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CHRISTIAN CREEDS
AND
CONFESSIONS
A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE SYMBOLICAL
BOOKS OF THE CHURCHES AND SECTS
OF CHRISTENDOM AND OF TIIE
DOCTRINES DEPENDENT
ON THEM

BY
G. A. GUMLICH, Ph.D.
PROFESSOR
TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAIN BY
L. A. WHEATLEY
TRANSLATOR OF STEINMEYER ' ON THE MIRACLES,' LUBKE'S 'ECCLESIASTICAL
ART,* ETC., ETC. AUTHOR OF ' THE STORY OF THE IMITATIO CHRISTI '

FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY
NEW YORK AND TORONTO
1894

AUTHOR'S PREFACE
At a time when Church questions agitate wide circles, — for
the old strife between Church and State, between Protest
antism and Romanism, has again broken out, — and when,
even in the Evangelical Church itself, there is a combat
between parties involving the very riglit of each other's
existence, an attempt to set down clearly and conclusively
fundamental and distinctive doctrines needs no apology.
Many who formerly perhaps thought that they had no
cause to busy themselves with such searching questions
will now feel their need to make themselves better ac
quainted with the principles and doctrines of the Christian
Churches, since they may, as officials of the State or of the
Church, or as representatives of the people or of con
gregations, have to decide or at least give their votes on
ecclesiastical matters. By such people a thorough and
objective explanation of the confessional doctrines founded
on the Creeds and Symbolical books themselves will be
valued, and such a work this is intended to be.
It seemed necessary to add a short account of the
characteristics of the most important sects, because, since

iv Author s Preface
Freedom of Religion has become a fundamental principle
in the constitution of all civilised States, they have gained
a greater importance and more significance than formerly.
It may be doubtful whether the scholastic form of this
exposition will please all readers, but at any rate it will be
welcome to such as wish for a compendium on the
Symbolical Books.
Berlin, llnd May 1878.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND AND THIRD
EDITIONS
As this little work has found friendly acceptance with
students as a compendium of the Creeds and Confessions,
we trust that this new thoroughly revised (though essen
tially unaltered) edition will be useful to many,
Berlin, December 1888 and Mcurch 1893.

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE
There are several very able works on the Creeds, such
as those of Lumby and Swainson, to which I would refer
those who wish a fuller account than can be given in a
small manual like the present, I am unaware however of
any work that gives such a full account of the Confessions
or Libii Symbolici, or such a clear explanation of the
doctrines which divide the Churches and sects, I will
therefore oflFer no apology for introducing to English
readers the work of Professor Gumlich, It is written in
a thoroughly impartial spirit — at least, as impartial as is
possible for one with prepossessions of his own.

CONTENTS Parti.
OHUEOH CREEDS.
CHAPTER PAGE
I. Origin, Conception, and Authority of the Creeds, . 3
II. Oecumenical Creeds, (a) the Apostles' Creed ; (6) the
Nicene ; (c) the Athanasian or the Quicunqibe vult,
ni. Creeds peculiar to the Greek or Oriental Church,
IV. Creeds peculiar to the Roman Catholic Church, .
V, Special Symbolical Books of the Evangelical or Lutheran
Church, 
VI. Special Symbolical Books of the Reformed Church,
via. „ ,, of the Church of England,
Tl6. „ ,, of the Church of Scotland,

9
1315
18
29 32
34

Part II.
DOOTEINES OP THE CREEDS,
Vll. Opposition of Roman Catholicism and Evangelical Pro
testantism as to the Doctrine of the Church, (a) The
Roman Doctrine; (6) the Evangelical Protestant
Doctrine, , . ;  37
VIII. Doctrine of Tradition and of Holy Scripture, . . 49
IX. Opposition of the Roman and of the Evangelical Church
with regard to Christian Anthropology andSoteriology.
(a) Doctrine of Original Sin. Suppl. — The Immaculate
Conception of the Virgin, (i) The Doctrine of Jus
tification, (c) Faith and Good Works, (d) Doctrine
of Predestination, . . ... 55
x. The Doctrine of the Sacraments in general, , , . 68

viii Contents
CHAPTER PAGE
XI. The Doctrine of the Separate Sacraments. (1) Bap
tism ; (2) Confirmation,  71
XII. The Roman Catholic Doctrine of the Eucharist and the
Sacrifice of the Mass. The Lutheran and the Re
formed Doctrine of the Lord's Supper,
XIII. Penance (including Purgatory and Indulgences), ,
XIV. Extreme Unction, Consecration of Priests, Marriage,
XV. Adoration of Angels, Saints, Relics, and Images,

Part III.
DOCTRINES OF THE MOST IMPORTANT
SECTS.
XVI. Christological Sects of the Ancient Church. (1) Nes
torians ; (2) Monophysites (Armenians, Copts, Abys
sinian Christians, Jacobites) ; (3) Monotheletes
(Maronites),  101
XVII. Sects of the Roman Catholic Church. (1) Waldensians
(2) Bohemians and Moravian Brethren ; (3) Jansen
ists ; (4) German Catholics ; (5) Old Catholics, . 104
XVIII. Sects arising from the Greek (Russian) Church.
(1) Raskolnics ; (2) Philipponians ; (3) Stundists, . 108
XIX. Sects which have arisen from the Reformation move
ment of the Sixteenth Century. (1) Anabaptists or
Mennonites ; (2) Presbyterians and Independents ;
(3) Socinians or Unitarians ; (4) Arminians or Re
monstrants, . . . . . . . .110
XX. Protestant Sects of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth
Centuries which originated in opposition to outward
church forms. (1) Society of Friends ; (2) Mor
avians ; (3) Baptists ; (4) Methodists, . . . . 117
XXI. Anti-unionists and Free Church sects, .... 123
XXII. Millenarian Sects. (1) Swedenborgians; (2) Irvingites;
(3) Plymouth Brethren, etc.,  126
Index,  133

PART I

CHURCH CREEDS

CHAPTER I
ORIGIN, CONCEPTION, AND AUTHORITY OF THE CREEDS
Jesus of Nazareth proclaimed the Gospel of Love and of
the Kingdom of God, and manifested in His life and
sufferings the consciousness of the Fatherhood of God.
According to this revelation His disciples formed a church.
Jesus is the Messiah {the Christ promised to the Jews), the
Lord who liveth and will come again to set up His Kingdom.
This was tlie first confession, which was sufficient for the
original communities who sprung up on Jewish soil
(Acts II. 36). Baptism foUowed the confession of faith in
Jesus ChrLst or the Lord (Acts X. 48). When the new
religion, by the activity of St. Paul, entered into heathen
circles, the confession Jesus Christ tlie Son of God is the
Saviour of all men became the watchword of the heathen-
cliiistian communities.
When, however, the Jewish-Christian, the Paulinist and
Hellenistic Alexandrinian Churches, which had at first
opposing tendencies, united together, and from their com
mon strife against the Gnostics, Ebionites, and other
parties, had developed into the Catholic Church with its
Episcopal government, the simple acknowledgment of Jesus
as the Christ and the Son of God no longer suflEced. The
essential tenour of the Christian faith in opposition to
heathenism and to heretical sects was comprised shortly in

4 Christian Creeds and Confessions
the rule of faith {regula fidei) which was highly esteemed
as ira/jaSoo-ts aTroo-ToAtK^ and used principally as the con
fession at baptism and as a rule of truth {Kavtav rrj's
aXijOeiai) in doctrinal disputes. It must at first have
been communicated only verbally and in accordance with
the Catholic Tradition.
Its written record since the end of the fourth century
shows the essential agreement of the rules of faith which
were in use in the various Churches, just as much as the
variety in expressions and additions.
Fifty different editions of it have been counted. The original
text of the oldest formula was Greek, as is proved by the oldest
traces of its existence in Justin Martyr and Polycarp. The Roman
form in the Sacramentarium of Gelasins (about A.D. 500) runs thus :
' Credo in Deum, patrem omnipotentem, et in Jesum Christum,
filium ejus unicum, dominum nostrum, natum et passum, et in
Spiritum Sanctum, Sanctam Ecclesiam, remissionem peccatorum,
carnis resurrectionem.' The formula which, according to Rufinus
(died 410 A.D.), was used in Aquileia, was 'Credo in Deo, patre
omnipotente, invisibili et impassibili.^ Et in Christo Jesu, unico
filio ejus, dom. n. qui natus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine,
crucifixus sub Pontio Pilato et sepultus, descendit in inferna, tertia
die resurrexit a mortuis, ascendit in coelos, sedet ad dextram Patris:
inde venturus est judicare vivos et mortuos. Et in spiritu sancto,
sanctam ecclesiam, remissionem peccatorum, hujus carnis resur
rectionem. ' The Eastern form is distinguished principally by the
commencing words : inffTeioiiev els ^ya deov — Kal els ^va K^piov k.t.\.
When at last the Christian religion became the pre
vailing one in the Roman Empire, and the episcopal
government with the institution of synods under the
authority of the state had attained general acceptance, the
rules of faith which at the time of the great Christological
doctrinal disputes since the fourth century had been
1 The addition impassiMM was made in opposition to the doctrine of the
Patripassioners (that the Father suffered).

Church Creeds 5
extended into Confessions or Symbols of the Orthodox Faith
were considered equivalent to laws of Church and State.
The older creeds (Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian), which
were generally accepted in the West, are called symbola
oecumenica, a designation which is incorrect in so far that
the whole Greek Church acknowledges neither the so-called
Apostles' nor the Athanasian creed.
The later ones, which, caused by the divisions in the
Church, are mostly extensive confessional writings, are
called symbola particularia.
Si)jii/3oXoi» ((TUjit^dXXu) is in classical diction sign by which some
thing is settled, a memorandum, a token, for example for judges,
for a host's friends (tessera /lospitofc), for partakers in the mysteries ;
then also a, concerted sirjn, as, for example, a soldier's watchword
(generally aivBtiiia), and a symbol, the emblematical representation
of an idea. Christian writers used this word next as a designation
of the sacraments, the visible signs of the invisible grace, and at
the same time as means of recognition and union of Christians in
their separation from the Jews and the heathen. Later on, the
baptismal confession was in fact called symbolum ; it is thus in
Cyprian and Athanasius. With this latter use is connected the
significance of 'Confession of Faith,' in which sense we here use it.
We call the Confessions of Faith church symbols, because they are
the outer signs of the inner faith in which the members of the
Churfch feel themselves spiritually connected, and signs of separation
of Christians from all non-Christians, and from those who under
stand otherwise the Apostolic doctrine and Scripture, at the same
time the watchword by which the members of a church are known
to each other.
In the Roman and Greek Churches the Symbols (Creeds)
have retained their legal authority.
According to the Evangelical view as it is expressed in
the Formula Concordiae, Creeds are ' not judges, as is holy
scripture, but only witnesses and explanations of the faith,
according to the way at any time holy scripture has

6 Christian Creeds and Confessions
been understood and expounded in disputed points by
those then living, and as opposing doctrines have been
cast aside and condemned.' ^ It is certainly stated in
another passage of the Formula {Pi. 637) that the defini
tion of the creeds may be a public and sure witness,
not only for those now living, but for posterity, this
is and must be the Church's unanimous opinion and
judgment on disputed points. And thus, even in the
Evangelical Churches, the legal acceptation of the creeds
as norma normata, the scripture being as the norma
nornmns, became soon the prevailing one. Even the
Augsburg Religious Peace of 1555 was really concluded on
the legal base of the Augsburg Confession, so that it was
thought necessary to guard against any deviation. It is
only in more modern times that their historical estimate
has been generally extended.
Freedom of conscience originally demanded by Protestants was in
practice completely givren up by the strict doctrinal discipline which
the doctrinal formula of the new church made again as a binding
law. The legal authority of the ' Concordienbuch ' was maintained
with severity by the princes of the country as .mmmi episcopi, and
in Saxony and other places the declaratory oath of faith in it was
demanded of ministers of the church and of schools. In the
beginning of the seventeenth century the Elector, John Sigismund of
Brandenburg, removed its binding force on account of the attacks in
it against the Calvinists. A little later George Calixt (who died in
1656), the theologian of Helmstadt, contended against the necessity
of the symbolic books, and especially against their unconditional
obligation. The authority, however, of the Lutheran symbols
became still greater. They were declared to be divinely inspired,
and produced a ' Symbolatrie ' or creed-worship, against which the
pious Ph. J. Spener (1635-1705) expressly protested. He ascribed
to the confessional writings only a relative importance, denied their
1 * Symbola non obtinent auetoritatem judicis : haec enim dignitas solis sacris
literis debetur.'— CoTici^. R. 572.

Church Creeds 7
inspiration and infallibility, and held their subscription admissible
with the proviso quatenus cum scriptura sacra conseutiunt (as far as
they agree with scripture), although as far as he himself was con
cerned he would not hesitate to subscribe with quia ( = because).
Pietism awoke again the consciousness that Christianity in its
essence was not a dogma but a moral force of life which could be
effective even with an incomplete dogmatic knowledge.
As the pietism of the school of Spener was succeeded in the
eighteenth century by the ' Aufklarung,' enlightenment and ration
alism, there arose a more decided opposition to the obligation of the
symbolical books, for the authority of which Chief Pastor Gotze of
Hamburg contended in vain. Even the Prussian Religious Edict of
Minister Wollner (1788), by which all the clergy who dissented from
the symbolical doctrinal clauses were threatened with dismissal and
more severe punishments, could not withstand the general tendency
of the time which demanded freedom of faith and doctrine. With
the succession to the throne of Frederick William iii. (iii 1797) it
lost its value, as the king declared that religion did not require
compulsory laws, but was an affair of the heart, and with its in
separable companions Reason and Philosophy existed in a nation
of itself without needing the authority of those who wished to arro
gate to themselves the right of imposing their doctrines on future
ages. Since then Herder and Schleiermacher have ably and suc
cessfully shown that Religion has its origin and its seat in pious
feeling in opposition to the one-sided prominence given to Reason
by the ' Aufklarung ' party.
In the second decade of this century, after the wars for libera
tion, a new ecclesiastical spirit moved in Evangelical Germany.
From a few voices, as, for example, from that of Pastor Harms in
Kiel in 1817, there was demanded a restoration of the authority of
the church creeds. However, the establishment of the union of
Lutheran and Reformed Churches in several German States (it took
place in Prussia in 1817) led to the putting aside of doctrinal dis
putes : the symbolical separative doctrines were to lose their power
of breaking up the Church. Ecclesiastical union was to be sought,
not in dogmatic formulae, but in ' the spirit of the holy founder of
the Church, in the spirit of self-denying love ; ' in place of confessional
churches there was to be a ' newly resuscitated evangelical Chris
tian Church.' The union, however, and the agenda defined for its
carrying out, met with a determined opposition, more especially
in Prussia, among orthodox Lutherans, and this did not remain
without an important, principally an opposing, influence on the

8 Christian Creeds and Confessions
development of the united Church, which, according to its origin
and being, may not demand an obligation to an amount of fixed
dogmas, but only the acknowledgment of the Scripture of the New
Testament, as a source of knowledge of Christian truth and of the
principles of the Reformation.
The repeated separations that have taken place among the
Lutheran Churches of Germany and of North America who have
remained faitlifal to the Confession show to demonstration that
unity in confessions affords no surety of unity of spirit.
The authority of confessions was always less in the Reformed
Churches than in the Lutheran. Even in the beginning of the
seventeenth century the Arminians in Holland, and soon after the
so-called Latitudiriarians in the Episcopal Church of England, among
whom were bishops and famous theologians, declared against the
weakening of freedom of doctrine and of faith by creeds. A free
position towards the creeds was taken up more and more in other
reformed communities, as in France, Germany, and in Switzerland,
and especially the fundamental dogma of predestination was placed
more and more in the background. The strife of parties in more
modern times, even within the Reformed Church, was carried on
much less with regard to the authority of creeds than on account of
the authority of scripture.

CHAPTER II
OECUMENICAL CREEDS
I
A. The Apostles' Creed.
The so-called Apostles' Creed (in Luther's Catechism the
three articles of the Christian faith) was not composed by
the apostles themselves, i It is rather an enlargement of
the short baptismal confession which was closely connected
with the baptismal formula (Matt, xxviii. 19) which came
into general use since the second century of the Christian
era. Each clause of the confession extended to a rule of
faith has an antithetical relation to heretical doctrines or
to separatist principles.
MpeaLs was originally a name for a philosophical school or its
party opinions. Since the time of Irenaeus the name of heretic
was given to those who, instead of yielding obedience to the doctrine
1 The view of Bufinus, who declares thi3 creed, in consequence of a misunder
standing of the Greek expression, as a coUatio apostolorum (drawn up conferetido
in unum) has been given up as quite untenable since the Reformation. The cause,
however, may have been in the division of the creed into twelve articles as it is
found in the Catechismus Rovianus.
[Lumby states that the exact words of this creed ' first occur in the creed given
by Pirminius, a.d. 750," and that 'this date may therefore be assigned to the first
appearance of the Apostolic Creed in its present form.'
J. R. Lumby, D.D., History ofthe Creeds, Camb. 1880, p. 171.
He sums up as follows : —
In the Western Churches tbe ' creed used for the first 250 years was of a very
short and simple form. It was in the two hundred years extending from a.d. 250
to A.D. 450 that the Apostolic Creed received its greatest additions. . It was
not for three hundred years or more after the death of St. Augustine that the
creed was expanded to its full dimensions.'— fftsiorj/ ofthe Creeds, pp. 172.3.— T.]
9

IO Christian Creeds and Confessions
of the Catholic and Orthodox Church, philosophised on God and
divine things according to their own judgment, or to those who
followed heterodox (that is Gnostic) opinions, while schismatic
(separatistae) was applied to those who separated from the Catholic
Church on account of questions of Church government and Church
discipline. The Gnostic docetic heresy gave a special reason for a
further extension of the baptismal creed, and there was added to
the first article the clause, ' Maker of heaven and earth,' and to the
second the acknowledgment of the God-man and of the facts of
the gospel history, and to the third the ' resurrection of the body. '
In opposition to the Montanist, Novatian, and Donatist schisms
there were added in the third article, ' sanctam ecclesiam catholicam,
sanctorum communionem, remissionem peccatorum.' The later
clause in the second article, 'descendit ad inferna' (i.e. to Hades),
was intended at first only to strengthen the reality of the death
of Jesus in opposition to the Docetists, but it soon became the
starting point of mythological representations, which were retained
even by Luther and in the Formula Concordiae.
In the first centuries we find the Creed as given above (page 4)
in various forms. The complete one ( Textus receptus), as it is now
used in the Evangelical Churches at baptisms and confirmations,
came to light first in the middle of the fifth century as the baptismal
creed of the Church of South Gaul. It extended itself over France,
and was then at last accepted by Rome, where it took the place of the
Constantinopolitan Creed, which, ever since the sixth century, had
replaced the shorter Roman creed (page 4). It then attained as the
' Apostles' Creed ' exclusive acknowledgment in the whole Western
Church, having been spread in Germany by Boniface. The Greek
Church, however, declared that they knew of no ' Apostles' Creed '
in their traditions, and held to the formula of Nicaea and Con
stantinople as their baptismal confession.
The resolution of the Prussian General Synod of 1846 to replace
the creed for liturgical use by a shorter confession, retailiing only
what was essential, was never carried out. In several established
churches the liturgical use of the Apostles' Creed is only voluntary.
B. The Nicene or Constantinopolitan Creed.
This creed is an extension of the Eastern baptismal
confession which was necessitated by the Arian contro
versies. In the first oecumenical synod of Nicaea (a.d. 325),

Oecumenical Creeds 1 1
the homoousion, that is, the equality of the Son with the
Father (o/iooixrtos tw irarpl), was determined, and in the
Nicene Creed, by additions in the second article, raised to
the confession of the orthodox Church. The third article
was limited to the words xal eh ¦Kvevfj.a ayiov.
In the second oecumenical council at Constantinople
(a.d. 381) there were added to the Nicene Creed (S.
Nic. Constant.) the clauses in the third article, 'Who
proceedeth from the Father, and with the Father and
the Son is worshipped and glorified,' by which the orthodox
doctrine ofthe Holy Ghost was assured against Macedonius.
Between the words of the third article, ' qui ex patre procedit, '
the definition ' et filio ' was inserted at the Council of Toledo
(A.D. 589), and this clause was accepted in the West, first in the
Frankish and later in the Romish Church. In the later contests for
precedence between the Romish and Constantinopolitan Patriarchs,
the accusation of having falsified the creed and of the sin against
the Holy Ghost, was raised on the part of the Greeks against the
Romish Church, because they thus altered the confession. On
account of their antagonism to the 'altered' Nicene-Constantino-
politan formula, the Eastern Church returned to the older Nicene,
which is used by them to this day as their baptismal creed.
C. TJie Athanasian Creed, or the ' Quicunque Vult.'
The Athanasian Creed was not written by the Church
Father whose name it bears, but was published first in
Latin about the end of the fifth century, probably by
Vigil ius of Thapsus who wrote it under the name of
Athanasius, in opposition to the Arian Vandals and the
Eutychians. The introduction and conclusion of this creed make the holding
of the Church's belief a necessity of salvation. The first part
contains the doctrine of the Trinity in its strictest sense, as it was
developed by Augustine in his sermon ' de trinitate.' The unity

1 2 Christian Creeds and Confessions
of being of the three persons, who are only distinguished by the
predicates ingenitus, genitus a patre, and procedens a patre et filio,
is most stringently emphasised. The other part treats of the
person of Christ, that is of the relation of the divine and human
nature of Christ, according to the definitions of the fourth oecu
menical Council at Chalcedon (a.d. 451), which condemned
' Monophysitism as well as Nestorianism,' and maintained that
the two natures were united in Christ, unmixed and unchanged,
undivided and inseparable.
This creed was first generally adopted only in the
churches of Spain and Gaul. It attained to its greatest
estimation in the West later, after the disputes with the
Greeks on the Procession of the Holy Ghost. It has
found no place in the Liturgy of the Lutheran Church. ^
Besides these three creeds, the Western Church also accepts the
conclusions (capitula) of the Provincial Synod of Orange (a.d. 529),
which acknowledged in its fundamental principles the Augustinian
doctrine of Sin and Grace, in opposition to Pelagianism and
Semipelagianism on the one side, and to the evil results of the
doctrine of predestination (praedestinatio ad malum) on the other.
The complete and unlimited effectiveness of divine grace was
established without more special definitions on the irresistibility
of grace or the absoluteness of predestination in regard to the elect
and the non-elect. Anathema was pronounced against those who
taught predestination to evil.
1 According to Professor Lumby this creed was considered as a sermon, and
principally intended for the priests. Thomas Aquinas (1250) testified that its
original design was not that of a symbol. Two English bishops, while recom
mending it to their clergy, styled it a psalm (History of the Creeds, p. 267). — T.

CHAPTER III
CREEDS PECULIAR TO THE GREEK OR ORIENTAL CHURCH
The doctrine of the Greek Church has experienced no
real change since John of Damascus, who died a.d. 754.
He was the defender of the ^\'orship of pictures against
iconoclastic emperors, and in his eV-Soo-ts aKpi/3^s tjJs
opdoSo^ov 7rto-T£<os expounded it according to Scripture
and to the definitions of oecumenical councils. The Greek
Church has taken no part in the sharply defined and
scholastic development of dogma in the West ; for it has
clung to the ancient tradition, and resisted all modernisa
tion, while the Catholicism of the Roman Church has
continually developed.
The disputes between the Latin and Greek Churches were at
times involved in doctrinal differences (as, for example, in the
monotheletic and iconoclastic ones), but fundamentally they were
the results of the fact that the Emperor and Patriarch of Con
stantinople did not wish to acknowledge the primacy and jurisdiction
of the Roman Bishop. Even the strife between the Patriarch
Photius (who died A.D. 891) of Constantinople and the Roman
Pope, Nicholas i., attained no dogmatic result, unless we consider
as such the rejection of the Filioque on the part of the Greeks.
Otherwise it treated only of Roman customs, such as fasting on
Saturday, shortening of the great fasts, rejection of confirmation
performed by Presbyters, and the forbidding of the marriage of
priests, and in the strife caused by Michael Caerularlus which
preceded the schism of the Church in a.d. 1054, about the un
leavened bread at the Lord's Supper (Azymitae).
When Sultan Mohammed ii. in 1453 took Constantinople
he demanded of the Patriarch Gennadius an explanation

1 4 Christian Creeds and Confessions
of the chief doctrines of the Christian Church. This
patriarch then composed a Confession of Faith in twenty
chapters, which, however, contained only a general ex
position of Christian doctrine, without showing what
distinguished the Greeks from the Latins.
A more decidedly confessional character and more
general ecclesiastical acknowledgment was possessed by
the Confession of Faith drawn up by Peter Mogilas,
Metropolitan of Kiew. It was occasioned on one side
by the successful labours of the Jesuits in drawing over
to the Roman side a portion of the clergy in the western
provinces of Russia, and on the other by the Calvinising
confession of the Patriarch of Constantinople, Cyrillus
Lucaris (who died A.D. 1638). This confession was
sanctioned in 1643 by the five Greek orthodox patriarchs
of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and
Moscow, as bjioXoyla rrjs opdoSo^ov irto-Tews T^s KaOoXiKTJ'i
Kal aTTocrToXiKrjs eKKAijo-i'as. It was accepted by Peter the
Great and included in the Russian Church Canons of
1723. It consists of three divisions in catechetical form, of which the
first, irepl iriffTeas, treats in twelve articles of the creed of the two
first oecumenical synods (among other things of the rejection of
purgatory and the withdrawal of the cup). The second, Trepl
i\Trldos, treats of the Lord's prayer and of the nine beatitudes, and
the third, irepi ttjs els Bebv Kal rhv irXrjaiov ay&irris, on Christian
virtues and good works, prayer, fasts and alms, on the Cardinal
virtues, the various kinds of sin, and lastly on the Decalogue.
Finally, at the synod of Jerusalem in 1672, the con
fession of the Patriarch Dositheus was accepted. This
confession is also decidedly opposed to the evangelising
confession of Cyril Lucaris.

CHAPTER IV
creeds PEUUL1.\R XO the ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
The strife between the Romish and the Evangelical Church
was concerned principally with Christian Anthropology
and Soteriology, or the doctrines of Sin and Grace and
Salvation, on which neither the ancient Church nor that of
the middle ages had made any positive confessional affirma
tion. In spite of the high estimation in which Augustine
was held, Pelagianism was more and more dominant in the
practice of the church, and later even the doctrine of sin
and conversion was formed by the Schoolmen more in
accordance with the sense of Aristotle than with that of
Augustine. The reforming opposition of the Evangelicals
compelled the Roman Church to form fixed resolutions on
these doctrines. This took place at the council of Trent,
which was opened December 13, 1545, and concluded in
1563 at that town, having been held at Bologna from
1547 to 1551, and interrupted from 1552 to 1562.
The decrees {de reformatione and de doctrina) and the canons,
which are short statements of the opposing doctrines, and are
followed by the anathema sit of this Council, are the chief source
for the knowledge of the Roman Catholic doctrine in opposition to
heterodox Protestantism, especially in regard to the doctrines on
scripture and tradition, on hereditary sins and justification, on
purgatory, indulgence, fasting, etc. The synod, for precaution's
sake, did not define the doctrine of the Church and its head. The

1 6 Christian Creeds and Confessions
confirmation of the Tridentine resolution by the head of the Church
followed in 1564 by the Confirmation Bull of Pius iv. The decision
of disputed cases arising out of the exjilanation of the conclusions
was reserved for the Pope.
In the same year Pius IV. issued a forma juin.menti pro-
fessionis fidei, which is generally called the pvfessio fidei
Tridentinae, an oath for priests, monks, academical teachers,
and converts. For the instruction of the people and of the
young, catechisms were written, that of the Jesuit P.
Canisius in 1554 being mostly used. Tlie Council of Trent
had handed over its opportunity of making a catechism to
the Pope. Under the authority of Pius v. there appeared
in 1566 the Catechismus Eomanus, which is not, however, a
book for children, but a catechetical handbook for pastors.
In the first Roman editions the text was not divided into
questions and answers.
This catechism consists of four parts: 1. de symbolo (an explana
tion of the Apostles' Creed divided into 12 articles). 2. De iocra-
mentis (generally and also specially on baptism, confirmation, the
eucharist, penance, extreme unction, order, matrimony). 3. De
decalogo. 4. De oratione (on prayer in general and on the Lord's
Prayer in particular) . In the main it agrees with the Tridentine
Decrees, but enlarges on many doctrines, and treats also of things
omitted therein such as the limbus patrum and especiaUy of the
Pope. Since then the Papal System, or System of the Curia,
which asserts the unrestrained power and infallibility of
the Roman Bishop in matters of Faith, is considered as
orthodox. According to this, universal authority belongs to
the Bulls of the Pope which he has issued de cathedra
for the settlement of doctrinal disputes within the Roman
Church (as for example the Bull of Innocent x. of 1643
against the five propositions of Jansen, ^ defender Qf

Thc Roman Catholic Church 17
Augustinian doctrine against openly advanced Semi-pela-
gianism, and against the morality of the Jesuits, and the
Constitutio Unigenitus of Clement xi. of 1713, in which 101
of the sentences in the New Testament of the Jansenist
Quesnel were condemned), while the Episcopalians defended
the superiority of the Councils above the Pope, and
asserted that only general rules of faith could be
settled by a council representing the whole church. This
opposition to the system of the Curia was deprived of all
justification by the dogma of the ' Infallibility of the Pope '
in regard to faith and morals, which was decided by the
Vatican Council at the instigation of the Jesuits on the
18th of July 1870.
This dogma has retrospectively given the effect of a
creed to all papal Bulls, as for example even to those
of Boniface Vlil., Clericis laicos and Unam sanctam,'^ as
also to the In coena Domini of Urban viii. of 1627, in
which, by the side of pirates, robbers, and enemies of the
Church, Lutherans, Zwinglians, Calvinists, etc. are con
demned. That the papacy of the present time continues on its course
of dogma-making without the authority of, and even against.
Scripture, is proved by the proclamation of the doctrine of the
Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, on December 8th, 1854.
It is self-evident that the Missale Romanum, and the Breviarium,
as well as ecclesiastical practice are all of importance for a full
conception of the Roman Catholic System. Cardinal Bellarmine,
a Jesuit who died a.d. 1621, is considered the chief dogmatic
apologist or exponent of Roman orthodoxy. In an encyclical of
the year 1879, Leo XIII. has promoted Thomas Aquinas, who
died A.D. 1274, to be the teacher and patron of all Universities,
Academies, and Schools.
1 In this Bull every one is declared a heretic who does not believe that the
Pope has authority both in spiritual and worldly things. 'Subesse Romano
pontifici onmi humanae creaturae declaramus esse de necessitate salutis.'
B

CHAPTER V
SPECIAL SYMBOLICAL BOOKS OF THE EVANGELICAL OR
LUTHERAN CHURCH
The principal confession of the Evangelical Church as
generally acknowledged is the Augsburg Confession.
After the transactions of the German Imperial Council
at Spires, A.D. 1529, concluded by a dismissal which
occasioned a protest by the Evangelical States and an
appeal to the Emperor and a general council, conventions
were held by the Protestants in Rotbach and Schwabach,
which were without any result, as the doctrinal differences,
especially with regard to the Lord's Supper, prevented all
agreements between the Saxons and the Upper Germans.
In order to obviate these differences, the Landgrave,
Philip of Hesse, appointed a religious conference of the
Wittenbergers with Zwingli to be held at Marburg in the
first days of October 1529, at which Luther drew up in
writing the parallel points in fourteen articles and a
fifteenth which was disputed, concerning the Lord's Supper.
These fifteen articles were subscribed by the theologians
present at the, conference. At the request of the Elector
of Saxony, seventeen articles, which were intended to form
the religious basis of the Union about to be concluded,
were laid before the Oberland ambassadors for signature
without any further consideration at the second convention

The Lutheran Church 1 9
of Schwabach (October 16, 1529). This, however, the
ambassadors refused, as they had not been authorised to
do so. These Articles of Schwabach are an edition drawn
up by Luther himself of the Marburg agreement. At the
Convention at Schmalkald (November 29, 1529) the
signature to the seventeen Schwabach Articles was de
manded of, and given by, all the members. Now, when the
Emperor Charles V. summoned from Bologna (January 21,
1530) an imperial council to meet at Augsburg on April
8th, 1530, at which the various religious opinions were
to be heard and considered, and, if possible, harmony to
be again restored, he demanded that the states should put
in writing and hand in their ' sentiments, opinions, and
intentions' concerning religion, in German and in Latin.
The Elector John of Saxony (on the 14th March 1530),
commissioned Luther, Jonas Bugenhagen, and Melanchthon
to draw up in the shortest time possible the Articles
concerning not only Faith, but also external church customs
and ceremonies which had been disputed. In the Schwabach
Articles the ceremonies were only lightly touched upon in
articles 15 to 17. Hence the theologians handed to the
Elector at Torgau, besides the Schwabach Articles, 'a
memorial to point out to His Imperial Majesty what
related to ceremonies and what was dependent on them.'
The Schwabach Articles on Doctrines united with this
memorial on disputed outward customs form the Twgau
Articles. At Augsburg Melanchthon worked out on the base
of the Tprgau Articles the Confession which was to be
laid before the Emperor and the States of the Empire. In
this he made use in the first part (articuli fidei) of the
Schwabach Articles, the author of which was really Luther,

20 Christian Creeds and Confessions
while the second part (articuli de abusibus) was his own
composition, Luther, to whom the Elector had sent the articles to Coburg for
him to look over, replied on May 15th, ' I have read over Master
Philip's Apologia,' as the confession was then called, 'it pleases
Hie very well, and I know not how to improve or alter any of it,
but I would not send it ; as I cannot tread so softly and gently ' ;
and on the 3rd of July he wrote to Melanchthon, ' Relegi heri tuam
Apologiam diligenter totam et placet vehementer. ' The Confession
was signed by the Elector, John of Saxony, the Margrave, George
of Brandenburg, Duke Ernest of Liineberg, the Landgrave, Philip of
Hesse, Prince WoUgaug of Anhalt, and the towns of Nuremberg
and Reutlingen.
The solemn reading of this confession (in German by the Saxon
Chancellor Bayer) took place on the 25th of June in the chapel of
the Imperial Lodging in the Episcopal Palatinate. The German
and the Latin copies were handed to the Emperor, who gave over
the first to the Elector of Menz to be preserved in the Imperial
archives, the other was to be sent to Brussels. The originals of
both were, as it seems, soon lost, and in spite of the most diligent
search never again found.
The Augsburg Confession embraces the real fundamental
points of the Evangelical Doctrine in the first twenty-one
^'/•&Z«.s, which, with the exception ofthe 1st, 14th, and 16th,
all relate to the Christian Doctrine of Redemption. As the
hope of a settlement of the disputes was not yet given up
by the Evangelical States, the chief importance was laid on
the agreement of Evangelical doctrine with Scripture and
with the belief of the ancient church. An apologetic
tendency is specially to be observed through the whole.
In order to put aside all unfavourable representations of
the new doctrine, and especially to obviate any reproaches
as to heresy, the sayings of the Fathers are in preference
quoted, and the errors of all heretics, especially of sects
formed since the beginning of the Reformation, are expressly

The Lutheran Church 21
condemned. On the other hand, in order to render a
reconciliation in every way easier, the errors of the then
Roman Church to be opposed were never expressly stated
as the opinions of the opposite partj"^, and the confession
retains for the most part the usual dogmatic formulae.
The Confession, having in its first article been based on
the Trinitarian foundation of the faith of the Ancient
Church, the Protestant consciousness, having not yet felt
itself injured or narrowed by the Trinitarian and Christo
logical dogmatic formulae, starts oflT in the second article into
a polemical position towards Roman Theology. In order
to eradicate the thoughts of all justification from works,
the deep depravity of human nature is shown in the 2nd
article {de peccato originis), and in the 3rd article {de filio
Dei) the merits of Christ are extolled so as to lay the
foundation for the doctrine of justification by faith in
Article 4 {de justificatione). The 5th and 6th articles
{de ministerio ecclesiastico and de nova obedientia) treat
of the means of grace which lead to faith and to the good
works which adorn it as fruits thereof. Thus the objective
ground of Christian salvation, and the kind and manner
of appropriating it to one's-self, the. way by which sinful
man may attain to a reconciliation with God are expounded
in the first articles. Those which follow relate to the
Church, her sacraments and ordinances, her relation to the
State, her final triumph. According to articles 7 and 8
{de ecclesia and quid sit ecclesia?) to the essence of the
Church belong only preaching of the gospel, and the right
administration of the sacraments, the efficiency of which
depends not on the worthiness of the ofiiciating persons,
but on the precepts of Christ himself.

2 2 Christian Creeds and Confessions
Articles 9 and 10 (de ba/ptismo and de coena Domini) treat of the
Evangelical sacraments, 11, 12, and 13 of confession, of repentance,
and of the (right) use of the sacraments. What the Evangelicals
understand by Church government, and what value they place on
Church ordinances {ritibus ecclesiasticis) are taught in the 14th and
15th articles, while No. 16 [de rebus civilibus) fixes the origin and
right of civil government. In the 17th, 'of the coming again of
Christ for judgment,' Millenirianism is overthrown. In the last of
the doctrinal articles are discussed the doctrine of freewill (18),
origin of sin (19), faith and good works (20), and worship of the
saints (21).
In the following seven on A buses, it was impossible to avoid direct
opposition to the Church of Rome. They relate to the admini
stration of the Lord's supper suA utraque specie, the marriage of
priests, the abrogation of private and secret masses, the abolition of
the binding force of special penances, of rules of fasting, of
monastic vows, and lastly the bounds which it was considered
necessary to place to the unlimited spiritual power of the bishops.
Melanchthon edited in A.D. 1531 the Confession both in
German and Latin. His improvements in style in the
later editions up to 1539 gave no offence; on the other
hand the various alterations in the Latin text of 1540
(especially those in the 10th article '^ {de coena Domini)
which were intended to lessen the opposition to the
reformed doctrine) caused great contentions in the Evan
gelical Church. Since then a distinction has always been
made between the Invariata of 1530 and the Variata of
1540. In more modern times it has been proposed to
make the altered Augsburg Confession a creed for Union.
The Apology for the Augsburg Confession.
The apology for the Augsburg Confession contains a
thorough explanation and proof of the ' Augustana ' for the
1 Instead of ' vere adsint et distribuantur vescentibus ' there was put ' vere
exhibeantur vescentibus,' and the rejection of the Swiss doctrine (• et improbant
seeus docentes ') was omitted.

The Lit theran Church 23
purpose of refuting the ' Confutation,' which had been
drawn up by the order of the Emperor at Augsburg by the
Romish Theologians (Eck, Faber, Wimpina, Cochlaeus),
and read on the 3rd of August 1530 at the Reichstag.
Melanchthon's answer to it, and his short defence of the
Augsburg Confession, was not accepted by the Emperor.
Melanchthon therefore worked at his apology after the
conclusion of the Reichstag, in order to make it more
complete, and printed it in 1531. (The German text is by
Justus Jonas.)
In the Apology, those articles only of the Augsburg Confession
were thoroughly examined and defended which had been either
objected to or rejected by their opponents ; thus, for instance.
Article 2 {de peccato originali), 4 {de justificatione, with a supple
ment de dilectione et impletione legis), 7 and 8 {de ecclesia), 12 {de
poenitentia in connection with an excursus de confessione et satis-
factione), 15 {de traditionibus humanis in ecclesia), and 21 {de
invocatione sancloi-um). The Articuli abusuum were also ex
haustively treated, with the exception of the 4th and 5th {de
confessione and de discrimine ciborum), the subjects of which had
already been discussed in the 12th and 15th articles.
This confessional writing is a mine of genuine Evangelical
doctrine, and an armoury for battle against Roman errors.
The Articles of Schmalkald.
' Such answers as ought to have been given on our part
at the council of Mantua, or wherever else it may have
been held, and what we could or could not accept or reject,
written by Dr. M. Luther, 1537.'
On the pressure of the Emperor, the Pope Paul ni. at last sum
moned a council in 1536 for the following year, to be held at Mantua.
The Evangelicals met at a numerous assembly at Schmalkald in the
beginning of the year 1537, and discussed the question whether
they should take part in it or not, and resolved that owing to the
conditions imposed by the Emperor and the Pope, they would refuse.

24 Christian Creeds and Confessions
Even before this the Saxon Elector, John Frederick, had com
missioned Luther, in case the Council should be held, to draw up a
memorial on the disputed doctrines, in which it would be sufficiently
determined how much could be yielded to the Romans, and as to
what doctrines must be thoroughly insisted on. Luther drew up
' the Articles of Christian Doctrine 'in G erman, and laid them
before the meeting at Schmalkald, where they were approved of by
the princes and signed by the theologians. ^
By agreement of the Princes there was also appended another
treatise by Melanchthon 'on the power and supremacy of the Pope'
and of the ' power and jurisdiction of the Bishops,' and this was
also signed by the theologians.
Although the so-called Articles of Schmalkald were not
used for their intended object, they soon received the
authority of a creed. In reality, they agree thoroughly
with the Augsburg Confession, but they give to the Evan
gelical doctrine a sharper polemical expression. They
consist of three parts : the first contains the non-contro
versial ' high articles of the Divine Majesty ' of the Trinity
and of the person of Christ ; the second, those ' articles
which concern the office and the work of Jesus Christ on
our Redemption,' which are —
a. The doctrine of, the merits of Christ and of Justification
by Faith alone. (One cannot either soften or give up any
thing in this article, let heaven and earth fall or what will
not remain. — Acts iv. 12; Isaiah Iiii. 5. And on this
article depends all which we teach and live against the
Pope, the devil, and the world. The material principle of
the Reformation.)

1 Melanchthon added to his signature a moderating explanation on the Pope,
' I however hold of the Pope that, as long as he will allow the gospel for the sake
of peace and of general unity to those Christians who are under him, or in future
may be under him, his superiority over the Bishops, which he has already, will
also be agreed to by us jure humano.'

The Lutheran Church 25
b. Of the mass as the greatest and most dreadful
abomination of the Papacy.
c. Of monasteries and convents.
d. Of the Papacy which is declared to be Antichristian.
On these points there can be no submission.
The third division comprises articles ' on which we can
treat with educated and reasonable men or among our
selves' (of sin, the law, repentance, the gospel, sacrament
of the altar, the keys, confessions, excommunication,
consecration and vocation, marriage of priests, of good
works, monastic vows, human institutions).
Luthek's Two Catechisms.
In 1527-28 Luther made a visitation of the churches and schools
in Saxony and thereby convinced himself 'that the common people
really knew nothing about Christian doctrines, especially in the
villages, and many pastors, alas ! are totally unfit and unable to
teach.' He therefore determined to compile catechisms to put in the
hands of pastor and people, in order that they might have a compen
dium of what should be taught and learnt. In the year 1529 appeared
first the larger and shortly afterwards the smaller catechism or
Enchiridion. Both catechisms consist of five chief divisions, on the
Decalogue, the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and
instruction on Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Luther
took these 'chief points' out of the mediaeval popukr
church instruction, and in the shorter Catechism provided
them with excellent short explanations. He retained the
old arrangement which was subsequently altered in the
Catechismus Fomanus, which answered to the Evangelical
doctrine of Redemption, according to which, man must first
of all attain by the requirements of the law the painful
consciousness of his sinfulness, in order to be able to

26 Christian Creeds and Confessions
appreciate and accept with longing the announcement of
the Redemption and the grace of God, and the faith which
produces the spirit of childhood, which teaches him to pray
with perfect confidence, and by which he is strengthened
against all oppositions by means of grace — the seal of
Divine grace. In the shorter Catechism there are inserted
before the last division some questions on confession,^ and
as a supplement are added, 1st, The morning and evening
blessing, the Benedicite, and Gratias, 2nd, the 'Haustafel'
(sayings for the three holy states), the status ecclesiasticus,
politicus and oeconomicus, and, 3rd, the little manual for
marriage and baptism.
The short catechism is of great importance for Lutherans as a
' layman's bible,' though of less for the determining of disputed
doctrines.
The Formula of Concord.
( Concordienformel. )
This last and most contested creed ofthe Lutheran church
was, as its name implies, drawn up with the intention of
settling the disputes which had arisen within the Evangelical
community, and to guard it from divisions.
Even in Luther's lifetime there was observable a difference of
opinion among Evangelical theologians : while some held firmly to
the decisive polemical forms of doctrine laid down by Luther, others,
on the other hand, followed more the eirenical or conciliatory direc
tion of Melanchthon (Philippists). Thus John Agricola (since 1540
court-preacher in Berlin) exaggerated the opposition between the
law and gospel to tlie extent of Antinomianism. After Luther's
death the theological quarrel broke out more fiercely, that is,
1 The so-called sixth division on the office of the keys (according to the usual ac
ceptance by General Superintendent Knipstrov in Stralsund) was only introduced
into the catechism later.

The Lilt her an Church 27
when after the unfortunate Schmalkald war Melanchthon and
other theologians in the Leipzig Interim lo4S had declared
many Roman Catholic customs as non-essential (adiaphora). (The
Adiaphoristic dispute.) The avowed jealousy betflcen Electoral
and Ducal Saxony produced the violent dispute of the \A'itten-
berg and the Jena^ theologians both on important and unim
portant doctrinal formulae (as for instance on Synergis^mts, or
co-operation). In the newly founded University of Konigsberg
(1546), Andrew Osiander, appointed by Duke Albreeht, taught
about justification in the manner of the Roman Catholics. CThe
Osiander Strife.) In the dispute with George Major, Nicolas
Amsdorf asserted 'that good works were injurious to salvation.'
(The Majoristic Strife.) After Melanchthon's death (1560) discords
increased. His less cautious followers in Electoral Saxony declared
themselves more and more openly in favour of the Calvinistic
doctrine of the Lord's supper, and were hence as Crjrpto-Calvinists
deprived of their offices and punished severely under the Elector
Augustus (1574). In order to establish more securely the pure
Lutheran doctrine the Elector, with the approval of most of the
evangelical princes, summoned an assembly of theologians at Torgau
in 1576, under the presidency of the Tiibingen Chancellor Jacob
Andrea, who for a long time had worked energetically for the
restoration of peace in the Church, and in union with the Brunswick
Superintendent Martin Chemnitz and the Rostock theologian Chy traus
brought about the so-called Swabian-Saxon 'Concordienformel.'^
As a supplement to this a new formula was composed at Torgau,
which is commonly called the Torgic booh. This book was now sent
to the evangelical states and churches for consideration, which was
not always favourable. Thereupon Andrea, Chemnitz, and Nicolas
Selnecker from Leipzig met at the Monastery of Bergen near Magde
burg and revised the Torgic book with regard to all the criticism
that had been passed on it. Thus arose the Bergic book or Concor
dienformel which was subscribed to in the countries of the three
Electors (ot Saxony, of Brandenburg, and of the Palatinate) and of
twenty other princes, dukes, etc. (principally in 86 regions of the
Empire), by more than 8000 ministers and teachers. On the other
hand the formula was not accepted in Hesse, Anhalt, in part of
Holstein, Pomerania, Silesia, several Imperial towns, in Denmark,

1 The University of Jena was founded in 1557.
2 This work was used by the Wiirtemberg and Baden theologians as a base for
the composition of the shorter Maulbronn Formula.

28 Christian Creeds and Confessions
and in Sweden ; and was subsequently set aside in some States
which had formerly accepted it, as for example in Brunswick and
Brandenburg. A wall of separation was fixed by this creed between the
Lutheran and the German Reformed Church.
This formula consists of two divisions, of which the first
(Epitome) summarily explains in 1 1 Articles (on hereditary
Sin, Free Will, Justification by faith, Good Works, Law
and the Gospel, of the third use of the law, of the Lord's
Supper,! of the Person of Christ, His descent into Hell, of
Church customs or non-essentials, of eternal providence,
and election) with a supplement on other factions and sects,
such as was never known to the Augsburg Confession,
showing the church doctrine and rejecting false opinions,
while the second (Solida Declaratio) contains an explicit
theological foundation for it.
This formula is unquestionably a dialectical masterpiece, and has
given impetus to the development of a new scholasticism in the
Lutheran Church.
In connection with the other Symbolical books of the
Lutheran Church the Concordienformel appeared in the
Concmdienhuch which was published at Dresden, 1580, under
the authority of the Elector Augustus of Saxony and of
the other states agreeing therewith.
1 Not only those of tbe Reformed Church but many Lutherans took objection to
the proof of the Lutheran view of the Lord's Supper by the communicatio idioma
tum (and the so-called Ubiquity of the body) of Christ as it stands in this article.

CHAPTER VI
special symbolical books of the reformed church
The dogmatic differences between Zwingli and Calvin,
and the variety of the political relations in the states which
were subjected to the reforming influence of Switzerland,
hindered the general acknowledgment of symbolical books
within the reformed churches. The most important of
the many reformed confessions, which mostly obtained
authority only within the districts in which they origi
nated, and often then only a passing one, are,
1. The Confessio Tetrapolitana,
drawn up by Martin Bucer, preacher in Strassburg, which
was handed to the Emperor at the Reichstag at Augsburg,
1530, by representatives of the four imperial cities of
Strassburg, Constance, Memmingen, and Lindau, these
towns having on account of their inclination towards the
Zwinglian doctrine of the Lord's Supper been disowned
by the community of the Lutherans. The authority of
this confession lasted longest in Strassburg (until 1563).
2. The Confessio Helvetica prior,
drawn up at Basel in the spirit of the Wittenberg agree
ment of concord in 1536 between the Saxon and Oberland
theologians. Unfortunately, the hope of a union of the
Reformed with the Lutheran Church, which was bound

30 Christian Creeds and Confessions
up with this Confession, soon disappeared, as Calvin's
system of doctrine caused new obstacles.
The chief confession of Calvinism which approached as
nearly as possible to the system of Zwingli (Consensus
Tigurinus) is, 3. The Confessio Helvetica posterior,
which at the desire of the Elector Frederick III. of the
Palatinate, who was the first of the German princes to
acknowledge the Calvinistic doctrine of the Lord's Supper,
(1559) was drawn up by Bullinger and published at Zurich
in 1566. 4. The Heidelberg Catechism,
written at the command of the same prince in the German
language in 1562 by the Heidelberg theologians Zachariaa
Ursinus and Caspar Olevianus. It was introduced as a bool
of instruction in several reformed established churches.
It contains 129 questions to which numerous proofs are given fron
Scripture. The first part treats of the misery of man, the second ol
Redemption (of God the Father, of the Son, of the Holy Ghost, ol
Justification, of the Holy Sacraments), the third of Thankfulness (oi
the law and of prayer) — the doctrine of predestination is not ex
pressly expounded. — The 92nd question gives the commandments in
a different form and numbering from that of Luther's Catechism,
that is to say, in accordance with the reading of Exodus xx. 2-17,^ so
that the forbidding of the worship of images forms the 2nd com
mandment, and the 9th and 10th of the Lutheran Catechism are
reckoned as one. Thus it has come to pass that in the Reformed
Confession, the usual way of numbering the commandments as
generally accepted from the earliest times in the Greek Church has
been adopted, while the Lutheran has retained that which has been
in use in the Church of Rome since the time of St. Augustine.
1 As in the English Church.— T.

The Reformed Church 3 1
5. Confessio Marchica.
This (probably composed by the Court-preacher Fiissel)
was the Confession of Faith of the Elector John Sigismund
of Brandenburg, who came over to the reformed faith in
1613. The Elector acknowledges the principal creeds and the altered
Augsburg Confession, and declares his belief in the doctrine, 1st, of
the Person of Christ (while rejecting the dogma of the ubiquity of his
body), 2nd, in Baptism (while rejecting the doctrines of the con
demnation of unbaptised infants and of Exorcism), 3rd, of the Holy
Supper (with a recommendation of the ritual breaking of bread)
and 4th, on eleotion by grace (while rejecting the ' decretum ab-
solutum' to condemnation) in the Calvinistic sense, but in the
mildest form, and with reference to the opinion of Luther, so that
the endeavour is unmistakable to show Calvinism as indeed recon-
cOable with the doctrine of Luther and thereby to smooth the
way to a union of both churches, but against which strict Luther
anism for a long time defended itself. This Confession was accepted
as a symbolical book of the Reformed Church in Brandenburg and
in the Prussian territories until 1817.
6. Confessio Gallicana.
This confession was drawn up by an assembly of Re
formed preachers in France in 1559, and presented to King
Charles ix. in 1561.
Besides the Confessio Hungarica and the Confessio Belgica
of 1561, may be named the Canons of the Synod of Dort-
recht (1618-19) by which strict Calvinism in opposition
to the Remonstrance of the moderate Arminians, viz : the
doctrine of unconditional Predestination, was made a part
of the reformed Church Doctrine. These Dortrecht
resolutions were honoured as a binding creed for a long
time by the Reformed Churches even outside the Nether
lands.

CHAPTER VIA
special symbolical books of the church of ENGLAND
The Thirty ^ine Articles.
These were ' agreed upon ' at a convocation held in London
in 1562 under Queen Elizabeth. They wete raised to a
law of the Land by an Act of Parliament, 1571.
This confession is a revision of the 42 Articles drawn up by Cran
mer and published in 1552 under Edward vi. The first five articles
treat of the Trinity and of the Person of Christ. Articles 6 to 8
treat of the canonical books, which are enumerated, and of the
cecumenical creeds. Its essence is formed by Articles 9 to 34, which
treat of the doctrines of hereditary sin and of justification, of good
works, of predestination and grace, of the church and of the Sacra
ments. The 36th article treats of the instructions for the consecra
tion of bishops and the ordination of priests, and Article 37 confirms
to the Royal supremacy in England, the unlimited sovereignty even
in ecclesiastical matters, and denies to the pope all jurisdiction
vifithin the Kingdom.
The Book of Common Prayer of 1562 ranks as of confessional
importance ; it contains the liturgical formularies and has also
received legal authority through Parliament.
[Much of the hold it has on the members of the Church of England
may be the result of the beautiful language in which it is written,
and for this we are indebted to Cranmer as much as the Lutheran
Church is to Luther, for as Froude observes, ' His image will be seen
reflected on the calm surface of the liturgy. The most beautiful
portions are translations from the Breviary : yet the same prayers
translated by others would not chime like church bells in the ears
of the English child. The translations, and the addresses which are
original, have the same silvery melody of language and breathe the
same simplicity of spirit. A certain importance, though a limited
32

Church of England 33
one, may be claimed for the ' Constitutions and canons ecclesiastical,'
agreed upon in the Synod begun at London a.d. 1603, in the 1st
year of the reign of King James in England and the 37th in Scotland.
They refer to all church matters, the King's Supremacy, the church,
divine service, administration of the Sacraments, ordination of
ministers and their duties, schoolmasters, churchwardens, sidesmen.
Ecclesiastical courts, etc. The Catechism, which has firm hold of
the members of the Church of England, was composed by Bishop
Overal, then Dean of St. Paul's, and agreed to by the Bishops at the
Hampton Court Conference. Wheatly in his book on the Common
Prayer says that its excellency consists in that here is taught 'what
the whole body of Christians all the world over agrees in,' 'and
though it may not be thought right by some, as in the Doctrine of
the Sacraments, it is so worded that all sorts of Christians may
subscribe to everything that is here taught.' — T,]

CHAPTER VI B
special SYMBOLICAL BOOKS OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND,
The Westminster Confession, etc.
[It seems strange that Scotland should come to England for her
symbolical books ; it is, however, none the less true, for her princi
pal confession is that of Westminster. This confession was drawn
up at au Assembly of Divines, which met in the Jerusalem Chamber
at Westminster, July 1st, 1643, and sat for five years, six months,
and twenty-two days. At that time the majority of the English
Parliament were Presbyterian, and it was their hope that the
united nation would continue in that faith when they appointed,
in June 1643, an assembly for the reformation of religion in
doctrine, worship, discipline, and government. It was attended
by 121 divines and 30 laymen, 12 members (4 clerical and 8 lay
men) being sent from Scotland, and their deliberations resulted
in the composition of the ' Confession ' and the two Catechisms,
the ' Larger ' and the ' Shorter. ' Although the assembly com
prised Episcopalians as well as Presbyterians and Independents,
there was little dispute as to Doctrine ; it was only when the
question of Church Government came up that they could not agree.
The Confession is strongly Calvinistic ; it is also a clear and com
pact system of theology, and the shorter Catechism resembles that
of Heidelberg. This confession had no hold on England, but was
adopted by Scotland in 1647, and was ratified by Act of Parlia
ment in 1649, and again in 1690. Another standard of the Church
of Scotland is the 'Directory for the Publick Worship of God,'
also drawn up by the Westminster Assembly, and authorised by
Parliament in January 1645. These are the confessional books not
only of the Church of Scotland, but of the Free, United Presby
terian, and other Presbyterian Churches, as well as of most of the
Presbyterian bodies in North America. — T.]

PART II
THE DOCTRINES OF THE CREEDS

CHAPTER VII
THE OPPOSITION OF ROMAN CATHOLICISM AND EVANGELI
CAL PROTESTANTISM AS TO THE DOCTRINE OF THE
CHURCH A. The Foman Doctrine of the Church.
The central point of the Roman Catholic System is the
doctrine of the Church which has found its logical con
clusion in the decrees of the latest Council on the Infalli
bility of the Pope;
The Professio fidei Trid. demands this acknowledgment :
' Sanctam catholicam et apostolicam Romanam ecclesiam,
omnium ecclesiarum matrem et magistram agnosco, Roma-
noque pontifici, beati Petri, apostolorum principis, suc-
cessori ac Christi vicario, veram obedientiam spondeo ac
juro.' The Church, in short, is, according to the view which
underlies all the Roman creeds, the visible union of all
the faithful, founded by God Himself through Christ and
subjected to the Bishop of Rome, as successor of St. Peter
and representative of Christ — in whom the work of redemp
tion, begun by Himself while on earth, will, under the
guidance of His Spirit, be evermore carried on to its
completion by means of the Episcopate founded by the
ar

Thus we see that the chief stress is laid on the outward aspect
and direction of the Church as an institution for salvation, in which
37

38 Christian Creeds and Confessions
the mediating office of Christ is continued. The original Christian
priesthood of all the faithful is annulled by the dominion of the
priests and the hierarchical government, which again connects
itself with Jewish conceptions and forms. The Roman Church is
like a civil state, or a camp ( ' Ecclesiastioa hierarohia est ut oas-
trorum acies ordinata,' Concil. Trid. xxiii. c. 4), with its former
monarchical and aristocratic government and its present absolute
monarchical organisation. Unconditional obedience to the Pope and
his clergy, the sacrifice of one's own conviction and submission to
the Church dogmas, which extend also to the outward constitution
of the Church, as well as outward participation in the sacraments,
are made a duty for the laity as a condition of Church membership.
The laity are merely the object of the activity of the Church, which
consists in reality only of the clergy, and not its siihstance. The
separation of the clergy from the laity and the gradation of dignities
among the former is considered a divine ordinance just as much
as is the authority of the state over its subjects. It is the
Holy Ghost Himself who through the organs of the Church — that
is, the Pope and his bishops — reveals the truth and determines the
doctrine of the Church. As the interpretation of the inspired
canonical scripture might be disputed, an infallible and supreme
authority for exposition is necessary for the preservation of the
unity of the faith ; formerly this was to be found in the Oecumenical
Council, but now in the infallible successor of St. Peter. To the
power of the keys, which is entrusted to the bishops, belongs especi
ally the authority for ecclesiastical law-giving and judgment.
A distinction between the empirical and the ideal Church is
foreign to the Roman doctrine. The identity of the visible Church
and its idea has been the outspoken fundamental view of the Roman
Catholic Church since the Penance Edict of Zephyrius (about 200
A.D.). The empirical Church with its historically developed insti
tutions and dogmas is looked upon as an immediate divine appoint
ment. The Church in its whole outward constitution is an empire
clothed with divine authority which is called to Universal Dominion.
Authority and Unity are the essential marks of its conception, hence
heresy and schism are the greatest sins, and must be contended
against in all possible ways.
The proof that it is the true Church, founded by Christ
Himself, is based by the Roman Church not on the agree
ment of its doctrine with the New Testament, but on the

Doctrines of the Creeds 39
pretended historical proof of the continua successio episco-
porum which testifies to its possession of the Holy Ghost,
inasmuch as the Episcopate — a continuation of the Apos-
tolate — has de jure divino to uphold and govern the Church.
Formerly the Council of Bishops formed the highest
inspired and infallible tribunal of the Church in matters
of faith and discipline. At the Florentine Council (1439)
the Primacy in the Church was adjudicated as a divine
appointment to the Pope of Rome. The Council of Trent
has in its occasional utterances (' Ipsius Dei in terris vicarii,'
s. vi. c. 1), as also in its whole tenor acknowledged this
primacy, and the Prof, fidei Trid. and the Catechismus
Romanus have put it down as an article of faith : ' Nam
cum visibilis ecclesia visibili capite egeat, ita Salvator
noster Petrum universi fidelium generis caput et pastorem
constituit, cum illi oves suas pascendas verbis amplissimis
commendavit, ut qui ei successisset eandem plane totius
ecclesiae regendae potestatem habere voluerit ' (Cat. Rom.
i. 9-13 1).
The Roman CathoUcs appeal to Matthew xvi. 18, 19, and to John
xxi. 15 and following, in order to prove that Christ had conferred
on St. Peter the primacy among the apostles, and had appointed him
as His representative on earth ; that by the power of divine right
this primacy, with all its prerogatives, was inherited from St. Peter,
who had been for the last twenty -five years of his life a bishop of
Rome, by his successors in the Episcopate, and that this was abso
lutely necessary for the preservation of the unity of the Church :
yet even down to the present time there has been a difference of
opinion on the relation of the Pope to the rest of the episcopate.
According to the System of the Curialists (ubi papa, ibi ecclesia),
the Roman bishop was the episcopus universalis, who in matters of
1 Gregory the Great (who died 604) had declared, in his contest with the patri
arch of Constantinople, that every one who takes to himself the title of a Catholic
bishop is a precursor of Antichrist.

40 Christian Creeds and Confessions
faith was the infallible teacher of the Church in all matters ot faith,
all other bishops his mandatories, their authority being an outcome
of his, and the councils representing the whole Church being sub
ordinate to him, so that their resolutions must be confirmed by
him, and to him alone can appeals from their decisions be made.
The Episcopalists, on the other hand, asserted the divine institu
tion and independence of the Episcopal office in the Church, and
derived the papal power from the Church. According to their view
the other apostles received the power of the keys at the same time
with Peter, and through them all bishops, their successors. They
set the general councils above the Pope, and attributed to them the
highest legislative and judicial power, the Pope being infallible only
when in agreement with the whole Church.
The Episcopalist system was set up in the fifteenth century by the
Paris theologians. In France, which since the Pragmatic Sanction
of 1438 had enjoyed a greater independence from the Pope, an
assembly of bishops and barons in the year 1682 declared the estab
lished legal view of that country in the following four clauses
(The Gallican Church liberty) — (1) Peter and his successors received
power from God in spiritual things only, and not in worldly things ;
(2) This power is limited by the resolutions of Constance on the
authority of general councils ; (3) By the ancient regulations and
customs of the Gallican Church ; and (4) The decisions of the Pope
in matters of faith are only irrevocable when the assent of the whole
Church has been given to them. In Germany the sufiragan bishop
of Treves, J. Nic. von Hontheim, under the name of Justinus Feb-
ronius, in his book, De statu ecclesiae et legitima potestate Bomani
pontificis, 1763, defended the Kostnitz propositions with great suc
cess, but was compelled by Pius vi. in 1768 to recant. In the year
1786 the spiritual Electors of Menz, Treves, and Cologne, in assembly
with the Archbishop of Salzburg at Ems, united in drawing up
resolutions (the so-called Ems 'puiictation,') according to which the
power of the bishops was to be restored to all its ancient rights, the
Pope to remain indeed as primate of the whole Church, but to lose
all the prerogatives which he did not possess in the first century ;
appeals to Rome were forbidden ; exemptions and the sending of
nuncios were to be abrogated. The bishops, however, put them
selves on the side of the Pope, and the movement remained without
any result.
At the present day the Papal system has attained universal
domination in the Roman Church. On July 18, 1870, the Vatican
Council promulgated as a dogma ' that the Roman Pontiff, if in the

Doctrines of the Creeds 41
exercise of his office as pastor and teacher of all Christians he has
defined a doctrine on Faith and Morals ^ to be held by the whole
church, is absolutely, by the Divine Assistance promised him in
St. Peter, endowed with that ivfallibility with which the Divine
Redeemer had endowed His church in the establishing of the
doctrine regarding faith and morals, and that such declarations of the
Pope are unalterable (irreformabiles) of themselves, and not merely
with the consent of the Church.' Thus has Roman Catholicism
taken the last step in the carrying out of its hierarchical and
theocratic principles.
From the I4th century the relation of the Pope to temporal
matters or the secular power of princes has been very differently
conceived.^ The Episcopalists acknowledged the independence of
the secular and spiritual powers. Some of the Curialists taught
that the Pope possessed a direct authority over princes as the
representative of God on earth ; Bellarmine and others, on the
contrary, an indirect one, according to his duty for the good of the
Church and for the care of Soiils.^ Now however, according to the
V^atican Council, even the declaration of Boniface viii. in the Bull
Unam Sanctam, that ' the obedience in all tilings of all men to the
Pope is a necessary condition of salvation,' and that of Innocent iv.
' Christus non solum pontificalem sed regalem constituit principatum
beato Petro ejusque successoribus, terreni simul ac caelestis imperii
commissis habenis, quod in pluralitate clavium competenter innuitur'
— are valid as the confessional doctrine of the Church.
At the enthroning of the Pope the Cardinal Deacon according to
ancient custom places on his head the triple crown with the words
'Accipe tiaram, tribus coronis ornatam, et scias te esse patrem
principum et regum, rectorem orbis in terra, vicarium salvatoris
nostri Jesu Christi, cui est honor et gloria in saecula saeculorum,
amen.' That the Papacy has not given up nor even lessened its
claims of former centuries in relation to State and Society is evident
1 That under * Morals ' is to be understood the collective life of states and
peoples, corporations and individuals, is plain from the titles of the ten chapters
of the Syllabus of Pius ix.
2 Fornlerly it was honoured on the base of the misinterpreted passage, Luke
XXII. 38, that to Peter, and hence to the Pope, belong two swords, the worldly as
well as the spiritual. Bernard of Clairvaux writes to Eugenius iii. : Petri
nterqne est (gladius), alter suo nutu, alter sua manu, quoties necesse est, evagi-
uandus. 3 The divine right of princes is repudiated ; on the other hand, Bellarmine and
other Jesuits taught the absolute sovereignty of the people, and the right of
Revolution in the plainest terms.

42 Christian Creeds and Confessions
from the Encyclical letter which Pius ix. sent in December 8, 1864,
to all Bishops ; it was accompanied by a Syllabus ' complectens
principuos nostrae aetatis errores,' which claims the sole dominion
of the Roman Church in all States, its coercive power over body
and soul, the unconditional submission of the family, the school,
and of science as well as outward politics to the priestly guardian
ship, and rejects the so called rights of man, freedom of conscience,
of thought, and of worship, as illusions (deliramenta).'
The possession of the States of the Church has con
tributed considerably to the secularisation of the Roman
Church, and this possession is raised in the ' Syllabus '
(No. 76) to a matter of faith, as in regard to the doctrine
de civili Romani pontificis principatu it is said to be the duty
of ' Catholici omnes ' ' firmissime retinere.' The intended
dogmatism of the dominium, temporale sanctae sedis at the
Vatican was only omitted because the Scheme in question,
the constitutio dogmatica de ecclesia Christi, did not come up
for discussion.
The Greek Confession is in its fundamental view of the
Church the same as the Roman, but rejects (with the
exception of the so-called united or latinizing orthodox
Slavonians, especially the Ruthenians) the Primacy of the
Pope, and remains attached to the ancient Patriarchate
and to Episcopalianism. In the Russian Church Peter I.
declared himself the Supreme Head and in 1721 assigned
the supreme direction of it to a Synod at St. Petersburg
1 Even heretics belong to the Pope's dominion. Pius ix. wrote thereon on
August 7th, 1873, to the Emperor William i. ; ' I speak in order to fulfil one of
my duties, which consists in this, viz. to tell the truth to everyone, even to those
who are not Catholics. For everyone who has been baptized belongs in a certain
relation, or in a certain manner, to explain which clearer here is not the place,
belongs, I say, to the Pope.' The Emperor answered, September 3rd, that this
assertion rests on an error; 'The evangelical faith to which I belong, as your
Holiness knows, like my ancestors, with the majority of my subjects, does not
allow us to accept, in our relation to God, any other mediator than our Lord Jesus
Christ.'

Doctrines of the Creeds 43
dependent on the Emperor. 1 (Continuation of the ' Csesaro-
papism ' of the Eastern Roman Emperor.) The Church of
Greece is also under a synod whose members are chosen
by the King.
The Servians, Roumanians, and Bulgarians have obtained
their ecclesiastical as well as their national independence,
and their Governments exercise great influence over
Church matters.
B. The Evangelical Protestant Doctrine of the
Church.
The Reformers, on the ground of the immediate relation
of religious faith to Christ as the sole basis of salvation,
and of the Divine Word being the sole source of the
knowledge of salvation, protested against the Romish
alienation and secularisation of the Church, as also against
the conception of the outward Church as an indispensable
mediation between God and Man, asserting the evangehcal
doctrine of the priesthood of all Christians in opposition to
the assumption of authority of the priestly caste over the
laity, which excluded all right of private judgment. The
central point of their system is justifying Faith in the
Divine power (experienced in one's own conscience) of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ, an inward and purely spiritual
process ; the Supreme Court for the Evangelicals being the
testimonium spiritus sancti in the soul reconciled to God and
the conscience of the Christian believer.
The true Church is for the Evangelical no politia externa.
1 The patriarchate of Moscow, which had been acknowledged since 1599, was
then raised to a third place (after those of Constantinople and Alexandria).

44 Christian Creeds and Confessions
but ' principaliter societas fidei et spiritus sancti in cordi-
bus.' {Apol. art. iv.) This inner communion is alone the
body of Christ, alone 'wna, sancta, catholica, apostolica;
perennis.' This 'invisible' (because spiritual) communion
of faith is made manifest only when the word of the
Gospel is preached in the Spirit of Jesus, and the sacra
ments administered in the Spirit of their Founder in order
that faith may be maintained and extended {Conf. Aug.
art. vii.). The outward communion is merely a consequence
of the spiritual union in faith and in love, and of the need
of religious edification; in short, a secondary one. The
form and government of this visible communion is free,
and consequently may vary. Their arrangements only
exist jure humano, every ordinance being permissible which
does not 'burden the conscience.' 'The necessity of a
visible head of the church and a constitution binding on all
Christians is denied.' ^ The so-called church power (potestas
ecclesiastica) is the calling to preach the gospels and to
administer the sacraments, and the spiritual power is
exercised by the JVord alone, without any rights of com
pulsion and jurisdiction : their former sphere of action is
limited to the direction of religious opportunities for the
preservation of peace in the church community ; in accord
ance with the saying ' my Kingdom is not of this world,'
it is not to interfere in anything outside its own province,
in any sphere foreign to such, for instance, as secular
government. The mingling of spiritual and temporal

1 The passage Matt. xvi. 18, 19, is thus explained in the ' Tractatus de potestate
et primatu papae,' (Ooncor. R 345). ' The Church is not built on the power of one
man, but on the office which upholds the confession of Peter, that Jesus is the
Christ and the Son of God.' ' Qn this rock, that is, on this sermon and on the
preacher's office."

Doctrines of the Creeds 45
power, that is, the pretentions of the papacy have only
brought to the people mischief, disturbances, and wars
{Conf. Aug. 28).
An adequate historical representation of the religious idea of
Christianity is as impossible, according to protestant views, in this
world as perfectly holy men. The essence of evangelical belief
demands as Refoundation of all church life the absolute indepen
dence of the inner conviction and personal freedom of conscience,
the unconditional self-conviction and self-responsibility of the in
dividual Christian. On this ground the Evangelicals protested
against the resolutions of the majority of the Reichstag (at Spires
in 1529) in matters- of faith.i The evangelical church does not
acknowledge a judicial decision on doctrine by virtue of a divine
authority ; she confides in the inward power of truth and in the
spirit working in the community, but not in the authority of s
visible church. The true doctrine is upheld and preserved only
by the power of the Word ( ' sine vi humana '). A church community
has no right to intrude on one of its members a doctrine which it
has laid down, but only by its organs and ordinances to awaken the
faith and to nurture it in its members while maintaining evan
gelical freedom. In ecclesiastical matters authority and law do not
exist in the same sense as in matters temporal. Therewith falls
aU sacerdotalism, the difference between priests and laymen is done
away with ; no Christian needs a mediator or outward mediation
in any matter that concerns his relation to God and to Christ.
There is no sacerdotium in the evangelical church, but only a minis-
terium ecclesiae ; the ministers of the Gospel are appointed by the
congregation ; the sacramental view of their ordination is rejected,
the degrees among the church ministers are of human order ; mar
riage is permitted to every one. Not only ' church ' work, but also
the family life and that of the state is of God's ordinance and
belongs to God's kingdom, which reaches beyond the boundaries
of ' churchdom.' An outward unity of the church is not considered
necessary by Evangelicals ; the church branches off into State
churches and district churches. The general superintendence
belongs to the divinely appointed authority, which is also entrusted
by Luther with the command of the schools, with laws regarding
1 In affairs of Religion each person must stand for himself before God, and give
account ; no one can excuse himself on the ground of the Resolution of others, of
a majority or a minority.

46 Christian Creeds and Confessions
marriage and with the enforcement of such laws against any one,
even against the church ministers (see Luther's work, ' An den Adel
deutscher Nation von des christi. Standes Besserung ').
The historical development of the Reformation in Germany and
in other places did not immediately bring about all these con
sequences of Evangelical principles. As the Lutheran church
generally adhered as far as jiossible to the lines laid down in the
Roman Catholic Church, and avoided loosening the firmly rooted
connection of the Church and State in popular life, it also retained
the religious constraint practised by the civil powers as ' necessity
bishops,' or summi episcopi, of the territorial churches, and
placed the ecclesiastical confessional system in practice above
scriptural critics. From 1534 the Church government was carried
on by ' Consistories, ' composed of temporal and spiritual mem
bers, in the name of the prince. With the consistorial govern
ment disappear the rights of congregations which Luther had
demanded in 1523 — (' That a Christian congregation had the right to
appoint and dismiss teachers.'). There was a danger of the denial of
reformed principles by Orthodoxy and Caesaro-popedom which would
have led to the benumbing and secularisation of the evangelical
church, for, according to the 'territorial system,' the power of the
church was a constituent part of th e power of the state, ' cujus
regio ejus religio. ' To guard against this arose the opposition of
Spener's 'Pietismus,' which demanded a more earnest and purer
form of Christianity in life, and the Collegiate system of the
Tiibingen Chancellor Pfaff (1719), according to whom the church
was an independent corporation, which could hand over its rights
of association to the princes, but whose members are fully entitled
to take part in the church government. It is, however, only quite
recently that in some evangelical established churches (as for ex
ample in Prussia, in 1873, by the introduction of a congregational
and synodal constitution) the right of the congregation has been
partially recognised ; the hitherto compulsory baptism has been
annulled in the German Empire by law, and religious freedom
established. The reformed churches have from the commencement (with the
exception of the English) placed no value on their connection with
the ancient church. In many places they have completely broken
off all connection with it by the forcible removal of things used in
the church, such as altars, organs, pictures, lights, hosts, crucifixes,
etc. , and not only purified the accustomed place from unchristian
things, but undertook a new construction of Christian life and

Doctrines of the Creeds 47
worship, in which only such materials should be used, as are
directly sanctioned by Scripture. Thus have they also returned
in the formation of their church constitution to the Presbyterian
and Synodlcal government of early Christian times. Still the
development was very different in different countries. Zwingli
had left all authority in church matters in the hands of the Christian
civil power, and hence the church was placed in the same connec
tion with the state as it exists under the Lutheran Church govern
ment. The Church of England, on the other hand, held to the
necessity of the Episcopal Government and Apostolic Succession,
with other old ordinances and ceremonies, which called forth the
blunt opposition of the Puritans, who, on protestant principles,
and more especially on the principle of religious autonomy of con
gregations, insisted on unlimited religious freedom and individual
liberty (in England since the time of Cromwell, and in the United
States of North America), which naturally led to the formation of
numerous sects.
The Calvinistic Church constitution, drawn up in the Geneva
Church orders of 1541, has great historical importance. The aristo
cratic spirit of the Government of Geneva made itself felt also in
Calvin's Church constitution. Calvin considered Church and State
sufficiently separate to prevent the absolute transfer of the Church
authority to the State. But the State has the same moral and
religious objects as the Church : the duty of the civil power extends
to both tables of the law. Church and State should thus go hand
in hand with strict avoidance of all mutual encroachment. The
management of the Church is vested in the congregation ; but it
must be directed by a college of Elders (a presbytery which above
everything is to exercise Church discipline). The Geneva rules
demand, moreover, for the government of the Church, three offices,
those of Pastors, Teachers, and Deacons ; in the administration of
Church discipline the secular authority has only to give its support
by punishing. (The ' heretic ' Michael Servetus was burnt at
Geneva in 1553. ) Worship and Morals in the Calvinistic branch of
the reformed churches have a legal and Old Testament character.
(Sunday Observance, Psalm singing.)
The opposition of Protestantism to Roman Catholicism may be
thus briefly expressed : —
The Roman Catholic teaches : ' Ubi ecclesia, ibi et spiritus
Dei. ' (Irenaeus adv. haer. iii. 24. )
The Protestant on the other band says: 'Ubi Spiritus Dei,
illic ecclesia. '

48 Christian Creeds and Confessions
The Roman Catholic says : ' Extra ecclesiam nulla salus. '
The Protestant : ' In sola fide salus.'
The Roman Catholic makes the relation of the individual man
to Christ dependent on his relation to the Church.
The Protestant makes his relation to the Church dependent on
his relation to Christ (Schleiermacher).

CHAPTER VIII
THE DOCTRINE OF TRADITION AND OF HOLY SCRIPTURE
As a source of knowledge of the Christian doctrines of
Faith and Morals, the Roman Catholic Church places the
unwritten tradition or hereditary doctrine by the side of
and above the written word of God. {Concil. Trid. S. iv.
Dec. I., ' In libris scriptis et sine scripto traditionibus,
quae ipsius Christi ore ab Apostolis acceptae aut ab ipsis
apostolis, Spiritu S. dictante, quasi per manus traditae, ad
nos usque pervenerunt.') The Church alone has the right
to decide on the sense of scripture. Whoever in expound
ing scripture contradicts the Church and the traditions of
the Fathers, is according to the same decree of the Council
to be punished. No fuller definitions of the conception of
tradition are given. Naturally the genuineness and truth
of tradition is also decided by the Church alone, which
as a continuing and abiding institution under the direction
of the Holy Spirit contains in itself and propagates the
revelation of the complete doctrine of Christ undefiled,
whether it be as a genuine apostolic tradition, or as the
true sense of any given passage, or generally, as the chris
tian doctrine and institution, the truth of which it guaran
tees to the individual. In the Prof fid. the • traditiones
D

50 Christian Creeds and Confessions
apostolicae' and 'ecclesiasticae' are placed side by side,
and in the Cat. Rom. -praef., 19, 'Hoc docuit apostolica
traditio et ecclesiae auctoritas.'
The Church having been founded by the oral instruction of the
Apostles, and not by the writings of the New Testament, which,
when detached from it are incomplete, and frequently obscuie and
capable of various interpretations, and as, moreover, the authenticity
and canonicity of the apostolic writings, as well as their certain
interpretation, rest, according to the Roman view, only on the
authority of the Church, no Catholic is permitted to explain Scrip
ture otherwise than according to the united testimony of the Holy
Fathers : tradition is thus in reality ranked higher than Scrip
ture. Hence also tradition is not recognised as genaiine by its
agreement with Scripture, but according to the Canon of Vincentius
Lerinensis, the ' quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus credi
tum est ' prevails as apostolic tradition. As the Church itself by
its councils and the Pope holds every canon of infallible authority
and decides accordingly what the true tradition is, tradition
imposes no restraint on the Church, as is plainly testified to by
its action in defining the latest dogmas (of the Immaculate Con
ception of the Virgin and the Infallibility of the Pope).^
In fixing the canon of the Holy Scri[)ture the Apocry
phal Books of the Old Testament were placed on a level
with the canonical ones, plainly in order to support, in
opposition to Protestantism, the authority of the Church
which had so determined at the Synod at Hippo Regius
in 395, and at Carthage in 397, and lastly by a decree of
Pope Gelasius I. in 495, and to maintain the authority of
the Vulgate, and to preclude any further investigations
into the Canon {Concil. Trid. S. iv.). 'Si quis autem
libros ipsos integros cum omnibus suis partibus, prout in
ecclesia catholica legi consueverunt et in veteri vulgata
1 The authority of tradition is coincident with that of the Church, and Pius ix
said to those who in 1870 appealed to tradition against him : ' La traditione—
sono Io.'

Doctrines of Tradition and Holy Scripture 5 1
latina editione habentur, pro sacris et canonicis non sus-
ceperit et traditiones praedictas sciens et prudens contem-
pserit, anathema sit.'
On the Vulgate itself the Synod declares in the same session, ' ut
haec ipsa vetus et vulgata editio, quae lougo tot seculorunl usu in
ipaa ecclesia probata est, in publicis lectionibus, disputationibus,
praedicationibus et expositionibus pro authentica habeatut, et ut
nemo illam rejicere quovis praetextu audeat vel praesumat.' (Edi
tions of the Vulgate appeared with papal authority under Sixtus v. ,
1590, and Clement viii., 1592). Thereby was a door closed against
the freer explanation of Scripture from the original text.
As the Church is in possession of Tradition, that is, of the
complete living word of God, which also includes in itself
the contents of Holy Scripture, it is not necessary for
those who are taught by the Church to know or to read
the Scripture ; nay more, the Church is justified in for
bidding the reading of the Bible by the laity, whenever it
sees cause to fear effects injurious to the dogmas of the
Church which alone gives salvation.
Thus then have popes from Gregory vii. down to the most recent
time, as well as Provincial Synods, forbidden or limited Bible
reading. The Index librorum prohibitorum authorised by Pius iv.
contains in the fourth rule the regulation that the reading of the
Bible in the vulgar tongue may only take place with the permission
of the bishop or inquisitor : ' Whoever presumes to read and to
possess the Bible without such permission shall have no forgive
ness of sin, until he gives up the Bible to the ordinary.' Sixtus v.,
by an ' Observatio circa quartam regulara,' took away from the
bishops the right of giving permission to read the Bible, and
Urban viii. , in a constitution of 1631, forbade even the bishop to
read the Bible in the vulgar tongue without the permission of the
Pope. It was only in the time of the emperor Joseph ii. that the
use of the Bible was permitted to Roman Catholics in Germany
in the translation by Leander van Ess. A Polish translation was
also disseminated about the same time. Pius vii. in 1816 denounced
the work of the English Bible Society, which had undertaken the
circulation of the German and Polish translations ' under the appro-

52 Christian Creeds and Confessions
bation of the Church,' as a most crafty invention, a pestilence for
the subversion of the faith, etc. Leo xii. condemned the Bible
Societies in a brief in 1824, and Pius ix. enumerates in his Syllabus
(§ 4), Societates Biblicae among the ' pestes ' of the Church by the
side of Socialism, Communism, and Societates Clerico-liberales.
The Greek Church prides itself above all other Churches on
its orthodoxy, as it has retained uninjured the ancient faith and
doctrine. The Bible and ecclesiastical tradition {irapadSaei.s diroffTo-
\iKal iKK\ri<na(TTiKal), with the resolutions of the seven first coun
cils, are to it the sources and rules of religious confession. The
Septuagint has with it the same authority as the Vulgate has in
the Roman Church. It has declared itself with regard to the
apocryphal books of the Old Testament ; it spoke with some hesita
tion until the Synod of Jerusalem in 1672, when they were put on
a level with the canonical books. The reading of the Bible has not
been so decidedly forbidden to its laity as in the Roman Church.
Protestantism finds in tradition the source of the grow
ing abuses and errors in the Church, and by going back to
the original doctrine of Christ and His Apostles, which we
can alone obtain from the oldest and most certain source,
viz., the New Testament Canon, seeks to purify the Church
from every later disfigurement. As the Revelation of God
in Christ is complete in itself, and is eternally sufficient for
the redemption of man, it needs no continuation through
the Church : the Scripture, in which is contained the
complete and infallible Word of God, suffices for every one
to attain, under the promised guidance of the Holy Spirit,
to a right acknowledgment of God, and to a community
of life with Christ. The Holy Spirit alone creates, by
means of the word, the saving faith, without a mediating
hierarchy and tradition between the individual and Scrip
ture. Even the setting up of the symbolical books must
not prejudice the authority of Scripture. (Preface to the
Augsburg Confession, 'on the foundation of the Holy
Scripture.' — Schmalk. Art. Part Ii. Art. 2, 'God's Word

Doctrines of Tradition and Holy Scripture 53
must determine the articles of faith, and no one else, not
even an angel.' Form.. Cone, de compendiaria regula atque
norma.) Still more decisively is this principle of Scripture
expressed in the Reformed confessions (Helv. pr. ii.. Gall.
3-5). The development of the Christian doctrine in the
first four oecumenical councils is acknowledged, not, how
ever, on account of the authority of the Church, but
because of their undoubted agreement with Scripture.
The protestant scriptural principle (the formal principle of the
Reformation) receives for the first time a solemn expression in the
declaration of the Evangelical States of the Empire at Spires, on
the 19th of April 1529. ' We intend by the grace and help of God
to hold forth this, that God's Word and the holy gospel of the Old
and New Testament as contained in the Biblical books shall alone
be preached sincerely and purely, and nothing contrary thereto.'
That Holy Scripture, in regard to all which is necessary for a
Christian to know, is of itself and by itself intelligible and thus
needs no infallible interpreter, is taught expressly ,by the Oonf.
Hdv. prior ii. , and Conf. Helv. posterior ii. The Lutheran con
fessions contain no definite explanation on the subject ; still their
whole position towards the church and its exegetical tradition rests
on the principle that freedom of exposition is the privilege of every
Christian who is competent thereto. By the side of Holy Scripture
no other foundation of Christian communion is acknowledged than
free religious conviction. The Lutheran writers on Dogmatics
derive from the divine inspiration of Scripture its sufficiency and
perfection, its perspicuity and plainness. It must be expounded
according to the rules of grammatical and historical interpretation
and according to the analogia fidei, that is that no sense be ascribed
to the more obscure passages which is contrary to the contents of
the plainly testified truths. The original text is alone authentic,
and it is to be made accessible to Christians by translations in
order that all may he able to examine it and be edified. The freer
(critical) position of Luther towards the canon as a historical docu
ment and towards the single writings (for example the Epistle of
James and the Apocalypse) has hampered the Lutheran church in
its contest with Rome on the one side, and with the spiritualistic
' enthusiasts ' on the other. It very soon, however, came nearer
to the Reformed view of Scripture, that it was a verbally inspired

54 Christian Creeds and Confessions
book of divine revelation, and denied the principles of historical
criticism which were employed without hesitation against Catholic
tradition. ^
Luther included the Apocrypha of the Old Testament in
his translation of the Bible, but with the superscription
'Apocrypha, that is to say, Books which are not held
equal to Holy Sfcripture, but are useful and profitable to
read,' while the Reformed Churches banished them com
pletely from Scripture.2
Both the Protestant Churches agree in the endeavour to restore
original Christianity, and to purify the Church from all the Judaixm
and Paganism that had remained or had been revived in her as well
as in the acknowledgement of Scripture as the only rule of Faith.
Still, from the beginning, the Reformed Church has more decidedly
carried out the (negative as well as positive) application of the
principle of Scripture, and hence in its confessions it has protested
more emphatically against all authority of tradition binding the
conscience than the Lutheran, which showed a fuller appreciation
of the living continuous development of the Christian spirit and its
suitability to the relation of the time and the stages of civilisation
of the people.
1 Nevertheless the Reformed Theologians of Holland in the seventeenth century
(Grotius, Clericus, Vitringa, and otliers) have opened up the path of historical and
critical Exegesis which the Lutherans adopted at a later period.
2 This hardly applies to the Church of England, as some of the Apocryphal
books are included in the Lectionary. — T.

CHAPTER IX
THE OPPOSITION OF THE ROMAN AND EVANGELICAL
CHURCHES WITH REGARD TO CHRISTIAN ANTHRO
POLOGY AND SOTERIOLOGY (DOCTRINE OF SALVATION)
In Theology and Chrlstology all the churches agree ; only
that in the Doctrine of the Trinity the Greek Church
asserts in opposition to the Western that the Holy Ghost
proceeds from the Father (through the Son ; John xv. 26),
and rejects the ' Filioque,' as opposed to the fundamental
doctrine of the Unity of God ; and in Chrlstology, in
spite of their common agreement to the Formula of
Chalcedou (451), of the unmixed and unalterable, but
also undivided and inseparable union of the Divine and
human nature in the Person of Christ. There is a differ
ence between the Lutheran and Reformed Churches,
which will be noticed when we come to discuss the
Doctrine of the Eucharist. A fundamental difference
exists between the Roman Catholic (with which the Greek
in reality agrees) and the Protestant Churches as to the
doctrine of Justification of Man before God, that is, in the
answer to the question, ' How can sinful man be partaker
of the atonement and of communion with God 1 '
A The Doctrine of Original Sin.
The protest of the Reformed Church against all merit
in good works, and against all individual righteousness of
ss

56 Christian Creeds and Confessions
man, led to the examination and defining of the condition
in which man was placed by the Fall and of the original
state of righteousness from which he fell.
Justitia originalis, according to the Roman doctrine which dis
tinguishes between the imago and the .similitudo Dei (Gen. i. 26),
is a supernatural gift of grace (admirabile donum additum) thus
peculiar to the first man (Cat. Bom. i. art. 1, 23). According to
evangelical doctrine, however, the jiistitia originalis belongs to the
nature ot man before his fall {Apol. C. A. art. i. 17). The divine
image, from which the resemblance to God is not distinguished,
consists in moral perfection; in true freedom, the opposite ot the
bondage to sin ; justit'a originalis is just as little an extraordinary
supernatural relation as is the renewing of it through Christ.
Hence, according to the Boman doctrine, Adam in consequence of
the Fall lost only the supernatural free gift of holiness and
righteousness for himself and his descendants ; human nature in
itself wa;s not thereby really injured, and no sinful disposition pro
duced in it. Instinct and inclinations, which now assert themselves
in man and draw him to evil, were already in existence before the
Fall, and as long as they do not pass into real .sins can no more
corrupt the purity of nature now than they did then. Just so
has the innate desire to do good, the liberum arbitrium, remained,
although weakened (' Tametsi in eis liberum arbitrium minime ex-
stinctum esset, viribus licet attenuatum et inclinatum,' Can. Trident.
Sess. vi. 1).^ The justitia originalis held the lower powers of man
in subservience to the higher ; the settled direction towards good,
and the subjugation of the lusts of the flesh was thus a consequence
of that donum .superadditum, from the loss of which all corruption
is derived, not from the want of any natural gift or power, nor
from the introduction of a sinful tendency. The concupiscentia can
no more be held to be sin after the Fall than before. It is as the
sinful lust, as the sinful instinct belonging to the nature ot man, no
positive propensity to sin, although now after the loss of the
justitia originalis it easily leads to it. If then by Baptism the guilt
of hereditary sin, of which the only consequence is the carentia
donorum supranaturalium, is taken away, original sin is in reality
itself taken away, for the concupiscentia still remaining in the

1 With this is connected the Pelagianising tendency of the Roman Church with
which they reproached the Lutherans and the Reformed.

Doctrine of Original Sin 57
baptized is not sin, but only the possible occasion, the instigation
(tomes) of sin (Trid. Sess. v. 5.)
The Greek Church, which took but little heed of questions of
this sort, has invariably asserted the freedom of the human will
even after the Fall.
While, according to the Romish doctrine, original sin
consists of nothing else than the guilt {reatus) of Adam
inherited by all mankind, and in the loss of the super
natural justitia originalis, according to the Protestant
doctrine it is not only a totalis carentia seu defectus con-
creatae in paradiso justitiae origimdis seu imaginis Dei, but
also a corruption, corruptio totius naturae, or a sinful lust,
concupiscentia prava {Conf Aug. ii. Apol., Conf. Aug. i.).
Original sin is de essentia hominis, that is, something
belonging to the very nature of man, just as the justitia
originalis was. The loss of the innate integrity makes it
impossible for man to know God rightly, and to love Him
with all his heart.
All, even the highest powers of the soul, are corrupted,
and the sinful lust is so dominant that man has lost the
liberum arbitrium in spiritualihus, although it is not to
be altogether denied him in civilibus {Conf. Aug. xviii.).
Original sin {vitium miginis, the habitual tendency to sin)
is not merely such, in so far as actual sins proceed there
from, but is per se an actual sin which draws condemnation
to itself The assertion of Flacius, however, that original
sin is of the substance of man, and of all Manichaeism,
is rejected in the Cmicordienformel (Art. i.).
While the evangelical doctrine raises man, by the fact that
it imposes a higher moral standard on human nature, the Roman,
by its superficial comprehension ot the nature of sin, and by its
low conception of the original worth of nature and of the destina-

58 Christian Creeds and Confessions
tion of man, lowers him, notwithstanding that at first sight it
appears to place him higher by ascribing to him free will. The
impelling motive of the evangelical doctrine is the religious
interest, that man has nothing really good in himself even by
nature, but that all must first be created by the Grace of God.

The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin.
Augustine, according to whose doctrine of original sin mankind
has become a massa perditionis, did not except the Virgin Mary ^
from the lot of other children ot men, and in the 12th century
Bernard of Clairvaux condemned the doctrine that Mary was
conceived without sin as an innovation against all tradition, and
as injustice to the God-man.
Later on, the Dominicans and Franciscans divided on the question
whether the Holy Virgin, although affected by original sin, was
purified from it before her birth, or whether she had been from
the beginning without sin. The great Dominican, Thomas Aquinas,
who died in 1'274, declared for the former alternative, and the
brethren of his order have down to the present time held the same
in opposition to the Franciscans, who, under the guidance of their
'doctor subtilis ' Duns Scotus (who died 1308) advocated the doc
trine of the Immaculate Conception. At the time of the schism
the French people were on the side of the Franciscans, while the
Romans held the opposite view. The Council ot Basel in 1439, at
the time ot its contest with the people, decided in favour of the
Franciscans. A Franciscan general, as Pope Sixtus iv., in a brief
of 1483 excommunicated all who tauglit that believers in the
Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God were heretics (omnes
illos, qui asserunt immaculatam Dei genitricem absque originalis
peccati macula fuisse conceptam, mortaliter peccare vel esse he-
reticos), but also at the same time threatened with the same
punishment those who denounced the opposite opinion as a heresy
or deadly sin, ' quum nondum sit a Romana ecclesia et Apostolica
sede decisum.'
The Synod at Trent declared in a supplement to the decree on
original sin : ' non esse suae intentionis comprehendere in hoc
decreto ubi de peccato originali agitur, beatam et immaculatam
Virginem Mariam, Dei genitricem, sed observandas esse constitu-
tiones felicis recordationis Sixti Papae iv. sub poenis in eis con-
1 He was, however, troubled on the subject, and suggested that the Virgin was
regenerated at her birth.— T.

Doctrine of Justification 59
stitutionibus contentis. ' It did not wish to decide on the doctiine
itself, any more than the Popes of the following centuries, not
withstanding the manifest prejudice of some among them tor the
Franciscan doctrine, defended as it was also by the Jesuits, until
Pius IX., in a letter from Gaeta in 1849, promised a final settle
ment of the strife, and after receiving the opinions which he had
invited from the bishops, announced, on December 8th 1854, in
St. Peter's : ' Definimus doctrinam quae tenet beatissimam Virginem
Mariam in primo instanti siiae conceptionis fuisse singular! omni
potentis Dei gratia et privilegio, intuitu Christi Jesu Salvatoris
humani generis, ab omni originalis culpae labe praeservatam
immunem, esse a Deo revelatam atque icciroo ab omnibus fidelibus
firmiter constanterque credendam.'
B. The Doctrine of Justification.
Justification of man before God through faith alone
(sola fide) is the fundamental doctrine of the Reformation,
and the main point of the dispute between the Romans
and the Evangelicals (see Schmalkald Art.).
The Council of Trent has treated the doctrine of Justification
very fully in the 6th Session (with 33 Anathemas). According
to their definitions the exordium jnstificationis acts in adults by the
gratia praeveniens, per quam excitantem atque adjuvantem gratiam
ad convertendum se ad suam ipsorum justificationem, eidem gratiae
libere assentiendo et cooperando dispouuntur homines, ita ut neque
homo ipse nihil omnino agat, inspirationem illam recipiens, quippe
qui illam abjioere potest, neque tamen sine gratia Dei movere se
ad justitiam coram illo libera sua voluntate possit. On the ' prae-
paratio in justificationem ' follows the jusliftcatio itself, ' quae non
sola est peccatorum remissio, sed et sanctificatio et renovatio in-
terioris hominis per voluntariam suseeptionem gratiae et donorum.
Renovati spiritu mentis nostrae non mode reputamur sed vere
justi nominamur et sumus, justitiam in nobis recipientes, unus
quisque suam secundum mensuram quam Spiritus S. partitur singu
lis prout vult et secundum propriam cujusque dispositionem et
eooperationem. Quamquam enim nemo possit esse Justus, nisi cui
merita passionis Domini n. J. Christi communicantur : id tamen
in hac impii justicatione fit, dum ejusdem sanctissimae passionis
merito per Spiritum S. charitas Dei diffunditur in oordibus eorum

6o Christian Creeds and Confessions
qui justificantur, atque ipsis inhaeret ; unde Aaec omnia simul
t")(/i(sa accipit homo: fidem, spem et charitatem.' . . . 'Per fidem
ideo justificari dicimur, quia fides est humanae salutis initium,
fundamentum et radix omnis justificationis. Gratis autem justi
ficari ideo dicimur, quia nihil eorumque justificationem prae-
cedunt, sive fides, sive opera, ipsam justificationis gratiam pro-
meretur. . . . Neque illud asserendum est, oportere eos, qui vere
justificati sunt, absque uUa omnino dubitatione apud semetipsos
statuere, se esse justificatos, neminemque a peccatis absolvi ac
justificari nisi eum, qui certo credat se absolutum et justiflcatum
esse, atque hac solafi.de absolutionem et justificationem perfici. . . .
Quilibet, dum se ipsum suamque propriam infirmitatem et iudis-
positionem respicit, de sua gratia formidare et timere potest.^ —
Justificati per observationem mandatorum Dei et ecclesiae in ipsa
justitia per Christi gratiam accepta cooperante fide bonis operibus
crescunt atque magis justificantur.' Consequently, the person justi
fied may not acquit himself of the observance of the commandments
nor assert that it is impossible for him to keep them. ' Nam Deus
impossibilia non jubet, sed jubendo monet et facere quod possis et
petere quod non possis, et adjuvat ut possis.' Whoever has through
sin lost the grace of justification can attain to it again by the sacra
ment of Penance, to which belongs, however, not only 'cessatio
a peccatis et eorum detestatio aut cor contritum et humiliatuin,' but
also ' eorundem saoramentalis confessio et sacerdotalis absolutio,
itemque satistactio per jejunia, eleemosynas, orationes, et alia pia
spiritualis vitae exercitia, non quidem pro paena aeterna, quae vel
sacramento vel sacramenti voto una. cum culpa remittitur, sed pro
poena temporali, quae non tota semper, ut in baptismo fit, dimit-
titur.' The grace of God is lost not merely by unbelief, but by
every deadly sin, 'quamvis non amittatur fides.' The fruit of
justification is eternal lite as a grace promised out ot mercy to the
children of God, but no less as a reward for their good works and
merits as defined by this promise. ' Absit tamen, ut Christianus
homo in se ipso vel confidat vel glorietur, et non in Domino, cujus
tanta est erga omnes homines bonitas, ut eorum velit esse merita,
quae sunt ipsius dona. — (According to the scholastic theology there
is a ' meritum de congruo ' in provisional justification, and in justifi
cation itself a ' meritum de condigno.')
1 This doctrine, that the Christian cannot have perfect certainty as to his state
of grace (' nisi ex speciali revelatione '), this denial of evangelical confidence in the
conscience leads to the dependence of the faithful on the constant repetition of
absolution by the priest.

Doctrine of Justification 6i
The Greek Church also accepts a co-operation of the human
powers with the divine grace, and has the same conception ot
justification as an improvement, or making righteous by means of
faith and works.
Thus it appears that, according to the Roman doctrine,
justification is a supernatural influence, through which the
natural condition of man is altered, an actio hyperphysica
qua homo per habitum quendam a Deo infusum Justus redditur.
Justification is mixed up with gradual sanctification, as
faith is only justifying, in so far as, by its influence on the
will (as 'fides caritate formata'), it becomes practical in love.
On the other hand, according to the Evangelical doctrine,
it is a divine remission of sins and of the deserved con
demnation out of pure grace on account of the merits of
Christ, an ' actus fwensis or judicialis' in which ' the sinner is
justified before God, that is to say, he is absolved from all
his sins and from the judgment of a most just condemna
tion, and is adopted into the number of the sons of God,
and made inheritor of eternal life without any personal
merit or worthiness, or any works of his own, either past,
present, or to come, but from mere grace, on account of
the merit of Jesus Christ alone, whose obedience is imputed
to us for righteousness ' {Form. Concil. Sol. decl. iii. 9, Conf.
Aug. iv., Apol. Conf. Aug. ii.).
^iKaiova-Oai is understood in the Pauline sense as used
in the Epistle to the Romans, where it is equivalent to
being 'esteemed or declared righteous,' and not 'made
righteous.' Peccator Justus declaratur vel pronuntiatur : im-
probo justitia Christi imputatur. There can be no question
of a co-operating of human power or merit, which forms an
important point in the forgiveness of sins and justification
accordino; to the Roman doctrine.

62 Christian Creeds and Confessions
Man is not indeed altered in his nature by this (instantaneous)
act of justification, but only in his personal relation to God ; there
is, however, closely connected with justification as the objective
consequence of faith, the other, which is subjective, namely, newness
of life and sanctification. The faith by which we grasp the justice
of Christ is nothing external, but something internal, by which
there is implanted in man a new moral and religious principle which
breaks the power and dominion of sin. The old nature may still
dwell in the believer, but its power is broken, as with faith results
the new birth, and there begins the death of the old Adam (. . . ut
per Spiritum sanctum veteris Adami mortificatio et renovatio in
spiritu mentis eorum inchoata sit. — Form. Cone. Sol. decl. vi. 7).
But although faith is manifested in truly good works, and ' love is
one of the fruits which then necessarily follow true faith,' it is
shown in Romans iii. 28 and in other passages, ' that neither pre
ceding repentance nor the works which follow belong to justification
in the deed or the act. The individual must first be righteous,
before he can do good works.' Justification, as resting on a basis
outside of man, that is, on the perfect merit of Christ — (notwith
standing that the moral consciousness of man never declares itself
as pure and spotless, or his actions in perfect obedience to the law
of God) — is something contained in itself, complete, and the source
of evangelical joy and tranquillity of mind, which is as far removed
from pride as from despair. ' Conscientiae non possunt reddi tran-
quUlae per ulla opera, sed tantum fide, quum certo statuunt, quod
propter Christum habeant placatum Deum.' — {Conf. Aug. xx. 15).-'

C. Of Faith and Good Works.
The Roman Catholic Church understands by saving faith
something quite different from the Evangelical. In the
Roman Catholic as in the Greek Church, Faith is considered
as the general conviction of the truth of the Christian
doctrine, or of divine revelation, and this is only to be

1 In tbe endeavour to put aside the merits of human action in general, and
especially those of the saints, and to make room for the doctrine of the free grace
of God, which declares the sinner freely justified, the Evangelicals have gone back
to the Pauline doctrine (scholastically explained by Anselm of Canterbury) of the
all-sufficient merits of Christ.

Doctrine of Faith 63
had through the Church as orthodoxy, i.e. to the uncon
ditional acceptance of all the doctrines established by the
Church. According to the Tridentine Professio Fidei
every baptized Christian owes, as such, obedience to the
Church and belief in its doctrine. He must believe, not
because he is convinced of the truth of the doctrine, but
because it is the doctiine of the Church (quod a Deo tradi
tum esse ecclesiae auctoritas comprobavit). As this mere
holding the Church doctrine as true does not assume a
really Christian sentiment, the Church must besides
demand of the faithful the preservation of the Christian
sense hy good works, to which it ascribes a certain merit.'-
Among these good works are reckoned not only the fulfil
ment of one's daily moral duties, but more particularly
almsgiving, repetition of prayer, fasting, pilgrimages, etc.
The Roman symbolical books contain no definition of the opera
supererogationis, or works of supererogation. According to the
Dogmatists, and the practice of indulgences confirmed by Papal
Bulls, it is to be considered as a dogma that the Church is in
possession of a 'thesaurus operum supererogatoriorum,' which con
sists of the superfluous merits of Christ and the Saints or perfec
tion ; that there are consequently works, which give to their
performers a greater merit before God than they need for their own
justification. Suuii works of supererogation a Christian performs, in fact, when
he follows not only the generally ordained precepts, but also those
which are merely recommended, ' consilia evangelica.' (Celibacy,
voluntary poverty, unconditional obedience to spiritual superiors,
and other ascetic exercises.) On this distinction between the
generally accepted unconditional precepts of the New Testament
and the virtues merely recommended, which is also taught by the
* Con. Trid. S. vi. can. 32. Si quis dixerit hominis justificati bona opera ita esse
dona Dei ut non sint etiam bona ipsius justificati merita, iiut ipsum justiflcatum
bonis operibus, quae ab eo per Dei gratiam et J. Christi meritum, cujus vivum
membrum est, fiunt non vere meren augmentum gratiae, vitam aeternam, etc. ;
anathema sit.

64 Christian Creeds and Confessionis
Greek Church, rests the high value set upon the monastic institu
tion as a more perfect representation and exercise of Christian life
in the Roman Catholic Church. To this perfection belongs the
renunciation of family ties, private possessions, civil life, and all
contact with the world.
According to the Evangelical Doctrine faith consists not
merely in a knowledge of, and adherence to, the divine
Revelation and Church doctrines, but in a profound con
viction of the necessity of a sincere and thorough confidence
in the Grace of God in Christ as announced in the Gospel.
(Ilia fides, quae justificat, non est tantum notitia historiae,
sed est assentiri promissioni Dei, in qua- gratis propter
Christum ofiertur remissio peccatorum et justificatio. — Apol.
Conf. Aug. ii. 48. ' Fides non est nuda notitia historiae de
Christo, sed tale Dei donum, quo Christum redemptorem
nostrum agnoscimus ipsique confidimus.' — Foi'm. Cone. Ep.
iii. 4.) To faith belongs also especially /dwcia, and it is
this fides specialis alone, ' as I believe for certain that my
sins are forgiven ' which experiences the saving power of
the Gospel, which is no mere system of dogmas, but the
announcement of the love of God manifested through
Christ 1 {Apol. Conf. Aug. vii. 21).
Faith is moreover not a work or service of man, but an
operation of the Holy Spirit which creates it in his heart
through the Gospel. ' Nam fides non ideo justificat aut
salvat, quia ipsa sit opus per sese dignum, sed tantum quia
accipit misericordiam promissam {Apol. Conf. Aug. ii. 16).
Talis fides est divina potentia, ea fides donum Dei est, etc.
{Apol. iii. 129, F. C. Sol. Sect. iii. 11, and elsewhere).
1 Unfortunately in the Evangelical Church (that is in the 17th centuiy), Faith
was considered as a belief in the formulae of doctrine propounded in the Con-
cor enbuch, and thus a schotastic justification was put in the place of the religious
belief in the gospel.

Doctrine of Predestination 65
Only one who is justified can do truly good works.
Justification must therefore precede them. Sanctification
of life necessarily follows justification. ' Faith does not ask
if good works are to be done, but has done them already
before asking and is always doing them ; so that it is as
impossible to separate Works from Faith as it is to separate
heat and light from fire.' (Luther.) Good works are,
however, only those which man does out of love to God
and his neighbour in his State and Calling (p. 26, Haus
tafel). These good works remain ever before God as some
thing imperfect; Evangelical doctrine knows nothing of
' merits ' or of their justifying power.
In opposition to the Romish doctrine of the necessity of Sancti
fication for justification, and of the personal satisfaction for the
forgiveness of sins consciously committed after baptism {Cone. Trid.
S. xiv. ), the ' sola fide ' ot the Evangelical confessions is often put
forward with peculiar emphasis. This doctrine of justification is
the chief weapon against the whole Romish Church with its treasury
of works of supererogation, and its indulgences, its honouring of
saints, its confessions, its justifications by good works, and its
monastic institutions.

D. The Doctrine of Predestination.
The difference between the two Churches in regard to
the method of salvation is based on their different views
of the relation of human power and activity to the divine
in the work of regeneration, or of the gratia divina to
human free will.
The Roman Church accepts the co-operation of a natural
power in man for the attainment of Salvation ; the gratia
praeveniens does not produce spiritual powers, but only
increases and stimulates those originally bestowed on man.
E

66 Christian Creeds and Confessions
She has accordingly given up the Augustinian doctrine of
grace and predestination.
According to the doctrines of the Reformers, whose
object was to exclude all human co-operation, and there
with all human merit in the work of salvation, the natural
man was thought of in a merely passive relation to the
Divine Work. That he does not resist grace is itself an
effect of grace. Only in relation to the spiritual powers
produced in him by grace can we speak of a gratia cooperans
et adjuvans. Everything which leads to Salvation is ex
clusively the work of Divine Grace. Thus the Reformers
acknowledged the doctrines of Augustine, including that
of Predestination.
The Protestants, however, fell into a dispute among themselves
over the question whether the gratia was resistibilis or irresistibUis,
and whether it was offered to all or only to those who by an eternal
and unconditional decree of God were predestined to Blessedness.
It was Calvin who taught not only Augustinism with all its con
sequences, but even asserted that the fall itself was pre-ordained of
God, and did not take place merely by the free will of Man.^
Luther (de servo arbitrio, 1525), and Melanchthon (in the first edition
ot his Loci, 1521) had also at first defended the Augustinian
doctrine of Predestination.
Zwingli also insisted most emphatically on the absoluteness of God,
and the sinfulness and final destruction of the whole human race,
and that man could have no independence whatever in his relation
with God. Melanchthon,- however, shortly afterwards declared
himself against absolute predestination, and against his former
assertion, that man cannot in any way co-operate towards his own
conversion, nor was he opposed by Luther, who was at the same
time trying to avoid at least the most obnoxious consequences of
the doctrine of Predestination. The dispute about co-operation
which broke out after the death of Luther was decided against it by
the Concordienformel (ii.), while on the other hand Predestination
1 The Predestinarians, who hold this view are called Supralapsarians, the more
moderate are called Ijifralapsaria/ns.

Doctrine of Predestination 67
was also condemned (xi. ). It asserted not merely the universality
of the divine decree for the salvation of man, but also its conditional
reception on the part of man, at least in so far as that all who were
not saved were only not saved because they themselves rejected it.
The strict Calvinism which sets out for the unconditional dependence
of man on God and leads to absolute Predestination has only found
its expression as a dogma of faith in the Con^. Call. (12), Conf.
Belgica (17), and in the Canones Cone. Dord. (especially c. vii. 9, 10).

CHAPTER X
DOCTRINE OF THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL
All Churches agree in this, that by the side of the Word
of God they recognise certain acts (/xuo-rijpta, sacramenta)
instituted by Christ, which, answering to the double nature
of man of sense and spirit, are a means of grace under
visible ' elements.' They differ however from one another
as to the number.
In many passages of the Vulgate the Greek word ixvarifptov is
translated by sacramentum (signifying in classical language, ' earnest
money ' and ' a soldier's oath '), but it is used in the New Testament
to denote objects ot Christian revelation, and never for religious
ceremonies, such as Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Tertullian
first applied the Latin word (as the Greek Fathers used the Greek)
to certain mysteries of Christianity, and more especially to Baptism
and the Lord's Supper. ^ In the time of the Schoolmen the word
was used in preference for the holy ceremonies of the church, the
number of which Peter Lombard, who died 1164, fixed at seven.
The Council of Florence in 1439 raised this number to an article of
faith. The Roman Church teaches : Si quis dixerit sacramenta
novae legis non fuisse omnia a Jesu Christo Domino nostro
instituta aut esse plura vel pauciora, quam septem, vide
licet Baptismum, Confirmationem, Eucharistiam, Poeniten-
iiam, Extremam Unctionem, Ordinem et Matrimonium, aut
etiam aliquod horum septem non esse vere et proprie
1 The word was first used specially for baptism, in which the Christian binds
himself by the oath of service (sacramentum) to the militia Christi.

Doctrine of the Sacraments 69
sacramentum ; anathema sit {Cone. Trid. S. vii. 1). The
Greek Church reckons the same number, only it gives
the last place to the euxfA-atoi/ (unction). The Lutheran
which in the Apol. art. vii. counts Absolution as the
third Sacrament, agrees later with the Reformed Church
in the acceptation of two Sacraments (the rites which
have the express command of God, and the manifest
promise of grace). According to Protestant principles the
divine appointment must be given in the exact words of
the New Testament, while according to the Roman
Catholic doctrine the essence of a sacrament consists in
the operation of grace combined with a visible sign, and the
practice ordained by the Church must be considered as
a divine institution {Cat. Rom. de confirm., qu. 3).
Answering to the position which the doctrine of justification
holds in the evangelical system, the Reformers place the essence of
sacramental grace principally in the forgiveness of sins for Christ's
sake, by which the communion of the faithful with Christ is founded
and maintained : on the other hand, the Roman doctrine places the
sanctifying operation of sacramental grace first, and refers it not
only to Christian life in general but also to special callings (Priest
hood, Marriage). {Con. Trid. S. vii. 5. Apol. vii. 14 andfoll.)
According to the Roman Catholic, as well as the Greek
Catholic doctrine, Divine grace is contained objectively in
the outward signs of the Sacrament, and conveyed imme
diately to man through the almighty Power of God ; hence
the Sacraments work ex opere operato, i.e., by the mere use
and outward participation, without inner sympathy.
Con. Trident, S. vii. c. 8. Si quis dixerit per ipsa novae legis
sacramenta ex opere operato non conferri gratiam (' non ponentibus
obicem ' so. peccati mortalis c. 4), sed solam fidem divinae promis-
sionis ad gratiam consequendam sufficere ; anathema sit. According
to the declarations of Schoolmen (for example Gabriel Biel), ' sacra
mentum dicitur conferre gratiam ex opere operato, quod praeter

70 Christian Creeds and Confessions
exhibitionem signi fortis exhibiti non requiritur bonus motus interior
in suscipiente ' ; and Bellarmine {de Sacr. ii. ), says : ' opus operatum
non solum excludere dignitatem ministri, sed eiXara. fidem et motum
internum ab efficientia gratiae sacramentalis. ' '
The Lutheran Church expressly rejects the doctrine of
the opus operatum. {Conf. Aug. xiii. and Apol. vii.) It also
teaches that grace is given objectively in the Sacraments ;
that these are not merely signa significantia, hnt praebentia et
exhiUtiva media gratiae oblativa ; but it also teaches ' quod
in usu sacramentorum fides debeat accedere, quae credat illis
promissionibus et accipiat res promissas, quae ibi in sacra
mento oS'eruntur.' This faith does not produce the
sacramental grace, but is the only means by which it is
conferred on the receiver. {Lutheri Cat. Maj. iv. Neque
enim fides mea facit baptismum, sed baptismum percipit
et apprehendit.)
The Reformed Church does not allow that the sacramental
effect of Grace is contained in the outward signs, but (as
Luther had declared before his contest with the ' fanatics ')
that everything depended upon faith, so that the unbeliever
receives the sacrament as a sign without the divine grace
contained therein.
Sacramenta a Christo instituta non tantum sunt notae professionis
Christianorum, sed certa quaedam potius testimonia et efBcacia
signa gratiae atque bonae in nos voluntatis Dei per quae invisi-
biliter ipse in nos operatur nostramque fidem in se non solum
excitat, verum etiam confirmat. (Hdv. post. 24. ) — The Zwinglian
doctrine of the sacraments as mere signs and witnesses of faith
before the congregation is only found in Oonf. Tetrap. c. 16, where
it is rendered ' non solum quod sunt invisibilis gratiae visibilia
signa, sed etiam quod his quasi fidei professio fiat.'
1 Besides the sacraments the Koman Church has also consecrations (bene-
dictiones), which are considered as nearly equal to them. At these consecrations
(of bells, lights, water, and even bread, oil, animals, etc.) formulae are used
according to the Ritual, which presuppose a magical effect.

CHAPTER XI
OF THE SEPARATE SACRAMENTS
1. Baptism.
Baptism 1 is considered necessary for salvation by all
Churches, even for the children of Christians. {Conf.
Aug. ix., Conf. Scot. : ' Baptismum pertinere tam ad infantes
fidelium quam ad ipsos fideles adultos et intellectu praeditos
agnoscimus et confitemur atque ita errorem Anabaptistarum
damnamus, qui negant baptismum infantibus usque dum
cognitionem et fidem habuerint.') According to the Cat.
Rom. (ii. 2. 54), the baptism of infants is effective, ' non
quia mentis suae assensione credant, sed quia parentum
fide, si parentes fideles fuerint, sui minus fide (ut D.
Augustini verbis loquamur) universae societatis sanctorum
muniuntur.' The confession and vows belonging to
baptism are performed in the name of the children by the
sponsors, who at the same time undertake the responsi
bility for their Christian education.
According to the Roman doctrine, original guilt is
destroyed by Baptism, and therewith the original sin in its
essence as the concupiscentia is not in itself sin, as long as
it does not pass on into sinful action, but only a means
for the exercise of virtue.
1 In place of the threefold dipping which the Greek Church eujoins as nece-ssary,
the sprinMing with water has come gradually into use in the Western Churches.
According to Thomas Aquinas the dipping is preferable and more sure. 71

72 Christian Creeds and Confessions
Si quis per Jesum Christ. Dom. n. , gratiam, quae in Baptismo con-
fertur, reatum originalis peccati remitti negat, aut etiam asserit
non tolli id quod veram et propriam peccati rationem habet, sed
illud dicit tantum radi aut non imputari ; anathema sit. Manere
autem in baptizatis concupisceiitiam vel fomitem, haec s. Synodus
fatetur et sentit ; quae cum ad agonem reliota sit, nocere non con-
sentientibus, sed utiliter per Christi J. gratiam repugnantibus non
valet ; quin imo qui legitime certaverit, coronabitur. {Con. Trid. S.
V. 5.)
According to the doctrine of both the Protestant
Churches, by baptism it is merely the condemning
guilt of hereditary sins which is taken away, while the
sinful concupiscentia itself remains in man until death.
(Baptismus tollit reatum peccati originalis, etiam si
materiale peccati maneat, videlicet concupiscentia. Apol.
i. 36.)
According to the doctrine of the Lutheran Church, the grace of
the second birth is caused in the baptized person by the water in
combination with the word of God, and not ex opere operato, but
only by means of faith ' which trusteth to the word of God in the
water. ' ' We bring the child in the belief and hope that it will believe,
and we pray to God that He will give him the faith. ' Luth. hlein.
u. gross. Catec. iv. According to the Reformed Heidelberg Cate
chism (question 73, 74), ' God will assure us by the Divine authority
and tokens that we are truly spiritually washed from our sins, as
our bodies are cleansed by the natural water,' and because the
children as well as the parents belong to the covenant of God and to
His Church, and to them no less than to their parents is promised in
the blood of Christ the remission of sins, and the Holy Spirit which
creates the faith in them : thus they should also be incorporated by
baptism as a sign of the covenant into the Christian Church, and
separated from the unbelieving children, as took place in the Old
Testament by circumcision, in place of which baptism is substituted
in the New Testament.' As certainly the baptism of infants has
only a significance when it is followed by a Christian education and
instruction, so it is certain that in a Christian sense baptism ought
to be performed in early childhood.
Since the fourth century, the formula for exorcism which

Confirmation 73
had been in use from the earliest times for persons ' pos
sessed ' {evepyoviievoi.) was annexed to the renunciation of
Satan and all his works by the ceremonial of joining of
hands, which was required by the bishop from all cate
chumens before baptism. The strict Lutherans retained
this exorcism (driving out of the devil) ; but the Reformed
Church rejected it. Baptism may not be repeated any
more than confirmation and the consecration of priests,
since these sacraments, according to the Roman as well as
the Greek doctrine, imprint a ' character indelebilis ' on
the soul. {Cat. Rom. ii. 2, 54.)
2. Confirmation.
Confirmation is called by the Council of Trent (S. vii.
1 and 3) a verum et proprium sacramentum, which may
only be administered by the bishop, and on children from
the age of seven to twelve. The figure of the cross is signed
on the forehead with an ointment of consecrated oil and
balsam, the Chrism (' Signo te signo crucis et confirmo te
chrismate salutis in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus
Sancti '), and thereupon a stroke on the cheek is given to
the person confirmed, in token that he must suffer for
Christ's sake.
In the Greek Church the chrismatic anointing which
follows immediately after baptism may be performed by
any priest; but the right of previously consecrating the oil
(to [ivpov) is reserved to the bishop. The Protestant Con
fessions {Apol. vii. 6, Helv. post. 19) do not acknowledge
confirmation as a sacrament. 'Confirmatio et extrema
unctio inventa sunt hominum, quibus nullo cum damno
carere potest ecclesia; neque ilia in ecclesiis nostris

74 Christian Creeds and Confessions
habemus.' Since the middle of the seventeenth century^ it
has been (but without the use of the Chrism) again intro-
troduced into the Evangelical Churches as a solemn renewal
of the covenant of baptism in the Confession of Faith
made before admission to the first communion. This was
introduced principally through the influence of Spener.
1 The Church of England has always retained confirmation by the bishop, though
it is not considered a sacrament. — T,

CHAPTER XII
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC DOCTRINE OF THE EUCHARIST AND
THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS — THE LUTHERAN AND
REFORMED DOCTRINE OF THE LORD'S SUPPER
The Roman Catholic Church holds the Lord's Supper
appointed by Christ not merely as a sacrament in which
the Salvation objectively offered in the Redemption through
Himself is subjectively granted to the faithful through the
medium of a sign, but also as a sacrifice and atonement
which operates as an opus operatum, as soon as it is per
formed with due ceremony by the priest.
These two representations are so far kept distinct that the Tri
dentine Synod has treated of the Sacrament of the Eucharist in its
thirteenth session, and of the Sacrifice of the Mass in its twenty-
second. In the Cat. Bom. ii. ch. 4, the first fifty-two questions treat
. of the Sacramentum, the last thirteen of the Sacrificium.
The sacramental, as well as the sacrificial, significance ol
the Eucharist rests on the dogma of Transubstantiation,
which was proclaimed by the fourth Lateran Council (1215)
and by the Florentine Synod (1439), and more closely
defined by the schoolmen, especially by Thomas Aquinas,
who died in 1274.
Transubstantiation is, as the Tridentine Council (S. viii. cap. 8,
can. 2) says, a mirabilis et singularis conversio totius substantiae
panis in corpus et totius substantiae vini in sanguinem Christi, manen-
tibus duntaxat speciebus panis et vini. Thus Christ has testified at
the appointment of the Eucharist by the plain words : ' hoc est
75

76 Christian Creeds and Confessions
corpus meum, hie est sanguis mens,' that it was really His body and
His blood which He ofiered under the form of bread and wine, and
what He then declared He effected by the same words and at the
same moment. By virtue of the divine institution the words here
quoted have this same vis declarandi et efficiendi as often as they are
repeated by the priest in the consecration formula, so that after
consecration the whole body of Christ is present ' vere, realiter et
.substantialiter ' under the form of bread and wine, while the elements
remain as mere unsubstantial accessories. Not only ' in usu, dum
sumitur ' does the true body of Christ remain present, but also
'ante vel post, et in hostiis seu particulis consecratis, quae post
communionem reservantur vel supersunt.' Thereby are the well-
known actv.s sacramentales justified ; such as the ' reservation ' of
the consecrated hosts, which were not consumed, in boxes and mon
strances, and their elevation and adoration in the exhibition and
carrying about in processions, especially at the ' Corpus Christi '
festival which has been held in honour of the body of Christ since
1264. The decree of the fourth Lateran Council that every adult
Christian should communicate at least once yearly, at Easter, after
or previous to 'confessio sacramentalis,' is enforced anew. The
sacrament is so administered that the ministering priest first com
municates himself in both kinds, and then distributes it under one
kind to the laity, who receive it kneeling, with the words : ' Corpus
Domini Nostri Jesu Christi custodiat animam tuam in vitam
aeternam — Amen. '
As to the non-administration of the cup to the laity, the
Tridentine Council, in addition to the decrees of Kostnitz,
explains : ' Nullo divino praecepto laicos et clericos non
conficientes obligari ad Eucharistiae sacramentum sub
utraque specie sumendum, neque nullo facto salva fide
dubitari posse, quin illius alterius speciei communis ad
salutem sufEciat. Praeterea declarat, banc potestatem per-
pctuo in ecclesia fuisse, ut in Sacramentorum dispensione,
salva illorum substantia, ea statueret vel mutaret, quae
suscipientium utilitati, seu ipsorum sacramentorum venera-
tioni pro rerum, temporum, et locorum vari«tate magis
expedire judicaret.' Thus the Roman Church, although at

Doctrine of the Eucharist 'j'j
the commencement communion in both kinds was not un
common, has in later times for important reasons approved
of the custom of communicating in one kind only, and
made it a law, which no one can now reject or alter without
the consent of the Church, declaring that under the one
kind the whole Christ and the whole Sacrament is received.
(S. xxi. 1-3.)
The Council had already, in its thirteenth Session, explained this
doctrine of Concomitance (chap. 3). In virtue of that natural ' con-
nexio et concomitantia,' by which the members of the Risen Saviour
are for ever inseparably united, so the body may be in the form of
wine, and the blood in the form of bread, the spirit being, however,
present in both, and the Godhead at the same time ' propter ad-
mirabilem illam ejus cum corpore et anima by postaticam unionem. '
The presence of Christ is not to be thought of as quantitative in
space, but as actually present in substance, in which there can be
no conception of parts or dimensions ; ' in qua vis utriusque speciei
particula totus Christus continetur ' {Cal. Bom. ii. iv., 35 and 43).
The Church found itself in the first instance compelled to refuse
the cup to the laity, on account of the dread of spilling or otherwise
desecrating the blood of Christ.
It may, however, have been influenced from the first by the
desire to exalt in every way the position of the priest, and this
appears as the chief motive at the Council of Kostnitz. It is
strange that the Church itself in former times, in its contests with
heretics who rejected the use of wine in the Lord's Supper, con
demned the separation of the two parts ot the sacrament. One
Pope had called it a grande sacrilegium, and even Paschal ii. , who
died in 1118, will not allow a departure from the ordinance of
Christ. On Transubstantiation, which is made to follow as a
result of the consecration, without any regard to its
sacramental use, is based the doctrine of the Sacrifice of
the Mass, regarding which the Tridentine Synod (S. xxii.)
declares as follows : —
Christ (declaring himself a priest for ever after the order of

yd) Christian Creeds and Confessions
Melchiscdech) has, in order to leave behind in the Church a visible
sacrifice, as human nature requires (visibile, sicut hominum natura
exigit, sacrificium) offered up to the Father at the last Supper His
body and His blood under the forms of bread and wine, and has
commanded his apostles and their successors as priests of the New
Testament to repeat the sacrifice, saying : ' do this in remembrance
of me.' Now because in this sacrifice, which the priest performs in
the mass, the very same Christ is offered up in a bloodless way
(incruente) who had offered himself up once with His blood on the
altar of the cross, it is therefore a true sacrifice of atonement
(sacrificium vere propitiatorium) by which if we draw near to God
with upright hearts, in true faith, humility, and penitence, we
obtain mercy and grace. Hence it is not merely for the sins,
punishments, satisfactions, and other needs of the living faithful,
but also accomplished for the departed who are in purgatory and
not yet fully purified. If the Church sometimes performs masses in
honour and in memory of the Saints, it teaches also that this is not
done as a sacrifice for them, but to God alone who has crowned
them, and thus it commends itself to their intercessions with God.
This Synod desires that at every mass the faithful should take
part not only 'spirituali affectu,' but also ' sacramentali Eucharis
tiae perceptione ' ; but it does not condemn on that account those
masses in which the priests alone take part sacramentally, but
recommends them, as even these missae privatae must be held to
be vere communes, partly because the people do actually communicate
with them in spirit, and partly because they are not performed by
the priest for himself alone but for all the faithful who belong to
the body of Christ. When the Synod at the same time alludes to
the order of the ancient Church to mix water with the wine at the
Supper, not merely because Christ Himself appears to have done so,
and because blood and water flowed out from his side, but also
because water in the Apocalypse xvii. 15 signifies the people, and
thus the union of the faithful with Christ as the head of the Church
is portrayed ; it is herewith manifestly intended that the congrega
tion is in every case present spiritually and mystically at the Sacrifice
of the Mass, and is itself consecrated and offered therein to God.
With this also is united the Roman Catholic conception that in the
Sacriflce of the Mass not only is Christ sacrificed by the adminis
tering priest, but there is at the same time a sacrifice of the Church
as of the body of Christ. From this we can understand the dominant
position occupied by the mass in the Roman system, since this
sacrifice, a peculiar and higher consecration, gives the whole

Doctrine of Transubstantiation 79
being and life to the Church and its individual members, uniting
man with God, and making him without any effort of his own an
object of the Divine favour. As in the Church and her visible head
the incarnation of Christ has become at the same time permanent,
so in the Sacrifice of the Mass is its highest work, the Sacrifice of
Atonement. The Sacrifice of the Mass is nothing without transub
stantiation, that miracle which has become permanent ; the cere
monies of worship are at the same time a confirmation of the
workings of the Spirit and of the gifts of grace carried on from the
time ot the Apostles.
The Greek Church agrees with the Roman in the Doc
trine of Transubstantiation, and considers the sacrament
also as a sacrifice, for all the faithful, whether living or dead;
it enjoins, however, that the Sacrament should be partaken
of in both kinds according to its original institution, and it
uses leavened bread and not unleavened as in the Church
of Rome; at the same time it uses wine mixed with
water. It also allows children to take part in the Supper
(the use of wine being forbidden until their seventeenth
year) which the Synod of Trent did not consider necessary
(S. xxi. cap. 4). The carrying about of the consecrated
elements in solemn processions it rejects, as also the abuse
of private masses. Sacramental significance is attributed
to the traditional Liturgy for the Lord's Supper.
The two Evangelical Churches are completely at one in
the rejection of all that is opposed to Scripture in the
Roman Catholic Doctrine, namely, 1st, the representation
of the Lord's Supper as a sacrifice whereby sins are remitted
ex opere operato. In a certain sense it may be considered as
a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, but not as a sin-
offering, for in the New Testament there is 'no other
sacrifice for sins, whether inherited or otherwise, but the
death of Christ alone,' and this eternally effective sacrifice

8o Christian Creeds and Confessions
of atonement needs no repetition. Besides this, 'the
frightful abuses of private masses, and masses for souls,
the traffic in masses, and the greed of gain of the clergy,
the use of the Latin language which is not understood by
the people are specially denounced ' {Conf. Aug. xxiv.).i
2nd, The withholding of the cup, since the Sacrament is to be
observed strictly in accordance with Christ's institution
{Conf. Aug. xxii.). 3rd, of the Dogma of Transub.'stantia-
tion and the Adoration of the consecrated host, which is
founded on it, with all the ceremonies relating to it {Art.
Schmalk. iii. 6, Art. Church of England, 28). ' The Sacra
ment of the Lord's Supper ' was by Christ's ordinance
neither reserved, carried about, lifted up or worshipped.'
A great difference, however, exists among Protestants
on the question of the nature of Christ's Presence in the
Lord's Supper. The views of Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin
are as follows : —
The Lutheran doctrine, which stands nearest to the Roman
Catholic, asserts a real and substantial presence of the body and
blood of Christ, or of the whole God-man Christ in, with, and among
the bread and wine containing His substance, which in some inex
plicable manner is effected by the Divine Power at the time of par
taking of the Sacrament. Accordingly to all communicants worthy
and unworthy, the body and blood of Christ is truly offered, and by
them received not only spiritually by faith, but bodily with the
mouth and truly partaken ('non tamen capernaitice, sed super-
naturali et coelesti modo, ratione sacramentalis unionis'), and on
the part of the former for their salvation,' of the latter for judgment.
i SchmaZk. Art. ii. 2. — ' They feel indeed that when the mass falls, then perishes
the papacy.' 'Above all this, this dragon's tail, the mass, has begotten much
vermin and dirt, much idolatry' (that is purgatory, appearances of evil spirits as
souls ofthe dead, pilgrimages, brotherhoods, worship of relics, indulgences, invoking
of saints). Heidelberg Catechism, Qu. SO : ' And thus the mass is in fact nothing else
than a denial of the one offering and suffering of Christ, and a cursed idolatry.'
Article 31 of the Church of England says: 'The sacriflce of masses were
blasphemous fables and dangerous deceits.'

Doctrine of the Lord's Supper 8i
This doctrine is founded on the application in a literal sense of
the words used by Christ at the time of the institution, and on the
divine omnipotence as well as on the doctrine of the ' communio
naturarum,' and of the 'communicatio idiomatum,' according to
which the body of Christ, who is exalted to the right hand of God,
is present everywhere, and can thus offer Himself to be partaken of
wherever he will. This representation of the ubiquity of the body
of Christ has never, however, been universally accepted in the
Lutheran Church {Conf. Aug. x.. Art. Schmalk. iii. 6., Cal. Maj.
v.. Form. Cone. vii. and viii.).
The Reformed Church, in opposition to the Lutheran, as also to
the Romish doctrine, denies the Real Presence of the body and blood
ot Christ in the Lord's Supper. This is most emphatically done by
Zwingli, who sees nothing more in the Lord's Supper than a sym
bolical festival for the remembrance ot the atoning death ot Christ,
and in the bread and wine mere signs ; he explains the words ot
the institution as figurative, and accepts only such a spiritual par
taking of the body and blood of Christ as is performed in faith by
every true Christian. This doctrine is, however, only expressed,
more or less definitely, in a few of the reformed confessions of faith
{Conf Tetrap. and Helvet. prior) ; the majority of them adopting
the accommodating doctrine of Calvin, which is not only the
dominant one in the Reformed Church, but which has also found
much acceptance even in the Lutheran Church.
According to Calvin's doctrine, bread and wine are not merely
empty signs, but signa exhibitiva, which really cause the spiritual
partaking of the body and blood of Christ, who is thus actually
present, not however bodily and substantially, but spiritually, in
power and operation {praesentia operativa), so that there is no
manducatio oralis by all partakers, but only a spiritual one on
the part of the faithful. The Christian, who in faith is fit to
receive heavenly treasures, receives through the operation of the
Holy Spirit at the same time as the outward signs that which they
represent, namely, the invisible heavenly food of the body and
blood of Christ, and enters into a communion with Christ (although,
as the Heidelberg Catechism says, ' He is in heaven and we are on
earth ' ), in which the fulness of the Divine power of life flows over
to him from it, whether it be that Christ in Spirit descends on man,
or that man is spiritually exalted to Him in heaven. Hence the
unbeliever receives nothing of the heavenly gift, but for the believer
the bodily partaking is not merely a sign of remembrance, but at
the same a pledge- of the distribution of the heavenly gifts. Even
F

82 Christian Creeds and Confessions
according to Calvin the words in question can only be understood
figuratively. In opposition to the Lutheran doctrine ot the Ubiquity
of the body of Christ, the Reformed Church has more definitely
distinguished the human and created from the Divine nature in
Christ, and has consequently incurred from the Lutheran the charge
of favouring the Nestorian heresy {Helv. post. 21, Conf. March, 8,
etc.). Even Melanchthon and his followers accepted later the
Calvinistic view, and in more modern times it has been
the endeavour of the Union ^ to prevent all strife about the
Sacrament of the Communion of the Church with Christ
and of the faithful with one another, by laying all stress
on the praesentia operativa Christi, and dispensing with any
strict definition of the nature and manner of this Presence.
[The Church of England is far from being unanimous on the sub
ject ; the Calvinistic doctrine seems to be held by the greater
number, but among the Ritualists a view of the Real Presence is
held that is nearer to that of the Romish Church than even to the
Lutheran. — T.] 1 That is of the Lutheran and Reformed Churches.

CHAPTER XIII
4. penance (including PURGATORY AND INDULGENCE)
The judicial action of the priest in the Sacrament of
Penance contributes almost as much to the glorification
of the priestly office as does the offering of the Sacrifice
of the Mass.
We are taught by the Tridentine Council (Sess. xiv.)
and by the Roman Catechism (ii. 5), that this sacrament
was appointed by Christ (John xx. 23) for the blotting
out of all sins done wilfully after baptism. ' Est hoc sacra
mentum Poenitentiae lapsis post Baptismum ad salutem
necessarium ut nondum regeneratis ipse Baptismus. Sunt
autem quasi materia hujus sacramenti ipsius poenitentis
actus ; nempe contritio (cordis), confessio (oris), et satisfactio
(operis). Synodus simul eorum sententias damnat, qui
poenitentiae partes incussos conscientiae terrores et fidem
esse contendunt. (Comp. Conf. Aug. xii.). The form in
which the sacramental power lies is the absolution granted
by the priest with these words : ' Ego te absolvo a peccatis
tuis in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti.'
True contrition of the heart is only rarely to be found ; the
attritio (i.e. contritio imperfecta) which 'quamvis per se ad justifi
cationem perducere peccatorem nequeat, tamen eum ad Dei gratiam
in sacr. Poenit. impetrandam disponit,' is all sufficient {Con. Trid. S.
xiv. c. 4). The confessio oris consists in this, that ' postquam quis-
quis diligentius se excusserit et conscientiae suae sinus omnes et
latebras exploraverit, ea peccata confiteatur, quibus se Dominum et

84 Christian Creeds and Confessions
Deum suum mortaliter offendisse meminerit ; reliqua autem peccata
quae diligenter cogitanti non occurrunt, in universum eadem con
fessione inclusa esse intelliguntur. Per Lateranense Concilium
(1215) ecclesia statuit, ut praeceptum confessionis saltem semel in
anno ab omnibus et singulis, cum ad annos discretionis pervenissent,
impleretur, unde jam in universa ecclesia cum ingenti animarum
fidelium fructu observatur mos ille salutaris confitendi sacro illo et
maxime acceptabili tempore Quadragesimae ; quem morem haec s.
Synodus maxime probat et amplectitur tanquam pium et merito
retinendum.' Penance for si'iis of indulgence {peccata venialia) is
not necessary, although very useful ; that for deadly sins however,
even the most secret ones, with an account of all the accompanying
circumstances, is necessary, jure divino, because the priest as the re
presentative of Christ holds at the same time ' the position of a judge
and of a physician,' and without sufficient knowledge of the moral
state of the penitent could no more give a well grounded judgment
than the necessary prescriptions for curing bodily ailments. Ab
solution is a potestas ordinis, the efficacy of which does not depend on
the moral nature of the person who performs the actus judicialis.
The bishop or priest may only exercise this power on those ' in quos
ordinariam aut subdelegatam habet jurisdiotionem.' For the
benefit of Christian discipline it is declared ' ut atrociora quaedam
et graviora crimina non a quibusvis, sed a summis duntaxat sacer-
dotibus absolverentur, unde merito Pontifices Max. pro suprema
potestate sibi in ecclesia tradita causas aliquas criminum graviores
suo potuerunt peculiari judicio reservare. ' Only at the point of
death (in articulo mortis) may any priest, without reservations,
grant absolution. The satisfactiones canonicae consist in the penalties
and chastisements which the priest inflicts on the penitent at
absolution, 'non tantum ad novae vitae custodiam et inflrmitatis
medicamentum, sed etiam ad praeteritorum peccatorum vindictam
et castigationem. ' Although guilt and the eternal punishment
connected with it is remitted by absolution, there still remain
certain temporal punishments as consequences of sin ; and these
must be expiated in this world and in purgatory, because Divine
Justice cannot pass over certain sins committed after baptism
in the same way as it does over unconscious sins committed before,
and because the mercy ot God desires thereby to absolve man
and to keep him henceforth from similar sins. ' Debent ergo
sacerdotes Domini, quantum spiritus et prudentia suggesserit, pro
qualitate criminum et poenitentium facultate salutares et conveni-
entes satisfactiones injungere. Non solum poenis sponte a nobis

Doctrine of Penance 85
pro vindicando peccato susceptis, aut sacerdotis arbitrio pro mensura
delicti impositis, sed etiam temporalibus flagellis a Deo inflictis et
a nobis patienter toleratis, apud Deuin patrem per Chr. J. satisfacere
valemus.' Satisfaction is then only valid when the penitent is
righteous and the friend of God, and when the works undertaken
are connected with pain and suffering. Pride, the lust of the flesh,
and the delight of the eye being capital sins : Prayer, fasting, and
alms-giving are specially recommended as penitential exercises.
The Greek Church is in exact concordance with the
Roman with regard to the Doctrine of Penance, although
it does not so rigidly insist on the practice of confession.
With this doctrine of Penance is associated the dogma
of Purgatory, formulated at Florence in 1439, and con
firmed by the Council of Trent. ' Si quis post acceptam
justificationis gratiam cuilibet peccatori poeniteuti ita
culpam remitti et reatum aeternae poenae deleri dixerit,
ut nullus remaneat reatus poenae temporalis exsolvendae
vel in hoc seculo vel in future in purgatorio,! antequam
ad regna coelorum aditus pateri possit ; anathema sit.'
{Con. Trid. S. vi. c. 30). According to the Roman Cat.
it is in the last part of the Penance the actual satis
factio operis that a vicarious expiation by virtue of the
communicatio sanctorum can take place, which certainly
amounts to a renunciation of the personally healing effect of
the Atonement. In the Decretum de Purgatorio (S. xxv.)
the Synod of Trent declares 'animas in purgatorio de-
tentas fidelium suffrages, potissimum vero acceptabili altaris
sacrificio, juvari.' Manifestly the doctrine of Indulgences
may be supported by the assertion of the possibility of

1 According to the prevailing view ot Roman theologians (Bellarmine and others)
Purgatory is a material Are situated in the centre of the earth, above the fire of
hell. According to the Cat. Bom. i. 6, the 'limbus infantum et patrum ' is above
the pwrgatorium.

86 Christian Creeds and Confessions
a mediation of which the Deer, de Indulgentiis (S. xxv.)
merely says, 'Cum potestas conferendi indulgentias a
Christo ecclesiae concessa sit atque hujusmodi potestate,
divinitus sibi tradita, antiquissimis temporibus ilia usa
fuerit : sacrosancta Synodus indulgentiarum usum, Christi-
ano populo maxime salutarem, et sacrorum Conciliorum
auctoritate probatum, in ecclesia retinendum esse docet.'
Only it must be treated with reserve and caution, ' ne nimia
facilitate Ecclesiastica disciplina enervetur'; also the
bishops should inquire into the misuses of Indulgences
that had crept in (quorum occasione hoc Indulgentiarum
nomen ab haereticis blasphematur) such as were connected
with base acquisition of money (pravos quaestus) or with
superstition, ignorance, and frivolity, and submit them to
the Pope for due correction. To this is attached a warn
ing against the misuse of Indulgences.
The result of this system is that as the satisfactiones canonicae
have to be considered in the relation of the sinner to God, so also
the acquiring of Indulgences is not merely an affair of Church dis
cipline, and is not merely a, remission ot ecclesiastical penances,
but at the same time it has as a consequence a real remission of
the punishmepts which God's justice demands. On this assump
tion we have an explanation of the effect of the indulgence on the
torments of purgatory and the scholastic justification of Indul
gences by the doctrine of the thesaurus meritorum or salisfactiomim,
out of which the Church grants to the sinner what he wants in
order that God may receive at the same time a satisfaction of
His demands on the sinner.
In the ancient Church, Indulgences really consisted only in shorten
ing the time of penance which had been imposed by the Church on
those who had fallen away from it but desired now to be re
admitted into its communion. This indulgence was granted to
those who had given sufficient proofs of contrition and amendment,
and to whom the Church was consequently willing to extend her
disciplinary designs. Since the foundation ot the Church in Ger
many, it had been customary to allow penitential exercises and

Doctrine of Penance 87
satisfaction to be exchanged one for the other, or to substitute
for them the so-called good works, fines of money, the amount
of which was to be devoted to pious purposes, such as Church
building, monasteries, etc.^ Subsequently Urban ii. (towards the
end of the Ilth century) promised to the participators in the
Crusade a general and complete indulgence, and as the repre
sentations of the unlimited spiritual power of the pope and of
the efiicacy of the overflowing merits of Christ, and of the Saints,
of which the pope had the disposal, were universally diffused, it
became a practice of the Church to distribute indulgences for
money, church buildings, pilgrimages, and such like pious actions
in general without regard to personal relations and without repent
ance preceding them ; and the people believed that they thus
obtained forgiveness of sins ; it was forgotten that ' Indulgence
for Sins ' really meant a remission of canonical and temporal punish
ments. The Greek Church, although it rejects Indulgences as
also the notion of a purifying fire, at the same time ac
knowledges an intermediate state for departed souls which
have not yet been perfectly purified, and ascribes to the
pious actions of the living, such as masses and church-
prayers, the power of shortening the spiritual pain of this
intermediate state. The Reformation in Germany, as well
as in Switzerland, began with the combat against the soul-
destroying abuse of Indulgences. As the principle of
Indulgence is bound up with the Sacrament of Penance,
and as this is merely the practical carrying out of the
theory of Justification, the strife about Indulgences led
immediately to the rejection of the Roman doctrines of
penance and justification.
The first of the 95 theses of Luther of the 31st October 1517
runs thus : — 'Dominus et magister noster Jesus Christus, dicendo :
" Poenitentiam agite, etc." omnem vitam fidelium poenitentiam
1 The introduction of fines is explained by the old German law which per
mitted money payments (Wehrgeld) as an expiation of crimes.

88 Christian Creeds and Confessions
essevoluit.' The 62nd thesis : ' Verus thesaurus ecclesiae est sacro-
sanctum evangelium gloriae et gratiae Dei.'
In the doctrine of Penance all the real errors and evils of the
Roman Church are brought to light. Its outward observance of
the Gospel and the Jewish transformation of it into a iiova lex,
its superficial comprehension of the nature of Sin and of Virtue,
and the Pelagian depreciation of the merits of Christ, its hier
archical tyranny which takes away all freedom of conscience and
religious independence, and (as is brought out in the Schmalk.
Art. iii.) its greed of money.
The doctrine of the Evangelical Church transfers repent
ance completely to man's own soul. 'Constat poenitentia
proprie his duabus partibus ; altera est contritio seu terrores
incussi conscientiae agnito peccato ; altera est fides, quae
concipitur ex evangelio seu absolutione et credit propter
Christum remitti peccata et consolatur conscientiam et ex
terroribus liberat. Deinde sequi debent bona opera, quae
sunt fructus poenitentiae' {Conf. Aug. xii.).
Repentance therefore, in the Evangelical sense of the
term, consists in : contritio, fides, and nova obedientia ; or
according to Calvin : mortificatio and vivificatio, which must
be preceded by faith, since true and hearty repentance is
not possible without the certainty of Divine grace and love.
Private confessions and absolution have been retained in the
Lutheran Church as wholesome ecclesiastical ordinances without
any sacramental character ; still they are not insisted on as ab
solutely necessary, and their effect is in fact made dependent on
the inner consciousness. The Evangelical Church does not mistake
the blessing of the open expression ot that which oppresses the
heart, and the wholesome opportunity for the care of souls which
the hearing of confession offers to youth ; but the law of auricular
confession, which demands the enumeration of all separate sins
before the priest as a condition of absolution, is expressly rejected,
because it demands that which is impossible, favouring a false
representation of the essence of sin and disquieting to the con
science. (Conf. Aug. yii.,App. vi.,Art. Schmalk. iii. 8.) Absolution

Doctrine of Penance 89
in itself is nothing else than the application of the Gospel — the de
claration of the will of God to the repentant and believing sinner
that he will forgive sins for Christ's sake. ' Absolution is a voice of
the Gospel, by which we receive consolation, and is not a judgment
or law. ' It is no annunticUio judiciaria ot the confessor as a spiritual
judge, — 'God is the judge,' whose judgment is made known in the
conscience, — but only the declarativa ot a minister of the word, and
merely hypothetical— absolution being only possible on condition
of believing.
The doctrine of ' satisfaction,' as well as those of purgatory and
indulgence, being like them based ou the assumption of the necessity
of human satisfaction in addition to atonement through Christ for
the remission of sins, is most emphatically repudiated in all evan
gelical confessions.

CHAPTER XIV
5. EXTREME UNCTION
The Roman Church founds the Sacrament of Extreme
U'oction on Mark vi. 13, James v. 14, and on tradition.
The priest anoints the eyes, the ears, the nose, mouth, and
hands of the sick person, who fears the approach of death,
with oil consecrated by the bishop, saying these words :
'Per istam sanctam unctionem indulgeat tibi Deus, quid-
quid oculorum, sive narium, sive tactus vitio deliquisti.'
Repetition in one and the same illness is not allowable;
Confession and the Lord's Supper must always precede
Extreme Unction {Con. Trid. S. xiv.. Cat. Rom. ii. 1). The
Greek Church looks upon this sacrament more as a mystical
cure for all sickness, to be repeated from time to time with
prayer for their restoration ; on which account it is not
called ia-xaTi] X/°'<^'5! ^'^t evx^^aiov, or, anointing with
prayer. The Evangelical Church has not only rejected extreme
unction as a sacrament, but has completely abolished it.
It does not acknowledge the advice of James relating to
the treatment of the sick as a mandatum Dei.
6. CONSECRATION OF PRIESTS.
The Tridentine Synod founds the necessity of a visible
priesthood in the new covenant on the reference to the
90

Doctrine of the Consecration of Priests 9 1
•visible sacrifice of the Eucharist. This priesthood, not a
mere preaching oflSce, was ordained by Christ, who gave to
the Apostles and to their successors the potestas ordinis
(which relates to everything belonging to the celebration
of the Sacrifice of the Mass) and jurisdictionis (that is the
power of remitting and of retaining sins and of governing
the Christian people), and therewith a dignity which is
unequalled on earth. As priests and judges they are
'interpretes et mediatores Dei et hominum.'
The Catechism. Bom. ii. 7, answers the question : ' Estne ulla
dignitas sacerdotii ordine in terris excellentior ? ' in the following
manner : ' Cum episcopi et sacerdotes tanquam Dei interpretes et
internuntii quidam sint, qui ejus nomine divinam legem et vitae
praecepta homines edocent et ipsius Dei personam in terris gerunt ;
perspicuum est, cam esse illorum functionem, qua nulla major
excogitari possit, quare merito non solum angeli, sed Dii etiam,
quod Dei immortalis vim et numen apud nos teneant, appellantur.
Potestas enim tum corpus et sanguinem Domini nostri conficiendi et
offerendi, tum peccata remittendi, quae illis coUata est, humanam
quoque rationem atque intelligentiam superat, nedum ei aliquid
par et simile in terris inveniri queat. '
From this position of the priesthood necessarily follows the sig
nificance of the Consecration of Priests, on which in a certain sense
all other sacraments depend. That Ordination is a sacrament is
argued by the same Synod on the ground that according to the
testimony of Holy Scripture (ii. Tim* i. 6 and i. Tim. iv. 14), and to
Apostolical tradition, in words and in outward signs, a supernatural
grace (the gratia sanctificationis and therewith the capacity of ad
ministering the holy office) is really communicated.
As the Church irom its commencement had seven offices, rising
by steps to the priesthood, viz., the Ostiarii, Lectores, Exorcistae,
Acolythi (these four offices were called 'minor,' and not sacred),
Subdiaconi, Diaconi, and Sacerdotes, the consecrations for them were
different. The bishop hands to those to be consecrated the sacred
utensils, which signify the official duties of those advanced to the
various grades, with solemn words of appointment, which are
different for the different offices. The duty of celibacy is imposed
on the three higher orders. At the consecration of the priest the

9 2 Christian Creeds and Confessions
bishop lays his hands on him, puts on his stole, anoints his hands
with oil, and then hands to him the cup with wine and the paten
with the host, saying these words, 'Accipe potestatem offerendi
sacrificium Deo missasque celebrandi tam pro vivis quam pro de-
functis,' and then, while again laying on his hands, says, 'Accipe
spiritum sanctum ; quorum remiseris peccata, remittuntur eis, et
quorum retinueris, retenta sunt.'' By this sacrament there is im
pressed on the soul a character, ' qui nee deleri nee auferri potest,
the priest becoming thereby so different from all other Christians,
that, having been once ordained, he could never again become a
layman. It is expressly stated by the Synod, 'in ordinatione epis-
eoporum, sacerdotum et caeterorura ordinum nee populi nee cujusvis
saecularis potestatis et magistratus consensum, sive vocationem sive
auetoritatem, ita requiri ut sine ea irrita sit ordinatio.' (S. xxii.,
>;. 1-4.) The Greek Church has not indeed forgotten the universal
priesthood of all believing Christians, but at the same
time it declares the sacramental priesthood and con
secration as an ordinance of Christ. Marriage ome
(1 Tim. iii. 2)' is allowed to Deacons and to Priests ;2
the Bishops are however chosen from the rank of /ndi/a^ot,
TvapOivoi and crb)cj>pov€'s. Hence the sharp distinction be
tween the ' white,' or secular clergy, and the ' black,' or
monastic. The Lutheran Church, on the other hand, as it only
acknowledges a universal and equal priesthood of all
believers, and declares the perpetual offering of the Sacrifice
of Christ in the mass to be unscrlptural, has no priestly
office, and consequently no ceremony of consecration. It
finds in Scripture only a ' ministerium docendi evangelium
et pbrrigendi sacramenta,' a public office for teaching, which
1 The fui-ther consecrations to the dignity of a bisliop and to the oUier higher
ofiices rest on no special sacrament.
2 In the Russian Church it has become the rule for the Clergyman (Pope) to be
married before his consecration, and after the death of his wife to resign his office.

Doctrines of Marriage 93
only those are entitled to hold who have received a regular
call on the part of the congregation {Conf. Aug. xiv.).
It has retained the ancient significant practice of consecra
tion and the introduction of ministers of the church,
although it denies that it is appointed by Christ, and that
the promise has a special effect of Divine Grace. Ordination
is declared to be only the public and solemn confirmation
and announcement of the formal call which proceeds from
the congregation. (De potestate et jurisdictione episcoporum.
Supplement to the Art. Schmalk.) The ministers are free
to marry {Conf. Aug. xxiii.).
[The Church of Englands holds a middle position with regard to
the priesthood. It has always laid some stress on Apostolical Suc
cession, and many of its members consider that the priest is in
reality a sacerdos. Still the general belief is that the word priest as
used in its formularies is nothing but an abbreviation of presbyter,
and it asserts with the other Evangelical Churches the universality
of ihe priesthood in all Christians. The priesthood does not, how
ever, possess or claim the tyrannical power wliich it does in the
Church ot Rome.— T.] ^
7. MARRIAGE.
The Roman Church endeavours to prove from Ephesians
V. 32, which is thus translated in the Vulgate: 'Sacra
mentum hoc magnum est; ego autem dico in Christo ot
ecclesia '), that marriage is a sacramental act.
On the substance and form of this Sacrament neither the Council
of Trent nor the Roman Catechism speaks out plainly. According
to the prevalent view, the mutual agreement ot the parties about to
marry constitutes the substance, and the words and signs by which
this agreement is acknowledged in the presence of the priest (a
priest's blessing is not unconditionally necessary) are the form of
the sacrament in which the operation of Divine Grace consists in
the sanctification of the married couple, and confirms the indissolu
bility of the perfect union. Thus the Roman Church acknowledges
dissolution of marriage by death alone ; but it permits a temporary

94 Christian Creeds and Confessions
separation (separationem quoad torum ad certum incertumve tem-
pus). Causas matrimonialis must be decided in the ecclesiastical
courts. Among the hindrances to marriage are also reckoned the
spiritual relationship which arises from sponsorship in baptism and
confirmation. {Con. Trid. S. xxiv.)
The Greek Church also holds marriage to be indissoluble,
although it grants divorce in accordance with Matt. v. 32,
on the ground of adultery.
The Lutheran Church declares marriage to be a divine
institution from the creation of the world, and regards the
Church's blessing on it as a pious custom, but not as a
sacrament of the New Testament. Legislation regarding
marriage is referred to the Civil Authority.
' Marriage and wedlock being therefore a worldly affair, it behoves
us clergymen or ministers to ordain or direct nothing therein, but
to allow each town and country to have its own practice and custom
at will. . . . But when we are requested to bless them before the
congregation, or in the churches, to pray over them, or even to
perform the marriage ceremony, then we are bound to -do so.
(Luther's Traubilchlein, Supplement to the Shorter Catechism.)
The bishops have the jurisdiction in marriage a.Sa.irs humano jure
only ; it belongs originally, and jure divino, to the civil power,
which is bound to undertake it again since the bishops have per
plexed and troubled men's consciences with their unjust ordinances.
{De potest, et jurid. See also Conf. Aug. xxviii.) But even in the
Lutheran Church jurisdiction in matrimonial affairs remained in the
hands of the Consistories until in the present century it was
handed over to the civil authorities, with here and there the co
operation of clerical members. The marriage ceremony was per
formed by the clergy according to rule. By a law of the 6th of
February 1875 Civil marriage was made obligatory throughout the
German Empire, and the whole jurisdiction of marriage exclusively
assigned to the civil tribunals.
[Though in this country legislation has tended in the same direc
tion as in Germany, civil marriage is only allowable, but not com
pulsory, although registration is. The Church of England does not
go so far as the Roman in considering marriage as a sacrament ; it
considers it, however, an affair of the Church. — T.]

CHAPTER XV
ADORATION OF ANGELS AND SAINTS, RELICS AND IMAGES
The fact of the worship of Angels and Saints as well as of
Relics and Images being not only recommended but even
enjoined by the Roman and Greek Churches, while, on the
other hand, it has been rejected as idolatrous by the
Evangelical Churches, has had a considerable influence on
the form of religious worship established by the various
confessions of faith.
According to the Roman Catholic doctrine it is seemly for the
Christian to turn in prayer to the Angels, who, as God's ministers
in the government of the world and of the Church, see God face to
face, and show their love to us in the providence entrusted to them
for our safety, while they bring our prayers and our tears before
Him. It is also good and useful to invoke the Saints who rule in
heaven together with Christ, and offer to God their intercessions
for men (suppliciter invocare et ob beneficia impetranda a Deo per
filium ejus Jesum Christum, D. n., qui solus noster redemptor et
salvator est, ad eorum orationes opem auxiliumque confugere). By
means of their own merits, and of the favour in which they stand
with God, the Saints, and more especially the Holy Virgin, the
' Mother of God,' are in a position to procure us benefits which God
without such a mediation would not confer on men. What applies
to the Saints applies also to their Belies, and by means of them God
bestows much good on men. The miraculous power, which, during
the lifetime of the Saints, was manifested in their clothes and
napkins, even in their shadows, often continues to operate by their
bones and other remains. Lastly, as regards the Images of Christ,
of the Holy Virgin, and of other Saints, they should be the objects
of adoration, not as if divine being or power dwelt in them so that
95

96 Christian Creeds and Confessions
we could obtain anything from them by prayer, or put our trust in
them (that would be heathenish), but that every honour paid to
them must be referred to the prototypes (originals) which they
represented. {Con. Trid. S. xxv. De invocatione et veneratione
et reliquiis sanctorum et sacris imaginibus. Cat. Bom. iii. c. 2. de
primo praecepto qu. 4-14.)
The practice of the Roman Catholic Church goes beyond this
very restricted theory of Church Doctrine. Even in the Prof. fid.
Trid. the adoration of Saints is made a religious duty, and by the
solemn act ot canonisation,^ public adoration, festivals, dedication of
churches, and other honours are formally offered to the Saints, and
in the Roman Missal and Breviaries the Invocation of Mary is used
in a manner which derogates from the honours due to God and to
Chiist. It is true that the Roman Church, as well as the Greek, in
accordance with the Second Nicene Council (787), makes a distinc
tion between the worship of God and of Christ, to whom alone
Xarpeia belongs, worship or adoration, and the honouring of Saints,
to whom it offers only dovXela, invocatio et venera tio (where, how
ever, it is to be remarked that for Mary a vir^pSovKeia, an honouring in
the highest sense, is demanded), so that in prayer directed to God
and to Christ the formula ' Miserere nobis, audi nos ' is used, while
for those directed to the Saints the formula is 'Ora pro nobis.'
But how easily is this boundary overleapt (as in the Roman
Cat'echism itself the word colere is used even of the Saints), how
easily does the protecting Saint take the place of Christ, and how
nearly do the so-called 'grace images,' to which a supernatural
power of working miracles is attributed, approach to idolatrj- !
The invocation ot the holy ' helper in the time of need ' takes the
place of the worship of God in spirit and in truth.
The Greek Church thoroughly agrees with the Roman in the
honouring of saints, relics, and images, only that it knows nothing
of the canonisation of saints, and allows no graven or moulded
figures, but only painted and mosaic pictures, after the traditional
archaic style. It also rejects the use of musical instruments in the
church. The Lutheran Church distinctly rejects the unchristian
and mischievous superstition which has been connected with all
this. The Augsburg Confession (xxi.) teaches, with regard to the
worship of saints, that ' we should think of the saints in such a way
that we may strengthen our faith, as we see how grace was con-

1 Since the 12th Century the Pope has had the exclusive right of canonisation,
which is preceded by Beatification.

Adoration of Angels, etc. 97
ferred on them, and how they were helped by faith, in order that
we may take example from their good works, each according to his
calling. . . . But it cannot be proved from Scripture that the saints
should be invoked, or that help should be sought from them, for
there is only one reconciler and mediator between God and man,
namely, Jesus Christ' {Apol. ix., Art. Schmalk. ii. 2, Luther calls
the invocation of saints an antichristian abuse and idolatry). The
Reformed Church, which from Zwingli's first appearance as a
reformer in Einsiedeln, the place of pilgrimage of ' the Mother of
God,' made a decided stand against Paganism or deification ot the
creature, has laid down the strictest rules tor the honouring of God
alone, according to Scripture, and has, in tact, turned everything
symbolical out of the churches {Helv. post. iv. v.), which led to a
rigorous banishment of all art out of the region of divine worship,
while the Lutheran Church knew how to value its significance
(especially that of music) for religious edification.
[The Church of England is here nearer to the Lutheran
Church, while the Church of Scotland, which so long
followed in the steps of the Reformed Church, is being
conquered by the spirit of .(95sthetics. — T.]

PAET III
DOCTRINES OF THE MOST IMPORTANT SECTS

CHAPTER XVI
THE CHRISTOLOGICAL SECTS OF THE ANCIENT CHXTRCB
Oe the Christological controversies of the fifth to the seventh
century the following have survived to the present day.
1. Tlie Nestorians.
Many of the bishops and cliurches in Asia Minor Syria, and
Arabia, and the whole of Persia declared themselves in favour of
the doctrine of the Patriarch Nestorius, who died in 440 at Con
stantinople. He was excommunicated at the third Oecumenical
Council at Ephesus in 431 for denying the perfect union of the two
natures in Christ. The Nestorians who still remained after all
the popular tumults in Kurdistan were called Chaldean Christians
on account of their Chaldee-Syriac church language, and have been
since 1575 under the two patriarchs of Elkusoh, near Mosul, and of
Urumia. Those who were driven into Eastern India were called
Thomas-Christians (either after the name of one of their first
teachers or that of the well-known Apostle). Since the year 1551
some of the Nestorians, called by way of distinction Chaldean
Christians, have joined the Church of Rome, and are under the
direction of the patriarch of Diarbekir. In 1892 the Nestorian
patriarch of Constantinople also entered into communion with the
Pope. The Nestorians are distinguished by aflourishing theology.
The cautious separation of the divine and the human in
Christ favoured a freer exposition of Scripture. They
consider Holy Scripture as the only source of knowledge
of Christian doctrine, and have a simpler form of worship
than that of the orthodox Greeks. Besides Baptism and
the Lord's Supper, they acknowledge no other sacrament 101

I02 Christian Creeds and Confessions
than the consecration of priests (without the obligation to
celibacy). Some remains of ancient customs have been
retained by them , the Thomas-Christians, for example,
having adopted the Agape of the primitive Christian
community. 2. Monophysites.
This sect does not agree to the resolutions of the
Council of Chalcedon (451) against the mingling of the
two natures in Christ. It is divided into
{a) The Armenians or the Gregorian Church (so called from
Gregory the Illuminator). The Armenian Christians, widely dis
persed by political necessities and the interests of trade, are under
five patriarchs, the most important of whom, the ' Catholicos,' has
his seat in the monastery of Etschomiadzin, not tar from Erivan.
Traces of antiquity, such as the observance of the festival of the
Epiphany (Jan. 6th) instead of Christmas, are still to be found in
their religious services.
The United Armenians are those who, since the Council of
Florence (1439), have acknowledged the Primacy of the Pope and
the dogmas of the Roman Churohj but have retained their ancient
national liturgy. Their Patriarch has his seat at Constantinople.
At the election of a bishop they have recently been divided into
Hassunists and Antihassunists.
(6) The Copts in Egypt are under an Alexandrian Patriarch, who
is looked upon as the successor of St. Mark, and generally resides
in Cairo. Those of Upper Egypt have retained among their ancient
customs even the ancient Egyptian ceremony of circumcision.
(c) The Abyssinian Christians in Tigre, Amhara, Sehoa, and
Nubia, receive their 'Abuua,' who resides in Gondar, from the
Coptic Patriarch. Of all the Christian religious sects, this one has
preserved the most relics of Judaism — (besides circumcision they have
also the Sabbath, abstention from the use of blood and the flesh of
swine, etc.). Their canon includes also some of the apocryphal
writings, such as the Book of Enoch, the 4th Book of Ezra, and the
Ascension of Isaiah. The moral and religious condition of the
Abyssinian is very degraded ; superstitions of all kinds and cere
monies have produced a caricature of Christianity.

Doctrines of the mOst important Sects 103
(d) The Jacobites in Syria, Mesopotamia, and Persia (so called
from Jacob Baradai, Bishop of Edessa, who died in 578), are under a
patriarch of Antioch, who lives, however, in a monastery at Mardin,
to the north-west of Mosul. They reject the resolutions of the Council
of Chalcedon, and acknowledge those of the Robber synod (449).
Even among them Rome has worked with some effect towards a
union with the Western Church.
3. Monotheletes {Maronites).
In the Sixth OEcumeiiical Council at Constantinople, a.d. 680,
the doctrine of two wills answering to the two natures of Christ
was announced as orthodox. Adherents of the doctrine of one
will in Christ (/t^i/j; 64\ri(Ti.s) assembled in the Lebanon around the
monastery of St. Maro, an abbot of the sixth century, and defended
themselves valiantly against the attacks of the Greeks, and of the
Arabians, and, in more modern times, also against the Mohammedan
sect ot the Druses.
Even at the time of the Crusades the Maronites entered into a
connection with the Roman Church ; but their complete union with
it since 1445 could not rob them of their ancient Syriac church
language, their simple manner of life, and a certain independence
under their ' Patriarch of Antioch ' (who is appointed by the Pope,
and who lives in a monastery of Lebanon).

CHAPTER XVII
SECTS OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
Opposition against the hierarchy and the Papacy, and
a desire for the restoration of apostolic Christianity and
of the original evangelical doctrine, led even before the
Reformation to the formation of sects, two of which still
exist, namely : — 1. The Waldensians.
Peter Waldus, a wealthy merchant in Lyons, awakened by a
diligent study of Scripture, resolved in 1170 on an imitation of
apostolic life and the foundation of a union for the announcement
of the pure Gospel among the poor country people. The followers
gained by his preaching (pauperes de Lugduno) disseminated their
simple doctrine and the rules of their community, together with
their resistance to the corrupted condition of the hierarchical church,
throughout Southern France, Upper Italy, and Germany. Since
1183 they have been repeatedly excommunicated by the papal
councils. In their desire to bring back the Church to apostolic
purity, and to practise evangelical perfection according to
the doctrine and example of Jesus, they applied them
selves to a diligent reading of Scripture and to free apos
tolic preaching, in which they declared themselves justified
even as laymen.
They found authority in Scripture for the spiritual priesthood
of all the faithful, but not for the prerogatives of the clergy and
the sovereignty of the Pope. They rejected auricular confession,
indulgences, prayers for the dead, worship of the saints, offering ot
104

Doctrines of the most important Sects 105
the mass, and the doctrine of purgatory ; they celebrated the Lord's
Supper in both kinds ; they taught that God's grace was to be
obtained by faith, repentance, and diligence in godliness, and not by
penances, fastings, alms, etc. As a motive for all moral dealing they
demanded love to God, and guided themselves in practice strictly
according to the precepts ot Jesus, especially those in the Sermon
on the Mount. Their Church constitution was formed according
to apostolic pattern ; even the teachers in the Church gained their
bread by the work of their own hands ; Church institutions and
the poor were maintained by .voluntary contributions. In more
modern times their organisation resembles that of the evangelical
churches. After centuries of persecution and oppression, attended
in many cases with much bloodshed, they found refuge at last in
the valleys and mountains of Piedmont for the simple worship of
their fathers and for reading the Bible. Since the middle of the
seventeenth century they have entered into close connection with
the Reformed Church of Southern France ; since 1860 they have
begun, under the protection of Piedmont, to attack Romanism,
and since the union ot Italy they have stood at the head of the
Evangelical Propaganda in that country.
2. The Bohemian or Moravian Brethren.
The remnant of the Hussites of Tabor, who had not been accepted
by the compacts of Basle in 1433, and had been completely defeated
in 1434 at the Bohemian Erod, formed themselves in 1457 into
communities. The Unitas fratrum which had at first assembled on
the Silesian and Moravian boundaries of Bohemia, soon received
accessions from all parts of Bohemia and Moravia. In the repeated
severe persecutions they saved themselves by patient submission
and retirement into the caves and deserts (hence they were called
' Grubenheimers ') or by emigration to Poland and Prussia. In the
Thirty Years War their churches in Bohemia were completely
destroyeH, and their last bishop, Johann Comenius, especially
renowned for his services in the cause of education, had to fly. He
died in 1671. The emigrants formed 'Bohemian churches' in
Dresden, Zittau, Berlin, and in other places. The brethren who
took refuge in the year 1722 on the estate of Count Zinzendorf
(Berthelsdorf in Oberlausitz) were the originators of the so-called
' Brotherhood. '
They had discontinued the fanatical extravagance of

io6 Christian Creeds and Confessions
the early Taborites, insisting only on a diligent study of
the Bible, and on a strictly moral and inwardly pious life,
to the maintenance of which a strict church discipline was
held necessary. In spite of their opposition to the Roman
Catholic . Hierarchy, they have always shown themselves
ready for peace.
The following have separated from the Church of Rome
since the Reformation : —
3. Tlie Jansenists.
They were the followers of Cornelius Jansen, Bishop of Ypres,
who died in 1638, and who by his work entitled ' Augustinus ' had
opened an attack on the Pelagian tenets of the Jesuits ; being
oppressed in France they formed a community in the Netherlands,
who, since 1723, had an Archbishop of their own at Utrecht.
In 1742 they founded the bishopric of Haarlem, and
in 1758 that of Deventer. They reject papal Infallibility
with regard to matters of fact, and acknowledge the
Augustinian doctrine of sin and of grace, and the principles
of the Gallican Church, but in other .things they agree
with the doctrines of the Roman Church, in communion
with which they desire to remain. When, in reply to
their assurance of faithful submission to the Pojie, the
answer of Rome is always a repetition of the excommuni
cation pronounced against them, they declare it unjust
and invalid.
The attention of the 'Old Catholics,' when they determined on
choosing their own bishops, was attracted to this sect, which was
becoming almost extinct, from its offering to insure the apostolical
succession by consecrating the newly created Old Catholic Bishops.
4. The German Catholics.
The exhibition of the ' seamless holy coat' at Treves in the year
1S44 gave an opportunity to John Ronge, a chaplain in Upper

Doctrines of the most important Sects 107
Silesia, who had disagreed with Roman Catholicism, to send an
open letter to Bishop Arnold of Treves, in which he warmly de
claimed against relics and pilgrimages, and called for the formation
of a free catholic church. Shortly before this, a priest named
Czerski at Schneidermiihl, who had been suspended on account of
his marriage, declared his separation from the Roman Church and
founded a special ' Christian Catholic ' Church, which should
maintain the fundamental doctrines of the ancient orthodoxy. The
churches founded by Ronge at Breslau and most of the German
Catholic communities, which followed in rapid succession, accepted
confession of a thoroughly rationalistic tendency. The first ' Church
assembly' of the German Catholics at Easter 1845 in Leipzig
brought about a public disavowal on the part of Czerski of the
Leipzig Confession, which denied the divinity ot Christ. The
difference between Czerski and Ronge was outwardly adjusted, but
the disfavour of the governments' and the political events of 1848
stopped the further development of the new society, which mani
festly suffered from the beginning from a want of solidity and
earnestness, nor did the union of the German Catholics at Cothen
in 1850 with Protestant free churches avail to prevent the failure of
the movement. 5. The Old Catholics.
The Catholics of Germany and Switzerland, who declared
the acceptance of the Dogma of the Infallibility of the
Pope which was proclaimed by the Vatican Council, July
18th, 1870, to be a departure from the faith of the Old
Church, have, since 1871, united themselves into congrega
tions, who claim to be the legitimate continuation of the
Catholic Church, and have received State acknowledgment
both in Prussia and in Baden.
They are under their own bishops, and hold yearly synods, which
deliberate on reforms of doctrine, constitution, and worship, as
they soon perceived that the new Dogma was only the latest
development of principles and schemes that had been at work for
a long time. Neither the outward nor inner development of Old
Catholicism has as yet reached its final form. Its adherents are
most numerous in Switzerland.

CHAPTER XVIII
sects arising from the greek (RUSSIAN) CHURCH
Since the separation of the Greek from the Roman Church
it is only in the Russian Church that any important sects
have arisen. The principal one is that of the ' Raskolnics '
(apostates), who call themselves ' Starowerzers ' (old
believers). The Russian Church authorities attach the greatest importance
to a strict adherence to traditional forms and ceremonies in the
divine service. In order to purify their Liturgy from everything
which departed from the old traditional Greek Liturgy, the
patriarch Nikon undertook a revision of the service books, and the
Councils of 1664 and 1666 confirmed and introduced it. Many
Russians, discontented with this ' improvement,' separated from
the Church and formed a large sect, which, after a short time, be
came subdivided into more than twenty smaller ones.
Their opposition to the dominant church is principally
with regard to ritual expressions and practices, but arose
nearly as much out of the desire for self-^government within
the Church. A party of the Raskolnics, the ' Bespopovzy,'
has for this cause done away completely with the clerical
order. They all wish to have a church of the people, free
from Hierarchy.
Frightful persecutions tended only to inflame their fanaticism.
Catherine ii. granted them tolerance in 1762 ; and they have since
become more temperate and orderly. Their number is estimated at
nine millions, constituting in some provinces the majority of the
nopulation. 108

Doctrines of the most important Sects 109
The Philipponians, so called from a peasant named Philipp, who
became a monk, are a very strict sect of the Raskolnics. They will
neither pray for the emperor, nor take an oath, nor serve in the
army. Bitter persecutions drove some of them into East Prussia.
The suicidal fanaticism, which was formerly so notorious among
them, as well as in some other sects (self-burning, child-murder,
self-mutilation), has mostly disappeared since the discontinuance of
persecution. Such horrors are now only heard of among the
Skopzes, a sect which arose in the time of Catherine ll.
Another sect deserving special notice is that of the Duchoborzes
{i.e. strivers after the Spirit), which arose in the eighteenth
century. They wished, like the Quakers, to have a Spiritual
Church, without popes and outward sacraments ; they repudiated
oaths and military service, and appealed to Scripture for an inner
light. Since the time of Alexander I. they have enjoyed toleration.
Since the middle of this century a similar sect, that of the
'Stundists,' excited in the first instance by German pietistic
teachers, has spread widely in middle and southern Russia among
the inhabitants of the villages and smaller towns. They hold their
services in private houses, rejecting church worship as well as priests
and pastors. The exposition of Scripture and the improvising of
sermons and prayers are open to every member of the congregation.
In late years the strictest measures have been employed for their
suppression, as also against the adherents of Count L. N. Tolstoy
and of the peasant Sutajeff, who repudiate the state of modern
society, and all civilisation, and desire to lead mankind back to
the simplest modes of life and to universal philanthropy.

CHAPTER XIX
sects which have arisen from the reformation
movement of the sixteenth century
Religious and political radicalism, discontented with
the progress of the Reformation in general, and demanding
a more logical carrying out of Protestant principles in the
constitution and doctrine of the Church, led to the forma
tion of the following sects at the time of the Reformation : —
1, The Anabaptists or Mennonites.
The demand for subjective faith as a necessary condition for the
worthy reception of the sacraments induced many people to consider
the baptism of children a worthless ceremony and unscrlptural, and
to the practice of baptizing again those who had been baptized in
infancy (hence the name ' Anabaptist! ' from dvapawH^ew, to bap
tize again), requiring, at the same time, complete immersion as the
original mode of performing this rite. Among the various com
munities of which this sect consisted, millenarian and levelling
'.cudencies were to be found by the side of those of a moral and
practical character.
The rise of the Zwickau 'fanatics,' 1521, who put their visions
and revelations above scripture, the mischief created not long after
wards by Thomas Miinzer, and the frightful disorders of the Dutch
Millenarians in Munster, 1534, led to a rigorous persecution of the
anabaptists, ending in their almost total extinction.
About the year 1537 Menno Simons, formerly a Roman Catholic
priest in Friesland, who died in 1561, united the scattered anabaptists
into strictly-defined communities, which, since 1578, have spread
and been tolerated in Holland, and later also in Prussia, the
Palatinate, Bavaria, and Russia. In modern times many of them
have emigrated to North America.
110

Doctrines of the most important Sects 1 1 1
Of tho Mennonites who adhere to the original and strict Church
discipline of a community of 'Saints,' but few now remain. The
Waterlandcrs who advocated a more liberal discipline soon separated
themselves from the more rigid Flemings, and at the present time
the majority only continue the rejection of infant bajitism and the
refusal to take oaths, but allow the acceptance of offices ot authority
and military service. There was also another sect, who called
themselves 'Free Baptists,' who set the 'inner word' or 'inner
voice,' above the letter of Scripture, and paid but little regard to
positive dogmas and church customs. They were an outgrowth of
the German Mysticism, and came into Germany through John
Denck, Sebastian Franck, and the Silesian nobleman, Caspar von
Schwenkfeld, who died 1561. Adherents of the last mentioned
('Schwenkfeldians,') are found to this day in Silesia and in North
America. 2. Presbyterians and Independents.
Among those who had embraced the principles of
Calvinism there were some who were very much discon
tented with the constitution and liturgy of the Anglican
Church. The persecution to which these objectors, i.e. the
Puritans, who desired a simpler form of worship purged
from all things catholic, were subjected by the Act of
Uniformity of 1562, made the evil still worse. The
opponents to this Act were called Nonconformists. The
high church party, who declared Episcopal Government to
be a divine ordinance and the unbroken succession of
bishops from the time of the Apostles an essential mark
of the true church, opposed the Presbyterians, who looked
upon all ministers of the church as perfectly equal, and
desired to purify not only the church government, but also
public worship from all 'papistical' innovations such as
sacerdotal vestments, etc., formularies of prayer, bells,
organs, and church festivals, with the exception of the
observation of the Sunday, which was to be kept like the

1 1 2 Christian Creeds and Confessions
Jewish Sabbath, etc. In Scotland the Presbyterian system
was generally introduced in 1592.
From the ever increasing number of these presbyterians a sect
was formed in 1581, under Robert Brown, called ' Independents,'
or 'Congregationalists,' who, while holding strictly to the doctrine
of Calvin, rejected not only Episcopacy, but also the whole system
of representative church government by Presbyteries and Synods.
They declared each community to be a true church independent of
others, the ministers, the doctrine, and the worship depending only
on the majority of votes of the congregation, — in short, a perfect
ecclesiastical democracy. Since 1616, through the influence of
John Robinson, their tenets and practice have been less strict, and
in the sequel the Presbyterians have diminished in England, in
proportion as the Independents have increased in number. The
irritation of the Nonconformists caused by the measures of James
I. and of Charles l. led to the great revolution in which Oliver
Cromwell, the chief ot the Independents, who were utterly averse
to presbyterian uniformity, established a republic in England,
and introduced religious liberty from which only the papacy and
episcopalism were excluded. The reaction under Charles li. intro
duced a new and rigid Act of Uniformity, and, in 1673, the Test Act,
which excluded from public offices every one who had not acknow
ledged by oath the Supremacy, and partaken of the Lord's Supper
in an Episcopal Church. The enforcement of this edict was left
in abeyance under James ii. in favour of papists, but under William
III. the Act of Toleration was passed, by which religious liberty
was granted to all denominations, with the sole exception of Roman
Catholics and Socinians, on condition of payment of tithes to the
Established Church. The 'Test Act' remained in force with some
modifications until it was finally repealed in 1828.
One principle, common to all Nonconformists or 'dis
senters,' consists not so much in doctrine as in the
constitution of the church, called the 'Voluntary System.'
They repudiate all support from the State, and know
nothing of the Church as an incorporated Institution for
Salvation, and a ministry independent of the congregation
or a formulated confession of faith; on the other hand

Doctrines of the most important Sects 113
they demand from all living members of Christ an active
co-operation for the promotion of His Kingdom.^
This old puritanical spirit is still at work. Thus, in 1843, in
consequence of their opposition to the right of Church patrons to
obtrude ou the congregation a minister to whom they objected, the
' Free Church ' of Scotland claiming to be the true Scottish National
Church, was founded in 1843 by Thomas Chalmers. In the number
of its members it was nearly equal to the Established Church.'
Here, as in the ' Eglise libre ^vang(51ique ' of the Pays de Vaud and
of France, founded in 1845, is manifested the principle of the
unconditional independence ot the Church and the voluntary action
of its members.
While the dissenters strove after a, logical carrying out of Pro
testant principles, a party has been formed in the Anglican Church
since 1833 under the guidance of Dr. Pusey and others, some of
whom went over to the Roman Church, while others as ritualists
strive to make the ritual of the Church of England conformable to
that of Rome, and to accustom the people to Romish institutions,
such as auricular confession and the elevation of the elements in the
Lord's Supper. Most of the Bishops, as well as the ' Low Church '
party,^ are endeavouring to check this tendency.
3. Socinians or Unitarians.
The doctrine of the Trinity, which the Reformers had
accepted unaltered from the old Church, found many
opponents, especially in Northern Italy. These 'Anti-
1 It is hardly correct to .say that the Free Church was founded by Chalmers,
though he was the greatest of their leaders, but the iianie.s of Begg, Oandlish,
Cunningham, Duncan, Gordon, Guthrie, Hanna, Moncreiff, etc., should not bo
omitted. At that time the members of tbe Free Church vastly outnumbered those.
of the Established, but the latter has taken such strides that its communieants
now exceed tliose of the Free Church and the United Presbyterian together by
U2,880 (according to the Rev. W. Simpson of BonhiU). At the time of the Disrup
tion its leaders were opposed to the voluntary system ; they claimed that it was the
duty of the Government to support the Church ; their descendants, however, lean
towards a union with the United Presbyterians, who are a voluntary church.— T.
2 This party arose in consequence of the ecclesiastical disputes at the time of
William iii., to whom many Bishops refused to take the oath of allegiance on
account of his avowed preference for the Presbyterians and disbelief in the divine
right of the bishops. About the year 1700, the designation 'Low Cljurch' was
applied to those who did not join the bishops in their opposition to the King, and
professed ' Evangelicalism,' which is closely allied to the German ' Pietism.' The
opposite party were designated the ' High Church,'
H

1 1 4 Christian Creeds and Confessions
trinitarians sought refuge for the most part in Switzerland,
but, being persecuted there, fled further, either into Poland
or Hungary and Siebenbiirgen. In Poland (at Rakau) and
in Siebenbiirgen they formed congregations in the second
half of the sixteenth century, but in the year 1658 they
were driven by an edict out of Poland. In Siebenbiirgen,
in Holland, and in other places, they have held their
ground down to the present day.
[The Unitarians were not popular in England, notwithstanding
that John Bidle (1615-72) tried to popularise their views. Dr. Lardner
in 1730, and Dr. Priestley in 1767, brought them into greater promi
nence, and a great impetus to the formation of congregations was
given by the entrance into their body of Theophllus Lindsay, who
gave up a living he held in Yorkshire in 1773, and formed the first
large congregation at a hall in Essex Street, where is now the head
quarters of the British and Foreign Unitarian Association, which
was formed in 1825. The penal laws against them were repealed in
1813, and in 1844 the right to the chapels of their Presbyterian fore
fathers was secured. A great change was efiected in the spirit of
this body by the writings of W. E. Channing (1780-1842), who was one
of their most distinguished leaders in North America, as he intro
duced an emotional and spiritual element in which he found effective
fellow -workers in Rev. Dr. James Martineau, whom one might call
their spiritual Nestor, Rev. J. J. Tayler, Rev. J. H. Thom, and
others. Many at the present day do not consider themselves bound
by any doctrines, and call themselves Free Christians. They object
to be called Socinians, which is really a misnomer as applied to the
Unitarians of this country. — T.]
The founders of the Unitarian System were Laelius Socinus, a
descendant of the old race of jurists at Sienna, named Sozini, who
died in 1562, and his nephew, Faustus Socinus, who died in 1604,
from whom the Unitarians in Poland obtained the name of Socinians.
The Rakau Catechism, published in 1605, gives a short risumd
of their doctrines. The principal Unitarians declare the Bible,
especially the New Testiment, as the sole source of divine know
ledge, but in interpreting it they admit nothing repugnant to reason,
they repudiate all representations of God's Being and attributes.
They consider Trinitariauism as well as the notion of a pre-existing
nature of Christ as contrary to Scripture and to reason, that Christ

Doctrines of the most important Sects 115
is called the Logos as the interpreter of the divine will, and God
from the might, dignity, and dominion granted to him. They do
not believe in original sin, nor vicarious sacrifice. The death of
Christ was only necessary to the accomplishment ot his own perfec
tion, and as an example for Christians. The sacraments are merely
symbolical acts. Infant Baptism is looked on as an ancient and
laudable custom, but not indispensable. With regard to the Lord's
Supper they hold the same views as those of Zwingli. They insist
strictly on morality, and reject war, capital punishment and the
taking of oaths.

4. The Arminians or Remonstrants.
The Calvinistic doctrine had found ready acceptance in the
reformed Netherlands as elsewhere. In opposition to it, that is,
in opposition to its rigid predestinarianism, came forward Jao.
Arminius (Harmensen), since 1587 a preacher in Amsterdam. As
Professor of Theology at Leyden, he was openly attacked in 1604 by
his strictly Calvinistic opponent Gomarus, and died in 1609, during
the public discussion which followed. His adherents, among whom
Simon Episcopius had acquired the highest repute as a dogmatist,
enunciated their views in the following five propositions : — 1. That
the counsels of God are conditional ; 2. That Christ died for all
men ; 3. It depends on a man's faith whether he will be a partici
pator in the benefits of Christ's death ; and to this saving faith he
cannot attain without the grace of God ; 4. That this divine grace
does not work irresistibly ; but 5. That it can be lost.
These propositions were laid before the Dutch States in 1610 in a
so-called 'Remonstrance,' (hence their name Remonstrants). A
religious conference, which was held for the settlement of the dispute,
ended without result. As the political heads of the republican
party, the Land-syndic Oldenbarneveld, who was beheaded in 1619,
and the celebrated Hugo Grotius (who died in 1645), declared them
selves in favour ot the Remonstrants, Prince Maurice of Orange
placed himself on the side of the Contra-Remonstrants, and had the
two leaders of the opposite party put in prison. The great Synod of
the Reformed Church, which was held at Dordrecht (Nov. 13, 1618
to May 9, 1619), and in which reformed theologians from England,
Scotland, the Palatinate, Switzerland, Hesse, Nassau, East Fries
land, and Bremen, took part, rejected the doctrine of the Remon
strants by a majority of votes.
The excommunicated Remonstrants, some of whom remained at

II 6 Christian Creeds and Confessions
home in retirement as ' Collegians ' without preachers, while others
were banished from their country and emigrated to Schleswig,
where they settled in 1621 at Friedrichstadt and elsewhere, ob
tained toleration again in 1630, which has continued down to the
present time, and the number of those now formed into settled
congregations has increased considerably. The Arminians admit
into their community any one who acknowledges the New Testament,
however he may interpret it, as the only rule of faith and lite,
abhorring idolatry and anything approaching it, and living con
formably to God's Will, and exercising tolerance to every one in
religious matters. In consequence of their freedom of doctrine, inde
pendence of any binding confession of faith, and in their investi
gation of Scripture, the Arminian theologians, Hugo Grotius, G. H.
Vossius, Limborch, Le Clero, Wetstein, and others, have consider
ably advanced exegetical science, while for the same reason many
of them have favoured the Socinian or Arian doctrines and the
Pelagian views of conversion, etc., etc. Their indifference to
Church dogmas has favoured the movements for union, which
have found acceptance in Germany.
The Latitudinarians in England, and the Syncretists in Germany
in the seventeenth century, are related to them. The latter were
the adherents ot G. Calixt, who declared themselves against the
strict maintenance of narrowly defined doctrines and dogmatic
formulae. (See p. 6.)

CHAPTER XX
PROTESTANT SECTS OF THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH
CENTURY WHICH HAD ORIGINATED IN OPPOSITION TO
OUTWARD CHURCH FORM AND A LIFELESS ORTHODOXY
1. The Society of Friends {Quakers).
A SHOEMAKER in the county of Leicester (George Fox, 1624-1691)
imagined that he had discovered the cause of the sad condition of
the Church of England in the seventeenth oentuiy, in the fact that
Christians neglected to set the internal above the external, the
voice of the Divine Spirit within them above the written word.
In 1647 he began to preach the religion of the Spirit in opposition
to the established clergy, and the little value of all ecclesiastical and
outward forms ; and he succeeded in forming a congregation who
called themselves the 'Society of Friends,' but received from their
opponents the nickname of Quakers (probably in allusion to Isaiah
xxxii. 11). When this society had progressed from their first stage
of fanatical action, which drew on them severe persecutions, and
when their principles were reduced to a more reasonable form by
the labours of Robert Barclay and others, they obtained tolera
tion under James ii. in 1687, and met with a favourable reception
in 1682 in Pennsylvania, with its chief town Philadelphia, in North
America, through the influence of William Penn (1644-1718), the
son of Admiral W. Penn.
The 'Friends' place the 'inner word' of God, the
'Christ within us,' above all positive revelation, which,
however, they do not deny. They have no fixed doctrines,
no preachers, no churches, no festivals, no sacraments,
neither baptism nor the Lord's Supper. The moving of
the Spirit within us, the awakening of Ught in us, and an

II 8 Christian Creeds and Confessions
earnest moral life are to them the real essentials of re
ligion. Their constitution is completely democratic : they
assemble in plain, unadorned buildings, silent, with their
heads covered, and eyes cast to the ground, waiting for
the spirit. In public life they refuse to take the oath or
military service, to pay tithes to the clergy, to undertake
magisterial oflBces, and avoid all ceremonies, worldly
pleasures, titles of honour in addressing others, and
fashionable dress.
The logical carrying out of the quaker principles of Elias Hicks,
according to whose doctrine the inner word ot God is at the same
time the Christ living in us, by whom we are justified and sancti
fied, so that the history of Jesus and of His divinity, the inspira
tion of Scripture, and all positive dogmas must lose their significance,
caused, in 1837, the exodus of a great number of members, and the
foundation of the society of 'Evangelical Friends,' who set the
Bible above the ' inner light.' Even before that time many of the
Quakers, especially in Europe, had given up the strict observance
of the original doctrines and practices of the community.
The 'Friends' have done good service by their humane
exertions, principally in regard to the abolition of the
slave trade, as well as in the improved management of
prisons (by Elizabeth Fry and others), and in the establish
ment of schools and benevolent institutions.

2. The Moravians or United Brethren.
The scholastic orthodoxy and lifeless formalism into
which the Lutheran Church of the seventeenth century had
settled down aroused at last an earnest desire for a more
real and spiritual Christianity, resulting in the ' pietism ' of
which the chief promoters were Spener (1635 — -1705), and
Francke (1663—1727), and which led to the revival of the

Doctrines of the most important Sects 119
Church of the Bohemian and Moravian Brotherhood, and
culminated in the society of ' United Brethren, 'i founded
at Herrnhut in Saxony in 1727, by Count Zinzendorff.
The object of this new society was the formation of a
gathering of awakened souls into an ' ecclesiola in ecclesia,'
in preparation for the approaching Advent of our Lord.
An inward personal relation to Christ, a fervent and active faith
in his atoning death, as well as a church constitution and com
munion arranged after the pattern of the old rule of the Brethren,
the fundamental condition of which is a hearty brotherly love,
connected the members of the community, which spread rapidly not
only in Germany, but also in Holland, England, Denmark, Livland,
North America and elsewhere ; and since 1732 they have begun a
very successful mission among the heathen of the West Indies,
Greenland, and South Africa.
The assumption that they were a community of ' awakened
souls,' and under the immediate direction of Christ as their ' eldest
brother,' the regular use of the lot, the almost monastic separa
tion of the congregation and its members ' iv Siaa-wopa,' from the
great body of the Evangelical Church in country and in town, the
importance attached to its peculiar church constitution and cure of
souls, classes or ' choirs,' the view of Religion as an affair of the
feelings, which led to indifferentlsm with regard to clear definitions
of doctrine and to unsound views, the unmanly reliance on the
Feeling of grace which they were afraid of disturbing by taking
part in social and political life, together with many other extrava
gances to which the great personal influence of the count had given
an impulse, drew upon them opposition and obloquy not only on the
part of the orthodox, but of the pietists also. In consequence, how
ever, of the more reasonable conduct of the second founder of the
community, their bishop, August Spangenberg^ (1704 — 1792), who
introduced various reforms and gave them in the Idea fidei fratrum
a body of doctrine which essentially harmonised with the Lutheran
1 This churcli claims great antiquity, their ancestors having suffered much per
secution for their refusal to accept dogmas indicated by Home. They desired
especially to read the Bible in their native tongce, and had printed three editions of it
before the Reformation. The persecutions were so great that it was supposed that
this sect had been annihilated ; however, the remnant made several appeals to the
Chnrcli of England, and Charles ii. authorised collections in this country for their
relief, and subsequently George i. gave orders in CouncU to the same effect — T.

1 20 Christian Creeds and Confessions
Church, the relations of the faithful in the county churches
towards the Brethren was changed to such an extent, that they
often sought edification in this 'ecclesiola.' The 'watchwords' of
the brotherhood circulate extensively even to this day, notwith
standing that the strict ecclesiastical Lutheranism of the present
time is opposed to the tendency towards friendly union.
Since 1749, the Brethren have repeatedly acknowledged the
21 Articles ot the Augsburg Confession. The distinction of the
original three ' tropes ' of the Bohemian, Moravian, Lutheran, and
Reformed Churches has long been done away with.
Since the year 1789, the conference of Elders, which is divided
into departments for the helpers, the overseers, the ministers, and
the missions, has had its sittings in Berthelsdorf near Herrnhut,
where from time to time Synods are held.
3. The Baptists.
The English and North American Baptists have no con
nection with the Anabaptists mentioned above, although
they also reject infant baptism. They arose about 1640
from the sect of Independents, whose principles they for
the most part retain, as well as the Reformed doctrines,
but insist on the strictest possible adherence to the letter
of the New Testament. After an assembly held in London
1689, they divided into two parties : Tlie Particular Baptists,
who hold firmly the gratia particularis of Calvin, and the
General Baptists who teach the Arminian doctrine oiihtgratia
universalis. Besides these chief parties numerous small
ones have been formed. The Independent Church con
stitution is common to them all, with more or less strict
Church discipline.
The Baptists are one of the most numerous of the many sects in
the North American Free Statss, and are very zealous and active in
all regions of Mission work, both home and foreign. Since 1857,
' The Church of Baptized Christians ' has found adherents even in
Germany, who turned their backs on the ' Babylon ' of the Estab
lished Church in order to form a ' Pure Church of The Saints.'

Doctinnes of the most important Sects 1 2 1
4. The Methodists.
As in Germany so also in England there arose at the
beginning of the 18th century a powerful reaction against
the outward formality of the High Church ; a movement
known under the designation of 'Methodism.' In the
English Episcopal Church there was found coexisting
with ritual and dogmatic rigidity great lukewarmness
and worldliness of Christian life, so that earnest minds
found sufficient cause to urge regeneration and renewal
of heart by repentance and faith and sanctification of life.
In the year 1729 a number of students in the University of
Oxford formed themselves into a pious union under the guidance
of John and Charles Wesley, and this society soon obtained the
nickname of ' Methodists ' on account of their new method of
Christian life. John Wesley (1703-1791), who felt himself specially
called to the work, found a valuable assistant in Enj;land and
North America in George Whitefield (1714-1770). Their exciting
, sermons, which, on account of their being refused admittance to
the Episcopal Churches, were held in the open air, urging the
necessity of immediate repentance, produced an extraordinary
effect, and not unfrequently their hearers were thrown into con
vulsions by the excitement. They endeavoured, by means of a
strictly organised system of pastoral care, to bring their awakened
followers, who were divided into classes of from ten to fifteen
members and small bands of individuals of the same age and
sex, to holiness of life. Their association was to be not only a
savour for the whole Church, but also a means of preaching the
gospel to the heathen.
But as early as 1741 the doctrine of predestination caused a
division among the Methodists, and while the majority declared
themselves for the Arminian teaching of Wesley, the remainder
followed the strictly Calvinistic Whitefield. The latter, however,
subsequently spread in North America, and gained great influence
by their ' revivals ' in towns, and their camp-meetings, which
generally lasted eight days in the country districts, at which the
most extreme excitement of the feelings was aimed at.
In America the slave-trade gave another cause for a separation ;

12 2 Christian Creeds and Confessions
but even in England constant divisions took place in the com
munity, and since 1814 there have been two separate Methodist
Missionary Societies in London.
The Methodists have worked diligently for the conversion of
the Indians, the negroes, and other heathen, and for the abolition
of slavery. In North America they are now the most numerous
and the most influential of all sects, and are found in considerable
numbers also in Germany and Switzerland.^
1 As the original sharpness of the slight difference of doctrine between the
Baptists and Methodists has everywhere been lost, and as little weight is given
to ceremonies by both of them, they form together a great anti-ritualist and
anti-papistical party, and are the support of the Republican party in North
America.

CHAPTER XXI

ANTI-UNIONIST AND FREK-CHURCH SECTS
Even in the time of the Reformation there was a desire for a
reunion of religious parties. In 1533 Erasmus sought to effect a
union of the Catholics and Protestants by his writing de amabili
ecclesiae concordia, and in 1566, at the desire of Ferdinand i.,
J. Cassander and J. Wizel worked in the same cause. But their
writings could no more obliterate the principal difference than
could the numerous conferences and deliberations that were held
for that end (as for example that of Ratisbon in 1541 , and of Thorn
in 1645). Even the endeavours of a Calixtus and a Leibnitz failed
to bridge over the gulf.
But even the attempts to bring about a peaceful union of the
Lutheran and Reformed Church had for a long time only a passing
effect, or a partial one, as well as the Wittenberg Concordia of
1536, the Consensus Sendomiriensis of 1570 between the Lutherans,
Reformed, and Bohemian brethren, the conferences at Leipzig in
1631 and the peace conference at Cassel in 1661, and even the
prohibition to attend the rigidly Lutheran University of Witten
berg, which was issued by the great Elector of Brandenburg, only
excited bitter opposition, and in the same way the negotiations
for the union of the two evangelical churches in the beginning of
the 18th century, under the auspices of Frederick i. of Prussia,
between the theologians of Helmstadt and Brandenburg and the
Bishop of the Bohemian Brethren, as well as those carried on
since 1720 at Ratisbon by the Chancellor Pfaff ot Tiibingen, met
with an opposition which showed that the time for such endeavours
was not yet ripe.
It was only towards the close of the 18th century, when the
dogmatic confessional differences were somewhat abated, that
Frederick W'illiam iii. could attempt, with any success, to bring
about a union in his own States. In the year 1804 Schleiermacher
wrote a treatise on the means of carrying out the imion of the
two Protestant churches. The affair was for a long time deliber
ated upon and discussed, and at last on September 27th 1817 a

1 24 Christian Creeds and Confessions
Cabinet order was issued to all Consistories, Synods, and Super
intendents, in which an earnest desire for the union of the Re
formed and Lutheran Churches was expressed. The Reformed
Church was not to be made Lutheran, nor was the latter to be
absorbed into theformer, but out of both was to proceed an evangelical
Christian Church full of new life in the spirit of its founder. The
work of union, which had hitherto been wrecked by the unfortunate
sectarian spirit that had prevailed, was now to succeed under the
influence of a better spirit, setting aside the non-essential and
maintaining firmly the essence of Christianity in which both con
fessions were agreed. Further steps towards the blending of the
two churches were taken in 1830 by the introduction of the liturgy
and ritual tor the Lord's Supper.
Different views with regard to the principles of the union soon
appeared to be inevitable. According to some the fixed symbolical
dogmas of the two churches, with the exception of that of the
Lord's Supper, somewhat in accordance with the ' variation ' of
1540, remained valid ; according to others there was to be no
special doctrine claiming unconditional acceptance ; they should
hold themselves indifferent to all dogmatic formularies. The Spirit
of Christ, as represented in the Gospels, was the one thing essential.
The strict Lutherans saw in the Union only a falling away from
the testimony of the fathers and the temptation to soul-destroying
error. Two professors of the Breslau University, the Theologian
Scheibel and the Jurist Buschke, were the leaders of this party.
When the Cabinet decree of 1834 was issued, imposing on all the
clergy the acceptance of the new liturgy which had been already
adopted in the Royal Chapel and in the Cathedral, while it left it
optional to every one to join the Union or not as he thought fit,
but at the same time denounced in the strongest terms a non-united
Church as 'most unchristian,' the authorities had recourse to the
military power in order to enforce obedience in some of the country
parishes in Silesia.
' The suspended preachers held, however, a Synod in Breslau in
February 1835, .and resolved to save the Lutheran Church by any
justifiable means. Scheibel induced the congregations who had
left the country Church to accept an ' apostolical constitution,' with
strict Church discipline. The severe compulsory measures adopted
against the refractory Lutherans, by which many were driven into
exile, were completely set aside at his accession to the throne
by Frederick William iv., who even permitted them in 1841 to
constitute themselves into a completely separated ' Lutheran

Doctrines of the most important Sects 125
Church ' with an independent constitution, which was done at a
General Synod held at Breslau. In 1845 the Government granted
these 'Old Lutherans,' as they were called, a general concession by
which free religious worship was allowed them and the authority
of their head College at Breslau acknowledged. The number of
separatists has increased considerably since 1848. At the General
Synod ot 1860, however, a division took place owing to quarrels over
the subject of Church discipline, which were injurious to the further
development of the separation. The union of the seceding con
gregations called itself the ' Immanuel Synod. '
The opposition to the union itself, and to any real or
intended measures for creating a union of the Established
Church, has produced divisions not only in Prussia, but
also in Baden, Hesse, Nassau, Saxony, and Hanover, by
the Lutheran separations, though they are for the most
part of no great extent. Even in strictly Lutheran circles
with the mistrust of the State Church there has appeared
a tendency toward ' Free Churchism ' which promises
further separations.
In the West of Germany also, as well as in Holland, some of the
strict Reformed congregations have separated from the State Church.
The ' Free Congregation ' have also separated themselves from
the State Church on altogether different grounds. The conviction
that the Union secured a freer position towards the doctrines of
the Church led at the time of the reaction in 1842 under William iv.
to the formation of congregations of Free-thinkers (that is of the
'Protestant Friends,' generally called 'Friends of Light') in the
Province of Saxony. When the assemblies of the Protestant Friends
were suppressed and their preachers dismissed, they formed them
selves in 1846 into a Free Church, acknowledging only a belief in
God and His eternal Kingdom as established by Jesus Christ, and
demanding in all other things the practice of morality and humanity.
The Prussian Edict of Toleration in 1847 assured protection to these
communities, and in the year 1850 a union was effected between
them and_ the German Catholic communities. But the ecclesiastical
regulations of the Free Church had already begun, in consequence
of which many of them collapsed, and some ot those that remain
exhibit signs of disintegration and want of vitality.

CHAPTER XXII
MILLENARIAN SECTS, WHICH AIM AT A COMPLETE TRANS
FORMATION OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH
1. The Swedenborgians.
Immanuel von Swedenborg (1688-1772), a learned Swedish noble
man, assessor of the Board of Mines at Stockholm, busied himself
much about the year 1740 with cabalistic studies and theosophical
speculations on the Church oftheNew Jerusalem and the Apocalypse,'
which was his favourite biblical book. The consequence was that
he imagined himself to be in communication with spirits, and to
receive higher revelations, and called to introduce a new epoch to
the Church, a new system of Divine economy, a third testament for
the perfection of the second. He found followers, principally in
Stockholm and in London. In course of time, ' The Church of the
New Jerusalem' attracted attention in more extended circles, along
with somnambulism, animal magnetism, and similar phenomena.
F. C. Oetinger and J. F. J. Tafel preached the Sweden-
borgian views in Wiirtemberg, where they were incorporated
in the Catechism of the New Church in 1828, according to
which the 'New Jerusalem' is already at hand, and the
judgment and second coming of Christ have already taken
place. While fervour and sympathy of religious feeling do
minated with the Moravians, energy of will with the
Methodists, and the more sober exercise of the reasoning
powers among the Rationalists of the 18th century, tbe
1 The doctrine of the Millennium or * Chiliasmus ' (from the Greek xiKm. er^, i.e.
lOOO years) is derived from Rev. xx. 3-7.
136

Doctrines of the most important Sects 1 2 7
Swedenborgians were chiefly characterised by their super
abundance of imagination and love of allegory, which led
to the wildest interpretation of Scripture.
2. Irvingites.
Edward Irving (who died in 1834), a minister of the
Scottish Presbyterian Church in London, preached with
the greatest enthusiasm on the prophecies of Daniel and of
the Apocalypse, on the misery of the lower orders and the
gifts of the Holy Ghost and their manifestations. His
supporters endeavoured to introduce by fervent prayer the
new outpouring of the Spirit. This exaltation led in 1830
to results in which he imagined that he recognised the gift
of tongues and the prophetic powers of the Apostolic times.
In 1833 he was dismissed from his office by the presbytery,
on account of disturbances which took place during the
divine service and of unsoundness of doctrine with regard
to the human nature of Christ, and from that time he
devoted himself to the renovation of the corrupt church by
the introduction of 'Apostolic Offices,' among which he also
reckoned the ' Angels ' of the Apocalypse, and an apostolical
constitution in order to prepare for the approaching Advent of
Christ. In the year 1836 the apostles were sent out for
the first time. This sect, calling itself the 'Apostolic
Church ' has many followers in various parts of Germany
(in Berlin since 1848). Notwithstanding that the Irving
ites hold themselves aloof from all spiritual connection with
the ' corrupt ' established churches, and have an organised
church system of their own, they do not consider it
necessary to muke a public declaration of their separation
from it.

128 Christian Creeds and Confessions
3. The Darbyites or Plymouth Brethren
and other Millennial unions.
John Darby, who died in 1882, formerly an Anglican
priest, declared that the whole church had fallen away from
true Christianity since the times of the apostles ; he rejected
in fact all hierarchical institutions, announced the ap
proaching advent of Christ, and urged all those who wished
to save themselves from universal shipwreck and prepare
for the coming of Christ to unite freely without any church
organisation (they do not even consider baptism necessary),
and to withhold themselves from all worldly action. In
Plymouth he found followers in great numbers, and after
some persecution in England he went in 1838 to Switzer
land, where he made converts (chiefly in Lausanne), and
also in Wiirtemberg.
It was principally in Wiirtemberg by Bengel's 'Ex
planation of the Revelation of St. John,' in 1740, and
Oetinger's ' Theosophy ' that Millenarianism was widely
extended and led to the formation of apostolical unions,
for the purpose of preparing the way for the thousand
years of Christ's reign on earth, not only in Germany (as
in Kornthal) but also by missions to America headed by
George Rapp, leader of the ' Harmonists,' who maintained
a community of goods, and to Palestine as Hoffmanists of
the 'Temple Church.' The communistic arid socialistic
features peculiar to most of these little sects came out
strongly in France in the Society of Saint-Simon, who also
strove for the establishment of a complete new system of
civil and ecclesiastical polity.
Count Saint-Simon (who died in 1825) had announced in

Doctrines of the most important Sects 1 29
his ' Systfeme Industriel ' and his ' Nouveau Christianisme '
a new flourishing kingdom of peace and love, freedom, and
equality, the happiness of all men and their being as
brethren in one family, in short, a kingdom such as Moses
had promised and Jesus had prepared. The highest re
ligion was declared to be universal love, which is only
possible when all pain is banished from mankind and all
matter is consecrated. The means, by which this is to be
attained, is Industry : the state, being in possession of all
source of production, must place all industrial labour
under a Hierarchy of priests. — From these doctrines, a
mixture of mediaeval hierarchical ideas with the modern
notions of freedom, equality, and universal brotherhood,
Enfantin drew the practical consequences, advocating the
abolition of birthright, the emancipation of women, and com
munistic industrial workshops. The pattern community
founded by him at Menilmontant was broken up in 1832
on account of its violation of public morals.
The Socialists of the present day are, for the most part,
in a position of hostility towards Christianity.

ABBREVIATIONS ETC.
Apolog. , Apologia to the Augsburg Confessio.
Cat. Bom., Catechismus Romanus.
Gone. Dord., Council of Dordrecht.
Gone. Trid., Canons of the Council of Trent.
Conf. Aug., The Confessio Augustana or Augsburg Confession.
Conf. Helv. , Confessio Helvetica.
Conf. Tetra. , Confessio Tetrapolitana.
Form. Cone. , The Concordienformel.
Form. Cone. Sol. decl.. The Second Formula Concordiae or Solida
Declaratio.
Prof, fidei Trid. , Professio Fidei Tridentinae.
Schmalk. Art., Articles of Schmalkald.

THE FOLLOWING ARE THE PRINCIPAL EDITIONS OF
THE SYMBOLICAL BOOKS :—
Libri Symbolici Ecclesiae Orientalis; instr. E. J. Kimmel, 8vo.,
Jena, 1843.
Libri Symbolici Ecclesiae Catholicae; instr. Streitwolf et Kleine.
2 vols. 8vo., Gottingen, 1846.
Ganones et Decreta Goncilii Tridentini ex editione Bomana,
mucccxxxiv., repetiti. Accedunt S. Congre. Card. Cone. Trid.
interpretum declarationes, etc., etc. Ed. Ae. L. Richter
and P. Schulte imp. 8vo., Leipzig, 1843.
Canones et Decreta Sacrosancti et cecumenici Con/:ilii Tridentini. Ed.
XI., Leipzig, 1887.
Catechismus ex decreto Concil. Trid. ad Parochos Pii Quinti Pont.
Max. jussu editus. Ed. xi., 8vo., 1893.
There is another edition published in Regensburg.

1 3 2 Editions
Libri Symbolici ecclesiae Lutheranae ; ed. Fr. Francke. 8vo., Leipzig,
1846.
This work contains in Part I. The (Ecumenical Creeds, The Con
fessio Augustana, and 7'Ae Apologia. Part ii. , Articuli
Schmalcaldici, Catechismus minor, Catechismus major.
Part III., Formula Concordiae, Confessio Variata, Be-
sponsio ad Conf. Aug. Pontifica, and 7'Ae Confessio
Doctrinae Saxonica by Melanchthon. The parts are to be
had separately.
Augsburgische Gonfession. 8vo., Niirnberg, 1882.
Concordienbuch Text in 1580. 8vo., St. Louis, 1880.
There are many editions of the two Catechisms of Luther in
German.
Articuli Schmalkaldici ; Editio facsimile von Luther's Autographen.
8vo., Heidelberg, 1883. Second Ed., 1886.
Gonfessio Helvetica Posterior. 8vo., Vienna, 1866.

INDEX

Absolution, 84.
Abyssinian Christians, 102.
Adiaphoristic dispute, 27.
Anabaptists, 110-111.
Angels, adoration of, 95-97.
Anti-unionists, 123.
Apocryphal Books of the Old
Testament —
Roman Catholic view, 50.
Greek Church view, 52.
Included by Luther in his
translation, 54.
Rejected by the Reformed
Churches, 54.
Apology for the Augsburg Con
fession, 22-23.
Apostles' Creed, 9.
Apostolic Church, 127.
Aquinas, Thomas, Teacher and
Patron, 17.
Armenians, 102.
Al minians, 115-116.
Articles, Schwabach, 18-19.
 Torgau, 19.
 Schmalkald, 23-25.
 The Thirty-nine, 32.
Athanasian Creed, 11.
 not included in the
Liturgy of the Lutheran
Church, 12.
Augsburg Confession, 6, 18, 20-22.
Baptism, 71-73,

Baptists, 120.
Bellarmine, Cardinal, Chief Ro
man Apologist, 17.
Bible. iSee Scriptures.
Bishops, Council of, formerly the
highest tribunal, 39.
Bohemian Brethren, 105.
Boniface viii.'s Papal Bulls, 17.
Breviarium, 17.
Calixt, G., Opposition to Creeds, 6.
Calvin's view of Predestination, 66.
Catechism of the Church of
England, 33.
•  ¦ of the Church of Scotland, 34.
 Heidelberg, 30.
Catechismus Romanus, 16.
Catholic, Roman, Church, Creeds
peculiar to, 15.
Catholics, The German, 106-107.
 The Old, 107.
Church, Doctrines of the, in the
Greek Church, 42-43.
 Evangelical Protestant
view, 43-48.
 Roman Catholic view,
37-43.
 Primacy adjudicated to the
Pope, 39.
 of the New Jerusalem, 126.
 of England Symbolical Books,
32-33.
Comenius, J., 105,

134

Index

Concomitance, 77.
Concordienbuch, 28.
Confessio Augustana. See Augs
burg Confession.
 Belgica, 31.
 Gallicana, 31.
 Helvetica prior, 29.
 posterior, 30.
 Hungarica, 31.
 Marchica, 31.
 Tetrapolitana, 29.
Confession, Auricular, 83.
 Westminster, 34.
Confirmation, 73-74.
Consecration of Priests, 90-93.
Constitutio Unigenitus, 17.
Constitutions and Canons, Ecclesi
astical, 33.
Copts, 102.
Council of Bishops formerly the
highest Tribunal, 39.
Creeds, Church, 1-34.
 origin, conception, and au
thority of, 3-8.
 Qilcumenical, 9-12.
 peculiar to the Greek or
Oriental Church, 13-14.
 peculiar to the Roman
Catholic Church, 15-17.
 Doctrines of the, 35-97.
 ¦ See also Symbolical Books.
Curialists' view of the Pope,
39-41.
Darbyites, 128.
Directory for Public Worship, 34.
Doctrine of the Creeds, 37-97.
 of the Church as held by the
Greek Church, 42-43. .
 of the Church as held by the
Evangelical Protestant Church,
43-48.

Doctrine of Justification, 59-62.
 of Original Sin, 55-58.
 of Predestination, 65-67.
 of the Sacraments, 68-94.
 of Tradition and of Holy
Scripture, 49-54.
Doctrines of the Church (Roman
Catholic), 37-43.
 of the most important Sects,
99-129.
Dortrecht, Canons of the Synod
of, 31.
Duchoborzes, 109.
Eglise libre, 113.
Enfantin, 129.
Episcopalists' view of the Papal
Power, 40-41.
Eucharist Roman Catholic Doc
trine, 75-77.
Faith and good works, 62-65.
 Evangelical Doctrine of, 64.
 Romanist's view of, 62-63.
Formula of Concord, 26-28.
 Concordiae, 5.
Francke, Pietism, 118.
Free Christians, 114.
 Church of Scotland, 113.
 Congregation, 125.
Friends, Society of, 117-118.
Geneva Church Orders, 47.
Greek Church, Creeds peculiar to,
13-14.
 its Doctrine of the
Church, 42-43.
 View ot Transubstantia
tion, 79.
 Sects arising out of, 108
109.
Harmonists, 128.

Index

135

Heidelberg Catechism, 30.
Hicks, Elias, 118.
Immaculate Conception of the
Virgin, 58-59.
  • Proclamation of the
Doctrine, 17.
Immanuel Synod, 125.
Independents, 112.
Indulgence, Doctrine of, 85-87.
Infallibility of the Pope, 17.
Invariata, The, 22.
Irvingites, 127.
Jacobites, 103.
Jansenists, 106.
Justification, Doctrine of, 69-52.
Latitudinarians, 116.
Leo xiii.. Encyclical, 17.
Lord's Supper, Evangelical View,
79-82.
Luther's Two Catechisms, 25-26.
 Author of the first part of
the Augsburg Confession, 19.
 views on Predestination, 66.
Lutheran Church Symbolical
Books, 18-28.
Lutherans, Old, 126.
Majoristic Strife, 27.
Maronites, 103.
Marriage, 93-94.
Mass, Sacrifice of, Roman Catholic
Doctrines, 75-79.
Melanchthon's Author of second
part of Augsburg Confession,
20.
 view of Predestination, 66.
Mennonites, 110-111.
Methodists, 121-122.
Millenarian Sects, 126-129.

Missale Romanum, 17.
Monophysites, 102.
Monotheletes, 103.
Moravians, 118-120.
Moravian Brethren, 105-106.
Nestorians, 101.
Nicene Creed, 10.
Nonconformists, 111.
CEcumenical Creeds, 9-12.
Osiander Strife, 27.
Puritans, 111.
Penance, 83-85.
Philipponians, 109.
Pietism, 118.
Pius IX. , Encyclical Letter, 42.
Plymouth Brethren, 128.
Prayer, Book of Common, 32.
Predestination, Doctrine of, 65-67.
Presbyterians, 111'.
Priests, Consecration of, 90-93.
Protestant friends, 125.
 view of Creeds, 6.
Purgatory, 85-86.
Quakers, 117-118.
Raskolnics, 108.
Real Presence in the Lord's
Supper, 80.
Reformed Church Symbolical
Books, 29-31.
Relies and Images, 95-97.
Remonstrants, 115-116.
Repentance, Evangelical Doctrine
of, 88.
Ritualists, 113.
Sacraments, Doctrine of the,
68-94.

^3^

Index

Saint-Simon, Society of, 128.
Saints, Adoration of, 95-97.
Schmalkald Articles, 23-25.
Schwabach Articles, 18-19.
Schwenkenfeldians, 111.
Scotland, Church of, Symbolical
Books, 34.
Scripture, Holy, Greek view, 52.
 Protestant view, 52-53.
 Roman view as to its
authority, 50-52.
Sects arising from the Greek
Church, 108-109.
 Christological,, of the Ancient
Church, 101.
 Millenarian, 126-129.
 from the Reformation of six
teenth century, 110-117.
 Free Church, 123-125.
 of Roman Catholic Church,
104-107.
 of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, 117-122.
Sin, Doctrine of Original, 55-58.
Socialists, 129.
Socinians, 113-115.
Soteriology, Roman and Evan
gelical views, 55-67.
Spangenberg, August, 119.
Spener, Ph. J., Pietism, 118.
 Protest against Creeds, 6.
Spires German Imperial Council,
18.
Starowerzers, 108.
Stundists, 109.
Supererogation, Works of, 63.
 Syllabus, 42.
Swedenborgians, 126.
Symbola particularia, 5.

Symbolical Books of the Lutheran
Church, 18-28.
¦  of the Reformed Church,
29-31.
 of the Church of Eng
land 32-33.
 of the Church of Scot
land, 34.
Syncretists, 116.
Taborites, 106.
Temple Church, 128.
Torgau Articles, 19.
Torgic Book, 27.
Tolstoy, Count L. N., 109.
Tradition, Doctrine of, 49-54.
Transubstantiation, Dogma of,
75-76.
Trent, Council of, Decrees and
Canons, 15.
 Profession of Faith is
issued by, 16.
Unction, Extreme, 90.
Unitarians, 113-115.
United Brethren, 118-120.
Urban vm. , Papal Bull, 17.
Variata, The, 22.
Vatican Council, 17.
Voluntary System, 112.
Waldensians, 104-105.
Wesley, John, 121.
Westminster Confession, 34.
Whitefield, George, 121.
Zinzendorff, Count, 119.
Zwingli's view gu PredestinatioD,
66.

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