intrepid asser- 
 tor of divine truth, which have reference to our 
 present argument, is unnecessary, and might even 
 be tedious. We shall confine ourselves to a few 
 statements directly to our purpose out of various 
 epistles. Writing to the Trallian Church, " Let 
 all men," he says, " reverence the Deacons as Jesus 
 Christ, and the Bishop, as Him who is the Son 
 of God ; the Presbyters as the sanhedrim of God, 
 and college of the Apostles. Without these there 
 is no Church V In the same epistle, having ex- 
 
 irdvTtQ ivrpnriaQtoaav TOVS SittKovovc, de 'I 
 we KOI TOV tTriffKoirov, ovra vlov TOV Trarpos' TOVQ $ 
 
 ov icaXelrat. Cotel. ed. cap. 3.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 51 
 
 horted the Trallians to " continue inseparable from DISS. i. 
 Jesus Christ," he proceeds, " He that is within the . 
 
 'X * 
 
 altar is pure : but he who is without, (that is, who 
 does any thing without the Bishop, and the Pres- 
 byters, and the Deacons,) is not pure in his con- 
 science 1 ." In his epistle to the Philadelphians, 
 having- saluted them in the blood of Jesus Christ, 
 "which," says he, "is an eternal and enduring 
 joy, especially to all who are at unity with the 
 Bishop and the Presbyters who are with him, and 
 the Deacons ; whom, established by the determina- 
 tion of Jesus Christ, he has firmly settled, accord- 
 ing to his own will, by his Holy Spirit 2 ." To the 
 Church at Smyrna, having exhorted the members 
 of it to unity and concord, he thus describes the 
 only method, in his opinion, of preventing schism. 
 " See that ye follow, all of you, your Bishop, as 
 Jesus Christ follows the Father. Follow your 
 Presbytery as Apostles. Reverence, moreover, 
 your Deacons, as you would the mandate of God. 
 Let nothing be done without the Bishop, in matters 
 pertaining to the Church. Let that eucharist be 
 considered duly constituted, which is either offered 
 by the Bishop, or by him whom the Bishop has 
 
 1 'O evroe dvffiaffrrjpiov wv Kadripos lernv, 6 \wplg li 
 
 Kat Trptffpvreptou KOI ^MKOVOV Trpdcrffwv TI, ovrog ov Kadapog ianv 
 rrj avvti^rjati. Cotel. ed. cap. 7 
 
 2 Ma'Xiora iav tv evi waiv avv T(f tTrterKOTr^, Kai rote <n>v avry 
 TrpEffj3vTepoif, KOI StaKovotg, airoct$f.iyp.f.voiQ tv yv<i>/j.n 'I/<roD 
 Xpiorou, oug cara TO 'iStov 6l\r)/jia ivrfiptZev iv fiffiauiMrvvr), ry 
 ay/w aurou Trvfvp.ari. Cotel. ed. praef. 
 
 E2
 
 52 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. authorized. Wherever the Bishop is, there let 
 CHAP ' "' the people be : as, where Jesus Christ is, there is 
 the Catholic Church. It is not lawful without the 
 Bishop's license, either to baptize, or to celebrate 
 the holy communion : but whatever he shall approve 
 of, is also pleasing to God ; that thus, whatever is 
 done may be done safely and correctly 1 ." One pas- 
 sage more may suffice from the writings of this 
 illustrious martyr. In his Epistle to St. Polycarp, 
 who, like himself, was an immediate Disciple of 
 the Apostles, he thus exhorts the people through 
 their spiritual head : "Do all things to the glory 
 of God ; hearken unto your Bishop, that God may 
 also hearken unto you : my soul be surety for them 
 that submit to their Bishop, with their Presby- 
 ters and Deacons ; and let my portion be with them 
 in God 2 !" 
 
 So very clear and decided are the passages 
 now quoted, and so competent is the author, both 
 in point of character and of knowledge, as a wit- 
 ness to the Apostolical institution of Episcopacy ; 
 that those opponents who reject this institution 
 have no resource but to impugn the authority of 
 the writings ascribed to Ignatius. There is some 
 
 a.Ko\ovdt~iT, oc Mjj<roi/c Xptoroe Tip 
 irarpl' vat ry Trpefffivreply, ie rote aVoaroAote* roi/e ^ SUIKOVOVS 
 t, we Qtov tvTo\i]V K. T. X. Cotel. ed. cap. 8. 
 
 tie Tip.iiv Qiov yiveadk)' Tw iiriffKOTry Trpoffl^tTe, Iva 
 KO.I b Geof v^Tiv' avri^v^ov iya> T&V viroraaffo^iivuv ry E 
 irpeapvTtpoic, Siaicovoig' Kal fitr' avT&v /not TO ^ttpoe ytvoiro 
 iv Bty. Ibid. cap. 5. 6. 
 

 
 EPISCOPACY. 53 
 
 plausibility in the arguments by which this attack DISS. i. 
 has been supported : and the controversy has called CHAP - " 
 forth, on both sides, more learning and ability than 
 almost any other disputed fact in ecclesiastical 
 literature. At the same time we are fairly entitled 
 to remark, that Bishop Pearson's powerful vindica- 
 tion of the well known Seven Ignatian Epistles, 
 from some of which we have quoted, appears so far 
 to have settled the question, that no theological 
 disputant of any reputation has ventured to come 
 forward with a regular and systematic reply. That 
 we may, however, afford the general reader some 
 acquaintance with a controversy intimately, (though 
 not altogether essentially) connected with our sub- 
 ject, we shall suppose the anti-episcopalian objector 
 to express his thoughts in something like the fol- 
 lowing manner: "You claim authority for an objections 
 author, whose works, as your own divines acknow- 
 
 ledge, are some of them interpolated, and others 
 spurious. I, therefore, discredit the whole. To 
 determine how far forgery has been carried, when 
 once forgery has been proved, is impossible. I 
 cannot enter into all your niceties of criticism ; nor 
 fill my eyes with the dust of antiquity to ascertain 
 which of these alleged writings are genuine, and 
 which spurious. All must stand or fall together. 
 Besides, Ignatius was too good a man to make so 
 much parade of his fortitude, as is expressed in 
 these Epistles. The eagerness for martyrdom with 
 which you innate him, implies forgetfulness of his 
 Master's precept, ' when persecuted in one city, flee >
 
 54 
 
 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. to another.' To this moral ground of dislike I add 
 CHAP - " critical objections. The style is unnatural, and 
 unsuitable to his circumstances. A martyr on his 
 way to the scene of torture would have written 
 with simpler diction. He would not have used the 
 grandiloquent and hyperbolical phraseology you 
 ascribe to him. His compound epithets are inter- 
 minable. Moreover, I deny the system of Church 
 government for which you make him a voucher, 
 to have existed in his time : Ignatius would have 
 known that the constitution of the Church was not 
 Episcopal but Presbyterian in his day. Again, 
 your testimonies are unsatisfactory and insufficient : 
 and even if you could prove the genuineness and 
 authenticity of any portion of these writings to have 
 been allowed by the Fathers, I attach but little 
 value to that argument. The Fathers were plain, 
 inartificial, simple men ; having neither sufficient 
 caution to suspect, nor sufficient sagacity to dis- 
 cover imposition V 
 
 Such is an outline of the argument by which the 
 
 The objec- 
 tions re- 
 moved. 
 
 1 A recent anti-episcopalian writer dates the Ignatian Epistles 
 no older than the fourth or fifth century ; and makes a general 
 appeal to " learned men" as his authorities for this opinion. But 
 he is contradicted by Salmasius and Blondel, the two most learned 
 of the writers on that side, who both unite in placing the Epistles 
 in question two or three centuries earlier. Blondel dates them at 
 the end of the second century ; and Salmasius at least fifty years 
 before. Epistolte illce natce et suppositae videntur, circa initium. 
 nut medium seculi secundi, quo tempore primus singular is Epis- 
 copattts supra Presbyteratum introductus est. Vide Walo. 
 Messalin. p. 253.
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 EPISCOPACY. 55 
 
 assailant of the Ignatian Epistles would overthrow DISS. i. 
 their authority. Let us now try the force of these 
 objections. The introductory assertion that the 
 writings of any author must stand or fall together, 
 and that, when partial forgery has been proved, 
 there is no necessity for laborious inquiry how far 
 it has proceeded ; would be fatal to all history, as 
 well as to all literature. Spurious compositions 
 have been attributed to the most approved histo- 
 rians, theologians, philosophers, and poets, both 
 in ancient and modern times. Sacred and pro- 
 fane writers have equally been liable to this objec- 
 tion. Among the latter every scholar is familiar 
 with doubtful or confessedly forged writings ascribed 
 to Hippocrates, Aristotle, Plato, Cicero, Taci- 
 tus, and Quinctilian ! . In like manner spurious 
 documents have been imputed to Apostles and 
 Evangelists. St. Paul, in particular, warns the 
 Thessalonians to this effect. " Be not soon shaken 
 in mind" says he, " by letter as from us;" and 
 concludes with alluding to the discrimination that 
 was expedient in ascertaining the identity of his 
 letters : " The salutation of me Paul with mine 
 own hand, which is the token in every Epistle. 
 So I write." These are his concluding words. 
 
 1 Among these it is curious to notice, that two-thirds of Hip- 
 pocrates are disallowed by the learned : and that a work (De 
 Oratoribus) ascribed by some to Tacitus, by others to Quincti- 
 lian, gives sufficient reason, on the principle we are now con- 
 demning, for the rejection of all the works of both those admir- 
 able authors.
 
 56 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. This Apostle, therefore, was far from sanctioning 
 _"* "' the idea, that the writings ascribed to any author 
 were to be accepted or rejected, without deliberate 
 and judicious scrutiny 1 . 
 
 Respecting the works of Ignatius, the case is 
 this. There are eight Epistles, three in Latin and 
 five in Greek ascribed to him, which were unknown 
 to the ancients, and are undoubtedly spurious. Of 
 
 The seven the remaining seven Epistles, two editions are ex- 
 snorter epis- 
 tles of Igna- tant ; one comprising what are called the longer, 
 
 tius alone 
 
 genuine. the other, the shorter Epistles. The longer are so 
 denominated from their containing interpolations 
 and paraphrases of the shorter, evidently intro- 
 duced in later times by some opponent of the 
 Trinity, in support of the Arian heresy. The 
 eight spurious Epistles, are, by the best critics, 
 ascribed to the same hand as the interpolations ; 
 and were forged for the same heretical purpose 2 . 
 It is remarkable, in proof of this Arian tendency, 
 that these interpolated writings have been received 
 as the true Epistles by Arian writers of recent 
 times (and by Whiston in particular), while the 
 
 1 Among inspired writers to whom spurious Gospels have 
 been attributed, we may enumerate St. Peter, St. Thomas, St. 
 Matthias, St. Bartholomew, and St. Philip. There is a Gospel 
 mentioned by St. Jerome, as having been attributed to the twelve 
 Apostles. So also were the Apostolic canons and constitutions. 
 In short the whole authority of Apostolic Scripture, would, if this 
 most absurd mode of reasoning were admitted, be set aside. 
 
 1 See Dupin Biblioth. des auteurs ecclesiastiques art. Ignatius, 
 and Cotell's dissert, ad. fen. torn. ii. 
 
 10
 
 EPISCOPACY. 57 
 
 shorter and more orthodox edition has been re- DISS. i. 
 jected by them as containing doctrines, which, in 
 their judgment, could not, in the age of Ignatius, 
 have prevailed in the Church. 
 
 The inordinate display of courage, and the am- 
 bition of martyrdom expressed in the Epistles which 
 we contend for, and alleged as incompatible with 
 the moral character of Ignatius, are unimportant 
 in this question. Granting the language to be as 
 boastful as is pretended, it might, nevertheless, be 
 very genuine. Such language, all historians are 
 agreed, was in perfect accordance with the spirit 
 of the times, when the crown of martyrdom was 
 aspired to with an eagerness which modern apathy 
 may well disbelieve l . 
 
 1 Vide Pearson! Vind. Ignat. cap. 9. As many persons, 
 from the zeal with which they have heen accustomed to hear the 
 Ignatian Epistles reprobated, may imagine there is something in 
 them morally shocking, it may be useful to state a few out of 
 numerous authorities distinguished for learning, talents, and 
 piety, who have received and admired these much calumniated 
 writings. Not to mention estimable Roman Catholic divines, 
 we may refer the most scrupulous inquirer to Vossius, Casaubon, 
 and Le Clerc, among foreigners ; and to our own Pearson, Usher, 
 and Hammond : we are tempted to add a reference, with which some 
 of our readers may be surprised, and others gratified, namely, 
 John Owen, whom Dr. South, in his peculiar language, stigma- 
 tizes as the " great Coryphaeus of rebellion :" John Owen was, 
 however, respectable for his piety as well as erudition, and though 
 a zealous anti-episcopalian, is thus quoted by Pearson. " In 
 earum (scil. epistolarum) aliquibus suavem et gratiosum ut nos- 
 trates loquuntur, Jidei deleclionis sanctitates, et zeli Dei spiritum 
 spirantem et operantem agnoscit (Owenus scil.)" Vide Pearson's 
 Vind. Ignat. cap. 5.
 
 58 
 
 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 DISS. i. With respect to criticism on inflation of style, it 
 is enough to say, that there is nothing very high- 
 flown in these writings : and if there was, an oriental 
 style would not be inconsistent with the thoughts 
 and habits of an Asiatic author. The Bishop of 
 Antioch might very naturally express ^himself in 
 Antiochian Greek. It would even be surprising 
 if he did otherwise. Instead of an objection, this 
 is an internal proof of authenticity. 
 
 To affirm that the Church polity described in the 
 Epistles of Ignatius could not have existence in 
 his time, is to beg the question. It is to take for 
 granted the very thing to be proved. Bishop 
 Pearson shows, and we shall ourselves hereafter 
 demonstrate in the progress of our present argu- 
 ment drawn from antiquity, that the language of 
 other writers, both in that and the succeeding age, 
 is conformable to the doctrines and principles of 
 this martyr, as expressed in these writings. Even 
 on the supposition, that the high Church senti- 
 ments ascribed to him were somewhat higher than 
 those of many others among the Fathers ; this 
 would, in no respect, be contrary to the common 
 course of things. Some Churchman in every age 
 may very well be allowed to be a higher Church- 
 man than his neighbours ; more zealous on the 
 subject of order and ecclesiastical discipline than 
 the' greater number of his brethren, who never- 
 theless entertain, upon the whole, the same senti- 
 ments with himself 1 . 
 
 1 Many phrases which have heen objected to in Ignatius, refer 
 to circumstances not likely now to be generally understood. Thus
 
 EPISCOPACY. 59 
 
 Respecting paucity and insufficiency objected to DISS. i. 
 in our testimonies, no assertion can be more mis- J^ 
 placed. The authenticity of the Epistles we con- 
 tend for is supported by a long chain of authorities, 
 extending from the very period when they were 
 written, down to the fifteenth century when they 
 were first impugned. Nowhere is this chain 
 broken, but every century produces separate wit- 
 nesses, some of whom have transcribed whole 
 passages : others have given catalogues, specifying 
 the very seven Epistles which we now receive, and 
 naming each by its appropriate title. These refer- 
 ences are not confined to one language or country. 
 They are introduced by writers of opposite per- 
 suasions, Catholic and Heretic throughout the three 
 continents in Greek, in Arabic, and in Latin. 
 No records of the same period are supported by a 
 greater weight of evidence. The most formidable 
 and most learned of what we may be allowed to 
 call the anti-Ignatian school, admit readily that 
 the seven Epistles for which we are contending 
 were received with implicit confidence by the 
 ancient Church 1 . 
 
 his expression, "The Bishop sitting in the place of God," 
 (irpo(TKa$r)p.tvov rov i-maKoirov elg TOTTOV Seov) which has been 
 impeached as an impiety, seems to mean only, that the place 
 where the Bishop sat in the assembly of his clergy, was the same 
 occupied by our Saviour, God the Son, at the celebration of the 
 Lord's Supper. See further on this subject Thorndike on Reli- 
 gious Assemblies, p. 73. 
 
 1 The reluctant concessions of Daille and Blondel, together
 
 " 
 
 60 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 i 
 
 DISS. i. Nothing now remains for the objector but to call 
 in question the competency of the Fathers to pro- 
 nounce upon the authenticity of documents before 
 them. It is not true however that they were easily 
 imposed upon, or admitted writings of ecclesiastical 
 importance without due examination. "They did 
 inquire and digest and scrutinize with the utmost 
 care and accuracy. In fixing the canon of Scrip 
 ture they were more particularly careful to sift the 
 pretensions of different works claiming apostolical 
 authority ; and after diligent investigation, argued 
 themselves into unanimity. And finally, in respect 
 to uninspired monuments, (such as the Epistles now 
 before us,) it is important to add, that no ancient 
 writings have been ever questioned by modern 
 inquirers, which were not either unknown to, or 
 held in doubt by the Fathers. In this important 
 particular the Epistles of Ignatius stand alone ! . 
 Three re- On a review of the whole preceding argument, 
 there are three reflections which the reader may 
 have in some degree anticipated. The first is, that 
 the Ignatian Epistles, in being received by the 
 Fathers, were received by persons who, from their 
 situation and circumstances as ancients, were pe- 
 
 . with the numerous testimonies from antiquity, will be found in 
 Note (G) at the end of the volume. 
 
 1 Yide Pearsoni Vind. Ignat. cap. iii. p. 29. Hammond has 
 observed that Salmasius, who, with characteristic contempt for the 
 Fathers, rejected the Ignatian Epistles, proceeded afterwards, 
 not inconsistently, to reject a part of the sacred canon, supported 
 by the same authority : namely, one of the Epistles of St. Peter.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 61 
 
 culiarly competent to try and decide the question DISS. i. 
 respecting genuineness and authenticity. Secondly, _^ p - " 
 that there is no foundation whatever on which to 
 build the often repeated allegation, that these 
 Epistles were forged for the purpose of assisting the 
 Episcopalian cause ; since that cause called for no 
 such assistance. With the exception of one obscure 
 individual, whom we shall hereafter notice, there 
 was no disputer throughout the primitive ages, 
 who opposed the established Episcopalian views of 
 Church polity. The spurious letters and inter- 
 polations we have mentioned, were forged, as we 
 have seen, in a later age, and for a different pur- 
 pose ; namely, to insinuate, on the authority of 
 Ignatius, that the orthodox creed on the subject of 
 the Trinity was un-apostolical l , &c. Thirdly, it 
 must be obvious that the ancient Fathers, by re- 
 newing these Epistles as authentic records of apos- 
 tolic times, decided that the views of Church 
 polity which they contain are conformable to 
 apostolic usage. 
 
 Before we leave the subject of Ignatius, it will Martyrdom 
 
 J oflgnatius, 
 
 be right to notice, that a very ancient work, called as related 
 
 by eye wit- 
 nesses. 
 
 1 It is curious to trace, throughout the forged as well as the inter- 
 polated Epistles, the anxiety betrayed by the Arian interpolator in 
 his overwrought imitation of the phraseology and turn of sentiment 
 peculiar to Ignatius. Every Ignatian phrase is studiously and 
 usque ad nauseam artificially reiterated ; many opinions, those on 
 Church polity in particular, are injudiciously, nay even absurdly 
 exaggerated : while in the midst of this heightened picture the 
 doctrine of the Trinity is obviously lowered.
 
 
 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. a " Relation of his Martyrdom," and purporting to 
 be written by eye-witnesses, holds the same lan- 
 guage with the martyr himself, in reference to the 
 division of Church officers into three different 
 ranks. On his arrival at Smyrna, in his way to 
 Rome the scene of his sufferings, he is described 
 hastening to visit Polycarp " Bishop of that city, 
 formerly his fellow Disciple (for both of them had 
 been Disciples of St. John)." Ignatius "being 
 brought to him," continues the narrative, " com- 
 municating spiritual gifts, and glorying in his 
 bonds, entreated the whole Church, and particu- 
 larly Polycarp, to pray for him ; for the cities and 
 churches of Asia were assembled in honour of this 
 holy man, in the persons of their Bishops, Presby- 
 ters, and Deacons 1 ." 
 
 We have spoken of ST. POLYCARP as the fellow 
 Disciple of Ignatius, and Bishop of Smyrna. He 
 wrote an Epistle to the Philippians, which com- 
 mences in these words : " Polycarp, and the Pres- 
 byters which are with him, unto the Church of God 
 which is at Philippi." This style corresponds with 
 the usual introductory salutation addressed by St. 
 Paul to the Churches ; and must be looked upon 
 as an intimation from the writer, of his own 
 
 1 Honorabant enim sanctum per episcopos, presbyteros, et 
 diacopos, Asiae civitates et ecclesiae. Vide Coteler. Patres, in 
 Martyrio sancti Ignat. pp. 159. 166. 176. There are three 
 manuscripts of this work, one in Latin, and two in Greek ; they 
 differ much in other respects, but all of them contain the passage 
 we have quoted.
 
 CHAP - " 
 
 EPISCOPACY. 63 
 
 superiority in rank over the persons whom he men- DISS. i. 
 tions as being "with him." For, supposing him 
 of equal rank with them, such a form of expression, 
 to say the least, would savour of presumption. And 
 accordingly we find, that in the succeeding historic 
 records which refer to that period, the Presbyters 
 are omitted ; and the succession of Church officers 
 is deduced from Polycarp alone. 
 
 This distinguished Father, in the Epistle to which 
 we now allude, refers to the writings of his illus- 
 trious cotemporary Ignatius, in the following terms 
 of high commendation. " We transmit to you, 
 according to your desire, the Epistle of Ignatius, 
 which he addressed to us, and such others also of 
 his writing, as have come into our possession. They 
 are subjoined to this Epistle, and by them ye may 
 be greatly profited ; for they are expressive of faith, 
 of patience, and of all things that pertain to edifi- 
 cation in the Lord Jesus V 
 
 The only two of those Apostolic authors, to whose 
 writings we have not yet adverted are Barnabas 
 and HERMAS. The works of the former contain 
 no allusion to the subject of Church Government ; 
 we may, therefore, pass on to the latter. This 
 writer is usually ranked among the Apostolic 
 
 1 Epistolas sane Ignatii quae transmissae sunt nobis ab eo et 
 alias quantascumque apud nos habuimus, transmisimus vobis, 
 secundum quod mandastis ; quae sunt subjectae huic epistolae : 
 ex quibus magnus vobis erit profectus. Continent enim fidem, 
 patientiam, et omnem aedificationem ad Dominum nostrum perti- 
 nentem. Vide Cotel. Patres. torn. ii. p. 191.
 
 64 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. Fathers, though his works are sometimes referred 
 ;"_ AP ' "' to a somewhat later age ; namely, towards the 
 middle of the second century, or about forty years 
 after the death of the Apostle John. Without 
 determining this question, we may observe, that in 
 either case his testimony is valuable ; thtragh cer- 
 tainly still more so, if (as the best authorities, an- 
 cient and modern, oblige us to suppose) he be 
 really the Hernias honourably saluted in the con- 
 cluding chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans. 
 Hernias wrote a work in the form of an allegory, 
 entitled the Pastor or Shepherd, which was much 
 esteemed by antiquity, and was even read in 
 some churches. In what he terms his third vision, 
 he alludes to the constitution of the Church ; and 
 poetically describes himself as beholding a splendid 
 edifice, constructed by angels, and composed of 
 square white stones, admirably cemented. In the 
 interpretation of this sacred allegory, he takes 
 occasion to enumerate the different orders in the 
 Christian ministry. " These stones, square and 
 white, exactly fitted at their joinings, these are 
 the Apostles, and the Bishops, and the Doctors, 
 and the Ministers : who by the mercy of God have 
 come in, and have held the Episcopal office, and 
 have taught, and have ministered to the elect of 
 God ; in all meekness and holiness, both to those 
 who have fallen asleep, and to those who still sur- 
 vive V Here are three distinct offices, discharged 
 
 1 Lapides quidem illi quadrati et albi convenientes in commis-
 
 EPISCOPACY. 65 
 
 by three distinct classes of Church officers : the DISS. i. 
 Episcopal office, or superintendence, confined exclu- 
 sively to the Apostle, or to the Bishop; that of 
 teaching, performed by the Doctor or Presbyter ; 
 and that of ministering, allotted to the Minister or 
 Deacon '. 
 
 The divine institution of Episcopacy might seem 
 sufficiently established, by the testimony we have 
 quoted out of those very early writers ; who re- 
 ceived the title of Apostolic Fathers, from the very 
 circumstance of their consecration by the Apostles, Further 
 and their perfect acquaintance with the original since tiTe " 
 polity of the Church. But at the hazard of being a ge? St 
 tedious, we proceed to adduce later evidence from 
 the works of their successors : and we shall begin 
 with such authorities as flourished at the close of 
 the first, or at the commencement of the second 
 century. 
 
 Among these we may begin with Pius, Bishop of Pius- 
 Rome, who suffered martyrdom about the year 150 : 
 and who, in his Epistle addressed to Justus of 
 Vienna, gives the latter his proper title of Bishop, 
 and enjoins submission to his authority upon the 
 
 suris suis ii sunt Apostoli, et Episcopi, et doctores, et ministri, 
 qui ingressi sunt in dementia Dei ; et Episcopatum gesserunt, et 
 docuerunt, et ministraverunt, sancte et modeste electis Dei qui 
 dormierunt, quique adhuc sunt. Vide Hermae Pastor, cap. 5. 
 Cotel. in loc. 
 
 1 For proof that the term Doctor is equivalent to Presbyter, 
 see Pearson's Vindication, c. 13. p. 171. 
 
 F
 
 66 
 
 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. Presbyters and Deacons. Presbyteri, says he, et 
 = == lL = !lL Diaconi, te observent l . 
 Hegesip- Our next authority is HEGESIPPUS, the earliest 
 
 pus. 
 
 uninspired historian of the Church. He wrote 
 about 70 years after the death of the Apostle John, 
 or A.D. 170, a work in five books, entitled, " A 
 History of the Preaching of the Apostles." The 
 greater part of it has perished, though some frag- 
 ments have been preserved by later writers. He 
 is stated by St. Jerome 2 to have written " in a style 
 plain and simple, like the characters which he 
 described ;" and by Eusebius he is recorded to 
 have been not a little instrumental, through his 
 labours as an author, to the advancement of Christ- 
 ianity. Hegesippus mentions that he made it his 
 business, in the course of a long journey, to visit 
 the Bishops of the Church ; that he "conversed with 
 a very great number ; that he found them all 
 unanimous in their faith ; and that, in every line 
 of Episcopal succession, and in every city, the same 
 doctrine was received, which was taught by the 
 law, by the prophets, and by our Lord himself 3 ." 
 
 1 Pii epist. 2 ad Just. Vien. quoted by Bingham, in his 
 Origines Ecclesiasticae, Book 2. chap. 1. p. 53. 
 
 2 De Scrip. Eccles. Hegesip. 
 
 8 Ai/Xo7, oe 7r\toTO<c iirujKOTcoiQ ffvfj.fj.i^,tuv t a.Tto$r)p.io.v orctXo- 
 
 \lav 'Ev Ktt0Tjj cte Stado^rj, KO.I IKCLOT 
 
 6 v6fj.oc Kripvffffct, KCU ol Trpo^jjrtu, teal 6 KvpioQ. Frag. Comm. 
 Heges. apud Euseb. Eccles. Hist. lib. iv. cap. 21.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 67 
 
 This venerable writer further informs us that, after DISS. i. 
 the martyrdom of James the Just, Simeon (who 
 was also the son of Cleophas, the uncle of our Lord,) 
 was unanimously appointed Bishop of Jerusalem ; 
 which long continued a virgin church, pure from 
 any heresy, till one Thebulis, disappointed that he 
 was not elected Bishop, devised some strange 
 doctrine l . 
 
 We may next adduce the evidence of IRENJEUS, 
 an important witness in this cause, from the clear- 
 ness of his testimony ; from the undoubted authen- 
 ticity of his works ; and from the intimacy of his 
 acquaintance with the distinguished Fathers of the 
 preceding age. He was born in Greece, -and de- 
 rived his instruction in Christianity from Papias 
 and Polycarp, (both of them disciples of St. John,) 
 and is understood to have accompanied St. Poly- 
 carp to Rome about the year 157. Anicetas, the 
 Roman Pontiff, prevailed upon him to visit France, 
 and proceed to Marseilles, where numbers of his 
 countrymen the Greeks were at that time settled. 
 In his journey, arriving at Lyons, he was persuaded 
 to settle there by Pothirus, Bishop of that city, 
 under whom he performed the duties, for some time, 
 of a Presbyter ; and on whose martyrdom he suc- 
 ceeded to the Bishopric, a post of no small danger 
 during that period of persecution. To this danger 
 Irenaeus, as he probably anticipated, afterwards fell 
 a victim. He was put to the torture, under the 
 
 Ibid. 
 F2
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 68 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. Emperor Severus, about the year 202, and after- 
 wards beheaded. His diligence and ability have 
 been generally admired and applauded, Tertullian 
 in particular calls him omnium doctrinarum curiosis- 
 smus explorator ; " a most diligent searcher into 
 all points of doctrine." We may express the oppor- 
 tunities of information which Irenaeus enjoyed in 
 his own language ; "I have often seen Polycarp," 
 he says, " and I very well remember his person 
 and behaviour when discoursing to the multitude ; 
 as well as his habits of familiar intercourse with 
 St. John, and with the rest of the Apostles, who 
 had seen our Lord." This very competent witness 
 distinctly speaks of Bishops as possessed of diocesan 
 authority ; and describes Presbyters as a separate 
 order, exercising an inferior office, and invested 
 with inferior powers. His evidence to this point 
 is decisive. Even the adversaries of Episcopacy 
 admit that about the middle of the second century 
 an episcopal order, vested with peculiar powers of 
 ordination and jurisdiction, existed and was fully 
 established. It should however be observed that 
 the testimony of this ancient Father goes still far- 
 ther; not only proving that Bishops actually existed 
 in his time, but that they unquestionably had ex- 
 isted from the beginning, and were successors to 
 the Apostles. In a work against heretics, " We 
 can reckon up," he says, " those Bishops who have 
 been constituted by the Apostles and their suc- 
 cessors all along to our times. And if the Apostles 
 knew hidden mysteries, they would have communi-
 
 EPISCOPACY. 69 
 
 cated them especially to those in whose hands they DISS. i. 
 placed even the care of the Churches, and whom 
 they left for their own successors, delivering to 
 them the same office of government which they had 
 occupied themselves." In another place he says, 
 " We have a list of the Bishops in succession to 
 whom the Apostolic Church in every place was com- 
 mitted." And again, " All these," he says, (speak- 
 ing of heretics) " are much later than the Bishops, 
 to whom the Apostles delivered the Churches 1 ." 
 
 Titus Flavius Clemens, commonly called CLE- ciemens 
 
 . Alexandri- 
 
 MENT of Alexandria, to whom we next refer, nou- nus. 
 rished towards the close of the second century. He 
 was brought up in the school of Pantaenus, an emi- 
 nent Stoic philosopher, who had been converted to 
 Christianity, and who had taught the principles of 
 the Christian Faith to the Alexandrian Church 
 ever since the episcopate of St. Mark, its founder. 
 When his master PantaBnus quitted Alexandria on 
 a missionary enterprise to Ethiopia, Clement suc- 
 ceeded him in the catechetical chair, and taught 
 numerous disciples with distinguished success. 
 
 1 Habemus numerare qui ab Apostolis institute sunt episcopi in 
 ecclesiis et successores eorum usque ad nos. Et si recondita 
 mysteria scissent apostoli, vel his maxime traderent ea, quibus 
 etiam ipsas ecclesias commitlebant ; quos et successores relinque- 
 bant, suum ipsorum locum Magisterii tradentes Habemus succes- 
 siones episcoporum quibus Apostolicam, quae in unoquoque loco est, 
 ecclesiam tradiderunt Omnes enim it (Haeretici) valde posterior es 
 sunt, quam episcopi, quibus Apostoli tradiderunt ecclesias. 
 Irenaeus advers. Haeres. lib. iii. cap. 3. lib. iv. cap. 63. lib. v. 
 cap. 20.
 
 70 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. The work from which we are about to quote he 
 AP ' "' entitled Stromata, from the variety of material 
 which it contains. It must have been a kind of 
 common-place book, composed of miscellaneous 
 articles, to serve him in his old age, as he said, 
 when his memory should fail him. 
 
 This ancient Father not only places the Bishop, 
 the Presbyter, and the Deacon, each in a separate 
 class ; but describes the removal from one class to 
 another as a promotion or advancement. So that 
 a Presbyter on being made a Bishop was preferred 
 in the same degree as a Deacon would be when 
 made a Presbyter. To give a livelier impression 
 of these gradations in the Church, he deduces them 
 from corresponding preferments in the celestial 
 hierarchy. " For here also in the Church," says 
 he, " the promotions of Bishops, of Presbyters, and 
 of Deacons, are imitations, as I conceive, of the 
 angelic glory V 
 
 The distinction manifest in these words, is given 
 still more plainly in those which follow. For hav- 
 ing declared these preferments analogous to those 
 which good men " walking in the footsteps of the 
 
 EI rat at IvravQa Kara TT)V f.KK\T)aiat> irpoKoirai t- 
 , taicovwv, fitfiiifiara oipai TTJG ayyeXiKtie 
 Strom, lib. vi. p. 667. 
 
 The word irpoKo-rral or gradations clearly intimates that it was 
 the same advancement for a Presbyter to be made a Bishop, as 
 for a Deacon to be made a Presbyter. For to have described 
 promotion or advancement from one order to the very same order 
 would have been absurd.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 71 
 
 Apostles, and conforming to the perfect rules of DISS. i. 
 righteousness in the Gospel, look for in heaven ;" CHAP - " 
 the venerable Father proceeds to give his notion, 
 " that those who, as the Apostle writes, were 
 caught up into the clouds, should first be in the 
 order of Deacons ; and then advance to the Presby- 
 terate by an accession of glory for glory differs 
 from glory until they increase unto the perfect 
 man 1 :" meaning by the "perfect man" the 
 Bishop, whom he conceives placed in the highest 
 or most glorious station. We must here under- 
 stand Clement to distinguish, in heaven, three orders 
 or degrees of glory ; (for glory, he says, differs from 
 glory,) and to consider the three orders of Bishops, 
 Priests, and Deacons to be on earth an imitation of 
 that celestial economy. The first or lowest he 
 represents as occupying the place of Deacons ; the 
 second or intermediate, the place of Presbyters ; 
 and the highest or most perfect, the place of 
 Bishops. The conjecture certainly of this pious 
 man with respect to the heavenly regions need not 
 be maintained ; but his testimony with respect to 
 different orders in the Church on earth, of which 
 he was eye witness, is unexceptionable 2 . 
 
 In another passage of his works, he mentions 
 
 1 'Ev v<f>l\ai Tovrovg dpQivTaQ -ypaQti 6 'AirotrroXeg 
 
 iv [JiEy TO. irpiJTa, 7Tira eyKararayTJycu ry irpefffivrtpito Kara 
 v lo^g,' <5oa yap dofrje OM^pct, aXP'C " v 'C riXtiov 
 fivcpa av^fiffufftv. Ibid. 
 
 2 See Bishop Beveridge's Codex Canonum Eccles. prim. 
 illustratus, cap. xi. De Episcopis.
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 nus. 
 
 72 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. James, the kinsman of our Lord, as being consti- 
 tuted by St. Peter, and the two sons of Zebedee, 
 Bishop of Jerusalem ; and observes that Peter, 
 James, and John, who were held in highest estima- 
 tion with our Redeemer, did not contend among 
 themselves, after his ascension, for the^ highest 
 place ; but rather made choice of James the Just, to 
 occupy the Episcopal chair in the holy city l . 
 
 To make one further quotation from this author : 
 he elsewhere informs us, that the Apostle John 
 "when he settled at Ephesus, went about the 
 neighbouring regions, ordaining Bishops ; and 
 setting apart such persons for the clergy, as were 
 signified to him by the Holy Ghost 2 ." 
 TertuiHa- Quintus Septimius Floreus Tertullianus, more 
 familiarly styled TERTULLIAN, and generally sup- 
 posed to be the most ancient of the Latin Fathers 
 now extant, was born at Carthage, the metropolis 
 of Africa, about the middle of the second century. 
 His ability and learning called forth the deserved 
 eulogy from St. Jerome vir erat acris et vehementis 
 ingenii Quid Tertulliano eruditius, quid acutius*? 
 He devoted all the powers of his mind to the defence 
 of Christianity against Infidels ; and presented to 
 the governors of the Roman empire his most cele- 
 brated work, called " An Apology for the Christian 
 Faith," written about the year 200. He also for 
 some time directed his talents to the support of the 
 
 1 Clem. Alex, apud Euseb. lib. ii. cap. 1. 
 
 2 Clem. Alex. Strom, lib. vi. p. 667. 3 Hieron. de Scriptor. c. 53.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 73 
 
 Church against heretics ; but in the latter part of DISS. i. 
 his life, he separated himself from the Catholic 
 communion, and joined the followers of Montanus, 
 to whose ascetic principles the austerity of his own 
 habits had predisposed him. He attained to an 
 advanced age, and died about A.D. 220, but the 
 precise date of his death is unknown. 
 
 This learned and eloquent writer affirms dis- 
 tinctly the institution of the Episcopal order by 
 the Apostles. "The order of Bishops," he says, 
 "when traced up to its foundation, had certainly 
 John (the Apostle) for one of its authors 1 ." He 
 elsewhere gives this challenge to the heretics of 
 his time : " Let them show us the origin of their 
 Churches, let them unrol a catalogue of their 
 Bishops, from the earliest to the latest ; by which 
 their first Bishop may appear to have had for his 
 founder and immediate predecessor, either some 
 Apostle, or some Apostolic person, living in the 
 time of the Apostles. For this is the established 
 mode in which the Apostolic Churches count up 
 their pedigree. The Church of Smyrna, for ex- 
 ample, counts up to Polycarp, appointed by St. 
 John ; the Church of Rome to Clement, ordained 
 by St. Peter : so in like manner the other Churches 
 produce their first Bishops apostolically constituted, 
 that by them the Apostolic succession might be 
 propagated and continued 2 ." In his treatise on 
 
 1 Ordo tamen episcoporum ad originem recensus, in Joannem 
 stabit auctorem. Tertull. adv. Marcion. lib. iv. cap. 5. 
 
 * Edant ergo origines ecclesiarum suarum ; evolvant ordinem
 
 " 
 
 74 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. baptism our author declares, "The right of bap- 
 tizing belongs to the chief Priest, who is the Bishop ; 
 and after him to Presbyters and Deacons, yet not 
 without the authority of the Bishop. Thus is the 
 dignity of the Church preserved ; on the preserva- 
 tion of which depends the preservation of -peace 1 ." 
 " Reckon up," he says, in another work, " the 
 Apostolic Churches, where the very chairs of the 
 Apostles yet preside, each in its own place ; at 
 Corinth, at Philippi, at Ephesus, atThessalonica 2 ." 
 Among the writers of the third century, no one is 
 more celebrated than ORIGEN, a native of Egypt, 
 born about the year 185, of whom Vincentius 
 Lirinensis, says, that " he was among the Greeks, 
 what Tertullian was among the Latins, incom- 
 parably their best writer 3 ." He was carefully 
 
 episcoporum suorum ita per successiones ab initio decurrentem, ut 
 primus tile episcopus aliquem ex Apostolis vel Aposlolicis viris 
 (quitamencumApostolisperseveraverit) habuerit auctorem, et ante- 
 cessorem. Hoc enim modo ecclesice Apostolicte census suos defe- 
 runt, Sicut Smyrnceorum ecclesia Polycarpum ab Joanne conlo- 
 catum refert ; sicut Romanorum Clementem a Petro ordinatum 
 itidem ; perinde utique et cceterce exhibent, quos Apostolis in Epis- 
 copatum constitutos Apostolici seminis traduces habeant, Tertull. 
 De Praescrip. cap. 32. 
 
 1 Dandi (baptismum) quidem habet jus summus Sacerdos, qui 
 est episcopus ; dehinc Presbyteri et Diaconi, non tamen sine epis- 
 copi auctoritate ; propter ecclesice honorem ; quo salvo, salva pax 
 est' Tertull. lib. de Baptis. cap. 17. 
 
 2 Percurre ecclesias Apostolicas apud quas ipsce adhuc Cathe- 
 drae Apostolorum suis locis prcesident ; habes Corinthum, Philip- 
 pos, Ephesum, Thessalonicenses, fyc. Tertull. de Praescrip. c. 36. 
 
 3 Sicut ille (Origines) apud Graecos, ita hie (Tertullianus) apud
 
 EPISCOPACY. 75 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 educated by his father, Leonides, in Christian prin- DISS. i. 
 ciples ; and when the latter was in prison, expect- 
 ing to suffer death for his religion, the youth, at 
 that time seventeen, wrote an affecting letter to his 
 parent, exhorting him to stedfastness : "Take heed, 
 my father, that you do not change your mind for 
 our sakes." Leonides was beheaded, and his goods 
 confiscated. In the state of poverty to which Origen 
 was now reduced, he had recourse to the employ- 
 ment of teaching grammar, by which he supported 
 his mother, his six brothers, and himself. He was 
 afterwards appointed catechist or professor of 
 theology, in the celebrated school of Alexandria, 
 his native city. He became remarkable not only 
 for his proficiency in sacred literature, but also for 
 the number of his scholars, whom he so effectually 
 instructed in the faith, that they submitted to the 
 pains of martyrdom. His austere mode of life, his 
 extrordinary eloquence and erudition, together with 
 the number of his works, amounting, as is alleged, 
 to six thousand volumes l , procured him the greatest 
 weight and influence in the Church : though his 
 independence of mind, and some opinions of a 
 novel and unscriptural character which he adopted, 
 exposed him afterwards to obloquy and persecu- 
 tion. Being excommunicated by Demetrius, Bishop 
 of Alexandria, he retired to Antioch, where, already 
 
 Latinos, nostrorum omnium facile princeps judicandus est. 
 Vincen. Lirinens. Commonit. cap. 24. p. 345. 
 
 1 It is hardly necessary to remark that a volume in those days 
 contained a small quantity of material, rolled up, as the name 
 implies.
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 76 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. suffering exile as a heretic, he was racked and tor- 
 tured as a Christian, by the Roman Governor, who 
 caused his feet to be stretched for several days in 
 the stocks beyond their natural dimensions. He 
 died at Tyre, aged 69. 
 
 This voluminous authority in no less -than ten 
 instances l mentions the distinction, in point of 
 order and degree, between Bishops, Presbyters, and 
 Deacons. Notwithstanding his heretical theories on 
 other subjects, with which we have here no concern, 
 the writings of Origen bear unquestionable testi- 
 mony to the fact that Episcopacy was received by 
 himself, and by all the Church as an apostolical 
 institution. Not only does he distinguish three 
 several ranks or orders, but also notices, like St. 
 Clement, the degree of preferment from one order 
 to another. " In the Church of Christ," says he, 
 " there are some men who do not only follow feasts 
 and them that make them ; but also love the chiefest 
 places, and labour much first to be made Deacons, 
 not such as the Scripture describeth, but such as 
 under pretence of long prayers devour widows' 
 houses. And having thus been made Deacons, they 
 very greedily aspire to the chairs of those who are 
 called Presbyters ; and some, not therewithal con- 
 tent, practise many ways to have the place or 
 name of Bishops, which is as much to say as 
 
 In his commentaries upon St. Luke, written when 
 
 1 See Pearson, parti, chap. 11. 
 
 2 Origen. Tract, xxiv. in Matt. cap. 23, quoted by Heylyn in 
 his " Reformation Justified," part ii. chap. 4. p. 293.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 77 
 
 CHAP " "' 
 
 he was a layman, he discourses upon second DISS. i. 
 marriages, and observes that they exclude from all 
 ecclesiastical dignities. " For one that is twice 
 married can neither be a Bishop, a Presbyter, a 
 Deacon, nor a Deaconess \ In a homily on 
 Ezekiel, speaking of the different penalties incurred 
 by different ranks of offenders for the same offence, 
 " Every one," he says, " shall be punished accord- 
 ing to his rank ; if the supreme Governor of the 
 Church offends, he shall receive the greater punish- 
 ment ; a Layman will deserve lenity in comparison 
 of a Deacon ; a Deacon in comparison of a Pres- 
 byter 2 ." 
 
 The authority of Bishops over Presbyters is fur- 
 
 J 
 
 of Alexan- 
 
 ther apparent at this early period, from the fol- aria. 
 lowing anecdote related by DIONYSIUS, Bishop of 
 Alexandria, called the Great, who was a scholar of 
 Origen; and who in those times of much difficulty, 
 caused by controversies within the Church, and 
 persecutions without, distinguished himself by learn- 
 ing, zeal, moderation, and prudence. An old man 
 at Alexandria, Serapion by name, who from dread 
 of torture or of death, had abjured Christianity, 
 
 1 Ab ecclesiasticis dignitatibus non solum fornicatio sed et 
 nuptiae repellunt : Neque enim episcopus, nee presbyter, nee 
 diaconus, nee vidua, possunt esse digami. Horn. 17. in Luc. 
 Origen alludes to the distinction between Bishops, Presbyters, 
 and Deacons, no less than ten times, as remarked by Bishop 
 Pearson, in whose Vindiciae all the passages may be found. 
 Vide pars. i. cap. 11. p. 320. 
 
 2 Pro modo graduum unusquisque torquebitur, &c. Horn. v. 
 in Ezek.
 
 78 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS.I. repented on his death bed, and desired his grand- 
 ;HAF ' " son to call a Presbyter, that he might receive 
 absolution, and the sacrament. The boy hastened 
 with his message, but night had come on, and the 
 Presbyter was disabled by sickness. In this emer- 
 gency the poor man was likely to have die4 without 
 the consolations of religion. " But," adds Diony- 
 sius, " I had previously given orders, that absolu- 
 tion should be granted to the dying if they desired 
 it ; and more especially, if they should humbly 
 require it, in order to their departure from this 
 life in hope and comfort." " The Presbyter," con- 
 tinues the narrative, " delivered to the youth a 
 small portion of the Eucharist, giving him direc- 
 tions, that after dipping it into the water, he should 
 introduce it into the mouth of the aged penitent. 
 No sooner were these orders obeyed, than the old 
 man breathed his last." From this anecdote, it 
 appears that Dionysius, in his capacity of Bishop, 
 had commanded the Presbyters to absolve dying 
 penitents ; a circumstance which clearly marks the 
 supreme authority of the Episcopal order l . 
 st. Cyprian Thascius Caecilius Cyprianus, known by the title 
 
 ofCarthage. ** PIT 
 
 of ST. CYPRIAN, was born at Carthage, ot heathen 
 parents, at the end of the second century. He was 
 converted to Christianity about A.D. 246, and se- 
 lected for his instruction in Christian doctrine the 
 writings of Tertullian, to which he was so devotedly 
 partial, that, as St. Jerome tells us, " scarcely a 
 
 1 Dionys. Alex. apudEuseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. 17. cap. vi. 
 
 10
 
 EPISCOPACY. 79 
 
 day passed in which Cyprian did not say to his DISS, i. 
 secretary, 'Give me my Master:' meaning Ter- 
 tullian." Soon after his conversion, this sincere 
 Christian sold his estate, which was considerable, 
 and distributed the proceeds among the poor. 
 Such was the distinction which his piety and learn- 
 ing obtained him, that he was soon ordained a 
 Deacon ; afterwards a Presbyter ; and finally, in 
 the year 248, was elected Bishop of the Diocese. 
 He so little coveted this elevation, that he concealed 
 himself to avoid compliance with the wishes of the 
 people ; and recommended that some older Pres- 
 byter should be chosen in his place. In little more 
 than a year after his consecration to the Bishopric 
 of Carthage, he was obliged to withdraw from that 
 city ; on account of the persecution inflicted by 
 the Emperor Decius, which was peculiarly severe 
 upon the African Churches ; and during which the 
 heathen populace (as we read in Pontius, his con- 
 temporary biographer, and one of his own Deacons) 
 clamorously demanded in all the theatres, and 
 public streets, that Cyprian should be thrown to 
 the lions. During his exile, the Bishop continued 
 to superintend the affairs of his diocese, by addres- 
 sing to his flock such letters as their unhappy cir- 
 cumstances required. There was urgent need both 
 for exhorting his people to constancy and patience 
 under their pagan oppressors, and for exerting him- 
 self to resist the machinations of some rebellious 
 Presbyters, who took advantage of his absence to 
 encroach on his authority. Within two years he was
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 80 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. enabled to return without molestation to Carthage, 
 where new troubles awaited him, from the vehe- 
 ment discord that immediately arose upon the ques- 
 tion how the lapsers (as they were termed, who had 
 apostatized during the recent persecution, }should be 
 absolved and re-admitted into the Church. Under a 
 new persecution by the Emperor Valerian, A.D. 257, 
 Cyprian was banished ; then recalled ; then obliged 
 to conceal himself, lest he should be forced to suffer 
 martyrdom in any other place than in sight of his 
 own flock ; and finally, he came publicly forward 
 at Carthage as its metropolitan ; refused to abjure 
 the faith ; made the short reply, " God be praised," 
 to the sentence of decapitation read to him ; and 
 was led, amidst crowds of his followers and coun- 
 trymen, to the place of execution, where he suffered 
 with great constancy and firmness, after being ten 
 years Bishop of Carthage, and twelve years a 
 Christian. 
 
 The particulars which call most for our attention, 
 in the history and writings of St. Cyprian, are the 
 vigour with which on all occasions this excellent 
 Father conducted the affairs of his diocese, and the 
 powers which, as a Bishop, he continually claimed 
 and exercised over the Carthaginian Presbyters 
 and Deacons. His own Epistles, private and syno- 
 dical, happily still extant in great numbers, as well 
 as many letters of his most distinguished contem- 
 poraries in the most widely separated regions, (par- 
 ticularly of Cornelius, Bishop of Rome, and of 
 Firmilian, Bishop of Neo-C8esarsea, in Cappadocia,)
 
 EPISCOPACV. 
 
 are replete with testimony to the actual exist- DISS. i. 
 ence and apostolic institution of Episcopal power. _f! 
 Throughout all these numerous records, we read of 
 the Bishop's dignity, honour, and priesthood (dig- 
 nitas, honor, sacerdotium) . Bishops are styled, pecu- 
 liarly and exclusively, successors of the Apostles : 
 Vicars of Christ, and Provosts or Presidents (prcs- 
 positi) of the Churches : Fathers (papa;), Leaders 
 (duces), Chief Priests (pontifices). We find the 
 Roman clergy saying that they cannot determine a 
 disputed question because the see was vacant, and 
 they had not a Bishop who, with authority and 
 counsel, (auctoritate et consilio) might take cogni- 
 zance of the case. We see, in the times of perse- 
 cution, Cyprian, during his exile, requiring an 
 account from his Presbyters, with regard to the 
 affairs of the diocese ; that he might give instruc- 
 tions from a distance the same as if himself were 
 present. We read of his giving mandates, orders, 
 statutes, (mandatum, forma, lex) ; we read of sacer- 
 dotal and Episcopal authority (auctoritas episcopo- 
 rum, auctoritas sacerdotalis) ; of Episcopal superiority, 
 government, providence (providentia). We observe 
 Episcopal power (potestas) spoken of, and the vigour 
 of Episcopal power ; the authority of the Episcopal 
 chair (vigor et auctoritas cathedra) ; the sublime 
 and divine power of governing the Church (ecclesia 
 gubernandce sublimis et divina potestas). Whatever 
 might be the number of Presbyters and Deacons in 
 the Church of Carthage, the Carthaginian Bishop 
 is styled in the way of eminence, " the Pastor." 
 
 G
 
 8*2 EPISCOPACY. ^ 
 
 DISS. i. We are told of Bishops exercising discipline (dis- 
 'J*L ciplina) : giving injunctions (monitd) : being masters 
 of their own acts (acta) or administration. Bishops 
 are described to have a right of putting a negative 
 (intercedere) on all proceedings among the.inferior 
 clergy, and thereby of making void whatever might 
 be resolved upon without Episcopal sanction. Dis- 
 obedience on the part of Presbyters to their Bishop 
 is called schism, rebellion, sacrilege : contumacious 
 Presbyters are stigmatized as rebels and schismatics, 
 and their crime is compared in delinquency to that 
 of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. A Bishop is styled 
 a Judge, and is said to exercise over his Presbyters, 
 his judicial and censorial prerogatives, with lenity 
 or with severity. And lastly, we read of Bishops 
 having a primacy (primatus), an absolute, arbitrary, 
 sovereign jurisdiction (licentia et arbitrium liberum), 
 for which they are accountable to none, but to our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, " who singly and solely," says 
 St. Cyprian, " has the power of preferring Bishops 
 to the government of his Church, and of calling 
 them to account for their administration of it." 
 Quando habeat omnis episcopus pro licentia libertatis 
 et potestatis sues, arbitrium proprium, tamquejudicari 
 ab alio non possit, quam nee ipse judicari potest, 
 sed expectemus universi judicium Domini nostri Jesu 
 Christi, qui unus et solus habet potestatem et prce- 
 ponendi nos in ecclesice suce gubernatione, et de actu 
 nostro judicandi '. 
 
 1 See Cyprian's introductory discourse at the opening of the 
 Council of Carthage, A.D. 256.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 83 
 
 Such was the decisive language of the distin- DISS. j. 
 guished writers in the Cyprianic age. It is so 
 strong that very few objectors deny Episcopacy to 
 have been at that period fully established, however 
 anxious that the fact should be otherwise. Their 
 only resource is to maintain that the Bishops of that 
 time were the first Bishops, in the modern sense of 
 the title. They stigmatize St. Cyprian and his 
 contemporaries as innovators, who took advantage 
 of the indolence and compliant humour of the 
 Presbyters and of the Church. But this notion is 
 abundantly contradicted, as we shall see hereafter 
 more at large, by the moral character of those illus- 
 trious Prelates and holy martyrs ; by their reve- 
 rence on all occasions for primitive and apostolic 
 custom ; by the indignant horror which they ex- 
 press against all change in sacred institutions ; by 
 their continual appeals to Divine authority, in op- 
 position to recent practices of human invention ; 
 and lastly, by their censure of their Presbyters for 
 not yielding the same dutiful submission to them 
 as had never been refused to their predecessors. 
 " What danger," St. Cyprian indignantly asks, 
 " ought we not to fear from God's displeasure, 
 when certain Presbyters, neither mindful of the 
 Gospel, nor of their own station in the Church, 
 regardless alike of the future judgment of God, 
 and of the Bishop who is set over them, in con- 
 tempt and neglect of their superior, arrogate every- 
 thing to themselves ; an act of insubordination 
 
 G 2
 
 84 EPISCOPACY. \ 
 
 DISS. i. never in any instance attempted against our prede- 
 
 :IIAP '"- cessors 1 '' 
 
 In further illustration of the views on the subject 
 of Church polity, universally prevalent in the 
 days of St. Cyprian, the following narrative may 
 be not uninteresting to the reader. About A.D. 
 250, when Cornelius was a candidate for the 
 Bishoprick of Rome, his election was opposed by a 
 The \ova- Presbyter, called Novatian. The rigid and austere 
 character of the latter inclined him to regard Cor- 
 nelius as disposed too favourably and leniently 
 towards those apostates or lapsers, who, during the 
 cruel persecution just mentioned, under the Empe- 
 ror Decius, had renounced Christianity. On the 
 election of Cornelius, his disappointed opposer 
 formed a new sect, called from him Novatian s ; and 
 drew over to that party a number of the most influ- 
 ential Christians in the imperial city. Some of 
 these, however, deserted him soon afterwards, and 
 returned to the communion of the Church, with the 
 following remarkable profession of their faith . ' ' We 
 acknowledge that Cornelius is chosen Bishop of 
 this most holy Catholic Church by the omni- 
 
 J Quodenim periculum metuere non debemus, de offensd Domini, 
 quando aliqui de Presbyteris, nee evangelii, nee loci sui memores, 
 sed neque futurum Domini judicium, neque sibi fraepositum episco- 
 pum cogitantes quod nunquam omnino sub antecessoribus faclum 
 est, cum contumelid et contemptu prcepositi, totum sibi vindicent ? 
 Cyp. Presb. et Diacon. Ep. xvi. p. 36. 
 
 For further information see note (H) at the end of the volume.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 85 
 
 potent God, and by our Lord Jesus Christ. We DISS. i. 
 confess our errors ; we have been imposed upon ; CHAP 1^1 
 we have been abused by treachery and ensnaring 
 loquacity ; for we are not ignorant that there is one 
 God, one Lord Jesus Christ, whom we have con- 
 fessed, and one Holy Ghost, and that there ought 
 to be one Bishop in a Catholic Church 1 ." 
 
 After having referred to so many respectable 
 authorities contemporary with St. Cyprian 2 in 
 Europe, Asia, and Africa, more particularly to 
 Cornelius of Rome ; to Firmilian of Neo-CaBsarea, 
 in Cappadocia; and to Dionysius of Alexandria, we 
 might be expected to proceed immediately to later 
 times. But one more testimony, that of Alexander, Alexander 
 
 T*I PI ^i i T i ofJerusa- 
 
 13ishop oi the parent Church at Jerusalem, is km. 
 
 1 Nos Cornelium episcopum sanctissimce Catholicae ecclesiae 
 electum a Deo omnipotente et Christo Domino nostro scimus. Nos 
 crrorem nostrum confitemur : nos imposturam passi sumus. Cir- 
 cumventi sumus perfidid et loquacitate captiosd. Nee enim igno- 
 ramus unum Deum esse, unum Christum esse Dominum quern con- 
 fessi sumus, unum Spiritum Sanctum, unum episcopum in Catho- 
 
 licd Ecclesid esse debere. Ep. xlix. 
 
 2 Among other authorities at this period may be mentioned an 
 African Bishop, Clarus a Muscula, who gives his sentiments on 
 the subject of Church polity in the following strong terms : 
 " The determination of our Lord Jesus Christ is manifest ; for he 
 sent his Apostles, and committed to them alone the power given 
 him by his Father : to them we (Bishops) have succeeded, govern- 
 ing the Church of Christ by the same power." Manifesto est 
 senlentia Domini nostri, Jesu Christi ; Apostolos suos mittentis, et 
 ipsis soils potestatem a patre sibi datam permittentis, quibus nos 
 successimus, eddem potestate, ecclesiam Dei gubernantes. Suff. 
 79. See Bishop Sage's Vindication, chap. 6. Sec. 69. p. 297.
 
 ^6 EPISCOPACY. x 
 
 DISS. i. peculiarly interesting, as it illustrates the facility 
 CHAP - " with which reference at that time might almost 
 immediately be made to the oral declarations of 
 the Apostles themselves. For, this Bishop was 
 appointed about A.D. 212, assistant and successor 
 in that see, to Narcissus ; who was then one hundred 
 and sixteen years of age, and consequently must 
 have been born before the death of the Apostle John. 
 The appointment of Alexander to his bishopric is 
 stated by Eusebius to have taken place oiKovo^m 
 GEOU, by the direction of God, and Alexander writes 
 to the Church of Antioch his congratulations on 
 the promotion of Asclepiades to their Episcopal 
 chair. He tells them that his own bonds became 
 easy and light to him, when he heard that so 
 excellent and fit a person was made their Bishop 
 by the special favour of God (KOTO, rriv Bdav TT/OO- 
 voiov) 1 . 
 :orrobora- We now come to that period, when, in the reign 
 
 ive testi- 
 nonies 
 
 tantine. * ^id. Euseb. Hist. Ecc. cap. 111. It is not on any testimony, 
 
 however early or respectable, taken singly, that we rest our cause, 
 but we base it on the general consent of antiquity. That this has 
 not been the practice of our anti-episcopalian brethren may be 
 seen from Blondel, their avowedly greatest champion, who, in a 
 work entitled " Apologia pro sententia Hieronymi," has exhausted 
 the resources of his almost unrivalled learning, to illustrate, in 
 549 closely printed quarto pages of Latin, a solitary passage from 
 one of th'e Fathers, and that Father of considerably later date than 
 we have yet arrived at. If the diligence and sagacity of Blondel 
 could have discovered any earlier authority clearly apposite to 
 his purpose, he would certainly have selected it for the subject of 
 his treatise.
 
 
 EPISCOPACY. 87 
 
 of Constantine, commonly styled the first Christian DISS. i. 
 Emperor, the Church was politically established ; 
 and when many important members of it will be 
 familiar to our readers as not only conspicuous in 
 ecclesiastical but in civil History. We shall not 
 
 ti 
 
 find it necessary to bring forward here, any more 
 than in the preceding pages, even' possible autho- 
 rity : but shall confine our references to such writers 
 as are most eminent for learning, integrity, and 
 ability ; or such as have been most confidently and 
 frequently adduced by the anti-episcopalian advo- 
 cate as unfavourable to our cause. 
 
 In the latter class of writers, we by no means 
 reckon EUSEBIUS, the first distinguished name that 
 occurs in the annals of Constantine. This great 
 historian was born at Caesarea, in Palestine, about 
 A.D. 270. He took the surname of Pamphilus, in 
 honour of his friend, a Presbyter of that city, who 
 suffered martyrdom, A.D. 309. Elevated, not long 
 after, to the Bishopric of Caesarea, Eusebius ob- 
 tained the confidence of the Emperor, and took a 
 leading part in the ecclesiastical transactions of that 
 busy period. He was suspected of Arianism, and 
 perhaps may not have been strictly orthodox on the 
 Arian question ; yet at the council of Nice, held in 
 the year 325, at which he assisted, he subscribed to 
 the well known Nicene creed of our Liturgy. The 
 honourable mind of this great person is fully shown 
 in his refusal of the Patriarchal chair of Antioch, 
 because he was of opinion that Eustathius, the pre- 
 ceding Bishop, his enemy and rival, had been un-
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 EPISCOPACY. ^ 
 
 DISS. i. justly deposed. To Eusebius the Church is beyond 
 comparison indebted, more than to any uninspired 
 writer, for the treasures of Christian antiquity 
 which he has transmitted to later times. He died 
 in the year 339 or 340. 
 
 We have already made quotations so frequently 
 from the writings of Eusebius, that one further 
 passage may suffice. " How many of the Apostles' 
 Disciples, and who they were, that faithfully copied 
 the example of the Apostles, and were proved to be 
 shepherds of the Churches which they founded, is 
 not easy to say, besides those whom Paul men- 
 tions. He had, indeed, a great number of assist- 
 ants, and, as he calls them, fellow-soldiers, whose 
 memories are preserved to all posterity in his 
 Epistles. And Luke, in the Acts of the Apostles, 
 mentions some of them by name. Of these, Timothy 
 is related to have been Bishop of Ephesus ; Titus 
 of the Churches in Crete." Shortly after he pro- 
 ceeds : " Crescens was sent to Gallia" (Galatia), 
 " as St. Paul himself is witness : Linus, whom he 
 mentions in his second Epistle to Timothy, as being 
 at Rome with him, was made Bishop of Rome next 
 after Peter : Clemens, who was the third Bishop 
 of Rome, is owned by St. Paul, as his fellow 
 labourer and fellow wrestler: and Dionysius the 
 Areopagite, whom Luke mentions as Paul's first 
 convert, (after his oration in the Areopagus at 
 Athens,) is related to have been the first Bishop of 
 that Church by another Dionysius, a very ancient 
 writer, and Bishop of Corinth. And in the sequel
 
 EPISCOPACY. 89 
 
 of this history, the succession of Bishops from the DISS. i. 
 Apostles shall be set down in their order 1 ." So CHAP ' " 
 writes this "most diligent investigator of antiquity," 
 as St. Jerome terms him 2 . 
 
 ATHANASIUS, who while the Christian Church re- 
 mains, will always be remembered, not only as the 
 great opponent of Arianism, and champion of sound 
 doctrine ; but as giving a title to the celebrated 
 creed, which (though not composed by him,) con- 
 tains a summary of his principles, was born at 
 Alexandria, towards the close of the third century. 
 At the general council of Nice, already adverted to, 
 he distinguished himself, though a very young 
 Deacon, by his ready eloquence and powerful ar- 
 gumentation : insomuch, that his own Diocesan, 
 the aged Bishop of Alexandria, fixed at once upon 
 his youthful secretary as his most eligible succes- 
 sor. The modesty, however, of Athanasius, declined 
 the honours intended for him. He even fled to avoid 
 them. But he yielded to the dying wishes of his 
 patron, and was elected Bishop with the unanimous 
 approbation of his countrymen and fellow-citizens. 
 The persecutions which he suffered through the 
 jealousy of his Arian rivals, under a succession 
 of Emperors, from Constantine to Valens ; his 
 repeated wanderings, perplexities, and escapes, 
 throughout various provinces of the Roman empire ; 
 
 1 Euseb. Hist. lib. iii. cap. 4. 'AXAa -/op u$ 
 
 iirl Kaipov Kara rove \povovQ TWV 'ATTOCTTO.XWJ/ tcu\>x7c J V" V tip'l- 
 Tai. 
 
 2 Hieron. de Scriptor. Eccl. v. 1. c. 81.
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 90 EPISCOPACY. \ 
 
 DISS. i. his stedfast adherence to the faith, amidst all 
 difficulties ; his condemnation and degradation by 
 the western councils of Aries and Milan, and by 
 the councils of Tyre and Antioch in the East ; his 
 final restoration to the Archiepiscopal throe ; and 
 his death in peace and tranquillity, and in the midst 
 of his own people, who had all along, during the 
 forty-six years of his Episcopate, been devotedly at- 
 tached to him : though these are circumstances not 
 necessarily connected with our present subject, yet 
 they are among the most important and most inte- 
 resting events in the history of those times. 
 
 This illustrious theologian regarded the Epis- 
 copal order in the light of a divine institution. 
 " If," says he, in an epistle to Dracontius, (who, 
 about A.D. 354, had refused to accept a Bishopric, 
 through dread of Arian persecution,) "If the govern- 
 ment of the Churches do not please you, and you 
 think the office of a Bishop has no reward, thereby 
 making yourself a despiser of our Saviour who 
 founded it ; I beseech you, surmise not any such 
 things as these, nor countenance such persons as 
 maintain them : this would be unworthy of Dra- 
 contius. For whatever things the Lord appointed 
 by his Apostles, remain both good and sure." He 
 afterwards proceeds: "If all our predecessors had 
 been, of the same mind, how could you have be- 
 come a Christian, since there would have been no 
 Bishops ? And if our cotemporaries take up the 
 same resolution, how can the Churches subsist?" 
 Here he plainly declares that the Episcopal order 
 
 10
 
 EPISCOPACY. 91 
 
 was of our Saviour's own appointment, and essen- DISS. i. 
 tial to the constitution of the Church l . 
 
 The opinion of Athanasius on the Episcopal order 
 may be further ascertained, from a remarkable 
 anecdote recorded in his works. Colluthus, once 
 a Presbyter of Alexandria, having a dispute with 
 his Diocesan, usurped the office of a Bishop, and 
 laid his hands on several persons, who accordingly 
 took upon them the name and office of Presbyters. 
 A council was held at Alexandria, to examine into 
 this violation of ecclesiastical discipline ; when a 
 decree was passed, that the pseudo-Presbyters 
 should be reduced to the same station in the 
 Church, which they held previous to their irregular 
 ordination. One of them, named Ischyras, some 
 time afterwards presuming to perform the sacra- 
 mental office, was thrust aside by one of the officiat- 
 ing ministers. Ischyras complained to the Bishop : 
 the Synod was assembled, the cause tried a second 
 time, and a decision unanimously adopted, that 
 Ischyras was not a Presbyter ; for that he had only 
 been ordained by Colluthus, who had no episcopal 
 authority. In this degraded state Ischyras received 
 the sacrament as a layman ; "A thing so public," 
 
 1 Athan. Epist. ad Diacon. Ei SE r5>v tKK\naiuv // cm 
 OVK a'ptWei <roi, ov$e vop^eie TO eiriffKOTrris Xeirovpyr/jza 
 i\tiv, ctXXa Karatypovtiv row rat/ra liara^ap.Evov ffWTtjpoe irtiroi- 
 jjKa QGEO.VTOV. -"A yap 6 Kvpiog, ta T&V dirooToXwv, 
 raura caXa KCLI fitfiaia /jievet. Ei yap TOV airrov vovv il-^ov VCU 
 olov vvv t\ovaiv ol avp.(3ovXevov-G aoi, TTWC civ iyivov av 
 acoc, iTTiffKoirwv fir) OVTWV ; iav It ol /nt6' ;/zac dvuXafiuatv rov 
 Towvroi' rovv, TTWC o ffvffTijvnt lvvi](rtt)VTai at EKK\r)<r(ai ;
 
 92 EPISCOPACY.\ 
 
 DISS. i. says Athanasius, "that no man doubted its occur- 
 
 OPTATUS, Bishop of Milevi, in Numidia, is another 
 authority, who, though not conspicuous in political 
 history, and, therefore, not familiar to the- general 
 reader, has however the high commendation of 
 St. Augustine bestowed upon him ; that like that 
 " most delightful and learned author, and most 
 blessed martyr Cyprian 2 ," he came over to Christ- 
 ianity, bringing with him " all the treasures of 
 Egypt 3 ," the treasures namely of eloquence and 
 erudition. This richly gifted individual expresses 
 his concern on the subject of ecclesiastical subordi- 
 nation in these terms. " The Church has her several 
 members, Bishops, Presbyters, Deacons, and the 4 
 company of the faithful." And again, writing 
 against the Donatists, a sect, who under pretence 
 of peculiar sanctity, refused to acknowledge the 
 clergy of the Church, he says, "You found in 
 the Church Deacons, Presbyters, Bishops ; you 
 have made them laymen ; acknowledge that you 
 have subverted souls 5 ." 
 
 1 Vide Athanas. in Apol. 2. For two similar histories see note 
 (I) at the end of the volume. 
 
 2 Cyprianus doctor suavlss'imus et martyr beatissimus. August, 
 de Doctr. Christ, lib. ii. cap. 40. n. 61. t. iii. 
 
 3 Auro et argento et veste suffarcinatus. Ibid. 
 
 * Certa membra sua habet ecclesia, Episcopos, Presbyteros, 
 Diaconos, et turbam fidelium. Vide Optat. contra Parmenianum, 
 lib. ii. 
 
 * Invenistis Diaconos, Presbyteros, Episcopos ; fecistis laicos. 
 Agnoscite vos animas evertisse. Ibid.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 93 
 
 Ambrosius, or ST. AMBROSE, may be already DISS. i. 
 known to the reader as the author of that sublime CHAP - " 
 composition, the hymn of praise called the " Te st. Am- 
 Deum." He was born of a noble Roman family, 
 A.D. 333, in the province of Gaul, of which his 
 father was at that time praefect. His early studies 
 were directed to secular learning, and more espe- 
 cially to jurisprudence, and his legal talents raised 
 him to the governorship of Liguria and Emilia, 
 comprehending the greater part of the north of 
 Italy. In Milan, the metropolis, he resided as 
 governor till the year 374, when we find him sud- 
 denly brought forward in a new capacity. On the 
 death of Auxentius, Bishop of Milan, the election 
 of his successor gave rise to such alarming tumults 
 between the Arian and Catholic Bishops, and their 
 respective partisans, that Ambrose, as chief magis- 
 trate, hastened to the cathedral for the purpose of 
 restoring order. His presence, his high character, 
 his popularity with all parties, and his- judicious 
 conduct on this occasion, had such extraordinary 
 influence, that when some one in the crowd ex- 
 claimed " Let Ambrose be Bishop," the exclama- 
 tion was repeated universally : the assembled 
 Bishops gave their votes in his favour : and the 
 astonished praefect, who at first took to flight, in 
 order to save himself from this ecclesiastical dig- 
 nity, at length yielded to the importunities of the 
 people. He held the Bishopric of Milan for 
 twenty-three years, and died A.D. 397, after a 
 course of distinguished public usefulness, not only
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 94 EPISCOPACY.* 
 
 DISS. i. as an orthodox teacher and defender of religion, 
 
 o ' 
 
 but in some instances, as a skilful diplomatist ; par- 
 ticularly in his bold and eloquent expostulation with 
 the tyrant Maximus, which prevented the invasion 
 and probable ruin of the province. 
 
 This acute and disinterested authority, in a work 
 on the sacrament, alludes to the Divine distribution 
 of ecclesiastical functions and responsibilities, and 
 the three distinct orders of clergy. " One duty," 
 he says, "is divinely required of Bishops, another 
 of Priests, and another of Deacons 1 ." He after- 
 wards adds : "In order that we may describe, in 
 all its particulars, the duty and jurisdiction of a 
 Bishop ; we must examine in succession the rules 
 which the Apostle has prescribed for every act of 
 the Episcopal office 2 ." This quotation is imme- 
 diately followed by a chapter on the subject of 
 ordination. In his work on the sacrament, the 
 same author avers, "Although Presbyters baptize, 
 yet they derive their authority from the Chief 
 Priest," namely from the Bishop 3 . 
 
 1 Aliud est enim quod ab Episcopo requirit Deus, et aliud quod 
 a Presbytero, et aliud quod a Diacono. Ambros. lib. de dignit. 
 sacerd. sub finem. cap. 4. 
 
 1 Et ut specialiter ipsius episcopatus modum etformulam omni- 
 bus sacerdotibus depingamus, Apostolica est nobis regain revol- 
 venda, qtue de Us per singula episcopates actus depingit. Ibid, 
 cap. 5. 
 
 Licet Presbyteri fecerint, tamen exordium ministerii a summo 
 est sacerdote. Ambros. de Sacrament, lib. iii. cap. 1. 
 
 Some further quotations from St. Ambrose will be found in 
 Bishop Taylor's Episcopacy Asserted, sec. 12.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 95 
 
 Other very ancient writings, attributed to St. DISS. i. 
 Ambrose, and which are generally bound up with CHAP - " 
 his works, contain numerous passages not less ex- 
 plicit than those which we have quoted. In a 
 commentary on the fourth chapter of Ephesians, 
 with respect to St. Paul's declaration, " He" (Christ) 
 " gave some Apostles, and some Prophets, and some 
 Evangelists," this author says, " The Apostles are 
 now the Bishops ; the Prophets expounders of the 
 Scriptures, as was Agabus ; the Evangelists, Dea- 
 cons, as was Philip : for all these orders centre in 
 the Bishop, because he is the head priest, that is 
 head of the priests ; and both Prophet and Evan- 
 gelist, to supply all the offices of the Church, for 
 the ministry of the faithful 1 ." This writer then 
 maintains that at the foundation of the Church, all 
 Bishops were Apostles : and in consequence of 
 this opinion, he says, (in his commentary on the 
 Epistle to the Galatians,) that St. Paul, to distin- 
 guish himself from succeeding and inferior Apos- 
 tles, calls himself an Apostle not of man, nor sent 
 by man to preach, as those others were, who were 
 chosen and sent by the Apostles to confirm the 
 Churches 2 . 
 
 1 Apostoli episcopi sunt : prophets explanatores sunt scriptu- 
 rarum, sicut Agabus. Evangelists diaconi sunt, sicutfuit Philip- 
 pus. Nam in episcopo omnes ordines sunt, quia princeps sacerdos est, 
 hoc est, princeps est sacerdolum, et propheta et cvangelista et 
 ccetera ad implenda qfficia ecclesice in minisleriojldelium. Ambros. 
 Com. in Eph. iv. 11. 
 
 2 Ibid. Com. in Gal. i. 1.
 
 96 EPISCOPACY. > 
 
 DISS. i. Eusebius Hieronymus, or ST. JEROME, to whom 
 J^ p ; ir l the Church is under lasting obligations for his 
 st Jerome, translation of the Scriptures called the Vulgate, 
 was born at Stridon, near the confines of Dalmatia 
 and Pannonia, towards the middle of the fourth 
 century. An excellent education at Rome, joined 
 to considerable talent and unwearied industry, 
 raised him to equality with the profoundest lin- 
 guists and theologians of his time. From the love 
 of study and meditation he secluded himself in one 
 of the most frightful deserts of Syria for several 
 years ; deriving his sole support in that monastic 
 retirement from the friendship of Evagrius, a rich 
 citizen of Antioch. Loss of health forced this 
 austere student again into society : and in A.D. 378 
 he was ordained a Presbyter at Antioch, stipulating 
 with Paulinus the patriarch, that he should have 
 no regular duties as a parochial minister j but 
 should be permitted to enjoy, unrestricted, his 
 literary inclinations. Availing himself of this 
 liberty, he visited Constantinople ; journeyed to 
 Rome, where he became secretary to Pope Da- 
 masus ; proceeded, on the death of that Pontiff, to 
 Cyprus ; and thence returned A.D. 385 to Antioch. 
 This learned and pious traveller next accompanied 
 his Bishop, Paulinus, in the very severe winter of 
 that year, to Jerusalem: where, he informs us, that 
 he beheld many marvellous things (tnulta mira- 
 cula), and satisfied himself with his own eyes of 
 what he only had before heard by report. After 
 this he made a pilgrimage to Egypt ; spent some
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 EPISCOPACY. 97 
 
 time both at the Nitrensian monastery and at Alex- DISS. i. 
 andria : and finally settled in a rigid life of studious 
 seclusion at Bethlehem, where he was consulted as 
 akind of oracle; and employed himself till his death, 
 (at the age of ninety-one,) in communicating to a 
 number of distinguished scholars those treasures of 
 various erudition which he had so long and so inde- 
 fatigably accumulated. 
 
 Like many other ancient writers (of which num- 
 ber we have already quoted Clement of Rome,) 
 Jerome traces the different orders of Christian 
 ministers to the Mosaic dispensation. " In order 
 that we may know," says he, "the apostolical eco- 
 nomy to be taken from the pattern in the Old Testa^ 
 ment ; we see that what Aaron and his sons, and the 
 Levites were in the temple, the same are Bishops, 
 Presbyters, and Deacons in the Church of Christ 1 ." 
 
 Again in the same Epistle : " Neither the pomp 
 of riches, nor the lowliness of poverty, makes a 
 Bishop greater or less ; all alike are successors of 
 the Apostles 2 ." 
 
 In a work against heretics, he writes, " The 
 safety of the Church depends upon the dignity of 
 the Chief Priest, to whom, unless a kind of absolute 
 
 1 Ut sciamus traditiones Aposlolicas sumptas de veteri testa* 
 mento ; quod Aaron ct filii ejus, alque Levitte in templo fucrunt, 
 hoc sibi Episcopi, Presbyteri et Diaconi rindicant in ecclcsid. 
 Hieron. Epist. ad Evag. 
 
 3 Potcntia diviliarum ct paupertatis humilitas sublimiorem vel 
 inferwrem episcopum non facit, cceterum omncs A postolorum sue- 
 ccssores sunt. Ibid. 
 
 H
 
 CHAP 
 
 98 EPISCOPACY. } 
 
 DISS. i. and pre-eminent power were given, there would be 
 '!L. as many schisms in the Church as there are Priests. 
 Hence it is, that without the command of the Bishop, 
 
 neither a Presbyter nor a Deacon can baptize. 
 
 The Bishop is to impose his hands on those who 
 have been baptized by Presbyters and Deacons, for 
 the invocation of the Holy Spirit V 
 
 To conclude with one more quotation. In his 
 work against Montanus, Jerome thus expresses 
 himself : ' ' With us the Bishops hold the place of 
 the Apostles V 
 
 The reader will find it useful to bear in mind 
 these quotations ; as the sentiments of this Father 
 will be found in a future stage of this discussion 
 more important, than might be imagined, consider- 
 ing the late period at which he flourished, 
 st. Augus- Aurelius Augustinus, ST. AUGUSTINE, or St. Aus- 
 tin, the great contemporary of the last mentioned 
 writer, was an African, born of Christian parents in 
 A.D. 354, at Tagasta, in Numidia. Notwithstanding 
 the affectionate endeavours of his mother Monica 
 for his instruction, moral and religious, he was cor- 
 
 1 Ecclesice salus in summi sacerdotis dignitate pendet ; cui nisi 
 exors qucedam et ab omnibus eminens detur potestas, tot in ecclesid 
 efficientur schismata quot sacerdotes. Inde venit ut, sine episcopi 
 jussione, neque Presbyter nequeDiaconus jus habeant baptizandi. 
 Ad eos, qui per Presbyteros et Diaconos baptizati sunt, episcopus 
 ad invocationem Sancti Spiritus manum impositurus excurrat. 
 Idem, advers. Luciferianos. 
 
 1 Apud nos, Apostolorum locum Episcopi tenent. Idem, Epist. 
 54 cont. Montanum. 
 
 tine.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 99 
 
 rupted in early life by the heresy of the Mani- DISS. i. 
 chaeans, who believed the universe to be governed 
 jointly by an evil and a good principle. He aban- 
 doned himself to habits of irregularity and irre- 
 ligion ; but was at last converted from his errors 
 and vices, by the eloquence of St. Ambrose, Bishop 
 of Milan, and by the tears of his mother Monica, 
 who had followed her misguided son to that city. 
 He was baptized by Ambrose, and returning to his 
 native country, became so conspicuous at Hippo 
 for his piety and entire reformation, that he was 
 ordained a Presbyter by Valerius, Bishop of that 
 city, at the urgent request of the people. He ap- 
 proved himself so effectually to his Diocesan, that 
 Valerius, contrary to the established usage of the 
 African church, admitted him, though a Presbyter, 
 to take his turn as a preacher even in the Episcopal 
 presence. The friendship of his patron did not 
 end here : Valerius, overtaken by age and infir- 
 mities, obtained for Augustine the nomination to be 
 his colleague and successor. No writer or divine, 
 as a controversialist, was ever more warmly, more 
 variously, or more successfully engaged than this 
 extraordinary man. His contests, both in the 
 character of a defender, and of an assailant against 
 the Manichaeans, the Donatists, the Circumcellians, 
 Pelagians, Arians, and other heretics, were carried 
 on by writing and preaching uninterruptedly for 
 forty years. During the whole of this laborious 
 career, his genius, his courage, and his industry 
 never failed him : he presided or took a leading 
 
 H 2
 
 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 DLSS. i. part in ten different synods and conferences : and 
 has left to the world, almost a library of divinity in 
 his own works, the remains of which supply the chief 
 materials for eleven valuable folios, on nearly every 
 subject connected with Christian faith and practice. 
 These works, perhaps, might have been still more 
 valuable, if a more perfect knowledge of the Greek 
 language had enabled him to consult, on some 
 points, the earlier Christian Fathers, most of whom 
 wrote in Greek. He was very sensible, however, 
 of his deficiencies in this respect ; and at one time 
 requested of St. Jerome, his friend, to translate for 
 him, and for the African Churches, the commen- 
 taries of the Grecian Fathers upon the Scripture l . 
 The invasion of Africa by the Vandals, put a melan- 
 choly close to the pious labours of, perhaps, the last 
 Bishop of Hippo. The time was now come, when 
 the tumults of Christian controversy were to cease 
 in that continent. The churchman and the sectary, 
 the catholic and the heretic were about to fill one 
 common grave under the ruins of their church 
 itself, which for ages had been the glory of Chris- 
 tendom, in literature, in piety, and in firmness 
 under persecution. When the barbarian con- 
 
 1 Quod si Grcecae linguae non sit nobis tantus habitus, ut talium 
 rerum i libris legendis et intelligendis ullo modo reperiamur idonei, 
 fyc. De Trinit. lib. iii. torn. viii. 
 
 Petimus ergo, et nobiscum petit omnis Africanarum ecclcsiarum 
 studiosa societas, ut, in interpretandis eorum libris qui Greece scrip- 
 turas nostras quam optime tractaverunt, curam clique operam im- 
 pendere non graveris. Epist. 65. ad Hieron. torn. iv. p. 601.
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 EPISCOPACY. 101 
 
 querors drew near to Hippo, after having desolated DISS. i. 
 every previous territory through which -they pas- 
 sed, the venerable Bishop, (now in his seventy-sixth 
 year,) exhorted his countrymen and people to main- 
 tain their ground ; and uttered the remarkable 
 prayer, that God would either grant them deliver- 
 ance, or remove him from life. The result was 
 answerable to his prayer, though fatal to his coun- 
 try. He died of a fever shortly before the capture 
 and destruction of the city. 
 
 We now, as we have before done, proceed to 
 quote passages, which illustrate the sentiments of 
 this great writer on the subject of Church Polity. 
 " The determination of our Lord Jesus Christ is 
 manifest, who sent his Apostles, and confided to 
 them alone the authority which had been com- 
 mitted to himself by the Father. We, their suc- 
 cessors, govern the Church by the same authority 1 ." 
 
 In his commentary on the sixteenth verse of the 
 forty -fifth psalm, " Instead of thy Fathers thou 
 shalt have children, whom thou mayest make 
 princes in all lands," he asks, " what is the mean- 
 ing of this expression, Instead of thy Fathers thou 
 shalt have children ? The Apostles were sent as the 
 Fathers ; instead of the Apostles, sons are born unto 
 thee, namely, those who are appointed Bishops 2 ." 
 
 1 Manifesto est sententia Domini nostri Jesu Christi Apostolos 
 suos mittentis, et ipsis soils potestatem a patre sibi traditam per- 
 mittentis; quibus nos successimus, eadempote state ecclcsiam Domini 
 gubernantes. Vide Aug. Quaes. Vet. et Nov. Test. lib. vii. c. 43. 
 
 2 Pro Apostolis nati sunt jilii tibi, constituti sunt Episcopi, 
 Aug. Com. in Psalm, xiv. 16. p. 169.
 
 102 EPISCOPACY. ^ 
 
 DISS. i. Again, he elsewhere observes, " The King bears 
 CHAP - " the image of God, as the Bishop does of Christ ; 
 therefore while he is in that station, he is to be 
 honoured, if not for himself, yet for his order 1 ." 
 
 Among numerous other passages, we shall now 
 confine ourselves to a single one : " No man is 
 ignorant that the Saviour appointed Bishops in the 
 Churches ; for, before his ascension, laying his 
 hands upon the Apostles, he ordained them 
 Bishops 2 ." 
 
 st.chry- John of Constantinople, surnamed CHRYSOSTOM, 
 from the splendour of his eloquence, was born at 
 Antioch, about A.D. 347. He studied under that 
 great master of rhetoric Libanius, but forming, 
 (like St. Jerome,) an attachment to a secluded life, 
 his great rhetorical powers were long dormant. 
 He passed a period of four years in the company of 
 an aged hermit ; and for two years after confined 
 himself entirely to solitude in a cave : until, like 
 St. Jerome, he was compelled by exhaustion and 
 loss of health to revisit the world. He was suc- 
 cessively ordained Deacon and Presbyter; and 
 gained such universal fame by his powers of elo- 
 quence, that, on the death of Nectarius, he was 
 summoned by the Emperor Arcadius to occupy the 
 patriarchal throne of Constantinople. His zeal as 
 
 1 Dei enim imaginem habet rex, sicut et Episcopus Christi. 
 Quamdiu ergo in ed traditione est, honorandus est, si non propter 
 se, vel propter ordinem. August. Quaest. e Vet. Test. 35. 
 
 8 Nemo ignorat Salvatorem Episcopos ecclesiis instituisse ; ipse 
 enim priusquam ccelos ascenderet, imponens manus Apostolis, ordi- 
 navit cos Episcopos. Vide August. Quaes. Vet. et Nov. Test. 97.
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 EPISCOPACY. 103 
 
 a reformer of the Church and Imperial Court DISS. i. 
 created more hostility than his piety and popular 
 virtues conciliated friendship : and he was at last 
 banished to a miserable desert in Lesser Asia, near 
 the shores of the Euxine ; where, exhausted with 
 labours, anxieties, and sufferings, he died A.D. 407, 
 in the fifty -second year of his age. 
 
 Our chief reason for appealing to St. Chrysostom 
 on the subject of Episcopacy, is, that he has been 
 considered the least favourable of the Fathers, with 
 the exception of St. Jerome, to the Episcopalian 
 cause. And yet the intelligent reader will perceive, 
 even from the following extract, (which has been 
 quoted by objectors to the Church of England 
 polity,) that the golden lips of the eloquent Chry- 
 sostom were never opened for the purpose alleged ; 
 but that even where his argument leads him to 
 exalt the Presbyter at the expense of the Bishop, 
 he nevertheless is careful to preserve the main 
 distinction between them for which we have con- 
 tended. " The reason," he says, in his eleventh 
 homily on the first Epistle to Timothy, " the 
 reason why the Apostle, having delivered rules for 
 the behaviour of Bishops, immediately proceeds to 
 the Deacons, without mentioning the intermediate 
 order of Presbyters, was this, that there was not a 
 great difference between them and Bishops : for 
 even Presbyters are entrusted to teach, and to pre- 
 side in the Church ; so that the same rules which 
 are prescribed for Bishops may also serve for Pres- 
 byters : a Bishop can discharge no function, except
 
 CHAP. U. 
 
 104 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 \ 
 
 DISS. i. imposition of hands which may not be exercised by 
 Presbyters 1 ." The importance which Chrysostom 
 attached to imposition of hands we learn from ano- 
 ther passage of his writings, where he calls this 
 episcopal prerogative, the chief and principal of all 
 Ecclesiastical powers, and that which mainly pre- 
 serves and holds together the Christian Church 2 . 
 
 In his homily on the sixth chapter of the book of 
 Acts, where the election of Deacons is related, 
 St. Chrysostom makes the remarkable declaration, 
 " There was then no Bishop in the Church, except- 
 ing the Apostles 3 ." 
 
 We might now conclude these quotations, but 
 that the opinions of THEODORET, (a disciple of St. 
 Chrysostom) are so important and so clearly stated, 
 that we cannot pass them over in silence. Theodoret 
 was born of an opulent Syrian family at Antioch, 
 about A.D. 386 ; and having taken in due time the 
 regular orders, was prevailed upon by the Patriarch 
 of Antioch, to accept the Bishopric of Cyrus, a 
 remote but populous city, of which the inhabitants 
 were barbarous or heretical : he devoted the 
 
 1 Tij yap xtipoTOviy. p.6vy virepfieflrjKaffi, KO.I TOVT< povov 
 
 COKOVffl TT\tOVlKTtiv TOV Trpfff3vTtpOVS- 
 
 2 Tlavrtiiv fiaXiffra Kvpiairarov, KOI o fMaXitrra <ruvt\et TIJV 
 lKK\r)aiav t TO rStv ^LfOTOviUJv. Horn. xvi. in 1 Tim. 
 
 3 Kai, rot ovSeiru) ovdele ETTiaKoiroc T^v, d\X' ot aVooroXoi/ioi'Oj'. 
 Horn. xiv. in Act. vi. 
 
 In this passage is implied, (what we have often stated,) the 
 succession of Bishops to the Apostolical superin tendance of the 
 Church. 
 
 7
 
 EPISCOPACY. 105 
 
 remainder of his long life to their civilization and 
 instruction, and died about A. D. 457, above seventy 
 years of age. His chief works are commentaries 
 on the Holy Scripture, and a history of the Church. 
 They are much admired for purity of style, accu- 
 racy of research, and soundness of theology. 
 
 The sentiments of Theodoret conveyed in the 
 following quotations, are peculiarly important to 
 us ; since he explains with great clearness the origin 
 of that confusion of names which prevailed at the 
 first formation of the Church, and which has been 
 so repeatedly insisted on by the opposers of Episco- 
 pacy, as favourable to their views. Commenting 
 on the first verse of the Epistle to the Philippians, 
 (" Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, 
 to all the saints in Christ Jesus, which are at 
 Philippi, with the Bishops and Deacons,") Theo- 
 doret observes, that the word Bishops here means 
 Presbyters ; and that Epaphroditus, who was then 
 along with St. Paul, and by whom he sent this 
 Epistle, was, strictly speaking, the Bishop of Philippi. 
 "In the Epistle itself," says he, "he called the 
 blessed Epaphroditus their Apostle. He, therefore, 
 plainly showed that the Episcopal office was en- 
 trusted to him, when he gave him the name of 
 Apostle." Again, in reference to chap. ii. ver. 25. 
 the same author remarks ; "St. Paul called him 
 their Apostle, as the person to whom the care of 
 them was entrusted so as to make it evident 
 that those Church officers ministered under him, 
 who, in the beginning, were called Bishops, while
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 106 EPISCOPACY.s 
 
 DISS. i. they belonged to the order of Presbyters." In his 
 commentary on Timothy, chap. iii. Theodoret ex- 
 plains his sentiments still further; " The name of 
 Presbyter and Bishop was given formerly to one and 
 the same person: while persons now called? Bishops 
 were termed Apostles. In process of time, how- 
 ever, the title of the Apostleship was appropriated 
 to persons really Apostles, and that of the Epis- 
 copate was applied to those who before were styled 
 Apostles. Thus Epaphroditus was the Apostle of 
 the Philippians, Titus of the Cretans, and Timothy 
 of the Asiatics 1 ." 
 
 The most scrupulous inquirer can scarcely fail 
 to anticipate that the ancient and conspicuous rulers 
 of the Church so profusely quoted in the preceding 
 pages, would, from their character of fearless sin- 
 cerity and consistent piety, maintain publicly in 
 synods, conferences, and general councils the same 
 principles on Church Polity which, as we have 
 seen, they promulgate distinctly and confidently in 
 their writings. On this account there is less neces- 
 sity for transcribing at any length from the various 
 ecclesiastical canons established from time to time 
 to regulate the appointment, and specify the duties 
 of the three different orders. The most important 
 reference for this purpose is the book, entitled 
 " Apostolic Canons," which, though not so ancient 
 
 Toi/c avTOvy tKciXovv TTOTS. IIpeff/Bwrtpouc KCU 'ETriffKOTrouf, TOVQ 
 of. vvv K'aXov/itVovc 'ETrtffKOTTovc, 'AjTooToXovc bivofia^ov. Com. in 
 1. Tim. iii.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 107 
 
 as the title " Apostolic" would imply, nor as some DISS. i. 
 learned critics have maintained, is nevertheless of CHAP ' " 
 great and acknowledged antiquity. That it con- 
 tains rules of discipline traditionally preserved and 
 gathered from the general practice of the primitive 
 times we are as fully warranted in maintaining, as 
 that the long known declaration of our Faith, called 
 the Apostles' creed, (and which we cannot trace to 
 the Apostles as its authors,) contains a genuine 
 summary of Apostolic doctrine l . 
 
 1 For quotations from the Apostolic Canons, as well as from 
 the decrees of various councils, respecting clerical subordination, 
 and the several descriptions of Church officers, see note (I) at the 
 end of the volume.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 DISS. i. THE evidence advanced in the preceding chapters, 
 both from Scripture and from primitive antiquity, 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Reply to to prove the Apostolic institution of Episcopal 
 
 anti-episco- , IT 11 
 
 paiobjec- Church polity, contains a very small proportion 
 only of the testimonies which might have been 
 brought forward, had this discourse been intended 
 to exhaust the whole subject, and to pursue every 
 topic of inquiry through every possible ramification. 
 But it seems extremely probable that the general 
 reader, already weary of our quotations, or perhaps 
 pronouncing them superabundant, will now be less 
 desirous of further arguments than curious to know 
 by what methods those which we have adduced are 
 replied to, or evaded by our anti-episcopalian 
 brethren. He will now be prepared to ask, what 
 authorities do they appeal to, as of sufficient weight 
 to counterbalance such a host of witnesses ? How- 
 can they, without self-condemnation, lift up their 
 voices against the concurrent voice of all antiquity ? 
 or how pretend to understand and explain the con- 
 stitution of the ancient Church of Christ more cor- 
 rectly than the ancients themselves ? The expe- 
 dients which at different times have been resorted
 
 EPISCOPACY. 109 
 
 to for eluding our deductions from Scripture and DISS. i. 
 from antiquity, are numerous and often plausible, CHAP ' "' 
 but will not bear the test of careful investigation. 
 We propose examining in succession a few of the 
 most specious and popular. 
 
 1. The first of these fallacies to be mentioned First objeo 
 
 . , . i i -n i i ^ on > om ' s - 
 
 respects accidental omissions by the .bathers in their sions by the 
 enumeration of Church offices. Whenever any 
 Father has occasion in his writings to name two 
 only among the three offices, an inference is confi- 
 dently and absurdly made that the office which he 
 omits must be the Episcopal ; that Presbyters and 
 Deacons must alone have existed in his time ; and 
 that Bishops, consequently, must be an invention 
 of later ages. And this confident inference is not 
 supposed to be at all invalidated by the fact, that 
 the very same Father, (in other passages of the very 
 work which they appeal to,) alludes distinctly to the 
 existence of three orders, and regards Episcopacy 
 in particular as an Apostolical institution^ These 
 reasoners appear to value more highly what a writer 
 has not written than what he has written. They 
 place more reliance upon the silence, than upon the 
 speech of a witness. They supply all deficiencies 
 from the stores of their own ingenuity, and attach 
 more importance to his omissions in some one in- 
 stance than to his direct assertion in many others. 
 Thus the Bishop of Rome, St. Clement, styled 
 by the Romanists Pope Clement the first, mentions 
 (in his epistle to the Corinthians, already largely 
 quoted from,) that the Apostles, after preaching
 
 110 EPISCOPACY,, 
 
 through various countries, ordained Bishops and 
 Deacons out of the best qualified of their disciples : 
 and he refers to the following prophecy of Isaiah 
 as a warrant for these ordinations " I will appoint 
 their overseers" (bishops) " in righteousness, and 
 their ministers" (deacons) "in faith." From this 
 quotation, it has been fallaciously argued, that St. 
 Clement considered Presbyters and Deacons as one 
 and the same order : that this Bishop of Rome had 
 no knowledge of Bishops properly so called : and 
 that all ministerial functions, in his time, were 
 divided between Presbyters and Deacons. Such 
 is the argument from the silence of this holy Father. 
 But let us place beside it the really more important 
 argument from his actual declarations. We have 
 already seen the same venerable writer alluding 
 plainly to the existence of three orders ; asserting 
 the pre-eminence of Bishops, and inculcating sub- 
 ordination upon Presbyters. He draws a clear 
 distinction between the chief rulers (rtyov^tvoi, or 
 prsepositi) and the Presbyters ; he admonishes the 
 people to venerate the former, and to show due 
 reverence for the latter l . He draws his reason for 
 confining the inferior Christian ministers to their 
 subordinate functions, from the circumstance that 
 three distinct orders of Church officers existed under 
 the Jewish economy ; each order restricted to its own 
 peculiar duties. He exhorts the Corinthians, every 
 one of them to bless God in his proper station, not 
 
 1 See note at the commencement of Chap. II.
 
 EPISCOPACY. Ill 
 
 exceeding his appointed rule of service: and he insists DISS. i. 
 that greater care to avoid schism and disorder was CHAP ' "' 
 required in the Christian Church than in the Jewish, 
 conformably to the equitable maxim, " The greater 
 our knowledge, the more fearful our responsibility." 
 
 That St. Clement should not always give a full 
 enumeration of ecclesiastical dignities, when his 
 subject leads him to mention two of them, is not 
 extraordinary ; and affords no proof that he recog- 
 nised two only. We ourselves, in the prayer for 
 the clergy, mention only " Bishops and Curates :" 
 without meaning to deny that a third order is 
 established in the Church, or intending to confound 
 the two orders of Presbyters and Deacons, for each 
 of which we have distinct duties and distinct forms 
 of ordination. As another instance of similar omis- 
 sion, we may refer to the fifteenth chapter of the 
 Acts of the Apostles. In that single chapter there 
 is mention no less than five times, of "Apostles 
 and Elders," or of " Apostles, Elders and Brethren*' 
 in the Church of Jerusalem ; without the slightest 
 notice of Deacons, though Deacons certainly had 
 been before appointed in that Church *. 
 
 St. Augustin, in like manner, when he conceives 
 the sixteenth verse of the forty-fifth Psalm to be a 
 prophecy concerning the divine appointment of 
 Christian ministers, follows the very method of 
 St. Clement, when the latter, as we have seen, 
 made a similar prophetical application from Isaiah. 
 Isaiah, in his text, had only specified two classes of 
 
 1 Acts vi.
 
 112 
 
 EPISCOPACY. \ 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 DISS. i. persons : the Psalmist only notices one. One class 
 only therefore, in the latter instance, and two only 
 in the former, could, without interpolation, have 
 been inferred. Neither Clement, however, nor 
 Augustin could be expected to interpolate^the Old 
 Testament ; with a view of obviating the kind of 
 inference from their silence, which, according to 
 the fallacy we are now exposing, might be deduced. 
 The words of St. Augustin are, " What is the 
 meaning of the declaration, Instead of thy Fathers 
 thou shalt have children? The Apostles," he con- 
 tinues, " are the Fathers. Instead of them, sons are 
 born unto thee : namely, those that are called 
 Bishops." How absurd would be a conclusion 
 from this passage, that St. Augustin acknowledged 
 only one class of ministers to be divinely consti- 
 tuted in the Church namely, the Episcopal. 
 
 But an omission still more apposite to our pur- 
 pose is made even by St. Clement himself, in the 
 thirty-second chapter of the very Epistle now in 
 question. He speaks of Priests and Levites as the 
 ministers of God's altar, under the Jewish dispen- 
 sation ; but on the subject of the High Priest he is 
 utterly silent a silence quite as extraordinary and 
 as effectual to prove the non-existence of the High 
 Priesthood ; as the silence of the same author in the 
 corresponding passage, (so obtrusively insisted on,) 
 is effectual to prove the non-existence of the Epis- 
 copate '. 
 
 1 It appears a needless concession to allow that St. Clement, 
 when he speaks of " Overseers and Ministers," actually omits the 
 Episcopal order : since perhaps the order really as well as nomi-
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 EPISCOPACY. 113 
 
 But let us see how such a mode of arguing would DISS. i. 
 startle any conscientious reasoner on other subjects 
 of still more serious import. Suppose that any 
 adversary to the doctrine of the Trinity were 
 allowed the same privilege of drawing inferences 
 from omissions : he would quote passages to be 
 found in Scripture where the Father and the Son 
 alone are spoken of, and deny the personality of 
 the Holy Ghost ] . Or again, from other texts which 
 make exclusive mention of the Father and of the 
 Holy Ghost, he would draw conclusions adverse to 
 the divinity of the Son. 
 
 But perhaps the most distinct illustration of the 
 absurdity in question may be collected from secular 
 affairs, arid from daily circumstances in ordinary 
 life. For instance, let us imagine that any early 
 writer of English history should mention two 
 branches only of our Legislature, the Lords and 
 Commons: would any rational commentator feel 
 entitled to conclude that no third branch existed ? 
 that there was then no King in England ? and that 
 
 nally omitted is that of Presbyters. We have only to assert (and 
 our assertion is as good as that of our opponents) that Presbyters 
 are here included under the general name of Ministers, if the 
 word minister be taken in the popular and indefinite acceptation, 
 which then, as now, would occasionally prevail. But, after all, 
 may not St. Clement here refer to the period previous to the 
 nomination of Bishops, when Presbyters and Deacons were the 
 only Church officers whom the Apostles had appointed. It may 
 be added that Episcopacy was of later introduction in Western 
 than in Eastern Christendom. 
 1 Col. ii. 2. 
 
 I
 
 114 
 
 EPISCOPACY) 
 
 
 
 DISS. i. the royal dignity was an institution of later times ? 
 Or suppose the same historian, in another page of 
 his history, to mention the King and Lords : would 
 an inference be warranted that no House of Com- 
 mons then existed, and that the people dM not, till 
 afterwards, enjoy a share of political power ? more 
 especially if the very same writer, in other parts of 
 his work, should represent King, Lords, and Com- 
 mons as all of them essential parts of the English 
 constitution l ? 
 
 second ob- 2. Another practice very frequent with anti- 
 episcopalian writers is to put a modern construction 
 - upon ancient words and phrases, and to insist that 
 dent words the Fathers o f the Church must have used them in 
 P hra ^ e game acceptation with ourselves. Thus, be- 
 cause the Greek term parrechia (TTOOOIKUI), from 
 which our English word parish is derived, was used 
 commonly in the three first centuries, as synoni- 
 mous with diocese (SiotVrjo-ic), to express the terri- 
 torial limits of a Bishop's jurisdiction, it has been 
 argued that a Bishop in those times held only one 
 Church ; presided only in a single congregation ; 
 and was in fact no higher than a parish priest. 
 No conclusion could be more precipitate nor more 
 unfounded. The word TT a pot/cot, or parishioners, 
 together with various others from the same root, is 
 applied in Scripture to persons not living in the 
 
 1 Should the reader desire further information on this passage 
 from St. Clement, he will find the subject discussed at large by 
 Bishop Beveridge, in the chapter of his work on the Apostolic 
 Canons, entitled " De Episcopis."
 
 EPISCOPACY. 115 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 same neighbourhood, nor belonging to the same DISS. i. 
 parish church ; but coming from a distance, (Luke 
 xxiv. 18.) or dwelling as strangers and foreigners 
 in a country. (Eph. ii. 19.) The word parcechia, 
 among ancient writers, is constantly employed 
 interchangeably with the word diocese to signify 
 many parishes in the modern sense : it often means 
 not only many parishes but large cities, whole pro- 
 vinces, or even an entire kingdom. St. Jerome 
 speaks of all Jerusalem as one parcechia*. St. 
 Augustin mentions two towns with the surrounding 
 districts, forty miles asunder, as belonging to the 
 same paroechia 2 . Also the venerable Bede, at a 
 still later period, describes the whole kingdom or 
 province of the South Saxons, as included in the 
 parcechia of Winchester 3 . 
 
 The number of souls under the same Episcopal 
 jurisdiction must, in many instances, have been as 
 large in ancient times as at the present day. 
 While James, the kinsman of our Lord, was Bishop 
 of Jerusalem, the Jewish converts alone in that 
 populous city, are estimated in the book of Acts, as 
 amounting to many myriads, or tens of thousands 4 . 
 
 1 Vide Hieron. Oper. vol. ii. torn. iii. fol. 71. 
 
 3 Fussala simul contigud sibi regions ad paraeciam (diocese) 
 Hipponensis ecclesiae pertinebat Fussala ab Hippone millibus 
 quadraginta sejungitur. August. Oper. torn. ii. pp. 325 et 261. 
 
 3 Provincia Australium Saxonum ad civitatis Ventanae paro- 
 ciam pertinebat. Bede Eccles. Hist. lib. v. cap. 19. 
 
 4 Thou seest brother how many thousands (in Greek /zupia&c 
 or myriads) of Jews there are which believe. Acts xxi. 20. 
 
 i 2
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 116 EPISCOPACY T 
 
 DISS i. The Bishoprics of Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria, 
 equalled in population the largest capitals in 
 modern Europe. That of Rome exceeded a mil- 
 lion \ And in the days of Tertullian, (A.D. 200,) so 
 large a proportion of this vast number wece Christ- 
 ians, that with some rhetorical exaggeration he 
 affirms : "Though we are of yesterday, yet every 
 place is filled with us ; your cities, islands, forts, 
 corporations, councils ; your very armies, tribes, 
 and companies ; nay, the palace, the senate, the 
 forum ; we have left you nothing but your temples. 
 Should such a multitude as we are separate our- 
 selves from you, you would certainly stand amazed 
 at your deserted situation : at the desolate stillness 
 around you ; at, as it were, the stupor of a world in 
 death V In a later age (A.D. 386) Theodoret, 
 whom we have before referred to as Bishop of the 
 obscure diocese of Cyrrus, near the borders of the 
 Euphrates, mentions eight hundred churches, as 
 included under his parochial (or episcopal) juris- 
 diction 3 . So that the boasted anti-episcopalian argu- 
 
 1 Hume the historian, in his Essay on the populousness of 
 ancient nations, calculates (p. 415) that Alexandria might be a 
 " city nearly of the same bulk of Paris," and that Rome might 
 be about the size of London. He quotes Herodian affirming 
 that Antioch was nearly of the same dimensions. Gibbon makes 
 a similar calculation. He estimates the population of Rome in 
 the days of Theodosius at 1,200,000. See Decline and Fall, 
 chap. xxxi. p. 289. 
 
 2 Tertull. Apol. p. 33. cap. 37. 
 
 ' 'Ev uKraKoaiaic licK\T)ffiaiQ t\a%pv TroifjLaiveiv, roaavrac yap 
 6 KvppoQ TrapotK/ac e'x. Theod. Ep. 113. ad Leon. Blondel
 
 EPISCOPACY. 117 
 
 ment from the word paroechia, amounts to no more DISS. i. 
 than what might be derived from a corresponding _| 
 abuse of the word diocese. Let the word diocese 
 in future times come to signify the small district 
 connected with a single church, so as to bear the 
 same sense among posterity with our present word 
 parish : the theologians of futurity would, by this 
 absurd mode of reasoning, be warranted to conclude 
 that the present Diocesans of England were no 
 other than parochial ministers, presiding over single 
 congregations ; that all London for example, to- 
 g-ether with the counties of Essex aud Middlesex, 
 
 O 
 
 formed but one parish ; that the people of London, 
 added to the population of those extensive districts, 
 were fellow parishioners (irapoiKoi^) and that the 
 Bishop of London was nothing higher than a parish 
 priest : though proofs from history could abund- 
 antly be produced, that theBishop in question, (like 
 his brethren in other dioceses,) had numerous pres- 
 byters and churches under him, over whom he 
 exercised a superintending or episcopal juris- 
 diction. 
 
 3. Another expedient of our dissenting brethren Third ob- 
 has been too frequently passed over by the mem- Testimo- 
 bers of our Church, although its fallacy is by no dated 08 
 means difficult of detection ! . They date the testi- 
 mony of every Father only from the period of his 
 
 mentions Cyrrus as among the largest dioceses of the East. 
 Blond. Apol. p. 185. 
 
 1 This point is not overlooked by Dr. Russell in his learned 
 and able sermon on Episcopacy, p. 38. London, 1830.
 
 118 EPISCOPACY, 
 
 DISS. i. death ; and not from the time when he first arrived 
 CHAP, in. at t j ie uge O f reasoil) and became capable of reflec- 
 tion or of observation. To this unfair mode of 
 calculating, they add the unreasonable practice of 
 restricting our authorities from antiquity to the 
 writers of the first two centuries ; while for them- 
 selves they assume a longer and later period of 
 chronological reference l . It is probable that the 
 groundlessness and arbitrariness of both these re- 
 strictions have escaped the notice of the writers who 
 made them : yet they are not, on that account, 
 less groundless or less arbitrary. Why should the 
 evidence of Ignatius, for example, be dated from 
 the day of his martyrdom, (A.D. 110 or 116,) and not 
 at latest from his ordination by the hands of the 
 Apostles ? Surely when he had a competency of 
 Christian knowledge fitting him to be ordained, he 
 was also competent to understand the constitution 
 of the Church, and to know whether that consti- 
 tution was Independent, Presbyterian, or Episcopal. 
 So also with IrenaBus, Tertullian, Clement of Alex- 
 andria, Origen, and Cyprian these historical wit- 
 nesses were as capable of giving evidence on this 
 question at the age of twenty, as of a hundred. 
 Restriction Again why restrict us in our quotations to 
 mo'ny'to the writers of the Apostolic age? or to writers of a gene- 
 Apostolic ration or twQ after the Apostles? Why exclude 
 
 authorities from a third or fourth century ? Why 
 
 1 St. Jerome, the supposed champion of anti-episcopalian prin- 
 ciples, was born about the middle of the fourth century.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 119 
 
 close our ears against Eusebius, Athanasius, Augus- DISS. i. 
 tin, Ambrose, or Theodoret ? If, indeed, the testi- 
 mony of these learned and holy men went no fur- 
 ther than to state, that Episcopacy in their times 
 did exist; we might not unfairly have been warned 
 against their testimony as irrelevant or unimport- 
 ant : but when we hear them bearing witness not 
 merely to the actual existence, but to the Apos- 
 tolical institution of the Episcopal order ; is no 
 attention due to their evidence ? no weight or value 
 to be attached to their testimony l ? Can we sup- 
 pose it possible that such men should deceive us, 
 or be deceived themselves ? men who lived so very 
 near the Apostolic age, and in the very districts 
 where churches, planted by the Apostles, had con- 
 tinued uninterruptedly to flourish men who had 
 the records and registers of their respective churches 
 before their eyes ; and who enjoyed the privilege of 
 consulting those numerous and valuable works of 
 more ancient authors, which (to the unutterable loss 
 of the Christian world) were allowed to perish in the 
 dark ages men who, as we have seen, studied 
 with so much diligence, erudition, and acuteness, 
 all questions connected, even remotely, with the 
 constitution, doctrine, and discipline of the Church: 
 at a period too, when historical inquiries on those 
 subjects were not as now, so voluminous, nor of 
 such difficulty and intricacy as to perplex the judg- 
 
 1 1 have no where found this distinction insisted on : if, indeed, 
 it has before been noticed.
 
 120 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 \ 
 
 DISS. i. ment and overwhelm the memory ; and when the 
 AP " " Ij whole range of ecclesiastical history, now embracing 
 eighteen centuries, was comprised in three or four 
 hundred years ? We may add, finally, that these 
 were men (and this is not their least recoaimenda- 
 tion to our confidence) whose pure and virtuous 
 practice was conformable to the purity of their 
 principles ; and who, many of them, suffered exile, 
 deprivation, and persecution, even to martyrdom, 
 in the cause of truth. 
 
 The deceitfulness of this evasion, by which the 
 anti-episcopalian advocate would contract the circle 
 of our authorities from antiquity, may be best exem- 
 plified, (like the preceding fallacy,) byfamiliar illus- 
 tration. Suppose a question hereafter to arise, at 
 some remote period, and in some distant country, 
 perhaps Australia, two thousand years hence, what 
 was the form of Church polity established in the 
 kingdom of England at the Reformation ? Suppose 
 one party to affirm that it was independent or con- 
 gregational ; another that it was Presbyterian ; and 
 a third that it was Episcopalian \ Suppose, thirdly, 
 that all passages then remaining extant in the 
 works of Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer, of Jewell, 
 
 1 The supposition in the text will not appear extravagant to 
 any reader who recollects the fact that dissenting writers, even in 
 our own country, and not long after the period in question, have 
 resolutely maintained a Presbyterian church government to have 
 been established in England during the reign of Edward the 
 Sixth. See Bishop Maddox's Refutation of that hypothesis, 
 contained in note (K) at the end of the volume.
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 EPISCOPACY. 121 
 
 Parker, and Whitgift ; of Beveridge, Tillotson, and DISS. i. 
 Taylor, or of any other intermediate writers who 
 might continue to be read and known and quoted 
 at that distance of time, and in that remote situ- 
 ation (however clearly and satisfactorily such quo- 
 tations might establish Episcopalian church go- 
 vernment) did not satisfy the adverse parties ; but 
 were partially evaded or ingeniously twisted from 
 their proper meaning : would it be incongruous or 
 inadmissible for the supposed Australian supporter 
 of Episcopacy to adduce later additional authorities 
 from writings of our present times ? Might he not 
 with great propriety select even out of this our day, 
 (out of this beginning of a fourth century from that 
 great reforming asra,) a host of unimpeachable wit- 
 nesses ? a body of Bishops, stating that they had 
 themselves succeeded to the sees of the first Re- 
 formers ; producing lists of prelates from Cranmer, 
 Latimer, and Ridley, down to the date of their own 
 consecration ; and affirming that no change what- 
 ever had, on this point, occurred in the constitution 
 of the Church ? Would the objection be considered 
 fair or warrantable, that a Bishop, in the third or 
 fourth century after the reformation, was liable to 
 be mistaken ; that he could only testify to the 
 existence of Episcopacy in these his own days; 
 and that earlier authorities could alone be permitted 
 to give testimony ? If the assertors of so absurd a 
 law of evidence would, in the case supposed, be 
 silenced at once and put utterly to shame ; let us 
 hope, in the name of common sense and candour,
 
 1^~ EPISCOPACY. 
 
 \ 
 
 DISS. i. never more to hear insinuations that Athanasius or 
 . Augustin, Ambrose, Optatus, or even later writers, 
 are incompetent to attest the Apostolical institution 
 of the Episcopal order. 
 
 Fourth ob- 4. Another method by which it is very plausibly 
 Fanciful attempted to invalidate the authorities for Episco- 
 timfof P ac y i > to exaggerate the prerogatives laid claim 
 claims?* to by the Episcopal order, and to allege that no 
 church officer on Episcopalian principles is entitled 
 to the name of Bishop, who does not appropriate 
 to himself the whole government of the Church ; 
 who does not exercise exclusively the power of 
 granting ordination, and of enforcing discipline ; or 
 who does not shut out his Presbyters from every 
 share of authority. This expedient is attended 
 with a twofold advantage. Not only does it afford 
 opportunity for declaiming on the danger of prela- 
 tical oppression, prelatical cruelty, and prelatical 
 tyranny ; but this expedient also opens a wide door 
 for introducing many arguments from antiquity, 
 which otherwise must be at once abandoned as 
 untenable. The latter circumstance gives some 
 importance to this ingenious mode of stating the 
 question. For, if all power, according to the Epis- 
 copalian system, were necessarily confined to the 
 Bishop ; if no ecclesiastical functionary, (however 
 high the prerogatives ascribed to him by ancient 
 writers,) could properly be styled a Bishop in our 
 sense, unless he governed his diocese absolutely 
 and independently, and without advice or assistance 
 of any kind from his Presbyters : there would be
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 EPISCOPACY. 123 
 
 the greatest difficulty in proving that any Bishop, DISS. i. 
 according to the acceptation attributed to us, ever 
 had existence. It would follow that every passage 
 in any Father of the Church which attributed a 
 share of power, (however trifling or subordinate,) to 
 the Presbyters, or which mentioned Presbyters as 
 counsellors to the Bishop, would seem adverse to 
 the Episcopalian cause. It would follow that no 
 passage could be quoted in support of that cause, 
 (however clearly the words of it described the Bishop 
 as superior to his Presbyters,) unless it also spoke 
 of him as a self-directed, self-counselled and auto- 
 cratic ruler. 
 
 The difficulty which would beset our argument, 
 should we admit this clever misrepresentation, will 
 become more apparent, if in illustration of it, we 
 adduce, as before, a similar fallacy from ordinary 
 circumstances in secular affairs and in modern life. 
 Let some disputatious person contending against 
 monarchy in England as a modern invention, be 
 allowed to assume for his premises that on the sup- 
 position of a British King, as defined by royalists, 
 he must be shown to exercise a power exclusive of 
 every other order in the State : that if he can be 
 proved from history to have an established council, 
 consisting of his nobility, or his commons, asso- 
 ciated with him in any department of the State, he 
 ceases to be a King : and that no passages in the 
 records of the constitution will prove his royal 
 dignity, unless they invest him at the same time 
 with despotic and all-absorbing sway. These pre-
 
 124 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 \ 
 
 DISS. i. mises granted, it must be obvious that the proof 
 of the existence of monarchy would be encumbered 
 by needless and almost insurmountable embarrass- 
 ments. On these terms it would avail us nothing 
 to demonstrate, from a thousand documents, that 
 nobles, so far from being literally peers (pares or 
 joint monarchs, if we may be permitted a strange 
 expression to denote a preposterous idea) of the 
 English realm, were from the beginning created by 
 the reigning monarch himself, and without him 
 could have no existence. It would be equally in 
 vain for us to plead, that (in addition to creation 
 of peers,) the sovereign performed all other acts, 
 whether legislative or executive, which both in 
 common speech, and in legal acceptation, comprise 
 the regal office. It would be to no purpose, even 
 if we enumerated from history the titles, honours, 
 and emoluments, which this great person enjoyed, 
 or the homage which he customarily received. 
 
 The reader may have anticipated that such a 
 kind of statement, with a view to subvert the evi- 
 dence for Episcopacy, would be equally unfounded. 
 No intelligent Episcopalian claims for Bishops more 
 than the superiority of their order, and a pre- 
 eminent though not exclusive jurisdiction. No 
 intelligent Episcopalian maintains that for a council 
 of Presbyters to give advice in the administration 
 of Church affairs, to examine candidates for ordi- 
 nation, and even to lay hands upon them in con- 
 junction with the Bishop, are acts and privileges 
 in any wise inconsistent with presbyterian subordi-
 
 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 125 
 
 nation. On the contrary, every well informed DISS. i. 
 Episcopalian is ready to admit, that Presbyters 
 from the very first were admitted to these privi- 
 leges. He is perfectly aware that Ignatius himself 
 speaks of Presbyters " as counsellors and assistants 
 
 to the Bishop" (trv/u|3ovXot Kal avvtSpevral TOV eTria- 
 
 KOTTOV ') that even Cyprian describes the Presbyters 
 at Carthage as " sitting with himself in council 2 :" 
 and that neither Hooker, Bilson, Fields, Chilling- 
 worth, Stillingfleet, Thorndike, Hall, Barrow, Sher- 
 lock, nor any the most zealous defender of Epis- 
 copacy who has obtained celebrity, ever pleaded 
 fora sole and exclusive jurisdiction 3 . They con- 
 tend for nothing more than that Bishops possess the 
 highest rank, and exercise superior authority ; and 
 that Presbyters, without a Bishop, have not the 
 right of conferring ordination. No advantage, 
 therefore, is gained against us by the advocates of 
 other forms of Church polity, when they adduce 
 quotations from the Fathers ascribing some share of 
 power to Presbyters, or representing Presbyters as 
 counsellors to the Bishop : unless those quotations 
 reduce the Bishop to a level with his Presbyters ; 
 invest him with no higher office than that of a 
 powerless moderator, or chairman in a Presby- 
 terian synod ; and give explicit sanction to non- 
 
 1 Epist. ad Trail. 
 
 2 Ego et compresbyteri nostri qui nobis adsidebant. Cyp. 
 Ep. 27. 
 
 3 For the authorities alluded to in the text, see note (L) at the 
 end of the volume.
 
 126 EPISCOPACY. \ 
 
 DISS. i. episcopal ordination. No such quotations can be 
 L found. 
 
 Fifth objec- 5. But our dissenting fellow Protestants have 
 
 tion. No ..,.-, p 
 
 Popery nor another favourite topic, which savours more of 
 declamation than of argument. The fearful cry 
 of "No Popery" is raised against us. The people 
 are instructed to believe, by the constant working 
 of alliteration on their ears, and of repetition upon 
 their minds, that popery and prelacy are one and 
 the same thing : Bishops are represented as a kind 
 of emissaries and precursors of the Roman Pontiff; 
 and Episcopal jurisdiction, as a kind of fringe from 
 the scarlet robe, that bedecked the mother of 
 abominations 1 . 
 
 To these flourishes of dissenting rhetoric, we may 
 quietly reply, that nothing would more delight a 
 Romanist, than to find this charge substantiated. 
 He would feel that in his contest with his Protestant 
 antagonist he had the vantage ground at once con- 
 ceded. For if Episcopacy be a part of Romanism, 
 inseparably connected with the rest of that system ; 
 and if, as dissenters themselves admit, Episcopacy 
 was established aboutthe year 140, then Romanism 
 is proved far more ancient than Protestants can 
 
 1 The same expedient was formerly employed to bring Presby- 
 tery into disrepute. See Mr. John Spittlehouse's " Emblem of 
 Antichrist in his threefold hierarchies of Papacy, Prelacy, and 
 Presbyterie." Also another work, entitled " Rome Ruinated 
 by Whitehall, or the Papal Crown Demolished ; containing ' a 
 confutation of the three degrees of Popery ; namely, Papacy, 
 Prelacy, and Presbyterie.' "
 
 EPISCOPACY. 127 
 
 safely, or rationally allow. Instead of tracing DISS. i. 
 Romanism at the furthest, as we do, to the fourth CHAP - '" 
 and fifth centuries: we must date it back to the 
 middle of the second ; to the very times which we 
 account the best and purest ages of the Church. 
 This indeed would be a papal triumph ! 
 
 But popery and prelacy, (to repeat the favourite 
 alliteration of our dissenting brethren,) so far from 
 beingnecessarily connected with one another, are dia- 
 metrically opposed 1 . Where prelacy exists, popery 
 is not ; where popery begins to flourish ; prelacy 
 must decline. No sooner was the supremacy of 
 the Pope acknowledged than encroachments were 
 
 1 The inveterate and senseless manner in which Popery has 
 been imputed to the Church of England and her best Divines, has 
 excited the indignant astonishment of the most zealous Protest- 
 ants abroad. The great French Calvinist, M. Dailli, referring in 
 one of his works to the cry of Popery raised against Bishop 
 Cosins, observes with great warmth : " Those men are brutes, 
 and real fanatics (bestice sunt et quidemfanatici) who suspect him 
 of Popery, than whom you will scarce find any man less papally 
 inclined." (See Barbon on Liturgies, p. 170.) We may add 
 that Dr. Cosins, Bishop of Durham, w.as author of the ablest work 
 ever written against transubstantiation. 
 
 Archbishop Whitgift, describes very pointedly the beneficial 
 effects to Popery from the Schismatic spirit prevailing in England, 
 under pretence of defective reformation. " I know," says he, 
 " that those sects and heresies gave strength unto Anti-Christ, and 
 at length were one special means of placing him on his throne ; 
 even as also I am persuaded, that at this day he worketh as 
 effectually by your stirs and contentions, whereby he hath, and 
 will more prevail against the Church of England, than by any 
 other means whatsoever." Ibid. p. 159.
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 128 EPISCOPACY.^ 
 
 DISS. i. made on Episcopal jurisdiction. Various districts 
 and entire corporations of ecclesiastics were with- 
 drawn from diocesan control. More power was 
 given, in many instances, to mere Priests and Dea- 
 cons, (under the name of Cardinals and Legates,) 
 than to any Bishop but the Roman Pontiff. In- 
 ferior church officers, invested with uncanonical 
 authority, were frequently empowered to suspend, 
 and even to deprive their superiors. The Pope, it 
 was affirmed, might grant commissions authorizing 
 the lower ranks of the clergy to confer on others 
 the order or degree held by themselves : so that a 
 Priest was licensed to ordain Priests, and a Deacon 
 to ordain Deacons ; on which commissions we may 
 make this passing remark, that they form the ear- 
 liest and only precedent, before the days of protes- 
 tantism, for presbyterian or deaconal ordination. In 
 short, those unscrupulous supporters of the Papacy, 
 the schoolmen and canonists of the middle ages, 
 have, for opposite reasons, endeavoured, with un- 
 wearied perseverance, to exalt the Presbyter and to 
 depreciate the Bishop. Of these two parties (whom 
 we may denominate the anti-episcopalians of the 
 Church of Rome) the former, that of the schoolmen, 
 with a view of magnifying transubstantiation, ex- 
 tolled to such a height the priestly office by which 
 that, great performance was achieved; while the 
 other party the Canonists (with the design of 
 raising the Pope's authority,) depressed so low the 
 Episcopal office, by which his power was chiefly 
 limited ; that the two offices, although originally
 
 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 129 
 
 differing in rank, made a close approximation to DISS. i. 
 equality. Hence the Papal faction in that cele- CHAP ' "!'. 
 brated Popish assembly, the council of Trent, re- 
 garded Episcopacy with considerable jealousy ; and 
 considered its establishment on the ground of apos- 
 tolical institution or divine right, as among the 
 heaviest blows that could be given to the preten- 
 sions of the Roman see l . 
 
 6. Perhaps, however, the most popular and cer- sixth objec- 
 tion- 
 tainly the least argumentative of the means used to Wealth and 
 
 secular 
 
 invalidate Episcopacy, is a practice irequent among powers of 
 an inferior class of writers ; namely, to enlist under 
 the anti-episcopalian banner, the envy, the covetous- 
 ness, and baser passions of mankind, by enlarging 
 
 1 Bishop Saunderson on this subject has these words : " It is 
 very well known to many, what rejoicing that vote of the Long 
 Parliament for pulling down Episcopacy, brought to the Romish 
 Party : and how, even in Rome itself, they sang their lo paeans 
 upon the tidings thereof, and said triumphantly : Now the day is 
 ours ; now is the fatal blow given to the Protestant religion in 
 England." Preface to Bishop Saunderson's 14 Sermons, sect. 18. 
 
 Besides, says Joseph Mede, it is to be taken notice of (because 
 of the prejudicate misprision of many to the contrary) that the 
 measure of truth and falsehood, best and worst, is not the greater 
 or lesser distance from Popery, (forasmuch as Popery also con- 
 taineth much of Christianity,) nor that which is most destructive 
 of the man of sin, always most warrantable and safe to be em- 
 braced. If it were, there be some in the world (whose religion 
 we should be loath to admit of) that would be found more ortho- 
 dox and better informed Christians than any of us all. See 
 Works of Joseph Mede, folio. See also Brett on Church Govern- 
 ment, and Leslie on the Qualifications for Administering the 
 Sacraments.
 
 130 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 \ 
 
 CHAP. in. 
 
 DISS. i. upon the exorbitant wealth of the Episcopal order ; 
 and by contrasting the poverty, the plainness, the 
 humility of an Apostle or of a Bishop, in the first 
 and second centuries, with the lordly grandeur of 
 their successors in the present day, " who are guilty 
 of being nobles of the realm, who have a voice in 
 the legislature, who live in palaces, who sit upon 
 thrones, and whose income is the revenue of pro- 
 vinces :" and from this change of external circum- 
 stances it is pretended that the latter can make no 
 pretensions to have inherited the office and prero- 
 gatives of the former l . This topic is well adapted 
 to popular declamation, and obtains over weak and 
 superficial minds a greater influence than more sub- 
 stantial objections. But the whole statement is irre- 
 levant to the present question, and unworthy of a fair 
 or candid disputant. For the question to be deter- 
 mined is, whether Presbyters possess by apostolical 
 
 1 This argument, if argument we ought to call it, is of very 
 ancient date. Barbon in his work before quoted, printed 1663, 
 refers to a contemporary writer, who makes the following eloquent 
 tirade: "Bishops, in former times, did not call themselves 
 lords, they were not ordained by Archbishops; they had no 
 stately palaces, they had no such officers under them as Deans ; 
 they held no country courts ; they did not wear scarlet gowns, 
 mitres, and lawn sleeves, &c." To each of these grave charges 
 Barbon gives a specific reply -pp. 177 188. 
 
 " If mitres offend him," says Archbishop Seeker, in his reply 
 to Mayhew, " our Bishops wear none ; if they are styled lords, it 
 is because by the ancient constitution of our country, they sit in 
 the upper house of Parliament, where, I believe, they are thought 
 as useful as the rest." p. 243.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 131 
 
 appointment an exclusive and independent power 
 of conferring ordination, and of exercising ecclesi- 
 astical jurisdiction ; or whether those powers do not 
 belong principally and essentially to a superior order 
 of church officers : and the answer proposed to be 
 returned is, that those superior church officers are 
 now endowed with large incomes, and lordly 
 titles ; and that on this account Presbyters have 
 acquired the right, exclusively and independently, 
 of governing and ordaining. A greater solecism 
 in argument never was committed. Imagine some 
 Jewish Priest, in the days of David or of Solomon, 
 to have pretended that the High Priests of these 
 times, (when the monarchy of Israel was in all its 
 glory,) were incomparably richer and greater per- 
 sons than the primitive High Priests in days of 
 purity, while the ten tribes were wandering in the 
 desert, or were maintaining a hard conflict with the 
 Canaanites for the possession of the Holy Land ; 
 imagine this Levitical objector to affirm -that he 
 could not recognize the humility, the simplicity, the 
 poverty of Aaron or of Eleazar, in the magnificent 
 Abiathar or the lordly Zadoc, and, therefore, that 
 he himself, though an inferior minister, was entitled 
 to assume the functions of his superior, and might 
 enter without scruple into the most holy place with 
 the blood of the appointed victim on the day of 
 expiation : is it likely such a claim would have 
 been tolerated ? Would not the most ignorant of 
 the people have perceived at once that the mere 
 accidental circumstance of greater wealth or splen- 
 
 K 2
 
 13:2 EPISCOPACY, s 
 
 DISS. i. dour in the officer, made no difference in the essen- 
 ^ tial character of the office ? that the High Priest, 
 was High Priest, whether in penury or in grandeur; 
 in a hovel, or in a palace ; and that the intrusion 
 of inferior Priests into the office of their superior 
 was equally unwarranted, whatever might be his 
 temporal condition, while his spiritual rights re- 
 mained the same ? 
 
 Or to suppose another case more familiar to 
 many readers : let a controversy be raised on the 
 subject of royal power : would the circumstance 
 be regarded for one moment as a valid objection 
 against royalty, that the King of England, in the 
 present day, is beyond comparison a richer and 
 more potent prince than the Alfreds, the Henries, 
 or the Edwards of former times ? that his revenues 
 are increased a hundred-fold beyond the revenues 
 of those princes whom he claims to represent : that 
 innumerable islands, provinces and kingdoms, are 
 now subject to his sway ; that his very viceroys live 
 in greater splendour than the proudest of his prede- 
 cessors ; that the sun never sets on his dominions ; 
 and that therefore, though his ancestors were lawful 
 princes, he himself is an usurper, and his title a 
 mere delusion ? Would not the meanest under- 
 standing perceive the obvious distinction between 
 the real nature of sovereignty and its accidental pro- 
 perties; and confess that ancient and present royalty 
 are the same in substance, whatever outward dis- 
 similitudes may be traced between them ? 
 
 Or again, to choose another instance which may
 
 EPISCOPACY. 133 
 
 come home to every impartial Christian : let some DISS. i. 
 infidel allege that the Church of Christ in the CHAP - "' 
 present day is not the same Church as in former 
 times : let him argue that a small company of one 
 hundred and twenty obscure persons assembled in 
 " an upper room" at Jerusalem, is a wholly differ- 
 ent thing from a society, great, learned, powerful 
 and innumerable, reckoning among its members 
 kings and nobles, statesmen and philosophers, and 
 founding throughout every quarter of the globe 
 churches and missions, and colleges to promote its 
 principles ? Could the fallacy of such an argument 
 remain concealed from any man acquainted with 
 the Christian religion ? 
 
 But if our dissenting brethren, refusing to allow 
 a prelate of this country to be a genuine successor 
 of the Apostles, are prevented only by the wealth 
 and honours with which he is endowed, they must 
 consistently admit a poor, untitled, and unendowed 
 Episcopacy to be truly apostolical. They must of 
 course allow that Bishops, entirely destitute of tem- 
 poral aggrandizement, are not unworthy represen- 
 tatives of St. Peter and St. Paul : they must hold 
 such Bishops to be Bishops by divine right, and to 
 possess indefeasibly a spiritual pre-eminence. Now 
 the rulers of the Episcopal Churches in Scotland 
 and in America are exactly Bishops of this kind. 
 They are not peers of the realm ; they have no 
 voice in Parliament or Congress ; they do not live 
 in palaces ; they do not sit on thrones; their incomes 
 are not the revenues of whole provinces ; in short,
 
 134 EPISCOPACY. \ 
 
 DISS. i. the disqualifying circumstances of rank and fortune 
 ^ m ;_ are in their case entirely wanting* : their poverty 
 and humility of condition are completely Aposto- 
 lical. Do our dissenting brethren then acknow- 
 ledge the pretensions of these unennobled pastors ? 
 Do they concede that Episcopacy in Scotland and 
 America, though not in England, is by divine 
 right ? Do they permit the honours of Episcopacy 
 to a Bishop at Eugubium and refuse them to one 
 at Rome l ? Do they grant the same submission to 
 be rightfully claimed by the Bishop unendowed 
 and unrecognized by the state, which they refuse 
 to the Prelate or Metropolitan ? Far from it : their 
 hostility is directed absolutely and altogether 
 against the order under any circumstances whatso- 
 ever. They no more recognise the spiritual claims 
 of the poorest Bishop in the north, than of the 
 wealthiest Primate in the south. They equally 
 deny obedience to be due from Presbyters to the 
 simple Doctor as to the mitred noble. Consequently 
 the mere circumstance of Episcopal wealth and 
 power is not the true reason why they cannot see 
 in the Prelates of this country the representatives 
 of the Apostles, 
 of'chureh" ^ ma y ^ lere k e interesting to remark, that the 
 
 Endow- 
 ments. 
 
 Ubicumque fuerit episcopus, sive Romae, sive Eugubii, sive 
 
 Constantinopoli, sive Regii, sive Alexandrite, sive Tanis, ejusdem 
 menti est et ejusdem sacerdotii : potentia divitiarum, et pauper- 
 tatts humilltas vel sublimiorem vel inferior em episcopum nonfacit. 
 CtEterum omnes Apostolorum successores sunt. Hieron. Epist. 
 ad Evag. 
 
 8
 
 EPISCOPACY. 135 
 
 endowments attached to Churches, and the distinc- 
 tions bestowed on Church officers, are much more 
 ancient than is generally supposed. The settle- 
 ment of lands and houses upon ecclesiastical bodies 
 is commonly regarded as of later date than even 
 the political establishment of Christianity in the 
 reign of Constantine : and the Apostolic poverty 
 and purity of the Church antecedent to that late 
 period, has often been the theme of dissenting 
 panegyric. Yet at the very beginning of the third 
 century, we find from public records that landed 
 property, even within the limits of Rome itself, was 
 attached to certain Christian Churches. Before 
 the close of that century not only the church of 
 Rome, but also those of Milan, Carthage, Antioch, 
 and Alexandria, are described to have been opu- 
 lently endowed V A decree was passed by Con- 
 stantine in the early part of his career, and while 
 he only shared (with Licinius) the imperial dignity, 
 (A.D. 303.) that the gardens, lands, and other pos- 
 sessions, which had previously belonged to the 
 Church, and which had been confiscated in time of 
 persecution, should be restored. And St. Chrysos- 
 tom, raised to the Patriarchal see of Constantinople, 
 reproachfully contrasts the poverty of that Church, 
 in his time, with its wealth and prosperous state in 
 preceding ages 2 . 
 
 1 See Gibbon, Decline and Fall. 
 
 2 The Fathers of the primitive Church, long before St. Chry- 
 sostom, are urgent and authoritative in their demands of liberal 
 support from Christian people to their Pastors. Those econo-
 
 136 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. The appropriation also of peculiar titles to the 
 
 = highest order of Church officers is of very remote 
 
 Titles. antiquity. Without inquiring into the necessity, 
 
 or even vindicating the propriety, of all the titles 
 
 mists who retain their attachment to religion and Christian insti- 
 tutions, yet conceive the Church to hold, in modern times, more 
 than a fair proportion of the national wealth, will read with sur- 
 prise the following remarks of Origen. Commenting on the 
 18th chapter of Numbers, where the Jews are required to offer 
 to God their first fruits, for the use and by the mediation of the 
 Priests, Origen has these words : " No man can lawfully use the 
 fruits of the earth, or of the cattle, till he has offered the first 
 fruits of them all to God, that is, to the Priests. This law, 
 I think, ought now to be observed according to the letter." 
 Afterwards he proceeds thus : " Our Lord said in the Gospel, 
 ' Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, who tithe 
 mint, cummin, and anise, and pass by the weightier matters of 
 the law : ye hypocrites, these ought to have been done, and not 
 to leave the other undone.' Observe diligently, how our Lord pre- 
 scribes the doing of the weightier things of the law, and also will 
 not allow the literal performance of the other things here men- 
 tioned, to be omitted. But if you say, that he spoke this to the 
 Pharisees, and not to his disciples, hear again what he says to his 
 disciples : ' Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of 
 the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven.' What therefore he prescribes to be done by the Pha- 
 risees, he would have fulfilled by his own disciples much more 
 abundantly. How then does my righteousness exceed theirs, if 
 they dare not taste the fruits of the earth, till they have offered 
 the first fruits of them to the Priests, and the tithes to the Levites ; 
 and I, doing neither of these, apply the first fruits of the earth to 
 my own use, without acquainting Priest, or Levite, or imparting 
 any share of them to the Altar ?" Hence he concludes, " That the 
 precept concerning first fruits stands in force according to the 
 letter." Homil. xi. in Num.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 137 
 
 actually bestowed (some of which, as being of an DISS. i. 
 oriental and Asiatic character, have been in later 
 times exchanged for the more simple diction of 
 European nations,) it is remarkable how very soon 
 expressions of profound respect, not only for the 
 governors of the Church, but for every circum- 
 stance connected with them, were adopted into 
 general usage. The practice so unpopular with 
 dissenters of calling the Bishop's seat in his cathe- 
 dral a throne is of primitive origin. The chair of 
 the Bishop of Jerusalem is stated to have been 
 called his Apostolic throne, because St. James, the 
 kinsman of our Lord, was its first occupant. The 
 seat of the Bishop of Alexandria was, on the same 
 principle, styled the throne of St. Mark, because 
 that Evangelist was the first Bishop of the See. 
 An ornament on the head (petalmn) corresponding 
 perhaps to the mitre, though now disused by our 
 Church, is mentioned by writers in the fourth cen- 
 tury to have been worn by Bishops of preceding 
 ages. And in the second and third centuries, 
 Bishops themselves not only were addressed in 
 forms of respectful salutation, but were dignified 
 with higher titles than the greatest metropolitan in 
 the present day would feel warranted in receiving. 
 They are styled " Heads and princes of the people," 
 (apices et prindpes omnium,) princes of the Clergy, 
 (prindpes sacerdotum,) Chief Priests, (summi sacer- 
 dotes,) supreme Pontiffs, (pontifices maximi,) Vicars of 
 Christ, (vice Christi,) Popes, (Papce,) blessed Popes, 
 (PapcB benedicti,) and most glorious Popes, (Papce
 
 138 EPISCOPACY. ^ 
 
 DISS. i. gloriosissimi.) l The very title most obnoxious to 
 
 CHAP - "' our dissenting brethren that of lords (or StairoiTai) 
 
 was the ordinary Episcopal appellation in the days 
 
 of Athanasius and of Augustin 2 . 
 
 seventh ob- 7 . The only argument from antiquity ,~-(perhaps 
 
 jection. . i i i T 
 
 Aeriusan the fairest argument which the anti-episcopalian 
 and-Epis- advocate can produce,) is derived from the opinion 
 of the heretic Aerius. This person was the first 
 and only real opponent of Episcopacy in the ancient 
 Church 3 . He flourished about the middle of the 
 fourth century. The occasion of his heresy was his 
 envy of Eustathius, who though of equal age, and 
 of the same qualifications, was preferred before him 
 
 1 This last title is given by the Presbyters of Rome, to Cyprian, 
 Bishop of Carthage. The title of Pope or " Father" was not 
 then confined to the Bishop of Rome. It was for a long time 
 after the common designation of Bishops. 
 
 * Letters of that ancient date are still quoted : as for example, 
 from the Bishops of the second general council to " the most 
 honourable Lords Damasus, Ambrose," &c. : from my Lord 
 Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, to my Lord Paulinus, Bishop of 
 Tyre : and from the Synod of Jerusalem, congratulating the 
 Clergy of Egypt, and of Lybia, on the restoration of their Lord 
 Bishop Athanasius from exile. Calvin addresses his friend Cran- 
 mer by his usual titles Reverende domine, Reverend Lord, &c. 
 Similar letters may be consulted from Peter Martyr, from Gaulter, 
 Beza, and Sadeel, in the name of the Church of Geneva. See 
 Dure}, Bingham, and Hicks, (p. 251.) on the Priesthood. 
 
 3 Tertullian mentions certain heretics in his time, who dis- 
 regarded Bishops, but who disregarded at the same time the 
 essential doctrines of Christianity, and believed, with the 
 Heathens, in a plurality of gods. The opinion of such sectaries 
 is unworthy of attention. Tertull. de pracscrip. Heret. cap. 42.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 139 
 
 to the Bishopric of Sebastia, in Pontus, for which DISS. i. 
 both were candidates. No concessions on the part 
 of his successful rival, (who regretted the mortifi- 
 cation which he had innocently caused,) could 
 appease the resentment of Aerius. The latter pro- 
 ceeded to calumniate Eustathius ; to designate the 
 new prelate as proud, overbearing, and avaricious ; 
 to withdraw himself from the communion of the 
 Church ; and to publish a variety of heretical 
 opinions, more especially, the opinion that he him- 
 self, though a Presbyter, was of equal honor and 
 dignity with Eustathius, and that by the word of 
 God no difference was recognized between Presby- 
 ters and their Bishop. No circumstance gives 
 importance to the opinion of this obscure Presbyter, 
 but that he is the only individual among all the 
 ancients, who really gives support to the anti-epis- 
 copalian, or, as it has been called from him, the 
 Aerian cause. But after all, on examination, that 
 support seems extremely feeble and insignificant. 
 He is, as already noticed, a very late authority, for 
 he did not publish his novelties till about the 
 middle of the fourth century : his mind was warped 
 by motives of private interest and resentment : he 
 quotes no preceding authority for his errors : 
 besides that he neither claimed nor exercised the 
 power of ordination, which is the principal and 
 peculiar prerogative of Episcopacy; his notions 
 were condemned as strange and heretical by the 
 universal Church, and speedily died away l . 
 
 1 An able and satisfactory reply to Aerius was published by
 
 140 
 
 EPISCOPACYi 
 
 DISS. I. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Eighth ob- 
 jection. 
 Prime 
 Presbyters. 
 
 The use which has been made of this solitary 
 testimony, conveys the insinuation that Aerius, a 
 single Presbyter, was the only individual out of all 
 antiquity who understood the Apostolical constitu- 
 tion of the Church. 
 
 8. Another plausible contrivance of the modern 
 followers of Aerius, is their invention of a new 
 character, a Prime Presbyter, whom they allege to 
 have presided in the colleges of Presbyters, and 
 whom they fancy to be alluded to in all passages 
 of the Fathers that relate to the prerogatives of 
 Bishops. This poetic personage, this creature of 
 the dissenting imagination, was created by David 
 Blondel, a very learned and ingenious Frenchman, 
 employed by the assembly of divines at Westmin- 
 ster, to write a book in support of Presbyterianism, 
 when they found themselves hard pressed by the 
 advocates of Episcopacy. Their Gallican auxiliary, 
 however, was less favourable to the views of the 
 assembly than they expected. For though he 
 wrote a heavy, closely printed quarto in Latin, full 
 of curious research upon the whole, in favour of the 
 Aerian cause, he repeatedly expressed his respect 
 and even reverence for Episcopalian principles, both 
 in the preface and in the body of the work ; and 
 
 his cotemporary Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis, in Cyprus, 
 a friend of St. Jerome. We might have added Epiphanius, in 
 our second chapter, to the numher of authorities in favour of Epis- 
 copacy. The Cyprian Bishop is very severe on Aerius, and 
 calls his notion atypocrvvrig t/iTrAtW and fiaviuSrie /* a\\ov tfirep 
 (caraoraortwc avSpwTriVj/e, a perversion of mind out of the ordinary 
 course of human nature. Advers. Haercs. Ixxv. p. 906.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 141 
 
 entered this solemn protest to the same effect at the DISS. i. 
 conclusion : " By all that we have said in assert- 
 ing the rights of the Presbyters, we do not intend 
 to invalidate the ancient and apostolical constitu- 
 tion of Episcopal pre-eminence ; but we believe 
 that wheresoever it is established conformably to 
 the ancient canons, it must be reverently preserved; 
 and wheresoever, by some heat of contention or 
 otherwise, it has been put down, it ought to be 
 reverently restored V Blondel was persuaded to 
 cancel this passage, and the figment of a Prime 
 Presbyter, a thing never before heard of, has ever 
 since been found of great advantage to the propaga- 
 tion of dissenting tenets. The shadowy and in- 
 definite form of this ideal personage, enables the 
 disseminators of schism to assign him whatever 
 attributes, and whatever properties are most con- 
 venient to their purpose ; and the more they find 
 themselves hard pressed by the arguments of the 
 defenders of Apostolic discipline within the Church, 
 the more nearly do they mould the resemblance 
 between a Prime Presbyter and a Bishop, till hardly 
 any difference at last can be perceived between 
 them. When the controversy begins, this Prime 
 Presbyter is only an occasional moderator of the 
 Presbytery ; as the argument proceeds, he is made 
 to hold the moderatorship for life ; then the rights 
 
 1 The curious circumstances attending the omission of this pro- 
 test, are explained in a letter by Dr. Peter du Moulin, Preben- 
 dary of Canterbury, published by Dr. Durel, and will be found in 
 note (M) at the end of the volume.
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 142 EPISCOPACY, 
 
 DISS. i. of jurisdiction and coercion are liberally assigned 
 him ; and at last the power of ordination cannot 
 be exercised without him. Here then, we can 
 only say, that we attach no value to mere words. 
 If the dissenter will allow his moderator to be 
 invested with Episcopal authority, we are entirely 
 satisfied. " Let us then," to quote the words of 
 Leslie, ''have a moderator, like the Bishops, in the 
 writings of the Fathers, namely, a moderator as a 
 standing officer, during life, to whom all the Pres- 
 byters are to be obedient, as to Christ, that is to 
 the moderator as representing the person of Christ ; 
 that nothing be done without him : that he be 
 understood as the principle of unity in his Church, 
 so that they who unjustly break off from his com- 
 munion are thereby a schism : that he show his 
 succession by regular ordination conveyed down 
 from the Apostles ; in short, that he have all that 
 character and authority which we see to have been 
 recognized in the Bishops in the very age of the 
 Apostles, and all the succeeding ages of Christ- 
 ianity : and then call him moderator, superin- 
 tendent, or bishop ; for the contest is not about the 
 name, but the thing 1 ." 
 
 1 See Leslie's works, folio, vol. ii. p. 754. and for an analysis of 
 Blondel's scheme, together with some observations on that of 
 Salmasius, see note (N) at the end of the volume. 
 
 We may here revert to what was said respecting omissions, and 
 observe, that if such omissions are adverse to the existence of a 
 Bishop, they are no less adverse to the existence of a Prime 
 Presbyter. We may ask with Bishop Hoadley, Why does not
 
 EPISCOPACY. 143 
 
 9. We have already noticed that the only autho- DISS. i. 
 rity really anti-episcopalian which is mentioned in 
 ancient writers, is Aerius. But we may now state Ninth ob- 
 that there is another presumed authority, that of Jerome a 
 the Presbyter St. Jerome, who is mistakenly repre- antuTpL- 
 sented as tracing the origin of Episcopal primacy 
 to a more recent period than the Apostolic age. 
 The circumstances which led this Father to use 
 language capable of this misconstruction may be 
 briefly stated. He was irritated at the presump- 
 tion of certain Deacons, who happening to enjoy 
 wealthier Church endowments than their ecclesias- 
 tical superiors or Presbyters, insisted on peculiar 
 privileges incompatible with subordination ; and 
 showed their contempt of the presbyterian order, 
 by refusing to be promoted into it. This irregu- 
 larity so roused the spirit of St. Jerome, naturally 
 irritable, that he not only took every means pos- 
 sible to raise his own presbyterian order above the 
 diaconal, but used language which seemed to place 
 it, at its original institution, on a level with the 
 Episcopal and even the Apostolic dignity. We 
 find him adverting to this topic in two passages of 
 his works ; namely, in his letter to Evagrius, and 
 in a commentary on the first chapter of St. Paul's 
 epistle to Titus. Having observed the titles Bishop 
 and Presbyter to be used in Scripture interchange- 
 ably, and that even the Apostles style themselves 
 
 St. Clement, on the supposition that he gives a full enumeration 
 of ecclesiastical dignitaries, leave out the Prime Presbyter ?
 
 144 EPISCOPACY. ^ 
 
 DISS. i. Presbyters, he appears to imply that no distinction at 
 first existed between these offices, but that Apostle, 
 Bishop, and Presbyter, were only different names 
 for one and the same officer \ He thus proceeds : 
 " Before the time came when divisions in-rreligion 
 by the instigation of the Devil began, and cries 
 were raised among the people, ' I am of Paul : 
 I am of Apollos : and I of Cephas ; the Churches 
 were governed by a joint council of Presbyters. 
 But afterwards, (when each Presbyter considered 
 those disciples whom he had baptized to be his own, 
 and not Christ's,) it was decreed over all the world, 
 that one Presbyter chosen from his brethren should 
 be appointed over the rest, on whom the whole 
 management of the Church should devolve ; and by 
 these means the seeds of schism be removed 2 ." 
 
 The inestimable value which is attached by our 
 dissenting brethren to the above quotation would 
 be very difficult to be explained, did we not reflect 
 that authorities are sometimes precious in propor- 
 tion to the scantiness of their number. Not only 
 are these words of St. Jerome preferred before 
 other contrary expressions in his own writings, and 
 
 1 Idem est ergo Presbyter qui et Episcopus. 
 
 3 Antequam Diaboli instinctu studia in religione fierent, et 
 diceretur in populis, ego sum Pauli, ego Apollinis, ego autem 
 Cephas ; communi presbyterorum consilio ecclesiae gubernabantur. 
 Postquam vero unusquisque eos quos baptizaverat suos putabat 
 esse non Christi, in toto orbe decretum est, ut unus de presbyteris 
 electus superponeretur caeteris ad quern omnis ecclesiae cura per- 
 tineret et schismatum semina tollerentur. Hieron. comm. in Tit. 
 cap. i.
 
 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 145 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 in those of Epiphanius, Ambrose and Augustin, his DISS. i. 
 friends and contemporaries, but even to the plainest 
 assertions of writers at a period far earlier, with 
 much better means of information : we allude to 
 Cyprian, Origen, Irenaeus, and Tertullian, all of 
 them above a century before St. Jerome. From 
 the confidence with which the passage now before 
 us is appealed to as a kind of oracular response 
 that is to silence every further inquiry, a plain 
 person, uninvolved in the controversy, might almost 
 imagine that this golden passage was not a comment 
 merely, but an actual text of Holy Scripture. 
 
 The adversaries then of Episcopacy, relying on 
 the decree over all the world spoken of by St. Jerome 
 in the manner we have quoted, pretend to trace 
 the rise of the distinction between Presbyters and 
 Bishops to a later period than the Apostolic age. 
 They conjecture the decree in question to have 
 been promulgated, A.D. 140. A later date would 
 bring the anti-episcopal chronologist into perilous 
 collision with that phalanx of witnesses on our side, 
 who, towards the close of the second century, de- 
 cidedly affirm the existence of an Episcopal order, 
 contemporary with themselves, and invested with 
 peculiar rights and prerogatives. An earlier date 
 would, on the other hand, be still more inconvenient 
 and fatal to the anti-episcopalian : it would carry 
 back the ecclesiastical revolution implied by this 
 decree to the very times of the Apostles. Hence, 
 for the epoch of its promulgation, the year 140 has 
 been, not injudiciously, selected.
 
 146 EPISCOPACY/ 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 DISS. i. We are given, therefore, to understand, accord- 
 ing to the above hypothesis, that the whole order 
 of Presbyters throughout Christendom (toto orbe), 
 sensible of the factious spirit engendered by Pres- 
 byterian equality, resolved, for the sake of peace, 
 to surrender up their most important privileges 
 into the hands of a new functionary, on whom from 
 thenceforward the right of granting ordination and 
 of exercising spiritual jurisdiction should especially 
 devolve. We must imagine that those writers, (who 
 lived before this self-denying act, and who mention 
 Bishops as existing in the previous age, and as in- 
 vested with peculiar powers,) have described to us 
 this form of polity, from fancy rather than expe- 
 rience ; since the new constitution was not con- 
 trived, till after they were in their graves ! We must 
 suppose that all the learned and voluminous writers 
 of the same early period, as well as those of later ages, 
 have passed over this decree in studied silence ; 
 and that such of them as were Bishops have boldly 
 claimed predecessors in the newly-devised Episco- 
 pate, and even traced those predecessors to the 
 ordination of the Apostles, knowing all the while, 
 that, till the year 140, Episcopacy did not exist ; 
 and knowing also that this was known to the whole 
 world. We must believe that this extraordinary 
 decretal, this act of unexampled meekness and 
 humility, was silently concurred in by all the 
 Presbyters throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia : 
 although the jealousy, factiousness and ambition 
 of those same Presbyters, were the very evils to be
 
 EPISCOPACY. 147 
 
 remedied by the decree ; and although there was DISS. i. 
 neither general council to enact it, nor prince nor '_ 
 prelate to enforce it ! We must persuade ourselves, 
 that in times of fierce and cruel persecution, (when 
 the most distinguished officers in the Church were 
 selected for victims,) persons could every where be 
 found so blindly ambitious as to assume a power 
 and pre-eminence above their brethren, to which 
 they were not entitled, and by which they peculi- 
 arly exposed themselves, without the least temp- 
 tation of secular advantage, to the fury of the com- 
 mon enemy. We must imagine that on this point 
 heretics concurred unanimously with their orthodox 
 opponents, consenting never to reproach them for 
 the unauthorized innovation, and even suffering 
 themselves to be taunted with their want of episco- 
 pal succession ; though they knew all the while that 
 every claim to that succession was utterly delusive, 
 and that the succession no where had existence ! 
 Lastly, we must, on the foregoing hypothesis, take 
 for granted that this important, this fundamental, 
 this very sudden change in the constitution of the 
 church, was effected at a period when Christians 
 throughout the world were sensitively jealous 
 on the subject of ancient usage ; when they re- 
 garded the least infringement on Apostolic practice 
 as a crime ; and when they even excommunicated 
 one another on a question so insignificant as the 
 day appointed by the Apostles for the celebration 
 of Easter ! 
 
 The historical view of Church polity ascribed to 
 
 L2
 
 148 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. St. Jerome, were the objections fewer than we have 
 :HAP - Iir - stated, would not be credible on his authority. 
 Jerome was not born till the middle of the fourth 
 century. He quotes no previous writer as Concur- 
 ring in his opinion : and he himself elsewhere posi- 
 tively contradicts it, by describing the Apostles as 
 the introducers of the threefold distinction among 
 Christian ministers, in imitation of the Mosaic 
 system ; by calling Bishops the sons or successors 
 of the Apostles ; by giving catalogues of Bishops 
 superintending various churches, not only to the 
 year 140, but to the Apostolic age itself; and by 
 explicitly denying that Presbyters possessed the 
 right of ordination, which belonged exclusively to 
 the Episcopal order. 
 
 But after all, on examining the words of St. 
 Jerome, we find them altogether unsusceptible of 
 the construction which the advocates of Presbyte- 
 rian primacy would attach to them : we find them 
 quite inapplicable to the supposed universal agree- 
 ment among Presbyters to institute the Episcopal 
 order, towards the middle of the second century. 
 St. Jerome mentions a decree : he refers to no mu- 
 tual agreement : his very word decree, presupposes 
 necessarily the interposition of authority ; and he 
 dates this decree from the period when " cries 
 were raised among the people : I am of Paul, and 
 I am of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and when each 
 Presbyter considered those disciples whom he bap- 
 tized to be his own and not Christ's." This period, 
 as St. Paul himself assures us, was in his own life-
 
 EPISCOPACY. 149 
 
 time l , and therefore thisTdecree was an Apostolical DISS. i. 
 institution ; a fact to which St. Jerome himself f^ 
 elsewhere testifies, when he declares that St. James, 
 soon after the ascension of our Lord, was appointed 
 by the Apostles Bishop of Jerusalem, Timothy 
 Bishop of Ephesus, Titus Bishop of Crete, and 
 Polycarp Bishop of Smyrna. Nor will it avail to 
 say that St. Jerome here refers to a congregational 
 and not to a diocesan Episcopacy ; for Timothy and 
 Titus, as we learn from Scripture, were not merely 
 pastors of congregations, but inspectors and over- 
 seers of the clergy. In short, the case which this 
 illustrious Father describes is plainly what we 
 stated at the beginning of this essay, namely, that 
 in the absence of the Apostles, Presbyters originally 
 were the highest local authorities in the Church : 
 but since a form of government so constituted occa- 
 sioned inconvenience and gave rise to parties and 
 divisions, the Apostles deputed other superior offi- 
 cers, such as Timothy and Titus, whom they in- 
 vested with their own authority, to quell the spirit 
 of faction by a more constant exercise of Apostolic 
 power. This celebrated passage therefore only 
 
 1 " Now this I say, that every one of you saith I am of Paul, 
 and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ. Is Christ 
 divided ? Was Paul crucified for you ? or nere ye baptized in the 
 name of Paul? I thank God, that I baptized none of you but 
 Crispus and Gaius : lest any should say that / baptized in mine 
 own name. And I baptized also the household of Stephanus ; 
 besides I know not whether I baptized any other." 1 Cor. i. 
 1217.
 
 150 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 DISS. i. goes to prove, by the unsuspected authority of St. 
 Jerome, that what was done in the case of Ephesus 
 and of Crete, was not a partial measure, limited to 
 those particular churches, but was spread abroad 
 by a general " decree over the whole world!" 
 summary We may now express a hope that we have brought 
 
 ofpreceding J x ... . 
 
 arguments, to a satisfactory conclusion our inquiries on this 
 important and comprehensive subject ; that we 
 have adduced sufficient arguments in favour of 
 Episcopal Church polity ; and have given sufficient 
 answers to such objections as, with any plausibility, 
 have been alleged against it. We have traced the 
 growth of the ecclesiastical constitution planted by 
 the Apostles through three successive appoint- 
 ments of Church officers, Deacons, Presbyters, and 
 Bishops ; each order invested with distinct functions 
 and privileges. We have seen that Presbyters have 
 no authority from Scripture to ordain, but that all 
 precepts on this subject are addressed to persons of 
 Episcopal rank ; and that no authority can be found 
 in the word of God for Presbyterian ordination. 
 We have brought forward Timothy, invested by 
 St. Paul with Apostolic powers over the Presbyters 
 of Ephesus ; and Titus over those of Crete. We 
 have remarked St. James, the kinsman of our Lord, 
 fixed, by Apostolical nomination, in the diocese of 
 Jerusalem, and exerting on that account peculiar 
 influence in the affairs of the Church. We have 
 referred to Epistles addressed in the Apocalypse 
 by our Saviour himself, through St. John, to the 
 governors of the Seven Churches of Asia, designat- 
 
 8
 
 EPISCOPACY. 151 
 
 ing them as Angels ; attributing to them powers of DISS. i. 
 coercion and jurisdiction, eminently and peculiarly CHAP ' "' 
 Episcopal ; applauding some of them for the vigor- 
 ous exertion of those powers, and reproving others 
 for supineness or neglect. When, from the works 
 of the Apostles, we proceeded onward to the writ- 
 ings of their immediate successors, we found the 
 Apostolical institution of Episcopacy recognized 
 and affirmed distinctly, fully, universally. We 
 showed the same assertions in later ages concern- 
 ing the Apostolic origin of Episcopacy, to be 
 uniformly repeated without contradiction or hesita- 
 tion, by a series of writers in every quarter of the 
 ancient world ; and not only to be persevered in by 
 Catholics, but admitted also by Heretics. On the 
 other hand, when we turned to the objections 
 alleged by our own dissenting brethren, we found 
 them resting upon erroneous assumptions, ground- 
 less suppositions or inventions, and misapplied 
 quotations : on the unwarranted imposition of a 
 modern sense upon ancient words ; on the post 
 dating of ancient testimonies ; on the excitement 
 of unfounded prejudices and apprehensions ; and 
 what is worst of all, on the establishment of prin- 
 ciples which would destroy the credit of all anti- 
 quity, and invalidate all ancient and external evi- 
 dence, to the integrity of the sacred canon. Lastly, 
 we have demonstrated that Episcopacy, as an Apos- 
 tolical institution, continued universally throughout 
 the world to be the form of Church polity during 
 fifteen hundred years : and that those reformers
 
 152 EPISCOPACY. N 
 
 DISS. i. who first established another system, took that mea- 
 
 CHAP - '" sure with reluctance ; urged necessity alone as their 
 
 excuse for the innovation ; and expressed, in the 
 
 strongest terms, their profound reverence for the 
 
 ancient Ecclesiastical constitution. 
 
 object of The preceding arguments are advanced with no 
 
 this work .7 
 
 defensive, design of excluding from the Church of Christ those 
 Christian societies, whose forms of discipline are 
 less agreeable to Apostolic rule than our own. My 
 object is defence, rather than aggression. I would 
 rather, with the judicious Hooker, " lament than 
 exaggerate" the defects and imperfections inherent 
 in other systems. I am eager to acknowledge, with 
 that great man, the difference between matters of 
 " perpetual necessity to all men's salvation, and 
 matters of ecclesiastical polity." And I should be 
 the last person to withhold the acknowledgment of 
 my profound respect for the learning as well as 
 piety of various ministers in establishments differing 
 with respect to polity from the Church of England. 
 At the same time I feel entitled to express my full 
 conviction that no model of Church government 
 devised by mere human wisdom, and grounded on 
 departure from Divine institutions, can be so con- 
 ducive to edification, so agreeable to the mind of 
 Christ, so pure a channel for the communication of 
 the Holy Spirit, so effectual for the diffusion of 
 sound religious principles throughout the world 
 in short, so effectually adapted in all respects to 
 promote the glory of God and the salvation of man, 
 as the Episcopal form ; a form which, to repeat the
 
 EPISCOPACY. 153 
 
 acknowledgment of Calvin, " God himself has 
 prescribed in his own word." 
 
 It is principally on the ground of consonance other re- 
 with the Divine will, as collected from Scripture adomofthe 
 and antiquity, that the religious establishment of Estabiish- 
 this country claims the reverence and attachment e opieof * 
 of the English nation. There are indeed other 
 numerous advantages which might, with great 
 force of argument, be alleged in favour of our 
 Church ; advantages moral, social, and political, 
 both to the members of the Church themselves and 
 to those who have withdrawn from her communion. 
 If no means were left us of ascertaining the original 
 formation of the Christian community ; if that im- 
 portant question were buried for ever in the impene- 
 trable silence and darkness of distant ages ; if no 
 motives of love and gratitude for the mercies, or of 
 reverence for the authority of Christ, could be urged 
 in favour of Episcopacy, in preference to independ- 
 ency or presbyterianism, what is the plan of go- 
 vernment which every right-minded Christian would 
 desire to see established or retained ? Would he 
 not prefer the system under which the great body 
 of Christians in all ages have lived and died, and 
 under which Christianity itself was introduced into 
 our own land ? the system which would best 
 accord with our political institutions ; which would 
 uphold with most enlarged benevolence the prin- 
 ciples of toleration ; and which would bring reli- 
 gion most fully into influential contact with all 
 classes ? the system which would best secure sta-
 
 154 EPISCOPACY.^ 
 
 DISS. i. bility to the Christian faith, and call forth in its 
 HAF : 1 "' support the ablest defenders against impiety and 
 infidelity on the one hand, and on the other against 
 fanaticism and superstition. And are not all these 
 grounds of preference united in favour o? Episco- 
 pacy, and in .favour of Episcopacy alone ? The 
 whole Christian Church throughout the world, 
 during the lapse of fifteen centuries, was constructed 
 on this Divine model ; and by the far greater pro- 
 portion the same Divine model is still preserved. 
 If we die in the Episcopal communion, we die in 
 communion with all the saints and martyrs of anti- 
 quity, and with the wisest and holiest of succeeding 
 Christians. It was from the lamp of Episcopacy 
 that the light of true religion, dawning upon the 
 ancient Britons, first dispelled the heathen dark- 
 ness of this distant island : and when Saxon barba- 
 rism had extinguished that blessed illumination, it 
 was under the same fostering auspices of Episco- 
 pacy that the light revived and was rekindled 1 . 
 
 1 " Car soit qu'il se soit porte (le Christianisme) en Angleterre 
 par Joseph d'Arimathee, ou par Simon Canneus, ou par Luc 
 disciple de Philippe, ou par Phaganus et Perusianus, du temps 
 du Roy Lucius, il est constant que ce fut par le ministere des 
 Eveques ; et que c'est a leur charite, a leur zele, et a leur suf- 
 fisance, qu'ils sont redevables de la connoissance qu'ils possedent 
 presentement. Et comment done s'emporter contre ce gouverne- 
 ment ? Et quelle folie de croire qu'ils pourront utilement 
 secouer un gouvernement qui, 1' espace de tant de siecles, a obtenu 
 au milieu de leur eglise ? Faut-il pas etre bien brouillon pour se 
 resoudre a ces extremitez, et n'avoir guerc d'expcricncc, et ne
 
 EPISCOPACY. 155 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Ages of experience have proved to Englishmen that DISS. r. 
 the Episcopal form of polity is peculiarly adapted 
 to their political institutions ; upholding at once 
 the dignity of the crown, the rights of the nobility, 
 and the liberties of the people. Under the Episco- 
 pal jurisdiction, properly maintained and applied, 
 the principles of toleration have been earlier intro- 
 duced, more fully recognized, and more systemati- 
 cally acted upon in this country, than in any other 
 country upon earth. Religion, too, is practically 
 brought home to all classes of society : and while 
 the humbler ranks of ministers, in the remotest 
 corners of the kingdom, instruct the children of 
 obscurity, of poverty, and ignorance, in the doc- 
 trines and duties of Christianity, and reconcile them 
 to the inevitable sorrows and privations of their lot 
 in this life, by the glorious prospect of a life to 
 come in the eternal presence of their God ; the 
 highest order of Church officers, (invested with pecu- 
 liar dignities and privileges, and admitted to fami- 
 liar intercourse in courts and palaces,) are prepared 
 to communicate a tone of religious feeling to influ- 
 ential members of the community, and have daily 
 opportunities to become examples of true piety, 
 and enlightened charity to our nobles and to our 
 princes. Following the banners of Protestant Epis- 
 copacy, the soldiers of Christ and champions of the 
 Faith in this favoured land have resisted those 
 
 sqavoirpas que les changements sontde dangereuse consequence." 
 Letter of M. le Moyne to Dr. Brevint, A.D. 1661. quoted by 
 Dr. Durel in his " View of the Reformed Churches." p. 133.
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 156 EPISCOPACYl 
 
 DISS. i. assaults which in other countries have proved either 
 death blows to true religion, or fatal to its welfare : 
 and while the emissaries of Satan have insinuated 
 themselves by secret wiles, or have marched in 
 open triumph over the continent of Europe ; the 
 shores of Britain have presented an adamantine 
 barrier against the infidel assailant. And to whom 
 are we indebted for maintaining these defences of 
 our faith ? What church, what establishment in 
 any other nation of Christendom, has supplied 
 champions of the cross comparable to our own ? 
 Have all the Presbyters, of all other Christian com- 
 munities united, done more for the vindication of 
 sound doctrine than the Bishops of the Church of 
 England ? Some teachers at home may have zeal 
 and piety ; others abroad may have ability and 
 learning : but in what other body of religious 
 instructors shall we find the same zeal, the same 
 piety, the same learning, and ability combined ? 
 In the conflict of the True Faith with Scepticism, 
 Socinianism, and Romanism, to whose talents and 
 energies do we owe, under Providence, our victory ? 
 On whom do we rely with greater confidence than 
 on Butler, Stillingfleet, Bramhall, Warburton, 
 Sherlock, and Watson : on Bull, Horsley, and 
 Magee : on Ridley, Jewell, Tillotson, and Taylor ? 
 And in addition to these ornaments of their Epis- 
 copal order, are not Latimer and Hall; Beveridge, 
 Hopkins, and Sanderson ; Porteus, Wilson, and 
 Home, superior to any safeguards that can be 
 named against the licentious invader of moral prin-
 
 EPISCOPACY. 157 
 
 ciple ? Can any uninspired compositions be pro- DISS. i. 
 duced, breathing more celestial strains of piety, or 
 warmer sentiments of charity, a purer faith or a 
 better founded hope, than the writings of those 
 holy men, arid Apostolic prelates ? 
 
 But defects, it is alleged, have been discovered Defects not 
 
 .... . essentially 
 
 in our Ecclesiastical institutions ; grievous delects, connected 
 
 . . -IT 'i wlt ^ Epis- 
 
 arismg from their connexion with the civil power, copacy. 
 Time has engendered corruption. Pluralities exist ; 
 non-residence is tolerated ; revenues are unequally 
 distributed ; canons imperfectly obeyed ; and dis- 
 cipline partially enforced. The remedy for these 
 evils has been called for, but has not been applied 
 at all, or not with sufficient vigour. 
 
 These are complaints to which the peculiar cir- 
 cumstances of the times tend to give peculiar point 
 and importance. With such as raise these com- 
 plaints from hostility to the Christian religion, we 
 have here no concern. We can only recommend 
 them to read the evidences of Christianity, and 
 warn them that in assailing the Church from anti- 
 christian views, they may be found " haply to fight 
 against God." To such on the contrary, as put Proper 
 forth these murmurs from no enmity to the Christ- remedy. 
 ian faith, but from a sincere desire of removing 
 abuses, and of reviving salutary discipline, we 
 reply, beware of counteracting by rashness and 
 impatience your own views. The objects at which 
 you aim are legitimate, are honourable, and desir- 
 able, provided only that they are pursued judi- 
 ciously, cautiously, safely. In all your plans of
 
 EPISCOPAC 
 
 Y. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 DISS. i. reform pay due attention to justice ; and suffer no 
 . dishonest tampering with vested rights. Maintain 
 the interests of learning as well as piety : while you 
 provide parochial instruction for the people, provide 
 also against attacks from the infidel, by preserv- 
 ing venerable institutions, which supply, (and 
 have supplied for ages,) the means and the leisure 
 for that important purpose ; and which, if once 
 destroyed, you can never afterwards replace : suffer 
 not the peculiar efficiency of our Church, as the 
 safeguard, throughout the British empire, (or we 
 may even say throughout the world,) of pure and 
 sound religion against neology, scepticism, super- 
 stition, and fanatic wildness, to be lessened or im- 
 paired. Let some regard be paid to things established, 
 merely as establishments ; and adopt no change 
 merely for the sake of change : never innovate 
 solely with a view to theoretic beauty and systema- 
 tical proportion, but only from a clear perception of 
 some actual wrong to be redressed, some positive 
 evil to be remedied, some specific and unquestion- 
 able grievance to be removed : and in every act of 
 interference for Church reform, be quite sure that 
 the remedy you propose shall not involve a greater 
 mischief than the disease. Let the stability of an 
 Apostolical Church be conscientiously regarded and 
 maintained ; and let not the permanent influence 
 of sound religion upon a whole nation, be shaken 
 either to promote the temporary interests of any one 
 political party, or (through abject fear of a licentious 
 press,) to indulge a fickle, reckless multitude, in any
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 EPISCOPACY. 159 
 
 idle fancy of the day. Above all, let an ecclesias- DISS. i. 
 tical constitution of primitive and inspired appoint- 
 ments be religiously supported : let no reform be 
 thought of which would remodel without restoring 
 this ancient edifice : let no departure be attempted 
 from the original polity of the Church ; a polity 
 established by Divine authority, and for fifteen cen- 
 turies continued uninterruptedly throughout Chris- 
 tendom.
 
 DISSERTATION II. 
 
 ON LITURGIES. 
 
 " For so much as concernetli the form of prayers and ecclesiastical rites, I 
 much approve, that it be determined so that it may not be lawful for the minis- 
 ters in their administration to vary from it : as well to help the simplicity and 
 unskilfulnesse of some, as that the uniformity of all the several congregations 
 may better appear ; and, finally, that the desultory and capricious lightnesse of 
 such as affect novelties may be encountered and stopped V Calvin's Epistle to 
 Protector Somerset. 
 
 " The constant disuse of forms is apt to breed giddiness in religion, and it 
 may make men hypocrites who shall delude themselves with conceits that they 
 delight in God, when it is but in those novelties and variations of expression 
 that they are delighted : and, therefore, I advise forms ; to fix Christians, and 
 make them sound." Baxter on Liturgies, prop. 10. 
 
 " We account it grievous to contemn all those holy Churches, which, from the 
 times of the Apostles, and of the primitive Church, unto this day, have cele- 
 brated the public worship of God out of prescribed forms wherefore, we blame 
 the over nice singularity of those men who would cast out all prescribed forms from 
 divine worship 2 ." Letter from the Walachrian Classis of Zealand to the 
 Assembly of Divines in London, about the year 1646. 
 
 " Any one may satisfy himself, from a view of all the particulars, that in the 
 ancient Church the whole of divine worship was administered by prescribed 
 forms. The question is, whether every minister should have liberty of obtrud- 
 ing private prayers, which he has himself composed, with which no one else is 
 
 1 Quod adformam precum et rituum Ecclesiasticorum valde probo, ut certa ilia 
 extet, a qud pasloribus discedere in functione sud non liceat, tarn ut consulatur 
 quor'umdam simplicitati et imperitue, quam ut certius ita constet omnium inter se 
 ecclesiarum consensus; postremo etiam ut obviam eatur desultorice quorundam 
 levitati qui novationes quasdam affectant. Calv. Ep. ad Protect. Angl. 
 
 2 Durum putamus omnes illas pias ecclesias condemnare qua ab Apostolicis et 
 primitive ecclesiee temporibus, usque ad hodiernum diem, outturn Dei publicum ex 
 prtescriptis certisque formulis celebrdrunt, proinde hominum illorum prtscisam 
 singularitatem arguimus, qui omnes prtescriplas formulas ex cultu divino elimi- 
 nant. Consid. Contr. in Angl. c. 7- qu. 2.
 
 ON LITURGIES. 161 
 
 acquainted, and to which the Church is unaccustomed, instead of forms matured 
 with grave deliberation by the servants of Christ, revised by the higher officers 
 of the Church, and approved by the synod. This liberty we do not grant '." 
 Preface to the Agenda or Book of Common Prayer in the Reformed Churclies of 
 Poland and Lithuania. Dated at Thorn, A.D. 1636. 
 
 AMONG the peculiar marks of difference by which DISS. 11. 
 the various dissenting communities of this kingdom 
 are distinguished, not only from the Church of 
 England, but from the far greater number of Christ- 
 ian societies throughout the world, the most 
 obvious are their form of ecclesiastical polity, and 
 their method of divine worship. Unlike the Greek 
 and Latin Churches, and others unconnected with 
 them, both in the old and new world ; and unlike Two im - 
 
 portant pe- 
 
 many foreign Protestants, our English Dissenters cuiiarities: 
 
 i i T->- T i i Episcopacy 
 
 have neither Bishops nor Liturgies. And yet the and 
 great body of them, so far from impugning the 
 doctrines of our Church, express in general their 
 approbation, and are ready to subscribe, with more 
 or less cordiality, our various doctrinal articles and 
 creeds. Of the two peculiarities just mentioned, 
 the more important was considered in a former 
 dissertation ; in which we maintained that our own 
 Church, and most other Churches, are rightly and 
 apostolically governed by an order of ministers 
 superior to Presbyters, and invested especially 
 with the prerogative of ordaining the inferior clergy 
 
 1 In Eccksid quoque vetere, qubd uniformiter cultus divinus in totofuerit admi- 
 nislratus, ex omnibus fere circumstantiis cuilibet obvium esse potest. Verum in 
 eo cardo rei vertitur, utrum permittendum sit cuilibet minisirorum, loco precatio- 
 num a servis Christi gravi cum deliberatione conceptarum, a senioribus ecclesue 
 relectarum, et a Synodo approbatarum, suas proprias, a se conceptas, nulli cog- 
 nitas, et inusitatas, ecclesuz Dei obtrudere ? quam libertatem cur non conceda- 
 mus, his ducimur rationibus. Primum, SfC. 
 
 M
 
 162 ON LITURGIES: 
 
 DISS. ii. as well as of confirming the laity. The second dis- 
 tinction, though not perhaps so indispensable as 
 the first, is more open to common observation. 
 A total stranger to great Britain who should hap- 
 pen, alternately, to visit a Church and a dissenting 
 assembly, might not immediately discover that the 
 one class of Christian worshippers were governed 
 by Bishops, and that the discipline of the other 
 deprived them of that advantage ; but he could not 
 for a moment fail of perceiving that the one em- 
 ployed a Liturgy, or series of preconcerted forms, 
 as the channel for their devotions : and that the 
 others were satisfied with extemporaneous exercises. 
 A question, then, would naturally occur to him, as 
 to the comparative expediency of the two arrange- 
 ments. The foreign visitant would ask himself 
 which of the two systems, that of extemporaneous 
 prayer, or that of a precomposed or set form, was 
 statement recommended by the greater weight of argument 
 Son respect- an< i of authority : he would consider which of them 
 gies. Lltu was more agreeable to Scripture; more conformable 
 to the practice of antiquity ; and better suited to 
 congregational worship. 
 
 These are inquiries to which every member of 
 our Church should be able to return a full and dis- 
 tinct reply ; both for the sake of others, and for his 
 own. In the case of religious ceremonies as well 
 as of religion itself, every devout mind must feel 
 the high importance of being ready always to give 
 an answer " to every man that asketh a reason" of 
 the particular ceremonies adopted.
 
 ON LITURGIES. 163 
 
 Before proceeding further, it may be proper to DISS. n. 
 explain that we speak of extemporaneous prayer in 
 opposition to set forms, rather from compliance Preliminary 
 with popular phraseology, than because these two tion. 
 methods of prayer are really opposed to one ano- 
 ther. The very same prayer may at the same time 
 be extemporaneous in one sense, and a set form in 
 
 another : extemporaneous as it regards the minister ; congrega- 
 tions always 
 
 a set form as it regards the congregation. For when pray by 
 
 some form 
 
 the minister has not determined previously upon prescribed. 
 the words and phrases to be employed in his devo- 
 tional address, but trusts entirely to his own mind 
 for suggesting at the moment such words and 
 phrases as may fully and distinctly convey his 
 meaning, he may properly be said to pray extem- 
 poraneously. So also in that case do the congrega- 
 tion. For they have never heard the prayer before, 
 and no sooner do they hear it, than they must 
 implicitly adopt it as their own. But, then the 
 prayer thus implicitly adopted, (though extem- 
 poraneous and unprepared,) is really to them a set 
 form. For they were not consulted in the com- 
 position, any more than if the words were taken 
 from a printed volume : they can neither add to, 
 nor take from, the language of their minister : 
 they can neither strengthen nor weaken a single 
 epithet, nor control the order of his ideas : they 
 must receive the whole form exactly as it is pre- 
 scribed \ 
 
 1 See Bennet on Prayer. 
 M 2
 
 164 ON LITURGIES^ 
 
 DISS. ii. To make the case plainer, suppose that I, as one 
 of the congregation, take down the words of the 
 dissenting minister in writing ; and repeat them 
 afterwards from memory, or read them from my 
 manuscript ; no doubt the prayer then becomes to 
 me a set form, even in the dissenting acceptation. 
 But why not a set form, from the beginning, when 
 I first heard it from the lips of the minister ? Where 
 lies the difference between my choosing to offer it 
 immediately, without the loss of a single instant, or 
 choosing to keep it by me for some time, and after- 
 wards to repeat it as my own ? There can be none 
 whatever. The words are definitely fixed as soon 
 as they are spoken. They become as truly a set 
 form the moment they are delivered, as after the 
 lapse of ages. Time may make the prayer old or 
 new ; but can make no essential change in the nature 
 of it as a fixed composition. The congregation, 
 therefore, of whatever communion they may be, 
 must of necessity pray always by a set form, 
 whether that form be read from a printed volume, 
 or whether it be heard from the mouth of their 
 extemporaneous minister. In the one case no 
 doubt the people know beforehand, what words 
 they are to utter ; and in the other case, they are 
 wholly uninformed : but the words themselves in 
 both cases are equally prescribed to them. 
 First argu- 1. Without insisting more largely on this point, 
 
 ment.agree- , . , 
 
 abieness to which must now be tolerably clear to every reader, 
 I proceed without further preface to illustrate this 
 very powerful recommendation to a religious mind,
 
 " 
 
 ON LITURGIES. 165 
 
 of precomposed forms, in preference to extern- DISS. n. 
 poraneous prayer ; that they are more agreeable to 
 Scripture. 
 
 We find throughout the sacred volume, numerous 
 and frequent instances in which forms of prayer 
 previously written have been appointed to be used; 
 but we find no instances whatever in which extem- 
 poraneous prayers in public worship, have been 
 adopted. Instances to this effect are frequent Examples 
 throughout the Old Testament. In the book of bribed 
 Numbers, for example, Aaron and his sons are 
 solemnly enjoined to observe a particular form of 
 words in blessing the people. "On this wise ye 
 shall bless the children of Israel ; the Lord bless 
 thee and keep thee ; the Lord make his face to 
 shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee ; the 
 Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give 
 thee peace." The happy consequences of using this 
 authorized form of benediction, are immediately 
 subjoined. " They," that is the Priests, '/shall put 
 my name, saith the Lord, upon the children of 
 Israel, and I will bless them 1 ." 
 
 Again, the book of Exodus informs us that the 
 Israelites, upon witnessing the destruction of Pha- 
 raoh and his host in the Red Sea, joined in the 
 recitation of a preconcerted form of thanksgiving, 
 which is there recorded as a pattern for all future 
 writings of that kind. We find it introduced in 
 these terms, at the beginning of the fifteenth chap- 
 
 1 Numbers vi. 24. 27.
 
 ON LITURGIESi 
 
 DISS. ii. ter : "Then sang Moses and the children of 
 Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, 
 I will sing unto the Lord for he hath triumphed 
 gloriously." The remainder of this composition, 
 so nobly expressive of national gratitude, -occupies 
 the greater part of the same chapter *. 
 
 Again, in the book of Deuteronomy we find two 
 forms 2 of prayer appointed for constant use at 
 certain annual solemnities, when the people should 
 have gained possession of the promised land. These 
 Divine compositions are too long for quotation here, 
 though one of them will immediately recur to our 
 readers, if we repeat only the first words of it, so 
 beautiful in their style of expression and so appro- 
 priate to the children of Abraham : "A Syrian 
 ready to perish was my father." 
 
 In the same book we find a form of deprecation 
 with which the usual sacrifice was required to be 
 accompanied, when a murder had been committed, 
 and the guilty individual could not be found. The 
 Elders of the polluted city were enjoined to declare 
 their own innocence, and to deprecate the Divine 
 anger in these terms : " Our hands have not shed 
 this blood ; neither have our eyes seen it. Be 
 
 1 It may be worthy of remark, in this place, for the sake of 
 persons who are averse to the responses in our service, and to the 
 recitation of the psalms alternately by the Minister and people, 
 that separate portions of this song were sung by different parties 
 of the Israelites first by Moses and the men of Israel, who were 
 afterwards responded to by Miriam and the women. 
 
 2 Deut. xxvi. 5, 13. 
 
 8
 
 ON LITURGIES. 167 
 
 merciful, O Lord, unto thy people Israel, whom DISS. n. 
 thou hast redeemed ; and lay not innocent blood to 
 thy people of Israel's charge V 
 
 Among the instances of prescribed forms in the 
 Old Testament, there is a passage in the book of 
 Joel which deserves peculiarly our attention. It 
 proves most convincingly that in the Divine esti- 
 mation the use of long prepared compositions is 
 quite compatible with the warmest and with the 
 strongest possible expression of religious feeling. 
 The Prophet there denounces certain fearful judg- 
 ments impendent over the nation on account of 
 their rebellion and impiety ; and then proceeds to 
 order a day of solemn humiliation, when the whole 
 population should be called by sound of trumpet to 
 assemble in the temple " with fasting and with 
 weeping and with mourning ;" and when " the 
 priests the ministers of the Lord," in the same 
 excited state of religious fervour, should " weep 
 between the porch and the altar," and give utter- 
 ance to their emotions in the following expressive 
 terms : " Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not 
 thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should 
 rule over them ; wherefore should they say among 
 the people, where is their God ?" For the encou- 
 ragement of the nation in the use of this appointed 
 prayer, the Prophet adds, " Then will the Lord be 
 jealous for his land, and pity his people." 
 
 To the examples already quoted the prayer of 
 
 1 Dcut. xxi. 7.
 
 168 ON LITURGIES.\ 
 
 . ii. Solomon, at the dedication of the Temple, should 
 probably be added. The regular construction of 
 the whole prayer, the formal division of the subject, 
 together with the continued series and almost 
 poetical arrangement of the versicles in -the ori- 
 ginal, scarcely seem compatible with extemporane- 
 ous devotion, and obviously suggest the idea of 
 previous composition. 
 
 The prayer, too, of King Manasseh on the occa- 
 sion of his repentance, although not intended for 
 public use, may be added to the number of written 
 forms in the Old Testament. This interesting 
 composition was transcribed from his manuscript 
 into the chronicles of the Kings of Judah, and is 
 twice referred to in the Holy Scriptures ; but was 
 omitted when the Chronicles were introduced in 
 their abridged form into the sacred canon. We 
 find, indeed, in the Apocrypha, a short writing, 
 entitled, " The prayer of Manasseh King of Judah, 
 when he was holden captive in Babylon." This 
 writing, however, though exceedingly appropriate 
 and pathetic, is of very doubtful authenticity. But, 
 in whatever words the penitent King may have 
 expressed himself, it is important to observe, that 
 though he had recourse to a written form for the 
 utterance of his feelings, his devotion was not on 
 that account the less ardent or the less effective, as 
 we learn from the decided testimony of the sacred 
 historian : " When he was in affliction he besought 
 the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly 
 before the God of his Fathers, and prayed unto
 
 ON LITURGIES. 169 
 
 him : and he was intreated of him, and heard his DISS. 11. 
 supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem 
 into his kingdom 1 ." 
 
 But why enumerate particular examples when service of 
 
 J the Temple 
 
 we may appeal at once to the general mode of Liturgical, 
 worship at the Temple ? The daily service under 
 the Mosaic dispensation did not consist of sacrifices 
 only, or merely of ceremonial observances : it con- 
 sisted also in the reading of liturgical compositions, 
 and more especially of Psalms. A psalm, it should 
 be noticed, is essentially a form of prayer. The 
 only points of difference between a psalm and any 
 other form are, that a psalm expresses in verse what 
 an ordinary form expresses in prose ; and that an 
 ordinary form, when adapted to music, is said to 
 be chaunted, whereas a psalm, under the same cir- 
 cumstances, is said to be sung. But in reality the 
 substance of the composition is in either case the 
 same, and the address to the Almighty equally 
 direct and equally solemn. From the titles pre- 
 fixed to many of the Psalms, it appears that certain 
 of them were appointed to be recited by the con- 
 gregation on certain days, and that the congrega- 
 tion were confined literally to the very words pre- 
 scribed for them in the form. This arrangement 
 appears to have been first made with accuracy and 
 precision by David ; afterwards to have been re- 
 modelled by Hezekiah 2 ; and to have been finally 
 
 1 2 Chron. xxxiii. 12. For another remarkable form of public 
 prayer, see Hosea, xiv. 2 4. 
 
 2 By the last words of David, the Levites were numbered from
 
 170 ON LITURGIES. 
 
 DISS. ii. established by Ezra, on laying the foundation of the 
 second temple. Ezra is affirmed by Jewish writers 
 not only to have re-arranged the Psalmody, but 
 also to have prepared, (with the assistance of the 
 great synagogue or council,) eighteen collects under 
 the general name of benedictions, consisting of 
 forms for confession, supplication, thanksgiving, 
 and intercession. Forms known by the title of 
 Ezra's benedictions are still extant in the prayer- 
 books of the Jews. These forms, indeed, (if they 
 were really composed by Ezra) have undergone 
 considerable alteration ; yet most of them were 
 certainly in use before the Christian aera, and some 
 of them may still remain unchanged. 
 
 The Jewish practice of reading Liturgies, ap- 
 pointed by public authority, is alleged, on the evi- 
 dence of ancient tradition, to have been grounded 
 on the dread lest the worship of Almighty God 
 should be degraded through the incompetence of 
 the minister ; and lest the people should not 
 effectually join in prayers, the arrangement as well 
 as substance of which, were not familiar to them. 
 According to Maimonides, a learned Rabbi of 
 the twelfth century, well acquainted with anti- 
 quity, " Ezra composed these eighteen forms of 
 
 twenty years old, and above " to stand every morning to thank 
 and praise the Lord, and likewise at even." 1 Chron. xxiii. 30. 
 " Moreover Hezekiah the king, and the princes, commanded 
 the Levites to sing praises unto the Lord, with the words of David 
 and of Asaph the seer : and they sang praises with gladness, and 
 they bowed their heads and worshipped." 2 Chron. xxix. 30.
 
 ON LITURGIES. 171 
 
 prayer which were enjoined by the great council ; DISS. n. 
 that every man might have them in his mouth, and 
 be perfect in them, and that thereby the prayers of 
 the rude and ignorant might be as complete as 
 those of a more eloquent tongue." The same dis- 
 tinguished writer elsewhere informs us that the 
 people were conceived to pray, when they repeated 
 the word "Amen" at the conclusion of the prayer; 
 " But," he adds, " this is only in those cases where 
 the people are not perfect in the prayers, and can- 
 not say the same by heart ; for they who can 
 repeat the prayers, do not discharge their duty as 
 they ought, in case they themselves do not pray 
 with the public minister 1 ." 
 
 1 Maimon. apud Seld. in Eutych. Alex. pp. 43, 44. 47, 48, 
 and 5 1 . 
 
 It has been doubted whether the authority of Maimonides, or 
 of the Talmud, should be considered decisive in this question, 
 since these authorities are later than our Saviour's time ; but the 
 collections in the Talmud are a digest from more ancient docu- 
 ments ; and to deny their antiquity " idem est" says the learned 
 Scaliger, " ac si quis capita Papiniani, Fault, Ulpiani, et aliorum 
 jurisconsultorum in Digestis Justiniani producta, negel esse eorum 
 jurisconsultorum, quorum nomine cilantur. Quod nemo sanus 
 dixerit" " Would be as absurd as to deny that the citations from 
 Papinian, Paulus, Ulpian, and other lawyers, introduced by Justi- 
 nian into his digest of the law, are written by the persons whose 
 names they bear." Scaliger de Emend. Temp. lib. vi. p. 573. 
 Genevje, 1629. The Jews can have no motive for deceiving us. 
 The tradition among them that prayer was always in some pre- 
 scribed form is universally received, and has never been contra- 
 dicted. Surely the unanimous testimony of a whole nation, and 
 of such a nation, is entitled to our acceptance.
 
 172 ON LITURGIES. 
 
 DISS. ii. When synagogues were erected subsequent to the 
 
 time of Ezra, public devotion was modelled univer- 
 
 semce of sally after the service of the temple : except that 
 
 gogue LI- sacrifice was nowhere performed but in the temple, 
 
 turgical. 11-1 T - 
 
 and that in the synagogue religious instruction was 
 always united to the practice of devotion. Autho- 
 rized forms of prayer were recited by the minister : 
 lessons according to an appointed order were read 
 from the law, and from the prophets : sermons were 
 regularly preached : and the young were catechized 
 in the principles of faith and morals. 
 
 Besides the prayers composed for ordinary use, 
 other forms, as we learn from Jewish writers, were 
 appointed for various occasions, and more especially 
 for the celebration of the passover ; for marriages 
 and burials ; but on these it seems unnecessary to 
 enlarge. Suffice it to remark that the practice of 
 reading a public Liturgy, including forms of prayer 
 as well as psalms, was thoroughly established 
 among the Jews, long before the Christian sera ; 
 that it prevailed among all their various sects, not 
 only in the Holy Land, but in every region of the 
 world ; and that it remains unaltered to the present 
 day 1 . 
 
 1 The Samaritan Chronicle speaks of a book of prayers used 
 by the Jews at their sacrifices, " from the time of their legate 
 Moses until that day." See Falkner's Libertas Ecclesiastica, 
 chap. iv. p. 103. 
 
 Josephus mentions a sect called the Essenes, who made use, in 
 his time, of prayers " received traditionally from their fathers." 
 (7rarpioi/e nvac iv\a..} Joseph, de Bello Jud. lib. ii. cap. 12.
 
 ON LITURGIES. 173 
 
 To the Divine service thus appointed among the DISS. 11. 
 Jews, our blessed Lord, giving on all occasions an 
 example of conformity to established usage, scrupu- Our Lord 
 lously adhered. We read of him attending regu- J n t !j ) e rmed 
 larly the synagogue, and there joining in the public LU^' 
 prayers. His habits in this respect were so entirely 
 irreproachable, that even his bitter enemies, the 
 Scribes and Pharisees (who would have rejoiced to 
 substantiate such a charge against him), never found 
 opportunity to represent him negligent of public 
 
 " I shall produce," says Thorndike, " a circumstance observ- 
 able at all their services, that whereas the reading of the law and 
 other Scriptures, and the exposition of it, were done by principal 
 persons, the chief of the synagogue, with their faces turned to the 
 people as they sate, as our Lord in the synagogue of Nazareth, 
 (Luke iv. 16.) on the other side, the prayers were read by 
 him whom they call Apparitour of the synagogue, correspondent 
 to the Deacon in the Christian Church ; with his back to the peo- 
 ple and his face to the Ark, and to the Elders. This office, 
 though of good account in the synagogue, as we see in Maimoni 
 (Maimonides) of prayer, c. viii. n. 2., being yet inferior to the 
 Scribes and wise, it is plain to my common sense, that it was not 
 entrusted to inferior ministers, to direct the prayers of their bet- 
 ters, in qualities proper to that work, upon other ground than 
 this, because the prayers had been composed by those wise and 
 learned afore, and were therefore ministered by their inferiors the 
 Deacons of synagogues. Such is he of whom Luke iv. 20. ' And 
 he closed the book, and gave it again to the minister (ry timKovyt) 
 and sate down.' " See Thorndikeon Religious Asemblies, p. 231. 
 
 St. Chrysostom mentions that the same practice, namely, for 
 the Deacon to read the public prayers in the presence of superior 
 ministers, prevailed at his time in the Christian Church (6 ta'ico- 
 vog rag vTrtp TOV ciipov lU'CKpipwv ev\ds). Vide Chrysos. Com. in 
 1 Cor. xiv.
 
 174 ON LITURGIES. 
 
 DISS. ir. worship. We have, moreover, the concurrence of 
 all antiquity, in affirming that the hymn in which 
 his Apostles joined him at the Paschal supper, was 
 the very form of praise appointed for that occasion 
 by the Jewish Liturgy l . The awful scene which 
 followed called forth again a form of sublime 
 devotion from our suffering Redeemer, most affect- 
 ingly and pathetically appropriate to his circum- 
 stances. The words JZloi, Eloi, lama Sabachthani, 
 which he delivered from the cross, are the com- 
 mencement of the twenty-second Psalm ; the whole 
 of which, according to the tradition of the Church, 
 he either repeated or referred to. And finally, the 
 concluding words, " into thy hands I commend my 
 spirit," compose the fifth verse of the thirty-first 
 Psalm 2 . 
 
 Evidence It might be imagined, that the use of set forms 
 
 gies in the would be confined to the Jewish Church, and 
 
 mint. e " would cease with the Mosaic law. The Scriptures 
 
 of the New Testament, however, lead us to the same 
 
 1 The phrase in the Evangelists, vfiviiffavreQ has been re- 
 marked by Biblical scholars, and in particular by Beza and Ains- 
 worth, to be incorrectly rendered in the usual translations. It 
 should not be, as in our version, " having sung an hymn," but 
 having sung the hymns or psalms, viz. those appointed for the 
 paschal feast. 
 
 2 'Imo Christus in cruce pendens deprecationis formd, Davide 
 tanquam typo, aured observatd usus est. Synop. Theologiae 
 Disput. 36. Sect. 33. " Christ, while suspended from the cross, 
 used that golden form of prayer, which David as his prototype had 
 composed." Such is the commentary on Matt, xxvii. 46. By 
 the divines of Leyden.
 
 ON LITURGIES. 175 
 
 conclusion on this subject, as the Scriptures of the DISS. n. 
 Old. John the Baptist, it is well known, gave a 
 form of prayer to his disciples. Our Lord also in- John the 
 structed his hearers how to address their Heavenly 
 Father, by delivering for their use that admirable our Lord 
 
 J & 4 . himself. 
 
 model of devotion which bears his name. 
 
 As these instructions, coming from our great 
 Redeemer himself, are of the utmost importance 
 to our argument, we shall here enter at some length 
 into the Scriptural grounds for the adoption of this 
 prayer ; reserving for the second division of our 
 subject the traditional proofs, that it was handed 
 down by the Apostles as a form of divine service for 
 the observance of all future ages. 
 
 There are two passages in Scripture where this The Lord's 
 
 . . Prayer not 
 
 form of prayer is recorded ; one in St. Matthew's a model 
 
 merely, but 
 
 Gospel ; the other in the Gospel of St. Luke. The a form. 
 first of these passages will be found in the well 
 known sermon on the Mount. Our Saviour took 
 occasion to draw the attention of his hearers to 
 the subject of prayer : and having commented in 
 terms of censure on the leading faults of heathen 
 worship, he introduced for the benefit of his own 
 disciples, a form pure from all the faults reprehended 
 in his previous discourse ; and in which, as an 
 universal summary of supplication, all the wants of 
 man were comprehended, without omission, and 
 without tautology. The introductory injunction 
 "after this manner pray ye," might seem to inti- 
 mate, (according to our received mode of translat- 
 ing it,) that the words which follow were intended
 
 176 ON LITURGIES. 
 
 DISS. ii. rather as a general direction, than as a set form ; 
 but the original phraseology is more precise, and 
 ought to have been rendered, "Thus therefore 
 
 ' 
 
 pray ye." The Greek phrase ovrwg Xeytt o Kvpios so 
 often used in the Septuagint version of the Old 
 Testament, where a message from God is delivered, 
 is always rendered, "Thus saith the Lord;" not 
 meaning that he spoke after this manner, or gene- 
 rally to this effect, but that he uttered word for 
 word what follows 1 . 
 
 The other occasion on which our Saviour taught 
 this prayer, and which St. Luke has recorded, took 
 place above a year after, when a disciple requested 
 that he would give his followers a form of prayer 
 as John the Baptist had done, to be a kind of 
 symbol or badge of their profession 2 . This disciple 
 had either not been present at the sermon on the 
 Mount, or had not distinctly understood the prayer, 
 as then delivered to be designed for regular and 
 daily use. Our Lord replies by repeating with 
 
 1 Compare Numbers vi. 23. xxiii. 5. Isaiah viii. 11. xxviii. 16. 
 xxx. 15. xxxvii. 33. and some other places, with Numb, xxiii. 
 16. Isaiah xxx. 12. xxxvii. 21. liii. 3. For in the former texts 
 ovrwe Xe'ytt 6 icupioe " thus saith the Lord," bears the same signi- 
 fication with rdde Xe'ytt 6 Kvptoc. " Thus" (these things) " saith 
 the Lord" in the latter. 
 
 ^The Presbyterian assembly of divines at Westminster, in 
 their annotations on Luke xi. 1. acknowledged that John the 
 Baptist taught his disciples to pray by giving them a set form. 
 It evidently follows that our Saviour did the same. Proofs the 
 most satisfactory from that great Master of Jewish Antiquity 
 Dr. Lightfoot, will be found in note (O) at the end of the volume.
 
 ON LITURGIES. 177 
 
 scarcely any variation, the very words he had before DISS. n. 
 employed, and introduces this Divine formulary 
 with the positive injunction, "When ye pray, say, 
 Our Father which art in Heaven." 
 
 The positiveness and distinctness of this second 
 command might seem to preclude all future 
 hesitation among Christians. To borrow a very 
 apposite idea from Joseph Mede, the doubts and 
 interrogatories of the Disciple in question have been 
 the means of certainty and conviction to us. But 
 so deeply rooted, at one period, was the prejudice 
 against Liturgies; that persons under its influence 
 conceived distaste even for the prescribed use of 
 our Lord's own prayer, both as in itself a form, and 
 as an undeniable authority for other forms. For 
 we may observe that almost all the objections 
 against Liturgical services are equally pointed 
 against the adoption of these divinely given words. 
 On this account importance would naturally be 
 attached to objections the futility of which would 
 otherwise have been at once apparent. The two 
 following have been most insisted on. 
 
 1st. The differences between St. Matthew and Reasons 
 
 n i i - i r i alleged for 
 
 St. Luke in their editions ot this prayer. And, not adopt- 
 
 2dly. The omission in this prayer of all direct Lord's 
 reference to the merits of Christ, as our encourage- 
 ment to pray. 
 
 1 . First, then, great importance has been attri- 
 buted to some slight differences which may be 
 traced between St. Matthew and St. Luke. It is 
 contended that if our Divine Instructor had in view 
 
 N
 
 178 ON LITURGIE^. 
 
 DISS. ii. the appointment of a set form, he would have 
 delivered it precisely and uniformly in the same 
 terms. But these differences will, on examination, 
 appear extremely trivial, and the conclusion drawn 
 from them totally unwarrantable. Three particu- 
 lars are enumerated : the use, by St. Luke, of the 
 expression " day by day" instead of " this day," 
 in the fourth petition ; his change of the word 
 " debts" into " sins," in the fifth ; and his omission 
 of the doxology at the conclusion. Now, in respect 
 to the two first points of difference, in which, by a 
 trifling variation of language, the same idea is con- 
 veyed, it should be recollected that our Lord ori- 
 ginally spoke the prayer in the Syriac tongue, from 
 which it was translated into Greek ; and that in 
 the course of this translation (unless the two Evan- 
 gelists had written in concert), it was to be expected 
 that some slight change of phraseology would 
 occur, while the same ideas would be preserved. 
 Accordingly, the phrases " give us day by day," 
 and " give us this day," express exactly the same 
 meaning, namely, " Grant us a continual supply 
 of our daily returning wants." And the petitions, 
 " Forgive us our debts" and " forgive us our sins," 
 or " trespasses," are synonymous, as our Lord's own 
 commentary in St. Matthew abundantly evinces ; 
 where, having used the word debts according to 
 that Evangelist's translation of the Syriac original, 
 our Lord proceeds to comment on the prayer as if 
 he had employed the word sins or trespasses. 
 " For," says he, "if ye forgive men their tres-
 
 ON LITURGIES. 179 
 
 passes, your Heavenly Father will forgive your DISS. n. 
 trespasses ; but if ye forgive not men their tres- 
 passes, neither will your Father forgive your tres- 
 passes." And in St. Luke, having employed the 
 phrase " Forgive us our sins,'"' he subjoins, " For 
 we forgive every one that is indebted to us ;" thereby 
 proving to us that the words debts and sins have 
 here the same identical signification. The omis- 
 sion of the doxology by St. Luke leads to no infer- 
 ence, but that our Saviour, according to circum- 
 stances, sometimes meant this offering of praise to 
 be expressed, and sometimes to be omitted. Hence 
 our Liturgy adopts both methods ; adding the 
 doxology, where praises and thanksgiving seemed 
 appropriate, and omitting it in services of suppli- 
 cation or intercession. Thus, after the absolution, 
 when the congregation must be understood to be 
 piously rejoicing in the hope of pardon, the dox- 
 ology is expressed, as being highly suitable to their 
 tone of religious feeling ; but in other -passages, 
 such as before the litany, and before the delivery 
 of the ten commandments in the communion office, 
 the doxology is omitted, as being less in unison 
 with the general character of the subject 1 . 
 
 1 It has been remarked that there are greater differences between 
 the decalogue as delivered in Exodus and in Deuteronomy, than 
 there are between the two editions of the Lord's prayer in St. 
 Matthew and in St. Luke ; yet no one would pretend to argue 
 that the ten commandments were not intended for a set form ! 
 
 For an extract from the sixth edition of a now very scarce tract 
 in the form of a dialogue, published by Lewis Hughes, A.D. 1643, 
 
 N 2
 
 180 
 
 ON LITURGIES. 
 
 DISS. ii. Another difficulty which has been urged against 
 the use of this prayer as a set form, is, that no 
 mention is made of its being offered in the name of 
 Christ. And certainly no truth among Christians 
 can be better established than the necessity of con- 
 stant reference to the merits and intercession of 
 Christ their Saviour, as the sole foundation of their 
 hope that God will hear them. But surely that 
 reference is made with sufficient clearness in a 
 form which we repeat in obedience to Christ's com- 
 mand, in conformity with Christ's instructions, and 
 in the character of Christ's disciples. Besides, 
 were it absolutely necessary on all occasions to 
 mention the name of Christ ; were it absolutely 
 inadmissible that his name in any instance should 
 be only understood, or virtually implied an infer- 
 ence would follow which these objectors do not 
 seem to have anticipated ; viz. that no Christian 
 could ever read or sing the Psalms of David, in 
 which there are continual addresses to God, with- 
 out explicit mention of the name of Christ. It 
 would follow that the short ejaculations customary 
 among all Christians would be unlawful; such as 
 that of the publican, " God, be merciful to me a 
 sinner," or several others in which, throughout the 
 New Testament, the same omission is made. And 
 there would moreover be still greater impropriety 
 in the Apostolic prayer recorded in the book of 
 
 one of those numerous pamphleteers who contributed to fan the 
 popular fury, and to hasten the temporary overthrow of the 
 Church of England, see note (P) at the end of the volume.
 
 ON LITURGIES. 181 
 
 Acts, where the " multitude of the disciples" be- DISS. n. 
 seech Almighty God to defeat the threatenings of 
 their adversaries, and yet make no express mention 
 of the merits or intercession of Christ ! . No doubt 
 they expected to be heard only on his account and 
 for his sake : no doubt they never ventured to 
 approach the majesty of God, but through the 
 mediation of their Redeemer : no doubt it was their 
 general custom to mention in plain terms his meri- 
 torious cross and passion as the only ground of 
 their confidence ; but they did not feel themselves 
 under the indispensable obligation of expressing, in 
 each particular instance, a truth which was uni- 
 formly and notoriously presupposed. 
 
 The Church of England, in this respect, conforms 
 to Apostolic usage. If any difference be discover- 
 able, it is that since the faith of modern Christendom 
 is less established than that of the primitive age, 
 the jealousy of our reformers has been so much the 
 greater ; and they are proportionally more careful 
 to preserve the fact in our continual recollection, 
 that we have no immediate access to God, and can 
 only be heard through the intervention of our 
 Mediator. Not satisfied with reserving till the 
 close of the whole service, (according to the 
 practice in many congregations,) the mention of 
 Christ's atonement as our only warrant for the 
 petitions which we offer, the pious framers of our 
 
 1 The word Jesus certainly does occur in that prayer, but he is 
 only mentioned historically, as Herod and Pontius Pilate also are 
 mentioned.
 
 182 ON LITURGIES. 
 
 DISS. ii. Liturgy have divided the service into separate col- 
 lects of supplication, intercession, and thanksgiving; 
 each of which concludes with the words " through 
 Jesus Christ our Lord," or with some other similar 
 expression of humble faith and devout confidence. 
 The only prayers indeed, which our Church autho- 
 rizes to be pronounced in the house of God without 
 express mention of the name of Christ, are those 
 commended to our use by the unerring language of 
 inspiration, viz., the Psalms of David, and this 
 prayer of our Lord. 
 
 Having thus disposed of the excuses alleged for 
 not regarding the Lord's prayer as a prescribed 
 form : we will dismiss the subject with observing, 
 that our Saviour did not think proper to invent in 
 this prayer, a new mode of addressing God ; but 
 showed his respect for the forms of prayer then in 
 use among the Jews, by adopting, in several parts 
 of the Lord's prayer, the very language of their 
 Liturgy. Thus that beautiful introduction, "Our 
 Father which art in Heaven," has always been, 
 and is still, the usual introduction to the collects of 
 the synagogue. 
 Baptism a Another instance in which our Saviour appointed 
 
 set form. . . . 
 
 . a set torm lor divine service, is the sacrament 01 
 Baptism, which he commanded to be administered, 
 " In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
 of the Holy Ghost," a form to which all Christian 
 Churches have faithfully adhered. 
 Practice of The practice of the Apostles accorded with the 
 
 the Apostles . * * /> i T it/r 
 
 Liturgical, practice and injunctions of their divine Master. 
 
 10
 
 ON LITURGIES. 183 
 
 They frequented, after his example, the services of i>iss. n. 
 the temple and of the synagogue. They obeyed 
 his command, and, as we learn from all antiquity, 
 repeated in their own assemblies for Christian 
 worship, the prayer which he had taught them. 
 They also joined in the use of psalms, that is, of 
 metrical forms of prayer, as appears from various 
 recorded instances in Holy Scripture. To psalms 
 they regularly added hymns and other spiritual 
 songs, according to the occasion ; as we learn 
 from the Epistles of St. Paul to the Corinthians, 
 Ephesians, and Colossians 1 . 
 
 An interesting example too of Apostolic prayer, 
 according to a prescribed form, is recorded in the 
 book of Acts, where we read, that the whole com- 
 pany of the faithful, (on the deliverance of St. 
 Peter and St. John from the hands of the Jewish 
 magistrates,) joined in the solemn praise of God, 
 uttering an address of considerable length, which 
 the sacred historian has faithfully recorded. This 
 prayer, it must be evident, could not have been 
 repeated by an assembled multitude, without pre- 
 vious arrangement. "They lift up their voice to 
 God," not a single person only, but the whole 
 assembly ; and " they spake with one accord," 
 not expressing each of them his own individual 
 conceptions, but uniting in the repetition of the 
 same words 2 . There is no necessity for supposing 
 
 1 1 Cor. xiv. 26. Eph. v. 19. Col. iii. 16. 
 
 2 Acts iv. 24.
 
 184 
 
 ON LITURGIES^. 
 
 Our Lord's 
 rule re- 
 specting 
 
 DISS. ir. that this prayer was composed for the occasion ; as 
 nothing is there stated, but what was well adapted 
 to the daily service of a newly constituted society, 
 in danger of extinction by the persecuting vio- 
 lence of their enemies. At the conclusion of this 
 form of worship, the tokens of Divine approba- 
 tion were such as could not be misunderstood. 
 For we read, "The place was shaken where they 
 were assembled together ; and they were all filled 
 with the Holy Ghost ; and they spake the word of 
 God with boldness 1 ." 
 
 Before leaving this first division of our inquiry, 
 it may be proper to remind the reader of a rule 
 established by our Lord respecting congregational 
 worship ; and to suggest that this rule is more 
 effectually complied with in set forms, than in ex- 
 temporaneous devotions. "If," says he, " two of 
 you shall agree on earth as touching any thing 
 which they shall ask, it shall be done for them of 
 my Father which is in heaven : for where two or 
 three are gathered together in my name, there 
 am I in the midst of them 2 ." The promise with 
 
 1 To maintain that the people prayed with one voice, because 
 divinely inspired to utter all of them at the same moment the 
 same words, would be a supposition without authority and with- 
 out example. The method in which, as we may humbly infer 
 from Scripture, Almighty God assists by his Spirit the agents or 
 ministers of his revealed will, is, to suggest the thoughts, and 
 leave the words to be supplied by their own faculties. Hence it 
 happens that we perceive the style of one sacred writer to differ, 
 as with ordinary authors, from the style of another. 
 
 2 Matt, xviii. 20.
 
 ON LITURGIES. 185 
 
 which these words conclude evidently refers to DISS. n. 
 prayer in the congregation. Origen, commenting 
 upon them, observes, " The reason why we are not 
 heard when we pray is, that we agree not in all 
 things. For as in music there must be harmony 
 and agreement of voices, or else it delights not the 
 hearers ; so in the Church, assent and agreement 
 are necessary : God otherwise is not pleased, nor 
 will he hear the voice of our prayers." It is to this 
 agreement in prayer, entitling public worship to 
 the denomination of common prayer, that Christ 
 has so especially promised his presence. This pro- 
 mise, consequently, seems applicable, in a higher 
 and peculiar degree, to the public prayers of our 
 Church. These compositions being fully known 
 and fervently approved by those who use them, 
 become, in the strictest sense, the joint prayers of 
 the congregation : whereas, in other cases, where 
 the minister extemporaneously prays and the people 
 have had no means of knowing or of .approving 
 beforehand the devotional address, the important 
 condition upon which our Saviour's promise is 
 granted, (namely a perfect understanding among 
 his worshippers,) does not seem to be distinctly and 
 satisfactorily complied with. 
 
 2. The second circumstance, with respect to second ar- 
 gument for 
 which set forms have the advantage of extern- Liturgies. 
 
 . Their con- 
 
 poraneous prayer, is that they are more conform- formity to 
 
 7 . . tradition. 
 
 able to tradition. 
 
 The practice of the early Christian Church
 
 186 ON LITURGIES. 
 
 DISS. ii. accorded with the practice of the temple and of the 
 synagogue. As the recitation of pre-composed 
 devotional offices was the constant method of divine 
 worship among the Jews, so also (and this is an 
 important point to keep in view) no precedent for 
 extemporaneous worship among Christians can be 
 found in any document of antiquity. Tradition, from 
 the first ages of the Church, is frequent and uniform, 
 in affirming the continual and universal use of 
 Liturgies. The traditional statement by all parties, 
 both orthodox and heretical, on this point, is the 
 same. Writers of all classes make constant allu- 
 sion to the use of formularies, as the custom of 
 their own and of preceding times ; but nowhere 
 do they describe that custom as an innovation. 
 In the canons of the earliest councils, throughout 
 the most widely distant parts of Christendom, no 
 introduction of prescribed forms is authorized as a 
 new practice : they are only regulated as already 
 being in familiar use. To satisfy the impartial 
 reader, we adduce the following authorities. 
 
 Testimonies To begin with the Lord's prayer, which, in obe- 
 
 to the use . . 
 
 of the dience to the injunction of our Lord before consi- 
 dered, was faithfully adopted and adhered to by 
 the piety of the first Christians ; it was systemati- 
 cally introduced into all Liturgies. Lucian the 
 Roman philosopher, who lived before the death of 
 the Apostle John, alludes to a form of prayer used 
 in public worship by the first Christians, beginning 
 with the word Father (OTTO TOV Trarpoc), and alludes
 
 ON LITURGIES. 187 
 
 evidently to the Lord's prayer ! . Tertullian affirms DISS.II. 
 that Christ instituted a new form of prayer for his 
 new disciples of the New Testament 2 . St. Cyprian 
 includes the " delivery of a form of prayer among 
 the divine and wholesome precepts which Christ 
 appointed for his followers V " Let us pray," he 
 adds, " as our Master hath taught us : let the 
 Father own the words of his Son : since we have an 
 advocate with the Father, let us, when we ask for 
 pardon of our sins, ask for it in the words of our 
 Advocate ; and then how much more shall our im- 
 portunities prevail for obtaining what we ask in 
 Christ's name, when we ask it in his very prayer 4 ?" 
 St. Cyril of Jerusalem informs us, that in the cele- 
 bration of the eucharist, " after the oblation prayer, 
 followed the prayer which our Saviour taught his 
 
 1 Lucian. Dialog. Philopatris. 
 
 2 Jesus Christus Dominus noster noris duc'tpulis nori Testamenti 
 nocam orationis formam determinacit. Tertull. de Orat. cap. 1. 
 p. 128. 
 
 3 Inter ccetera salutaria sua monita et preecepta dicina, quibus 
 populo stto consulu'it, ad salutem, etiam orandi formam dedit: ipse 
 qitod precamur, monuit et instnuat. Cypr. de Orat. Dom. p. 139. 
 
 4 Oremtu itaque, fratres dilectissimi, acut maguter Deus docuit. 
 .-I mica et familiaris oratio est, Deum de suo rogare ; ad aures 
 ejus ascendere Christi oratione. Agnoscat pater JUii nu rerba. 
 Cum precem f admits, qui habitat intus m pectore ipse fit et m race. 
 Et cum ipsum habeamus a pud Patrem adcocatum pro peccat'u nos- 
 tris ; quando peccatores pro delicti* nostris petimus, adcocati 
 nostri rerba promamus. Nam cum dicat, quia quodcunque petieri- 
 mus a Pal re in nomine ejus dabit nobi-s: quanta efficacius impe- 
 tramus quod petimus in Chrisii nomine, si petamus ipsius oratione? 
 Ibid. p. 139. 140.
 
 188 ON LITURGIES. 
 
 DISS. ii. disciples 1 ." Optatus, speaking of the Lord's prayer, 
 maintains the use of it to be an " unalterable in- 
 junction 2 ." 
 
 St. Jerome describes the Lord's prayer as being 
 taught by our Saviour in order that 'Hbelievers 
 might have boldness to say at the altar, our Father 
 which art in Heaven V St. Augustin, in frequent 
 passages of his voluminous works, represents the 
 Lord's prayer as a divinely appointed formulary. 
 The following singular amplification of our Sa- 
 viour's precept occurs in the Homilies of this dis- 
 tinguished saint and writer "Christ himself said, 
 pray thus : he said to his Disciples, he said to his 
 Apostles, pray thus : he said to us, who are, as it 
 were, his younger lambs, pray thus ; he said to the 
 rams themselves of his flock," (the Apostles and 
 elders) " pray thus 4 ." St. Chrysostom rebukes 
 certain unforgiving Christians of his time for their 
 profane omission of an important clause in this 
 prayer, under the plea of shielding themselves 
 from self condemnation. He supposes them to 
 
 1 Cyril Catech. Myst. v. p. 298. 
 
 2 Igitur si quce mandata sunt, mutari non possunt, fyc. Optat. 
 cont. Donat. lib. iv. p. 88. 
 
 3 Docuit Apostolos suos, ut quotidie in corporis illius sacrificio 
 credentes audeant loqui, Pater noster qui es in ccelis, Sfc. 
 
 * -Ecclesice oratio esl ; vox est de magisterio domini veniens, ipse 
 dixit, sic orate ; Discipulis dixit, sic orate : Discipulis dixit, Apos- 
 tolis dixit, et nobis qualescunque agniculi sumus, dixit; arietibus 
 gregis dixit, sic orate. 
 
 (Aug. Horn. ix. de verbis Apos. torn, x.) For a parallel 
 quotation see Epist. ad Hilarium, 89.
 
 ON LITURGIES. 189 
 
 answer, " We dare not say ' Forgive as ive forgive, DISS. 11. 
 but only forgive us :' " to which objection he replies, 
 " Do not imagine that you are secured from dan- 
 ger, by not pronouncing all the prayer : do not, 
 under this false security, curtail it ; but, exactly as 
 it is appointed, so use it ; that thus the obligation 
 of daily using the whole of it may compel you to 
 forgive your brethren V To quote one more autho- 
 rity, St. Gregory testifies that the Apostles them- 
 selves " never failed, at the consecration of the 
 Eucharist, to repeat the Lord's prayer 2 ." 
 
 We might produce further references to Origen, 
 to Ambrose, to Hilary, and Theodoret ; but there 
 is no necessity to multiply quotations. Not only 
 the Fathers of the Church, but even heretics, such 
 as the Pelagians and Donatists (to whose systems the 
 use of it was considered adverse 3 ,) notoriously vie 
 with each other in sentiments of attachment for this 
 
 1 Chrysost. Opera, torn. i. p. 287, 288. In torn. iii. and v. 
 the appointment of the Lord's prayer, as a set form of worship, is 
 asserted about twenty times. 
 
 2 Gregor. Ep. 1. 7. c. 6. 
 
 3 St. Augustin in particular, accuses the Pelagians of incon- 
 sistency, in saying " Lord, deliver us from evil" when, on their 
 principles of unimpaired free-will, they were able to " deliver 
 themselves." 
 
 The learned Cassander maintains, with considerable force of 
 argument, that to the words of our Saviour, used at his institution 
 of the eucharist, the Apostles added, in their consecration of the 
 elements, only the repetition of the Lord's prayer ; Eucharistia 
 sola oratione dominicd cum gratiarum actions primis temporibus 
 celebrabatur. Cassan. in Liturg.
 
 190 ON LITURGIES. 
 
 nss. ii. form of worship, and in titles of respect with which 
 they honour it. They call it, " The Lord's Prayer," 
 (pratio dominica) " the prayer appointed by 
 Christ," " the prayer taught by God," (6toi$a K Tr, 
 tvyri) " the precept taught by God," (prebeptum et 
 monitum dimnum) and " by the Son of God"- 
 " the legitimate, (legitima} legal or legally ap- 
 pointed prayer," (EV)I) VSVOJUKT/UEVIJ Kai EiffEve^Saaa 
 VTTO TOV Xpiarov) "the regular," or " customary 
 prayer" the " spiritual," the " true" the " daily," 
 the " ecclesiastical," the " prevailing prayer" the 
 " prescribed, enjoined, or commanded" prayer, 
 (mandatwn) the " divine order of prayer" (prdo 
 orationis) the "prayer to be said previous to all 
 other prayers," and constituting the foundation of 
 them (prcemissd legitima et ordinaria oratione quasi 
 fundamento. Tertull. de Orat.cap. 9.) the " prayer 
 characteristic of God's children," and sometimes, 
 (by way of eminence, and to mark its Divine 
 authority,) " The Prayer." 
 
 Persons whose minds may have been doubtful 
 as to the traditional adoption of Liturgies in the 
 early Church, will be prepared by the fact above 
 established, that one form of devotion was in con- 
 tinual use, to expect also that other forms would, 
 from the beginning of Christianity, be introduced, 
 origin of as circumstances might require. Liturgies have 
 ApoItoHcai. been ascribed by ancient writers on Christianity to 
 Apostles and Evangelists : particularly to St. James, 
 St. Peter, and St. Mark ; after whom the respective 
 services were called in the Churches of Jerusalem,
 
 ON LITURGIES. 191 
 
 * 
 
 of Rome and Alexandria. These services, in many DISS. n. 
 parts of them, show marks of later origin : and yet 
 to other parts an earlier date must be allowed ; 
 perhaps even the antiquity which is claimed for 
 them. At all events the titles which they bear 
 establish the existence of a general opinion, that 
 forms of prayer were of Apostolical institution. 
 St. Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem, towards the middle 
 of the fourth century, wrote a commentary, still 
 extant, on the Liturgy of St. James : and not only 
 Proclus, Bishop of Constantinople, at the beginning 
 of the fifth century, (if the writings ascribed to him 
 be genuine,) but the assembled Bishops of the sixth 
 general council, describe the work as the compo- 
 sition of that Apostle. 
 
 The epithets by which the first Christian writers 
 designate the prayers of the Church, fix on them 
 the character of set forms. Ignatius and Justin 
 Martyr speak of them as ''common prayers" (sv^m Evidence of 
 Koivai) : Origen refers to them as "-appointed jSn" 8 ' 
 prayers" (tv^ai TrpoarayStiaai) : and Cyprian of Car- 
 thage calls them " solemn prayers" (precessolemnes), 
 that is customary or established. In the works of 
 Origen there is an interesting specimen of what he 
 terms " appointed prayers." " We frequently," he 
 says, " repeat in our devotions, Grant us, O Al- 
 mighty God, grant us a part with thy prophets ; 
 grant us a part with the Apostles of thy Christ ; 
 grant us that we may be found at the feet of thine 
 only begotten Son 1 ." The same writer describes 
 
 1 Origen, cont. Cels. lib. vi. p. 302.
 
 192 ON LITURGIES* 
 
 DISS. ii. the prayers of the Church as being offered "with 
 assent and agreement," evidently implying that 
 they were pre-composed. 
 
 Cyprian. What St. Cyprian meant, in the passage above 
 alluded to, by " solemn" (customary or established) 
 " prayers," is evident from his directions to the 
 congregation, in one passage of his works, " not to 
 mutter their prayers with an irregular noise, nor 
 vociferate their petitions in a tumultuous and in- 
 decent manner ;" and in another passage, " not to 
 utter one thing with their lips, while harbouring 
 its opposite in their hearts, but to keep their words 
 and thoughts in unison." Such directions evidently 
 imply the use of set forms ; for the people could 
 not vocally repeat a prayer delivered extempore by 
 their minister, of which they mentally had no con- 
 ception, till after the words of it had been pro- 
 nounced ! . 
 
 Firmiiian. Firmilian, Bishop of Csesarea, in Cappadocia, 
 the friend of Cyprian, mentions a female impostor, 
 who, in his time pretended to the spirit of pro- 
 phecy. " She took upon her," he says, " to con- 
 secrate the eucharist ; using for that purpose the 
 venerable forms of invocation and commemoration. 
 She also baptized many, putting to them boldly the 
 customary and legitimate interrogatories, that she 
 might not seem to vary from the rule of the 
 
 1 Non passim debemus ventilare preces nostras inconditis voci- 
 bus ; nee petitionem commendandam modeste Deo, tumultuosd 
 loquacitate jactare intentione sincerd Dominum debeat non vocis 
 sonus, sed animus et scnsus or are. Cyprian, de Orat. Domin. 
 pp. 140. 152.
 
 ON LITURGIES. 
 
 193 
 
 Church, (ut nil discrepare ab ecclesiasticd regula DISS. n. 
 videretur.) Firmilian adds that this person made 
 her converts respond to every article of the creed ; 
 that she put the usual queries to them prescribed 
 by the Church, namely, whether they renounced 
 the devil, his angels, his pomp, and his service; and 
 whether they made a covenant with Christ ; and 
 concludes his curious description with observing, 
 that she did every thing exactly according to the 
 real form appointed by ecclesiastical authority (ad 
 imaginem veritatis). With the character or conduct 
 of this fanatic woman we can have no concern : 
 but the unquestionable allusions of St. Firmilian to 
 forms of Divine service in Asia at that early period 
 are powerfully corroborative of the general fact 
 which we have undertaken to establish '. 
 
 Gregory the Great, surnamed Thaumaturgus, Gregory the 
 who flourished about the year 243, converted the 
 inhabitants of Neo-Caesarea in Pontus, and was 
 appointed their first Bishop. In this character he 
 immediately framed a Liturgy for their use, a cir- 
 cumstance which clearly indicates the ordinary 
 practice of an Episcopal missionary on the foun- 
 dation of a new church. This authorized Church 
 service was long cherished with much affection by 
 the Neo-Ca3sareans, from a sense of public grati- 
 tude to the author. " The people were so tenacious 
 of it," observes St. Basil, (who about a century 
 
 1 See Bingham's antiquities. B. xiii. chap. 5. Firmil. Ep. 
 75. ad Cypr. p. 223. 
 
 O
 
 194 ON LITURGIES. 
 
 DISS. ii. afterwards was Bishop of the same city,) " that they 
 w r ould neither superadd to it a single ceremony nor 
 a single word, nor a single mystic form V 
 
 Apostolical Our next authority is an ancient work by an 
 
 Constitu- J .,-... 
 
 unknown author, " The Apostolical Constitutions, 
 which, though by no means of that early date im- 
 plied in its title, and though generally referred to 
 the fourth century, is notwithstanding of consi- 
 derable importance in this question. This inte- 
 resting compilation, interpolated as it is, and some- 
 times heretical, (consequently of very little weight 
 in points of doctrine,) is considered by the learned 
 in Christian antiquities as evincing intimate ac- 
 quaintance with the rites and discipline of the 
 Church 2 . From this author almost an entire 
 Liturgy might be collected. Prayers, sometimes 
 excellent, for a vast number of occasions, and with 
 appropriate rubrics, are here recorded as prevailing 
 in the early church. It must be obvious that forms 
 of this kind could not have been recorded in the 
 fourth, nor indeed in any century, as beng tradi- 
 tionally Apostolical, if forms of some kind had not 
 existed in Christendom long before the days of the 
 compiler. Out of numerous specimens which might 
 have been adduced, we select the following for its 
 
 1 Ov 7rpaii> riva, ov Xoyov, ov rvirov riva, fjivariKov, Trap' ov tKei- 
 voi KarlXiira ry iKK\rjffi(f. irpoai^Kav. Basil, de Spirit. Sancto. 
 cap. xxix. p. 360. 
 
 2 Dupin. Biblioth. des Auteurs eccles. vie de St. Clem. Rom. 
 " L'auteur" (des constitutions) " est habile dans les rites de 
 1'eglise." See also Thorndike on Religious Assemblies, p. 339.
 
 ON LITURGIES. 195 
 
 brevity. It is termed "A Prayer for persons re- DISS. n. 
 cently baptized," and is directed by the Rubric to 
 be read " immediately after" a form of thanks- 
 giving in the same collection. 
 
 " Almighty God, Father of thine anointed and 
 only begotten Son, grant unto me a pure body, a 
 clean heart, a watchful mind, a right understand- 
 ing, and the guidance of thy Holy Spirit unto the 
 attainment and full possession of the truth, for the 
 sake of Jesus Christ : through whom, in the Holy 
 Ghost, glory be to thee for ever, Amen V 
 
 Lactantius and Eusebius mention certain prayers Form by 
 composed by the Roman Emperors Licinius and ror Licinius, 
 Constantine, for the use of their soldiers, in imita- 
 tion of the Church service. The form composed 
 by Licinius was alleged by that emperor as having 
 been suggested to him by an angel, and was thrice 
 repeated by his army previous to a decisive battle 
 with Maximin, the rival candidate for the imperial 
 crown. Lactantius applauds the emperor for his 
 piety, and ascribes the victory which followed, to 
 the direct interposition of Heaven. 
 
 1 Precetur vero haec, post priorem orationem, dicens ; Deus 
 omnipotens, Pater Christi tui, unigeniti Filii tui ; da miht corpus 
 immaculalum, cor mundum, mentem vigilem, cognitionem non 
 errantem, Spiritus sancti adventum ad possessionem et certain 
 jidem veritatis, per Christum tuum ; per quern tibi gloria in sancto 
 Spiritu, in scecula. Amen. Atque hcec de Catechumenis consti- 
 tuere, cequum duximus. Const. Apos. lib. vii. cap. xlv. The 
 reader acquainted with theological antiquity may perceive, even in 
 this beautiful composition, the Arian propensities of its author. 
 
 o 2
 
 196 ON LITURGIES^ 
 
 DISS. ii. The prayer of Constantine was intended for his 
 
 heathen soldiers, and was thus worded: "We 
 
 Prayer of acknowledge thee the only God ; we profess thee 
 
 Constantine P Tr . ,, , -, -, 
 
 quoted by lor our King; we call upon thee as our helper. 
 Through thee we are victorious. Througitthee we 
 overthrow our enemies. We give thee thanks for all 
 thy mercies to this present time, and hope in thee 
 for mercies to come. We are all thy humble sup- 
 plicants, beseeching thee to preserve Constantine 
 our emperor, with his pious family, and to grant 
 that he may long reign over us in safety and in 
 victory 1 ." 
 
 The composition of this imperial formulary has 
 been the ground of an insinuation, that no public 
 prayers were used at that time in the Church. But 
 the historian assures us that this prayer, composed 
 by Constantine, was for the heathen part of his 
 army, (for whose religious wants the Christian 
 Church could not be expected to have had services 
 regularly preappointed :) and Eusebius adds, that 
 the Christian soldiers were required to give their 
 usual attendance in the congregation. Besides, if 
 the soldiers had been Christians for whom this 
 prayer was designed, we should no more have 
 been entitled to infer, that the Church had no 
 public forms in the days of Constantine, than to 
 conclude, because prayers were framed at the last 
 revision of our own Liturgy in the reign of Charles 
 the Second, "to be used at sea," that no book of 
 
 1 Euseb. de vit. Constant, lib. iv. cap. 20.
 
 ON LITURGIES. 197 
 
 common prayer had previously appeared in Eng- DISS. n. 
 land. 
 
 The practice of the Church in the days of Con- 
 stantine is further evident, from the history of his 
 life by Eusebius ; in which we read, that besides 
 attending public worship, the emperor directed Family 
 
 . p . . prayers of 
 
 the devotions of his own family, using for that pur- Constan- 
 pose the " appointed" prayers (tw^ac Ev&a/uovc) of 
 
 the Church l . The meaning of the epithet t 
 which we translate " appointed" is clearly defined 
 by the application of it, in another passage of the 
 same biographer, to the prayer already mentioned 
 as being written for the heathen soldiers. 
 
 Before quitting Eusebius, it will be important to Josephus 
 
 . . . r . .... and Philo 
 
 remark another interesting testimony which his quoted by 
 
 . . ff> i i c T Eusebius. 
 
 writings anord to the existence and use ot Liturgies, 
 in an age far earlier than his own, or rather in the 
 Apostolic age itself. He quotes Josephus, men- 
 tioning a peculiar sect of religionists, under the 
 name of Essenes or Therapeutae, who offered to God 
 at stated times of the day certain prayers received 
 traditionally from their forefathers (vaTpiag Tivdc 
 tu^ac) 2 . A branch of his sect was settled at 
 Alexandria, in Egypt, and are more fully spoken 
 of by Philo Judasus, another writer contemporary 
 with the Apostles 3 , who describes their churches ; 
 their modes of worship ; their festivals ; their 
 appointed fasts ; and even their psalmody in 
 
 1 Ibid. cap. 17. 2 Joseph, de Bell. Jud. lib. ii. cap. 12. 
 
 3 Philo de vita con temp. torn. ii. p. 12. 14.
 
 198 ON LITURGIES. 
 
 DISS. ii. anthems, by alternate responses, of different quires 
 
 in the congregation. Eusebius, followed by St. 
 
 By st. j e - Jerome, and many learned writers of that later age, 
 
 rome and 1 /,-... , -, . .. ,. 
 
 others. remarks or this singular people, that their ordi- 
 nances of divine worship so strikingly resembled 
 those of the Christian Church in Apostolic times, 
 that the Alexandrian Therapeutae must themselves 
 have been Christians l . 
 
 Evidence of An accusation about the year 368 was preferred 
 nius. against Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis, in Cyprus, 
 that at the consecration of the Eucharist, he prayed 
 for John, Bishop of Jerusalem, as for a heretic. The 
 Cypriot Bishop defends himself in a manner which 
 implies evidently that he prayed by a prescribed 
 form. He declares his regret that officious persons 
 should have attempted to sow dissensions among 
 brethren ; and solemnly avows that, though he 
 privately regarded the Bishop as far from orthodox 
 in the faith, yet the charge of proclaiming the secret 
 sentiments publicly from the altar was altogether 
 unfounded. "For," says he, "though in my 
 heart I always pray that you may become a sound 
 believer ; yet, most beloved, to speak the simple 
 truth, I never prayed so in the hearing of others ; 
 lest I should appear to hold you in disesteem. But 
 when we repeat the prayers in the communion 
 office, we say for all, and we say for you, ' watch 
 over him who preaches the truth :' or at all events 
 we say, * Hear us, O Lord, and watch over him, 
 
 1 Euseb. Eccles. Hist. lib. ii. cap. 17. Hieron. de Scriptor.
 
 ON LITURGIES. 199 
 
 that be may preach the truth:' thus praying as DISS. n. 
 the occasion directs, and as the order" (coherence 
 or connection) " of the prayer requires 1 " 
 
 It is here apparent that Epiphanius alludes to 
 the two occasions on which prayers for the clergy 
 were offered in the ancient communion offices, once 
 before the oblation, and again after it ; and that he 
 never prayed in public for his heretical brother of 
 Jerusalem, but in the one or in the other of these 
 two forms. 
 
 Optatus, an African Bishop, already more than P tatus. 
 once referred to, wrote against the Donatists ; an 
 ancient sect, who,underpretenceof peculiarsanctity, 
 had separated from the Catholic communion, and 
 who limited the Church of Christ exclusively to 
 their own party. In the course of his argument 
 he mentions a form of prayer, which according to 
 established usage they would be obliged to repeat; 
 though he maintains that it was contrary to their 
 own contracted views and principles. " Who has 
 any doubt that you would never venture to omit 
 the canonical form appointed in the office for the 
 communion ? You declare in that form that you 
 pray for the one universal Church throughout the 
 
 1 Quando complemus orationem secundum ritum mysteriorum, et 
 pro omnibus et pro te quoque dicimus : custodi ilium, qui prcedicat 
 veritatem. Vel certe ita, Tu prcesta, Domine, et custodi nt ille 
 verbum prcedicet veritatis : sicut occasio sermonis se tulerit et 
 habuerit oratio consequentiam. Epiphan. Ep. ad Joan. Episc. 
 Hierosolym, p. 313. See Bennet on Prayer, p. 184. and Bing- 
 ham's Antiquities, lib. xiii. chap. 5.
 
 200 " ON LITURGIES, 
 
 DISS.II. world 1 ." Into this dispute between Optatus and 
 the Donatists we have no necessity for entering : 
 but the existence of prescribed prayers, having 
 authority so ancient as to be admitted by both 
 parties, seems incontestable. ~? 
 
 Basil. The testimony of St. Basil to the ancient use of 
 
 Liturgies is clear and apposite. Enlarging on the 
 importance of tradition, he mentions the prayer of 
 consecration in the Lord's Supper as being one 
 among many valuable monuments traditionally 
 received by Christians, yet not contained in the 
 Holy Scriptures. " Which," says he, " of the in- 
 spired writers has left on record the words of the 
 invocation used in consecrating the bread and wine 
 in the Eucharist ? These words however we have 
 received by tradition independently of the Scrip- 
 tures V On this quotation we need scarcely remark 
 that words handed down by tradition would not be 
 extemporaneous. 
 
 The Empe- These formularies of ancient devotion seem to 
 
 ror Julian -\-\-t i -i 
 
 quoted by nave had great solemnity and impressiveness, since 
 zen the Apostate Emperor Julian never could divest 
 himself of the early influence which they produced 
 upon his mind. Such was his admiration of the 
 
 1 Quis dubitet vos ilhid legitimum in Sacramentorum mysterio 
 preeterlre non posse ? Offerre vos dicitis pro und ecclesid, quce sit 
 in toto terrarum orbe dijfusa. Optat. lib. ii. p. 53. 
 
 z To Tf. iiriKXrjafWG p//iara CTTI TTJ aVa^f itt TOV aprou ri/e fv\a- 
 p7T/ae Kai TOV iroTTfpiov rijs tuXoyt'ae, rig rStv ayiwv yyparfwe 
 tlfilv KaraXlXonrfv tK TOV aypo^ou ^tSatrKaXiag tra.pa\afi6vTf.Q. 
 Basil, de Spiritu Sancto, cap. xxvii. p. 351.
 
 ON LITURGIES. 201 
 
 Christian forms of worship, "handed down and DISS. 11. 
 
 still preserved in the church" (TraoaSeSo/utvoic /cat c 
 
 roSt Ttrrjprtyuvote rvTroiq rr\q K/cXr)(Ttuc), that he Wished 
 
 the heathen priests in this respect to take a lesson 
 from the Christians ; and in particular, to have 
 forms of prayer in parts (eu^wv TVTTOV v ju^pci)? that 
 is, either divided into separate collects, or so ar- 
 ranged that the people might make responses. 
 This fact is related both by Gregory Nazianzen and 
 by Sozomen the historian 1 . 
 
 The works of St. Augustin, our next authority, Evidence of 
 
 T . . -, . , Augustin. 
 
 so abound in Liturgical quotations, that in the 
 opinion of some divines, the whole Liturgy of the 
 African Churches might be extracted from his 
 writings. He mentions a form of devotion prevail- 
 ing in Africa, which in some respects corresponds 
 to our Litany, but bears perhaps still nearer resem- 
 blance to what are called bidding prayers. The 
 Deacon 2 enumerated in a regular series the various 
 blessings to be prayed for, and the people- audibly 
 responded, "Lord, hear us Lord, help us," or 
 " Lord, have mercy upon us," according to the 
 tenor of each petition. 
 
 1 Nazianzen, Orat. iii. p. 102. Sozom. lib. v. cap. 16. 
 
 2 The circumstance that the Deacon officiated in the presence of 
 his ecclesiastical superiors, would in itself be a conclusive argu- 
 ment that he prayed by a set form. No Bishop or Presbyter 
 would be likely to have his devotions directed by the extem- 
 poraneous compositions of a subordinate minister. The duty of 
 Deacons here described by St. Augustine, is noticed also by St. 
 Chrysostom, who traces the practice to remote antiquity in his 
 commentary on the eighth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans.
 
 202 ON LITURGIES. 
 
 DISS. ii. St. Chrysostom, already known to our readers as 
 author of the concluding prayer in the daily ser- 
 
 tom ys vice of the Church of England, is another valuable 
 authority on this question. The liturgy of Con- 
 stantinople which bears his name has evidently 
 been much altered since his time ; but from his 
 genuine writings, as was intimated concerning 
 those of St. Augustine, a complete view of the 
 forms and methods adopted in the early eastern 
 Churches for Divine worship might be obtained. 
 He transcribes the form of prayer for the catechu- 
 mens : he speaks of the congregation " repeating 
 their prayers aloud" (ETrtjSowo-tv) ; represents the 
 prayers as " previously known" to the persons 
 " who repeated them" (iaaoiv ol jut/iw?/ivot) ; com- 
 plains of persons who "joined in prayer with their 
 lips while their hearts were occupied with worldly 
 
 business" (r\ -yXwrra jutv Xl-yet TO pri^ara TTJC yj\S> ^ 
 
 ^"X 7 ' T7 ^' 0>lKia TT JC a-yo^ac K.r.A.) ; advises those whose 
 thoughts wandered in this manner to continue, 
 when the service was ended, their repetitions of the 
 same words even three or four times over (*cal rp/rov 
 Kal rtraprov auTTjv HTrw/iev), till they could repeat the 
 form with devout attention. " For," says this elo- 
 quent preacher, " if the tempter finds you resolute, 
 and that as often as he seduces you to mental 
 absence, he gains no advantage, but only forces 
 you to reiterate the same prayer, he will cease from 
 an attempt so unavailing 1 ." 
 
 1 Chrysost. Homil. in Dimiss. Chanan. torn. v. p. 195. In
 
 ON LITURGIES. 203 
 
 To the universality and Apostolical antiquity of DISS. n. 
 Liturgies, no writer bears more explicit testimony 
 than the author of an ancient work, entitled, " The 
 Calling of the Gentiles," attributed to Prosper of 
 Aquitaine, a contemporary and zealous follower of 
 St. Augustin. Commenting upon the exhortation 
 of St. Paul to Timothy, " that first of all suppli- 
 cations, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks 
 should be made," or perhaps " should be pre- 
 pared" (TroiticrSat) " for all men," the writer says, 
 " This law and rule of prayer has been so reli- 
 giously and unanimously observed by all Christ- 
 ian priests and people, that there is no part nor 
 quarter of the world wherein there are not forms 
 of prayer suited and agreeable to this pattern 1 ." 
 We here give Bishop Bull's translation of the 
 passage, who stands confessedly on the highest and 
 firmest ground as an investigator of Christian anti- 
 quity. The Bishop states his own opinion in the 
 following decided terms : " Sure I am the primi- 
 tive Catholic Church understood this to be the 
 meaning of the Apostle. Hence, in all the 
 Churches of Christ over the world, however dis- 
 tant from each other, we find set forms of prayer 
 suited and conformed to this direction of the 
 Apostle 2 ." 
 
 magnam Hebdom. Horn. 78. torn. v. p. 546, 547. Horn. 18. in 
 2 Cor. torn. iii. p. 646. 647. 
 
 1 Hanc legem supplicationis ita omnium sacerdotum et omnium 
 fidelium devotio concorditer tenet, ut nulla pars mundi sit in qua 
 hiijusmodi orativncs non celebrentur a populis Christianis. 
 
 - Bull's Sermons, vol. ii.
 
 '204 ON LITURGIES. 
 
 DISS. ii. We now come to our latest authority, and con- 
 = elude our citations from individual writers, with the 
 
 Isidore of ev ^ence of Isidore, Bishop of Seville, who (A.D. 
 
 Seville. 595^ traces Liturgies to the beginning of Christi- 
 anity. He affirms them to have arisen -from the 
 practice and example of Christ, who directed his 
 disciples to use the Lord's prayer as a set form ; 
 and argues that from thence the custom in the 
 Christian Church of composing and using Litur- 
 gical compositions took its rise 1 . 
 
 Having now sufficiently established that the 
 Fathers, in all ages, mention prayer by prescribed 
 forms, (either simply, as the existing practice of 
 the Church in their own times, or as a practice 
 handed down to them from antiquity,) let us pro- 
 
 canons of ceed to inquire whether the canons of the earliest 
 
 Councils. 
 
 councils may not be quoted to the same enect. 
 This inquiry may be very soon completed : for 
 there are three councils only, the decrees of which 
 require to be examined ; that of Laodicea, between 
 A.D. 360 and 370, that of Carthage in A.D. 397, 
 and that of Milevis in A.D. 402. 
 
 council of By the assembled Bishops at Laodicea, it was 
 ordained that " there should always be the very 
 same Liturgy of prayers at the afternoon and at the 
 evening service 2 ;" alluding plainly to a Liturgy 
 
 1 Isidor. de Eccles. off. lib. i. cap. 9. 
 
 2 Utpt TOV rijv a.vTr\v \ftroupy/av T&V tv\(av TtavTore, Kal tv rale 
 ivvdratf Kal iv rate EoWpate o^etXetv yiveaQai. Apud Bever. 
 pag. 461. It is curious to observe that in the next following 
 canon of this Council (Can. 19.) the introductory or first prayer 
 of the faithful (TIIV Trpwrrfv ix') / r & v KI-VT&V) is to be made by the
 
 ON LITURGIES. 205 
 
 as already in existence, and requiring only that DISS. n. 
 the service of the afternoon should be repeated in 
 the evening. The occasion of the canon in ques- 
 tion is stated to be this ! : that some conceited 
 persons presumed to read, as parts of the evening 
 service, certain prayers composed by themselves ; 
 and being reprimanded for their presumption, en- 
 deavoured to excuse the innovation, by affirming 
 that the prayers which they had received by tradition 
 
 from their fathers (raq irapa T<UV irartpwv StSofUvcre 
 
 tw^ae) were appointed for the afternoon : whereas 
 those which they composed for themselves were in- 
 tended for the evening service. The council there- 
 fore seems to have decreed that the prayers received 
 from the Fathers were sufficient for both services ; 
 and that no prayers of private composition should 
 be introduced into the Church. This decree was 
 received into the collection of canons established 
 throughout the Church by the fourth general 
 council of Chalcedon in the year 451 ; an ordi- councilor 
 
 * Chalcedon. 
 
 nance which perpetuated the universal use of 
 Liturgies. 
 
 The Council of Carthage orders that " whatever Councilor 
 prayers any one should transcribe for himself, he 
 should not use them unless he first conferred with 
 the better informed brethren." We need not waste 
 time in proving that this restraint upon the privi- 
 lege of transcription pre-supposes written forms. 
 Care is only taken by this canon, that no Bishop 
 
 congregation in silence (3m o-twTTT/e), the others to be pronounced 
 audibly by all (oa 7rpoff^>ow/<7we TrXr/pouo^ai). 
 1 See Balsamon apud Bever. p. 461.
 
 206 ON LITURGIES. 
 
 DISS. ii. should authorize the use of any prayers in his dio- 
 cese before they were examined and approved by 
 his brethren l . 
 
 council of The canon of the Milevitan council is to the same 
 effect, viz. that in all the services of the= Church 
 ' ' those prayers only which were approved in coun- 
 cil should be recited in the congregation ; and that 
 none other should be used but such as had under- 
 gone revision by men of competent abilities, or had 
 received the sanction of a synod : lest anything 
 should chance to be written, through ignorance or 
 through inadvertency, contrary to the faith 2 ." 
 St. Augustin, who took a leading part in the deli- 
 berations of this council, complains of an abuse 
 which prevailed in his time, and which probably 
 occasioned the above decree. " There are many," 
 says he, "who rashly and blindly adopt prayers" 
 (irruunt in preces), " not merely composed by 
 unskilful babblers" (compositas ab imperitis loqua- 
 cibus), " but even by heretics : and who, in the 
 simplicity of their ignorance, repeat these unsound 
 forms for orthodox 3 ." 
 
 The foregoing numerous authorities, both of in- 
 
 1 Et quicunque sibi preces aliunde describit (al. Quascunque sibi 
 preces aliquis describit) non eis utatur, priusquam eas cum instruc- 
 tioribus fratribus contulerit. Cone. Carthag. 3. Can. 23. 
 
 8< Placuit etiam et illud, ut preces vel orationes qute probatce 
 fuerint in Synodo ab omnibus celebrentur. Nee aliae omnino 
 fiicanlur, nisi quce a prudeniioribus tractate?, vel comprobatce in 
 Synodo fuerint, ne forte aliquid contra Jidem, vel per ignorantiam 
 vel per minus stadium sit compositum. Concil. Milevit. Can. 12. 
 
 3 Augustin. deBaptis. contra Donatist. lib. vi. cap. 25. p. 175. 
 torn. ix.
 
 ON LITURGIES. 
 
 207 
 
 dividuals and of councils, give abundantly sufficient DISS. n. 
 weight to our second recommendation of prescribed 
 forms in preference to extemporaneous prayer, 
 namely, that they are more conformable to tradition. 
 Certain passages however from St. Paul, from objections 
 Justin Martyr, and from Tertullian, which have 
 been much relied upon by anti-liturgical writers, 
 seem to call for explanation. 
 
 1. It has been thought that in the fourteenth Alleged ob- 
 
 r> -r-i /-i i o jection from 
 
 chapter of his first Epistle to the Corinthians, St. stPauian- 
 
 r i c 11 swere< l- 
 
 raul reters to extemporaneous prayer as the general 
 custom of the Apostolic age ; where he reproves 
 certain miraculously gifted members of that Church 
 for praying "in an unknown tongue, "and requires 
 them always to express themselves in a language 
 understood by the congregation ; so that " he who 
 occupied the place of the unlearned," might be able 
 to say "Amen" at the conclusion of the prayer. 
 
 To enlarge minutely on all the various particu- 
 lars referred to in this important chapter, would 
 require a long digression into the subject of those 
 miraculous inspirations, which, at the promulgation 
 of the Gospel, were granted for the conversion of 
 unbelievers, as well as for the instruction and edifi- 
 cation of the Church. Nothing more is wanted for 
 our present purpose, than to prove that the Apostle's 
 words are very far from warranting the sweeping 
 inference attempted to be drawn from them. 
 
 Let us first of all observe, that since the primitive 
 disciples had been accustomed, all of them, from 
 early youth, to forms of prayer in public worship ;
 
 208 ON LITURGIES. 
 
 DISS. ii. since they had never in any instance heard of ex- 
 temporaneous devotion in religious assemblies, as 
 the established practice either of the Jews, or of 
 heathen nations l ; since they had themselves 
 received a form of prayer from their "heavenly 
 Master ; and since they regularly used in their 
 Christian worship the Psalms of David, as a kind of 
 Liturgy ; the presumption is the strongest possible, 
 that they did not overthrow this universal custom 
 by introducing and enforcing a new and unpre- 
 cedented method a method too, which we are cer- 
 tain was afterwards universally disused. Besides, 
 on examining the words of the Apostle, we discover 
 no decided proofs that the prayers which he refers 
 to, were private compositions. His censure would 
 equally apply to the ostentatious and unedifying 
 display of the gift in question (the gift of tongues) 
 in repeating the Lord's prayer, the psalms, or any 
 
 " Nor was such a form of Divine worship observed only 
 among the Jews, who possessed the light of Revelation, but even 
 also among the Gentiles, who were ignorant of the glory of the 
 true God, and were led only by the instinct of nature (Cic. lib. de 
 Nat. Deor.). The latter unanimously and universally worshipped 
 their gods by prescribed forms, after the manner that each imagi- 
 nary deity required." Neque vero inter solos Judceos, qui erant 
 illuminati, sed etiam inter Ethnicos ignaros glorice veri Dei soloque 
 instinctu naturae ductos talis cultus divini modus observabatur. 
 Omnes enim et ubique uniformiter Deos suos colebant, ad eum 
 modum quern fictum eorum numen ab ipsis requirebat. See in 
 Durel, p. 325, Preface to the Prayer-Book of Poland and 
 Lithuania. See also the same point proved at large in Heylyn's 
 Reformation Justified, part i. chap. 4.
 
 ON LITURGIES. 209 
 
 form throughout the service appointed for the day. DISS. n. 
 And, indeed, St. Paul's expressions 1 seem to inti- 
 mate that there were persons who repeated psalms 
 in an unknown tongue as well as prayers. The 
 psalms, it must be obvious, were not privately com- 
 posed; neither therefore might the prayers. Again, 
 although these prayers were admitted to be private 
 compositions, it would not follow that they were 
 conceived extempore. They might, perhaps, be 
 previously prepared. Indeed, St. Paul, in the 
 twenty-sixth verse, rather intimates that they were 
 in general brought to the place of assembly in a 
 prepared state by the individual who offered them : 
 "When ye come together," he says, " every one 
 of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, 
 hath a revelation, hath an interpretation." But 
 finally, even supposing the difficulties we have 
 urged should be explained away by the adversary 
 of Liturgies, and that we found ourselves obliged 
 to admit, that the Apostle was giving rules with 
 reference to extemporaneous devotion as a general 
 practice in the Church, it would only follow, that 
 a person gifted with immediate inspiration was 
 allowed to pray extemporaneously : but it would 
 not follow that the same privilege was in any 
 case extended (much less was generally granted) 
 to persons, however excellent in character, who 
 
 1 "Every one of you hath a psalm," &c. 1. Cor. xiv. 26. and 
 again at verse 15. "I will pray with the Spirit, and I will pray 
 with the understanding also : I will sing with the Spirit, and I 
 will sing with the understanding also." 
 
 P
 
 10 ON LITURGIES. 
 
 DISS. ii. were destitute of this miraculous endowment : it 
 
 would not follow that the same practice must have 
 been held advisable by St. Paul for future ages, 
 when the gift of inspiration was to cease, and 
 when Christian worshippers could no loffger have 
 the same divinely granted security for the excel- 
 lence and propriety of the supplications, praises, 
 and thanksgivings offered in their name to the 
 Majesty on High l . 
 Alleged ob- 2. We now proceed to examine an interpretation 
 
 jection from 
 
 Justin of Justin Martyr, to which much importance has 
 
 Martyr an- . ...... p 
 
 swered. been given as disproving the existence ol ancient 
 forms of worship. Justin, in his apology for Chris- 
 tianity, had occasion to explain, for the more effec- 
 tual refutation of heathen calumnies, the divine 
 services of the Christian Church. He mentions, in 
 the course of his explanation, that the person pre- 
 siding at the communion put forth prayers and 
 thanksgivings "with all his power" (o<nj 
 
 1 A distinction is too often neglected to be made between 
 occasional extemporaneous prayers by inspired persons, and ex- 
 temporaneous prayers in the congregation. When St. Paul, for 
 example, knelt down upon the shore at Tyre, and prayed with the 
 assembled multitude, his prayer might be extemporaneous ; but 
 this was no instance of a regularly assembled congregation. 
 
 It may also be in this place not inapposite to remark, that the 
 methods by which family and private prayer should be conducted, 
 do not fall under consideration in this discourse. The principles 
 on which, in the opinion of the author, the former vitally impor- 
 tant branch of devotion may be most advantageously conducted, 
 are to be found in a small work entitled " Adaptations of Scrip- 
 ture to Family Devotion."
 
 ON LITURGIES. 211 
 
 an expression which has often been inter- DISS. u. 
 preted "according to his capacity or gift of 
 prayer." 
 
 On this disputed passage there is a comment by 
 the learned Thorndike, so clear and so satisfactory, 
 and so tersely stated, that we have no hesitation to 
 transcribe it : " That most ancient martyr that 
 flourished some thirty or forty years after St. John's 
 death, that is, after the age of the Apostles, relates 
 the course of public service at the assemblies of 
 Christians. After the sermon he thus describes 
 
 what follows : i-Varo aviara/uefla Travrtg, Kal 
 
 i \ t i, /-- 
 
 TT^UTTOjUEV, /Cat WQ 7rf>00J/UV, 7TaW(Ta/iVa>V T)jUWV T7JC 
 
 aproq Trpoff^Eptrat, Km oivoq, Kal vSwp, /cat o 
 tvyag ofioiwg /cat u^apt(TTtac, OOTJ Suvajuie awry 
 
 After" (afterwards) " we all rise, and send forth 
 prayers, and as we said before, when we have done 
 praying, bread, and wine, and water are offered: 
 and the Ruler likewise sendeth forth prayers and 
 thanksgivings with all his might." Here you have 
 the prayers of the whole congregation in the first 
 place, which, therefore, are called in the words 
 related in the beginning of this chapter KOIVCU w^at 
 common prayers, or prayers of the whole congre- 
 gation ; to distinguish them from those prayers 
 and thanksgivings, which he saith were made 
 afterwards for consecrating of the Eucharist, by 
 the Bishop or Presbyter alone, though in behalf of 
 the people. Where, by the way, you may see 
 further that Justine means by those words O<TJ Bvvapif; 
 to expresse nothing but that earnest devotion 
 p 2
 
 212 ON LITURGIES. 
 
 D'ISS.II. which those prayers were offered with, by that 
 which he addeth, opoiwq or likewise. For having 
 said in the words alledged afore, that the congre- 
 gation made the former sort, which he calleth their 
 common prayer, EUTOVWC, or vehemently ; Ee addeth 
 that the Bishop made the thanksgiving, which the 
 Eucharist was consecrated with, o^oio>c oar) Svva/uc 
 <tur< in like sort with all his might : with the like 
 earnest devotion which the other were made 
 with 1 ." 
 
 The criticism of this learned antiquary is corrobo- 
 rated by Barbon, Bingham, Falkner, and other ex- 
 cellent authorities. Barbon censures those pseudo- 
 scholars who " unskilfullie and partiallie" con- 
 found OCTTJ Suva/utc according to his " abilitie," and 
 Kara Suvajuiv, with all his might, two phrases, he 
 observes, which there is "a great difference 
 between 2 ." Falkner insists that the construction 
 here contended for by the anti-liturgical gram- 
 marian, is " not consistent with the use of the same 
 phrase in another place of the same apology ; 
 where he discourseth also of their prayers at the 
 Eucharist, and speaketh of all Christians (who 
 were not all to compose prayers according to their 
 ability for that service,) that they were oar\ Svvapig 
 aivovvTtg, praising God with prayers and thanks- 
 givings with all their might; that is, with the 
 greatest intention and fervency of heart and spirit ; 
 
 1 Thorndike on Religious Assemblies, p. 338. and for other 
 cases see p. 234. 236. 335. * Barbon, p. 29.
 
 ON LITURGIES. 213 
 
 and this is properly the sense of ooi\ Suva/uie, as may DISS. n. 
 be evinced from the use thereof in other places V 
 
 " There is," says Bingham, " no solidity in the 
 argument brought against Liturgies, from Justin's 
 saying that the Bishop prayed and gave thanks, 
 OCTTJ Svvafjue, with all his ability or power. For this 
 may not at all relate to the invention of words, but 
 to the ardency and intenseness of devotion, which 
 may be in the use of prescribed forms as well as 
 those of immediate conception. And so it is plain 
 the very same phrase is used by Nazianzen, when 
 he exhorts the Christians to sing oaij Swvojuj^, with 
 all their might, that triumphal hymn 2 upon the 
 death of Julian, which the children of Israel sang 
 when the Egyptians were drowned in the Red Sea, 
 which was not an extempore hymn, but a form 
 composed by Moses, and appointed to be sung 
 alternately by the congregation of Israel. Exod. 1 xv. 
 So that after all the pains that have been taken 
 by some late writers to draw an argument against 
 Liturgies out of this passage of Justin, there is no 
 reason for such a conclusion. And yet this is the 
 only passage that is brought against them V 
 
 3. As Justin Martyr cannot with any truth be Alleged ob- 
 
 i if jection from 
 
 pronounced a voucher tor extemporaneous prayer, Tenuiiian 
 neither can Tertullian. This latter apologist, to answere<L 
 vindicate the loyalty of the Christian Church 
 
 1 Falkner's Libertas Ecclesiastica, chap. iv. sect. 2. p. 113. 
 
 2 Naz. Orat. 3. quae est 1. Invectiv. contr. Julian, t. i. p. 54. 
 4 Bingham's Antiquities. B. xiii. ch. v. p. 136.
 
 214 ON LITURGIES. 
 
 DISS. ii. arraigned before the Emperor Severus, affirms that 
 Christians prayed for the emperor, " without a 
 prompter, because they prayed from the heart," 
 meaning, it is conjectured, that they prayed ex- 
 tempore. His words are, " With eyes raised to 
 heaven, with hands outspread, in token of our 
 innocence ; with heads uncovered, as having no 
 crime to blush for ; without a prompter, because 
 we pray by heart, we Christians, all of us, at 
 all times, implore for all emperors, length of life ; 
 security of government ; a safe household ; a valiant 
 army ; a loyal senate ; an industrious people ; a 
 world at peace ; and whatever else can be prayed 
 for by man, or by Caesar 1 ." The expression "with- 
 out a prompter" (sine monitor e) literally taken, as 
 exclusive of all prompting, must exclude the 
 prompting of an individual still more effectually 
 than the prompting of a book. It must exclude 
 still more expressly the dictation of a minister, 
 addressing prayers to God, than the dictation of a 
 Liturgy. And we must consequently infer that 
 there were no common prayers in the days of Ter- 
 tullian ; but that in the congregation every private 
 Christian, without concert with his brethren, offered 
 separately his own petitions. So absurd a notion 
 
 1 Illuc suspicientes Christiani manibus expansis, guia innocuis; 
 capite nudo, quia non erubescimus ; sine monitore, quia de pectore 
 oramus ; precantes snmu.s omnes semper pro omnibus Imperatoribus, 
 vitam illis prolixam, imperium securum, domum tutam, exercitus 
 fortes, senatum fidelem, populum probum, orbem quietum, et quce- 
 cunque hominis vel Ccesaris vola sunt. Tertul. Apolog. c. 30.
 
 ON LITURGIES. 215 
 
 must be at once rejected. The true meaning of DISS. n. 
 this ancient writer, if (which is extremely doubtful) 
 he refers at all to public worship \ appears to be, 
 that the people required no prompter because they 
 prayed from memory, or could say their prayers 
 by heart 2 . The Liturgies of that age were seldom 
 written, but for the first three centuries were learnt 
 by heart from constant repetition : and though the 
 minister on all occasions spoke antecedently to 
 the people, yet Tertullian, (in his zeal to prove 
 the loyalty of the Church,) seems to describe the 
 prayers for the imperial safety as so regularly 
 offered, that the people were independent of the 
 minister, and if necessary could repeat the forms 
 without assistance from a prompter. 
 
 It has now been ascertained that forms of prayer summary 
 were constant and universal among the Jews ; that mentsfrom 
 our Saviour and his Apostles, both at the temple a nd P from 
 and in the synagogue, were accustomed to such 
 forms ; that Christ himself prescribed a "form for 
 the use of his disciples ; that both among ancient 
 writers, and in the earliest canons, prayer by pre- 
 
 1 Heylin Reformation justified. Part i. ch. vi. p. 108. 
 
 a Thorndike, Barbon, and others, remark of Tertullian, that he 
 affected Grecisms in his style, and that, consistently with this 
 peculiarity, his Latin phrase " de peclore" is equivalent to the 
 Greek term a.Troarri$iuv, which means in English, to say hy 
 heart. " Thus," observes Thorndike, with great triumph, " they 
 could not have showed a passage more pregnant with the sense 
 they intended to destroy, that they" (the primitive Christians) 
 " prayed by prescript forms." p. 237.
 
 216 ON LITURGIES. 
 
 DISS.II. scribed forms is constantly alluded to as the custom 
 of the Church ; and that this custom was invariably 
 regarded as a sacred tradition from the Apostolic 
 age. 
 
 To adduce authorities from later ages than those 
 already cited would be tedious and unnecessary. 
 It is notorious that Liturgies existed universally 
 throughout Christendom from the period of the 
 latest Fathers we have quoted, to the epoch of the 
 Reformation. Not only the Greek and Latin 
 Churches, but all other Christian societies in 
 Europe, Africa, and Asia ; the Abyssinians and 
 Ethiopians, the Jacobites, the Maronites, the Nes- 
 torians, the Christians of St. Thomas in Hindostan, 
 and the Waldenses, had all of them established 
 formularies of devotion. The manner also and 
 degree in which the same ancient practice has 
 been maintained among Protestants, may not only 
 be discovered from our own Liturgy, but from the 
 Liturgies of the Lutheran churches in Germany ; 
 from the Liturgies of the Swedish and Danish 
 Churches ; of the Reformed Churches in France ; of 
 the Church of Geneva; and of the Kirk of Scotland, 
 in times immediately subsequent to the Reform- 
 ation. 
 
 We need only therefore add as a conclusion 
 from what has been said that to those objectors 
 who extol the extemporaneous effusions of ministers, 
 in opposition to forms of prayer appointed by 
 ecclesiastical authority, it is an appropriate answer 
 to say with the Apostles, " We have no such cus-
 
 ON LITURGIES. 217 
 
 torn, neither the churches of God." Those who DISS. 11. 
 would deny that an appeal to custom or tradition 
 in questions of this kind is sound reasoning, have 
 not our argument but St. Paul's to contend with. 
 Such being the case, no man can with any modesty 
 assert that he finds himself unable to receive edifi- 
 cation from forms of prayer so constituted. The 
 feelings of that person are little to be commended, 
 who affirms that in his heart such forms excite no 
 warmth of devotion. To make an acknowledgment 
 of this kind would be to confess incapacity to wor- 
 ship God in the manner adopted by the primitive 
 confessors and martyrs, as well as by all good 
 Christians for many succeeding ages. It would 
 be to indicate a spirit and temper very different 
 from that spirit and temper which have always 
 reigned in the universal Church of Christ l . 
 
 3. A third recommendation of established forms, Third argu- 
 ment. Snit- 
 
 ableness 
 
 Four conclusive reasons may be gathered from Bennet, why to congre- 
 extemporaneous prayer in the congregation could not have been gatl T- a 
 the practice of antiquity. 
 
 1 . Because throughout primitive biography, although eulogies 
 are bestowed abundantly on the talent of individual Fathers as 
 preachers, and authors, no mention is ever made of their ability 
 in extemporaneous prayer. 
 
 2. Because no clear instance of extemporaneous prayer in the 
 congregation is recorded. 
 
 3. Because no notice occurs throughout the writers of anti- 
 quity, of any diversity in this respect among different Churches, 
 so that one Church should have a Liturgy ; and another be 
 abandoned to the discretion of the minister. 
 
 4. Because no opposition is mentioned to set forms in any part 
 of the world. 
 
 Also see sermons of Bishop Bull, vol. ii.
 
 218 
 
 ON LITURGIES. 
 
 DISS. ii. in opposition to extemporaneous prayer, is, that 
 besides being more agreeable to Scripture, and more 
 conformable to tradition, they are also more suitable 
 to the nature of public worship, or, according to the 
 language of St. Paul, they are more effectually 
 " done unto edifying." 
 
 iMsadvan- The disadvantages of unpremeditated prayer in 
 
 tages of ex- r J 
 
 tempora- the congregation are far more numerous than might 
 
 neous & 
 
 prayer, at first be supposed. They are in several respects 
 unfavourable to piety, both in him that delivers and 
 in those who hear them. 
 
 TO the i n t ne case O f n i m w } 10 delivers the prayer, there 
 
 minister : - 1 ' 
 
 is a great temptation to display his own powers, 
 while he should be solely occupied in uttering the 
 wants of others. Continual opportunities beset 
 him, opportunities almost irresistible, for the in- 
 dulgence of vanity and ostentation. His thoughts 
 are liable to be occupied too much with himself 
 and too little with God. His intellectual gifts 
 being in laborious exercise, his spiritual gifts have 
 not proper room for operation. There is danger 
 amidst the difficulties of composition, or it may be 
 of recollection, that instead of praying according to 
 Apostolic rule, " with the spirit and with the 
 understanding also/' he should pray with the 
 understanding, to the exclusion, in some measure, 
 of the spirit. There is danger likewise in his pious 
 zeal for the instruction of his people, lest he should 
 indiscreetly give his prayer the character of a 
 sermon, and be led to pray at, instead of for his 
 people. 
 
 To these disadvantages of extemporaneous prayer
 
 ON LITURGIES. 219 
 
 to the person who delivers it, are to be added those DISS. n. 
 which obstruct the piety of the congregation. In To the con . 
 the case of the hearer there is much to interrupt gresat 
 devotion. His mind must be employed in criticism 
 as well as in supplication. Instead of suffering his 
 thoughts to flow without hesitation, in a channel to 
 which he is accustomed, and which he knows to be 
 safe, he is obliged to ascertain with accuracy the 
 agreement of the words delivered to him, with the 
 sentiments of his own mind, before he can join 
 satisfactorily in prayer with his minister. Some 
 parts of the devotional address may be worded too 
 strongly to admit his assent ; others may be worded 
 too feebly to express the fulness of his heart. Some 
 passages may, in his judgment, savour of presump- 
 tion ; some of familiarity : some may appear low 
 and vulgar; some affected and ostentatious : some 
 sentences may be ungrammatical ; others broken 
 and disjointed : some, from want of readiness in 
 the speaker, may contain vain repetitions ; others 
 may for the same reason be confused and unintelli- 
 gible : under any of which circumstances the hearer 
 cannot with propriety, nor even with sincerity, adopt 
 as his own such addresses to his Maker. 
 
 Nor is it only from want of union in matters of 
 mere taste and sentiment between the extempo- 
 raneous minister and his audience that such disad- 
 vantages will arise, but also from want of union in 
 matters of faith. Diversities of doctrine must exist 
 in every church. " It must needs be that offences 
 come." The speaker in his prayer may express
 
 2-20 
 
 ON LITURGIES. 
 
 DISS. ir. the doctrine of necessity ; his hearers entertain the 
 opposite doctrine of free will : the speaker may 
 use the language of universal redemption ; his 
 hearers believe in reprobation : the speaker may 
 describe the saints as invariably perseverig ; the 
 hearer think them liable to fall away : one may 
 impute to faith an exclusive importance which, to 
 the other, may seem fatal to good works. In such 
 a state of things, which must often occur, however 
 pious and respectable both parties may be, (and 
 which must occur more frequently in proportion as 
 the congregation is more numerous) the one cannot 
 say Amen, with truth, to the language of the other. 
 
 If we compare with these inconveniences of ex- 
 temporaneous worship the corresponding advan- 
 tages of an established form, the contrast will be 
 remarkable. None of the objections we have stated 
 can in any degree apply to the Liturgy of our 
 Church. The officiating minister, having to read 
 a service previously composed, is under no induce- 
 ment to be ostentatious of intellectual ability. His 
 piety is not embarrassed by ill-directed mental 
 exertion. He can never, in the use of long-esta- 
 blished compositions, be suspected, in the remotest 
 degree, of insinuations against any member of his 
 auditory. 
 
 The benefits of a Liturgy are not less striking in 
 reference to the congregation. Assured of the ex- 
 cellence, authority, and correctness of the prayers 
 and praises they are required to unite in offering, 
 thev lose no time in critical examinations. Their 
 
 Benefits of 
 . a Liturgy. 
 
 To the 
 ^minister. 
 
 Benefits to 
 the congre- 
 gation.
 
 ON LITURGIES. 221 
 
 thoughts flow naturally and undistractedly in a DISS. n. 
 channel to which they are accustomed, and which 
 they know to be safe. They feel secure against the 
 obtrusion of what is vulgar, presumptuous, affected, 
 or familiar. Our public prayers, brought by fre- 
 quent revision to a perfection otherwise unattain- 
 able, have no abruptness, no marks of haste, no- 
 thing confused, nothing unintelligible. Their tone 
 of feeling accords with congregational worship. 
 They avoid all needless interference with points 
 of doubtful disputation. Composed long before 
 those questions had arisen which now agitate the 
 Church, they cannot be interpreted to the exclusive 
 encouragement of any favourite sect or party. Dis- 
 agreement with such doctrines as are expressed in 
 our formularies, would argue disagreement with 
 the illustrious composers of them in the earliest and 
 purest ages of Christianity ! . 
 
 1 It is remarkable that many leading theologians, notwithstand- 
 ing their various shades of difference from each other, have agreed 
 in their admiration of our Liturgy. They not only have heard for 
 their own edification, hut have read for the edification of the people 
 the service of the Church of England. Among these celebrated 
 characters who so widely differed both on questions of doctrine 
 and of discipline, the reader will recollect the names of Cranmer, 
 Knox, Parker, Whitgift, Hall, Taylor, Reynolds, South, Hickes, 
 Butler, Tillotson, and Beveridge. 
 
 The advantage likewise of a Liturgy, as tending to stability of doc- 
 trine, may be found exemplified in the history of the Polish Church. 
 When Socinianism arose in Poland, which was its birth-place, 
 the great obstacle to -its growth was the Polish Liturgy, to which 
 we have occasionally referred. The Socinian innovators accord-
 
 
 222 ON LITURGIES^ 
 
 DISS. ii. Having now explained the chief points of supe- 
 nority in the Liturgy of the Church over extempo- 
 raneous prayers ; having shown that the use of it 
 is more agreeable to Scripture, more conformable 
 to tradition, and more suitable to congregational 
 worship, I shall conclude with a very few remarks 
 on the great importance of the manner in which 
 the service should be read and heard. Much in- 
 struction may be always learnt from the reproaches 
 of an adversary ; and the members of our Church 
 may ascertain a disadvantage peculiarly to be 
 guarded against in our mode of public worship 
 from the general objection of the dissenter to all 
 Liturgies, viz. that they tend to formality, to inat- 
 tention in the hearer, and to carelessness in the 
 speaker. 
 
 T\ie remedy for these evils belongs in part to the 
 
 tions as to J 
 
 hearing the consTeg ation . If, as members of the Church, they 
 
 service. 
 
 would rightly discharge their duty, let them cul- 
 tivate genuine devotion. Let them make the Liturgy 
 their frequent study ; and not a subject merely of 
 literary criticism, but of religious meditation. Let 
 
 ingly urged various small objections (ratiunculce, as their sounder 
 brethren turned them,) against Liturgies in general, very much to 
 the same effect with those alleged by our own Dissenters, and 
 more particularly against the Polish prayer-book. 
 
 1. That the invocation of Christ is nowhere enjoined in 
 Scripture. 
 
 2. That Christ is not the adequate object of our worship. 
 
 3. That the Holy Ghost ought not to be prayed unto, because 
 not a person, but the gift of God.
 
 ON LITURGIES. 223 
 
 them endeavour to ascertain the meaning and the DISS. n. 
 object of every passage. Let them enter fervently into 
 the feelings and the sentiments expressed, and be 
 thus prepared to pray " with the spirit, and with the 
 understanding also." And let them repeat audibly 
 the responses, that every individual worshipper, 
 taking the share allotted him in the service, may 
 prevent his own thoughts from wandering, and 
 encourage the attention of others around him. 
 
 But much depends upon the minister as well as observa- 
 
 n i i a> o ti ns as to 
 
 on the congregation, rrom the natural enect or reading the 
 
 . , , service. 
 
 sympathy their state ot mind must always tend to 
 correspond with his : if he reads with devout feeling 
 they will listen with devotion ; if his thoughts 
 begin to wander, so probably will theirs ; if he 
 becomes mechanical and artificial, they will be apt 
 to testify impatience. 
 
 Under the deepest sense therefore of responsi- 
 bility for the edification of the people committed to 
 his charge, the great object of every conscientious 
 minister will be, to take a pastoral interest in the 
 sacred duty which he performs ; to increase from 
 day to day his own individual sense of its import- 
 ance, and enter more and more from the heart into 
 the sentiments which he is required to utter. He 
 will be thus prepared to read the prefatory exhort- 
 ation with persuasive energy ; to pronounce the 
 absolution with effective solemnity ; to be himself 
 impressed with penitence in confession, and with 
 gratitude in giving thanks ; to desire the bless- 
 ings which he solicits, and to dread the evils
 
 224 ON LITURGIES 
 
 DISS. ir. which he deprecates. In short, he will be pre- 
 pared not only to direct the worship of others, but 
 himself to join in worship not only to express their 
 sentiments, but his own not only to read, but to 
 pray. 
 
 In conclusion, I have only to express my ardent 
 wish, in behalf of every member of the Church 
 as well as in my own, that all of us (possessing the 
 advantages of a mode of worship so excellent, and 
 truly spiritual,) may, through the grace of God, use 
 this work of primitive piety as devoutly as it was 
 composed. I have only to pray that " all things" 
 as the Apostle directs, being "done decently and 
 in order," or in other words, that all things being 
 " done unto edifying," we may receive the edifica- 
 tion which they are calculated to impart. I have 
 only to pray, that our hearts and lives may never 
 deviate from the graces we pray for, and the feel- 
 ings we express ; lest that divine reproof apply to us 
 which was of old addressed to the Israelites : They 
 have well said the words which they have spoken ; oh 
 that there were such an heart in them !
 
 DISSERTATION III. 
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 " Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation : so that what- 
 soever 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 the faith, or be thought 
 requisite or necessary to salvation." Sixth Article of Religion. 
 
 " Those parts of Holy Scripture which are plain and clear, contain all that is 
 requisite to be believed or to be practised 1 ." Augustin. 
 
 " The Spirit of God, therefore, is the only infallible judge here ; and has de- 
 clared as plainly as any successive judges can, in those things that are necessary 
 to life and salvation, what is to be believed and to be done ; which if we believe 
 and practise in particular, and do also in general, and implicitly believe and 
 stand in a readiness to obey the rest of the Scripture, when the sense thereof 
 appears to us, we are in a safe condition, and need not doubt but it will go well 
 with us in the other state." Works of Henry More, pp. 453, 454. 
 
 " When, therefore, you can shew, that in this and all other controversies, God 
 hath interposed his testimony on one side or other ; so that either they do see it, 
 and will not ; or, were it not for their own voluntary and avoidable fault, might 
 and should see it, and do not ; let all such errors be as damnable as you please 
 to make them. In the mean while, if they suffer themselves neither to be be- 
 trayed into their errors, nor kept in them by any sin of their will ; if they do 
 their best endeavour to free themselves from all errors, and yet fail of it through 
 human frailty ; so well am I persuaded of the goodness of God, that if in me 
 alone should meet a confluence of all such errors of all the Protestants in the 
 world, that were thus qualified, I should not be so much afraid of them all, as I 
 should be to ask pardon for them." Works of Chillingworth, vol. i. p. 113. 
 
 EVERY reflecting Christian, as soon almost as he is DISS.III. 
 
 capable of reflection, must have continual occasion 
 
 to observe with sorrow and anxiety the multiplied Diversity of 
 
 religious 
 
 1 Ea qute manifest^ posita sunt in Scripturis sacris omnia continent qvue perti- 
 nent adfidem moresque vivendi. 
 
 Q
 
 226 
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS. in. varieties of opinion that divide the Church of 
 :HAP " * Christ, on every point or article of Christian faith ; 
 
 opinions a the confidence with which every sect lays claim 
 
 anxiety! exclusively to the possession of saving knowledge, 
 and the unqualified severity with which each party 
 reprobates the other, as being implicated in unpar- 
 donable heresy. On hearing (and who can escape 
 hearing?) the fulrnination of these mutual anathe- 
 mas, we not only grieve for the state of dreadful 
 peril in which, if we admit such principles, a large 
 
 On account proportion of our neighbours, friends, and fellow 
 
 of others * . . 1-111 TI 
 
 and on our Christians must be involved : but we grieve like- 
 own. . ___ . . 1 . . 
 wise on our own account. We are visited with 
 
 doubts and misgivings, and apprehensions, lest we 
 ourselves, through ignorance or prejudice, should 
 have adopted unawares into our creed some article 
 containing deadly error ; or should have omitted 
 something indispensable to salvation. We neces- 
 sarily believe our own creed to be correct, sound, 
 and scriptural, because the profession of it as our 
 own is only a profession of that belief : but our con- 
 fidence in maintaining it is liable to be shaken, 
 our reliance on its sufficiency impaired, our reli- 
 gious comfort and security of mind destroyed, in 
 proportion to the numbers the intelligence, the 
 learning, the piety to be found in Christians of 
 every various denomination, who exclude us, on 
 the ground of heresy, from all hope of Divine 
 favour; or who regard our case at best as preca- 
 rious or problematical. To discover that the evi- 
 dence, the arguments and researches, which con-
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 227 
 
 vince ourselves, have not succeeded in convincing DISS. m. 
 others, seems to cast a doubt upon the process by 
 which we reached and established our conclusions : 
 and in proportion as our minds have learnt to 
 estimate the all important interests of eternity, will 
 be our sensibility to alarm and perturbation. 
 
 In this state of intellectual and spiritual per- 
 plexity, if we want the Christian industry, the 
 moral courage, or the strength of understanding, 
 to work out for ourselves this greatest of all pro- 
 blems, we are in a state of passive readiness to 
 receive counsel from the first adviser. But here 
 again new difficulties beset us. We are encum- 
 bered with help. Not only do innumerable guides confusion 
 present themselves, but each of them comes eagerly number of 
 forward to conduct us by a different road. And 8 
 what is worst of all, the very principles upon which 
 they give advice are fundamentally opposed. We 
 are referred alternately to reason, to common sense, 
 to analogy, to Scripture, to Faith, to Grace, to 
 tradition ; and not only to each of these authorities 
 simply, but to all of them in various combinations 
 and proportions. 
 
 Among this numerous multitude of counsellors Three P re- 
 
 . i i tended 
 
 none are more importunately obtrusive, or more guides to 
 dictatorially confident than the Romanist, the En- knowledge, 
 thusiast, and the Sceptic. It is proposed, for the 
 subject of this dissertation, to examine successively 
 the remedies and expedients proposed by each of 
 these three parties for calming our disquietude, 
 
 Q2
 
 228 
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS. III. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 The Ro- 
 manist. 
 
 and for the restoration of our minds to religious 
 peace. 
 
 First, then, let it be supposed that we meet with 
 some teacher of the Roman Catholic persuasion 
 that we explain to him our disturbed feelings, and 
 request the benefit of his friendly guidance. He 
 immediately informs us that our state of mind is 
 the necessary consequence of adhering to a Protest- 
 ant communion ; and that we never can obtain 
 repose and satisfaction until we enter the Catholic 
 Church until, with the other wandering sheep 
 dispersed over the forbidden pastures of the earth, 
 we return with humble penitence to the fold which 
 we have left ; until, in short, we renounce all de- 
 pendence on the conclusions of uncertain reason, 
 and establish our Faith for ever upon the dictates 
 of infallibility. " That there must," he adds, " be 
 somewhere upon earth an infallible living judge, 
 an arbiter of religious controversy, incapable of 
 error, an authority from whose decision on points 
 of faith there can be no appeal, is a plain and ob- 
 vious principle, which, on proper reflection, you 
 will find impossible to be rejected. Not to insist 
 on arguments from Scripture, although sufficiently 
 conclusive, and capable in themselves of proving 
 that such an arbiter has been appointed, there are 
 independent considerations in favour of infallibility 
 Motives of which ought to satisfy every reasonable mind : for 
 
 credibility . J 
 
 foraninfai- the wise Creator of man would never grant a reve- 
 
 lible living , . . 111 i 
 
 arbiter. lation to his creatures, and then leave them to the
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 229 
 
 direction of their own erring judgment in ascer- DISS.III. 
 taining the truths revealed. The benevolent Cre- _ CHAP ' I y 
 ator of man must know that man is fallible ; that 
 he needs indispensably a conductor ; and that with- 
 out some infallible conductor the benefits of revela- 
 tion would be doubtful and precarious. But if 
 infallibility exist at all in the Church, it must exist 
 in the Roman Catholic communion, which alone 
 makes the least pretension to the privilege. There- 
 fore, only reconcile yourself to our infallibly directed 
 Church, and you will no longer find occasion for 
 uneasiness. You will be guided safely through all 
 the mazes of theological disputation. Instead of 
 being ( tossed to and fro, and carried about with 
 every wind of doctrine' on a shoreless ocean of 
 uncertainty and error, you will repose with comfort 
 and with unruffled calm in the quiet haven of in- 
 fallibility." 
 
 On the promulgation of these assurances our 
 disquietude would at once be tranquillized, if we 
 could but persuade ourselves that the promise of 
 infallible direction, would be as certainly fulfilled, 
 as it is confidently made. But here lies the dif- 
 ficulty. The assertions of our Romish counsellor 
 are bold, but the principle from which he argues is 
 fallacious. The assumed principle, that the human 
 mind is capable of prejudging what conduct the 
 Creator must pursue towards his creatures, or of 
 pre-determining what benefits he must bestow, is 
 
 1 Eph. iv. 14.
 
 230 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS.III. incompatible with our nature, and irreconcilable 
 with experience 1 . We may perhaps admit, that 
 if infallibility be found at all in the Church, it must 
 be found in that branch which alone pretends to 
 the privilege : but are we warranted to conclude 
 Fallacy and that God must have granted this extraordinary pri- 
 
 presutnp- 
 
 non of vilege, merely because we think it likely, or pro- 
 
 these pri- 1-11 i i i i -i n r^ 
 
 oriargu- per, or desirable, that he should grant it .' Can 
 we safely infer, in any case, that God must have 
 done what we think it right that he should do ; and 
 make this inference independently of all proof, that 
 he has actually done so ? Is it not dictatorial, and 
 hazardous in the last degree, to determine by 
 abstract reasonings, what line of conduct it would 
 be proper for an all-perfect, and an all-wise Being 
 to adopt, till evidence appear that he has really 
 adopted it ? We may indeed rest assured, in 
 general, that God will do nothing arbitrary or 
 irrational ; but how often and how fatally should 
 we be misled, did we venture to predict that a cer- 
 tain course of Divine action is alone rational, and 
 benevolent, and just and, therefore, must have 
 been the course actually followed by the Almighty ! 
 4 If we admit this mode of reasoning, and hazard 
 
 1 The theologian will here observe that the argument from 
 " motives of credibility," as they are termed, is in this view more 
 presumptuous and objectionable than the claim so loudly and so 
 vehemently objected against Protestants. Surely there is more 
 i presumption in claiming a right to prejudge what God must have 
 done, than in claiming the right of private judgment to ascertain 
 what God has actually revealed. 
 
 1
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 231 
 
 speculations of this kind, we should certainly think DISS.III. 
 it reasonable, that if God created sensitive beings, CHAP> ' 
 he would make infallible provision against every 
 error or mistake, which might render them liable 
 to fall from a state of holiness into a state of guilt 
 and misery. We should think it further reasonable 
 for him to cause those most essential truths of 
 religion, his own existence and perfections, to rest 
 on evidence infallible and demonstrative ; so as to 
 preclude all doubt or hesitation in the most scep- 
 tical inquirer. Or, (to suppose another case,) in 
 disputed questions of political importance among 
 nations, since war and bloodshed cannot otherwise 
 be prevented, we should think it reasonable for 
 him to appoint some great judge of international 
 law, by whom all differences might infallibly be 
 determined, and the blessings of tranquillity and 
 peace secured to all the kingdoms of the earth. 
 
 But God has not fulfilled these expectations, 
 though to all appearance highly reasonable. He 
 has left both men and angels to the freedom of 
 their own wills ; and has created them not only 
 capable of abusing that gift of freedom, but of 
 involving themselves in sin and wickedness, and in 
 everlasting ruin. He has afforded no infallible, no 
 demonstrative evidence of his own existence and 
 perfections ; but has left mankind to ascertain 
 these fundamental truths from principles of abstract 
 reason, and by reflections on the works of nature 
 and of Providence. He permits contending nations 
 to decide their quarrels by an appeal to arms : and
 
 23'2 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS.III. notwithstanding all the mischiefs consequent upon 
 CHAP - ' war, has not thought fit to make that effectual 
 provision against this widely desolating source of 
 evil, which our human wisdom, if appealed to, 
 would probably have suggested ; namely, the ap- 
 pointment of an unerring and authoritative arbiter. 
 We are, therefore, not entitled to argue that God 
 in his kingdom of grace must unquestionably have 
 pursued a course, which, in his kingdom of Provi- 
 dence, he has not pursued ; nor to maintain that to 
 silence all religious controversies, he must indis- 
 pensably have had recourse to an expedient which, 
 in political disputes, he has neglected. We are 
 not entitled to infer, that he must necessarily have 
 determined, by the authority of an infallible judge, 
 the less essential truths of religion ; when he has 
 left the fundamental truths -of all, to be determined 
 by our own erring reason. We are not entitled to 
 infer, that the Creator of men must have made 
 infallible provision against their falling into heresy 
 or "believing a lie," and thus frustrating the 
 means for their restoration to a State of holiness 
 and happiness ; when he made no provision of that 
 kind against their fall *. 
 
 1 " But it is more useful and fit (you say) for deciding of con- 
 troversies, to have, besides an infallible rule to go by, a living 
 infallible judge to determine them : and from hence you conclude, 
 that certainly there is such a judge. But why then may not 
 another say, that it is yet more useful, for many excellent pur- 
 poses, that all the Patriarchs should be infallible, than that the 
 Pope only should ? Another, that it would be yet more useful,
 
 assurance. 
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 233 
 
 But granting to our Romanist adviser that his DISS. m. 
 representations were as sound as they are fallacious ; CHAF - * 
 still they could only lead us to a probable, and never Probable 
 to an infallible conclusion. The strength of the atd^are 
 building must be proportionate to the solidity of its of infallible 
 foundation. If our faith in the supposed infallible 
 arbiter is to be founded on the validity and force of 
 the arguments and conjectures which have been 
 stated ; our faith in the decisions of that arbiter 
 cannot be greater than our faith in the arguments 
 and conjectures which support his infallibility. 
 Since these proofs, at the very utmost, are any 
 thing but demonstrations, and are only probabi- 
 lities, we cannot under any circumstances have 
 
 that all the Archbishops of every province should be so, than 
 that the Patriarchs only should be so. Another, that it would 
 be yet more useful if all the Bishops of every diocese were 
 so ? Another, that it would be yet more available that all 
 the parsons of every parish should be so ? Another, that it 
 would be yet more excellent, if all the fathers, of families 
 were so ? And lastly, another, that it were much more to be 
 desired, that every man and every woman were so ? just as much 
 as the prevention of controversies is better than the decision of 
 them ; and the prevention of heresies better than the condemna- 
 tion of them ; and upon this ground conclude, by your own very 
 consequence, that not only a general Council, not only the Pope, 
 but all the Patriarchs, Archbishops, Bishops, Pastors, Fathers, 
 nay, all the men in the world, are infallible ? If you say now, as 
 I am sure you will, that this conclusion is most gross, and absurd, 
 against sense and experience, then must also the ground be false 
 from which it evidently and undeniably follows, viz., That that 
 course of dealing with men seems always more fit to Divine 
 Providence, which seems most fit to human reason." Works of 
 Chillingworth, vol. i. p. 296.
 
 234: 
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS.III. more than probability to guide us: and we there- 
 J\ fore end as we began, and our disquietude even on 
 
 our admission of an unerring judge, remains exactly 
 
 as before. 
 Argument Our Romish advocate, however, is not discom- 
 
 for infalli- .-, , TT i rr i i 
 
 biiity from nted. tie proceeds to amrm that the pretensions 
 of\h"jew^ of his Church are supported by analogy. He re- 
 
 minds us that the Church of God, under the Jewish 
 dispensation, was directed by an infallible human 
 authority ; and that the same high privilege, being 
 equally wanted, might be equally expected in the 
 Christian ceconomy. He quotes for this purpose 
 those magnificent assurances of God's peculiar 
 favour and protection, to be found throughout the 
 books of Moses and of the prophets ; and relies more 
 especially on the remarkable rule established by the 
 legislator of Israel to this effect : " If there arise a 
 matter too hard for thee in judgment, thou shalt 
 come unto the Priests, the Levites, and unto the 
 Judge that shall be in those days, and inquire, 
 and they shall show thee the sentence of judgment. 
 And the man that will do presumptuously, and will 
 not hearken unto the Priest, or unto the Judge, 
 even that man shall die V 
 
 Answered. To this argument from analogy we may reply, 
 that the alleged fact on which the analogy depends, 
 is -unfounded. The Jewish Church was not infal- 
 lible. The evidence adduced to prove it so is 
 totally inadequate ; and unanswerable evidence 
 may be brought forward to prove it otherwise. 
 
 1 Dcut. xvii. 8 14.
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 235 
 
 With respect to the text in question, it has not the DISS.III. 
 remotest connection with matters of faith : it relates 
 entirely to matters of civil government. The in- 
 troductory words of the passage, if quoted fairly, 
 and at full length, must satisfy every reader, that 
 they apply only to secular litigation : that what is 
 here enjoined by the Mosaic law is submission to 
 the legal magistrate, not assent to any article of 
 Faith : that the contumacy here forbidden under 
 penalty of death, was not heresy but rebellion ; not 
 obstinate error, but obstinate disobedience '. 
 
 Besides, however encouraging the language of 
 the Jewish Scripture respecting God's " everlasting 
 kindness" to his " chosen people," we know on 
 the authority of their own historians, that they 
 went continually wrong. Even in the days of 
 undoubted divine interposition we read that * ' the 
 people corrupted themselves, and turned aside 
 quickly out of the way which God commanded 
 them 2 ." " Aaron" (their supposed infallible guide) 
 " made a golden calf, and they said, These be thy 
 gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the 
 land of Egypt :" again, we are informed concerning 
 Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, that " he took counsel, 
 and made two calves of gold, and said unto them" 
 (the people), " It is too much for you to go up to 
 
 1 If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between 
 blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and 
 stroke, fyc. Deut. xvii. 8. An evident reference this to civil 
 litigation. 
 
 2 Exodus xxxii. 4. 7.
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 236 ON INFALLIBIMTY. 
 
 DISS.III. Jerusalem, behold thy gods, Oh Israel, which 
 brought thee up out of the land of Egypt 1 ." Further, 
 it is recorded of Elijah, that he complained of the 
 Church of Israel, as if it had entirely apostatized 
 and disappeared from the earth. He exxdaims in 
 his address to God, "The children of Israel have 
 forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, 
 and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, 
 even I only am left." We read of Ahab that he 
 gathered his prophets together, about four hundred 
 men, and that there was only one individual, 
 Micaiah, "a prophet of the Lord 2 ." Jeremiah 
 laments over his corrupt times, exclaiming, " A 
 wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the 
 land ; the Prophets prophesy falsely ; and the 
 Priests bear rule through their means, and my 
 people love to have it so V Isaiah complains of the 
 Jewish priesthood in his time, under the figurative 
 name of " watchmen," that they were " blind," 
 that they were all " ignorant shepherds that could 
 not understand V But finally, to omit many less 
 remarkable instances of error and apostacy, our 
 blessed Saviour himself was condemned by the 
 Jewish Church and crucified. Since therefore the 
 Jewish Church was not infallible, the argument 
 from analogy, whatever value our Romish friend 
 may attach to it, is all distinctly on our side. If 
 previous to the Christian aBra no unerring director 
 was appointed, none may be appointed now. 
 
 1 1 Kings xii. 28. * 1 Kings xxii. 6. 3 Jeremiah v. 30. 
 4 Isaiah Ivi. 10.
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 237 
 
 The next resource of our ingenious disputant is DISS.III. 
 to affirm, that unless the Church possessed infalli- CHAP ' '' 
 bility we could have no certain nor infallible belief 
 of the Scriptures, for which his Church is our 
 authority. To this sophism we can easily reply, 
 by corresponding cases. The copyists and libra- Transmis- 
 
 i i. i r* i J T sionof the 
 
 nans who nave preserved to us the Greek and Latin Scripture 
 
 i . , 11-1 i .no proof of 
 
 classics are not, on that account, infallible exposi- infallible 
 tors of classical antiquity. Supposing, therefore, 
 that we are exclusively indebted to Romanism for 
 transmitting to us the sacred oracles, it does not 
 follow that Romanists interpret them infallibly. It 
 happens also, (unfortunately for Romanist preten- 
 sions,) that we are not indebted to any local tradi- 
 tion, such as that of the Church of Rome, for the 
 preservation of the canonical books of Scripture; but 
 to the traditions universally of Christendom. Per- 
 haps we are more under obligation to the Greek 
 than to the Latin Church; both because the writings 
 of the New Testament were originally in Greek, 
 and because the earliest enumeration of the inspired 
 Scriptures is given in the Apostolic canons, collected 
 in the fourth century, and in the canons of the 
 council of Laodicea between A.D. 360 and A.D. 370, 
 which are not Romish but oriental productions l . 
 
 It thus appears that infallibility is not demon- 
 strable by abstract reasonings and analogies, but 
 must be proved, if it be proved at all, by direct 
 evidence. To evidence of this latter description 
 
 1 See Tracts published by Bishop Gibson. Title iv, chap. i. 
 vol. i. p. 18.
 
 238 
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 Three re- 
 quisites to 
 afford us 
 infallible 
 assurance. 
 
 DISS. in. we readily give attention, and request our Romanist 
 :HAP- ' to inform us what he has to offer in the shape of 
 an explicit promise from God to support the claims 
 of the Romish Church. At the same time we give 
 him warning, that before he can satisfy our. minds, 
 he must lay before us full and categorical infor- 
 mation on the following particulars : namely, 
 
 1 . By what organ the infallible oracles of Rome 
 are delivered. 
 
 2. By what evidence the claim to infallibility, 
 as existing in that organ, is established ; and 
 
 3. On what security we can rely, that our own 
 fallible reason will not mistake nor misconceive the 
 doctrine propounded for oar belief. 
 
 Our desire of satisfaction on these points is not 
 expressed in any captious spirit, but is suggested 
 by the necessity of the case. For if we cannot 
 infallibly discover in what person or persons infal- 
 libility resides ; if the Romanist cannot prove to us 
 by infallible arguments, that infallibility belongs 
 to the person or persons for whom he claims it ; 
 and if further, we cannot obtain from our instructor 
 in Romanism some infallible security that we shall 
 infallibly understand the doctrines infallibly pro- 
 posed to us ; it plainly follows that the infallibility 
 he so pertinaciously insists upon, must be to us a 
 matter of indifference, attended with no one. prac- 
 tical result. Our doubts and perplexities will con- 
 tinue unresolved, and we shall be compelled to 
 seek some other guide to the peace and certainty 
 we so anxiously desiderate. 
 
 But unhappily in all these respects the promises
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 239 
 
 of our Romish advocate, the more they are ex- DISS. in. 
 amined, appear the more unstable and unsafe. For 
 first of all, when we inquire by what organ the Firs 
 
 infallible oracles are promulgated ; he is obliged ing."" 
 to acknowledge, that this important point has been infeffibUity 
 for ages a subject of much dispute, and a question 
 very far from being yet infallibly determined. 
 Various are the conflicting authorities, the whole of 
 which it would be needless or perhaps impossible 
 to enumerate 1 . Some learned Romanists are of 
 opinion that infallibility is lodged in the Roman 
 Pontiff, as successor to St. Peter : others of equal 
 learning are inclined to place it in a general coun- 
 cil : but the best informed and most numerous 
 authorities, not conceiving that a Pope or Council 
 singly is infallible, ascribe infallibility to both in 
 
 1 " For many of you hold the Pope's proposal ex cathedra, to 
 be sufficient and obliging," (obligatory), "some a Council without 
 a Pope ; some neither of them severally, but only both toge- 
 ther; some not this neither in matter of manners, which Bellar- 
 mine acknowledges, and tells us it is all one in effect, as if they 
 denied it" (to be) " sufficient in matter of faith ; some not in 
 matter of faith neither think this proposal infallible, without the 
 acceptation of the Church universal ; some deny the infallibility of 
 the present Church, and only make the tradition of all ages the 
 infallible propounder : yet if you were agreed what and what 
 only is the infallible propounder, this would not satisfy us ; nor yet 
 to say, that all is fundamental which is propounded sufficiently 
 by him : for though agreeing in this, yet you might still disagree 
 whether such or such a doctrine were propounded or not; or if 
 propounded, whether sufficiently, or only insufficiently. And it 
 is so known a thing, that in many points you do so, that I assure 
 myself you will not deny it." Chillingworth, vol. i. p. 118.
 
 240 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS.III. conjunction, and suppose that the decrees of a 
 "* AF - ' general Council, ratified by the Pope, are alone 
 infallible. 
 
 This explanation is very far from satisfactory : 
 for we thus perceive, (according to the avowal of 
 Romanists themselves,) our liability to continual 
 mistakes and misapprehensions respecting the real 
 quarter where infallible direction can be found. 
 Jf we take any Pope or Council singly for our 
 guide, we have no security for avoiding deadly 
 heresy ; for a Pope or Council singly may be 
 heretical. On the other hand, if we study to 
 avoid this danger by attaching our faith exclusively 
 to a Pope and Council in conjunction, (that is, to 
 the decree of a general council ratified by Papal 
 sanction,) we fall into another danger, and may 
 reject or omit some necessary doctrine, to which a 
 Pope or Council singly has affixed the seal of 
 infallibility. 
 
 This admitted uncertainty as to the quarter of 
 the earth towards which we are to look for infal- 
 lible guidance, is a ground of fair presumption, 
 perhaps even of demonstration, that infallibility, is 
 in no quarter to be found. For the very object of 
 infallibility is the removal of all doubt : but doubt 
 can never be removed while the question, who is 
 the remover of it, remains unfixed, and impossible 
 to be decided. To receive assurances the most 
 positive and solemn, that all our doubts shall be 
 resolved ; and yet to be told that the authority for 
 resolving them is doubtful, is to use a cruel mode
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 241 
 
 of trifling with our simplicity. For it has been DISS. IIL 
 long and painfully remarked, as the reproach of . 
 Romanists, that, on their principles, the greatest 
 controversy among Christians is, how to fix the 
 organ by which, or by whom, controversies shall 
 be unerringly determined l . 
 
 Finding ourselves disappointed that this great second re- 
 question, in what place the infallible oracle resides, wanting in 
 
 . . the Three 
 
 remains still in agitation, we next entreat our ad- organs of 
 
 infallibility. 
 
 viser to explain the grounds on which the several 
 parties he has mentioned claim the lofty privilege 
 ascribed to them. And since a living judge, sitting The Pope 
 constantly in one spot, and therefore always ready 
 to be consulted, is incomparably more desirable as 
 the organ of unerring truth, than an assembly of 
 divines, whom it is often difficult to call together ; 
 we are all attention, waiting eagerly to hear in the 
 first place the claims of the Roman Pontiff, and to 
 receive, if possible, such clear and convincing 
 arguments for Pontifical infallibility, that, hencefor- 
 ward we shall be able to rely upon it with infallible 
 assurance. 
 
 In compliance with this request, our papal guide 
 adduces what he considers evidence from Scripture, 
 and rests the papal cause upon the following decla- 
 rations of our Lord. First, " Thou art Peter, and 
 upon this rock I will build my church ;" secondly, 
 " I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of 
 
 1 See Evidence against Catholicism by Rev. J. Blanco White. 
 p. 94. 
 
 R
 
 242 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS.III. Heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth 
 
 CHAF - ' shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou 
 
 shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven ;" 
 
 thirdly, " I have prayed that thy faith fail not ;" 
 
 and lastly, " Feed my sheep V 
 
 Pretensions When we learn that these quotations are brought 
 
 of the Pon- . * . 
 
 tiffscriptu- forward as sufficient grounds for establishing an 
 infallible assurance of Papal infallibility, our first 
 impression is of surprise : and our surprise increases 
 into amazement, the more we try to follow our 
 guide, and to rest an infallible assurance upon 
 reasons so uncertain and precarious. There is, 
 throughout the texts quoted, no mention of the 
 ' Roman Pontiff whatever, nor any distinct allusion 
 to the subject of infallibility. It therefore seems 
 extremely difficult to comprehend how any rea- 
 soning man should thence infer that the Pontiff is 
 infallible. But here we are next given to under- 
 stand that his Holiness, as successor to St. Peter, 
 inherits all the privileges of St. Peter; and that 
 what our Saviour promised to that Apostle was not 
 promised to him personally, but to his successors 
 in all ages. Yet, on examining the authorities 
 again, we find no warrant for the conclusion as- 
 serted. There is nothing to assure us infallibly, 
 nothing which would even lead us to suspect that 
 our Lord looked further than to the Apostle him- 
 self, or conferred upon him any privilege not 
 shared in common with his brethren. Our Saviour's 
 
 1 Matt. xvi. 18, 19, Luke xxii. 32. John xxi. 17.
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 243 
 
 prayer that the faith of Peter might not fail, and DISS.IIL 
 his subsequent restoration of him to the Apostolic _ 
 order by the thrice repeated charge of " Feed my 
 sheep," have obvious reference to the character and 
 conduct of that disciple at one time an apostate, % 
 afterwards an accepted penitent. They can relate 
 to no other person, and to no other circumstances. 
 And "it is absurd," as Bishop Stillingfleet ob- 
 serves, " to infer an impossibility in the Pope of 
 falling, from a promise to St. Peter of recovery" 
 and restoration 1 . Again, the promise, "whatso- 
 ever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in 
 heaven 2 ," conveys no peculiar advantage or pre- 
 eminence to St. Peter ; for the very same power is 
 conveyed afterwards by our Lord himself to the 
 whole number of the Apostles. " Receive ye the 
 Holy Ghost : whosesoever sins ye remit, they are 
 remitted unto them ; and whosesoever sins ye retain, 
 they are retained 3 ." In respect to the privilege 
 with which that promise is introduced,, " I give 
 unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven," if 
 (which may be doubted) these words really have 
 
 1 See Stillingfleet's "Vindication," p. 418. 
 
 2 The phrases to bind and loose were Jewish, and most frequent 
 in their writings. It belonged only to the teachers among the 
 Jews to bind and loose. When the Jews set any apart to be a 
 preacher, they used these words, " Take thou liberty to teach 
 what is bound and what is loose." Strype's preface to the Post- 
 humous Remains of Dr. Lightfoot. p. 38. -See Dr. A. Clarke's 
 commentary in loco. 
 
 3 Compare Matt. xvii. 18. with John xx. 22, 23. 
 
 R 2
 
 244 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS.III. any meaning distinct from the power already men- 
 tioned of binding and loosing, they refer propheti- 
 cally to St. Peter as the person by whose instru- 
 mentality the door of salvation would be opened to 
 the Gentiles l . 
 
 The declaration, in another place " Thou art 
 Peter, and upon this rock 2 I will build my church," 
 is a text of very ambiguous meaning, and cannot 
 therefore be the ground of infallible assurance. We 
 have no means of clearly ascertaining whether our 
 Lord refers to the person of St. Peter as a foun- 
 dation for the Church, or to the confession of St. 
 Peter made in the preceding verse. " Thou art 
 the Christ the Son of the living God." A large 
 proportion of the Fathers, including Hilary, Chry- 
 sostom, Theodoret, Theophylact, and Augustin 3 , 
 
 1 " This was literally fulfilled in and to St. Peter ; for by one 
 of those keys then given him he opened the gate of salvation to 
 the believing Jews and proselytes, and founded the first Jewish 
 Christian Church, by the sermon which he preached at Jerusa- 
 lem, which converted about three thousand souls, (Acts ii. 37. to 
 the end.) And by the other key he opened the gate of salvation, 
 and founded the first Gentile Christian Church in Cornelius and 
 his friends, (Acts x.) who were the first Gentile converts." 
 Manuscript volume by the Honourable Archibald Campbell, a 
 Nonjuring Bishop, first in Scotland, and afterwards in London. 
 For Bishop Horsley's exposition of the same text, see note (Q.) 
 at -the end of the volume. 
 
 a For a full exposition of this text by Granville Sharp, see note 
 (R) at the end of the volume. 
 
 3 " There is one immoveable foundation of the faith," says St. 
 Hilary, " this one blessed rock confessed by the mouth of Peter, 
 Thou ar I the Son of the living God." Unum ergo est immobile
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 245 
 
 understood our Saviour's declaration as referring DISS.III. 
 and replying solely to the confession of Faith made 
 so distinctly and so zealously by the Apostle. The 
 text itself seems evidently to admit the interpreta- 
 tion. To speak strictly, Christ himself is the sole 
 
 fidei fundamentum: una haec felix peira, Petri ore confessa. 
 Tu es, $c. Hilar. de Trin. li. 2. " Upon this rock" says St. 
 Chrysostom, " that is, on the faith of his confession" Tre'rpa TOVT 
 icrri TTJ TT/ffTEi Trjf oyuoXoyiac. Chrys. in Matt. xvi. 18. And in 
 another place, " On this rock, not upon Peter, for he did not 
 build his Church upon the man, but upon his faith" OVK flirty 
 iiri rif IT IT p if* ovre yap iiri ry avSpwiry, a'XXa iirl rf/v irianv rfjv 
 iavrov KK\r}ffiav yKoSofirjcre. Ibid. torn. v. Orat. 163. 
 
 " Our Lord," it is observed by Theodoret, " did suffer the first 
 of the Apostles to be shaken, whose confession he had established 
 as a prop and foundation of the Church" ov TI}V bpoXoyiav, olov 
 TIVO. KpT)iria cat Qtp.\iov rijs iacfaffffac tcarlwri^e, avv\wpr)y 
 ffuXtvdijvai. Theod. Ep. 77. 
 
 Theophylact remarks, " This confession which thou hast con- 
 fessed, shall be the foundation of the faithful ;" AUTJJ TI bpoXoyia 
 fiv wynoXoyj/irae QtpiXiov /ue'XXei elvai roi" iri<jTf.v6vTt>)v. Theoph. 
 in loco. -, 
 
 St. Augustin is equally explicit in his sermon on the words. 
 " Upon this rock which thou hast confessed upon this rock which 
 thou hast known, saying, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the 
 living God I will build my Church : upon myself who am the 
 Son of the living God, will I build my Church : upon me will 
 I build thee : not me upon thee." Super hanc petram quam con- 
 fcssus es : super hanc pclram quam cognovisti dicens : Tu es 
 Christus films Dei vivi, cedificabo ecclesiam mcam, super meipsum 
 qui sum filius Dei vivi, cedificabo ecclesiam meam : super me 
 aedificabo te, non me super te. August, in Matt. xvi. 18. Horn. 13. 
 See Dr. Isaac Barrow's treatise on the Pope's supremacy, and 
 Rev. J. Fletcher's Lectures on the Roman Catholic Religion. 
 p. 94.
 
 246 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS. in. foundation of the Christian Church ; and an Apostle 
 Ap- I- could only be so in a secondary sense. In this 
 secondary sense, However, the Church is not 
 founded upon St. Peter only in particular, but on 
 the Apostolic college in general ; as St. Paul more 
 than once affirmed. " Ye are built," he says to the 
 * Ephesians, " upon the Apostles and Prophets, 
 Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone V 
 " Other foundation," he says to the Corinthians, 
 ( 'can no man lay 2 ." And again, addressing the 
 church of Corinth, (when the same inspired writer 
 reckons up the different gradations of Christian 
 ministers,) he does not mention St. Peter first, as 
 nearer the foundation than any other member of 
 the Apostolic college ; but speaks of the whole 
 body in the following general terms ; " God hath 
 set some in his Church ; first Apostles ; secondarily 
 prophets; thirdly teachers 3 ." The revelations of 
 St. John describe in like manner the wall of the 
 holy city, as having " twelve foundations, and in 
 them the names of the twelve Apostles of the 
 Lamb 4 ." 
 
 There is not a vestige therefore of probable evi- 
 dence, much less an infallible demonstration, that 
 the successors of St. Peter, whoever they may be, 
 are possessed of infallibility. And supposing his 
 successors to be infallible, there is not the slightest 
 ground for believing that his successors are the 
 
 1 Eph. ii. 20. 2 1 Cor. iii. 11. 3 1 Cor. xii. 28. 
 
 4 Rev. xxi. 14.
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 247 
 
 Bishops of Rome. On this point, so vitally essen- DISS.III. 
 tial to the papal cause, the sacred writings are Ji HAP :^__ 
 wholly silent. They indeed inform us, that this 
 Apostle preached at Jerusalem, at Caesarea, at 
 Joppa, and at Antioch, but they nowhere even 
 intimate that he ever was at Rome : still less there- 
 fore can we expect them to affirm that he was local 
 Bishop of that See ; and least of all, that the 
 Roman Bishops (in preference to the Bishops in 
 other churches of which he was the founder,) were 
 heirs of his peculiar privileges ; and along with 
 other Apostolic privileges, inherited infallibility 
 while they lost those of miracles and inspirations 1 . 
 
 The absence of proofs from Scripture in favour of p re ten- 
 the papal claims, is by no means compensated by ponti * 
 
 a plenitude of evidence from antiquity. In ancient considered. 
 times the pretension to infallibility, instead of being 
 universally acknowledged, was not even alleged. 
 It was never so much as mentioned. Churches 
 and Fathers, in the primitive age, on occasions of 
 their dissenting from the Roman Pontiff, so far from 
 yielding reverently and implicity to his opinions, 
 
 1 " Seeing the Romanists themselves acknowledge, that he was 
 Bishop of Antioch, before he was Bishop of Rome ; we require 
 them to show, why so great an inheritance as this, should descend 
 to the younger rather than the elder, according to the ordinary 
 manner of descents ? Especially, seeing Rome hath little else to 
 allege for this preferment, but only that St. Peter was crucified in 
 it : which was a very slender reason to move the Apostle so to 
 respect it." Extract from Archbishop Usher's Speech in the 
 Castle Chamber, Dublin, Nov. 22, 1622. See Dr. Parr's life^ of 
 Usher, p. 23. 
 
 8
 
 v>48 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 openly contested them like those of any other 
 Bishop, Metropolitan, or Patriarch. Nay, they 
 even sometimes excommunicated their infallible 
 superior l . The Roman Pontiff, on the other hand, 
 so far from crushing opposition by the verdict of 
 infallibility, endeavoured always to support his 
 doctrine by the authority of Scripture, of reason, or 
 of antiquity. When appeals were made to him by 
 disputants in a later age, it was never stated or 
 imagined to be their ground of selecting him as 
 arbiter, that his decision would be infallible ; but 
 only that he merited such a tribute of respect, either 
 in consideration of his private character, as a wise, 
 just, and holy individual, or by virtue of his official 
 rank as Bishop of the imperial city 2 . 
 
 When Byzantium was raised to the same im- 
 perial eminence, by the name of Constantinople, or 
 
 1 "What say you to the expunging the name of Felix, Bishop 
 of Rome, out of the Diptychs of the Church by Acacius, the 
 Patriarch of Constantinople ? What say you to Hilary's Ana- 
 thema against Pope Liberius ?" Stillingfleet's " Vindication." 
 p. 408. 
 
 2 St. Jerome, in a passage already quoted at pp. 97, 134 of this 
 volume, affirms that a Bishop, in whatever Diocese, whether of 
 Rome, of Eugabium, &c. is of the same power (ejusdem meriti) 
 and of the same rank in the priesthood (ejusdem sacerdotii) with 
 his Episcopal brethren. " For," he adds, " They are all alike suc- 
 cessors of the Apostles." This admission from the Secretary of 
 Pope Damasus is very remarkable. 
 
 For a further instance of the silence of primitive antiquity, on 
 the subject of Papal infallibility, see note (S) at the end of the 
 volume.
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 249 
 
 New Rome, the Byzantine Patriarch was declared DISS.III. 
 by the second general council held A.D. 381. to be 
 of equal dignity with his Roman brother. Pre- 
 cedence only, or nominal priority, was reserved to 
 the episcopate of the more ancient capital. This 
 reservation was confirmed a century afterwards, by 
 the fourth general council held at Chalcedon ; in 
 the decrees of which the reason given for this 
 nominal priority of Old over New Rome is merely 
 political, and has nothing to do with spiritual 
 concerns. " The Fathers," say the members of 
 this later council (referring to their predecessors,) 
 " have justly assigned the eldership to the seat of 
 elder Rome on account of the kingly or imperial 
 
 authority of that city (Sta TO /Bao-tAeuav rr)v TroAiv 
 
 tKiii>T)v), and they have assigned equal privileges 
 (ra tora TrptffjSaa) to New Rome, rationally judging 
 that the city which was honoured by the imperial 
 power and by the residence of the Senate, and 
 which enjoyed equal privileges with Royal Rome, 
 its elder sister, should, like her, be exalted in 
 
 ecclesiastical rank (TroXtv Kat TWV law airoXavovaav 
 
 That the Roman Bishops were never allowed to 
 arrogate infallibility by the ancient Church is 
 further evident from the fact, that they were not 
 allowed even to claim supreme jurisdiction. The 
 Patriarch of Rome had no ecclesiastical authority 
 
 1 Vid. Lab. torn. iv. p. 817. Grier's Epitome of the General 
 Councils, pp. 61. 94.
 
 250 
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS. in. beyond certain provinces and churches termed sub- 
 urbicary (ecclesice suburbicarice), including, at the 
 most, certain districts of Italy, together with the 
 adjacent islands *. The other four Patriarchs (of 
 Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria, and Jerusa- 
 lem,) were entirely independent of their Roman 
 colleague, and of each other. When John, Patri- 
 arch of Constantinople, towards the close of the 
 sixth century, put forth a claim to supreme and 
 universal rule in the Church, encouraged in this 
 insolent pretension by the residence of the emperor 
 within the limits of his See the Popes of that 
 period, Pelagius and Gregory, resisted with great 
 energy his pretensions ; not however as interfering 
 with their own supremacy, but as being in them- 
 selves presumptuous and anti-christian. " Pay no 
 attention," says Pelagius, " to the power which he 
 unlawfully usurps under the name of universality. 
 -' Let no Patriarch ever apply to himself so profane 
 a title. You may foresee, my dearest brethren, 
 the mischievous consequences from such beginnings 
 of perverseness among the priesthood. For he 
 (antichrist) is near, of whom it is written that he 
 
 1 Ruffinus in his translation and abstract of the Nicene Canons, 
 gives the sixth of them in these words : " The ancient custom of 
 Alexandria and of Rome shall still be observed, that the one shall 
 have the care or government of the Egyptian, and the other that 
 of the suburbicary churches." Ut apud Alexandriam et in urbe 
 Romd vetusta consuetudo servetur. ut vel ille JEgypti vel hie subur- 
 bicariarum ecclesiarum sollicitudinem gerat. Ruffin. Hist. lib. i. 
 c. 6. See also Bingham's Antiquities, Book, ix. chap. 1. sec. 9.
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 251 
 
 maketh himself king over all the sons of pride V DISS.III. 
 "No one of my predecessors," says Gregory the CHAF ' ' 
 successor of Pelagius, " ever thought of using so 
 profane an appellation ; for if one Patriarch assumes 
 the title of universal, it is lost to all the others. 
 But far, very far be it from the minds of a Christ- 
 ian, to grasp at any thing by which he may appear 
 in any the slightest measure to derogate from the 
 honour of his brethren 2 ." The same distinguished 
 writer, in another of his epistles, makes this very 
 strong prophetic denunciation. " I may confidently 
 declare, that whenever any man styles himself, or 
 desires to be styled, universal priest, such a man, 
 by so exalting himself, becomes forerunner of anti- 
 christ, because by pride he sets himself above his 
 brethren 3 ." 
 
 1 Universalitatis nomen quod sibi illicite usurpavit nolite atten- 
 dere : nullus enim Patriarcharum hoc tarn prof anovocabulounquam 
 utatur. Perpenditis, fratres carissimi, quid e vicino subsequatur 
 cum et in sacerdotibus erumpunt tarn perversa primordia. Quia 
 enimjuxta est ille de quo scriptwn est ; Ipse estrex super universes 
 Jilios superbice. Pap. Pelag. ii. epist. 8. 
 
 2 Nullus unquam decessorum meorum hoc tarn profano vocabulo 
 uli consensit : quia videlicet si unus patriarcha universalis dicitur, 
 patriarcharum nomen cceteris derogatur. Sed absit, hoc absit d 
 Christiana mente id sibi velle quenquam arripere unde fratrum 
 suorum honor em imminuere ex quantuldcunque parte videatur ! 
 Pap. Gregor. i. lib. iv. epist. 36. 
 
 3 Ego verojidenter dico, quia quisquis se universalem sacerdotem 
 vocat, vel vocari desiderat, in elatione sua Anti-Christum prcecur- 
 rit ; quia superbiendo, c&teris prceponit. Pap. Gregor. i lib. vi. 
 epist. xxx. Attempts have been made to reconcile the language 
 of Pelagius and Gregory, with the assumption, by their immediate
 
 *252 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS. in. We have seen that Scripture and antiquity are 
 ' * utterly irreconcileable with the pretensions of the 
 Preten- Papal chair. We may now adduce the moral 
 pontiff character of the Pontiffs themselves, as a fair 
 ground of presumption that they have not^the pri- 
 vilege of infallibility. If indeed we could be satis- 
 fied from history that they had all, or most of them, 
 in long succession, been pious and holy and exem- 
 plary men, in a degree beyond the ordinary standard 
 of Christian excellence ; that they had been rich in 
 faith and in good works ; that they had been exalted 
 models of disinterested beneficence, of real purity, 
 and almost ascetic moderation ; men whose affec- 
 tions were fixed unquestionably upon the glory and 
 felicity of the heavenly state, to the exclusion of 
 all concern for mere earthly interests, and the little 
 vanities of secular ambition ; we might have been 
 disposed to scrutinize with less distrust the claims 
 of such truly virtuous and estimable Christian 
 Pastors. But since the Papal character has been 
 acknowledged even by the ablest advocates of the 
 Papacy, to have been in general the very opposite 
 of what we have been describing, we may be allowed 
 to infer, not perhaps a moral certainty, but a strong 
 presumptive argument that such men were not 
 infallible 1 . 
 
 successors, of the very supremacy which, (as we see in the above 
 quotations,) those two Popes so strongly reprobate. The utter 
 futility of such attempts, the reader will see thoroughly established 
 by Stillingfleet, in his " Vindication," part ii. chap. vi. 
 
 1 " I would fain know whether there be any certainty that every
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 253 
 
 Other strong objections to Pontifical infallibility DISS.III. 
 arise from the want of any certain rule for deter- 
 mining the validity of elections to the popedom, 
 and for issuing the infallible decrees. Before these 
 decrees can be infallibly relied upon, the following 
 particulars must be infallibly ascertained : who are 
 the persons divinely entitled to give a vote in the 
 choice of a Pontiff? and how do those persons estab- 
 lish their Divine title ? What proportion of the Difficulties 
 
 i t -r\ i i ofascertain- 
 
 voters are required by Divine authority to be i ng i n fai- 
 
 present, and what majority of numbers must de- t 
 
 cide ? How far shall simony, or fraud, or force, cathedra?" 
 
 vitiate the election ? In case of two elections, how 
 
 shall we infallibly distinguish between the claims 
 
 of rival Pontiffs? between the real pope, whom, 
 
 under the penalty of condemnation, we are bound 
 
 to obey, and the anti-pope, whom, under the 
 
 Pope is a good Christian, or whether he may not be (in the sense 
 of the Scripture) of the world ? If not, how was it that Bellar- 
 mine should have cause to think that such a rank jof them went 
 successively together to the Devil." Chillingworth's Works, 
 vol. iii. p. 359. 
 
 The same learned Cardinal whom Chillingworth here refers 
 to, is very zealous throughout his works in defending Papal in- 
 fallibility, and even ventures to affirm (Bellarm. de Pontifice Rom. 
 lib. iv. cap. 5. in fine.) " If the Pope could or should so far err, as 
 to command the practice of vice, and to forbid virtuous actions ; 
 the Church were bound to believe vices to be good, and virtues to 
 be bad." The Pontiffs, whatever they may have thought of this 
 extraordinary theory, seem in practice, by the Cardinal's own 
 account, to have availed themselves, in a considerable degree, of 
 the privilege which he claims in their behalf. See also works of 
 Henry More, p. 450.
 
 254 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS.III. same high penalty, we must abjure ? When 
 JCHAP.J.^ schisms rend the Church (and not less than 
 o twenty-six have rent the Church of Rome), how 
 shall we discern the true communion from the 
 schismatical ? And since the Pope is supposed 
 j infallible only in his official, not in his personal 
 capacity, how shall we decide infallibly when he 
 speaks as an ordinary individual, and when as the 
 successor of St. Peter ? in other words, what solem- 
 nities exactly are requisite to be observed, for con- 
 stituting a judgment ex cathedra from the Apostolic 
 chair ? what councillors must be summoned ? what 
 mode of promulgation must be adopted J ? Such 
 are some of the questions which every candid 
 Romanist must be desirous to hear definitely an- 
 swered, and which consequently must present them- 
 selves with much greater force to every Protestant 
 mind. When a privilege so important as infalli- 
 bility is understood to be granted, all the circum- 
 stances necessary for our direction in receiving and 
 submitting to it, require to be distinctly and indis- 
 putably revealed to us. Unless these circumstances 
 are fixed by the same authority that is supposed to 
 make the grant, namely, by Christ himself, we are 
 as far removed from infallibility as ever ; and in 
 
 Vlt were heartily to be wished, if he" (the Pope) "should 
 once happen to be in Cathedra, he would infallibly determine 
 what is to be in Cathedra ever after ; for it would ease men's 
 minds of a great many troublesome scruples, which they cannot, 
 without some infallible determination, get themselves quit of." 
 Stillingfleet's " Vindication," p. 114.
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 255 
 
 deciding these essential and fundamental particu- DISS.III. 
 lars, we are left to mere argument and conjecture l . 
 To disprove papal infallibility much more will 
 scarcely be expected by our readers : but we will 
 add one concluding observation on the erroneous- 
 ness and inconsistency of the supposed infallible 
 decrees. If Popes really were infallible, their Papal in- 
 
 consisten- 
 
 doctrine would never vary, but would remain, from cies and 
 
 . heresies. 
 
 age to age, unalterably the same : the judgment 
 of one Pope would never differ, on the same sub- 
 jects, from the judgment of another ; and least of 
 all would it be credible that any Pope should be 
 convicted of heresy. We know, however, from 
 unquestionable documents of history that this was 
 not the case. Two Popes in the second century 
 (Eleutherius and Victor) were encouragers of the 
 heretical fanaticism of Montanus 2 . Another Pope 
 (Stephen) of the third century was heretical on the 
 subject of baptism 3 : Pope Liberius subscribed his 
 
 1 For Bishop Stillingfleet's proofs that there has been no Pontiff 
 canonically elected since the times of Sextus the fifth, see note 
 (T) at the end of the volume. 
 
 2 Romanus Pontifex per literas Montanistis communionem im~ 
 pertiit, quas, errore cognito, revocare coactus est. Dupin de Antiq. 
 Eccl. Dis. 5. p. 346. Le Pape les Montanistes 169x1 dans sa 
 communion, ce qui montre que le Pape n'eioit pas infallible. 
 Basnage, Hist, torn i. p. 360. 
 
 3 He maintained against Cyprian, of Carthage, that baptism, 
 though performed by heretics, ought not to be repeated : but the 
 heretics of that period baptized only in the name of the Father, 
 and sometimes not even in his name : a kind of baptism which no 
 Roman Catholic would now admit to be valid. See Grier's His- 
 tory of the Councils, p. 17.
 
 256 
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS.III. name to the Arian heresy : Pope Honorius was by 
 CHAF ~ ' a general council condemned as a Monothelite l . 
 And (not to multiply particular examples) we may 
 remark, once for all, that a long line of Popes pro- 
 mulgated, ex Cathedra, a doctrine whichj- in the 
 present age, is abandoned by Rome itself, and is 
 rejected universally as impious and extravagant ; 
 the doctrine, namely, that the Roman See is vested 
 with the Divine right of temporal jurisdiction over 
 all the kingdoms of the earth ; and that the Pontiff, 
 as Vicar of Jesus Christ, and delegate of him who 
 is King of kings and Lord of lords, may call civil 
 magistrates to account, and may depose kings and 
 emperors, on the charge of heretical depravity 2 . 
 
 To these various objections against the doctrine 
 of Pontifical infallibility, our defender of the Roman 
 Faith replies by a ready acknowledgment that the 
 great majority of Romanists themselves are of our 
 opinion : that much abler arguments have been 
 urged by them than by Protestants against this 
 pretension of the Pope 3 : that by them infallibility 
 is ascribed not to the Roman Pontiff, who " is 
 liable to err and who frequently has erred ;" but 
 
 1 See this case argued by Bishop Stillingfleet in part iii. 
 chap. 2. pp. 512, 513. of the Vindication ; and for others equally 
 apposite see Grier's History Passim. See also Burnet on the 
 xixth article. 
 
 1 See Evidence against Catholicism by the Rev. Blanco White, 
 p. 33 : and the Bishop of Exeter's letters to Charles Butler, Esq. 
 Letter xiv. p. 271. 
 
 3 The writers of the Gallican Church are here alluded to, all of 
 whom oppose the Papal claims. 
 
 Second 
 alleged 
 Organ of 
 Infallibility.
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 257 
 
 to a general Council, representing the whole Church DISS. in. 
 
 of Christ, and combining all its collective wisdom. 
 
 On our inquiry by what Scriptural evidence infal- A |enerai 
 
 ,.,.,.. i i Council 
 
 libility is proved to lodge in a representative assem- singly. 
 bly thus constituted, we are desired to read the 
 following texts : 
 
 " Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build 
 my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail 
 against it 1 ." 
 
 " If he neglect to hear the Church, let him be 
 unto thee as an heathen man and a publican 2 ." 
 
 " Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end 
 of the world 3 ." 
 
 " I will pray the Father ; and he shall give you 
 another Comforter, that he may abide with you for 
 ever, even the Spirit of truth 4 ." 
 
 " For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to 
 us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these 
 necessary things 5 ." 
 
 " These things write I unto thee ; that thou 
 mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself 
 in the house of God, which is the Church of the 
 living God, the pillar and ground of the truth 6 ." 
 
 Our endeavours to extract out of these texts in- 
 fallibility for the Romish Church are as much in 
 vain as in the preceding inquiry for supporting the 
 Papal claims. A general Council seems to have as Pretensions 
 little warrant from Holy Scripture to assure us that 
 
 1 Matt. xvi. 18. 2 Matt, xviii. 17. 3 Matt, xxviii. 20. 
 4 John xiv. 16. 5 Acts xv. 28. 6 1 Tim. iii. 15. 
 
 S 
 
 Scripturally 
 considered.
 
 258 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS.III. it is infallible, as the Roman Pontiff himself. The 
 * first quotation refers to the perpetual continuance 
 of the Christian Society, and not to its exemption 
 from all error. Christ assures us that, to the end 
 of time, the gates of hell shall not prevail against 
 his universal Church ; or in other words, that a 
 community called by his name, and retaining the 
 essentials of Christianity, will never cease to be. 
 But this consolatory promise gives us no security 
 8 that any one particular Church, or any meeting of 
 church officers, shall be infallible. On this subject 
 we cannot forbear transcribing the judicious com- 
 ment of a learned Romanist, Tostatus of Avila, who 
 nourished in the fifteenth century : " The universal 
 or Catholic Church never errs, because it never 
 errs in all its branches. The Church of Rome 
 (ecclesia latinorum) is not the Catholic Church, but 
 only a certain branch of it ; and therefore, although 
 the whole of that branch should have erred, the 
 whole Church could not be said to err. Because 
 the genuine Catholic Church remains in the uner- 
 ring branches, whether they be more or fewer than 
 the branches which err 1 ." 
 
 Again, the injunction of our Lord to "tell the 
 
 1 Ecclesia universalis nunquam errat quia nunquam tola errat. 
 Tostat. Abulens. praefat. in Matt, quaest. xiii. 
 
 Ecclesia latinorum non est Ecclesia universalis sed qutedam pars 
 ejus : ideo, etiamsi tola ipsa errasset, non errabat ecclesia univer- 
 salis : quia manet Ecclesia universalis in partibus illis quce non 
 errant, sive illce sint numero plures quam errantes, sice non. 
 Ibid, quaest. iv. in Matt, ad proleg. 2.
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 259 
 
 Church, " if taken apart from, and not in connection i>iss. in. 
 with the preceding context, might seem to have 
 some distant bearing upon this question. But on 
 examining the whole passage, we perceive that our 
 Saviour makes allusion to secular, not to spiritual 
 concerns ; and is speaking only of private differ- 
 ences among his followers. " If thy brother shall 
 trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault 
 between thee and him alone." Three successive 
 steps are next recommended for effecting an accom- 
 modation : first a private interview ; then the influ- 
 ence of mutual friends ; and lastly the authority 
 of the Church to which the parties belong. The 
 contumacious wrong-doer who could not by these 
 methods be brought to reason, was no longer to be 
 regarded as a Christian brother, but as a heathen. 
 He was liable to excommunication, or expulsion 
 from the society ; and reparation of the injury com- 
 mitted might now be sought for in a court of law. 
 
 O O 
 
 We do not find in these directions the, remotest 
 allusion to infallibility. 
 
 The encouraging promise ; " Lo, I am with you 
 alway, even unto the end of the world," is not a 
 grant of infallibility, but a promise of assistance, 
 protection, and consolation ; and was indispen- 
 sably required, when our Lord delegated to his 
 Apostles the perilous labour of propagating the 
 Gospel in opposition to all the rulers of this world, 
 sending them forth as sheep among wolves '. 
 
 1 " For my part I should think it did more concern our Lord 
 
 s 2
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 260 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 Diss.m. His promise that the "spirit of truth" should 
 11 guide them into all truth," relates entirely to the 
 extraordinary gifts with which they were endowed, 
 and is immediately connected with another promise, 
 confessedly peculiar to the Apostolic age. " He," 
 (the Holy Ghost) " shall show you things to come." 
 
 The words, " It seemed good to the Holy Ghost 
 and to us," in the decree of the first Council at 
 Jerusalem, have left no precedent for other coun- 
 cils to use the same language ; unless on separate 
 evidence it can be shown that those councils have 
 the same authority of inspiration. 
 
 The position therefore, that general Councils, as 
 representing the Church of Christ, are infallible, 
 labours under a total want of Scripture evidence. 
 There is not a single precept given for assem- 
 bling them ; not one solitary rule for determining 
 their proceedings. As the learned Albert Pighius, 
 an advocate of pontifical infallibility, very justly 
 argues : "There is not a word about general Coun- 
 cils in the canonical books of Scripture ; nor did 
 the primitive Church of Christ receive by Aposto- 
 lical institution any special direction respecting 
 them 1 ." This able writer represents the practice 
 
 Jesus, by virtue of this promise, to make his Church impeccable, 
 than infallible. My meaning is, that it is a much more desirable 
 thing to secure his ministers and people from the danger of sin, 
 than from the danger of error. But the former he hath not done, 
 and therefore I much doubt of the latter." Archbishop Sharpe's 
 Sermons, vol. viii. 
 
 7n Scripturis canonicis null urn deiis verbum est : nee ex Apos-
 
 O.V INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 261 
 
 of summoning a general Council in cases of eccle- DISS. HI. 
 siastical emergency, to be an expedient piously 
 introduced by the Emperor Constantine, for the 
 purpose of composing the dissensions of the Church. 
 But the same author insinuates a charge of great 
 ignorance against the Emperor and his Council, who 
 in adopting this course, appeared not to know that 
 the privilege of infallibility belonged to the papal 
 chair, and that Rome was the proper Delphos where 
 he might receive the infallible oracles. This im- 
 perial ignorance is a remarkable admission by the 
 advocate of the Papacy in his zeal against general 
 Councils. He succeeds in demolishing the latter ; 
 but acknowledges at the same time a fact which is 
 fatal to the former. For if Constantine and the 
 Bishops of his court were ignorant of the papal 
 pretensions, it must be obvious that such preten- 
 sions either could not have been put forth at all, or 
 could not at that time have been generally re- 
 cognized. 
 
 But if the Scripture, instead of being totally 
 silent on the subject, had plainly and categorically 
 declared, that general Councils are infallible, we 
 should only be involved in fresh perplexities : for Difficulties 
 the question would immediately arise, what is a **** 
 general Council? How do we know a spuri- council, 
 ous from a genuine Council ? Councils have 
 
 tolorum institutione speciale quicquam de illis accepit ilia primitiva 
 Chnsti Ecclesia. Albert. Pigh. Hierarch. Eccles. lib. vi. cap. 1, 
 quoted in that masterly work, " The Difficulties of Romanism," 
 by the Rev. G. S. Faber, book 1. chap. ii. p. 36.
 
 262 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS.III. been assembled by opposite parties on purpose to 
 HAF - ' give opposite decrees ; and how shall we distinguish 
 the fallible and heretical, from the orthodox and 
 infallible assembly ? This vital question cannot be 
 determined by the numbers present, or the^Dortion 
 of the Christian world represented by them. The 
 orthodox Athanasius was condemned successively 
 by Councils representing the Eastern and the 
 Western Church. Various Councils condemned 
 by the church of Rome for heresy, were as numer- 
 ously and respectably attended, as more orthodox 
 conventions. The Council of Milan consisted of 
 300 Bishops. At Ariminum not less than 600 
 Bishops were assembled. The Council of Ephesus 
 included 10 Metropolitans and 135 Bishops. The 
 Council of Constantinople included 338 Bishops. 
 And when the rival Councils of Sardica and Philip- 
 popolis fulminated mutual anathemas, the latter, 
 which was heretical, consisted of 94 Bishops, while 
 their orthodox opponents amounted only to 76. 
 As most of these Councils were convened by im- 
 perial authority ; represented large portions of 
 Christendom ; and included men of the greatest 
 learning and ability, there seems nothing to dis- 
 tinguish them from other synods, which are acknow- 
 ledged to be general and infallible nothing, if we 
 except the sanction of the Roman Pontiff. 
 Third or- Here we are informed by our pertinacious 
 fallibility, disputant, that the papal sanction is commonly 
 regarded in the Church of Rome, as the essential 
 distinction between a mere provincial synod, and a 
 
 1
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 263 
 
 general Council ; that the decrees of an alleged DISS. in. 
 general Council, not ratified by the Pope, are not CHAF - * 
 infallible ; while the decrees of any Council, after 
 that ratification, must be looked upon, as infallibly 
 determined. 
 
 But our ingenuity must again be exercised in 
 finding our way through this labyrinth : for, first 
 of all, no Scriptural reason can be found, or is even 
 pretended for the limitation of infallibility to coun- 
 cils of the description mentioned. The authority, Pope and 
 
 . . * general 
 
 therefore, exists only in the well-stored imagma- council in 
 tion of our Romish friend l . And in addition, we ti<m. 
 are perplexed to ascertain how two authorities, 
 separately fallible, should become infallible by their 
 conjunction. The Council is fallible. The Pope 
 is fallible. But unite these two fallibles, and you - 
 
 1 " The low Romanists who are distinguished by the name of 
 Cisalpines, (for serious differences exist, it appears, even in the 
 very bosom of privileged inerrancy,) not only deny the personal 
 infallibility of the Pope, but hold also that for heresy or schism 
 (to both of which, we find, the alleged fallible head of an infallible 
 body is actually liable,) he may be lawfully deposed by a general 
 Council. Such being the case, they must, on their own principles, 
 inevitably hold the infallibility of a general Council even when 
 not sanctioned by the papal confirmation : for it is quite clear, on 
 the one hand, that no prudent Pope, at least, would ratify the 
 sentence of his own deposition, or confirm the decree which pro- 
 nounced him to be a schismatic or a heretic ; and it is equally 
 clear, on the other hand, that no general Council could infallibly 
 pronounce the Pope to be a heretic or a schismatic, himself all 
 the while stiffly denying, as of course he mould deny, the offensive 
 allegation, unless such general Council independently of any papal 
 ratification, were itself constitutionally infallible." Faber's Diffi- 
 culties of Romanism, pp. 247, 248.
 
 264 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS. in. give them infallibility. If it be asked, Is the 
 :HAP ' I- Council liable to err who passes the decree ? Cer- 
 tainly, is the answer : for otherwise the Council 
 would, without the Pope, be all-sufficient. If it 
 be further demanded, Is the Pope also liable to err 
 who confirms the decree ? Certainly, is again the 
 answer, for he would otherwise be all-sufficient 
 without the Council. This is a strange dilemma : 
 we must believe the decree to be infallibly deter- 
 mined, and yet must neither ascribe infallibility to 
 the Council who pass it, nor to the Pope who con- 
 firms it. 
 
 uncertainty Another consideration is the uncertainty and 
 
 of the Pa- t J 
 
 pai sanction arbitrariness of this papal act of confirmation. The 
 
 to a Coun- 
 
 cii. Protestant , must not take for granted that the 
 
 eighteen Councils, acknowledged by the Church of 
 Rome to be general, have the seal of St. Peter 
 affixed to all their canons and decrees. In some 
 cases a general Council is partly confirmed and 
 partly rejected (partim confirmatum partim repro- 
 batum) l ; in some cases neither confirmed nor re- 
 jected (neque approbation neque reprobatuiri) : in 
 some it is pronounced uncertain whether the decrees 
 are confirmed or rejected ; and in others they are 
 confirmed by one Pope and rejected by another. 
 Sometimes the general Council did not proceed with 
 due form (condliariter), or did not proceed with due 
 deliberation (re diligenter examinata) ; sometimes 
 the questions to be determined were not stated with 
 sufficient clearness (satis apertfy, and sometimes 
 
 1 Bellarm. de Cone. lib. i. cap. 8.
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 265 
 
 there is a want of evidence whether the Council was DISS. in. 
 general or provincial. " All this," exclaims Bishop 
 Taylor, " is the greatest folly and most prodigious 
 vanity V 
 
 Other various objections miffht be copiously Additional 
 
 * argument 
 
 adduced and enlarged upon. Even general Coun- against 
 
 Popes and 
 
 cils, regularly and papally ratified, differ widely councils 
 in the decisions which they promulgate. " Nothing 
 is more discrepant," says the learned prelate just 
 quoted, " than the third Council of Carthage and 
 the Council of Laodicea, about the assignation of 
 the canon of Scripture ; and yet the sixth general 
 synod approves both 2 ." Again, we might observe, 
 that if infallibility be granted to the Church through 
 its representatives in a general Council, the privi- 
 lege has been for many centuries in abeyance, and 
 (considering the aspect of Christendom,) is never 
 likely to be renewed. And further, with respect to 
 the reception of these infallible decrees by provincial 
 Churches, we might bring forward the doubts which 
 have prevailed among Romanists, whether the de- 
 crees are binding immediately on being passed, or 
 only after they have been received 3 . Next with 
 
 1 See Bishop Taylor's Liberty of Prophecy, sect. 6. vol. viii. 
 of his works, p. 41. 
 
 2 Ibid. p. 43. 
 
 3 " That the authority of general Councils was never esteemed 
 absolute, infallible, and unlimited, appears in this, that before 
 they were obliging (obligatory) it was necessary that each parti- 
 cular Church respectively should accept them, Concurrent uni- 
 versali totius eccle&ice consensu, &c., in declaratione veritatum
 
 266 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS. in. reference to the doctrines which they inculcate, 
 CHAP - * these are often grievously contradictory to reason 
 and Scripture. Transubstantiation, for example, 
 is contrary to reason. If therefore we believe the 
 * infallibility of general Councils on grounds of rea- 
 son, the reasons against transubstantiation must be 
 fairly balanced in our minds with the reasons in 
 favour of infallibility. And as examples of contra- 
 diction to Scripture, we might instance the wor- 
 shipping of images and relics, the invocation of 
 saints and angels, purgatory, and the sacrifice of 
 the mass. We might then go on to show that if 
 the infallibility of general Councils be Scripturally 
 maintained, the texts adduced in support of infalli- 
 bility are to be weighed against the numerous and 
 explicit texts which oppose these various and very 
 fanciful doctrines. Lastly, we might contend that, 
 in the primitive ages, when Councils were continu- 
 ally assembled, neither those Councils themselves, 
 nor any one writer who defended their decrees, 
 ever spoke of them as infallible. We need scarcely 
 add that Councils could not be infallible without 
 knowing it ; nor would hear their infallible decrees 
 disputed without asserting their infallibility. 
 Third re- 3. Having now vainly endeavoured to procure 
 afford infai- conclusive and satisfactory information on two of 
 
 lible assu- 
 rance. This 
 
 requisite quoe credendce sunt, &c. In this way, as observed by Gerson, the 
 wanting. 
 
 decrees of Councils became authentic, and turned into a law : and 
 till they became so their decrees were but a dead letter." See 
 Heber's Bishop Taylor, vol. viii. pp. 50, 51, remarking on St. 
 Augustin, b. 1. cap. 18. de Bapt. contra Donat.
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 267 
 
 the essential points indispensable for our conversion DISS. in. 
 to Romanism, namely, first, by what organ the in- CHAP - * 
 fallible oracles are delivered, and secondly, by what 
 evidence the claim to infallibility is established ; 
 we proceed to the third and last topic of investi- 
 gation, and inquire on what security we can rely, 
 that we shall not misunderstand the doctrine pro- ' 
 pounded to our belief? 
 
 We have already seen that the Romanist is 
 unable to decide with certainty in what person or 
 persons infallibility resides ; and that he cannot 
 prove the person or the persons for whom he claims 
 it, namely, a Pope or Council, jointly or severally, 
 to be infallible. Let us next consider, in conclu- 
 sion, (and the consideration need not occupy us 
 long) whether he is more successful in establishing 
 the third particular, which we began by laying 
 down as necessary to the tranquillization of our 
 minds ; whether, in short, it can be proved to us 
 incontestably, that we shall comprehend with clear- 
 ness and practical certainty the bulls and canons 
 promulgated for our guidance to the truth. 
 
 Security on this point is obviously indispensable. 
 The inspired volume is allowed by all Christians to 
 contain unerring rules of Faith and practice. But 
 our erring reason, we are told, is liable to miscon- 
 ceive them. Hence the supposed necessity for 
 another guide. But the very same liability to 
 error which exposes us to mistake in interpreting - 
 the Scriptures, exposes us to mistake also in inter- 
 preting the bulls of a Pope, or the canons of a
 
 268 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS. in. general Council. God himself inspired his chosen 
 CHAP - r - servants to write the Scriptures " for our learning." 
 God nevertheless is misunderstood. Neither Pope 
 nor Council, therefore, is secure from being so. 
 Their decisions, jointly or separately, ma^ be mis- 
 interpreted through our weakness of apprehension. 
 ' We consequently need a new interpreter for ex- 
 pounding their interpretation. But the expositions 
 of this new interpreter may, like those of his uner- 
 ring predecessors, be erroneously understood ; and 
 thus we should require an infinite series of infallible 
 guides, and at the end of this elaborate process we 
 should not be nearer to infallibility than we found 
 ourselves at the beginning l . 
 
 Accordingly, we read, without surprise, that 
 there are disputes among Romanists in regard to 
 the right construction of their infallible decrees and 
 canons ; disputes as constant and as vehement as 
 those unhappily subsisting among Protestants, in 
 regard to the meaning of our inspired Scriptures 2 . 
 In the celebrated Council of Trent, the last, and by 
 the Romanists regarded as the greatest ever held, 
 many points of doctrine which had called forth the 
 most violent and argumentative disputation were 
 purposely expressed with ambiguity in the canons, 
 that the consent of all parties might be obtained. 
 Even on that all-important article of faith, respecting 
 the proper object of religious adoration, the Triden- 
 
 1 See Works of Leslie, vol. i. p. 497. 
 
 2 For an example see Blanco White's Evidence, p. 39.
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 269 
 
 tine Fathers were satisfied with a vague declaration, DISS. in. 
 that " due worship should be given to images," 
 without informing the conscientious worshipper, (in 
 a strait betwixt the danger of profaneness on one 
 hand and of idolatry on the other,) what kind of 
 worship that doubtful phrase was intended to 
 imply l . It may be also noticed that there are 
 several controverted points in religion, (the very 
 points, in fact, most frequently contested among 
 Protestants,) on which no unerring oracle has yet 
 pronounced a decision, and on which variations of 
 opinion may be discovered in the papal Church 
 analogous to those prevailing throughout Protestant 
 communions. I allude to the numerous questions 
 connected with election, foreknowledge, predesti- 
 nation, grace, free will, and the perseverance of the 
 Saints 2 . 
 
 Nor will the force of our objections be evaded by 
 the reply that actual conformity of faith to the 
 decisions of Popes and Councils is not required ; 
 that intentional conformity will suffice ; and that 
 every man, whatever be his errors and misconcep- 
 tions, is capable of salvation who is willing and 
 inclined to believe as the Church believes 3 . For if 
 
 1 See Bishop Burnet on the Twenty-second Article. 
 
 2 For proofs of the divisions here alluded to, see note (U) at 
 the end of the volume, from a very useful work against Romanism, 
 written hy the Rev. Joseph Fletcher, M.A. 
 
 s It may here be not inapposite to introduce the well-known 
 example of implicit faith, recorded by various writers, and which 
 has met with different degrees of Roman Catholic praise and of
 
 270 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 Diss.iii. the Romanist is willing to believe as his Church 
 :1IAP ' r ' believes, the Protestant is willing to believe as the 
 Apostles and Evangelists have believed. If then 
 this willingness will suffice for the Romanist, why 
 should it not be sufficient for the Protestant ? If 
 the one, when he falls into error, is held excused 
 by intentional conformity to the Romish creed, why 
 should not intentional conformity to the creed of 
 the Apostles and Evangelists excuse the errors of 
 the other ? Let this be granted, and both parties are 
 equally infallible. 
 
 Thus we find that in all respects the Romish 
 system fails to afford the religious comfort and 
 security we are endeavouring to acquire. Our well- 
 intentioned Romanist adviser has promised what he 
 proves himself incompetent to perform. He has 
 held out to us the enjoyment of an infallible assur- 
 ance that we have attained to sound doctrine, if 
 we will only profit by the unerring oracles of his 
 c Church ; but he cannot point with certainty to the 
 proper organ of infallibility, nor establish on cre- 
 
 Protestant censure. An ignorant collier of the Romish persuasion 
 was asked, what it was that he believed, and answered, " I believe 
 what the Church believes." The questioner rejoined: "What 
 then does the Church believe ?" He replied : " The Church be- 
 lieves what I believe." The other, anxious for particulars, re- 
 sumed his interrogatories : " Tell me then, I pray you, what is it 
 that you and the Church both believe ?" To which the collier 
 could only give this answer: " Why, truly, Sir, the Church and I 
 both believe the same thing." Campbell's Lectures, vol. ii. 
 p. 259.
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 271 
 
 dible evidence the claim of that organ to be infal- DISS.III. 
 lible ; nor give any positive security that we shall CHAP - * 
 understand infallibly the oracular truths proposed 
 to our assent. On the contrary, we have seen 
 abundant reasons for being morally certain, that 
 the incapability of error which he speaks of has no 
 existence.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 siast. 
 
 DISS. in. HAVING parted with our Romish guide, we are 
 CHAPj " again in a state of mind to hear, with the same 
 deliberation as before, the suggestions of any other 
 counsellor who may undertake to solve our difficul- 
 ties. No adviser, under the circumstances supposed, 
 is more benevolently willing to come forward, or 
 presents himself with greater confidence to our 
 notice, than the Mystic or Enthusiast 1 . As a 
 person peculiarly gifted and instructed, he under- 
 takes at once to be our conductor in the narrow 
 path of sound knowledge. To our inquiries how 
 he proves himself more competent to the task, than 
 many others among our friends of equal piety and 
 ability with himself, he replies by a startling appeal 
 to the highest and most awful of all credentials, 
 the illumination of the Holy Spirit of God. Not 
 
 1 There seems peculiar necessity in the present time for pointing 
 out; in strong terms the unscriptural presumption of fanatical pre- 
 tensions ; in consequence of certain exhibitions lately before 
 the public, as well in places of religious assembly as of legislative 
 deliberation ; and calculated to make the all-important doctrine of 
 the practical and salutary influences of the' Divine Spirit, a sub- 
 ject of infidel derision.
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 273 
 
 satisfied with affirming, like other men, his pious DISS.IIL 
 neighbours, that he has studied the divine word of CHAF " "' 
 the Gospel; that he finds tne truths which it reveals 
 adapted to his moral constitution ; that it leads 
 him to the practice of righteousness "mortifying 
 the deeds of the body, and raising his mind to high 
 and heavenly things" our mystical teacher assures 
 us, that by the inward workings of the Holy Ghost, 
 he is especially instructed in the whole counsel of 
 God for human salvation; that he is prepared to 
 employ usefully these gifts for the benefit of his 
 fellow Christians ; and that he will clear up all our 
 doubts and remove all our difficulties, if we will 
 only hearken with serious attention, and avail our- 
 selves of the opportunities vouchsafed to us. 
 
 These lofty pretensions, which amount in fact to 
 the plenitude of infallibility, (and are in no respect 
 inferior to the claims of the Roman Pontiff himself,) 
 would indeed be satisfactory, if our new friend 
 could but establish them on proper evidence. For 
 we might feel ourselves on equal terms with him, 
 as with a private individual ; and we might, on all 
 questions in religion, consult him with perfect 
 openness and freedom : whereas his papal rival, 
 living at a distance as a temporal sovereign, either 
 secluded in the recesses of the Vatican, or sur- 
 rounded by a retinue of cardinals, is wholly in- 
 accessible to personal consultation, except by 
 travellers of the highest rank. 
 
 The decided language used by the enthusiast, 
 might with us, as it has done with many, produce
 
 274 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS.III. immediate and unconditional acquiescence. His 
 AP- " evident sincerity, his real attainments in religion, 
 his charitable anxiety for our spiritual welfare, 
 conspire to conciliate our regard, even while we 
 gaze with incredulous astonishment at his boldness. 
 We recollect, however, the principle of caution esta- 
 blished by our Divine Saviour, that any claimant 
 of spiritual authority, testifying to his own preten- 
 sions, is entitled to no regard till he produce 
 unquestionable evidence in corroboration of his 
 claims. " If I bear witness of myself," says our 
 Lord, " my witness is not true," and he immediately 
 appeals first to the testimony of John the Baptist, 
 an acknowledged prophet ; and afterwards, with 
 greater confidence, to the miracles which he him- 
 self performed in token of his divine mission and 
 inspiration. "There is another that beareth witness 
 of me, and I know that the witness which He 
 witnesseth ,of me is true. But I receive not testi- 
 mony from man. I have greater witness than that 
 of John ; for the works which my Father gave me 
 to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of 
 me, that the Father hath sent me 1 ." Upon the 
 principle here promulgated by the blessed Founder 
 of our religion himself, we entreat our mystic 
 counsellor to produce a testimonial from some 
 acknowledged prophet, or the evidence of palpable 
 miracles in attestation of his title to infallibility : 
 otherwise we shall be constrained to answer him 
 
 1 John v. 31. 38.
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 275 
 
 according to the tenor of the words above quoted, DISS.III. 
 
 'Thou bearest witness of thyself thy witness is _1 HAF 1^ 
 not true.' 
 
 With this request our new adviser is unable to Enthusiast 
 
 has no evi- 
 
 comply. He can produce no evidence but his own denceto 
 
 . ,. . , , . , , . . convince 
 
 individual assertion : yet he complains ot our m- others, 
 credulity, and even intimates his sorrowful convic- 
 tion that, until we have been visited by the same 
 especial and unerring illumination that he himself 
 enjoys, we are incapable of saving knowledge. 
 
 Shocked at this appalling sentence of prescrip- 
 tion, we take occasion to remind our self-satisfied 
 adviser, that we rely on the awakening and sus- 
 taining grace of God's Holy Spirit as implicitly 
 as himself; that the gift of it is the object of our 
 daily prayers ; and the use of it, the object of our 
 continual endeavours. At the same time we beseech 
 him to consider that numerous individuals, (in all 
 ages of the Church,) laying claim to inward light as 
 confidently as he does, and asserting themselves to 
 be infallible or inspired have held opinions totally 
 at variance with one another, and have fulminated 
 mutual anathemas. We urge his attention to the 
 solemn apostolic warning " Believe not every 
 spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God : 
 because many false prophets are gone out into 
 the world V We, therefore, repeat our desire to 
 
 1 1 John iv. 1. " How much soever therefore, the Spirit of 
 God doth influence us in order to the making us believers, this 
 doth not in the least hinder, but that we are to try and examine 
 
 T 2
 
 276 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS.III. know, not so much for ourselves as on his own 
 CHAP, n.^ accoun t the grounds on which he is so demonstra- 
 
 ' O 
 
 tively convinced that he is in actual possession of the 
 exclusive spiritual endowment which he pretends to. 
 To this renewed insinuation of our dqubts, he 
 replies with unabated confidence, that his case and 
 ours are widely different that he has no need, like 
 us, to judge of these divine impressions from their 
 effects, but that he perceives and distinguishes, in 
 a manner evident to his senses, the impressions 
 themselves; that he feels the Holy Ghost acting 
 preceptibly in his heart ; that he is thus assured of 
 divine illumination by the well known presence of 
 the very Spirit of truth ; that he hears as it were 
 the voice of that blessed Spirit within him, explain- 
 ing to him distinctly all the mysteries of religion ; 
 and that, fully conscious of these divine sugges- 
 tions, he would no more think of doubting their 
 reality than he would doubt the evidence of his 
 own existence '. 
 
 the spirit ; that is, to use our utmost skill, and endeavour to find 
 out, whether that spirit that would persuade us to the belief of 
 such and such doctrines, be really from God or no." See Arch- 
 bishop Sharpe's Sermon on 1 Pet. iii. 15. We may add, on this 
 point, that Servetus, a Spanish physician, who suffered death at 
 Geneva, as a blasphemer, for questioning the doctrine of the 
 Trinity, conceived himself to be inspired. 
 
 1 These representations may appear strongly worded, but it 
 must be evident, that nothing short of the pretensions here ad- 
 vanced can support the claim of the Enthusiast to implicit confi- 
 dence on the ground of spiritual gifts alone, and without regard 
 to ordinary arguments from Scripture, reason, or antiquity.
 
 to convince 
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 277 
 
 Such confident asseverations might almost over- DISS. in. 
 come our incredulity, did we not again call to CHAP ' " 
 remembrance the words of our blessed Lord, ex- 
 
 -,.. til i* -i n 
 
 plaining clearly the nature ot spiritual influence, 
 and the utter hopelessness of building, upon sensible 
 impressions, a claim to infallibility. Our Lord 
 assures us, that the operations of the Holy Spirit, 
 though they are real and efficacious, though they 
 are the only source of true holiness in man are not 
 distinguishable from the operations of the mind 
 itself. He declares that the Holy Spirit is no 
 otherwise to be perceived than in his effects. "The 
 wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the 
 sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, 
 nor whither it goeth. So is every one that is born 
 of the Spirit V We have here an express declara- 
 tion of him from whom the Holy Ghost proceedeth ; 
 of him who alone has a perfect understanding of 
 man's nature and of God's ; and who alone, there- 
 fore, understands the manner in which the Divine 
 Spirit influences the human soul. Instead of de- 
 scribing these spiritual influences as objects of dis- 
 tinct sensation, our Divine Master compares them 
 to currents in the atmosphere, of which the effects 
 are manifest and notorious, though the cause is 
 undiscernible by the senses, and the manner of its 
 operation inexplicable by philosophy 2 . 
 
 We perceive, therefore, that the Enthusiast, claim- 
 ing to be our guide on the ground of inward sensible 
 
 1 John iii..8. 2 See Bishop Horsley's Sermons.
 
 278 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS.III. impressions, proceeds upon a principle condemned 
 CHAP - " by the highest of all authorities, namely Christ 
 himself ; and that thus having no warrant of infal- 
 lible inspiration sufficient for his own conviction, 
 he is still less capable of convincing or directing 
 others. 
 The sceptic 3. But a third character now presents himself 
 
 or Latitu- . . 
 
 dinarian for the removal of our religious anxieties, namely 
 gion in the Sceptic or Latitudinarian, who preaches a doc- 
 sociai duty, trine of infallibility very opposite to those we have 
 hitherto been examining. He attempts to prove an 
 impossibility of error, not because there is infallible 
 authority to keep us in the path of orthodox truth ; 
 but because there is not the slightest danger to our 
 salvation should we stray from that right path into 
 heresy, or even into unbelief not because he thinks 
 erroneous views and principles under any guidance 
 to be impossible, but because he thinks that pro- 
 vided our moral conduct in the world be correct, 
 religious views and principles are unimportant ; 
 and that to use the phrase of a great poet, " no 
 man can be wrong whose life is in the right." 
 He insists that the conduct of man towards his 
 fellow-men is all in all ; that moral rectitude and 
 usefulness in society, justice, mercy, patriotism, 
 philanthropy, are alone essential to our final wel- 
 fa're ; that to be a good citizen, a good father, a 
 good husband, an affectionate kinsman, a charitable 
 neighbour, is to answer all the ends of religion ; 
 and that if these ends be answered, we need not 
 much concern ourselves about the means.
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 279 
 
 To these latitudinarian suggestions various argu- DISS.III. 
 ments prevent us from assenting. We regard with CHAP - " 
 great distrust the principle of neutrality which he This fallacy 
 recommends as the panacea for all spiritual dis- rephe 
 tresses. We cannot bring ourselves under his 
 direction to renounce what he would call our pre- 
 judices of education, and to consider sound doctrine 
 as being unconnected with moral duty. On the 
 contrary, we look upon indifference to religious 
 truth as an alarming evidence of a bad moral dis- 
 position. Piety, as the ablest moralists have ob- 
 served, is an essential part of moral duty ; not less 
 essential than benevolence or justice. There is an 
 obligation to God, as well as an obligation to our 
 neighbour. Our advocate of liberality rightly con- 
 demns the religionist who is full of doctrine and 
 speculation, without regard to his duties in society ; 
 but he forgets that he is himself, in an opposite 
 respect, equally deficient, by disregarding his ac- 
 countableness to his Maker. If God has given 
 means to man of knowing, serving, and adoring 
 him man is bound indispensably to employ them 
 by endeavouring, as the first step in a religious 
 life, to ascertain whether God has given a revela- 
 tion ; and as a second step, to ascertain the truths 
 revealed. The very gift of means for discovering 
 the Divine will presupposes a necessity for using 
 them. A grateful person desires in any case to 
 know the will and character of his benefactor, with 
 an anxious view of discovering the most acceptable 
 method of testifying a sense of kindness received.
 
 '280 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS.III. This moral sentiment of gratitude must rise in pro- 
 CHAP - " portion to the magnitude and number of the benefits 
 conferred ; and, when called into exercise towards 
 the Author and Giver of all good, ought to be, at 
 all times, the prevailing principle in every well 
 regulated mind. Prudence, likewise, as well as 
 gratitude, is a motive for inquiry, "what the will 
 of the Lord is." God is our judge and master, as 
 well as benefactor. Our responsibility to God in 
 this more awful character is by no means a consi- 
 deration to be trifled with. But this dread respon- 
 sibility implies, on our part, a necessity for ascer- 
 taining, to the utmost of our ability, the laws by 
 which he governs the world; and by which, at his 
 tribunal, we ourselves must be acquitted or con- 
 demned. On these points the judgment of the 
 ablest moralists is unanimous. Even the perform- 
 ance, therefore, of our duties in society and to our 
 neighbour must be influenced by regard to the 
 Supreme will. The absence of this motive vitiates 
 any moral action, however outwardly respectable. 
 He consi- But the Latitudinarian now declares that he does 
 
 ders faith 
 
 independ- not dispute the importance of religion as well as of 
 
 entofthe r . . 
 
 will. moral virtue : he only considers faith as an ope- 
 
 ration of the mind for which we are not responsible. 
 Belief, he informs us, does not depend upon the 
 will, but depends upon the understanding alone. 
 We can no more, he says, predetermine in what 
 aspect we shall discern truths, than we can prede- 
 termine in what light we shall see objects when 
 they are immediately presented to our eyes. As
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 281 
 
 the colour and form and magnitude of bodies DISS. in. 
 brought within our field of vision must, (independent 
 of our own choice,) regulate our perceptions of sight; 
 so the evidences and arguments and probabilities 
 connected with any doctrine must likewise, inde- 
 pendent of our choice, regulate the perceptions of 
 our understanding. If therefore any man is an 
 Atheist, it is because he does not see sufficient 
 proof that there is a God : if any man is a Deist, 
 it is because he does not see sufficient proof of 
 Christianity : if any man is a heretic, it is because 
 he does not understand the meaning of the Christian 
 Scriptures. His unbelief, or his heresy, is a cala- 
 mity, and not a crime. He takes the evidence as 
 he finds it, and having so found it, he can form no 
 sounder conclusion. 
 
 But here again the defender of doctrinal indif- Re p!y to 
 
 f this second 
 
 ference proceeds on erroneous assumptions. We fallacy. 
 readily admit, that if, according to his statement, 
 our belief did actually depend upon the under- 
 standing alone, we should not then be responsible 
 for our religious principles ; but belief, in a great 
 degree, depends also upon the will. We could in 
 no case be required to believe a doctrine for which 
 no sufficient evidence existed ; but we may justly 
 and undoubtedly be required, as we value our sal- 
 vation, to consult the evidence within our reach. 
 If evidence exists, and we pay it no attention, we 
 must abide the consequences : we must answer for 
 our unwillingness to inquire. In our ordinary use 
 of sight we are under no obligation to discern
 
 282 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS.III. objects too small or too distant for the human eye, 
 CHAP - " or for our own visual powers : but we are under 
 obligation to see objects brought sufficiently within 
 the compass of our vision ; and for such a purpose 
 it depends upon our will whether or no we4>pen our 
 eyes and direct them towards the proper quarter. 
 Certainly the act of seeing is no act of the will ; but 
 the act of looking is. It depends, in any case, upon 
 the will to what subjects our thoughts and inquiries 
 shall be directed : it depends upon the will with 
 what degree of diligence, intensity, aud persever- 
 ance our faculties shall be exercised : it depends 
 upon the will to improve the mind by systematic 
 study and effective meditation, so as to prepare for 
 any labour which requires intellectual energy : it 
 depends, above all, upon the will, in the study of 
 religion, to determine the degree of earnestness and 
 activity with which we shall apply ourselves to the 
 evidences and doctrines of Christianity, by searching 
 the Scriptures, by praying for Divine assistance, 
 and by consulting the various sources of religious 
 instruction among the living or among the dead. 
 True indeed it is, (to pursue the metaphor before 
 introduced,) that the eye placed in some given spot 
 must see an object in a given shape and direction : 
 but it is equally true that the beholder may, at his 
 option, view the object from any other spot whence 
 it is visible ; and may correct erroneous impressions 
 made in the first instance, by a more accurate 
 investigation in the second. Various prejudices 
 and prepossessions make us desire to see intellec-
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 283 
 
 tual and spiritual objects in an imperfect or dis- DISS.III. 
 torted light. Pride leads us to reject humiliating CHAF ~ " 
 doctrines, and to read nothing which would subdue 
 the tone of our self importance. Earthly minded- 
 ness inclines us, in the same manner, to turn our 
 thoughts from the heavenly precepts of the Gospel. 
 Various other evil qualities conspire to indispose us 
 for a fair inquiry into the moral duties opposed to 
 our self interest, and incline us to garble the Scrip- 
 tures, or bring them into satisfactory accordance 
 with our own inclinations. Since then the will is 
 concerned materially in the determination of our 
 faith, our faith has in that respect a moral cha- 
 racter. We are responsible for examining impar- 
 tially, diligently, earnestly, perseveringly, and in 
 all respects to the best of our ability, into the prin- 
 ciples of religion. If we fail, from deficiency in 
 any of these respects, the fault is in ourselves. 
 
 These conclusions, to which our reason naturally 
 guides us, are confirmed by revelation. The Scrip- 
 tures are very far from giving sanction to mental 
 indolence, and from encouraging the notion that 
 religious truth is unimportant. They inform us 
 that to " love the truth," to " know the truth," to 
 " receive," and to " abide in" the truth, are essen- 
 tial characteristics of a Christian. They speak of 
 certain heresies by the name of "damnable," as 
 involving those who hold them in condemnation 
 and they maintain that " without faith it is impos- 
 sible to please God." Our blessed Lord himself 
 observes of the indisposition for heavenly views.
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS.III. which the " evil heart of unbelief produces among 
 :HAP - " mankind, " This is the condemnation, that light is 
 come into the world, and men loved darkness rather 
 than light because their deeds were evil 1 :" and 
 he closed his ministry upon earth with the solemn 
 and awakening declaration, " He that believeth and 
 is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth 
 not shall be damned 2 ." 
 
 The conclusion then to which we have been 
 brought by the preceding investigations is briefly 
 this, that contrary to the opinion of the Sceptic the 
 attainment of sound Christian doctrine is indispen- 
 sably required for our salvation; and yet that no 
 infallible guide to that knowledge can be derived 
 from either of the expedients suggested by the 
 Mystic and by the Romanist. 
 
 The systems recommended by these three parties 
 
 Resem- 
 blance . . . 
 
 among the respectively have one essential point of agreement, 
 tems of in- namely, their decided tendency to supersede our 
 
 fallibility. i r> i- T 
 
 own personal exertions, lor discovering religious 
 
 1 John iii. 19. 
 
 2 Markxvi. 16. 
 
 It may here be interesting to remark, that the Apostle Paul, 
 when he arraigns the Gentile world for their ignorance of God, 
 . makes them responsible for that ignorance on two separate 
 grounds. He distinguishes between the first apostates who 
 introduced idolatry and polytheism, and their descendants who 
 inherited those errors. He condemns the first apostates for losing 
 their religious belief, and their descendants for not endeavouring 
 to find or regain it the former because they did not like to 
 retain God in their knowledge ; the latter, because they did not 
 " feel after him and find him." (Acts xvii. '27. Rom. i. 28.)
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 285 
 
 truth the Sceptic by affirming that religious truth DISS. in. 
 is unimportant ; the Mystic by alleging that re- 
 ligious truth is passively received by the mind from 
 divine illumination ; and the Romanist by incul- 
 cating an unconditional acquiescence in the dictates 
 of infallible authority 1 . This remarkable coinci- 
 dence suggests the probability that the way of truth 
 may, in respect to our employment of means and 
 opportunities, be the very opposite to the way of 
 error ; that the right path to saving knowledge Right path 
 
 . 7 . , to saving 
 
 may not consist in the disuse, but in the strenuous knowledge. 
 exertion of our intellectual and moral faculties ; that 
 the inclination to improve our advantages for attain- 
 ing spiritual information may be designed to try 
 our moral character 2 ; and that our best security 
 
 1 " Certainly every man considering that his eternal salvation 
 lies upon it, will be enforced to apply sincerity and care in his 
 own behalf; whereas if others interpret for him, they may do it 
 more remissly or more fraud ulently." Works of Hen. More, 
 p. 454. 
 
 " As the case stands in religion, according to the Roman 
 Catholic doctrine, reason, and thinking, and studying, and exami- 
 nation, and industry, and search, though they be necessary tools 
 to be made use of for the putting a man into good hands, yet after 
 he is in those hands, he is to throw all these things away, and 
 never after to make use of them. Doth this look like a doctrine 
 of God ? No, certainly." Archbishop Sharpe's Sermons, vol. vii. 
 p. 29. 
 
 1 " Nor does there appear any absurdity in supposing that the 
 speculative difficulties in which the evidence of religion is involved, 
 may make even the principal part of some persons' trial. For, as 
 the chief temptations of the generality of the world, are the ordi- 
 nary motives to injustice or unrestrained pleasure ; or to live in
 
 286 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS.III. from deadly heresy may consist in certain pro- 
 CHAP - " mises to be found in Scripture, that our sincere 
 
 the neglect of religion from that frame of mind, which renders 
 many persons almost without feeling as to any thing distant, or 
 which is not the object of their senses ; so there are other persons 
 without this shallowness of temper, persons of a deeper sense as 
 to what is invisible and future, who not only see, but have a 
 general practical feeling, that what is to come will be present, 
 and that things are not less real for their not being the objects of 
 sense ; and who, from their natural constitution of body and of 
 temper, and from their external condition, may have small tempt- 
 ations to behave ill, small difficulty in behaving well, in the com- 
 mon course of life. Now, when these latter persons have a dis- 
 tinct full conviction of the truth of religion, without any possible 
 doubts or difficulties, the practice of it is to them unavoidable, 
 unless they will do a constant violence to their own minds ; and 
 religion is scarce any more a discipline to them, than it is to crea- 
 tures in a state of perfection. Yet these persons may possibly 
 stand in need of moral discipline and exercise, in a higher degree 
 than they would have by such an easy practice of religion. Or 
 it may be requisite, for reasons unknown to us, that they should 
 give some further manifestation, what is their moral character, 
 to the creation of God, than such a practice of it would be. Thus 
 in the great variety of religious situations in which men are placed, 
 what constitutes, what chiefly and peculiarly constitutes, 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. Circumstances in men's situa- 
 tion in their temporal capacity, analogous in good measure to 
 this 1 respecting religion, are to be observed. We find some per- 
 sons are placed in such a situation in the world, as that their 
 chief difficulty, with regard to conduct, is not the doing what is 
 prudent when it is known, for this, in numberless cases, is as 
 easy as the contrary ; but to some, the principal exercise is, re-
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 287 
 
 
 endeavours after truth shall be assisted by the DISS.III. 
 direction of Divine Providence, and the co-opera- 
 tion of Divine grace. 
 
 Such promises are numerous both in the Old 
 
 ing pro- 
 
 and New Testament. To bring forward the whole mises of 
 
 PI ., . Scripture. 
 
 or them would be to transcribe a great portion 01 
 the Bible. A selection however, of the most re- 
 markable, can hardly fail of proving satisfactorily 
 to the most anxious mind how often, and how 
 solemnly the God of all consolation has pledged 
 himself for the success of every aspirant after saving 
 truth, who is not morally disqualified for the pursuit 
 by love of sin, by indolence, by worldly minded- 
 ness, or by insincerity. " The secret of the Lord," 
 observes the Psalmist, " is with them that fear him, 
 and he will show them his covenant 1 ." " I will 
 inform thee, and teach thee, in the way thou shalt 
 go ; and I will guide thee with mine eye 2 ." 
 " Good and upright is the Lord, therefore will he 
 teach sinners in the way : the meek will he guide 
 in judgment : and to the meek he will teach his 
 way V " What man is he that feareth the Lord ? 
 him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. 
 
 collection, and being upon their guard against deceits, the deceits, 
 suppose, of those about them ; against false appearances of reason 
 and prudence. To persons in some situations, the principal 
 exercise, with respect to conduct, is attention in order to inform 
 themselves what is proper, what is really the reasonable and pru- 
 dent part to act." Apology of Bishop Butler, pp. 285, 286. 
 1 Psalm xxv. 14. 2 Ps. xxxii. 8. 3 Ps. xxv. 8, 9.
 
 288 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS.III. His soul shall dwell at ease 1 ." The declarations 
 CHAF ' " of Solomon are to the same animating effect. " My 
 son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my 
 commandments with thee, so that thou incline thine 
 ear to wisdom, and apply thine heart tQr under- 
 standing ; if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest 
 up thy voice for understanding ; if thou seekest her 
 as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures ; 
 then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, 
 and find the knowledge of God 2 . Trust in the 
 Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine 
 own understanding ; in all thy ways acknowledge 
 him, and he shall direct thy paths 3 . The mouth 
 of the just bringeth forth wisdom : the lips of the 
 righteous know what is acceptable *." 
 
 Proceeding to the Scriptures of the New Testa- 
 ment, we derive peculiar encouragement from the 
 emphatic assurance conveyed by St. James : "If 
 any of you lack wisdom" (the very case we are now 
 supposing) " let him ask of God that giveth to all 
 men liberally, and upbraideth not : and it shall be 
 given him 5 ." In St. Paul's epistle to the Philip- 
 pians, a passage occurs, which though translated 
 somewhat obscurely, is valuably apposite to our 
 present purpose. " Let us as many as be perfect," 
 says he, " be thus minded, and if in any thing ye 
 be otherwise" (or variously) " minded, God shall 
 
 1 Ps. xxv. 12, 13. * Prov. li. 15. 3 Prov. iii. 5, 6. 
 
 4 Prov. x. 3 1 , 32. * James i. 5.
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 289 
 
 reveal this unto you ;" that is, shall reveal the thing DISS.III. 
 respecting which ye are variously minded l : so 
 that if any well-disposed inquirer be in error, he 
 will be led, in the conscientious improvement of 
 his means and opportunities, to a perception of 
 the truth. The promises of our Divine Redeemer 
 are clear and explicit in the most encouraging 
 degree. "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, 
 and ye shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened 
 unto you : for every one that asketh, receiveth ; 
 and he that seeketh, findeth ; and to him that 
 knocketh, it shall be opened. Or what man is 
 there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he 
 give him a stone ? Or if he ask a fish, will he give 
 him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how 
 to give good gifts unto your children, how much 
 more shall your Father which is in Heaven, give 
 good things to them that ask him 2 ?" In another 
 passage he declares expressly, that the knowledge 
 of religious truth shall invariably reward the labours 
 of the humble and diligent individual, who, from 
 desire to do the will of God, conscientiously exerts 
 himself to know it. "If any man will do" (Oi\ti 
 n-oitiv or is desirous to do) "his will, he shall know 
 of the doctrine whether it be of God s ." 
 
 1 See Horsley's Sermons, vol. ii. * Matt. vii. 7. 12. 
 
 3 " This text," says Bishop Taylor, in a sermon on the decla- 
 ration of our Lord above quoted, " is simple as truth itself. It 
 will enable you to understand all mysteries, and to expound all 
 prophecies, and to interpret all Scriptures, and to search into all 
 secrets all, I mean, that involve our happiness and our duty. 
 
 U
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 290 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS. in. In the greater number of these Scriptural pro- 
 mises an important peculiarity arrests our attention. 
 They appear to assure us, on the authority of God 
 himself, that every individual shall attain the know- 
 ledge necessary to his salvation, who strenuously 
 uses any one method for attaining it, even though 
 he should neglect every other. To fear God ; to 
 reverence his word ; to lay up his commandments 
 as our treasure ; to cultivate meekness to incline 
 
 He that goes about to speak of, and to understand the mysterious 
 Trinity, and does it by words and names of man's invention, and 
 by such which signify contingently ; if he reckons this mystery 
 by the mythology of numbers, by the cabala of letters, by the 
 distinctions of the schools, and by the weak inventions of disput- 
 ing people ; if he only talks of essences, and existences, hypos- 
 tasies and personalities, distinctions without difference, and 
 priority in co-equalities, and unity in pluralities, and of superior 
 predicates of no larger extent than the inferior subjects ; he may 
 amuse himself, and find his understanding will be like St. Peter's 
 upon the Mount of Tabor at the Transfiguration : he may build 
 three tabernacles in his head, and talk something, but he knows 
 not what. But the good man that feels the power of the Father, 
 and to whom the Son is become wisdom, righteousness, sanctifica- 
 tion, and redemption ; he in whose heart the love of the Spirit 
 of God is spread, to whom God hath communicated the Holy 
 Ghost the Comforter ; this man, though he understands nothing 
 of that which is unintelligible, yet he only understands the myste- 
 riousness of the Holy Trinity. No man can be convinced well 
 and wisely of the article of the holy, blessed, and undivided 
 Trinity, but he that feels the mightiness of the Father begetting 
 him to a new life ; the wisdom of the Son building him up in a 
 most holy faith ; and the love of the Spirit of God making him 
 to become like unto God." Sermons of Bishop Taylor, vol. vi. 
 p. 402.
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 291 
 
 our ears and hearts unto wisdom ; to pray for and DISS.III. 
 search after it ; to trust in the giver of it to be c HAP - "__ 
 just, to be righteous, to be humble-minded ; to ask ; 
 to seek ; to knock at the gate of mercy lastly, 
 to be desirous of doing, and consequently of know- 
 ing the will of God : each of these various methods 
 for the discovery of saving knowledge, is repre- 
 sented as being separately, and in itself sufficient. 
 But there is nothing inconsistent throughout these 
 statements. The promises annexed to the right 
 use of any one mode are not intended to disparage 
 the importance, or supersede the necessity, of 
 employing the remainder. Each of them, rightly 
 understood and rightly exercised, presupposes the 
 employment of the others. For example, every 
 man who prays to God for wisdom on right prin- 
 ciples, and from a predominant desire of becoming 
 " wise unto salvation," will, necessarily, under the 
 influence of that desire, exert the other means 
 \vithin his reach for the attainment of the same 
 all-absorbing object. His studies and his practice 
 will be conformable to his prayer. Or again, if 
 from the same predominant desire he applies him- 
 self to meditation on the pages of inspired truth, 
 he must, (in obedience to this governing principle,) 
 cultivate devotion, meekness, justice, humility. 
 His whole life must be consistent with his medi- 
 tations. 
 
 We may here make a passing remark, that this These F- 
 
 ^ t \ ^ raises given 
 
 form of delivering instruction, by promising to each in a manner 
 
 . . not unusual 
 
 specific exercise of a general principle the reward in scrip- 
 ture. 
 u 2
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS.III. intended for the practice of it universally, is jiot 
 Ap ' "' unusual in the sacred volume. Not to mention 
 other numerous instances, our Saviour himself, in 
 his sermon on the Mount, adopts with great advan- 
 tage this custom. Speaking of blessedness, or the 
 enjoyment of Divine favour, he ascribes it separately 
 and successively to almost every individual virtue. 
 The heavenly-minded ; the penitent or spiritual 
 mourners ; the meek ; the aspirants after righteous- 
 ness ; the merciful ; the pure in heart ; the peace- 
 makers ; the persecuted for righteousness sake ; 
 are separately and successively pronounced to be 
 "blessed." The reason is obvious. Everyman 
 who on truly Christian principles is merciful, or 
 meek, will, on the same principles, be pure in heart. 
 In likemanner every true Christian, who is "pure 
 in heart," will be heavenly-minded, penitent, meek, 
 merciful, and a promoter of peace. So also every 
 Christian "peace-maker" will, consistently with his 
 ruling motive, (namely, the love of Christ,) be pure 
 in heart ; will be an aspirant after righteousness ; 
 and will, for righteousness sake, submit even to per- 
 secution. 
 
 The several instructions to which, accordingly, 
 the promise of saving knowledge is given, must be 
 considered as being similarly introduced with the 
 virtues to which our Lord in his sermon annexes 
 blessedness. From the promises subjoined to each 
 of these instructions, we are taught to infer the 
 moral certainty of success in the observance of 
 them all.
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 293 
 
 The principle which we have now established is DISS.III. 
 not to be confounded with those fallacies which we 
 have been endeavouring to expose. We do not Difference 
 call it infallibility, because we readily admit that scriptural 
 rectitude of opinion may exist, in various degrees, 
 among persons, all of whom are in the path of salva- 
 tion. It differs from infallibility as maintained 
 by Romanists, because we do not consider any 
 individual, nor any number of individuals, to be 
 incapable of error. It differs from the infallibility 
 of the Enthusiast, because we lay no claim to 
 exemption from mistake : we insist only that, using 
 faithfully the means at our disposal, we shall escape 
 unpardonable heresy. We contend that saving 
 truth may be attained in various degrees. Whereas 
 absolute inspiration in each inspired individual, 
 admits of no degrees nor differences : it must be 
 perfect, regular, and invariable : all must think 
 alike. Our principle differs, thirdly, from the infal- 
 libility of the Sceptic, because he conceives all 
 doctrines equally excellent, provided their opera- 
 tion in society adapts itself to his confined notions 
 of moral duty. Whereas our method implies that 
 one doctrine differs materially, as to inherent excel- 
 lence, from another, and that we are therefore bound 
 to select the best. 
 
 To make this selection of what is best, must be 
 the paramount desire of every rightly-disposed 
 mind : and it now only remains for us, before con- 
 cluding this dissertation, to give some rules, as
 
 294 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS. in. briefly as we can, for determining our choice. 
 :HAF ' " Error and misconception on this subject are so 
 lamentably common, that even our few imperfect 
 suggestions may not be useless nor unacceptable. 
 We shall only premise that the spiritual exercises 
 which we recommend are arranged in the order 
 here given them, with a view to convenience and 
 clearness ; and not from an impression that any of 
 pur readers can have occasion to begin from the 
 commencement of the series. 
 
 Rules for \ Qur first rule is : to employ all the strength 
 
 acquiring * 
 
 sound O f our faculties in the study and investigation of 
 
 Christian * 
 
 knowledge, natural religion : till we become impressed sincerely 
 and practically with our awful responsibility, as 
 reasonable beings, to our Creator, Benefactor, and 
 Judge eternal. 
 
 2. To establish clearly in our minds the evidences 
 and principles of Revelation ; and to ascertain, by 
 diligent inquiry, that the Scriptures ' ' given for our 
 learning," are " given by inspiration of God ; and 
 are profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correc- 
 tion, and instruction in righteousness 1 ." 
 
 3. To acquire a persuasion (according to the prin- 
 ciple asserted in the Scriptures, maintained by all 
 antiquity, and revived by Protestants) that the 
 pages of revelation are not " a sealed book" to 
 us'; but that we are entitled to " search the Scrip- 
 tures 2 ," to " prove all things 3 ," and " to be ready 
 
 1 2. Tim. iii. 3 John v. 39. 3 I Thess. v. 21.
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 295 
 
 always to give an answer to every man that asketh DISS.III. 
 us a reason of the hope that is in us V 
 
 4. To satisfy ourselves that, on points of Chris- 
 tian doctrine, our only real standard of faith is the 
 Bible; and that tradition, (however useful as its 
 interpreter and guardian,) is not, as Romanists 
 contend, a co-ordinate authority with the sacred 
 text 2 . 
 
 5. To use in our interpretation of the inspired 
 volume all the helps within our reach ; whether 
 spiritual or temporal ; whether deriveable from the 
 living or from the dead. Among these helps, it 
 seems superfluous to remind a Christian reader of 
 two most important and most indispensable aids 
 already mentioned ; namely, prayer and a holy 
 life. To these may be added others equally obvious 
 so far as they are consistent with the opportunities, 
 station, or profession of the individual such as 
 familiarity with Scripture in the original, know- 
 ledge of history, and particularly of the manners, 
 laws, customs, and opinions of antiquity, Jewish as 
 well as Christian ; joined to acquaintance with 
 sound principles of biblical interpretation, criticism, 
 and translation. 
 
 But a point which more particularly seems, under 
 
 1 1 Pet. iii. 15. See for authorities on this head, Note (V) at 
 the end of the volume. 
 
 2 For proofs and illustrations of this point, drawn from Irenaeus, 
 Tertullian, Hippolytus, Cyprian, Cyril of Jerusalem, Athanasius, 
 Jerome, Basil, and Augustin, see note (W) at the end of the 
 volume.
 
 296 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS.III. this rule, to require illustration, is the degree of 
 p ^"^ value at which the conscientious inquirer after sound 
 religious knowledge ought to estimate ecclesiastical 
 antiquity. Many pious individuals, (in their well- 
 meant zeal against Romish errors,) have -thought 
 themselves obliged to discard ecclesiastical anti- 
 quity, under a persuasion that by attaching any 
 value to ancient writers, they would violate the 
 great Protestant axiom of resting on the sole autho- 
 rity of God's written word. 
 
 But it should be considered, that to use ecclesi- 
 astical antiquity for interpreting the word of God, 
 no more violates this axiom than to use any of the 
 other universally admitted aids to interptetation 
 already mentioned. Whatever means the Divine 
 promulgator of Revelation has given to his Church 
 for ascertaining the truths revealed, ought dili- 
 gently and conscientiously to be improved. We 
 cannot better explain how far ancient literature is 
 to be rendered available to sacred purposes than 
 by a transcription of a canon set forth by the 
 Church of England in the same year with its 
 articles. " Preachers shall not presume to deliver 
 anything from the pulpit as of moment, to be reli- 
 giously observed and believed by the people, but 
 that which is agreeable to the doctrine of the Old 
 or 'New Testament, and collected out of the same 
 doctrine by the Catholic Fathers and the Bishops 
 of the ancient Church V " A wise regulation," 
 
 1 Imprimis vero, videbunt (Concionatores) ne quid unquam
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 297 
 
 observes the judicious and able Dr. Waterland, DISS.III. 
 "formed with exquisite judgment, and worded with CHAP - " 
 the exactest caution. The canon does not order 
 that 'they shall teach whatever had been taught by 
 the Fathers : no ; that would have been setting up 
 a new rule of faith : neither does it say that they 
 shall teach whatsoever the Fathers had collected from 
 Scripture : no ; that would have been making them 
 infallible interpreters, or infallible reasoners: the 
 doctrine must be found first in Scripture, only to 
 be the more secure that we have found it there : 
 the Fathers are to be called in, to be, as it were, 
 constant checks upon the presumption or wanton- 
 ness of private interpretation. But then again, as 
 to private interpretation, there is liberty enough 
 allowed to it. Preachers are not forbidden to in- 
 terpret this or that text, or hundreds of texts, 
 differently from what the Fathers have done ; pro- 
 vided still they keep within the analogy of faith, 
 and presume not to raise any new doctrine-: neither 
 are they altogether restrained from teaching any- 
 thing new, provided it be offered as opinion only, 
 or as an inferior truth, and not pressed as necessary 
 upon the people. For it was thought that there 
 could be no necessary article of faith or doctrine 
 now drawn from Scripture, but what the ancients 
 had drawn out before from the same Scripture : to 
 
 doceant pro condone, quod a populo religiose teneri et credi velint, 
 nisi quod consentaneum sit doctrines veteris out novi testamenti : 
 quodque ex ilia ipsd doctrind Catholici Patrcs et veteres Eptscopi 
 collegerint. Sparrow, Collect, p. 238.
 
 298 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 Diss.in. say otherwise would imply that the ancients had 
 :HAP " ' Ij failed universally in necessaries, which is morally 
 absurd 1 ." The canon thus explained may be 
 thought appropriate to preachers and ministers 
 alone, exclusively of their people : but though the 
 latter cannot, it is true, directly apply this regu- 
 lation to themselves, they nevertheless may indi- 
 rectly derive advantage from it. They will be 
 prepared to perceive at once when any minister 
 proposes to their acceptance some doctrine or expo- 
 sition of Scripture, for which he can produce no 
 ancient authority and which he declares to be new, 
 yet at the same time important he declares him- 
 self, by this dangerous and uncanonical proceeding, 
 unworthy of their confidence. 
 Concluding But perhaps the greatest and most alarming 
 
 exhortation . ,-,-, n i i 
 
 mistake to be avoided by all inquirers, ecclesiastical 
 or laical, is the application of their minds to reli- 
 gious researches rather for the sake of curious 
 information and philosophical entertainment, than 
 for purposes of saving knowledge, and of sure, 
 efficacious, practical direction. The Holy Scrip- 
 tures, no doubt, are written for our learning, not 
 however merely for such learning as consists in 
 literary, critical, and speculative exercises of our 
 
 1 .See chap. vii. of Dr. Waterland's Treatise on the Importance 
 of the Doctrine of the Trinity ; where the use of ecclesiastical 
 antiquity is discussed with his usual masterly erudition and 
 ability. Similar observations in an abridged form may be found 
 in his introduction to a review of the Doctrine of the Eucharist. 
 See Vol. vii. of his works, edited by the Bishop of Durham. 
 
 8
 
 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 '299 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 ingenuity ; but for our advancement in the school DISS.III. 
 of Christian wisdom, of that wisdom from above 
 which unites and perfects all the higher capacities 
 of our nature, moral, intellectual, or spiritual 
 that wisdom which, (far removed from the jealousies 
 and the wranglings, and the violences of factious 
 controversy,) is anxious only for the interests of 
 truth and virtue that wisdom which is "first 
 pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be en- 
 treated ; full of mercy and good fruits, without 
 partiality and without hypocrisy V 
 
 In this course of wise and holy discipline, ac- 
 cording to our diligence, will be our progress ; and 
 proportioned to our progress, will be our reward. 
 Our anxieties, discouragements, and despondencies 
 will be left behind us. We shall go on our way 
 rejoicing. We shall feel a personal interest in the 
 glorious system of Christian redemption. We shall 
 enter daily more and more with satisfaction upon 
 the duty of examining ourselves, " whether we be 
 in the faith 2 :" and the result of that examination 
 will more and more enable us to see distinctly 
 within our hearts the lineaments of the Christian 
 character. All the tests from Scripture of such a 
 progress will have a clearer application to our 
 spiritual state. Love to God, charity to mankind, 
 preference of divine to merely human objects, fer- 
 vency in prayer, frequency in meditation, attach- 
 ment to religious ordinances, self-control in the 
 
 1 1 James iii. 17. 2 2 Cor. xiii. 5.
 
 300 ON INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 DISS.III. subjugation of our appetites and passions; and in 
 one word, likeness to Christ, increasing from day 
 to day will assure us that to reach the gate of sal- 
 vation we have only to preserve the path which we 
 have chosen. And although, in this advanced 
 state, enjoying " a full assurance of faith and 
 hope y we relax nothing of our efforts, and, like 
 St. Paul, " count not ourselves to have apprehended 
 the price of our high calling 2 ," yet we exclaim 
 triumphantly with the same Apostle : " Who shall 
 separate us from the love of Christ ? Shall tribu- 
 lation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or 
 nakedness, or peril, or sword ? In all these things 
 we are more than conquerors through him that 
 loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, 
 nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, 
 nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, 
 nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to 
 separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ 
 Jesus our Lord V 
 
 1 Heb. vi. 11. x. 22. 2 Phil. iii. 13. 3 Rom. viii. 3539.
 
 DISSERTATION IV. 
 
 ON MEDIATION. 
 
 " I believe that the appointment of a Mediator is the great mystery and per- 
 fect centre of all God's ways with his creatures ; and unto which all his other 
 works and wonders do but serve and refer." 
 
 " That Jesus the Lord became in the flesh a sacrificer and a sacrifice for sin ; 
 a satisfaction and price to the justice of God ; a meriter of glory and the king- 
 dom; a pattern of all righteousness; a preacher of the word which himself was; 
 a finisher of the ceremony ; a corner-stone to remove the separation between 
 Jew and Gentile ; an intercessor for the Church ; a Lord of nature in his mira- 
 cles ; a conqueror of death and the power of darkness in his resurrection ; and that 
 he fulfilled the whole counsel of God, performing all his sacred offices ; and 
 anointing on earth, accomplished the whole work of the redemption and resti- 
 tution of man, to a state superior to the angels, (whereas the state of man by 
 creation was inferior,) and reconciled and established all things according to the 
 eternal will of the Father." Lord Bacon's Works, fol. vol. iv. pp. 115, 116. 
 
 " Man must have remained obnoxious to eternal punishment, if there had not 
 been distinct persons in the Godhead ; one of whom, in transcendant love to 
 mankind, being pleased to take our nature upon him, might make atonement 
 and satisfaction to the other, for the injury done to Divine justice." Tucker's 
 Light of Nature, ch. 17- , 
 
 " So far as our attention is directed to the standard of exact propriety and 
 perfection, the wisest and best of us, all can in his own character and conduct, 
 see nothing but weakness and imperfection ; can discover no ground for arro- 
 gance and presumption, but a great deal for humility, regret, and repentance." 
 Adam Smith's Moral Sentiments, part vi. sect. 3. 
 
 PREVIOUS to the great era of the Reformation, the DISS. iv. 
 discussion of many questions on the subject of 
 religion was prevented or kept down, and outward 
 uniformity in some measure maintained throughout state of re- 
 all the western churches of Christendom, by the n?oTatthe 
 strong superincumbent pressure of a supposed in- 
 fallible authority. On the removal of this confining
 
 302 ON MEDIATION. 
 
 DISS. iv. force, there arose, as might naturally be expected, a 
 sudden and universal burst of multifarious opinions, 
 which dispersed themselves in innumerable frag- 
 ments over Europe. While the efforts of wise and 
 pious men were, by the good providence^of God, 
 successful in their great work of reconstruction and 
 consolidation, and in regulating the movements of 
 emancipated reason by rules of Scripture : there 
 would necessarily remain much in these elements 
 of the reformed system, that was perverse, licen- 
 tious, and untractable. Among these wayward 
 parties, none seem to have been more conspicuously 
 opposed to the truth, or to one another, than two 
 descriptions of them who have received the general 
 name of Socinians and Antinomians. A slight 
 historical introduction respecting these two sects 
 will show their intimate connexion with the impor- 
 tant subject of the present dissertation. 
 
 origin of The individuals who have supplied a name to 
 
 ism. what is called Socinianism were L^LIUS SOCINUS, 
 
 and his nephew FAUSTUS, descendants of an illus- 
 trious family, the Sozzini, of Sienna, in Tuscany. 
 The uncle left Italy in 1547, possessed with the 
 general hatred then prevailing against the tyranny 
 of Rome, and desirous, by visiting France, England, 
 Holland, and Germany, to examine the religious 
 
 Historical seiijtiments of the reformed Churches. He adopted 
 at one time the Helvetic confession, and became a 
 member of the Church of Switzerland. But begin- 
 ning to indulge his speculative fancy in dangerous 
 conjectures (respecting the Divinity of Christ, the 
 
 view.
 
 ON MEDIATION. 
 
 303 
 
 docrine of Atonement, and the personality of the DISS. iv. 
 Holy Spirit) he found it necessary to seek a final 
 asylum in Poland, at that time the only country 
 which had practically embraced the principles of 
 toleration. He committed his peculiarities to writ- 
 ing ; but never made them public through the 
 press. On his death in 1562, these papers came 
 into the possession of Faustus. The latter, adopting 
 the speculations of his uncle, propagated them 
 with so much zeal and talent, as to unite into one 
 society various scattered sectaries, who, like himself, 
 had taken refuge under the shelter of Polish liberty. 
 These several parties, opposed on various grounds to 
 the doctrine of the Trinity, first received from this 
 leader an organized and apparently consistent form. 
 They acquired further importance from the patron- 
 age of Jo. Siennienius, Palatine of Podolia, who, 
 becoming a convert to their tenets, presented them 
 with a settlement in a city which he had recently 
 built under the name of Racow. They published 
 a revised translation of the Bible, accommodated as 
 far as it was practicable, with their miscellaneous 
 views. They afterwards compiled their celebrated 
 Racovian catechism, which, (though differing essen- 
 tially from the secret principles of its professors and 
 framers,) was received as their confession of faith, 
 and being expressed in terms as little obnoxious to 
 protestant Christendom as could be devised, it was 
 circulated throughout Europe l . 
 
 1 A Latin translation of the Racovian Catechism was presented
 
 304 ON MEDIATION. 
 
 DISS. iv. Another circumstance which gave notoriety to this 
 new se^t was the martyrdom, as we may term it, 
 of Michael Servetus, a Spanish physician of some 
 eminence, who, under an idea of inspiration, had 
 put forth a doctrine of the Trinity making some 
 approaches to Socinianism. Our readers will pro- 
 bably remember, that this unhappy man, travelling 
 through Geneva, was seized upon and burnt as a 
 blasphemer at the instigation of Calvin, who does 
 not seem to have adopted the principles of religious 
 liberty then exemplified in Poland. 
 
 The progress of Socinianism in Great Britain 
 was for some time tardy and uncertain : though the 
 progress of its professors towards Deism was more 
 openly avowed, and more rapid than on the Con- 
 tinent. By far the ablest of them was a man 
 whose philosophical celebrity would have given 
 lustre to any party, civil or religious. Priestley 
 went so far even as to maintain opinions for which 
 a learned Polish Doctor (Budnaeus) was, in 1584, 
 publicly excommunicated from the Socinian society 
 at Racow above alluded to. The English philo- 
 sopher, while he acknowledged the heavenly mis- 
 sion of Christ, regarded him as a mere human 
 being, the son of Mary and of Joseph : consequently, 
 like Budnaeus, he disclaimed all worship of our 
 Divine Redeemer. Socinian principles have like- 
 
 to King James I. and another copy to the University of Witten- 
 burgh. See Mosheim. Hist. Eccles. vol. iv. chap. iv. sect. 3. 
 part 2.
 
 ON MEDIATION. 305 
 
 wise made considerable advancement through gra- DISS. iv. 
 dual defection, as well of ministers, as of whole 
 congregations, from the old Presbyterian body of 
 English dissenters. 
 
 Such is the origin of Socinianism historically Moral view 
 narrated. Morally considered, it presents a some- 
 what different aspect. Persons addicted to abstract 
 speculation and deistically inclined, could hardly 
 fail of perceiving great deficiencies in natural re- 
 ligion. Moral principles might be inculcated, but 
 moral principles wanted adequate sanction. They 
 required some additional authority which would 
 bring them home to the hearts and consciences of 
 men. The doctrines of universal judgment and 
 retribution in another life might, by the light of 
 nature, be rendered extremely probable, but could 
 not thoroughly nor satisfactorily be established; 
 while the resurrection of the body could not be 
 maintained at all. In this dilemma the partisans 
 of Deism had no resource, but to accept revelation 
 with a view of strengthening and enforcing their 
 moral system. At the same time, the religion of 
 Christ contained many other doctrines which were 
 not compatible with deistical inclinations or pur- 
 poses ; doctrines alike unwelcome to the proud 
 supremacy of human reason, and to the arrogance 
 of human virtue. Christianity therefore was adopted 
 so far as its sanctions were useful, and rejected so 
 far as its doctrines were humiliating. 
 
 The Socinian creed, (as may be supposed from the 
 diversity of its professions,) is of very comprehensive 
 
 x
 
 306 ON MEDIATION. 
 
 DISS. iv. latitude. On one principle, however, all agree ; 
 namely, that our Lord Jesus Christ is not " our 
 High Priest to reconcile us with the Father by the 
 sacrifice of himself V 
 
 Origin of About the same time with the Socinians arose an 
 opposite sect, the Antinomians, the tendency of 
 whose doctrines was not to strengthen moral obli- 
 gation, but rather to relax and weaken it. The first 
 introducer of this system, at the period of the Refor- 
 mation, was JOHN AGRICOLA, a native of Germany, 
 and an eminent doctor in the Lutheran Church. 
 When Luther was opposing the Romanists, who 
 maintained " Justification by Works," this sectary 
 seems to have taken some overstrained expressions 
 of Luther in a literal sense. He declaimed against 
 " the Law," maintaining that it was not a rule of 
 Christian life, nor a proper means of instruction ; 
 and that " the Gospel" only was to be taught among 
 Christians : hence the name of Antinomians, or 
 enemies of the law. Agricola is thought by some 
 writers to have been misunderstood. He is repre- 
 sented by Mosheim as meaning by the term Law 
 only the Mosaic precepts, including the ten com- 
 mandments, which he considered as a code enacted 
 for the Jews, and not for Christians ; while by " the 
 Gospel" he understood not merely the doctrine of 
 an. atoning Saviour, but the rules of righteousness 
 which he enjoined. Whatever may have been the 
 actual opinions of Agricola, the more obnoxious 
 
 1 Hebrews ix. 26. x. 21.
 
 ON MEDIATION. 307 
 
 and really licentious tenets ascribed to him were Dis s. iv. 
 successfully disseminated under various forms over 
 Europe, and more especially in England, during 
 the Protectorate of Cromwell. 
 
 Antinomianism then, like Socinianism, is an 
 appellative admitting great latitude of application *. 
 Every class of persons who cherish principles dimi- 
 nishing the authority of the Divine Law and the 
 obligations of moral duty, may be regarded as 
 Antinomians. They all unite, (whatever may be 
 their shades of difference on other points,) in dis- 
 carding Christ as a prophet whose moral lessons 
 they are bound to receive, and as a king whose 
 commandments they are bound to obey. Viewed 
 in this light, Antinomianism is of great antiquity. 
 
 1 " Low and illiterate sects interpret Scripture without regard 
 to the circumstances of those for whom it was most immediately 
 intended ; for it is learning which lets us into those circumstances. 
 Now, whenever any ancient writing is so interpreted, it must be 
 interpreted too literally ; without any of those limitations or addi- 
 tions, which, in things familiar to us, we make by means of our 
 feelings and common sense. The Scripture, thus interpreted, 
 contradicts itself frequently, and so must the doctrines of literal 
 interpreters : we may, on this account, always expect to find great 
 confusion and inconsistency amongst them. And as they have no 
 precise ideas, and therefore no creeds, catechisms, confessions of 
 faith, nor any ecclesiastical history, their doctrines will be un- 
 steady ; and sects will ramify and mix imperceptibly, keeping the 
 same names in such a manner as to elude all regular and system- 
 atical investigation. Without such a previous remark as this, the 
 thinking man might be disappointed with the best accounts that 
 can be given of Antinomians, Anabaptists, &c." Key's Lectures, 
 book iv. art. vii. sect. iii. pp. 37, 38. 
 
 x 2
 
 308 ON MEDIATION. 
 
 DISS. iv. Many ancient heretics, Carpocrates for one, enter- 
 tained immoral notions of the kind alluded to. 
 Carpocra- This Gnostic teacher carried to the worst and vilest 
 
 tes. 
 
 possible extreme the Antinomian principles, main- 
 taining that eternal salvation was only ' ' attainable 
 by those who had committed all sorts of crimes, and 
 had daringly filled up the measure of iniquity 1 ." 
 Between Carpocrates and the less advanced and 
 more modern disciples of the same school our 
 readers will perceive a space sufficient to include a 
 multitude of persons holding sentiments infinitely 
 various. It will be convenient, for the purposes of 
 this essay, to express them all by one common 
 term. And in the same manner as we considered 
 any person a Socinian, who opposes the atonement 
 of Christ, so we take the similar liberty of consi- 
 dering any person, of whatever additional denomi- 
 nation, an Antinomian, who opposes the law of 
 Christ, or his spiritual government, in the hearts 
 and lives of men. 
 
 Having thus attempted a short introductory his- 
 tory, in explanation of these two principles of error, 
 we may next proceed to their Scriptural refutation. 
 We say Scriptural, because both parties, to be 
 Christians at all, must admit the Scriptures to be 
 the standard of religious truth by which all doc- 
 trines are to be tried. The Deist, therefore, who, 
 
 1 See Iren. Contra Heres. cap. xxv. Clemen. Alex. Stromat. 
 lib. iii. p. 511. quoted by Mosheim, vol. i. cant. ii. part ii. 
 p. 228.
 
 ON MEDIATION. 309 
 
 from respect to public opinion, would shield him- DISS. iv. 
 self behind the mask of Socinianism, must be 
 sensible that to assume even that remote semblance 
 of Christianity, he must admit the authority of the 
 word of God. 
 
 To proceed then with our argument by a defini- statement 
 
 \ . . oftheques- 
 
 tion of the term prefixed to this essay. Mediation tion. 
 necessarily implies two parties at variance, whom 
 the mediator interposes to reconcile. He must for 
 this purpose have authority to act for both ; so that 
 neither of them may have any pretext for with- 
 drawing from his decision 1 . 
 
 The Christian scheme is built on this foundation. 
 God and man are at variance. Christ interposes 
 to reconcile them. He is invested with authority 
 to act in behalf of both ; and as God is not disposed, 
 so man is not entitled to withdraw from the deci- 
 sions of this authorized Mediator. 
 
 Holding this important office Christ is variously 
 designated. Mediating for God, he is' called a 
 King, a Judge, a Prophet ; mediating for man, he 
 
 1 This definition may serve to explain a somewhat obscure pas- 
 sage in St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians, chap. iii. v. 20. where 
 the Apostle declares, that a Mediator is not a Mediator of one : 
 that is, not a Mediator for one party only. This construction of 
 St. Paul's words is supported hy various authorities, Arminian as 
 well as Calvinistic, both within and without the Church. See 
 Commentaries of Locke, Doddridge, Thomas Scott, and John 
 Wesley in loc. : also John Scott in his " Christian Life," part ii. 
 chap. vii. p. 341. I omit other foreign divines not generally 
 familiar to the English reader.
 
 310 ON MEDIATION. 
 
 DISS. iv. is styled a Priest, an Advocate, an Intercessor. 
 Acting for God, he undertakes to re-establish the 
 Divine authority upon earth, by recalling us to our 
 allegiance : acting for man, he undertakes to secure 
 our everlasting happiness, by obtaining frem God 
 our restoration to favour. This arrangement, which 
 removes " the enmity" subsisting between God and 
 man, is called the Gospel covenant or agreement. 
 
 From the nature of this covenant it sufficiently 
 appears, that Christ, our Mediator, is not an agent 
 for one party only. He is entrusted with the inte- 
 rests of both. Many Christians, however, in all 
 ages of the Church, have taken partial and there- 
 fore most erroneous views of the subject. Two 
 extremes of opinion, already adverted to, have 
 divided the Christian world. On the one side it 
 has not been sufficiently considered that the Medi- 
 ator acts for man, as well as God : on the other 
 side, it has with equal impropriety been forgotten, 
 that the Mediator acts for God as well as man. 
 On the one side is ranged the Socinian ; on the 
 other the Antinomian. The one excludes the 
 Mediator from the priesthood, or, in other words, 
 from interposing with God to secure human sal- 
 vation ; the other excludes the Mediator from his 
 kingly office, that is, from interposing with man to 
 secure the Divine authority. According to the one, 
 Christ is only a Ruler ; according to the other, 
 only an Advocate. The one overlooks his appoint- 
 ment to intercede; the other his appointment to 
 legislate. Both overlook his mediation.
 
 ON MEDIATION. 311 
 
 To examine and expose these two errors respec- DISS. iv. 
 tively, shall be the purpose of the present disserta- 
 tion. They are errors upon a subject of the last 
 importance. For the Christian religion consists 
 essentially and entirely in the doctrines relating to 
 the Mediator, and the duties arising from those 
 doctrines. If we neglect those duties, or miscon- 
 ceive those doctrines, our religion, however plausible 
 or imposing as a system of theology or of morals, 
 is not Christianity. And whatever we may sup- 
 pose with respect to heathens, whose ignorance is 
 unavoidable, we may rest assured, on the authority 
 of Scripture, that no man who has Christian know- 
 ledge within his reach, has any prospect of salva- 
 tion, without embracing fully and distinctly the 
 faith in Christ. Ignorance in our case must be 
 wilful. Misconception in our case can result only 
 from sinful prejudice, or from sinful neglect ! . 
 
 We shall begin then with the error of the Error of the 
 
 Socinians. 
 
 Socinians. We shall take the case of those who, 
 making Christ, contrary to the essential character 
 of a Mediator, an agent for one party only, regard 
 him merely as God's Mediator with us. They 
 acknowledge Christ as a King, a Prophet, a Legis- 
 lator, a Judge ; they reject him as a Priest, an 
 
 1 The reader, it is hoped, will at once perceive the reason why 
 mediation is the only doctrine of our Church, selected for discus- 
 sion in the present work. It is a doctrine so comprehensive as to 
 include every other, and one which, if sufficiently understood and 
 cordially embraced, must lead to general acquiescence in the arti- 
 cles of the Church of England.
 
 31:2 ON MEDIATION. 
 
 DISS. iv. Advocate, an Intercessor. They wisely desire the 
 aid of his authority and the sanction of his law 
 for enforcing moral duties ; but they proudly reject 
 the benefits of his atoning sacrifice. And where- 
 fore this rejection ? Why accept a mediator in the 
 one sense, and refuse him in the other ? Where- 
 fore such inconsistency? This question we shall 
 at once proceed to answer ; because, in discovering 
 the foundations of a false opinion, we make a 
 necessary step towards discovering wherein the 
 fallacy lies. 
 
 These refusers then, of Christ for their Advocate, 
 either imagine that they need no Advocate with 
 God ; that God is not so estranged from them as to 
 require interposition in their favour; that their 
 own righteousness, independent of any advocate to 
 recommend it, is sufficiently acceptable to God : 
 or they imagine that sin is amply atoned for by 
 repentance ; and that subsequent amendment is 
 abundant compensation for previous disobedience. 
 
 In this apology for Socinianism there are two 
 statements, one of which asserts, that, independent 
 of a mediator, human virtue is all sufficient ; and 
 the other that repentance is all-sufficient. We 
 shall examine these two statements in succession. 
 
 Necessity of With respect to the first of them, which asserts 
 
 a Mediator m 
 
 inconse- the'all-sufficiency of human virtue whoever con- 
 
 quence of. i i n 
 
 human de- suits attentively the Scriptures, will find in almost 
 
 pravity. . 
 
 every page a refutation of that erroneous notion. 
 The nature of man is there pronounced to be deeply 
 stained with hereditary corruption. We read that
 
 ON MEDIATION. 313 
 
 man is "conceived and born in sin 1 ," that the DISS. iv. 
 imagination of the thoughts of his heart is only evil 
 "continually 2 ," that to the question "Who can Proved 
 
 , , from Scrip- 
 
 Say, 1 have made my heart clean, 1 am pure ture. 
 
 from my sin 3 ?" the only answer is, that " all have 
 sinned 4 ," that "in many things we all offend 5 ," 
 that even the "just man falleth seven times a 
 day 6 ," that the whole world "is guilty before 
 God 7 ," and " lieth in wickedness 8 :" and that "the 
 heart of man is deceitful above all things, and 
 desperately wicked 9 ." This inherent depravity is 
 explained. " God made man upright, but he 
 sought out to himself many inventions 10 ." " By 
 one man sin came into the world, and death by sin, 
 so death passed upon all men, for that all have 
 sinned n ." " By the offence of one, judgment came 
 upon all men to condemnation la ." In these cir- 
 cumstances, a restoration or renewal of the human 
 character became indispensable for obtaining re- 
 newed access to the presence of the Divine 'Majesty. 
 These strong statements of Holy Scripture Proved 
 
 . , , . , from history 
 
 with respect to human depravity, are supported an 
 and borne out by history, by experience, and by 
 the universal suffrages of mankind themselves. 
 The tendency of the human heart to evil is pre- 
 supposed in all systems of religion, in all forms of 
 governmeDt, and in all plans of education. The 
 
 1 Psalm li. 5. 2 Gen. vi. 5. 3 Prov. xx. 9. 
 
 4 Rom. iii. 23. s James iii. 2. 6 Prov. xxiv. 16. 
 
 7 Rom. iii. 19. 8 1 John v. 19. Jer. xvii. 9. 
 
 10 Eccles. vii. 29. " Rom. v. 12. 12 Rom. v. 18.
 
 314 ON MEDIATION. 
 
 DISS. iv. leading object of the legislator and the magistrate 
 is to prevent or punish this evil tendency ; of the 
 poet and historian to describe it ; of the moralist to 
 counteract it ; of the philosopher to explain it. 
 And so difficult has the task of explanations-proved, 
 so perplexing to philosophy is the very early period 
 at which the germs of corruption in the infant 
 mind ripen to maturity that heathen sages were 
 driven to the supposition of pre-existence. They 
 imagined that the soul had previously lived in a 
 state of purity and perfection before its union with 
 the present body ; and had fallen from that state in 
 consequence of sin : and they were able, as they 
 supposed, to account for the early progress of the 
 child in vice, by reference to the vicious tendencies 
 acquired and developed in a former life. 
 Proved from Not only does the voice of mankind unite with 
 concessions the word of God in affirming the reality and the 
 nian him- extent of human corruption ; but our Socinian 
 himself, even our bold assertor of all-sufficient 
 human virtue whenever he is not engaged in actual 
 argument, and is not disputing the necessity of an 
 Advocate with the Father is ready to make the 
 same acknowledgment. In all his intercourse with 
 society, he takes for granted that there is much 
 depravity in the world ; that the world is full of 
 envy, pride, injustice, falsehood, malignity, and 
 uncharitableness. So far from thinking that the 
 unfallen, the uncorrupt and guileless beings, (as in 
 theory and in the ardour of debate he terms them,) 
 by whom he is surrounded, are deserving of im- 
 
 8
 
 ON MEDIATION. 315 
 
 plicit confidence ; he, in practice, evinces towards DISS. iv. 
 them no greater confidence than his orthodox 
 opponent. As a householder, he secures with bars 
 and bolts his person, his family, and his property 
 from midnight violence and depredation. As a 
 merchant or dealer, he secures his contracts with 
 notes, bonds, and parchments ; and endeavours to 
 preserve himself by these precautions from the 
 attempts of fraud and dishonesty. As a citizen, he 
 requires the government to provide for the safety of 
 the public, against mutual assault and outrage, not 
 only by legislative enactments and regulations of 
 police; but by the jail, the stocks, the scourge, 
 the halter, and the scaffold. In reading works of 
 general literature, which describe the human cha- 
 racter, this maintainer of human innocence expects 
 the strongest pictures to be drawn of depravity and 
 wickedness : he requires the failings and imperfec- 
 tions, even of the purest and noblest among mankind, 
 to be distinctly stated and drawn forth. He would 
 even be offended at the attempt to describe a 
 faultless being, and would indignantly affirm all 
 such attempted descriptions to be unnatural, since 
 no such being ever had existence upon the earth. 
 Lastly, as a parent or guardian, he is prepared 
 to counteract (by judicious warning, and perhaps 
 corporeal chastisement,) the bad propensities in the 
 heart of his young charge ; informing him that 
 such discipline is wholesome and salutary, and 
 forms a necessary remedy against his natural per-
 
 316 ON MEDIATION. 
 
 DISS. iv. verseness and untractableness l : and when the 
 
 youth approached to manhood, he would endea- 
 vour to make him " know the world," that is, to 
 put him on his guard against the artifice, the cun- 
 ning, the hypocrisy, the self-will and selfishness 
 prevalent in society. 
 
 It appears then that the objector who denies the 
 depravity of man, is systematically guided by the 
 very doctrine which he rejects ; and, indeed, never 
 denies man to be depraved, except when he wishes to 
 deny also, that man requires an Advocate with God 2 . 
 
 Let us now examine the second and subsidiary 
 assertion of the Socinian apolosrist, to disprove the 
 
 ency of re- 
 
 pentance. necessity of a Mediator with God, namely that 
 repentance is all-sufficient, as an expiation for sin. 
 We need scarcely observe on this point, that every 
 text throughout the sacred volume, which, (either 
 in the form of prophecy, of historic statement, or of 
 exhortation,) refers to the sacrifice of Christ, implies 
 the insufficiency of repentance without his expiatory 
 mediation. Every text also, which affirms faith 
 to be necessary for justification 3 , affirms repent- 
 
 1 If any consideration in such cases would prevail to arrest the 
 descent of the rod, it might be a suggestion from the young 
 offender, of the practical conformity implied by his punishment, 
 to the ninth article of religion. 
 
 * See South's Sermons, Dwight's Sermons, and Scott's Christ- 
 ian Life. 
 
 3 The reader who desires to see the whole subject of justifica- 
 tion fully and distinctly explained, will find no better treatise for
 
 ON MEDIATION. 317 
 
 ance without faith in Christ to be insufficient. DISS. iv. 
 " Wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our 
 iniquities, and with the chastisement of our peace 
 upon him, Christ suffered, the just for the unjust, ture 
 that he might bring us to God." The Lamb of 
 God " loved us, and washed us from our sins in his 
 blood. Justified by faith, we have peace with God 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ : not by works of 
 righteousness which we have done, but according 
 to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of rege- 
 neration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost." 
 Our Saviour, in his preaching, unites, on all occa- 
 sions, the two essentials for procuring pardon of 
 sin : his exhortation is, not simply " Repent ye," 
 but "repent ye and believe the Gospel ! ." The part- 
 ing charge of St. Paul to the Ephesian elders 
 summed up to them the whole course of his spiritual 
 ministration in reminding them, that " both pub- 
 licly, and from house to house, he had testified 
 repentance towards God, and faith towards our 
 Lord Jesus Christ 2 ." Every Christian reader will 
 easily supply from memory quotations without 
 number to the same effect. 
 
 The notion, moreover, that repentance indepen- Proved 
 dent of a Mediator must be all-sufficient, is con- 
 tradicted, not only by the word of Scripture, but 
 by other arguments resulting from our use of 
 reason and experience. 
 
 this purpose, than the " Homily on Salvation," referred to in our 
 Eleventh Article of Religion. 
 
 1 Mark i. 15. 2 Acts xx. 21.
 
 318 ON MEDIATION. 
 
 DISS. iv. By these universally-acknowledged guides, we 
 are led to the conclusion, that apart from other 
 considerations, 
 
 1. Repentance is not regarded by our Divine 
 Judge as a compensation for sin ; 
 
 2dly. That it ought not to be so regarded ; and 
 
 3dly. That it has never been so regarded by the 
 great body of mankind J . 
 
 The sentiments of our Divine Judge may be 
 collected from the course of nature. Under the 
 ordinary administration of the Providential govern- 
 ment on earth, repentance and amendment are not 
 found, by any means, to place the violator of natural 
 law in the same circumstances as if his sin had never 
 been committed. Each offender undergoes a por- 
 tion of suffering, from which no degree of sorrow or 
 of remorse can, of itself, deliver him. The volup- 
 tuary, who by sensual indulgence has destroyed 
 his health of body, is not, however earnest his 
 repentance, restored to soundness of constitution. 
 The detected peculator, however heartily he may 
 repent an act of dishonesty, does not regain the 
 happy privilege which he had forfeited of a charac- 
 ter for integrity. The ruined spendthrift, however 
 penitent for his prodigal career, does not reacquire 
 the fortune which he has squandered. These bitter 
 consequences, the penalties of sin in this life, are 
 prolonged (as we daily see them) by the Divine 
 
 1 See Butler's Analogy, passim. Also Magee on the Atone- 
 ment.
 
 ON MEDIATION. 319 
 
 Justice long after the sincere repentance which DISS. iv. 
 they have awakened. They establish, beyond con- 
 tradiction, the general principle, that repentance is 
 not regarded by our Almighty Judge the God 
 alike of nature and of grace as compensating for 
 previous delinquency. 
 
 Again: that repentance, exclusive of mediation, 
 ought not to be regarded as compensating for sin is 
 a dictate of our moral sense as clear and certain, as 
 the fact is certain, from experience and observation, 
 that God does not so regard it. The law of God 
 requires, at all times, the utmost exercise of every 
 faculty, physical, intellectual, and moral, in his 
 service. To his justice we are responsible for the 
 complete performance of this duty. When in any 
 instance we fall short of that complete obedience, 
 no future effort can supply our deficiency. No 
 resources are at our own disposal, from which we 
 might repay the debt incurred ; or compensate by 
 the labours of to-day for the defalcations, of any 
 former period. 
 
 A further reply to the Socinian objector is, that 
 his doctrine of all-sufficient repentance has never 
 been entertained by mankind, and is contradicted 
 by the universal practice of all nations, (from the 
 beginning of history,) in their religious rites and 
 ceremonies. The religion of every people through- 
 out the earth has more or less been expiatory : in 
 other words, sacrifices of some kind or other have 
 been offered for the purpose of supplying the defi- 
 ciencies of repentance, and of securing, if possible,
 
 320 ON MEDIATION. 
 
 DISS. iv. the forgiveness of the Deity from a humiliating and 
 fearful conviction, that mere amendment would be 
 of no avail. That this was the design of sacrifice 
 has never been denied. The victim, in all cases, 
 was intended to be an offering for sin ^and the 
 more costly the more effectual ; so that when in- 
 ferior sacrifices were thought inadequate, human 
 victims were substituted. It is to this deep and 
 overpowering sense of unexpiated guilt that the 
 prophet alludes when he ascribes this question to 
 the conscience -stricken penitent: " Wherewith 
 shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself 
 before the high God ? Shall I come before him 
 with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old ? 
 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, 
 or with ten thousands of rivers of oil ? Shall I give 
 my first-born for my transgressions ; the fruit of 
 my body for the sin of the soul ! ?" 
 
 The same sentiment pervades every other ordi- 
 nance of heathen worship. By various forms of 
 deprecation ; by costly incense ; by long and dan- 
 gerous pilgrimages ; by daily and even hourly 
 ablutions ; by penances and self-inflicted tortures, 
 too horrible to be contemplated all nations, (even 
 such as have agreed in nothing else,) have united 
 to declare their consciousness of a universal neces- 
 sity for some further recommendation to the Divine 
 Being than the personal repentance of his wor- 
 shipper. 
 
 1 Micah vi. C, 7.
 
 ON MEDIATION. 321 
 
 These various proofs from the course of nature, DISS. iv. 
 from our sense of Divine justice, from the concur- 
 ring sentiments of the great body of mankind, and 
 above all, from the declarations of Scripture, estab- 
 lish the necessity of a Mediator. We indispensably 
 need an advocate. Our best performances in the 
 sight of an all perfect Being, of " purer eyes than 
 to behold iniquity 1 ,'' will n t Dear inspection for 
 a moment. We are totally unworthy to hold any 
 direct communication with that supreme Lawgiver 
 whose authority we have defied. Through our 
 extreme degeneracy we have rendered ourselves 
 entirely unfit for any near approach to the Supreme 
 Majesty in the heavens. Under j these circum- 
 stances we can conceive no method by which our 
 pardon could be so effectually reconciled with God's 
 holiness, as by the appointment of a Mediator. 
 This method, accordingly, has been adopted. It 
 has succeeded. In the scheme of Christian re- 
 demption, " peace on earth and good will to man," 
 according to the angelic announcement, have been 
 made compatible with " Glory to God in the high- 
 est 2 :" " mercy and truth," to use the language of 
 the Psalmist, " have met together : righteousness 
 and peace have kissed each other 3 ." God may, 
 without danger of self-abasement, bend from his 
 everlasting throne freely to converse with man ; 
 and man, though meriting eternal condemnation, 
 
 1 Hab. i. 13. 2 Luke ii. 14. * Psalm Ixxxv. 10, 
 
 Y
 
 322 ON MEDIATION. 
 
 DISS. iv. may, without distrust or terror, draw near as freely 
 
 to God. 
 
 Fitness of The chief point thus demonstrated, and a neces- 
 tor chosen" s ^y for the mediatorial office satisfactorily proved, 
 there remains only a question as to \hejjness of 
 the intercessor chosen. Our Socinian opponents 
 may, on various grounds, attempt to invalidate his 
 competency ; even after owning the appointment of 
 some advocate with the Father to be indispensable. 
 They may dispute perhaps the right of the Father 
 to choose for them an advocate without consulting 
 them in the selection. They may remark that 
 when, in affairs of this world, an umpire between 
 two parties at variance is chosen, the choice to be 
 binding requires mutual consent ; and they carry 
 with them, indistinctly, the same notion into spi- 
 ritual concerns. 
 
 i. Because It must, no doubt, be admitted, that where two 
 by proper contending parties are equal, each of them has a 
 right to be consulted in the nomination of a medi- 
 ator between them ; and neither of them is under 
 any obligation to accept a choice made exclusively 
 by the other. But in cases where one party is 
 greatly superior to the other, or holds over the 
 other the right of entire sovereignty, it is sufficient 
 that the mediator be appointed by the sovereign. 
 The subject is bound by the sovereign's determi- 
 nation. For he who mediates between a sovereign 
 and his subjects, acts for him as vicegerent, and for 
 them as advocate. As the sovereign therefore has
 
 ON MEDIATION. 323 
 
 a right to the obedience of his subjects, whether DISS. iv. 
 they consent or not, and may at pleasure grant or 
 withhold his favours ; so likewise he may, whether 
 they consent or not, demand theirobedience by what 
 vicegerent he thinks fit, and bestow his favours by 
 what advocate he may choose to appoint. 
 
 The application of this statement to our condition 
 with respect to God is easily made. Almighty God 
 is the Sovereign Lord, and absolute Master of us 
 all. The right therefore of appointing a Mediator 
 between him and us belongs to him alone. That 
 right he has accordingly exercised. He has chosen 
 the blessed Jesus for the mediatorial office, to exer- 
 cise authority over man on the part of God, and to 
 procure mercy from God on the part of man. Jesus 
 is for this reason called the Christ, or anointed of 
 God, in allusion to the ancient solemnity of anoint- 
 ing with oil, the sign or token by which kings and 
 priests were consecrated to their respective digni- 
 ties. This title, therefore, of the Lord's anointed, 
 being applied to Jesus, denotes his appointment by 
 Almighty God to this eminent dignity of Mediator, 
 in which the two offices of King and Priest just 
 mentioned are included. Thus we are told : " Him 
 hath God exalted with his own right hand to be a 
 prince and a Saviour, to give repentance unto Israel 
 and forgiveness of sins 1 ;" that is, to insist, as 
 mediating for God, on repentance in Israel and 
 to procure, as mediating for man, forgiveness of 
 
 1 Acts v. 31. 
 Y 2
 
 324 ON MEDIATION. 
 
 DISS. iv. sins from God. And again it is written : " Let all 
 the house of Israel know of a surety that God hath 
 made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified, 
 both Lord and Christ 1 ;" that is, not an agent for 
 one party only, but both God's vicegerefft upon 
 earth, and our advocate in heaven. 
 
 It follows, therefore, that the want of our consent 
 in the choice of Christ for our advocate, is a vain 
 and a presumptuous objection. It follows that our 
 refusal of an advocate chosen by the Father, (and 
 by him formally designated to the office,) would be 
 an act of disobedience to our Almighty Sovereign, 
 equally subversive of his authority, and equally 
 deserving of punishment, with direct and avowed 
 rebellion. 
 
 But although the persons whose misconceptions 
 we are endeavouring to remove should thus far 
 agree with us, and should acknowledge both the 
 necessity of an advocate, and God's exclusive right 
 to appoint him ; they call perhaps in question on 
 another ground the fitness of the advocate ap- 
 pointed. They doubt his influence in the court of 
 heaven. They consider him as a mere creature 
 of God's power ; nay, as a mere human being. 
 They regard the distance between him and the 
 Creator as immeasurable. They suppose that such 
 an advocate, so far from being able to assist us in 
 our access to the Father, requires himself the inter- 
 vention of an advocate between him and God. 
 
 1 Acts. ii. 36.
 
 ON MEDIATION. 
 
 325 
 
 They conceive, in short, his advocacy to have almost DISS. iv. 
 as little chance of being effectual as their own. 
 
 Here we may address such persons as our Saviour 2. Because 
 
 possessing 
 
 addressed the Jews : ' Ye do greatly err, not sufficient 
 
 i . , (~i ,, >->,, . i ri influence 
 
 knowing the ocnptures '. Christ, in the ocnp- with God. 
 tures, is every where denied to be a mere human 
 creature. He is declared to be " the only begotten 
 Son of God 2 ." His acceptance of the mediatorial 
 character, is represented as a most surprising and 
 unexampled act of condescending mercy. " In 
 the form of God, and equal with God," he is 
 described as deigning by an exercise of grace 
 unspeakable and unbounded to "take upon him" 
 for our sakes, "the form of a servant 3 ." The 
 titles by which he is made known to us, express 
 majesty inconceivable. He is called " The Alpha 
 and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the first 
 and the last 4 ; "the Wisdom set up from the begin- 
 ning, or ever the earth was 5 :" " The Creator who 
 hath laid the foundations of the earth 6 ," "and with- 
 out whom was not any thing made that was made 7 ;" 
 "the mighty God 8 :" "The Lord of Glory 9 :" 
 The Jehovah who hath " life in himself, and quick- 
 eneth whom he will 10 ." He is said to be " over all 
 things: God blessed forever 11 ." He is called " one 
 with the Father 12 :" the eternal Word, who was "in 
 
 1 Matt. ii. 29. 
 4 Rev. i. 11. 
 
 7 John i. 3. 
 1U John v. 26. 
 
 2 1 John iv. 9. 
 5 Prov. viii. 23. 
 8 Isaiah ix. 6. 
 11 Rom. ix. 5. 
 
 3 Philip, ii. 7- 
 6 Heb. i. 10. 
 9 1 Cor. ii. 8. 
 12 John x. 30.
 
 326 ON MEDIATION. 
 
 DISS. iv. the beginning with God 1 ," and who " is the same 
 yesterday, to-day, and for ever 2 ." He is styled 
 " Emmanuel, or God with us 3 ;" " the Prince of 
 Peace 4 ;" the "great God our Saviour 5 ;" " through 
 whom we have access by our Spirit unto the 
 Father 6 ." What believer in the Scripture can 
 doubt the influence of such an advocate? Well 
 might the Psalmist affirm, that God hath " laid 
 help upon one that is mighty 7 ." 
 
 But the persons with whom we are contending, 
 in reference to the fitness of our advocate, may 
 now, as a last resource, affirm, that in proving 
 Christ a Divine person, we prove too much. We 
 make him as inaccessible as the Father. They no 
 longer think a Mediator expedient between Christ 
 and God ; but they now see plainly a necessity for 
 a Mediator between him and us. We need, say 
 they, an advocate to plead for us with the very 
 Advocate appointed to conduct our cause. 
 
 3. From his Here again, from ignorance of the Scriptures, 
 ur opponents " do greatly err." " The Word was 
 made flesh 8 ." the Lord of glory assumed the 
 form of a servant ; " the Son of God was made in 
 the likeness of men 9 ;" conceived of the Holy 
 Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, he suffered for 
 our redemption, was crucified, dead and buried. 
 Raised from the dead, he is now seated at the 
 
 1 John i. 2. 2 Heb. xiii. 8. 3 Is. vii. 14. Matt. i. 23. 
 
 4 Is. ix. 6. * Titus ii. 13. 6 Eph. ii. 18. 
 
 7 Ps. Ixxxix. 19. 8 John i. H. 9 Phil. ii. 7.
 
 ON MEDIATION. 3'27 
 
 right hand of the Father ; there, as an autho- DISS. iv. 
 rized and all prevailing advocate, to plead in our 
 behalf 1 . 
 
 What then can our adversaries reasonably urge 
 against this Advocate ? Admitting an advocate to 
 be necessary, acknowledging God's exclusive right 
 to appoint him, and confessing the Divine and 
 human natures to be united in his person, we have 
 every motive imaginable joyfully and thankfully to 
 avail ourselves of his gracious intervention. As 
 "the Son of God," the "well beloved of the 
 Father," he has interest unlimited at the court of 
 heaven. As the "Son of man," the friend and 
 Saviour of sinners, who was " on all points tempted 
 like as we are 2 , he is ' touched' in the highest pos- 
 sible degree with the feeling of our infirmities 3 ." 
 Nay more, by condescendingly undertaking, (to our 
 unspeakable admiration and everlasting comfort,) 
 the office of our advocate, he stands engaged to 
 interest himself as warmly in our concerns as if 
 they were his own. He stands identified with us. 
 He stands pledged to act as much for our advan- 
 tage, as we ourselves would act, if we, possessing 
 
 1 The force of this last mentioned Socinian objection, ap- 
 pears to be admitted by the Romanists, who, not considering 
 with due attention the doctrine of the incarnation, practise the 
 invocation of the Blessed Virgin, of saints and of angels, as 
 mediators with Christ. With respect to angels, it is curious to 
 remark, that we possess more of a kindred nature to Christ than 
 to them. He can be "touched wilh a feeling of our 'infirmities;" 
 (ftcij cannol. 
 
 3 Heb. iv. Jo. 3 Ibid.
 
 328 ON MEDIATION. 
 
 DISS. iv. his influence, were seated in his place, "at the 
 right hand of the Majesty on high 1 ." 
 
 We now dismiss Socinianism, and proceed, under 
 the second division of our subject, to examine the 
 opposite principles with which we have contrasted 
 it. This other erroneous extreme, that of the 
 Antinomians, is as frequent and dangerous as that 
 which we have been discussing. It is the error of 
 those who also misapplying, (though in an opposite 
 manner,) the doctrine of mediation, and making 
 Christ an agent for one party only, restrict him to 
 the office of pleading our cause with God. They 
 are willing to own him for man's mediator with 
 God ; but are unwilling to receive him for God's 
 mediator with man. They accept him as an advo- 
 cate : they refuse him as a king. They acknow- 
 ledge him as a priest, to expiate their sins : they 
 discard him as a lawgiver and a prophet, to establish 
 and explain to them the rules of their duty. 
 
 It was remarked of Antinomianism that it is not 
 only very ancient 2 , but admits of very numerous 
 varieties and degrees. Out of these we shall select 
 
 Antinomi- only the more prominent and dangerous. Respect- 
 
 anism of . ~ . 11 i 
 
 carpocra- mg Carpocrates, to whom allusion was made in the 
 short history at the commencement of this Essay, 
 no formal refutation can be required. Our only 
 
 1 Heb. i. 3. 
 
 2 The epistle of St. James is understood to have been written 
 against this heresy, which had arisen from misconstructions of 
 St. Paul's strong language respecting Justification by Faith. 
 Carpocrates, therefore, in the second century, only carried to 
 greater length a system which had previously existed.
 
 ON MEDIATION. 
 
 329 
 
 difficulty would be to discover, in the constitution DISS. iv. 
 of the human mind, what principle could have 
 given birth to such a monstrous system of moral 
 deformity. It seems unaccountable that any teacher 
 of religion should have been tolerated for a moment 
 in any age or country, who should affirm that, in 
 order to attain salvation, there was " an absolute 
 necessity for committing all sorts of crimes, and 
 for filling up the measure of iniquity." Could he 
 possibly imagine that, in order to appreciate the 
 Christian sacrifice, it was necessary to have been 
 guilty of notorious wickedness ? Did he conceive 
 that persons whose moral conduct has been, com- 
 paratively and in general, correct, are in danger of 
 depending upon their own good works, to the entire 
 or even partial exclusion of their Redeemer's merits? 
 while persons on the other hand who had commit- 
 ted gross and scandalous enormities, would alone 
 be deeply and penitentially impressed with a con- 
 viction of their unworthiness, and that without a 
 Saviour they were undone for ever ? If this was the 
 origin of the Carpocratian system, its founder does 
 not seem to have considered that the proper and 
 most effectual method of inculcating religious hu- 
 mility is not to depress but to elevate the scale of 
 moral duty ; not to encourage the commission of 
 great crimes, but to attach importance to the small- 
 est deviation from Christian propriety ; and that 
 the best proof of a wholesome state of conscience 
 is not its being only sensible of deep wounds, but 
 its having a quick and delicate perception of the
 
 330 
 
 ON MEDIATION. 
 
 Antinomi- 
 anism pro- 
 perly so 
 called. 
 
 DISS. iv. slightest incisions or punctures. In what degree 
 there may be Christians in modern times, who have 
 studied in the school of Carpocrates, and have un- 
 advisedly expressed themselves in conformity with 
 his extraordinary system we are not concerned to 
 determine. 
 
 We now come to the main position of Antinomi- 
 anism properly so called. The Antinomians of 
 this country have chiefly striven to maintain, that 
 believers, having already obeyed the Divine law in 
 the person of Christ, cannot be expected to obey it 
 in their own persons. A law, they allege, needs 
 only one obedience, i. e. either an obedience in our 
 own person or by substitute : whereas the reception 
 of Christ as a King implies two obediences to the 
 same law. Having, say they, the perfect righte- 
 ousness of Christ imputed to us, we cannot, with 
 any prospect of advantage, superadd an imperfect 
 righteousness of our own l . 
 
 1 A learned Dissenter, Mr. Joseph Boyse, of Dublin, observes, 
 " To our shame be it spoken, some writers that disclaim the 
 name of Antinomians, have yet ventured such absurd assertions 
 as these : That pardon is rather the condition of faith, and much 
 more, having a causal influence thereto, than faith and repent- 
 ance are of pardon : that as to the elect, there was never any guilt 
 upon them in the judgment of God : that justification is before 
 effec.tual vocation : that the doctrine of justification before faith is 
 not an error, but a great and glorious truth : that justification, in 
 regard to application, must be before believing : a believer is to 
 work from life, and not/or life : that the gospel is not the rule of 
 judgment, but the law only : we, through Christ's righteousness, 
 have a right to glory by Adam's covenant. It were easy to mul-
 
 ON MEDIATION. 
 
 331 
 
 This plausible system is overthrown at once by DISS. iv. 
 attending distinctly to the true nature of mediation. 
 A mediator or arbiter is not concerned for one side Answered, 
 only. God, on the one hand, has entrusted to 
 Christ the interests of his government ; as we, on 
 the other hand, have the privilege of committing to 
 Christ the interest of our souls. Christ, as Medi- 
 ator, has most solemnly undertaken to maintain his 
 Father's authority as well as to secure our salva- 
 tion. He will not act as the representative or 
 advocate of man, unless he is received also as the 
 representative or vicegerent of God. He will not 
 impute to us his righteousness, unless we endeavour 
 faithfully after personal sanctification. Faith has 
 been well denned, (and in this definition Antino- 
 mians themselves must unite with us) : " The re- 
 ception of Christ as he is offered to us in the Gospel" 
 But he is not offered only as an advocate, he is 
 also offered as a king. The two offices of advo- 
 cate and king belong inseparably to his mediatorial 
 dignity. 
 
 In reference to Antinomian principles it seems 
 important to observe, with what happy foresight 
 St. Paul anticipates and provides against the ten- 
 dency of our fallen nature to systems favouring 
 
 tiply expressions of the same vile sound, even used by such as 
 would take it ill to be called Antinomians." See Boyse's Works, 
 vol. i. folio, p. 451, published in London A.D. 1728, with a recom- 
 mendatory preface, by Calamy, Evans, Newman, c. Other 
 passages from Crisp, and various writers of the Antinomian 
 school, will be found in the same volume. 
 
 8
 
 33:2 ON MEDIATION. 
 
 DISS. iv. licentiousness. This great preacher of free grace 
 repeatedly supposes immoral inferences to be drawn 
 from his doctrine, and uniformly repels them with 
 indignation and abhorrence. Having stated, for 
 example, in his Epistle to the Romans, ho&f much 
 the grace of God is manifested through the sinful- 
 ness of man, he imagines that a claim to immunity 
 in sin might be grounded on this statement. " If 
 our unrighteousness," says he, " commend" (con- 
 firm or illustrate) " the righteousness of God ; what 
 shall we say ? Is" (not) " God unrighteous 
 who taketh vengeance ?" In other words, is not 
 God unjust to punish us for our unrighteousness, 
 which has been the means of magnifying his own 
 character ? To this impious question the Apostle 
 answers, " God forbid ! for then how shall God 
 judge the world l ?" Again, in the same Epistle, 
 the objection is a second time supposed ; " Do we 
 make void the law through faith ?" or do we by 
 asserting our justification through belief in Christ, 
 thereby invalidate the claims of God's law to our 
 obedience? And the answer is again returned; 
 " God forbid ! Yea, we establish the law V And 
 a third time, " What shall we say then ? Shall 
 we continue in sin, that grace may abound ? God 
 forbid! How shall we that are dead to sin, live 
 any longer therein 3 ?" In the same Epistle there 
 is one further passage to the same effect; " Shall 
 we sin," the Apostle asks, "because we are not 
 
 1 Rom. iii. 5. * Ibid. iii. 31. 3 Ibid. vi. 12.
 
 ON MEDIATION. 
 
 333 
 
 under the law, but under grace ? God forbid ! DISS. iv. 
 Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves ser- 
 vants to obey, his servants ye are to whom you 
 obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience 
 unto righteousness * ?" In his Epistle to the Gala- 
 tians, he once more supposes similar conclusions 
 to be drawn from his doctrine, and once more 
 denounces them in the same emphatic terms. " Is 
 Christ," he asks " the minister of sin?" And he 
 answers with horror ; " God forbid !" 
 
 We may add, that besides repeatedly condemn- 
 ing Antinomian heresies in the strong terms here 
 quoted, the Apostle mentions them continually 
 under the name of deceptions, and warns his readers 
 not to be deceived. " Know ye not," he writes in 
 his Epistle to the Corinthians, " know ye not that 
 the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of 
 God ? Be not deceived ; neither fornicators, nor 
 idolaters, nor adulterers, nor thieves, nor covetous, 
 nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the king- 
 dom of God 2 ." Writing to the Galatians he re- 
 peats the warning; " Be not deceived, for what- 
 soever a man soweth, that shall he also reap 3 ." 
 Again, in his Epistle to the Ephesians, after reckon- 
 ing up a long catalogue of sins, he adds, " Let no 
 man deceive you with vain words ; for because of 
 these things cometh the wrath of God upon the 
 children of disobedience 4 ." Passages of similar 
 
 1 Rom. vi. 15, 16. 2 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10. 3 Gal. vi. 7. 
 
 4 Ephes. v. 6.
 
 334 ON MEDIATION. 
 
 DISS. iv. import are to be found in the other Apostolic writ- 
 ings. " Be ye doers of the word," says St. James, 
 " and not hearers only, deceiving your ownselves V 
 So likewise St. John; "Let no man deceive you; 
 he that doeth righteousness is righteous, -even as 
 he" (Christ) "is righteous 2 ." 
 
 The Holy Scripture, therefore, every where dis- 
 claims in the strongest and most pointed manner 
 the Antinomian heresy. Unless we resolve upon 
 becoming dutiful subjects of the Almighty Sovereign 
 for whom Christ is arbiter, Christ will not plead our 
 cause. Is it not the duty of an arbiter or mediator 
 to act impartially for both the parties whom he 
 represents ? And is not Christ, for that reason, as 
 fully bound to reduce us under obedience, or to 
 punish us for impenitence, as to procure for us 
 restoration to favour ? Undoubtedly he is so 
 bound ; and undoubtedly he will discharge the 
 obligation. He will be no less a faithful vice- 
 gerent, than a faithful advocate. He will be not 
 less careful to see God obeyed or avenged, than to 
 see us pardoned and rewarded. He so entirely 
 loved us as to " lay down his life" for our salva- 
 tion : but he will not, for our sakes, betray his 
 Father's trust. He will not sacrifice his Father's 
 authority to our safety. He will not plead for our 
 pardon while we persist in our rebellion. On the 
 contrary ,when, (at his second coming,) he shall 
 reappear as the representative of God, this just and 
 
 1 James i. 22. John iii. 7.
 
 ON MEDIATION. 335 
 
 impartial Mediator, will render to "every man DISS. iv. 
 according to his deeds : to them who by patient con- 
 tinuance in well doing seek for glory, and honour, 
 and immortality, eternal life : but unto them that 
 are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but 
 obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tri- 
 bulation and anguish upon every soul of man that 
 doeth evil *". 
 
 We have now remarked upon two forms of 
 Antinomian heresy, sufficiently distinguished from 
 each other : namely, the doctrine of Carpocrates, 
 who thought it necessary to do evil ; and that of 
 the Antinomian, in the stricter sense of the term, 
 who consider good and evil in morals as matters of 
 indifference. We come, lastly, to a very large, Moderate 
 
 J ' . J ' Antinomi- 
 
 very influential, and much more important class, ans. 
 that of the moderate Antinomians ; who have, from 
 various preventive circumstances, been deterred 
 from making any great proficiency in the Carpocra- 
 tian theology. All persons comprehended under 
 this latter denomination, agree to consider some 
 parts only of the moral law as obligatory, while 
 they reckon other parts indifferent or unessential. 
 They disagree, however, as might be expected, in 
 reference to the particular portions of Scriptural 
 morality to be retained or disregarded. Some few 
 among the most remarkable of these defective 
 moralists may require attention. 
 
 But before proceeding to them, it is necessary to 
 
 1 Rom. ii. 610.
 
 336 ON MEDIATION. 
 
 DISS. iv. premise that (in the observations which follow,) we 
 make no allusion to any Christian who is really 
 desirous of keeping the whole law of God but 
 who, through the unavoidable infirmities of human 
 nature, finds himself unable, notwithstanding all 
 his exertions and all his prayers to accomplish this 
 great object of his spiritual ambition no allusion 
 to any Christian, who is sorrowfully alive to a sense 
 of his manifold deficiencies, confessing and lament- 
 ing those aberrations from moral rectitude which 
 he labours earnestly to avoid : we desire to confine 
 our view to that number, (nominally Christian, and 
 professing to expect salvation through Christ,) who 
 rest contented with mere partial obedience ; who 
 make no consistent efforts for their own spiritual 
 improvement ; and who, so far from studying to 
 keep the whole law, scruple not to offend in one 
 point, or rather to offend in many points, wilfully, 
 proudly, perseveringly. Such persons, in the eye 
 of the Church, are greater heretics, than many who 
 more frequently receive the name. 
 
 The For- We may begin, then, with some remarks upon 
 a numerous and outwardly respectable body, the 
 formalists, or formal Christians, who restrict the 
 obligations of Divine law to the observance of reli- 
 gious rites and ceremonies. This kind of partial 
 Antinomianism is older than Christianity itself. 
 Our Lord reproves it sharply in the instance of 
 the Scribes and Pharisees who made long prayers, 
 and practised frequent fastings ; who performed 
 continual ablutions ; made broad their phylac-
 
 ON MEDIATION. 337 
 
 taries ; observed carefully the Mosaic festivals ; DISS. iv. 
 never omitted an appointed sacrifice ; and who 
 scrupulously paid to the Levites their stipulated 
 dues, (even upon certain articles, as mint, anise, 
 and cummin, liable to be disputed :) but who 
 omitted at the same time the weightier matters of 
 the law, "justice, mercy, and faith 1 ." The Chris- 
 tian Church has, unhappily, been seldom free from 
 examples of like formalism. Among our supersti- 
 tious brethren of the Romish Church the same phari- 
 saical reliance is placed on similar devices of monas- 
 tic rigour, none of which are connected with real 
 virtue, but any or all of which are compatible with 
 the foulest profligacy. In our own Church, and in 
 other protestant communions where such practices 
 are discouraged, the same antinomian desire of 
 placing all religion in religious forms to the exclu- 
 sion of morality, is also fatally, though less excu- 
 sably indulged. For our rites and ceremonies are 
 few and simple; and our performance of them, re- 
 quiring but little time or effort, is no extraordi- 
 nary evidence of devotedness to God : though the 
 neglect of them would, for the same reason, imply 
 the utmost possible indifference about pleasing 
 him. A Romanist, in the daily practice of severe 
 penances and mortifications, has some excuse for 
 valuing himself on these his painful, frequent, and 
 laborious exercises ; and may well look down, with 
 some contempt or pity, upon the puny efforts of 
 
 1 Matt, xxiii. 23. 
 z
 
 338 ON MEDIATION. 
 
 DISS. iv. his Christian brethren, who, members of other 
 Churches, disregard, equally with himself, the 
 obligations of vital holiness ; yet can only offer in 
 its stead those comparatively light and easy tributes 
 of ceremony, which alone the most rigid formalist 
 among Protestants feels called upon to pay. 
 
 TheEntim- Next to the formalist or superstitious Antinomian 
 we may place the votaries of enthusiasm. They 
 confine the law of Christ to inward feeling, without 
 regard to outward conduct ; to the fervours of a 
 lively but fluctuating piety seated in the imagination 
 rather than in the heart 1 . A Christian of this 
 imaginative character holds himself in high esteem 
 for the extraordinary love which he thinks he bears 
 towards God and towards his Saviour. He can 
 describe in lofty and appropriate language the 
 mysterious grandeur of the Divine character, the 
 unspeakable mercies of redemption, and the tran- 
 scendent glories of the heavenly state. He can 
 lengthen out his prayers with great apparent ear- 
 nestness, with commendable aptitude to his circum- 
 stances, and frequently without previous meditation. 
 He can enlarge with considerable copiousness on 
 any passage chosen for exposition from the sacred 
 volume ; and can express his indignation at the 
 coldness, real or suspected, of those humbler indi- 
 viduals among his Christian brethren, whose piety, 
 
 1 See a recent work, entitled " The Natural History of Enthu- 
 siasm," where some valuable observations are made by an anony- 
 mous author, on this very frequent and very dangerous species of 
 error.
 
 ON MEDIATION. 339 
 
 (however sound, however scriptural, however spi- DISS. iv. 
 ritually and deeply rooted,) is less rapturous and 
 voluble than his own. But in the midst of all this 
 apparent fervour, the enthusiastic Antinomian seldom 
 cares to inquire what practical effects should follow 
 from his religious visions of extacy : his animation 
 is merely transient, vapoury, and occasional. It 
 produces no results of actual virtue, no efforts of 
 consistent holiness in his life and conversation. 
 Descanting with eloquence on the love of his Cre- 
 ator, he can leave the wants of his fellow-creatures 
 unsupplied. Discoursing with animation upon the 
 life and precepts and example of his Redeemer, he 
 can forget the use and application to himself of 
 that life, and of those precepts, and of that exam- 
 ple. Enlarging with commendable fluency on the 
 influences of the Holy Spirit, and soliciting with 
 apparent zeal this inestimable gift, he can omit all 
 serious inquiry how far he has been led and influ- 
 enced by the guidance which he prays for. In his 
 exercises of self-examination it is not his conduct 
 which he scrutinizes, but his feelings ; not what he 
 does, but what \\efancies ; not whether he becomes 
 from day to day, (through the operation of religious 
 principle,) a better subject of Almighty God, a 
 better man, a better Christian, a better member of 
 society more pure, more temperate, more peaceful, 
 more upright, and disinterested, more amiable, 
 gentle, and beneficent ; but whether his imagina- 
 tion continues in an equal degree excited, his com- 
 
 z 2
 
 340 ON MEDIATION. 
 
 DISS. iv. mand of scriptural expression undiminished, and 
 his sentimental fervour in devotion unabated. 
 
 The sect- But among the numerous descriptions of partial 
 Antinomianism, there is none more pernicious in 
 society than that variety which we shall ne^tt con- 
 sider, namely, that of the factious professors of 
 religion. Persons of this character confine all 
 religious duty to uncompromising zeal for the 
 interests of their own particular sect or party. 
 Devotion to this one object includes, as they prac- 
 tically expound it, the whole law of God. Towards 
 numbers of the same body, who entertain the same 
 opinion as themselves, they are kind and forgiving, 
 and beneficent. They promote at any cost, with 
 disinterested generosity, the objects of their own 
 particular communion. They would deem it scan- 
 dalous and unpardonable to scruple any sacrifice 
 of their time, their money, their strength, their 
 abilities on this altar of their bigoted idolatry. 
 On the other hand, towards any fellow-Christian 
 who has the misfortune, or perhaps the wisdom, to 
 differ from them, they are far from exercising with 
 equal readiness the laws of Christian charity. They 
 detract from his best qualities. They make but 
 small allowance for his infirmities. They look 
 with quiet consciences on their neglect of his dis- 
 tresses : and if political be added to religious con- 
 troversy, they are restrained perhaps, from visiting 
 him occasionally with inquisitorial rigours, not so 
 much from want of inclination as from want of
 
 ON MEDIATION. 341 
 
 power. We might be apt to wonder how any DISS. iv. 
 Christian, professing obedience to the Divine law, 
 could bring himself to entertain such partial and 
 erroneous views of moral duty. But it is a lament- 
 able characteristic of the factious religionist, that 
 he ascribes to the Divinity a participation of his 
 own narrow-minded partialities and antipathies. 
 He presumes Almighty God to entertain the same 
 sectarian prejudices as himself, and to regard with 
 such complacency the aspirations of party zeal, as 
 to overlook in the zealot a general neglect of moral 
 obligations. 
 
 To these illustrations of partial Antinomianism, Numerous 
 many others might be added. For in fact, every ties. 
 individual whose religious principles are such, that 
 he can pretend to j ustify himself in the perpetration 
 of any favourite sin, or the omission of any unwel- 
 come duty, is included in our catalogue of partial 
 Antinomians. We might, therefore, go on to 
 instance many who profess religion to the exclusion 
 of morality ; and many more who profess morality 
 to the subversion of religion. We might enumerate 
 the multitudes who select some one commandment 
 to which they unscrupulously refuse obedience, on 
 the plea that they observe others for breaking 
 which they have no temptation. We might with 
 still better reason bring forward the case of those 
 misguided persons, who seem to have made a 
 determination never actually to perform the will 
 of God ; but to be heartily sorry at the hour of 
 dissolution, for having left it unperformed. We
 
 342 ON MEDIATION. 
 
 DISS. iv. might advert lastly, to the case of persons who are 
 satisfied, in general, with moderate attainments in 
 religion; and who disregard the injunctions with 
 which the pages of the Gospel abound, to advance 
 in holiness ; to " grow in grace J ;" to " goom unto 
 perfection 2 ;" to " press towards the mark for the 
 prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus 3 ." 
 
 Concluding To all these various adherents of Antinomian 
 heresy, we would once for all, and finally recom- 
 mend a frequent and solemn meditation upon the 
 character and office of their Divine Saviour, as 
 Mediator between God and man. Let them call 
 up to view the stupendous trust with which he 
 is invested no less a trust than the vindication of 
 God's eternal Justice, and the restoration of the 
 Divine authority over the hearts and wills of man- 
 kind. Let them reckon up the powers he has 
 received, and the means he has exerted for accom- 
 plishing this great object of his mediatorial mission. 
 Did a Mediator descend for man's redemption, to 
 purchase with his blood an undefiled church, a 
 church which should be pronounced a temple of 
 the Holy Ghost and shall Christians be satisfied 
 with degrees of moral virtue which heathenism 
 would be ashamed of? Was the Son of God a 
 sufferer on the cross only that the formalist might 
 be satisfied with an unsubstantial, shadowy, and 
 inoperative religion, practising mechanically the 
 means of grace, but careless to secure the ends? 
 
 1 2 Pet. iii. 8. ' Heb. vi. 1. 3 Philip, iii. 14.
 
 ON MEDIATION. 343 
 
 Did the Redeemer of the world lay down his DISS. iv. 
 life only to receive from the rapturous vision- 
 ary a return of empty, heartless, unproductive 
 professions ? Has the Prince of Peace shed the 
 influences of his spirit, and revealed a law of 
 mercy, and charity, and good will to men only 
 that the votary of faction might spread discord, 
 and malice, and envy, and uncharitableness ? Or, 
 lastly, can such a Mediator have been appointed, 
 or can he have undertaken, " armed with all power 
 both in earth and heaven 1 ," to restore the Divine 
 authority among our fallen and rebellious race 
 only that we might content ourselves with mode- 
 rate attainments, and make no effectual efforts for 
 " perfecting holiness in the fear of God 2 ?" 
 
 1 Matt, xxviii. 18, 2 2 Cor. vii. 1.
 
 NOTES. 
 
 NOTE (A.) 
 
 ATTEMPTS have been made to show that the ancient Monks of 
 North Britain, called " the Culdees," whose chief settlement was 
 at lona, among the Western Isles, were an exception to the rule 
 in the text. But after the complete refutation in the very able 
 and learned inquiry upon this subject, prefixed by Dr. Russell 
 to his new edition of Keith's catalogue of Scottish Bishops, that 
 notion will not probably again be urged. 
 
 Episcopal succession among the Waldenses and Albigeneses, is 
 fully proved by Dr. Allix, in his elaborate and valuable work, 
 entitled " Some Remarks upon the Ecclesiastical History of the 
 Ancient Churches of Piedmont," printed in 1690. In his preface 
 he declares his design of proving with respect to both these 
 Churches, (viz. the Waldenses and Albigenses,) that, in claiming 
 to have derived their original from the Apostles, they advanced 
 nothing which was not exactly conformable to the history of the 
 ages past, from the time of the Apostles to the thirteenth century. 
 " This" he adds, " I shall endeavour by making out the succes- 
 sion of these Churches, as well with respect to their doctrine and 
 worship, as with respect to their ministry." Accordingly, this 
 author in his twenty-fourth chapter, page 239, argues and 
 establishes this point at considerable length, and shows that not 
 only in Piedmont itself, but also in different parts of Europe 
 where W T aldensian principles were diffused, the jurisdiction of 
 Bishops was upheld. In the course of his argument, he remarks 
 " if we cast our eyes upon the colonies they" (the Waldenses) 
 " have sent to several places, we shall find the same discipline in
 
 346 NOTES. 
 
 use amongst them. Thus we see, in the kingdom of Naples, they 
 had a superior who conferred orders in the city of Aquila. We 
 find the same thing in Bohemia, in the confession of faith they 
 presented to Uladislaus, p. 836. Ordinandi majoribus, aut mino- 
 ribus ordinibus promovendi vita virtuosa in Christu fide, &c. 
 The same is observed in an ancient abridgment of the opinioas of 
 the Waldenses, recorded by Wolfius. Lect. Memor. ad ann. 1160, 
 p. 380. They absolutely deny the Pope's primacy over all 
 churches, and more especially his power over all policies, that is, 
 his power of both swords ; neither do they hold that any other 
 orders ought to be retained except those of Priests, Deacons, and 
 Bishops." 
 
 In page 241 of the same work, we find him quoting Com- 
 menius, A.D. 1644, to prove that the Waldenses, according to 
 their own declaration, had lawful Bishops among them : and a 
 lawful and uninterrupted succession from the Apostles themselves. 
 
 In page 203 the learned Doctor mentions the following among 
 the great controversies between the Waldenses and the Church of 
 Rome, namely, " whether it was necessary to be subject to the 
 Pope in order to be a member of the true Church which the Popes 
 absolutely pretended, having to that end invaded the authority of 
 almost all metropolitans that naturally were auto-cephali, that is, 
 subject to no church authority above themselves out of their 
 Diocese." 
 
 NOTE (B.) 
 
 From some passages to be met with in the letters of that learned 
 person, Henry Newton, ambassador extraordinary from the Queen 
 of Great Britain to his Royal Highness the Grand Duke of 
 Tuscany, it appears plainly that this great man, Hugo Grotius, 
 had the highest opinion of the Church of England. In a letter 
 to John Clerc, there is the following passage, taken from a letter 
 written from Genoa, by Viscount Scudamore, at that time ambas- 
 sador from England to France, to Archbishop Laud : " The next 
 time I see Ambassador Grotius, I will not fail to perform your 
 commands concerning him. Certainly, my Lord, I am persuaded 
 that he doth unfeignedly and highly love and reverence your per-
 
 NOTES. 347 
 
 son and proceedings. Body and soul, he professeth himself to be 
 for the Church of England ; and gives this judgment of it, that 
 it is the likeliest to last of any Church this day in being." See 
 Archdeacon Daubeny's Guide to the Church, vol. 2. p. 282. 
 
 NOTE (C.) 
 
 The universal consent of the Church being proved, " there is 
 as great reason to believe the Apostolical succession to be of 
 Divine institution, as the canon of Scripture, or the observation of 
 the Lord's day. We do not doubt that it is unlawful to add to, 
 or to diminish from the canon of Scripture ; and yet there is no 
 plain text for it with respect to all the books contained in it ; 
 and some of the books were a long time disputed in some 
 Churches ; but the Churches coming at last to a full agreement 
 in this matter, upon due search and inquiry, hath been thought 
 sufficient to bind all after-ages to make no alterations in it. 
 And as to the Divine institution of the Lord's day, we do not go 
 about to lessen it, but only to show, that some examples in Scrip- 
 ture, being joined with the universal practice of the Church in its 
 purest ages, hath been allowed to be sufficient ground not only 
 for following ages to observe it, but to look on it as at least an 
 Apostolical institution. Now it cannot but seem unequal, not to 
 allow the same force where there is the same evidence ; and, 
 therefore, our Church hath wisely and truly determined, that since 
 the Apostles' time there have been three orders, of Bishops, 
 Priests, and Deacons, and that these in a regular well-constituted 
 Church are to continue to the world's end." (Bishop Stilling- 
 fleet's Ordination Sermon.) 
 
 NOTE (D.) 
 
 And that Timothy and Titus had not this power committed to 
 them as Evangelists, which our adversaries pretend, is most cer- 
 tain, because Evangelists as such had not that power. For then 
 mere Deacons might have ordained and governed Priests, for such 
 was Philip * the Evangelist. And it is most certain that he pre- 
 
 1 Compare Acts xxi. 8 with Acts vi. 5.
 
 348 NOTES. 
 
 tended not to any such authority '. For when in the prosecuting 
 his office of an Evangelist, (whose duty it was to convert un- 
 believers,) he had converted a great many at Samaria, and baptized 
 them, he pretended not to confirm them, by the laying on of hands, 
 or to settle any Church offices amongst them, but gave notice of 
 what he had done to the Apostles, and they sent two of their 
 own order for this purpose. Wherefore, though it should be 
 admitted that Timothy and Titus were both Evangelists, which 
 yet cannot be proved, this alone, if they were not Bishops also, as 
 the Evangelists commonly were, could give them no authority to 
 ordain Presbyters, or govern particular churches, as the one did 
 Ephesus, and the other Crete. But they (as the late Right 
 Reverend 2 Bishop of Worcester very well remarks) " who go 
 about to unbishop Timothy, and Titus, may as well unscripture 
 the Epistles that were written to them, and make them only some 
 occasional writings, as they make Timothy and Titus to have been 
 some particular and occasional officers. But the Christian Church 
 preserving these Epistles as of constant and perpetual use, did 
 thereby suppose the same kind of office to continue, for the sake 
 whereof these excellent Epistles were written, and we have no 
 greater assurance that these Epistles were written by St. Paul, 
 than we have that there were Bishops to succeed the Apostles in 
 the care and government of Churches." See Brett on Church 
 Government, p. 63. 
 
 NOTE (E.) 
 
 St. James, the brother of our Lord, is called an Apostle, and 
 yet he was not in the number of the twelve, but he was Bishop of 
 Jerusalem. First : That St. James was called " an Apostle," 
 appears by the testimony of St. Paul : " But other Apostles saw 
 I none, save James, the Lord's brother 3 ." Secondly: That he 
 was none 6f the twelve appears also, because among the twelve 
 Apostles there were but two Jameses ; the son of Alpheus, and 
 James, the son of Zebedee, the brother of John. But neither of 
 these was the James, whom St. -Paul calls " the Lord's brother." 
 
 1 Acts viii. 5. &c. * Dut. and Rights of Parish Clergy, p. 1 1. 3 Gal. i. 19.
 
 NOTES. 349 
 
 And this St. Paul intimates, in making a distinct enumeration of 
 all the appearances which Christ made after the resurrection ' : 
 " First to Cephas, then to the twelve, then to the five hundred 
 brethren, then to James, then to all the Apostles." So that here 
 St. James is reckoned distinctly from the twelve, and they from 
 the whole college of the Apostles ; for there were, it seems, more 
 of that dignity than the twelve. But this will also safely rely 
 upon the concurrent testimony of Hegesippus, Clement, Euse- 
 bius, Epiphanius, St. Ambrose, and St. Jerome 2 . Bishop Taylor 
 on Episcopacy, section iv. 
 
 NOTE (F.) 
 
 And it will be a further confirmation of the Episcopal authority 
 of the seven Angels in their several Churches, if it be shown from 
 the most early accounts of the Primitive Church, that Bishops 
 were settled in<all the seven Churches, at or near the time when 
 this Epistle was sent to them. Now this Epistle, with the rest of 
 the Revelation, if we may believe 3 Irenaeus and 4 Eusebius, was 
 written towards the time of Domitian's death, when St. John lived 
 in exile in Patmos ; and we are told that in a very short time after 
 Domitian's death, being recalled from banishment by Nerva, he 
 went to Ephesus, and took upon him the care of the Church of 
 that city in the presence of seven Bishops *. I will not affirm, 
 that these seven Bishops presided in the seven Churches we are 
 speaking of; though some think they did, both because the num- 
 bers agree, and all these seven Churches lay within the Procon- 
 sular Asia, whereof Ephesus was the Metropolis. But thus much 
 we may safely pronounce, that if Bishops were settled at that time 
 in other cities thereabouts, there is no reason to think these seven 
 Churches, every one of which was in a city of note, were without 
 Bishops. And to descend to particulars, it can scarce be doubted, 
 but there was a Bishop in Ephesus when the Revelation was 
 
 1 1 Cor. xv. 
 
 * Vide Carol. Bovium in Constit. Apost. Schol. Hieron. de Script. Eccl. in 
 Jacob, et in Galat. 1. Epiphan. Haeres. ^8, ^9. Tract. 124 in Johan. 
 
 3 Advers. Haeres. lib. v. cap. xxx. 4 Eccles. Hist. lib. iii. cap. xviii. 
 
 5 Martyrium S. Timothei apud Photium Bibliothec. cod. 254.
 
 350 NOTES. 
 
 written. For in the next age after this, Polycrates, who was 
 born within a short time after St. John's death, is well known to 
 have been Bishop of Ephesus. And to come nearer to the time 
 we are speaking of, Ignatius, who suffered martyrdom about the 
 tenth year of Trajan, (which at the most was not above twelve 
 years after St. John returned from Patmos,) in his epistle totthe 
 Ephesians, speaks of Onesimus, their Bishop, whom he exhorts 
 all of them, Presbyters and Deacons, as well as private Christians 
 to obey. And to carry this account yet a little higher, Timothy 
 was made Bishop of Ephesus by St. Paul : and there was an un- 
 interrupted succession of twenty-seven Bishops from him to the 
 time of the great Council of Chalcedon, as was before shown from 
 the public acts of that Council. So that here was a Bishop 
 mentioned a little before the Revelation was written, and again 
 not long after, besides a constant succession of many Bishops 
 from the foundation of this Church for several ages after. Then 
 if we proceed to the rest of the seven Churches, not long after 
 St. John's time, Sagaris was Bishop of Laodicea. He is spoken 
 of by the forementioned Polycrates in his Epistle to Victor 1 , as 
 one who suffered martyrdom in the past times ; that is, when 
 Servilius Paulus was Proconsul of Asia, as we learn from Melito's 
 Tract about Easter, who was himself Bishop of Sardis, in the 
 reign of Marcus Aurelius 2 . And if the Roman Martyrology may 
 be credited, Sagaris was one of St. Paul's disciples : so that very 
 near the time we are speaking of, we find a Bishop in Laodicea ; 
 and not long after this, another in Sardis. When Ignatius wrote 
 his epistle to the Philadelphians, they had a Bishop, whose 
 gravity, modesty, and other virtues Ignatius commends, and ex- 
 horts the Philadelphians to be dutiful to him. The old Roman 
 Martyrology speaks of Carpus, Bishop of Thyatira, who suffered 
 martyrdom under Antoninus, who was Emperor in the next age 
 after the Revelation was written. If the commentary of Arethas 
 on the Revelation, compiled out of the ancient Fathers, may be 
 credited, Antipas, whom our Lord calls his faithful martyr 3 , was 
 
 1 Euseb. Eccles. Hist lib. v. cap. xxiv. 
 2 Euseb. Eccles. Hist. lib. iv. cap. xxvi. 3 Rev. ii. 23.
 
 NOTES. 351 
 
 Bishop of Pergamus. And if we may judge of the rest by the 
 Church of Smyrna, (and there is no reason why we should not, 
 since the Angel of this city is not described as different from the 
 rest,) we shall no longer doubt, whether they were governed by 
 Bishops in this first age of Christianity ; it being certain, that 
 Polycarp, who is allowed by all to have conversed with the 
 Apostles, was Bishop of Smyrna. He is so called by Polycrates 
 in his forementioned epistle to Victor, who was thirty-eight years 
 old, when Polycarp suffered martyrdom, and therefore is a witness 
 without exception. And the same title is given him by the 
 Church of Smyrna, in their Epistle concerning his martyrdom, 
 which is still extant in Eusebius 1 . Ignatius his contemporary, 
 who wrote an Epistle to Polycarp, and another to the Church of 
 Smyrna, not only calls him Bishop of Smyrna, but exhorts all the 
 Church of Smyrna, Presbyters and Deacons, as well as Laymen, 
 to be obedient to him. Lastly, we are assured by Irenaeus, 
 who was Polycarp's disciple, that he was ordained Bishop of 
 Smyrna by the Apostles 2 . So that here is sufficient evidence 
 for the presiding of Bishops in the seven forementioned Churches 
 in or soon after the time in which the Revelation was written ; 
 and indeed more than could well have been expected from the 
 short and imperfect accounts which are left us of the Church in 
 that age. Potter on Church Government, chap. iv. p. 151. 
 
 NOTE (G.) 
 
 Haec sunt ab Eusebio adeo diligenter luculenteque exposita, 
 ut Dallaeus ipse dixerit, Fatemur Eusebium illas Epistolas 
 agnoscere, et pro vere Ignatianis habere : neque dissimulamus 
 eas de quibus ille verba facit has ipsas fuisse videri, quae his hodie 
 nominibus circumferuntur ! quales eas Reverendissimus Usserius 
 Latine, eruditissimus Vossius Grace, ex libris ille Anglicanis, hie 
 Medicaeis ediderunt. Pearson. Vind. Ignat. cap. ii. p. 8. 
 
 Cum tot omnium sseculorum testimonia adduxerimus, nihil 
 
 1 Eccles. Hist. lib. iv. cap. xii. 
 3 Irenaeus, lib. Hi. cap. iii. Eusebius Eccles. Hist. lib. iii. cap. xxxvi. 
 
 10
 
 352 NOTES. 
 
 ulterius, quod ad Argumentum Externum attinet, desiderari posse 
 videatur ; TO yap TOOOVTOIQ ndpruaiv avTirtivtiv 7rapa7r\7j^tae 
 <7xarr/c* tot enim et tantis testibus refragari extremae deraentiae 
 est, ut loquitur Theoderetus Dialogo 1. Et tamen repertus est 
 Blondellus, qui in praefatione rotunde dixerit, Sed plenam illis 
 ipsis quas confictas putamus Epistolis fidem liabuere Patres ; 
 Quid turn ? Ain vero, Quid turn ? Turn certe habemus Argu- 
 mentum a testimoniis petitum de scripto Viri Apostolici Eccle- 
 siastico locupletissimum firmissimumque et quale numquam adhuc 
 quenquam fefellit; neque si caetera respondeant, quae in Argu- 
 mento interne aiferemus, fallere potuisse putandum est. Hoc ut 
 dilucidius appareat, ex ante dictis nonnulla observabimus, et 
 quam ea vim ad fidem faciendam habeant, turn ex testibus ipsis, 
 turn ex ipsorum testimoniis perpendemus. Ibid. cap. iii. p. 24. 
 
 NOTE (H.) 
 
 " Thus I have represented the belief of St. Cyprian and his 
 contemporaries, as to the Divine right of Episcopacy. The num- 
 ber of depositions, that this Divine right was then universally 
 believed, is very great. It was the belief of all the Bishops, and 
 by good consequence (all things considered) of all the Christians 
 of Africa. It was the belief of Bishops, Clergy, and the people 
 of Rome ; the best evidence that can be expected of the common 
 faith of the European ; of Dionysius and Origen, two unexcep- 
 tionable witnesses of the faith of the Egyptian ; and of Alexander 
 and of Firmilian, every way as famous witnesses of the belief of 
 the Eastern or Asiatic Churches. It was, indeed, the belief of all 
 persons, of all orders, degrees, ranks, and qualities. Bishops, 
 Presbyters, Deacons, inferior Ministers, Martyrs, Confessors, 
 persevering Christians, perfidious Lapsers, orthodox Believers, 
 Heretics, Catholics, Schismatics, Clergy, Laics, learned, un- 
 learned, &c. Not so much as one testimony in the monuments 
 of that age to the contrary. No article of the Christian faith 
 more unanimously, more uncontestedly, more universally received. 
 I will be bold to challenge G. R. or any Presbyterian in Scot- 
 land, to produce one witness of whatsoever quality, I shall not
 
 NOTES. 353 
 
 say formally deposing, but probably insinuating, that Prelacy 
 was an human invention : an office introduced into the Church 
 after the days or by a lesser authority than that of the Apostles." 
 
 " Shall I add another consideration of no small weight in this 
 matter ? "Tis this : No age of the Church, assignable, wherein 
 Christians closer adherents to Divine authority, or stricter observ- 
 ers of Divine institutions ; or nicer requirers of Divine warrant, 
 for every thing proposed to be received by them. Never age, 
 wherein innovations more carefully guarded against; or human 
 inventions more zealously rejected ; or recessions from Divine 
 appointments more religiously remonstrated against or repudiated. 
 On all occasions, and in all controversies, our blessed martyr 
 St. Cyprian (therein imitated by all his contemporaries, Stephen 
 himself not excepted) recurs to Divine authority ; requires Divine 
 precept or warrant ; rejects whatever is without it. He repro- 
 bates with keenness, and heights of indignation, the plea of custom 
 in every case where a command cannot be produced. Indeed, he 
 doth not allow them to be Christians who forsake Christ's insti- 
 tutions, and in their stead set up their own contrivances. I 
 might easily fill some sheets with testimonies to this purpose : 
 nor was it peculiar to him to be so nice and cautious in this 
 matter : not one of his contemporaries otherwise minded. This 
 I say, might be largely insisted on and most fully proved. But 
 it is needless : not a page almost in the monuments- of those tunes 
 but affords copious evidence." 
 
 " Only one thing, therefore, I shall instance in. It is that 
 which is our present concernment the government of the Church. 
 St. Cyprian is not more peremptory about any one thing, than 
 that there ought to be no recession from Divine ordinance and 
 institution, either in the constitution or the practice of it. This 
 is the great argument he uses with his people, to oblige them to 
 desert and disown Felicissimus and his complices ; viz., that the 
 Schismatical party was acting plainly contrary to God's ordinance, 
 in stirring up the Martyrs and Confessors, and the Lapsers against 
 the Bishop 1 . And that for that party to absolve the Lapsers 
 
 1 Hi fomenta olim quibusdam Confessoribus et hortamenta tribuebant, ne 
 
 A a
 
 354 NOTES. 
 
 without the Bishop, was a new tradition of sacrilegious institu- 
 tion, set up against the evangelical discipline : that, therefore, his 
 people ought courageously and resolvedly to reject the party, and 
 carefully abstain from all communication with it. This same is 
 likewise his great argument against the Roman Schismatics ; those 
 who did set up Novatianus, an Anti-Bishop, against the one. true 
 Bishop. He says, to do so was contrary to the evangelical law : 
 and by consequence to set up another, that it is not a Christian, 
 but an Antichristian Church. Or as he elsewhere words it, a 
 Human Church, a Church of man's invention. So plain and 
 peremptory was St. Cyprian against all innovations, even in the 
 point of government : so careful was he to keep by Divine institu- 
 tion." Bishop Sage's Vindication, p. 531. chapters 55, 56, 57. 
 
 NOTE (I.) 
 
 " Maximus was once a familiar friend of Gregory Nazianzen's, 
 at such time as he was Bishop of Constantinople ' ; and by him, 
 having taken a good liking to him, admitted into the clergy of 
 that Church. But Maximus being an ungrateful wretch, corn- 
 plots with others like himself, to be made Bishop of that city : 
 and thereupon negociates with Peter, then Patriarch of Alexan- 
 dria, to ordain him Bishop of the same ; which being done 
 accordingly (for Maximus was by birth of Egypt, and possibly 
 might have good friends there, besides his money), and the whole 
 city in a great distemper about the business : the whole cause 
 came at last to be debated in the first general Council of Con- 
 stantinople 2 . Where on the full hearing of the matter it was 
 thus decreed, viz., that Maximus neither was to be taken for 
 a Bishop /u/rc rove Trap' avrov ytipoTovi)QivTag t nor any of those 
 he had ordained to be accounted of the Clergy, or remain in any 
 order or degree thereof. Where note, that howsoever Maximus 
 
 concordarent cum Episcopo suo, nee Ecclesiasticam Disciplinam cum fide et 
 quiete juxta praecepta Dominica continerent Acne parum fuisset corrupisse 
 quorundam Confessorum mentes et contra Sacerdotiuin Dei portionem ruptae 
 fraternitatis armare. Ep. 43, p. 82. 
 
 1 Greg. Presb. in vita Nazian. 2 Cone. Const, i. cap. 4.
 
 NOTES. 355 
 
 came unlawfully unto the Bishoprick of Constantinople, by means 
 whereof all the acts done by him as a Bishop were made void 
 and frustrate : yet if as a Presbyter, to which degree he had been 
 lawfully ordained by Nazianzen, he might give the imposition of 
 hands ; the Presbyters by him ordained, would have held good 
 still." 
 
 " But the next case comes nearest to the business yet, as it is 
 thus reported in the Council of Sevil l before remembered. A 
 Bishop of the Church of Spain being troubled with sore eyes, 
 and having some presented to him to be ordained Presbyters and 
 Deacons, did only lay his hands upon them, suffering a Presbyter 
 that stood by, to read the words of ordination. This coming to 
 be scanned in the aforesaid Council, upon mature deliberation, it 
 is thus determined. First, for the Presbyter which assisted, that 
 for his boldness and presumption, he had been subject to the 
 Council's censure, but that he was before deceased : next for the 
 Presbyter and Deacons, who were so ordained, that they should 
 actually be deposed from all sacred orders, concluding thus, 
 " Tales enim merito judicati sunt removendi, quia prove inventi 
 sunt constituti," that they were worthily adjudged to lose those 
 orders, which they had wrongfully received. So little influence 
 had the Presbyters in the essential parts of ordination, as that 
 their bare reading of the words (though required to it by the 
 Bishop) was adjudged enough, not only to make them liable to 
 the Church's censure, but also for their sakes to make void the 
 action. Nay, so severe and punctual was the Church herein, that 
 whereas certain Bishops of those times, whether consulting their 
 own ease, or willing to decline so great a burthen, had suffered their 
 chorespiscopi, as well those which were simply Presbyters, as such 
 as had Episcopal ordination (for two there were) to perform this 
 office ; it was forbidden absolutely in the one, limited and re- 
 strained in the other sort, as by the canons of the two ancient 
 Synods of Gangra and Antioeh 2 doth at full appear." Heylyn. 
 chap. iv. part i. page 227. 
 
 1 Concil. Hisp. ii. cap. 5. 
 1 Concil. Gangrens. can. 13. Concil. Antioeh. i. can. 10. 
 
 A a 2
 
 356 NOTES. 
 
 (NOTE J.) 
 
 " From the testimonies of particular persons, I will proceed to 
 the testimony of whole churches. I will begin with the Aposto- 
 lical canons, which (as Dr. Beveridge has learnedly proved in his 
 Annotations on them) were constitutions made by diverse councils 
 held in the second and third centuries. They tell us that 1 a 
 Bishop shall be ordained by two or three Bishops ; and a Pres- 
 byter and Deacon by one Bishop 2 . That a Bishop, Priest, or 
 Deacon, must not put away his wife under pretence of religion 3 . 
 That a Bishop, Priest, or Deacon, ought not to involve himself 
 in secular affairs 4 . That a Priest or Deacon leaving the diocese 
 to which he belongs, and going into another to dwell there, with- 
 out the consent of his Bishop, and being required by his Bishop 
 to return, will not, shall be excommunicated. Indeed, almost all 
 these canons, which are eighty-five in number, have something 
 in them shewing Bishops and Presbyters to be distinct orders. 
 The Council of Eliberis, A.D. 305, mentions the three orders of the 
 clergy in several canons s . It forbids Bishops, Priests, and 
 Deacons to leave their churches to exercise merchandise. It 
 declares 6 , that when any person falls sick, he ought to be received 
 into communion by the Bishop ; but if the sickness be violent, 
 the Priest may grant him communion, and even the Deacon, if 
 the Bishop command him. The Council of Aries, A.D. 314 7 , 
 forbids one Bishop alone to ordain another, and then immediately 
 subjoins that neither Priests nor Deacons should relinquish the 
 churches in which they were fixed by ordination ; that is, the 
 diocese in which they were ordained. The general Council of 
 Nice also, some few years after this of Aries, makes a most ap- 
 parent distinction between the orders of Bishop and Priest, espe- 
 cially where it expressly ordains * that neither Priests nor Deacons 
 shall be received into another Church without the consent of their 
 Bishop." 
 
 " The Novatians which returned to the communion in their re- 
 
 1 Can. 2. * Can. 5. Can. 6. 4 Can. 15. 
 
 Can. 18. Can. 32. ? Can. 20, 21. Can. 16.
 
 NOTES. 357 
 
 cantation and confession, said these words : ' We are not ignorant 
 thai there is one God and Christ, one Holy Ghost, one Bishop in 
 one Church.' " 
 
 " The Council of Laodicea, A.D. 321, Can. 41, That no cler- 
 gyman ought to travel without the consent of his Bishop. And 
 Can. 56. That the Presbyter ought not to go into the Church and 
 sit in their seats till the Bishop come, and go in with the Bishop." 
 
 " The Council of Gangra, A.D. 326. If any have private meet- 
 ings out of the Church without their Presbyter be with them, let 
 them be anathematized by the sentence of the Bishop. And Can. 
 7. If any will take or give of the fruits offered to the Church, 
 without leave of the Bishop, let him be anathema." 
 
 " The Council of Antioch, A.D. 341, Can. 3. If any Presbyter 
 or Deacon, leaving his own parish shall go to another, and refuse 
 to return when his own Bishop shall summon him, let him be 
 deposed. And Can. 22. That a Bishop ought not to ordain Pres- 
 byters or Deacons in another Bishop's diocese without his leave." 
 
 " The second great general Council at Constantinople, A.D. 381, 
 ranks those with heretics who, though they profess the true faith, 
 yet run into schism, and gather Congregations apart from, and in 
 opposition to our canonical Bishops." Brett. Chap. 5, page 81. 
 
 (NOTE K.) 
 
 The following are some of Bishop Maddox's observations on 
 that widely circulated dissenting work, Neale's History of the 
 Puritans : 
 
 " Mr. N. is extremely fond of a parity among the Clergy, and 
 has taken too much pains in that cause. It was an excess of zeal 
 to press the pious reformers and King Edward's ordinal into this 
 service. The committee (says he) soon finished their ordinal, 
 which is almost the same with that now in use : they take no 
 notice in their book of the lower orders in the church of Rome, 
 as Subdeacons, Readers, Acolytes, &c. but confine themselves to 
 Bishops, Priests, and Deacons ; and here it is observable that the 
 form of ordaining a Priest and a Bishop is the same, there being 
 no express mention in the words of ordination whether it be for 
 the one or the other office. This has been altered of late years,
 
 358 NOTES. 
 
 since a distinction of the two orders has been so generally admit- 
 ted ; hut that was not the received doctrine of these times. 1 ' Thus 
 again: " We may observe (says he) from the history of this 
 reign (King Edward's), that the first reformers believed but too 
 orders of churchmen in Holy Scripture, viz. Bishops and Deacons ; 
 and consequently the Bishops and Priests were but different 
 ranks or degrees of the same order." In like manner elsewhere : 
 " Our first reformers admitted but two orders of Church ofiicers, 
 to be of Divine appointment, viz. Bishops and Deacons ; a Pres- 
 byter and Bishop, according to them, being but two names for the 
 same office." " By this account it is plain Mr. N. would have it 
 believed that Bishop and Priest were, in the opinion of the first 
 reformers, synonymous terms, signifying not only the same order, 
 but the same office too ; being, as he says, but two names of the 
 same office. His material proof is the public ordinal ; and, to be 
 sure, if any where the reformers speak distinctly, it is when they 
 are designedly treating upon this subject, and appointing the very 
 forms of ordination and consecration. Here then we join issue, 
 and both appeal to the same ordinal as a decisive proof. 
 
 Mr. N.'s assertion, page 82, is in these words : " The first re- 
 formers believed but two orders of Churchmen in Holy Scripture, 
 viz. Bishops and Deacons." The very same reformers, in the 
 very same ordinal he refers to, make the following express decla- 
 ration : 
 
 " It is evident unto all men, diligently reading Holy Scripture, 
 and ancient authors, that from the Apostles' time there have been 
 these orders of Ministers in Christ's Church, Bishops, Priests, and 
 Deacons." 
 
 " Without stopping for one reflection, let us go on to his next 
 assertion, which runs thus." Maddox's Vindication, p. 59, 60. 
 
 The Bishop proceeds further to refute Neale's assertion, but 
 the reader will not require the argument to be pursued. 
 
 (NOTE L.) 
 
 The following are the passages referred to in the text : 
 The learned Hooker thus states the controversy : " The ine- 
 quality which they (the anti-episcopalians) complain of is, that
 
 NOTES. 359 
 
 ofie minister of the word and sacraments should have a permanent 
 superiority above another ; or, in any sort, a superiority of power 
 mandatory, judicial, and coercive over other ministers : by us, on 
 the contrary side, inequality, as unto Bishops, being ministers of 
 the word and sacraments, granteth a superiority permanent above 
 ministers ; yea, a permanent superiority of power mandatory, 
 judicial, and coercive over them, is maintained a thing lawful 
 and good : for one pastor hath superiority of power above an- 
 other, when either some are authorized to do things worthier than 
 are permitted to all ; or some are preferred to be principal agents, 
 the rest agents with dependency and subordination." Alluding 
 to the concession of Calvin, that Bishops in the ancient Church 
 mere as much superior to Presbyters as the Consuls of the year in 
 ancient Rome to the body of Senators, Hooker says, " This is as 
 much as we require." Eccl. Polit. book vii. sec. iii. 
 
 Let us next hear Bishop Bilson thus addressing the advocates 
 of parity : " First allow to the Bishop the right and authority 
 due to him by Divine right, and then add, as his associates, 
 whomsoever ye are entitled." Primum episcopijus et atictoritatem, 
 divinojure debitam concedite, deinde quoscunque debetis, ei socios 
 adjungite. De perp. ecc. guber. p. 360. 
 
 The following are the words of Dr. Field, " We make not the 
 power of Bishops to be princely, but fatherly ; so that as the 
 Presbyters may do nothing without the Bishop,' so he may do 
 nothing without their presence and advice." Lib. v. 27. p. 499. 
 
 The learned Thorndike thus writes, " By the appointment of 
 the Apostles the body of Christians contained in each city, and 
 the territories thereof, is to constitute a several Church, to be 
 governed by one chief ruler, called a Bishop, with Presbyters, or 
 Priests, subordinate to him for his advice and assistance, and 
 Deacons to minister and excite their appointment." See epilogue 
 to the tragedy of the Church of England, 1659. book 3. chap. 16. 
 p. 145. 
 
 The opinion of Barrow, expressed in his celebrated treatise on 
 the Pope's supremacy, is to the same effect. " At first each 
 Church was settled apart, under its own Bishops and Presbyters, 
 
 and every Bishop, as a prince, in his own Church, did act freely 
 8
 
 360 NOTES. 
 
 according to his will and discretion (that is, without dependence 
 on any superior) with the advice of his ecclesiastical Synod," or 
 college, " of Presbyters." 
 
 Stillingfleet in his reply to Baxter speaks very plainly on this 
 subject, and describes that leader of the Non-conformists, " run- 
 ning upon this perpetual mistake, that the Engligh Episcopacy 
 is not a succession to the ordinary part of the Apostolic power in 
 governing Churches, but a new kind of Episcopacy, not heard of 
 in the ancient Church, which swallows up the whole power of the 
 Presbytery, and leaves them only a bare name of Curates." See 
 Unreasonableness of Separation, part iii. sect. xi. 
 
 Sherlock, in his defence of Stillingfleet, speaks the same lan- 
 guage with that distinguished vindicator of the Church, and states 
 the question between the Episcopalian and the anti-Episcopalian 
 to be this : "Whether Christ and his Apostles instituted a parity 
 or an imparity of officers in the Church ? whether Bishops and 
 Presbyters be equal ? or whether Bishops have a superior power, 
 office, order, or degree, call it what you please, over Presbyters?" 
 He elsewhere says : " We may easily observe in ancient writers, 
 (who acknowledge the Episcopal pre-eminence) that they used to 
 denote the governors of the Church by one common name. For 
 though the authority of Bishops and Presbyters is very different, 
 yet they both have authority in the Church ; and, therefore, when 
 the ancients were not concerned to distinguish the different de- 
 grees of power, they included them both in one common name, 
 as joint governors of the Church." pp. 345. 359. 
 
 We may refer lastly to the ablest of all asserters of Episcopal 
 pre-eminence. " From the Epistles of St. Paul themselves," says 
 Bishop Pearson, "what we affirm is plainly manifest, namely, 
 that " in particular Churches certain peculiar and special persons 
 were placed over all the co-equal Presbyters, with a jurisdiction 
 over the previously appointed, and that those peculiar and special 
 persons were placed by the Apostle Paul himself, with greater 
 and pre-eminent power, over those Presbyters whom he himself 
 had invested with an equal power." Quippe ex ipsis Sancti Fault 
 epis tolls id quod a nostris asseritur liquide constat ; nempe in 
 particularibus ccclesm singulares aliquos et speciales viros prce-
 
 NOTES. 361 
 
 positos fuisse omnibus presbyteris inter se cequalibus cum juris- 
 dictione supra illos presbyteros prius ordinatos ; illosque singu- 
 lares et speciales viros ab ipso Apostolo Paulo us presbyteris 
 quos ipse pari cum potestate instituerat, cum majori et exorti 
 polestate super impositos fuisse. De Succ. prim. Romae episc. 
 
 NOTE (M.) 
 
 A letter of Dr. Peter de Moulin the son, Prebendary of 
 Christ Church, Canterbury, one of His Majesty's chaplains, 
 touching a passage for Episcopacy, written by Mr. David Blon- 
 del, in his Apologia pro Hieronymi Sententia, but left out at the 
 entreaty of the Presbyterians. 
 
 " MY REVEREND BROTHER, 
 
 " To cast my mite into that rich treasury which you are now 
 furnishing, I must inform you of a remarkable passage very 
 pertinent to your purpose. In the year 1651, that great and 
 good man, my Lord Primate Usher, told me that the learned 
 Mr. David Blondel had concluded his Apologia pro Hieronymo 
 with the words to this purpose : By all that rve have said to 
 assert the rights of the Presbytery, rve do not intend to invalidate 
 the ancient and Apostolical constitution of Episcopal pre-eminence. 
 But me believe that wheresoever it is established conformably to the 
 ancient canons it must be carefully preserved, and wheresoever by 
 some heat of contention or otherwise it hath been put down or 
 violated, it ought to be reverently restored. The good Primate 
 told me besides, that whereas the book had been written at the 
 earnest request of the assembly of Westminster, of the Scots 
 especially, who had their agents and leaguers in Paris to strengthen 
 their party by misinforming the Protestants of France, and win- 
 ning them to their side. When these agents saw this conclusion 
 of Mr. Blondel's manuscript, they expostulated with him very 
 loud for marring all the good he had done in his book, disappoint- 
 ing the expectation of the assembly, and showing himself an 
 enemy instead of a friend to their holy covenant. This they 
 urged upon him with such vehemency and unwearied importunity, 
 that they prevailed with him to put out that conclusion. Having 
 received that information from a person of so much knowledge
 
 36*2 NOTES. 
 
 and integrity, as that famous Prelate, yet for a further confirma- 
 tion, I told it to Mr. John Blondel, (David's brother,) then living 
 in London, who denied that there was any truth in that report, 
 and defended his brother as much wronged by it. ' If you think' 
 (said I) ' that I wrong your brother, complain to him of me in 
 your next letter, and remember my kind service to him.' ^M.r. 
 John Blondel did not fail to write to his brother about this ; and 
 three or four weeks after showed me a letter from him, wherein he 
 remembered his love to me, and acknowledged that the relation 
 was true. 
 
 " This advice I thought myself obliged to give you, knowing that 
 no man can make a better use of it than yourself, to whose holy 
 labours about this point, the Church is so much indebted, and 
 none more your debtor in the Church, in that regard, than, 
 
 " Sir, 
 " Your most affectionate 
 
 " Brother and Servant, 
 
 " PETER DU MOULIN." 
 
 The following are some of the passages from Blondel referred 
 to in the text : 
 
 Hinc extremse, ut compugnantia, sic falsa de Episcopatu 
 sentientium opiniones emerserunt, dum alii qui rem ipsam a 
 vitiis adnatis nequaquam distinguunt, nee meminisse dignantur, 
 oC oufote renews KCU aOpoov tVt ri]v KCLKICLV tTwredq. l , primam ilium 
 electorum icar' tKK\T)oiav presbyterorum, qui postea restricto voca- 
 buli usu Episcopi dicti sunt, a sanctis Dei Martyribus promanentem 
 institutionem, ut purum putum Antichristianismum (praeter meri- 
 tum) exhorrent, nee sine corruptelis, quas primis institutoribus 
 imputare audent, extitisse unquam putant. Praef. p. 50. 
 
 Cum igitur suo res quaeque pretio aestimanda veniat, Episco- 
 patum (qua presbyterio supereminet) verus ac proprius honor 
 manere debet, ut Ecclesiastica institutio (quod revera est) habea- 
 tur. Praef. p. 51. 
 
 To these quotations from the preface, others may be added 
 from the body of the work. Thus (p. 53.) he tells us that the 
 
 1 Chrysl. in Matt. Horn. 8?.
 
 NOTES. 363 
 
 non-episcopal model of Church polity which he contends for, 
 was not designed by the Apostles to be unchangeable, but 
 was delivered " ut mutabilem et pro usu ac arbitrio ecclesiae 
 mutandam." 
 
 In page 193 this learned author proceeds ; " At (inquies) 
 eminentiores a canonibus veterique more factos presbyteros, 
 divinitus instituto munere in Ecclesia fungi, negari non potest : 
 Assentior lubens ; unicus enim ubique est, fuitque ab initio 
 Christianorum Episcopatus, quern Christi (sive revera sive in 
 speciem) servi, non qua vTrepl-^ovrfs collegarum praesules, et pres- 
 byteriorum praepositi, sed qua presbyteri, 
 &tTc, presbyteriorum albo adscript! administrarunt; 
 per se considerata, ad Ecclesiarum regimen absolute, ki 
 annexa vTrtpox'/ ad regiminis modum solamque ivrafyav per- 
 tineat ; quam suo semper arbitrio permissam seculorum omnium 
 credidit Ecclesia : nee opus sit vel ad triplicis Episcopatus (divini 
 scilicet, humani, et satanici) distinctionem quae fratrum nostrorum 
 ante annos circiter 50 quadam teneritudine (ut Auxiliaris prse- 
 fecti l de Romanis verbis utar) plus trahi solitas aures Aerius 
 pupugit, confugere ; vel quicquid humana Christum profitentium 
 consuetude in divinorum usu ausa est, nefas putare : cum 2 lege 
 fidei manente caetera jam disciplinae et conversationis admittere 
 novitatem correctionis, suasque in rebus hujusmodi Christianas 
 prudentiae partes obire licere in confesso sit ; nee ulla (etiam nunc) 
 Ecclesia in exemplum trahi possit, quae ex generali hoc divini 
 juris 3 praecepto iravra IVV^THIOV^Q KO.I Kara ra^tv yivtaSu, quae- 
 cunque et decentiora et commodiora sequendi plenam sibi potes- 
 tatem factam non censeat." 
 
 For further passages to the same effect see p. 54. 157. 364. 
 
 NOTE (N.) 
 
 The followers of Blondel are commonly obliged to make con- 
 cessions point by point as represented in the text ; but their 
 great master foresaw at once, that unless he gave his prime 
 Presbyters a very close resemblance to Bishops, his system would 
 
 1 Vita Hilarii Arelat. * Terfull. de Vug. Vel. c. 1. * 1 Cor. xiv. 40.
 
 364 NOTES. 
 
 be beset with difficulties that he might be unprepared for, (impro- 
 visis difficultatibus, pref. p. 7.) He affirms, therefore, that prime 
 Presbyters existed in the Church from the very beginning, under 
 the auspices of the Apostles. He allows that they not only had 
 a constant precedence, but exercised authority over the Presby- 
 ters ; declaring that the right of presiding without the righj of 
 exercising authority, is an absurdity unworthy of a child to men- 
 tion : (pueris ludibrium, p. 37-) He declares that Bishops were 
 not elected to their office by the Presbyters, but succeeded by 
 seniority, and held the station for life. He calls their jurisdiction a 
 peculiar pre-eminent power (singularis qucedam et exors potestas :) 
 a power in which they could have no colleagues, but successors 
 only : (prcef. p. 35.) He calls his prime Presbyter a prince or 
 captain of his brethren (fratrum e^ap^oc.) He admits that our. 
 Saviour, in his Epistles to the seven Churches of Asia, addressed 
 the prime Presbyters, and made them responsible for the con- 
 duct of the Churches under their primacy or prime Presbyterian 
 jurisdiction, (prcef. p. 6.) And finally, he concedes that the 
 prime Presbyter acquired Episcopal prerogatives towards the 
 middle of the second century, at Jerusalem, A.D. 135 or 136, at 
 Alexandria, A.D. 143, and at Rome about A.D. 140. In short 
 Blondel explicitly declares that he is no Aerian : and labours no 
 point more anxiously than to vindicate St. Jerome (whom he 
 follows) from the charge of maintaining the Aerian heresy. See 
 especially his Preface, p. 59. 
 
 Salmasius, next to Blondel, the most learned supporter of 
 Presbyterian discipline, and the most frequently appealed to by 
 Anti-episcopaliam writers, thinks it necessary to admit the still 
 earlier origin of Episcopacy, and repeatedly declares that Bishops 
 existed from the beginning, the Apostolic age itself alone ex- 
 cepted. Sciunt rem esse antiquissimam, ut duo hi ordines in 
 ecclesid fuerint distincti, episcoporum et presbyterorum, si exci- 
 piantur apostolica tempora. (Walo. Messalin. p. 7.) Mention- 
 ing elsewhere (p. 181.) the change from the Presbyterian to the 
 Episcopal form of polity, he dates it after the death of the 
 Apostles, Peter and Paul, post Apostolorum Petri etPauli obitum; 
 and though he adds, haud stalim, not immediately, yet we can
 
 NOTES. 365 
 
 hardly suppose that he refers to any period later than the death of 
 St. John ; though he certainly would not allow that the change 
 took place under the sanction of that Apostle. For further pas- 
 sages to the same effect, see pp. 117. 119. 144. 177. 248. 283. 
 419. 
 
 (NOTE O.) 
 
 " His institution of the Lord's prayer tells us that he held con- 
 formity with the Church in the public exercises of religion. They 
 that are of opinion that the Lord's prayer was not given for a 
 form to he used ' totidem verbis,' that it is not fit to be joined 
 with our prayers, that it is not fit to be said by all, because all 
 may not call God ' our Father ;' did they but clearly see, in 
 what conformity to the practice in the Jewish Church, both the 
 prayer was given, and every petition and phrase in it doth go, 
 they would be of another opinion, if they be not espoused to their 
 own." 
 
 " The surest and safest construction of phrases and passages in 
 the New Testament is not by framing a sense of our own, which 
 we think fair and probable, but by observing how such phrases 
 and passages were understood by them to whom they were then 
 uttered, according to the common use and signification of such 
 phrases and passages, in the vulgar sense and use of the nation. 
 It is not what conceits or constructions we can mint out of our 
 invention, to maintain the opinions about this prayer, that I men- 
 tioned before ; but it is best to cast, how the disciples, to whom it 
 was given, did or could conceive of it, upon such observations on 
 it as these." 
 
 " They knew that such forms of prayer were usual in the 
 nation : that such forms were given by masters to their scholars, 
 to be used ' verbatim :' that such were to be subjoined to their 
 other prayers : that the most common title, whereby the whole 
 nation called God, was ' our Father which art in Heaven :' that 
 every petition in this prayer was such as was also usual in the 
 nation : so that they saw that Christ had given this prayer directly 
 according to the custom, style, and form of the nation, and that 
 he had given no exception to them about it. Therefore, how
 
 366 NOTES. 
 
 could they understand or conceive of it, according to the common 
 custom of the nation in such cases, but that it was to be used ' in 
 terminis,' and to be joined to their prayers ?" 
 
 (NOTE P.) 
 
 The dialogue adverted to is carried on between a country gen- 
 tleman and a minister of God's word, and has, at page 3, the 
 following strange aspersion on the occasional omission of the dox- 
 ology in our prayer-book. 
 
 GENT. The conclusion, For thine Is the kingdom and the 
 power and the glory for ever, is left out almost every time : ought 
 it to be left out ? 
 
 MIN. No, verily ; the leaving of it out, as superfluous, is a 
 controuling of our Saviour Christ, who in his wisdome thought fit 
 to put it in. 
 
 GENT. Saint Luke doth leave it out, Chap. xi. 4 ; therefore 
 the service-booke may leave it. 
 
 MIN. Not so ; for Saint Luke was but a penman to write 
 what Christ commanded : therefore not St. Luke but Christ did 
 leave it out. 
 
 GENT. Why did Christ leave it out ? 
 
 MIN. Because it was sufficient that he had caused St. Mat- 
 thew to put it in. Mat. vi. 13. 
 
 GENT. Why doth the service-booke leave it out? 
 
 MIN. -Because the masse-booke doth leave it out. 
 
 GENT. Why doth the masse-booke leave it out ? 
 
 MIN. Because Anti-Christ, the Pope, will leave none of his 
 Church (neither Priest nor people) to give so much honour and 
 glory unto God. 
 
 NOTE (a.) 
 
 " St. Peter's custody of the keys was a temporary, not a per- 
 petual authority. Its object was not individuals, but the whole 
 human race. The kingdom of heaven upon earth is the true 
 Church of God. It is now, therefore, the Christian Church. 
 Formerly the Jewish Church was that kingdom. The true Church 
 is represented in this text, as in many passages of holy writ,
 
 NOTES. 367 
 
 under the image of a walled city, to be entered only at the gates. 
 Under the Mosaic economy these gates were shut, and particular 
 persons only could obtain admittance, Israelites by birth, or by 
 legal incorporation. The locks of these gates were the rites of 
 the Mosaic law, which obstructed the entrance of aliens. But 
 after our Lord's ascension, and the descent of the Holy Ghost, 
 the keys of the city were given to St. Peter, by that vision which 
 taught him, and authorized him to teach others, that all distinc- 
 tions of one nation from another were at end. By virtue of this 
 special commission, the great Apostle applied the key, pushed back 
 the bolt of the lock, and threw the gates of the city open for the 
 admission of the whole Gentile world, in the instance of Cornelius 
 and his family. To this, and to this only, our Lord prophetically 
 alludes, when he promises to St. Peter the custody of the keys. 
 No authority over the rest of the Apostles was given to St. Peter, 
 by the promise made to him, in either or in both its branches ; 
 nor was any right conveyed to him which could descend from him 
 to his successors in any see. The promise was, indeed, simply a 
 prediction, that he would be selected to be the first instrument 
 in a great work of Providence, which was of such a nature as to 
 be done once for all ; and being done, it cannot be repeated. The 
 great Apostle fulfilled his commission in his life-time. He ap- 
 plied his key he turned back the lock, he loosed and he bound. 
 The gates of the kingdom of heaven are thrown open the cere- 
 monial law is abrogated the moral is confirmed ; and the suc- 
 cessors of St. Peter in the see of Rome can give neither further- 
 ance nor obstruction to the business." Bishop Horsley's Sermons, 
 vol. i. pp. 293296. 
 
 NOTE (R.) 
 
 " That our Lord really referred to this declaration of Peter, 
 relating to his own Divine dignity, as being the true rock, 
 on which he would build his Church, is established beyond 
 contradiction by our Lord himself, in the clear distinction 
 which he maintained between the stone (TrtVpoe petros) and 
 the rock (TrtYpa petra) by the accurate grammatical terms in 
 which both these words are expressly recorded. For whatsoever 
 may have been the language in which they were really spoken,
 
 368 NOTES. 
 
 perhaps in Chaldee or Syriac, yet in this point the Greek record 
 is our only authoritative instructor. The first word, irlrpoe, being 
 a masculine noun, signifies merely a stone ; and the second word, 
 Trtrpa, though it is a feminine noun, cannot signify any thing of 
 less magnitude and importance than a rock, or strong mountain 
 of defence. The true meaning of the name was at first declared 
 by our Lord to be Cephas, a stone : and a learned commentator, 
 Edward Leigh, Esq., asserts, that Trerpog doth always signify a 
 stone, never a rock." Critica Sacra, p. 325. 
 
 "With respect to the first, the wordTreVpoe, petros in its higher 
 figurative sense of a stone, when applied to Peter, can represent 
 only one true believer, or faithful member of Christ's Church ; 
 that is, one out of the great multitude of true believers in Christ, 
 who as figurative stones, form altogether the glorious spiritual 
 building of Christ's Church, and not the foundation on which that 
 Church is built; because the figurative character cannot, con- 
 sistently with truth, be applied to any other person than to God 
 or to Christ alone. And though even Christ himself is some- 
 times, in Holy Scripture, called a stone (\idog, but not TrtVpoc,) 
 yet whenever this figurative expression is applied to him, it is 
 always with such a clear distinction of superiority over all other 
 figurative stones, as will not admit the least idea of any vicarial 
 stone to be substituted in his place ; as, for instance, He is 
 called " the head stone of the corner," (Psal. cxxiii. 22.) " in 
 Zion a precious corner stone," (Isa. xxviii. 16.) by whom alone 
 the other living stones of the spiritual house are rendered " accept- 
 able to God ;" as St. Peter himself (previous to his citation of 
 that text of Isaiah) has clearly declared in his address to the 
 Churches, dispersed throughout Pontus, Galacia, Cappadocia, 
 Asia, and Bithynia ; wherein he manifestly explains that very 
 text of Isaiah as follows: "Ye also" (says the Apostle) "as 
 living stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to 
 offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God, by" (or through) 
 " Jesus Christ ;"(! Pet.ii. 5.) thus plainly acknowledging the true 
 foundation on which the other living stones of the primitive 
 Catholic Church were built, in order to render them acceptable 
 to God as " a holy priesthood." 
 
 And the Apostle then proceeds (in the very next verse) to his
 
 NOTES. 369 
 
 citation of the above mentioned text from Tsaiah, "Wherefore 
 also" (says he, ver. C.) " it is contained in the Scripture, Behold, 
 I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious ; and he that 
 believeth on him ; (iir' avry on him that is, on Jesus Christ, the 
 only chief corner stone) shall not be confounded. Unto you, 
 therefore, which believe, (he) is precious ; (or an honour ; as 
 rendered In the margin) ; but unto them which be disobedient, 
 he, (c, also) the stone which the builders disallowed, the same 
 (PVTOQ for there is no other person that can be entitled to this 
 supreme distinction in the Church) is made the head of the 
 corner." 
 
 " And a due consideration of the second noun Trt'rpa, a rock, 
 will produce exactly the same effect ; that is, it will demonstrate 
 that the supreme title of the rock, which in other texts of Holy 
 Scripture, is applied to Jehovah, or God alone (as I have already 
 shown) most certainly was not intended by our Lord to be under- 
 stood as applicable to his disciple Peter ; but only to that true 
 testimony, which St. Peter had just before declared, concerning 
 the Divine dignity of the Messiah; 'Thou art the Christ the 
 Son of the living God.' " 
 
 " I have already remarked that irt'rpa, (a rock) is a feminine 
 noun ; and a clear distinction is maintained between irerpog the 
 masculine noun in this text, and the said feminine, noun jrt'rpa, 
 the rock, by the grammatical terms in which the latter, in its 
 relatives and articles, is expressed, which are all regularly feminine 
 throughout the whole sentence ; and thereby they demonstrate 
 that our Lord did not intend that the new appellation, or nominal 
 distinction, which he had just before given to Simon, (viz. TrtVpoc, 
 the masculine noun in the beginning of the sentence) should be 
 construed as the character of which he spoke in the next part of 
 the sentence ; for, if he had really intended that construction, the 
 same masculine noun must necessarily have been repeated in the 
 next part of the sentence with a masculine pronoun ; wherein, on 
 the contrary, not only the gender is changed from the masculine 
 to the feminine, but also the figurative character itself, which is 
 as much superior, in dignity to the Apostle Simon, and also to 
 his new appellative Ttrpoc, as a rock is superior to a mere stone. 
 
 B b
 
 370 NOTES. 
 
 For the word TrtYpoc cannot signify anything more than a stone ; 
 so that the Popish application to Peter, as the foundation of 
 Christ's Church, is not only inconsistent with the real meaning 
 of the appellative, which Christ, at that very time, conferred upon 
 him, and with the necessary grammatical construction of it, but 
 also with the figurative importance of the other word, thefock ; 
 upon this rock ; the declared foundation of the Church, a title of 
 dignity, which (as I have already shown by several texts of Scrip- 
 ture) is applicable only to God, or to Christ. 
 
 " And be pleased to observe further, that the application of this 
 supreme title (the rock) to Peter, is inconsistent (above all) with 
 the plain reference to the preceding context made by our Lord, 
 in the beginning of this very verse. ' And I also say unto thee,' 
 which manifestly points out (both by the copulative ' and,' and 
 the connective adverb ' also') the inseparable connection of this 
 verse with the previous declaration of Peter, concerning our Lord's 
 Divine dignity in the preceding sentence ; ' Thou art the Christ, 
 the Son of the living God,' and thereby demonstrates that our 
 Lord's immediate reply (' And I also say unto thee' &c.,) did 
 necessarily include this declaration of Peter, as being the principal 
 object of the sentence, the true foundation or rock, on which 
 alone the Catholic Church can be properly built; because our 
 faith in Christ (that he is truly ' the Son of the living God') is 
 unquestionably the only security, or rock of our salvation." 
 Remarks on Matt. xvi. 18. by Granville Sharp, Esq. Cited by 
 Dr. Adam Clarke in his Commentary. 
 
 (NoiE S.) 
 
 " You say such a thing is lawful ; we say it is unlawful : the 
 minds of the people are doubtful and wavering between your 
 lawful and our unlawful. Let no man believe either you or MS ; 
 we are all contentious men. We must seek therefore for judges 
 between us. If Christians are to be our judges, both sides will not 
 afford such. We must seek for a judge abroad. If he be a 
 Pagan, he cannot know the secrets of Christianity ; if he be a 
 Jew, he is an enemy to Christian baptism. Therefore there is no 
 judgment of this matter can be found on earth. We must seek
 
 NOTES. 371 
 
 for a judge from heaven. But to what end do we solicit heaven, 
 when we have here in the gospel a will and testament ? And be- 
 cause here we may fitly compare earthly things with heavenly ; 
 the case is just as if a man had many sons : while he is present 
 with them, he commands every one what he will have done ; and 
 there is no need as yet of making his last will. So also Christ, 
 as long as he was present on earth, (though neither now is he 
 wanting) for a time commanded his Apostles whatsoever was 
 necessary ; but just as an earthly father, when he feels his death 
 approaching, fearing lest after his death the brothers should fall 
 out and quarrel, calls in witnesses, and translates his will from 
 his dying heart into written tables that will continue long after 
 him. Now if any controversy arises among the brothers, they do 
 not go to his tomb, but consult his last will ; and thus he, while 
 he trsts in his grave, does speak to them in those silent tables as 
 if he were alive. He, whose testament we have, is in heaven ; 
 therefore, we are to inquire his pleasure in the Gospel, as in his 
 last will and testament." 
 
 Vos dicitis, licet ; nos, non licet. Inter vestrum licet, et nostrum 
 non licet, nutant et remigant animce populorum. Nemo vobis 
 credat, nemo nobis ; omnes contentiosi homines sumus. Qucerendi 
 sunt judices : si Christiani, de utrdque parte dari non possunt : de 
 foris qucerendus estjudex. Si Paganus, nonpotest nosse Christiana 
 secreta : si Judceus. inimicus est Christiani baptismatis. Ergo in 
 terris de hoc re nullvm poterit reperiri judicium : de ccelo quteren- 
 dus estjudex. Sed quid pulsamus ccelum, cum habeamus hie in 
 evangelic testamentum ? Quia hoc loco recte possunt te.rrena cceles- 
 tibus comparari ; tale est, quod quivis hominum habens numerosos 
 Jilios, his quamdiu prcesens est, ipse imperat singulis, non est 
 adhuc necessarium testamentum. Sic et Christus, quamdiu prcesens 
 in terris fuit (quamvis nee modo desit) pro tempore quicquid neces- 
 sarium erat, Apostolis imperavit. Sed quo modo terrenus pater, 
 cum se in confiniis senserit mortis, timens ne post mortem suam 
 ruptd pace litigent fratres, adhibitis testibus voluntatem suam de 
 pectore morituro transfert in tabulas duraturas ; ei sifuerit inter 
 fratres contentio nata, non itur ad tumulum, sed quceritur testa- 
 mentum, et qui in turnulo quiescit, tacitus de tabulis loquitur vivis. 
 
 B b 2
 
 372 NOTES. 
 
 Is cujus est testamentum, in ccelo est : Ergo voluntas ejus velut in 
 testamento, sic in evangelio inquiratur. Optatus Melevitanus. 
 lib. 5. ad princlp. 
 
 " It is plain from hence," says Chillingworth, " that he knew 
 not of any living, speaking, audible judge, furnished with autho- 
 rity and infallibility, to decide this controversy. Had he known 
 any such, assisted with the Spirit of God for this purpose, it had 
 been horrible impiety against God and the Church's peace to say 
 there was none such ; or the Spirit of God was not able by his 
 assistance to keep this judge from being hindered with partiality 
 from seeing the truth. Had he thought the Bishop of Rome 
 speaking ex cathedra to be his judge, now had been the time to 
 have said so ; but he says directly the contrary, and therefore it is 
 plain he knew of no such authority to be had." 
 
 " Neither is there the like reason for a Judge, finally, and with 
 authority to determine controversies in religion, as in civil differ- 
 ences ; for if the controversy be about mine and thine, about land 
 or money, or any other thing, it is impossible that both I and my 
 adversary should hold the possession of it ; and one of us must do 
 injury to the other. But in matters of doctrine, I may hold my 
 opinion, and do my adversary no wrong ; and my adversary may 
 hold his and do me none." Chillingworth's Works (Discourses,) 
 pp. 145, 146. 
 
 NOTE (T.) 
 
 "What will you say, when we are so far from assurance, as to 
 the Pope's being legally chosen, that we have, if not great evidence, 
 yet very high presumptions of the contrary ; what becomes then 
 of your Pope's infallibility? Nay, from the illegality of one, 
 follows the illegality of all his successors, because they were 
 chosen by Cardinals, made by him : who could be no lawful Car- 
 dinals, because he was no legal Pope, and consequently not they 
 who were made by them. The case is this ; ' There is a Bull of 
 Pope Julius the Second, against the simoniacal election of any 
 Pope, which the Cardinals, upon their first entrance into the 
 Conclave, swear solemnly to observe. In which Bull it is ex- 
 pressly said, that if any Pope be simoniacally chosen by any of
 
 NOTES. 373 
 
 the Cardinals, upon any gift or promise whatsoever, that such an 
 election is ipso facto null ; and the Cardinals may oppose one so 
 chosen, as if guilty of manifest heresy ; and that none ought 
 to receive or look on such a one as Pope ; neither can this 
 simoniacal election be made good by inthronization, course of 
 time, submission of Cardinals, &c. And that they ought all to 
 avoid him as a magician, heathen, publican, or the founder of 
 heresie. This is the substance of that Bull. Now it is notoriously 
 known, that Sixtus the Fifth, was simoniacally chosen Pope. For, 
 that he might be chosen, he did under his hand promise to Car- 
 dinal d'Este, who had a great interest in the Conclave, that in the 
 time of his Popedome, he would never create Jerome Matthew, 
 the Cardinal's great enemy, a Cardinal : upon which promise he 
 was through his interest chosen Pope. But, when afterwards 
 the Pope violated his faith to him, by creating his enemy Cardi- 
 nal, d'Este being highly incensed against him for it, sent the 
 very instrument subscribed by the Pope's own hand, to Philip the 
 Second, King of Spain, who in the year 1589, sent the Duke of 
 Suisse extraordinary ambassador to Rome, to intimate to Sixtus 
 the Fifth, his intention of calling a General Council, according to 
 the Bull of Julius the Second, for declaring this simoniacal elec- 
 tion. When this message was delivered to the Pope, and he saw 
 the instrument was discovered under his own hand, he fell into 
 such a perplexity, that he dyed soon after, which stopt the pro- 
 gress of the business. By this it evidently appears, that Sixtus 
 himself was no lawful Pope, and therefore could create no 
 Cardinals : and because the Cardinals created by him, had a 
 voice in the election of the subsequent Popes, it follows, that 
 there hath been no legal Pope since Sixtus the Fifth. For after 
 the death of Sixtus, Cardinal Montalto his nephew, with forty 
 votes entered the Conclave, and chose Urban the Seventh, who 
 lived but a few days ; after him Gregory the Fourteenth, who was 
 Pope but ten months : after him Innocentius the Ninth, who con- 
 tinued but two months ; after him Clement the Eighth, who out- 
 lived the election thirteen years. But not to inquire any further 
 into the irregular election, and the simoniacal bargains of Paul 
 the Fifth, after the death of Clement, this certainly may suffice
 
 374 NOTES. 
 
 to let men see, what becomes of their faith, when they pin it 
 upon the Pope's sleeve. For, if we are to rely upon his infal- 
 lible testimony, and he so far from being infallible, that by their 
 own constitutions he was no Pope, nor to be looked on as other 
 than a magician, heathen, and heretick, is not our faith then 
 settled on a sure foundation ?" Bishop Stillingfleet's Vindica- 
 tion. Part i. page 116, 117. 
 
 NOTE (U.) 
 
 " The divines of the Roman Church may be every day seen to 
 rend one another, although they all live in one and the same com- 
 munion. They acknowledge one another for brethren, they assist 
 at the same altars, they call upon the same saints, and yet never- 
 theless, they write one against another, after the most passionate 
 and violent manner. One sort of them say of their adversaries, 
 ' That they were infected with heresies, and were enemies of the 
 Apostolic See, and that their opinion was full of perfidiousness, 
 presumptuous, injurious to the state of the religious, and savoured 
 of Calvinism ; and that to speak plainly, it was erroneous in the 
 faith, that it openly stifled the word of God, and the authority of 
 the Fathers, that it was blasphemous against Jesus Christ and all 
 the saints, plainly and evidently heretical, and contrary to the 
 Council of Trent.' The others say on the contrary ' that the 
 propositions of their opponents are false, rash, presumptuous, per- 
 nicious to all the faithful, injurious to the Bishops, contrary to 
 the word of God and the authority of the Councils,' " &c. 
 Claude's Defence, vol. i. p. 287. 
 
 " They commissioned some divines to make abstracts of the 
 books of the Protestants, that they might know what propositions 
 were to be condemned. Nothing was found in the writings of the 
 Lutherans, but out of the books of the Zuinglians they drew eight 
 propositions. 1. That in predestination and reprobation man has 
 no hand, but only the will and pleasure of God. 2. That the 
 predestinate cannot be damned, nor the reprobate saved. 3. That 
 the elect alone are justified. 4. That the justified ought to have 
 faith, and believe that they are predestinated. 5. That the jus- 
 tified cannot fall from grace. G. That the reprobate do never
 
 NOTES. 375 
 
 receive grace. 7. That a man ought to believe that he shall per- 
 severe, when he is in grace. 8. That a justified man ought to 
 believe, that, though he fall, he shall rise again." 
 
 " Most part of the divines thought, that the first proposition 
 was very sound and Catholic, to wit, that in predestination and 
 reprobation, the will of God alone does all : that is to say, they 
 approved absolute and gratuitous predestination, and they pre- 
 tended that it was not only consonant to the judgment of St. 
 Thomas, but also to that of Scotus. This opinion was supported 
 by a great number of authorities from Holy Scripture, and the 
 Fathers, particularly St. Austin, who in his old age had vigorously 
 maintained this absolute and free predestination : yet the election 
 by foreknowledge of works found its champions. The Bishops 
 of Bitonto and Sulpi put themselves at the head of the Monks, 
 and made a party against free and absolute predestination. They 
 said that God resolved to give all men sufficient grace, and that 
 in the foreknowledge of God, election and reprobation depended 
 on the good or bad use of that sufficient grace ; because God 
 elected those whom he had foreknown would consent to and 
 accept of that grace, and reprobated those that would reject it ; 
 they added that the contrary opinion was cruel and inhuman, that 
 it made God unjust and an accepter of persons, and supposed him 
 to make his choice without any reason, but out of mere fancy. 
 
 " Ambrosio Catarino was of their opinion, who grounded pre- 
 destination on the foreknowledge of works; and to avoid the 
 force of the texts of Scripture which prove free and absolute pre- 
 destination, he made use of a ridiculous medium : he made two 
 predestinations, the one certain, effectual, and absolute, without 
 the foreknowledge of works, saying that predestination extended 
 only to a small number, whom God absolutely decrees to save, 
 and for whom, in order to that, he prepares effectual means : to 
 that election he applied all the passages whereby absolute predes- 
 tination is proved. As for instance, those of the ninth chapter of 
 the epistle to the Romans, where St. Paul says, that God loved 
 Jacob and hated Esau, before either of them had done good or 
 evil : that of one lump he makes some vessels of honour, and 
 others of dishonour ; that it is neither of him that runneth, nor of
 
 376 NOTES. 
 
 him that willeth, but God that giveth the blessing. But he added, 
 that besides absolute predestination without foreknowledge of 
 works, there is another wherein God hath decreed to save all those 
 that should be converted ; and that for that end he had given all 
 men sufficient grace, to which some submit, and others do resist : 
 and that this last election was uncertain, unlimited, conditional, 
 and dependent on the will and works of man ; he confessed that 
 his opinion was contrary to that of St. Austin ; but he also said, 
 that St. Austin's was contrary to the opinion of all others." 
 
 " The second proposition was variously censured according to 
 the diversity of principles ; and the proposition was, that the 
 elect could not be damned, nor the reprobate saved. Catarino 
 confessed that the elect could not be damned ; but he would not 
 say that the reprobate could not be saved ; because God giving 
 them sufficient grace, if they made good use of it, they might be 
 saved. Here the Thomists flourished their distinction, in sensu 
 composite et in sensu diviso, and said, that in a sense com- 
 pounded or complex, the elect could not be damned ; but in a 
 sense divided or distinct they might : that is to say, that the elect 
 considered under a decree of election could not be damned ; but 
 if considered simply as men, abstractedly from that decree of 
 election, it might be said that they might be damned because they 
 might never have been elected. This distinction raised more mist 
 before the eyes of the prelates, who were neither great philo- 
 sophers nor divines, than it brought light to the question. The 
 other six propositions were condemned by unanimous consent, 
 particularly that which asserted the perseverance of true saints, 
 and the inadmissibility of righteousness. They alleged the ex- 
 amples of Saul, Solomon, Judas, and others, who had totally 
 fallen from the real righteousness wherewith they had been 
 invested." 
 
 " After matters were thoroughly examined, canons and decrees 
 must pass over them. But they were in great perplexity how to 
 do that ; every party striving to have the decrees worded in 
 terms that might favour their opinions. Giacomo Cocco, Arch- 
 bishop of Corfu, was of the mind that no opinion which could be 
 interpreted in a sound sense, should be condemned ; and, there-
 
 NOTES. 377 
 
 fore, he desired that all necessary exceptions and limitations 
 should be put in the canons for removing all ambiguity. Others 
 opposed that, saying, that if all interpretations must be inserted, 
 it would render the canons long, tedious, and intricate. But the 
 Bishop of Simigaglia proposed a method which was approved, and 
 followed during the remaining time of the Council. He said 
 that there ought to be made in the first place a decree of doctrine, 
 which should be divided into chapters ; that therein the doctrine 
 of the Church should be declared in a style and method capable 
 to give content to all Catholics : and that then another decree 
 ought to be made containing nothing but the canons and anathemas 
 against heretics. The legate Cardinal, Santa Croce, applied all 
 his pains and skill in the composing of these decrees : and 
 laboured in it with so much success, that he gave content to all ; 
 because he worded them with so much ambiguity, that every 
 party found their opinions therein. But this was not done 
 without trouble ; for there were above a hundred congregations 
 as well of divines as prelates held about it, and from the begin- 
 ning of September until the end of November, there past not a 
 day wherein the Cardinal did not peruse his decrees, and alter 
 something in them. In a word, they found a means to satisfy 
 the Scotists and the Thomists, Catarino and his adherents, who 
 stood for the certainty that one may have of his own justification, 
 and those that opposed it. The decrees were so artificially con- 
 trived to please all, that Dominico & Soto immediately after wrote 
 three books, de natura et gratia, and found all his opinions in 
 the decisions of the Council. And nevertheless, Andreas de Vega, 
 a famous condelier, on the other hand composed fifteen large books 
 upon the same subject, and found all his opinions in the same 
 decrees, though they were quite opposite to the sentiments of 
 Soto." Jurien's History of the Council of Trent, book ii. p. 130 
 135. Quoted by Mr. Fletcher, in the Appendix to his Lectures 
 on the Roman Catholic Religion. 
 
 NOTE (V.) 
 
 " But enough of this : I desire, in the second place, it may be 
 considered, what the sense of the primitive and best Christians
 
 378 NOTES. 
 
 was as to this matter ; how did they practise and advise as to 
 people's reading of the Scriptures ? Why every hody that is in the 
 least versed in the histories of those times, knows what a mighty 
 valueall theChristians of the early ages setupon the Bible, above all 
 other things. They joyfully heard it read in their publick assem- 
 blies, and they diligently read it, and studied it, and meditated 
 upon it in their private houses. They would, several of them, have 
 it read to them, even while they were taking their ordinary food. 
 They took care not only to read it, but to get several portions of 
 it by heart. They instructed their young children in it ; and 
 instances we have of those that both knew the Scriptures and 
 inquired into the sense of them, even from their childhood. In 
 those days, as St. Jerome tells us, ' any one, as he walked in the 
 fields, might hear the plowman at his hallelujahs, and the labour- 
 ers in the vineyard singing David's Psalms.' And the same 
 Father tells us, 'That of those many virgins that lived with 
 Paula, (a famous devout lady in those days,) it was not allowed 
 to any of them to be ignorant of the Psalms, or to pass over one 
 day without learning some part of the Scripture.' And to such 
 a degree were the women of that time skilled in the Scripture, 
 that Julian the apostate lays it as a charge, as a matter of accusa- 
 tion against the Christians. Lastly, such a veneration had the 
 Christians in those days for the Bible, that they esteemed and 
 prized it above any thing in the world ; and would rather part 
 with their lives than deliver it up to the Pagan officers that came 
 to demand it of them. And whoever did deliver up their Bibles, 
 were always accounted as apostates. 
 
 " And lest any one should suspect that this diligence of theirs, 
 in reading the Scriptures, was rather an effect of the people's for- 
 wardness to meddle with things above them, than any thing they 
 were advised and directed to by their spiritual guides, there are 
 sufficient proofs to the contrary. The devout people, in those 
 days, were not more forward to read and learn the Scriptures, 
 than the Bishops and guides of the Church were to exhort them 
 to it, and encourage them in it. St. Augustin thus speaks to the 
 people, 'Think it not sufficient that ye hear the Scriptures in the 
 Church, but also in your houses at home, either read them
 
 NOTES. 379 
 
 yourselves, or get some other to read to you.' Origen saith, 
 ' Would to God, we would all do as it is written, search the Scrip- 
 tures.' St. Chrysostom says to the people, ' I admonish you, I 
 beg of you to get books.' And again, ' Hearken to me, ye lay- 
 men : ye men of the world. Get ye the Bible, that most whole- 
 some remedy of the soul. If ye will do nothing else, yet at least 
 get the New Testament, the Gospels, St. Paul's Epistles, and the 
 Acts of the Apostles, that they may be your continual teachers.' 
 Lastly, so far was that father from confining the use of the Bible 
 to men in holy orders, that he doubts not to affirm, ' that it was 
 as necessary to be read by laymen, as by those who were professed 
 monks.' Nay, if we will believe him, much more necessary : for 
 these are his words, ' Ye think the reading of the Holy Scrip- 
 ture belongeth only unto monks, whereas, in truth, it is much 
 more necessary for you than for them.'" Archbishop Sharpe, 
 vol. vii. pp. 72 74. 
 
 NOTE (W.) 
 
 The following are some of the testimonies adduced from the 
 ancient Fathers by Mr. Faber, to establish the sole authority of 
 Scripture as a rule of faith. 
 
 " The disposition of our salvation we know not through any 
 other persons, than those by whom the Gospel has come to us : 
 which then, indeed, they themselves orally preached ; but which 
 afterwards, according to the will of God, they traditionally 
 handed down to us in the written word, as the future basis and 
 column of our faith." Irenaeus. Non enim per altos disposi- 
 tionem salutis nost~ -e cognovimus, quam per eos per quos evan- 
 gelium pervenit ad nos : quod quidem tune prceconiaverunt ; postea 
 vero, per Dei voluntatem, in Scripturis nobis Iradiderunt funda- 
 mentum et columnam Jidei nostrce futuram. Iren. advers. Hcer. 
 lib. iii. c. 1. p. 169. 
 
 " We, following one only true God as our teacher, and having 
 his discourses as the rule of truth, always say the same things 
 respecting the same matters." Irena3us. Nos autem unum et 
 solum veru.ni Deum doctorem seqitentes, ct regulam vcrilatis haben-
 
 380 NOTES. 
 
 tes ejus sermones, de iisdem semper eadem dicimus. hen. adi\ 
 Hceres. lib. iv. c. 69. p. 300. 
 
 " As for Hermogenes, let his shop produce the written word. 
 If he be unable to produce the written word in substantiation of 
 his tenets, let him fear that woe which is destined to those who 
 either add to it, or who detract from it." Tertullian. Scriptum 
 esse doceat Hermogenis officina. Si non est scriptum, timeat vae 
 illud adjicientibus aut detrahentibus destinatum. Tertull. adv. 
 Hermog. sect. xii. Oper. p. 346. 
 
 " There is one God, whom we know from no other authority 
 than the Holy Scriptures. For, just as a person, who wished to 
 exercise the wisdom of this world, would not be able to attain it, 
 save by attention to the dogmata of the philosophers : so, if we 
 wish to exercise piety toward God, we can exercise it from no 
 other quarter than from God's own oracles. Whatsoever matters, 
 then, the divine Scriptures declare, these let us learn : and what- 
 soever matters they teach, these let us recognise ; not according 
 to our own humour, or according to our own mind, neither with 
 any wresting of the things delivered from God ; but even as he 
 himself wished to show us through the Holy Scriptures, thus let 
 us learn." Hippolytus. Ele 0to, ov OVK aXXoOev eVtytyvwo-K'o- 
 p,v, d&X^ot, fi tK T&V &.yib)v ypatywv. K. T. \. Hippol. cont. 
 Noet. sect. ix. Oper. torn. ii. pp. 12, 13. 
 
 " Whence is that pretended tradition ? Does it descend from 
 the authority of the Lord and the Gospels : or does it come down 
 from the mandates and letters of the Apostles ? God testifies 
 that those things are to be done which are written : if, then, any 
 such precept can be found, either in the Gospel, or in the Epis- 
 tles and Acts of the Apostles, let this divine and holy tradition 
 be observed." Cyprian. Unde est ista traditio? Utrumne de 
 dominica et Evangelica auctoritate descendens, an de Apostolorum 
 mandatis atque epistolis veniens ? Ea enim facienda esse, quce 
 scripta sunt, Deus testatur Si ergo aut in Evangelic prcecipitur, 
 aut in Apostolorum epistolis aut actibus continetur : observelur 
 divina hcec et sancta traditio. Cyp. Epis. Ixxiv. Oper. torn. ii. 
 p. 211.
 
 NOTES. 381 
 
 " Respecting the divine and holy mysteries of the faith, not 
 even a tittle ought to be delivered without the authority of the 
 Holy Scriptures. Neither ought any thing to be propounded, on 
 the basis of mere credibility, or through the medium of plausible 
 ratiocination. Neither yet repose the slightest confidence in the 
 bare assertions of me your Catechist, unless you shall receive 
 from the Holy Scriptures full demonstration of the matters pro- 
 pounded. For the security of our faith depends, not upon verbal 
 trickery, but upon demonstration from the Holy Scriptures." 
 Cyril of Jerusalem. Aet yap Trepl rStv deiuv Kal ayiuv rijg Trt'ortwe 
 p.varripi(i))>, fjinde. TO TV\OV avtv TUIV deitav irapadidoffOai ypa<f>uv. 
 K. T. X. Cyril. Hieros. Catech. iv. p. 30. 
 
 " The holy and divinely inspired Scriptures are sufficient for 
 the declaration of the truth." Avrapicete p.ev yap daw at aytat 
 Kal deovvfvffrai ypafyal, trpog ri)v TTJQ dXrjddas dirayyiXiav. 
 Athan. Oral. cont. Gent. Oper. torn. i. p. 1. 
 
 " Let a person solely learn the matters, which are set forth in 
 the Scriptures ; for the demonstrations contained in them, are, in 
 order to the settling of this point, quite sufficient and complete." 
 Athanasius. MOVOVTO. ivralq ypatyals pavQaviru. a'vrdpjcj; yap/cat 
 iKava TO. iv aurcue Ktifi(.va Trepl TOVTOV Trapa^tiy^tara. Athan. ad 
 Scrap. Spirit. S. non esse Great. Oper. torn. i. p. 359. 
 
 " If ye are disciples of the Gospels, walk according to what 
 is written. But if you choose to allege any other matters beyond 
 what is written ; why do you contend against us, who will never be 
 persuaded either to hear or to speak a single syllable beyond God's 
 written word?" Athanasius. Ei roivvv /za0jjrat core rwv tvayye- 
 Xt'wv, crToi%eire ro7e yeypafjifievoiQ vat yevo/utVote. Et $ erepa 
 irapa ra yeypa/j.p,lra XaXelv fiovXeode, ri icpoQ ijp.a.Q Siafjia-^tyde, 
 TOVQ firjTf aKovtiv pr]T XtyEtv irapa TO. ytypafifjilva Tretdoplvovg ', 
 Athen. de Incarn. Christ. Oper. torn. i. p. 484. 
 
 " AVhat the written word has never revealed, you will never be 
 able to discover." Athanasius. *O yap OVK tlirtv >/ ypa^j), ou^ 
 fi/pT/(Tte. Athan. de S. Trin. Dial. ii. Oper. torn. ii. p. 172. 
 Orthodoxus loquitur. 
 
 "As we deny not the things which are written, so the things 
 which are not written, we reject. We believe that God was born
 
 382 NOTES. 
 
 of a virgin, because we read it ; but, that Mary was married after 
 her parturition, we believe not, because we read it not." Jerome. 
 Ut hcec qu.ce scripta sunt, non negamus, ita ea, quae non sunt 
 scripta, renuimus. Natum Deum esse de virgine credimus, quia 
 legimus : Mariam nupsisse post partum, non credimus quia non 
 legimus. Hieron. adv. Helvid. c. ix. Oper. torn. ii. p. 116. -^* 
 
 " Learn, then, in the divine Scriptures, through which alone 
 you can understand the full will of God, that some things are 
 prohibited, and that other things are commanded, that some 
 things are granted, and that other things are persuaded." Jerome. 
 Scito itaque, in Scripturis divinis, per quas solas poles plenam 
 Dei intelligere voluntatem, prohiberi qucedam, praecipi quaedam, 
 concedi aliqua, nonnulla suaderi. Hieron. ad Demetriad. de 
 Virgin. Oper. torn. ix. p. 4. 
 
 " The things which are written believe ; the things which are 
 not written, seek not after." Basil. Tote yeypa^/it'voie iriffreve" 
 TO. pr) yeypa/ijueva prj jjr. Basil. Homil. de Trin. xxix. 
 
 " Demonstrate from any one of the canonical Apostles and 
 Prophets, the truth of what Cyprian has written to Jubaianus : 
 and I should then have no room for contradiction. But now, 
 since what you produce is not canonical ; through the liberty to 
 which the Lord has called us, I receive not the decision even of a 
 man, whose praise I cannot attain unto, with whose writings I 
 presume not to compare my own writings, whose genius I love, 
 with whose eloquence I am delighted, whose charity I admire, 
 whose martyrdom I venerate." Augustin. Ac per hoc, si ea, 
 qua commemorasti, ab illo ad Jubaianum scripta, de aliquo Apos- 
 tolorum vel Prophetarum canonico recitares : quod omnino con- 
 tradicerem, non haberem. Nunc vero, quoniam canonicum non est 
 quod recitas, ea libertate ad quam nos vocavit Dominus, ejus viri 
 cujus laudem consequi non valeo, cujus multis literis mea scripta 
 non compafo, cujus ingenium diligo, cujus ore delector, cujus cari- 
 tatem miror, cujus martyrium veneror, hoc quod aliter sapuit non 
 accipio. August, cont. Crescon. Grammat. lib. ii. c. 32. Oper. 
 torn. vii. p. 160. 
 
 "Why adduce you the authority of Cyprian for your schism, and 
 yet reject his example for the peace of the Church ? Who knows
 
 NOTES. 383 
 
 not that the holy canonical Scripture, whether of the Old or of 
 the New Testament, is comprehended within its own certain 
 limits ? Who knows not, that, to all later Episcopal letters it is 
 so preferred, as to exclude any permission of rising doubt or dis- 
 pute, whether whatsoever is written in it be true or right ? But, 
 as for the letters of Bishops, which either are written or were 
 written after the confirmation of the Canon; if peradventure 
 there be found in them any deviation from the truth, we may 
 freely correct them, either by the weightier discourse of more 
 skilful theologians, or by the better instructed prudence of other 
 Bishops, or by the collective intervention of Councils. So again, 
 national or provincial Councils ought, indisputably, to yield to the 
 authority of plenary Councils, which are collected out of the whole 
 Christian world : and plenary Councils themselves may often be 
 amended by later Councils ; when, through better experience, 
 that which was shut is opened, and that which lay hid is known." 
 Augustin. Cur auctoritatem Cypriani pro vestro schismate assu- 
 mitis, et ejus exemplum pro Ecclesice pace respuitis ? Quis autem 
 nesciat, sanctam Scripturam canonicam, tarn Veteris quam Novi 
 Testamenti, certis suis terminis contineri, eamque omnibus pos- 
 terioribus Episcoporum literis ita prceponi, ut de Hid omnino 
 dubitari et disceptari non possit, utrum verum vel utrum rectum sit, 
 quicquid in ea scriptum esse constiterit : Episcoporum autem 
 literas, quce post confirmatum canonem vel scriplce sunt vel 
 scribuntur, et per sermonem forte sapientiorum cujuslibet in ea re 
 peritioris, et per aliorum Episcoporum graviorem auctoritatem 
 doctioremque prudenliam, et per concilia, licere reprehendi, si quid 
 in eis forte a veritate deviatum est . et ipsa concilia, quce per sin- 
 gulas regiones vel provincial Jiunt, plenariorum conciliorum auc- 
 toritati quae Jiunt ex universo orbe Christiana, sine ullis ambagious 
 cedere : ipsaque plenaria scepe priora posterioribus emendari ; 
 cum, aliquo experimento rerum, aperitur quod clausum erat, et 
 cognoscitur quod latebat. August, de Baptism, cont. Donatist. 
 lib. ii. c. 3. Oper. torn. vii. p. 37. 
 
 THE END.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 A. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ALEXANDER of Jerusalem, his tes- 
 timony to Episcopacy peculiarly 
 interesting, from the facility of 
 reference to the oral declara- 
 tions of the Apostles 85 
 
 AMBROSE, St, alludes to divine 
 distribution of Ecclesiastical 
 functions 93 
 
 ANGELS, the seven apocalyptic, 
 were Bishops 42 
 
 their rank and jurisdic- 
 tion in the Church 43 
 
 their high prerogatives 
 
 apparent from the language of 
 
 our Saviour himself 44 
 
 Anti-Episcopal objections, reply 
 to 108 
 
 first objection omission by 
 the Fathers 109 
 
 second objection modern 
 sense applied to ancient 
 words and phrases 114 
 
 third objection testimonies 
 post-dated 117 
 
 fourth objection fanciful 
 exaggeration of Episcopal 
 claims 122 
 
 fifth objection no Popery 
 nor Prelacy 126 
 
 sixth objection wealth and 
 secular power of Bishops 129 
 
 seventh objection AERIUS 
 an ancient anti-Episcopa- 
 lian 138 
 
 eighth objection prime 
 Presbyters 140 
 
 ninth objection St. Jerome 
 a presumed anti-Episco- 
 palian 143 
 
 Anti-Liturgical writers, objec- 
 tions of removed 207 
 
 Alleged objection of from St. 
 Paul answered / . 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Anti- Liturgical writers, alleged 
 objection of from JUSTIN 
 
 MARTYR answered 210 
 
 Alleged objection of from 
 
 Tertullian answered 213 
 
 Antinomianism, origin of. 306 
 
 of Carpocrates . . 328 
 
 properly so called 330 
 
 answered...... 331 
 
 passages in con- 
 demnation of from the Epistles 
 
 of St. Paul 332 
 
 Antinomians, moderate 335 
 
 . numerous other va- 
 rieties 341 
 
 concluding exhort- 
 
 ation to 342 
 
 Apostles, order of the 24 
 
 general superintend- 
 ence by the 26 
 
 practice of the, Litur- 
 gical 182 
 
 Apostolical authority, cessation of 
 immediate, and substitution of 
 Episcopal 27 
 
 Apostolical constitutions 194 
 
 Arguments, a priori, fallacy and 
 presumption of these, in pre- 
 dicting the conduct of an all- 
 wise Being 230 
 
 probable at best, no 
 
 ground for infallible assurance 233 
 
 ATHANASIUS regarded the Epis- 
 copal order in the light of a 
 divine institution 89 
 
 Augsburg confession 3 
 
 AUGUSTINE, St, his sentiments 
 on Church polity 101 
 
 B. 
 
 BAPTISM, a set form 182 
 
 C C
 
 386 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 BASIL, his testimony to the an- 
 cient use of Liturgies 200 
 
 BEZA warmly eulogises the 
 Church polity of England. ... 6 
 
 BVCER, his anxiety that Churches 
 Episcopally constituted should 
 maintain that advantage Ib. 
 
 C. 
 
 CALVIN, subscribed willingly to 
 the Augsburg confession .... 4 
 
 his distinction between 
 
 the Pontificate and the Episco- 
 pate 6 
 
 CARPOCRATES carried to the worst 
 extreme the Antinomian prin- 
 ciples 308 
 
 Christian knowledge, rules for 
 
 acquiring sound 294 
 
 CHRYSOSTOM, St. reasons for ap- 
 pealing to him on the subject 
 of Episcopacy 103 
 
 . a valuable authority 
 
 for the use of Liturgies 202 
 
 Church endowments, early origin 
 of 134 
 
 Church of England conforms to 
 Apostolic usage in respect to 
 prayer being offered in the 
 name of Christ 181 
 
 CLEMENS ALEXANDRINUS, his 
 Stromata quoted to prove gra- 
 dations of rank in the Church. 69 
 
 CLEMENT, St., fellow - labourer 
 with St. Paul, eulogises the 
 Christians for their obedience 
 to Ecclesiastical authority. ... 47 
 
 Concluding exhortation to all 
 religious enquirers 298 
 
 Congregational Worship, our 
 Lord's rule respecting 184 
 
 Congregations always pray by 
 some form prescribed 163 
 
 CONSTANTINE, prayer of, quoted 
 by Eusebius 196 
 
 = family prayers of. . . 197 
 
 Council, general, Infallibility 
 ascribed to a 257 
 
 r pretensions of 
 
 a, scripturally considered Ib. 
 
 difficulties of 
 
 knowing what is a 261 
 
 uncertainty of 
 
 the Papal sanction to a 264 
 
 and Pope in 
 
 conjunction 263 
 
 and Popes 
 
 PAGE 
 jointly, additional argument 
 
 against 265 
 
 Councils, canons of 204 
 
 of Laodicea Ib. 
 
 of Chalcedon 205 
 
 of Carthage Ib. 
 
 ofMilevis 206 
 
 CYPRIAN, St., ordained Deacon, 
 afterwards Presbyter, ani 
 finally Bishop 78 
 
 D. 
 
 DEACONS, order of 25 
 
 DIONYSIUS of ALEXANDRIA, the 
 authority of the Episcopal 
 order proved by his command- 
 ing Presbyters to absolve dying 
 penitents 77 
 
 Diversity of religious opinions a 
 
 source of anxiety 225 
 
 on account of others and on 
 our own 226 
 
 Divines, assembly of Presbyterian 
 acknowledged that John taught 
 his Disciples a set form of 
 prayer (note) 176 
 
 Dort, synod of Ib. 
 
 E. 
 
 EMPEROR LICINIUS, form of 
 
 prayer by the 195 
 
 Enthusiast, the, described 272 
 
 '-, has no evidence to 
 
 convince others 275 
 
 -, no evidence to con- 
 
 vince himself 277 
 
 -, confines the law of 
 
 Christ to inward feeling 338 
 
 EPIPHANIUS, evidence of. 198 
 
 Episcopacy, on 1 
 
 universal till the time 
 
 of the reformation Ib. 
 
 Apostolically institu- 
 ted 2 
 
 reluctantly departed 
 
 from 3 
 
 arrangement of argu- 
 
 ments in favour of 24 
 
 argument in favour 
 
 of from the Revelations 41 
 
 defects not essenti- 
 
 ally connected with 1 57 
 
 proper kind of re- 
 medy for I ft. 
 
 and Liturgies, two
 
 INDEX. 
 
 387 
 
 PAGE 
 
 important peculiarities of the 
 Church of England 161 
 
 Episcopacy, argument for, from 
 antiquity 46 
 
 summary of argu- 
 ments in favour of 150 
 
 Establishment, English, other re- 
 commendations to the people 
 of England, beside that of con- 
 sonance with the Divine Will.. 153 
 
 EUSEBIUS, quotation from respect- 
 ing the succession of Bishops 88 
 
 F. 
 
 FATHERS, Apostolic, their testi- 
 mony to the Episcopal consti- 
 tution of the primitive Church 46 
 
 Christian, their testi- 
 monies as to the use of the 
 
 Lord's prayer 1 86 
 
 the most important of 
 
 all facts received on their testi- 
 mony 20 
 
 FIRMILIAN, his allusions to the 
 forms of divine service in Asia 
 in the early periods of the 
 Church.. 192 
 
 Formalist, the, remarks upon . . . 336 
 
 G. 
 
 GREGORY THE GREAT, framed a 
 Liturgy for the Neo-Caesareans 193 
 
 GROTIUS, his summary of the ar- 
 guments between Episcopalian 
 writers and their adversaries . . 12 
 
 Guides, confusion from the num- 
 ber of 227 
 
 three pretended, to saving 
 
 knowledge 227 
 
 H. 
 
 HEGESIPPUS, his testimony to 
 the unanimity of the early 
 Bishops in the faith 66 
 
 HERMAS, his testimony to the 
 constitution of the Church. ... 64 
 
 I & J. 
 
 IGNATIAN Epistles, objections to 
 
 the 53 
 
 the objections removed .... 54 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Jgnatian Controversy, three re- 
 flections on the 60 
 
 IGNATIUS, his evidence respecting 
 the constitution of the Church 49 
 
 and JUSTIN MARTYR, 
 
 with respect to set forms of 
 
 prayer 191 
 
 the seven shorter epis- 
 tles of alone genuine 56 
 
 Infallibility, on 225 
 
 argument for, from 
 
 the analogy of the Jewish 
 
 Church 234 
 
 argument answered Ib, 
 
 resemblance among the 
 
 241 
 
 three systems of 284 
 
 Infallible assurance, three requi- 
 sites wanted to afford us--" 238 
 First requisite wanting 
 organ of infallibility un- 
 certain 239 
 
 Second requisite wanting in 
 the three organs of infalli- 
 bility whether, first, the 
 
 Pope singly 
 
 or, secondly, a general 
 
 council singly. 256 
 or, thirdly, Pope and 
 
 council in conjunction 262 
 Third requisite to afford in- 
 fallible assurance this re- 
 quisite likewise wanting* 266 
 Infallible living arbiter, motives 
 
 of credibility for an 228 
 
 IREN.SUS, his evidence decisive 
 as to the authority possessed 
 by Bishops and Presbyters . . 
 ISIDORE, of Seville, traces litur- 
 gies to the beginning of Christ- 
 ianity 204 
 
 JAMES, St., made Bishop of Jeru- 
 salem 36 
 
 presided in the conclave 
 
 at the first general council 
 
 held at Jerusalem 37 
 
 whether he was one of 
 
 7 
 
 the twelve 40 
 
 JEROME, St., traces the different 
 orders of Christian ministers 
 to the Mosaic dispensation . . 97 
 
 speaks of the Essenes 
 
 having stated prayers, and of 
 the resemblance of their wor- 
 ship to that of the apostolic 
 times 198 
 
 JOSEPHUS and PHILO, on the 
 use of liturgies, quoted by 
 Eusebius 197 
 
 JULIAN, the Emperor, quoted by 
 
 c c 2
 
 ass 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 GREGORY NAZIANZEN and 
 
 SOZOMEN 200 
 
 JUSTIN MARTYR, alleged objec- 
 tion from answered 210 
 
 K. 
 
 KNOX, for some time officiating 
 minister of the Church of Eng- 
 land 10 
 
 Knowledge, saving, right path to 283 
 
 L. 
 
 Laodicea, council of, decree of re- 
 specting the Liturgy ........ 204 
 
 Liturgies, on 160 
 
 statement of the ques- 
 tion respecting 162 
 
 preliminary observa- 
 
 tions 163 
 
 evidence for, in the 
 
 New Testament 174 
 
 origin of, apostolical 190 
 
 evidence from the first 
 
 Christian writers proving the 
 use of them by the Church 1 91 204 
 evidence for, from the 
 
 canons of the earliest coun- 
 cils 204206 
 
 summary of the argu- 
 
 ment for, from Scripture and 
 
 antiquity 215 
 
 first argument for, agree- 
 
 ableness to Scripture 164 
 second argument for, their 
 
 conformity to tradition . . 185 
 third argument suitable- 
 ness to congregational 
 
 worship 217 
 
 Liturgy, Jewish, our Lord con- 
 formed to the 1?3 
 
 benefits of a, to the Mi- 
 nister 220 
 
 to the congregation Ib. 
 
 Lord's Prayer, the, not a model 
 
 merely, but a form l?5 
 
 reasons alleged 
 
 by anti-liturgical writers for 
 
 not adopting the 177 
 
 testimonies to the 
 
 use of the'- 186 
 
 LUTHER, maintains the same 
 opinion on episcopacy as Me- 
 lancthon and the Augsburg 
 confession 4 
 
 M. 
 
 MEDIATION, on. 
 
 301 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Mediation, statement of the ques- 
 tion respecting 309 
 
 Mediator, necessity of a, in con- 
 sequence of human depravity 312 
 necessity of a, proved 
 
 from Scripture - 313 
 
 proved from history and 
 
 experience ___. Ib. 
 
 proved from the practical 
 concession of the Socinian 
 
 himself 314 
 
 insufficiency of repent- 
 ance, independent of a 316 
 
 proved from Scripture .... 317 
 proved from reason and ex- 
 perience Ib. 
 
 fitness of the chosen 322 
 
 first, because appointed by 
 
 proper authority Ib. 
 
 secondly, because possessing 
 sufficient influence with 
 
 God 325 
 
 thirdly, from his sympathy 
 
 with man 326 
 
 MELANCTHON, congruity of his 
 private sentiments with those 
 of the Augsburg confession . . 4 
 
 N. 
 
 NOVATIANS, the, remarkable pro- 
 fession of their faith 84 
 
 O. 
 
 OBJECT of this work defensive . 24 
 Ordination by presbyters only, 
 no scriptural warrant for 33 
 alleged exception to this 
 
 rule 34 
 
 first argument against this 
 
 exception Jb. 
 
 another argument 35 
 
 a third argument 36 
 
 OPTATUS expresses his concern 
 on the subject of ecclesiastical 
 
 orders 92 
 
 ORIGEN mentions, in ten in- 
 stances, the distinction be- 
 tween Bishops, Presbyters, 
 and Deacons 76 
 
 P. 
 
 PAPAL inconsistencies and here- 
 sies 255 
 
 Papal sanction to a council, un- 
 certainty of 264 
 
 Pius, Bishop of Rome, gives Jus-
 
 INDEX. 
 
 389 
 
 PAGE 
 
 TUS of Vienna the title of Bi- 
 shop, and enjoins submission 
 
 to his authority 65 
 
 POLYCARP, evidence of his supe- 
 rior rank in the Church from 
 the style of his epistle to the 
 
 Philippians 62 
 
 Pontiff, pretensions of the, scrip- 
 
 turally considered 242 
 
 traditionally considered . . 247 
 
 morally considered 252 
 
 difficulties of ascertain- 
 ing infallibly when he speaks 
 
 ex cathedra 253 
 
 Prayer, apostolic, example of, 
 
 according to a prescribed form 183 
 extemporaneous, disad- 
 vantages of 218 
 
 to the minister Ib. 
 
 to the congregation 219 
 
 PROSPER of Aquitaine, his testi- 
 mony to the apostolical anti- 
 quity of liturgies 203 
 
 Q. 
 
 QUESTION, statement of the, pro- 
 posed for examination respect- 
 ing Episcopacy 15 
 
 respecting Mediation . . 309 
 
 R. 
 
 REFORMATION, state of religious 
 opinion at the 3, 301 
 
 Reformers of Poland and Hun- 
 gary 7 
 
 of Italy 8 
 
 of Scandinavia . . 10 
 
 of Scotland Ib. 
 
 of Holland and the 
 
 Low Countries 12 
 
 Repentance, insufficiency of, in- 
 dependent of a mediator .... 316 
 
 Romanist, the, maintains the ne- 
 cessity of an infallible living 
 arbiter 228 
 
 Revelation, the Jewish and 
 Christian, striking contrast be- 
 tween 17 
 
 8. 
 
 SCEPTIC or latitudinarian, the, 
 merges religion in moral or 
 
 social duty 2JK 
 
 reply to tin- fallacy 279 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Sceptic, the, he considers faith 
 as independent of the will .... 280 
 reply to this second fallacy. Ib. 
 Scripture, transmission of the, 
 no proof of infallible interpre- 
 tation 23? 
 
 encouraging promises 
 
 of divine aid in 287291 
 
 Scripture principle, different from 
 the principles of the enthu- 
 siast, &c 293 
 
 Service, Church, observations as 
 to hearing the 222 
 
 observations as to 
 
 reading the 223 
 
 Socinianism, origin of 302 
 
 historical view of . . Ib. 
 
 moral view of 305 
 
 Socinians, error of the 31 1 
 
 Summary of the argument for 
 liturgies, from Scripture and 
 antiquity 215 
 
 Summary of the arguments for 
 Episcopacy 150 
 
 Synagogue, service of the, litur- 
 gical 172 
 
 T. 
 
 Temple, service of the, liturgical. 169 
 
 TKRTULLIAN, affirms distinctly 
 the institution of the episcopal 
 order by the Apostles 73 
 
 Testament, New, evidence for 
 liturgies in the 174 
 
 Old, examples of pre- 
 scribed forms of prayer in the.. 165 
 
 Testimonies to the divine institu- 
 tion of episcopacy by the apos- 
 tolic fathers 46 
 
 since the apostolic 
 
 age 65 
 
 corroborative, since 
 
 the time of Constantine. . .. 86 
 
 Testimony, restriction of to the 
 apostolic age 118 
 
 THEODORET,the peculiarity of his 
 sentiments on the subject of 
 episcopacy 104 
 
 TIMOTHY, made bishop of Ephe- 
 sus 28 
 
 powers given to .... Ib. 
 
 ordination by 29 
 
 and TITUS, their ap- 
 pointment not occasional but 
 permanent 30
 
 390 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 TIMOTHY and TITUS, why not 
 always resident 32 
 
 Titles, the appropriation of to 
 the highest order of church 
 officers is of very remote an- 
 tiquity 136 
 
 Z. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ZANCHIUS, his true method of 
 reforming the church, and his 
 strong protestation against 
 schismatics 9 
 
 THE END. 
 
 GILBERT & RIVINGTON, Printers, St. John's Square, London.
 
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