Hwn"^— iwwupwi mm. ~i:A'iiiUlLll^Li[lJ/\-:j!:'i\[b'lUl LIBRARY ibfo logical ^cminaiy, PRINCETON, N. J. No. Case, jn -<^ BR 45 .B35 1804 Hampton lectures An Attempt to illustrate those Articles of the Church of England, which the Calvinists improperly consider as Calvinistical, IN EIGHT SERMONS PREACHED BEFORE THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, IN THE YEAR MDCCCIV, AT THE LECTURE FOUNDED BY J. BAMPTON, M. A. CANON OF SALISBURY. y BY RICHARD LAURENCE, LL. D. REGIUS PROFESSOR OF HEBREW, CANON OF CHRIST CHURCH, RECTOR OF MERSHAM, AND RECTOR OF STONE, IN KENT. A NEW EDITION. OXFORD, PRINTED BY W. BAXTER, FOR J. PARKER; AND F. C. AND J. RIVINGTON, ST. PAUL's CHURCH YARD; AND WATERLOO PLACE, LONDON. 1820. TO HIS GRACE THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, WHO, WHEN THESE LECTURES WERE ORIGINALLY PUBLISHEDj RAISED THEM INTO CREDIT AND REPUTATION BY HIS DISTINGUISHED NOTICE OF THEIR AUTHOR J AND TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF LIVERPOOL, WHO, AT A LESS DISTANT PEUIGD,, STAMPED A A^ALUE UPON THIS AS WELL AS EVERY OTHER PRODUCTION OF THE SAME AUTHOR^ BY RECOMMENDING HIM TO ROYAL PATRONAGE, AS NOT UNDESERVING OF A DIGNITY IN THAT CHURCH;, THE CREED OF WHICH HE HAD LONG AND LABORIOUSLY ENDEAVOURED TO ELUCIDATEj THIS NEW EDITION OF THE BAMPTON LECTURES FOR THE YEAR 1804, IS MOST GRATEFULLY AND MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED. PREFACE. X HE mode of illustration adopted in these Lectures, although it has not been wholly disregarded, has nevertheless been but par- tially pursued, by those, who have gone before upon the same subject. Much has been written, and satisfactorily written, to prove, that the Predestinarian system of Calvin is totally inconsistent with the doc- trine of our Articles ; that it is equally ir- reconcileable with our Liturgy and Homi- lies ; and that the private sentiments of our Reformers were likewise inimical to it. But complete in all points as such evidence may appear, (the force of which its oppo- nents have been unable to invalidate,) the Author still conceived, that an elucidation of another kind was wanting ; that the weight of testimony might be augmented by an attempt to trace the Articles, usually b VI controverted on the occasion, up to their genuine sources, to compare them with the peculiar opinions of their own times, and thus to determine their meaning with more certainty, by ascertaining the precise ob- jects, which their compilers had in view. This attempt he has made in the Bampton Lectures of the year. As« however, in compositions of their nature a minute de- tail of particulars was not practicable, and yet as he felt himself both in reason and in duty bound to fulfil the intentions of the Founder, by printing (professedly as Lec- tures) only thatj which in point of quantity and form, as well as substance, was actu- ally delivered from the pulpit, he has been under the necessity of adding notes ; and of adding them to a considerable extent, because his argument principally rested upon authorities, derived from productions not generally ready nor every where attain- al)le. EXTRACT FROM THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF THE LATE REV. JOBN BAMPTON, CANON OF SALISBURY. " I give and bequeath my Lands and "• Estates to the Chancellor, Masters, and Scho- " lars of the University of Oxford for ever, to " have and to hold all and singular the said ** Lands or Estates upon trust, and to the in- " tents and purposes hereinafter mentioned ; *' that is to say, I will and appoint that the '' Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford *' for the time being shall take and receive all " the rents, issues, and profits thereof, and '' (after all taxes, reparations, and necessary ♦' deductions made) that he pay all the re- *' mainder to the endowment of eight Divinity " Lecture Sermons, to be established for ever " in the said University, and to be performed " in the manner following : '* I direct and appoint, that, upon the first '' Tuesday in Easter Term, a Lecturer be yearly b2 Vlll '' chosen by the Heads of Colleges only, and *' by no others, m the room adjoining' to the "• Printing-House, between the hours of ten in '' the morning and two in the afternoon, to " preach eight Divinity Lecture Sermons, the '' year following, at St. Mary's in Oxford, be- " tween the commencement of the last month " in Lent Term, and the end of the third week *' in Act Term. " Also 1 direct and appoint, that the eight " Divinity Lecture Sermons shall be preached " upon either of the following Subjects — to con- " firm and establish the Christian Faith, and to " confute all heretics and schismatics — upon the '' divine authority of the holy Scriptures — upon " the authority of the writings of the primitive " Fathers, as to the faith and practice of the " primitive Church— upon the Divinity of our " Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ — upon the Di- " vinity of the Holy Ghost — upon the Articles ** of the Christian Faith, as comprehended in '' the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds. " Also I direct, that thirty copies of the eight " Divinity Lecture Sermons shall be always " printed, within two months after they are " preached, and one copy shall be given to the " Chancellor of the University, and one -copy *' to the Head of every College, and one copy to " the Mayor of the city of Oxford, and one copy '' to be put into the Bodleian Library ; and the IX ** expence of printing them shall be paid out of " the revenue of the Land or Estates given for '' establishing the Divinity Lecture Sermons ; *' and the Preacher shall not be paid, nor be " entitled to the revenue, before they are '* printed. '' Also I direct and appoint, that no person *' shall be qualified to preach the Divinity Lec- " ture Sermons, unless he hath taken the De- " gree of Master of Arts at least, in one of the "two Universities of Oxford or Cambridge; '* and that the same person shall never preach '' the Divinity Lecture Sermons twice." Vuiis/J '. CO SERMON I. The general principles of the Reformation, from its com- mencement^ to the period "when our Articles were com- posed, shewn to be of a Lutheran tendency, SERMON II. The same teyidency pointed out in the Articles themselves, as deduciblefrom the history of their compilation, SERMON III. On Original Sin, as maintained hy the Scholastics, the Lutherans, and our own Reformers. SERMON IV. On the tenet of the Schools respecting Merit de Congruo, and that of the Lutherans in opposition to it, SERMON V. The Articles " of Free Will,'' and " of Works before " Justification,'' explained in connexion with the preced- ing controversy. SERMON VI. On the Scholastical doctriiie of Justification, the Lutheran, and that of our own Church, Xll SERMON VIT. The outline of the Predestinarian system stated, as taught in the Schools, and as christianized by Luther and Me- lancthon. SERMON VIII. TJie nth Article considered in coriformity with the senti- ments of the latter, and elucidated by our Baptismal service. Brief recapitulation of the whole. % rrv\i vvr** ' SERMON I. 2 Tim. iii. 14. But conti7iue tJiou in the things which thou hast learned, and hast been assured oj\ knowing of whom thou hast learned them. That no investigations are more import- ant than those which Rehgion points out, is a truth admitted indeed by all, but felt only by the wise and good. Other enqui- ries we may pursue or omit, as individual indination prompts us, while with respect to our future existence we prosecute them without profit, or neglect them without danger ; but the case of Religion permits no alternative. Here not inclination but duty and interest are to be consulted. This is a subject upon the cultivation of which depends the welfare of our being beyond the grave ; which it is the extreme of folly to forget, and of madness to despise. Educated in a Christian community, with a reverence for the precepts of the Gospel, B 2 SERMON 1. we iaibibe in early years an habitual predi- lection for its doctrines. When the facul- ties of the soul expand, and reason ap- proaches maturity, this predilection be- comes augmented, in proportion as we weigh with more or less accuracy the irre- fragable arguments, which have been re- peatedly urged in its defence since the happy aera of the Reformation. For it is the pride of Englishmen to reflect, that the principles of Christianity have been no where discussed with more candour and ability, or with more clearness, solidity, and force of conviction, than in their own coun- try. But every good is attended with a correspondent evil. The Reformation, which in order to expose error encouraged freedom of enquiry, unavoidably occasioned an almost infinite variety of opinions, as the points of view became different, under which the same objects were contemplated. One system however only could be esta- blished ; and to that, which was at first adopted, we still adhere. Hence it hap- pens, that we find ourselves not merely Christians, but Protestants, and not Pro- testants only, but members of a particular Church, the distinguishing tenets of which, if we choose to preserve our connexion with SERMON I. 3 it, we seem bound without dissimulation to profess, and in our consciences to believe. If such be the obligation even of the Laity, the Clergy surely ought to be sensi- ble of one more strict, as well as extensive ; they should consider themselves as ap- pointed not simply to teach Religion by precept, and adorn it by example, but at all times to support the faith of that Church, to which they belong, without lukewarm- ness and without inconstancy. The hum- blest attempt therefore to elucidate any controverted points of our national Creed cannot perhaps prove totally uninteresting in this place, where its value is duly ap- preciated, and where all, it is presumed, feel equally influenced by deliberate choice, as by consistency of character, to protect it from injury and insult. When the nature of academical institu- tions and their close connexion with the Church are considered, no public discord- ance of sentiment can here be expected to prevail; here can we approve and teach only authorized opinions ; and here a sense of honour no less than of duty prevents the most forward from attempting to subvert, by concealed and insidious stratagems, what none can openly attack. But as soon B 2 4 SERMON I. as we go abroad into the world, and con- verse with Christians of different persua- sions, with some, who feel as proud a dis- tinction in being without, as we do in be- ing within, the pale of our Establishment, the unanimity, which before we witnessed, disappears : a scene of discord succeeds ; and perhaps upon topics where we expected immediate concession, we are surprised by a pertinacious opposition ; where we sup- posed liberality to exist, we sometimes find prejudice ; and where prejudice, sometimes liberality ; where we looked for indiffer- ence, we are encountered with zeal ; and where we could conceive nothing but weak- ness, if we do not always discover wisdom, we often admire address and applaud in- genuity. It may not therefore appear fo- reign to the design of these Lectures, if I di- rect your attention to those particular Doc- trines of our Church, which Dissenters of every denomination, how widely soever they differ from each other, agree to ob- ject against us, as Doctrines, which either we do not understand, or understanding, choose not to believe. In the standard of Faith, which our Arti- cles exhibit, a peculiar class of opinions is to be found, which seem to have been va- SERMON I. 5 riously argued at various periods, and which during more than one century inte- rested in the highest degree, and interest- ing disunited, the Christian world ; those I mean, which are usually supposed to be more or less allied to the Predestinarian controversy. Interpreting them accord- ing to the modern meaning of certain ex- pressions, and disregarding the characte- ristical notions of the times in which they were first established, the Socinian and the Calvinist combine in giving them a sense, which they were not originally intended to convey ; and then accuse us of departing from the creed of our ancestors, of disbe- lieving that, to which in this place at least we have all subscribed. Thus, to whichso- ever side we turn, we perceive each party in array against us; the one preferring the charge with sarcastical contempt ; the other with a n)ingled sensation of anger and pity ; and both with apparently a confident per- suasion of our apostasy. To the Articles, which embrace these particular points, I propose to restrict my enquiries. In the pursuit however of this object it will not be necessary to explore those endless laby- rinths, in which the century subsequent to the Reformation, one not unproductive ei- b3 6 SERMON I. ther of talents or of literature, was per- plexed and bewildered : my plan will solely be, after pointing out whence the Doctrines of our Church in general were derived, to trace such as will be selected for examina- tion up to their genuine sources. In discussing with impartiality questions of a remote sera, it is requisite, but not easy, to discard modern prepossessions ; to place ourselves exactly in the situation and under the circumstances of those, whose senti- ments we wish to investigate, and display with fidelity. On such occasions we are usually too much disposed to throw in light, where we perceive only an indistinct mass of shade, or at least to revive that which in our eyes appears faint and faded, endea- vouring in every instance to improve ac- cording to our own taste and fancy, instead of faithfully exhibiting the simpler produc- tions of antiquity. But the subject before me is attended with another difficulty. From its peculiar nature it is confined to disquisitions, which, having lost at this dis- tant period their immediate importance, and ceased to interest us, it seems almost impossible again to bring forward without fatiguing the attention, and appearing to clog the argument with much heavy detail. SERMON I. 7 and which can seldom afford an opportunity for the diffusion of ornament, for popular dissertation, or for elegant composition. From these considerations, when imperfec- tions appear, some indulgence perhaps, beyond what the candour of criticism usu- ally grants, may be extended to them. When the Articles of our Church have been reviewed by writers, either professedly or incidentally undertaking to explain their meaning, they have generally received an interpretation rather accommodated to re- cent controversies, than to such as existed at the period of their compilation. What- soever ready conjecture could devise, or ingenious deduction supply, to maintain the appearance of strict conformity in princi- ple, without sacrificing the reputation of a name or the credit of an opinion, has been advanced in this way. Nor has the at- tempt in every instance proved fruitless; but has added much to the vindication of the common cause of Protestantism, as well as of the liberality and moderation of the English Church. It is nevertheless to be lamented that the enquiry has not always been conducted with temper and impar- tiality. When however we perceive, that some things have been insinuated on both b4 8 SERMON I. sides, which every good man would wish to forget ; that both have indulged in per- sonal and party reflexions, which it would have been wiser to suppress ; we should recollect that the case is common ; that through the polemical discussion of the most sacred truths human passions will dif- fuse their malignant poison ; and that the charity of Theological disputants is seldom of the most amiable kind, and never very abundant. On one hand it has been con- tended, that our Articles are consonant with the Creed of Calvin ; on the other with that of Arminius. It is not my inten- tion to follow this controverted question into particulars. Yet perhaps it should be cursorily remarked, that even the Calvinist has proved in the most convincing mode, that they are not in their necessary con- struction completely Calvinistical ; that something is wanting in them to produce entire satisfaction ; for repeatedly has he laboured, although constantly laboured in vain, first to render them explicit on this head, and afterwards to get his favourite emendations approved and established by public authority(^). But with these points the elucidation, which I propose, is by no means connected. It will be confined to a SERMON 1. 9 comparison of our Articles with the pre- vailing opinions of the times when they were composed, at least with those in which they immediately originated, or from which they were collaterally derived. If we contemplate them in this view, or rather such of them as will become the subject of investigation, we find, that far from being framed according to the system of Calvin in preference to all others, they were modelled after the Lutheran in op- position to the Romish tenets of the day. The whole scope therefore of my design will be, instead of considering them ab- stractedly, to survey them relatively, with reference to the particular tenets alluded to ; and the principal part of my observa- tions will consist in developing these, if not minutely and in full detail, yet sufficiently for the purpose of illustration. But before I proceed to explain the selected doctrines, it will be requisite more at large to point out the real basis upon which the super- structure of our Church was raised ; and then to give the evidence which the Arti- cles themselves exhibit of having been erected upon the same foundation. It is well known to all, who have be- stowed the least attention upon its history, 10 SERMON I. that our Reformation was a progressive work, commenced in the reign of Henry, and completed under his successor in all its essential parts, without suffering any sub- sequent alteration of importance. The original, after which in almost every in- stance it was moulded, as far as the arbi- trary will of the Monarch, or the prejudices of the Clergy and people, permitted, was avowedly the Protestant establishment in Germany. Against the Church of Rome, which always, when attacked, fled for pro- tection to the shield of scholastical sophistry, Luther had waged a dauntless, unwearied, and effectual warfare. He entered the field of combat without distrust or appre- hension, under a rooted persuasion, that the victory over superstition would prove easy at an sera, when learning had already begun to extend itself in every direction, and was become closely allied to theological attainments (^). It has been frequently remarked, that the dawn of reformation was the dawn of letters. Religion and li- terature had been overwhelmed in dark- ness; and although at different periods they faintly struggled to emerge from ob- scurity, yet were their efforts unavailing, only rendering the gloom, which sur- SERMON I. 11 rounded them, still more visible, until the fulness of their time arrived ; until the same divine goodness, which first gave life to the animal, and light to the intellectual creation, commanded them to resume their former splendor, and with united rays to illuminate and adorn the world. The sacred books, which contain the records of Christianity, no less than the writings of its earlier cham- pions, had been almost wholly neglected during a long reign of disputatious igno- rance in several preceding centuries. But when the light of day appeared, the ge- nuine doctrines of Scripture and the pri- mitive opinions of antiquity began to be more distinctly perceived, and more accu- rately investigated. With an attachment to classical pursuits arose a zeal for biblical enquiries. Taste and Truth went hand in hand. Religion gave interest and import- ance to literature, and literature afforded no inconsiderable assistance in restoring and purifying Religion. At every period prior to the sixteenth century, all who had laboured with the hazard of their lives to reform the Church, had uniformly failed in their attempts, not so much from any defi- ciency in their argument, as from the con- tracted sphere of public information, and 12 SERMON I. the incurable bigotry of the public mind : but at the revival of letters, no means of success were wanting ; zeal and ability were equally conspicuous ; the diffusion of knowledge became every where more and more general ; and with it were diffused the plain and simple truths of the long neg- lected Gospel. In this country, where the light of litera- ture could not be concealed, nor the love of truth suppressed, Lutheranism found numerous proselytes, who were known by the appellation (^) of " the men of the new learning/' This was particularly the case after the rupture with the See of Rome. For when Henry had shaken off the Papal yoke, and undertaken to reform the doctrine of the English Church, it began to spread with rapidity. It then boldly sought and obtained not only pro- tection but patronage from the Crown itself. Henry, who is usually represented as having almost always acted from the suggestion of the moment, and as having enthroned his passions above his reason, but who certainly never sacrificed what he conceived to be his conscience or preroga- tive to the will of others, fostered and sup- ported its general principles ; and, the more SERMON I. 13 effectually to propagate them in his domi- nions, and to accelerate the arduous task in which he had engaged, invited hither a Divine, in whose admirable erudition, as he remarked, and sound judgment all good men placed their hopes, the ever memo- rable Melancthon ('*). That he solicited not the assistance of Luther on this occa- sion should not perhaps be solely attributed to his personal dishke of that Reformer; he well knew, that the Protestant princes themselves at the most critical period had manifested a greater partiality for Melan- cthon. Luther, than whom no one was more capable of infusing energy into the cause, in which he had embarked^ was of all men the worst adapted to conduct it with mo- deration : he was calculated to commence, but not to complete reformation. Prompt, resolute, and impetuous, he laboured with distinguished success in the demolition of long established error ; he also hastily threw together the rough and cumbrous materials of a better system : but the office of select- ing, modelling, and arranging them was consigned to a correcter hand. Melancthon was of a character directly opposite to that of Luther, possessing every requisite to render truth alluring and reformation re- U SERMON I. spectable ; and hence upon him, in prefer- ence, the Princes of Germany conferred the honour of compiling the public profession of their faith. Wiien Henry therefore ap- plied for the assistance of this favourite Divine, by seeking the aid of one to whom Lutheranism had been indebted for her creed, he placed beyond suspicion the na- ture of that change which he meditated. But the predilection of this country for the principles to which I allude, was not confined to a mere distant correspondence for the purpose of acquiring information, and promoting discussion, or to a frequent soli- citation of foreign assistance ; an actual Reform founded upon them took place ; and some popular instructions were either published with permission, or sanctioned by royal authority, which, with the exception of a few points only, breathed the spirit of Lutheranism (^). Of this no one at all conversant with the subject can for a mo- ment doubt, who examines with attention the contents, of what were at the time de- nominated The Bishops' Book, and The King's Book, the two most important pub- hcations of the day. And, although in both these systems of faith (for such avow- edly they were) some superstitious tenets SERMON I. 15 may be discovered, which were afterwards rejected ; yet httle, if any thing, is to be found in either of tli^m materially different from what was subsequently established, relative to any point, with which my pro- posed enquiry is connected. Indeed the Reformation of the succeeding reign ought not to be considered as distinct from that which had been effected in this, but rather as a continuation and completion of it. In proof of which, without adverting to gene- ral resemblances, it seems sufficient to remark, that three of our existing Articles, two which relate to the Sacraments, and one respecting Traditions, were in a great measure copied word for word from a short code of doctrines, which had been drawn up long before the death of Henry (^). Nor is complete originality even here to be met with; the sentiments, and many of the very expressions, thus borrowed, being themselves evidently derived from another source, the Confession of Augsburgh. When Edward then ascended the throne, the same attachment not only continued to prevail, but became more predominant, unfettered by the caprices of the ruling Monarch. The offices of our Church were 10 SERMON I. completely reformed (which before had been but partially attempted) after the temperate system of Luther, and not after the plan of subversion, rather than of re- formation, which Calvin had recently ex- hibited at Geneva (^). Nor were any al- terations of importance, one point alone excepted, made at their subsequent revision. At the same period also, the first book of Homilies was composed; w^iich, although equally Lutheran, yet containing nothing upon the subject of the Sacramental pre- sence, has remained without the slightest emendation to the present day. The bene- fit of Melancthon's personal services was again and again solicited ; but they seem to have been too highly valued at home to be transplanted into a foreign country (^). Another circumstance likewise, which seems to have been little noticed, no less directly proves the favourite quarter, to which our Reformers looked for information. Cran- mer, who had never concealed the bias of his sentiments, now more openly and gene- rally avowed them. He translated a Luthe- ran Catechism, which he edited in his own name, dedicated to the King, and recom- mended in the strongest terms, as a trea- SERMON I. 17 tise admirably adapted to improve the prin- ciples, as well as morals, of the rising gene- ration (^). The opinions therefore of the Primate were at this time perfectly Lutheran ; and although he afterwards changed them in one single point, in other respects they re- mained unaltered. And it should be re- collected, that he it was, who principally conducted our Reformation from its ear- liest commencement under Henry to its termination in the reign of Edward, exert- insf his influence over the mind of the for- mer, and his credit in the councils of the latter, to effect that which it was the prayer of his heart, and the pride of his life, to behold advancing towards perfection. Al- most the whole merit of our ecclesiastical renovation must be imputed to him, who, stilling the chaos of theological contention, produced harmony from discord, and beauty from deformity. To ascertain his peculiar attachments is to ascertain those of the Reformation ; for under his direction, and with much of his individual aid, were pre- pared the Offices of our Church and the Articles of her Creed. If his conduct, connexions, and writings are duly considered, little doubt will exist c 18 SERMON L with regard to the tendency of his princi- ples ; nor ought his zeal for Lutheranism to be deemed questionable, because he patronized talents, wherever he found them, and respected good men of all persuasions. For his views were enlarged and liberal beyond his times ; his heart and his purse were open to ability of every description : nor, although a strenuous advocate of truth, was he ever uncharitably and inflexibly severe towards those who persisted in error, but exercised on all occasions a patience and forbearance, which his very enemies applauded, but which few of his friends were disposed to imitate. Actuated by a conviction, that what he advanced in the cause of Christianity, his conscience, as he energetically expressed himself, would be *' able to defend at the great day in the sight of the everliving God,'' (^°) he was by no means wavering and unsteady in his senti- ments ; yet at the same time, experiencing how reluctantly the human mind relin- quished inveterate habits, he felt compas- sion instead of resentment for the prejudices of Papists, relieving them by his bounty when distressed, and honouring them with his friendship when deserving it. Towards Protestants, as might have been expected, SERMON 1. 19 his munificence was unlimited. Neither was he scrupulously solicitous to discriminate between those, who supported different tenets on inferior points : to Zuinglians no less than Lutherans, uncharitable towards each other, his hand was incessantly ex- tended, and his house afforded a common asylum in calamity. But whatsoever we may conceive his principles to have been, it should be re- marked, that a writer of eminence seems to withhold from them no small share of supposed public influence, by representing him as having been incapable of displaying them with ability. The principal Historian of our Reformation asserts, that he pos- sessed no great quickness of apprehension, nor any closeness of style, which was dif- fused and unconnected; and that, con- scious of his deficiencies, he borrowed the assistance of a more able pen, when any thing was to be drawn up, which required nervous composition (^0- This censure, which, if just, would considerably diminish the importance of his aid in the compilation as well of our Articles, as of our Homilies and Liturgy, were it less allied to my sub- ject than it really is, the love of truth and a due regard to the memory of one, who c 2 20 SERMON I. has endeared his name to every true Pro- testant, would not suffer me to pass by wholly unnoticed. If we consult the testimony of his con- temporaries, with the exception of such only as was given by those, who wrote from party spirit, and experienced an interest in misrepresenting him, we shall find, that he was never reputed to be deficient in quick- ness of apprehension ; but, on the other hand, that his parts and acquisitions were deservedly held in the highest estima- tion (^^). Yet even this is unnecessary. Let us but examine with impartiality his cele- brated work upon the Sacrament, and all further enquiry will prove superfluous. In this production the great stores of theolo- gical literature, with which his capacious mind was enriched, were exhibited in a manner, which places his reasoning powers in the most conspicuous light ; which proves, that the clearness of his conception, his acuteness in discrimination, and his ad- dress in argument, were equal to the extent of his information; and that, distinguished by an unsophisticated regard for truth, he possessed the singular faculty of persuading without any apparent attempt to persuade, and without art by candour alone of en- forcino; conviction. SERMON 1. 21 Neither did any defect in composition disgrace his controversial talent. For if we consult what ought only to be consulted on the occasion, those works which he pro- fessedly composed for the public eye, we shall perceive that his expression wanted not nerve to strengthen it ; and that his periods were by no means unconnected, nor (when it is considered that he wrote upon subjects and for purposes requiring some expansion) unnecessarily diffused (*^). That he excelled not in that artificial com- pression of style, which some esteem the standard of perfection, will be readily granted ; because he excelled in something better, in nature and simplicity. But while he cultivated simphcity, he by no means neg- lected concinnity. Yet, writing for popular instruction, he was always plain and per- spicuous ; his ideas being generally clothed in language, which the most learned might admire, and which the most ignorant could comprehend. If his diction possessed not always splendour, it nevertheless had chas- tity to recommend it. If it seldom dis- played that richness of metaphor and glow of colouring, which is most suited to the taste of those who approve only adorned and luminous composition, it was never- c3 22 SERMON I. theless far from being destitute of grace ; it was neat without affectation, of ornament rather frugal than profuse, yet in every in- stance preserving an unostentatious de- cency and dignity pecuUar to itself (^^). Among the few distinguished writers there- fore of his day, he should be considered as holding no contemptible rank ; and he lived in times, the taste of which was not inferior but far preferable to that of those, which succeeded them. The influx of Latin words, which soon after overwhelmed the English language, had then made but little progress; nor had that absurd fondness become general for puerile refinements, for the constant recurrence of strained me- taphors, and pedantic conceits, which dis- graced the productions of a later period (^^). Hence we are not at a loss to account for the superiority of style discoverable in our Liturgy, the masterly performance of Cranmer and his associates, which has al- ways been admired, but seldom successfully imitated, and never equalled ; which is full without verbosity, fervid without enthusiasm, refined without the appearance of refine- ment, and solemn without the affectation of solemnity (^^). The reflexions perhaps, which have been SERMON L 23 made, may suffice to demonstrate that his literary character was not only far from being despicable, but of a stamp capable of giving respect to his sentiments, and weight to his decisions; while at the same time they may possibly contribute to prove, that, when his Creed varied, (a circum- stance sometimes noticed invidiously,) the change was rather attributable to the vigour, than to the imbecility of his intellect. His fate however has been peculiarly hard. Living in evil days, and exposed after his death to the malice of evil tongues, he has suffered in almost every part of his repu- tation. Papists have impeached the sin- cerity, while Protestants have doubted the steadiness, of his principles ; and a too ge- neral idea seems to prevail that his opinions were for ever fluctuating, or at least were so flexible, as to have rendered him little better than a weak instrument in the hands of those, who possessed more talent and more consistency. But the fact was far otherwise. He was in truth the chief pro- moter, and the ablest advocate of the Re- formation, planning it with the discretion of a prudent and the zeal of a good man, and carrying it on towards perfection with a firmness, a wisdom, and a liberality, c4 U SERMON I. which obtained him no less credit for the endowments of his head, than for the im- pressions of his heart. As Httle reason then is there to question his ability, as his personal influence, his personal influence, as his attachment to Lutheranism. The latter point seems be- yond all controversy. During his mission into Germany upon the subject of Henry's divorce, when he began to acquire an ascendancy over the mind of that Monarch, which he never afterwards lost, he appears to have first received a favourable idea of the new doctrines, and to have proved his approbation of them by abandoning his clerical restriction of celibacy, and forming a connubial aUiance with the near relative of a German Reformer. From this sera he became more and more attached to them ; and as light was afforded him, according to his own observation, and in his own lan- guage, " through divine grace he opened " his eyes, and did not wilfully repugn '^ against God, and remain in dark- ^' ness." (^^) Nor, if in one instance he at length departed from them, was his general predilection for them upon such account at all shaken. Yet ought it never to be forgotten, that truth alone was the object SERMON I. 25 of his most ardent affections ; and that he conceived this most Ukely to be promoted by rational investigation. '' For what '^ harm," he remarked, '' can gold catch ^' in the fire, or truth in discussion ?" (*®) On the whole therefore the principles, upon which our Reformation was con- ducted, ought not to remain in doubt : they were manifestly Lutheran. With these the mind of him, to whom we are chiefly in- debted for the salutary measure, was deeply impressed, and in conformity with them was our Liturgy drawn up, and the first book of our Homilies, all that were at the time composed. That our Articles were in general founded upon the same principles, I shall in the next place endeavour to prove ; after which I shall proceed to the several points pro- posed for elucidation. Our Reformers indeed, had they been so disposed, might have turned their atten- tion to the novel establishment at Geneva, which Calvin had just succeeded in form- ing according to his wishes, might have imitated its singular institutions, and incul- cated its peculiar doctrines : but this they dechned, viewing it perhaps as a faint lu- minary, (for as such only could it then 26 SERMON I. have been contemplated,) scarcely in the horizon of its celebrity (^^). This they might have done ; but they rather chose to give reputation to their opinions, and stability to their system, by adopting, where reason permitted, Lutheran sentiments, and expressing themselves in Lutheran lan- guage. Yet slavishly attached to no par- ticular tenets, although revering those, which were held universally sacred, and submissive to no man's dictates, they felt a conscious pride in reasoning for them- selves ; anxious only to prove all things according to that talent, which God had given them, by the test of truth, and the unerring standard of holy Scripture. The most distinguished of their number was the amiable and enlightened Prelate, to whom I have alluded. Under his guidance, our reformed Church had emerged from the clouds which involved it in its earlier pro- gress, and was rapidly advancing towards its meridian, when Papal superstition sud- denly extinguished it in blood. But its ex- tinction was not destined to be perpetual. Favoured by Providence, which has often proved liberal in blessings to this nation, it soon resumed the lustre of vvhich it had been dc[)rived ; and grateful ou2:ht we to SERMON L 27 be, that after a lapse of centuries, in spite of Bigotry, Scepticism, and Infidelity, we still behold its influence undiminished, and its splendour unobscured. SERMON II. Jerem. iii. 15. And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledo-e and understanding. \JN a former occasion I endeavoured to prove, that the estabhshed doctrines of our Church, from the commencement of the Reformation to the period when our Arti- cles first appeared, were chiefly Lutheran : to point out, that the original plan was ulti- mately adhered to, and that in the compo- sition of our national Creed a general con- formity with the same principles was scru- pulously preserved, will be the object of the present Lecture : after which I shall proceed to the more immediate topics pro- posed for investigation. It is much to be regretted, that those, who have either professedly or incidentally written upon our Articles, have not bestowed that particular attention upon the history 30 SERMON II. of their compilation, which the subject it- self seems to require ; the scope of every attempt having rather been to discover, what construction peculiar expressions w^ould admit, as applicable to the favourite controversies of a more recent period, than to determine their sense by ascertaining the sources from which they were primarily de- rived. In discussing therefore the question before me, I shall not perhaps appear too minute, when it is recollected, that it has been hitherto but imperfectly considered; writers of superior eminence having disre- garded what they possibly deemed inferior speculations, and exercised their abilities in the prosecution of higher and, according to common estimation, more profitable re- searches. Escaping from a captivity not unaptly termed the Babylonian (*^), the Reformers of Germany had broken the Papal yoke, asserted their religious independence, and framed for themselves a Creed, in contempt of the Pontiff's dictates, according to the rule of reason and the laws of God. When the bold philippics, the keen sarcasms, and the solid arguments of Lvither, had gained him proselytes in almost every part of the Empire; when princes and peasants, the SERMON II. , 31 literate and illiterate^ alike perceived the necessity of reform, and rejoiced at the op- portunity of it ; in a public Convention of the States assembled at Augsburgh the Protestant party exhibited that admirable confession of their faith, which from the name of the place, where the Diet was con- vened, has since received its appropriate appellation. In imitation of this example, the Reformers of our own country, with piety at least equal, with talents not inferior, and with discretion perhaps in some re- spects greater, not only distributed to a starving multitude the food of knowledge and understanding for the short period of their own lives, but treasured up the manna of their doctrine in the ark of the Church for perpetual conservation. It has often been asked, with whom did the plan of our Articles originate, and to whom ought their actual composition to be attributed ? After the remarks, which have been already made, I may probably be an- ticipated in the observation, that they are to be ascribed to Cranmer, who was not only officially deputed to the task on ac- count of his rank and situation, but emi- nently qualified for it by his character and abilities (^), Indeed when interrogated on 32 SERMON II. this very point by his relentless persecutors, not long before his death, he unequivocally avowed himself to have been the author of them (^). It has nevertheless been usually conceived, that he derived much assistance from Ridley, who, as far as the paucity of his writings enables us to judge, seems to have no less excelled in perspicuity than in solidity of argument, in manliness of con- ception, than in energy of expression. La- timer likewise has been considered as his coadjutor in the same undertaking. That each of these respectable Bishops was con- sulted on the occasion appears highly pro- bable. Ridley, if an anecdote recorded of him be accurate, expressly stated, that he both perused the production before its pub- lication, and noted many things for it; that he thus consented to it, but that he was not the author of it ('*). The venerable Latimer, who had resigned his bishopric in the reign of Henry, declining a reinstate- ment in it, then dwelt under the roof of the Archbishop, by whom, for his virtues and integrity, he was sincerely respected, and cordially beloved. To a Divine of this de- scription so peculiarly circumstanced, it is impossible to suppose a design of such im- portance not to have been communicated. SERMON H. .33 to one who had acquired the proud title of the Apostle of England (^), who had long been the Primate's fellow-labourer in the- work of reformation, and who was capable not only of improving it by his wisdom and experience, but of conferring upon it an old man's benediction. But although we allow this and even more than this ; al- though we admit, that Cranmer held in the hicrhest esteem the masculine mind of Rid- ley, and the plain but strong sense, as well as unshaken probity, of Latimer; men, who bore able testimony to the truth while in prosperity, and in adversity sealed it with their blood ; yet it appears not that, from any consciousness of personal inferiority, he ever beheld them with an obsequious eye. He indeed ought alone to be consi- dered as the real and not ostensible author of the production ; although collecting the sentiments of others, yet in all cases exer- cising the privilege of accepting or rejecting what may have been offered to him at plea- sure, and regulating his decisions by a judg- ment, to which all with submission bowed, which, matured by the most extensive read- ing, and formed upon the purest principles, his adversaries respected and his iViends re- vered. 34 SERMON II. In an undertaking of this nature his ac- tive mind seems to have been engaged al- most immediately after the death of Henry. Although the prospect, which had shone so bright at one period of that Prince's reign, towards the conclusion of it became almost lost in clouds and darkness, yet upon the accession of Edvvard, the horizon again cleared, and the same pleasing scene opened, even more distinctly, to the view. At this favourable juncture, while remodelling and rechristianizing the language and cere- monies of public worship, he turned his at- tention to the formation of some permanent system of faith, which might prevent the diversity of opinion, otherwise to be appre- hended. For scarcely had the idol of Papal infallibility fallen to the ground, before every man began to make a God of his own conceit, and to deem himself infallible. The Arian derided the Enthusiast, and the Enthusiast detected the Arian ; while the one extolled reason above Scripture, the other disregarded both, consulting only se- cret voices and internal revelations. Many remained wholly, and many only in part, addicted to ancient superstitions. The de- pravity of human nature had been ex- plained away by the Papist ; it was now SERMON II. 35 believed to be completely ideal by tlie Anabaptist : the assistance of divine grace had in effect been deemed useless by the former ; it was now totally denied by the latter, who supported his reasoning, (if reasoning it could be called,) not like the Papist by a plausible and bewildering phi- losophy, but by the mere effrontery of un- blushing assertion. Some of relaxed mo- rals, without regard to sect or party, en- grafted upon the doctrine of God's fore- knowledge the most licentious principles, and most dissolute practice : others of stricter lives lost themselves in fruitless spe- culations upon the attributes and will of the unrevealed Godhead, worshipping they knew not what, and deifying the dark pro- duction of their own imagination. In order therefore to check discordance and promote unanimity of sentiment, and above all things to guard against the errors of the Church of Rome, which it was impos- sible to approve without hypocrisy, or even contemplate with indifference, it seemed important to establish an authoritative standard of public opinion. Something of this kind it was probably hoped might pre- vent the wavering Papist from taking dis- gust at the incongruous theories, which on 1) 2 36 SERMON II. every side presented themselves, and the half converted Protestant, wearied with ex- pecting in vain the subsidence of that de- luge of doctrines, which had inundated the Christian world, from returning to his wretched state of mental captivity. But upon the precise comprehension of the ori- ginal plan at this remote period, and with such scanty materials of information, it is difficult to speak with certainty. Some circumstances however, which remain on record, seem to prove, that it was neither partial nor limited. At the commencement of Edward's reign it appears that Melancthon was consulted upon this interesting subject (^). Melanc- thon was then alone at the head of the Lu- therans, universally respected as the author of their much applauded Confession ; a Re- former, whose accomplishments, temper, and talents, were the admiration of all par- ties, and the peculiar pride of his own ; a man precisely after Cranmer's own heart, indeed the only one in a turbulent age, who equalled if not exceeded that benevo- lent Prelate, in mildness of disposition, and in moderation of principle. Deeply im- pressed with the importance and necessity of the object in contemplation, he earnestly SERMON II. 37 exhorted the Archbishop (whom he directly addressed on the occasion) to attempt an extension of the benefit beyond the confines of the English Church, to form a Creed adapted to the Protestant world at large, by collecting the sentiments of pious and learned men, and thus sanctioning with high authority that, which might exist among all nations as an illustrious testi- mony of the wisdom of the Reformation, and become a rule of faith to posterity. The Confession, which he had himself for- merly drawn up, would, he conceived, prove something of this description ; but he wished, that a few particular points had been more explicitly stated, in order to prevent the probability of future alterca- tion. Perspicuity above all things he re- commended, anxious to have every ambi- guous expression avoided, that new dissen- sions might not arise, nor the apple of dis- cord be thrown among the lovers of reli- gious controversy. If his own assistance should be requested, he subjoined, with a modesty, which characterized his feelings, and with a candour, which tinctured all his opinions, that he was prepared both to hear the sentiments of other men, and to declare his own ; willing, vvhile he attempted to n3 38 SERMON II. persuade, to be himself persuaded. But always, he added in conclusion, may the cause of truth, the glory of God, and the welfare of the Church, prove victoriovis over every private affection and personal par- tiality. The enlarged scheme of the liberal Me- lancthon was not, we may suppose, disre- garded or even lightly esteemed in this country. A congress of the kind thus re- commended Cranmer afterwards appears to have had in view. For although not im- mediately, (perhaps in consequence of the persecution, which the imperial measure, usually denominated the Interim, then began to threaten,) yet shortly after, he communicated the design to the Helvetian Reformers at Zurich and Geneva (^). Scarcely however was it imparted to them, before it was completely abandoned, and a resolution adopted of compiling a system of faith solely for the Church of England. Relinquishing then the idea respecting a congress of foreign Divines, partly perhaps on account of the general perplexities of the times, and partly perhaps from the ob- vious difficulties of the undertaking itself, he contracted his views, and began to frame a Creed solely for domestic purposes. But SERMON II. 39 although a form of such a nature appears almost immediately to have been compiled, yet it was not until after a considerable lapse of time finally arranged and published by authority. Among other reasons, which may be assigned for this delay, is it not pos- sible, that one might have been the ho[)e of obtaining the valuable assistance ofMe- lancthon, who was repeatedly invited, in Edward's as well as in Henry's reign, to fix his residence in this country ? From the commencement indeed to the conclu- sion of it, he seems to have been almost continually expected in England : and while our Articles were preparing, while first their completion, and afterwards their publication, was deferred from day to day, the Theological Professorship in Cambridge was kept open apparently for the chance of his acceptance (^). If it be too much to conjecture, that the delay was solely imputable to the wish of submitting them to his personal inspection, and of improv- ing them by his consummate wisdom, the coincidence nevertheless of the time, dur- ing which they were postponed, with that of his much hoped for arrival here, cannot altogether escape observation. And when we recollect, that he had been jxu ticularly d4 40 SERMON II. consulted at the original conception of them, and that an attempt had been made to carry his advice upon them into effect, we may surely be justified in asserting, that considerable importance must have been attached to his opinions. But to whatsoever cause we may attri- bute their retardation, it is certain that they were two entire years in progress : after being, at first perhaps hastily, drawn up, they were immediately delivered to the respective Bishops of every diocese ; in the next year they were revised and aug- mented ; and in the following received the sanction of royal authority (^). In what the augmentations consisted, were it merely as a point of curiosity, we naturally wish to discover ; but we can flatter ourselves with little hope of finding a direct clue to guide us in our researches into the private transactions of a distant period, succeeded by one of an opposite description, which would have blotted out all traces, and, could it have been effected, all remembrance of what had recently passed. An indirect one however, which seems to have been overlooked, mav be found in the writinj^s of our Romish adversaries. Between the primary formation and subsequent revision SERMON II. 41 of the new Creed, some refractory Divines in the diocese of Worcester maintained a controversy against it, which was after- wards published, and is still extant (^^). Now if we compare the Articles contained in this publication with those which ap- peared under authority, we seem accu- rately to gain the object of our pursuit. We thus perceive, that the additions to them in the last instance were numerous ; that, neglecting slighter shades of differ- ence, they were at first almost wholly li- mited to the more striking errors of Po- pery ; and that some of the topics, which I propose to discuss, existed not in the ori- ginal composition (^^). One circumstance perhaps is deserving of particular notice. When reviewed and augmented, a passage directly militating against the Lutheran opinion of Consubstantiation was inserted ; but, as if an anxiety had been demonstrated to preserve a conformity in other respects, many of the augmentations upon points of doctrine at the same time introduced were not only of a Lutheran tendencv, but couched in the very expressions of the Lu- theran Creed. Considering them therefore even in their rude outline, but more particularly in their 42 SERMON II. perfect state, we discover, that, in various parts of their composition, Cranmer stu- diously kept in view that boast of Germany and pride of the Reformation, the Con- fession of Augsburgh. Prudent, cautious, and steady in his attachments, fearful of extremes, and distrustful of novelties, he principally turned his eye to that favourite quarter, from which the ray of truth had originally proceeded^ and where it still shone with undiminished lustre. But to descend into a minute comparison of the two productions would lead me too far from my purpose ; it seems sufficient to notice the fact of a manifest resemblance between them, which in some instances amounts to a direct transcript of whole pas- sages, in others to the adoption only of leading sentiments and peculiar phraseo- logy (^^). And if upon one individual point a plain deviation occurs, it should be recollected, that this is one, of which the Author of the Augsburgh Confession was himself suspected. Hitherto I have endeavoured to shew with what principles our Articles preserved a consonancy, as they were framed in the reign of Edward. It will be of importance in the next place to point out. that, from SERMON 11. 43 these, those, which were ratified by his suc- cessor, but slightly varied, and that, where any variation is to be found, it appears to have been taken from a similar source ; a circumstance, which, if capable of proof, will strongly confirm the position, which I endeavour to establish. When a permanent system of faith was settled by the Clergy assembled in convo- cation under Elizabeth, the See of Canter- bury was filled by Archbishop Parker, who as an antiquary and Saxon scholar still ranks high in the republic of letters (^^). Nor as the restorer of our Church did he acquire a less solid, if less brilliant, repu- tation. Called by the providence of God to rebuild the walls of our Zion, rudely subverted by Papal bigotry, he neglected not the revered materials of the former fabric. After the revival of our Liturgy, his attention was directed to the consider- ation of speculative questions : and here the temperate proceedings of the Assem- bly, which discussed them, seemed per- fectly to correspond with his most sanguine wishes. Instead of entering upon the task of innovation, instead of bringing forward a new code of doctrines, which some might have thought more adapted to the im- 44 SERMON II. proved state of religious taste and senti- ment, the Convocation was satisfied to tread in a beaten path ; it not only made the articles of Crannier the basis of the pro- posed system, but adopted them in general word for word. Of what was the intention in this respect no testimony can be more conclusive, than the evidence of the original document itself, which is still preserved with the signatures of the Clergy annexed to it, and which is nothing more than an interlined and amended copy of the for- mulary, which had been adopted in the pre- ceding reign (^^). Whatsoever then might have been the dispositions of a few over-zealous men, the members of this important convention dis- played a remarkable proof of their mode- ration and judgment, by generally reviving what had been before estabhshed, rather than, in order to gratify the restless spirit of innovation, by inculcating novel doc- trines. Instead of increasing the number of the Articles, they diminished them ; in- stead of extending their sense, so as to make them embrace a greater proportion of speculative tenets, they contracted them, and appeared in every case more disposed to extinguish difference of opinion, than to SERMON II. 45 augment it by adding fuel to a flame^ already rising above control. In one or two instances indeed additions^ or rather additional elucidations, were admitted. Of the tendency however of these we cannot doubt, when we learn, that, with the ex- ception of one obvious topic alone, they were not original ; thai they were neither the productions of Parker nor the Convo- cation ; and that they were not borrowed from any Calvinistical or Zuinglian, but from a Lutheran Creed. The Creed to which I allude is the Confession of Wirtem- berg, which was exhibited in the Council of Trent the very year, when our own Ar- ticles were completely arranged by Cran- mer. That their resemblance to this com- position should have been hitherto over- looked is the more remarkable, because it seems too visible, one would conceive, to have escaped the notice of the most super- ficial observer. For it was not confined to a mere affinity of idea, or the occasional adoption of an individual expression ; but in some cases entire extracts were copied, without the slightest omission or minutest variation (^^). If then we duly weigh tlie facts, which have been stated, and the consequences, 46 SERMON II. which seem to result from them, we shall not perhaps be at a loss to determine, from what quarter we are likely to collect the best materials for illustrating the Articles of our Church. We perceive, that in the first compilation many prominent passages were, taken from the Augsburgh, and in the second from the Wirtemberg Confes- sion ; the latter not being considered as a retractation of the former, but rather, what only it professed to be, as a repetition and compendium of it Q^)* These were the Creeds of Lutherans. We have seen like- wise that their sentiments were chiefly in- culcated, and their example followed, in almost every preceding step of the Re- formation. To the most approved writers therefore of this description I shall have re- course for information upon points no less connected with the opinions of their Church than our own, referring only to such pro- ductions, as were composed before the death of Edward. Subsequent publications it will be useless to consult, because, they could not have been in the contemplation of Cranmer, and were evidently neglected by his successors in reform, who chose to select the inconsiderable augmentations >vhich they thought it requisite to make, SERMON II. 47 not from any applauded work of the inter- mediate period, but from one of precisely the same date with the Articles previously framed by their illustrious Predecessor. To the writings of Calvin it will be in vain to apply, as some have done, from any conception, that our Clergy in the last revision were eager to propagate the new principles, which they may be supposed to have imbibed during the sanguinary per- secution under Mary. For, as if distrustful upon this head, the prudent Restorers of our Church, unless on an individual ques- tion, where the interests of truth forbad a compromise, kept the Creed of a different communion in view ; the Creed likewise of an sera prior to that event, which, by com- pelHng many of our proscribed countrymen to take refuge on the continent, particularly at Geneva, laid the foundation of a con- troversy respecting Discipline and the forms of Divine Worship, which long dis- turbed the tranquillity of our Ecclesiastical Establishment, often threatened its exist- ence, and once actually subverted it. But to the name of Calvin, whose talents even prejudice must confess to have been not inferior to his piety, but whose love of hy- pothesis was perhaps superior to both, from 48 SERMON II. the celebrity which it afterwards acquired, too much importance has been sometimes annexed. It has been forgotten, that at the time under contemplation, the errors of the Church of Rome were almost the sole objects of religious altercation, no public dissension of consequence having occurred among Protestants, although thinking va- riously on various topics, except upon the single point of the Eucharist ; and that Calvin's system upon this had not obtained its full reputation, his controversies upon the subject not being then in existence ; controversies, which first began to perpetu- ate his name, and to render Calvinism a characteristical appellation. Nor has it been sufficiently observed, that his title to fame on this occasion arose not so much from his opinions themselves, which differed but little, except in terms, from what had been before advanced by Bucer and other medi- ators between the two extremes of a cor- poral and a spiritual presence, as from the perspicuity, with which he explained, and the ability, with which he defended them, when attacked by the Lutherans, vvho had not yet entered the field of combat against him (^^). But no more <^onvincing evi- dence, perhaps, can be alleged, that the SERMON II. 49 incense of flattery, which was afterwards abundantly offered up, had not then been received, than the total silence respecting him preserved by a contemporary writer, who seemed pertinaciously attached to all his opinions ; I mean the well known author of an Ecclesiastical History, con- tainino; the acts and monuments of Martyrs. From the voluminous production alluded to, it appears not that any of those, who suffered in the rei^n of Marv, were accused of having adopted the sentiments of Calvin, but either of Luther or of Zuingle ; nor does the prolix Historian himself, while he dwells in detail upon the writings and merits of both the latter, distinguish the name, or attempt to immortalize the me- mory, of the former. It was indeed more to his theory of Pre- destination, than to that of the Sacramental Presence, that in process of time he was in- debted for his renown. Even this however at the period under review had not passed the controversial flame, from which, in the estimation of his zealous adherents, it came forth with additional brilliancy and purity. It was not then, as afterwards, the object of applause, but, on the contrary, of dis- approbation (^^). For his doctrine of God's E 50 SERMON II. dreadful decree, which before had attracted Httle notice, was then beginning to give offence both within and without the terri- tory of Geneva. Dreadful I term it, as being no less so to his feehngs, than to ours ; for the same strong epithet he him- self apphed to it. " Horribile quidem de- " cretum fateor," were the precise expres- sions which he used, when shuddering at his own favourite idea of irrespective repro- bation (^^). To the labours therefore of the Lutherans I shall turn in preference (^^). But, before I enter upon the task, it seems necessary to state, that some discrimination will be exercised ; that, rejecting such opinions as they themselves abandoned about the sera of the diet of Augsburg, I shall bring for- ward only those, which were subsequently established in their stead. For it ought not to be concealed, that previously to the time when Lutheranism first became settled upon a permanent basis, and added public esteem to public notice, tenets were advanced, which retarded the progress of truth more than all the subtle- ties of scholastical argument, or the terrors of Papal anathema. At the beginning of the Reformation, as Mclancthon frankly SERMON 11. 51 observed to Cranmer in a correspondence already alluded to, there existed among its advocates stoical disputations respecting fate, offensive in their nature, and noxious in their tendency (^^). The duration how- ever of these stoical disputations, it should be remarked, was but short ; and the sub- stitution of a more rational as well as prac- tical system, for the space of more than twenty years before the appearance of our Articles, prevented the Founder of our Church from mistaking for the doctrines of the Lutherans those, which they themselves wished to forget, and were anxious to ob- literate. The Articles which I shall discuss, or rather the doctrine of which, as connected with the controversies of the time, I shall endeavour to develop, are those upon Ori- ginal Sin, upon Works before Grace, and Free Will as allied to the same, upon Justification by faith alone, and lastly upon Predestination and Election. And since on all these topics, on some in part only, but on most of them wholly, the German Reformers were at issue with the Church of Rome ; from the compositions of Luther and Melancthon on one side, and from those of the School Divines on e2 52 SERMON II. the other, the observations, which I shall have to make, will be principally selected. It may then, perhaps, appear, as well from internal as external evidence, whence Cran- mer derived the principles of our national Creed, and according to what system they should be interpreted. It may appear, that from the Lutherans, who had been his masters in Theology, he had learned (one point only excepted) almost every thing, which he deemed great and good in reformation ; and that with them he was desirous of preserving not a servile, but a liberal conformity, while turning from the disgustful sophistry of the times, and em- bracing Gospel simplicity, he fed the flock of Christ committed to his charge with the bread of knowledge and understanding, unmixed with Popish leaven, with that pre- posterous doctrine of merits, which was at once a reproach to human reason, and a disgrace to Christianity. SERMON III. Rom. v. 19. By one 7nan^s disobedience many were made sinners. JLN the preceding Lectures I have endea- voured to point out the source, from which our Articles were derived, and to prove, that no alterations, however trivial, (at least none which relate to the subject before me,) were admitted after their original pub- lication, unless such, as were borrowed from a similar source, and a composition coaeval with them ; circumstances, which necessarily limit my proposed enquiry, the former confining it generally to a single object, the latter always to a single period. Instead therefore of attempting to illustrate them by the predominant opinions either of Elizabeth's or any succeeding reign, it seems more correct to compare them with those which prevailed when they were first promulgated. e3 54 SERMON III. Avoiding therefore every question not at the time agitated, I shall attend only to the peculiar controversies of the day ; to controversies, which were carried on by the Lutherans against the Papists, and which our own Reformers appear to have had in view, when, separating from the Church of Rome, they established a new Creed, not in order to erect a barrier be- tween Protestant and Protestant, but prin- cipally to raise a broad and secure boundary against the return of Romish error. All subsequent points of difference, by whatso- ever party introduced, and to whatsoever object directed, it seems better to omit, than to confuse the enquiry by the discus- sion of irrelevant topics, and the applica- tion of incongruous theories. As we descend to particulars, it will be necessary to keep our eye upon one promi- nent doctrine, which was eminently conspi- cuous in all the controversies of the Luther- ans ; the doctrine of complete Redemption by Christ, which in their idea their adver- saries disregarded, who denied in effect the depravity of our nature, believed the favour of Heaven in this life recoverable by what was denominated Merit of Congruity, and in the life to come by that, which was SERMON III. 55 termed Merit of Condignity, and founded Predestination upon merits of such a de- scription ; thus in every instance, while retaining the name of Christians, rendering Christianity itself superfluous. In opposi- tion to opinions so repugnant in many respects to reason, and in almost all so sub- versive of Scripture, the Lutherans con- stantly pressed the unsophisticated tenet of the Atonement, not contractedly in a Cal- vinistical, but comprehensively in a Chris- tian point of view, in one, in which both Calvinists and Arminians alike embrace it. This therefore will be found more or less to pervade every topic, which I propose to examine, in most cases to give it its true, and in some its only direction (^). The subject, which comes first in order to be considered, is that, which is con- tained in the Article of Original Sin. When reformation began to appeal from the fallible judgment of man to the infallible Word of God, an abstruse system of Di- vinity prevailed, cultivated with enthusiasm by many, and respected by all, which was grounded upon the minute distinctions and subtle deductions of the Schoolmen, whose empire was no less universal in Theology than in Science. Aiming rather to perplex e4 56 SERMON III. than convince, to amuse than instruct^ those metaphysical reasoners were equally distinguished by the boldness as by the futility of their researches. Vain of a ta- lent, which they conceived adeqviate to every species of investigation, they believed nothing in created or uncreated being to be above their comprehension ; they la- boured even to scrutinize the perfections of Him, who dwells in light inaccessible. No wonder then that, thus ambitious, they should think themselves competent to de- lineate man both in his primaeval and fallen state ; proudly to dogmatize upon the fa- culties of the creature, when they affected with precision to philosophize upon the nature of the Creator. But although a more rational as well as more practical system has long superseded their once applauded but now forgotten labours, we ought not to withhold from them merit of every kind, esteeming their mental powers scarcely above contempt. If in their voluminovis productions little elegance is to be found, and much perhaps of what is usually termed barbarism, yet even prejudice must confess, that they were gifted with a wonderful facility in ex- ploring the most intricate labyrinths of SERMON III. 57 metaphysical disquisition. And, although it cannot be denied, that they consumed the greatest portion of their time in frivo- lous dissertations, it is nevertheless impos- sible not to allow them considerable abi- lity, how ill soever it was directed, and not to regret, that so much sagacity and perse- verance were generally wasted upon use- less objects. Amidst the thorns, with which their compositions are abundantly sur- rounded, no vulgar display of argument may sometimes be discerned ; but the mo- dern Student in Theology seldom thinks, that the toil of the search is repaid by the value of the discovery. In the Church of Rome, however, they have always ranked high ; for principally to the aid of their sophisms was that Church indebted for the absolute dominion, which she acquired over the consciences of her devotees ; their acute and penetrating Logic was the flaming sword, which turned on every side to guard the Papal Paradise. Previously to the Reformation, whatso- ever discredit may have since attached to them, they were deemed all but infallible. Hence Luther, who justly imputed much of the corruption, which had overspread Christianity, to the blind admiration with 58 SERMON III. which their writings were every where re- garded, perpetually attacked and exposed their fallacies ; persuaded, that, in the same proportion as he depressed their reputa- tion, he exalted the word of God above the perverted wisdom of vain man, restoring simplicity to Truth, rectitude to Reason, and purity to Religion (^). Upon Original Sin, the subject of our present consideration, their doctrine was no less fanciful, and remote from every Scriptural idea, than flattering to human pride. This they assumed as the ground- work of a system, which wholly concealed from view what they professed to enshrine, the Glory of the Lord, the bright mani- festation of Deity displayed in the Gospel Covenant. They contended, that the in- fection of our nature is not a mental, but a mere corporeal taint ; that the body alone receives and transmits the contagion, while the soul in all instances proceeds im- maculate from the hands of her Creator. This disposition to disease, such as they allowed it to be, was considered by some of them as the effect of a peculiar quality in the forbidden fruit; by others, as hav- ing been contracted from the poisonous breath of the infernal Spirit, which inha- SERMON III. 59 bited the serpent's body (^). On one point they were all united ; by preserving to the soul the bright traces of her divine origin unimpaired, they founded on a deceitful basis an arrogant creed, w^hich, in declaring peace and pardon to the sinner, rested more upon personal merit, than the satis- faction of a Saviour. In commenting upon the celebrated Book of Sentences, a work once regarded as a stupendous effort of human ingenuity, and an invaluable production of rational piety, more studied and not much less revered than the sacred Scriptures them- selves, the disciples of Lombard never failed to improve every hint, Avhich tended to de- grade the grace of God, and exalt the pride of man. Interweaving with the unculti- vated speculations of their master the re- fined conceits of a fond philosophy, they flattered themselves, that they were form- ing a wreath for his brow, which no future age could tear away. Yet while with more than his confidence and precision they affected on every occasion to define the powers and capacities of man, sometimes apparently at variance with him, and often professedly with each other, they proceeded from disquisition to disquisition, and from 60 SERMON III. distinction to distinction, until they seemed lost in a wilderness of investigation. Nor unfrequently were arguments advanced and conclusions adopted in order to gratify the vanity of human reason, which reason itself, had it not been infatuated, while it smiled, would have blushed to contem- plate. But, if these writers, who perverted the divinity as well as literature of the ages in which they lived, maintained, that the body alone and not the soul became vi- tiated by the fall, in what, it may be asked, did they suppose the guilt of Original Sin to consist, and what to be the necessity of remitting it ? The answer to this question will be found to contain the principal scope of the controversy. Original Sin they di- rectly opposed to original Righteousness ; and this they considered not as something connatural with man, but as a superinduced habit or adv^entitious ornament, the removal of which, according to the philosophical principles of the Stagirite, could not prove detrimental to the native powers of his mind. Hence they stated the former simply to be the loss or want of the latter ; of an accomplishment unessential to his nature, of which it might be deprived, yet still re- SERMON 111. 61 tain its integrity inviolate (*). When there- fore they contemplated the effects of the fall, by confining the evil to a corporeal taint, and not extending it to the nobler faculties of the soul, they regarded man as an object of divine displeasure, not because he possessed that, which was offensive, but because he was defective in that, which was pleasing to the Almighty. While, however, they laboured to diminish the effects, they augmented in equal propor- tion the responsibihty of the first transgres- sion, asserting, that all participated in the guilt of Adam. He, they said, received for himself and his posterity the gift of righteousness, which he subsequently for- feited ; in his loins we were included, and by him were virtually represented : his will was ours, and hence the conse- quence of his lapse is justly imputable to us his descendants (^). By our natural birth therefore, under this idea, we are alienated from God, innocent in our individual per- sons, but guilty in that of him, from whom we derived our existence ; a guilt, which, although contracted through the fault of another, yet so closely adheres to us, that it effectually precludes our entrance at the 62 SERMON III. gate of everlasting life, until the reception of a new birth in baptism. Thus they contended that the lapse of Adam conveys to us solely imputed guilt, the corporeal infection, which they ad- mitted, not being Sin itself, but only the subject-matter of it ; not peccatumy but, ac- cording to their phr 3.seo\ogy ,fomes peccati, a kind of fuel, which the human will kindles or not at pleasure (^). It required, however, no common talent at paradoxical solution to prove, what was pertinaciously held, the innocence of that occult quality, which disposes to crime without being it- self criminal, which, void of all depravity, renders the mind depraved ; that metapho- rical fuel of the affections, which, although not vicious in its own nature, yet, when in- flamed, generates vice in the heart, upon which it preys. Such was the outline of the doctrine vipon this point maintained in the Church of Rome, which was always discussed with much metaphysical detail and many ab- stract distinctions. The tenet of the Lu- therans, on the other hand, when neither ignorantly misconceived, nor wilfully mis- represented, is remarkable for its simplicity SERMON 111. 63 and perspicuity, is congenial with every man's feelings, and divested of all subtleties within the scope of popular comprehension. If its object is sometimes mistaken, we cannot be surprised at the circumstance, when we recollect to what it was opposed ; to scholastical speculations, which appear to the modern eye the deepest gloom of night, so that it necessarily becomes less distinct by being intermingled with dark- ness. Equally, however, averse from the fastidious philosophy and fanciful theories of their opponents, they wished rather to prove instructive than amusing, to propa- gate Scriptural truth than metaphysical refinements, and to exalt the glory of God than the credit of their own abilities. Avoiding all intricate questions upon the subject, they taught, that Original Sin is a corruption of our nature in a general sense, a depravation of the mental facul- ties and the corporeal appetites ; that the resplendent image of the Deity, which man received at the creation of the world, al- though not annihilated, is nevertheless greatly impaired ; and that in consequence the bright characters of unspotted sanctity, once deeply engraven on his mind by the hand of the living God, are become oblite- 64 SERMON III. rated, the injury extending to his intellect, and affecting as well his reason and his will, as his affections and passions. When therefore they contended, as frequently they did, that our nature is corrupted, they contrasted the position with the scholas- tical doctrine of its integrity : and when they urged its total corruption, they op- posed the idea of a deterioration in one part only, and even that consisting of a propensity void of sin. To conceive that inclination to evil incurs not in itself the disapprobation of Heaven, appeared to them little better than an apology for crime ; or at least a dangerous paUiation of that, which the Christianas duty compels him not only to repress, but abhor (^). Yet while they argued, that in conse- quence of this depravity we are to be con- sidered by our natural birth as the chil- dren of wrath, they admitted, that by our new birth in baptism we all are made the children of grace. When, however, on this occasion they pressed the necessity of complying with a Gospel institution, we must not suppose them to have understood that expression in its strongest sense, as excluding from every hope of mercy those, whom involuntary accident or incapacity SERMON III. 65 has prevented from participating in the Christian Covenant. For arguments are not wanting to prove, that, although they were anxious to select language, which could not be misrepre- sented, as insinuating with the Anabaptists the inutility of Infant baptism, they never- theless subscribed not in this respect to the more contracted doctrine of their adv^er- saries. Luther expressed himself upon this subject so clearly and explicitly, that we ought neither to doubt his creed, nor withhold the tribute justly due to the hu- manity of his feelings, and the liberality of his sentiments. Although infants, he re- marked, bring into the world with them the depravity of their origin, yet is it an important consideration, that they have never transgressed the divine command- ments ; and since God is merciful, he will not, we may be assured, suffer them to fare the worse, because, without their own fault, they have been deprived of his holy baptism. The known rule, he hkewise added, of extending favours and restrain- ing rigours, may in this case be applied greatly to the glory of a Being, disposed by nature to pardon and pity, so that we must not conceive Him to be too severe 06 SERMON III. against the children of Christians, who wills the salvation of all mankind (^). But whatsoever we may conceive the Lutherans to have maintained respecting the necessity of this sacred rite, it is cer- tain, that upon the effects of it they widely differed from the Church of Rome. For while their opponents taught that Original Sin was totally obliterated in the laver of regeneration, they on the other hand as- serted, that the corruption of our nature continues not only from the cradle to the font, but from the font to the grave, the same disposition, which exists before bap- tism, remaining after it (^). Upon the whole, their adversaries rested much upon the following philosophical truths ; that we ought not to be esteemed virtuous or vicious, worthy of praise or censure, merely on account of involuntary passions ; that all sin is determinable by the act of the will ; and that human nature is not evil. This they readily admitted in its proper place, when applied to a suitable object, and brought before a suitable tri- bunal, the doctrine of morals and the judg- ment of mankind : but they reprobated the attempt of introducing it in order to super- sede Christianity, and to prove from it the SERMON III. m purity of man in the estimation of God ; of him, '' in whose sight the very heavens ^' are not clean, and who chargeth his '' angels with folly." (^«) If therefore they dwelt much upon the dark side of the question, it was no more than the occasion demanded ; the bright side of it had been long held up by the Church of Rome in so fallacious a point of view, that it seemed almost impossible to err in that respect. The application of what has been ob- served, to the Article of our Church upon the same subject, has been already perhaps anticipated. Original Sin is there defined to be '' the fault and corruption of the na- ^' ture of every man, that naturally is en- " gendered of the offspring of Adam (^*), ^* whereby man is far gone from original ^' righteousness, and is of his own nature ^' inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusteth '^ always contrary to the spirit, and there- '^ fore, in every person born into this world, ^^ it deserveth God's wrath and damna- " tion.'' When we recollect the peculiar theory of the Scholastics, we immediately perceive with what this definition was in- tended to be contrasted. According to their statement. Original Sin is nothing f2 68 SERMON III. more than a defect of Original Righteous- ness, which, instead of being a connatural quality, was itself only a supernatural or- nament, unessential to the soul. In oppo- sition, therefore, to such a conceit, our Church represents it to be the fault and corruption of every man's nature^ not the loss of a superadded grace, but the vitiation of his innate powers ; a vitiation, by which he is very far removed from original righ- teousness, and by which, she subjoins, again repeating the word before used as distinctly expressive of her meaning, he is inclined to evil of his own nature ; so that his pas- sions continually resist the control of his reason. Yet while she esteems it not, as her adversaries held, an innocuous propen- sity, she does not declare it to be punish- able as a crime ; but steering a middle course, with a moderation, for which she is always remarkable, asserts it only to be deserving of God's displeasure. After the preceding definition, to which none but the Sophists of the schools could object, she proceeds to observe, in perfect con- formity with common sense and with the doctrine of the Lutherans, that this de- pravation of nature remains after baptism ; SERMON III. 69 so that concupiscence, or whatsoever else may be meant by the (p^ov^y^a a-ugzog of St. Paul, is not, as the Council of Trent had then recently maintained it (^^), and as the Church of Rome had always believed it to be, a sinless inclination ; but one rebelling against the Law of God ; and which, ac- cording to the Apostle, who nevertheless admits that there is no condemnation for them that believe and are baptized, retains in itself the nature of Sin. Having thus taken a survey of the Ar- ticle, if a brief one, yet one perhaps, after the remarks which have been previously made, sufficiently full for its illustration, before I conclude, it may be necessary to state, that, although every expression in it seems studiously chosen to avoid the ap- pearance of running into extremes, inter- pretations of this kind have notwithstand- ing been adopted. It has been supposed collaterally to hint the approbation of an opinion, which in all probability never en- tered the minds of our Reformers ; to in- sinuate the general imputation of Adam's guilt to his posterity as the basis of the Calvinistical Predestination. But in truth, how attentively soever the Article be ex- amined, not even the most distant allusion f3 70 SERMON III. to an imputation of this kind is in any sense to be discovered ; and it is singular that in such a light neither Papist nor Pro- testant had ever yet contemplated it, the former, with whom it originated, maintain- ing it upon a different principle, and be- holding it in a different point of view. One fact at least seems beyond controversy, and one, which many may think decisive of the question. It is certain that Calvin himself never directly taught it Q^); but that at a period long after his death, his more cor- rect followers formally introduced it, in order to supply, what they imagined to be, a striking deficiency in their system. The other instance alluded to respects the fate of infants dying without baptism, whom some have conceived that our Church excludes from salvation. But that the very reverse of this is the fact, appears highly probable from a passage in the Ar- ticle itself; in which it is said, as I before observed, not that the corruption of our nature produces actual condemnation, but that merely it is deserving of it ; a distinc- tion apparently intended to be marked with precision. On so interesting a topic, however, we naturally wish for more information and SERMON III. 71 greater certainty. If the sentiments then of Cranmer are to be deemed of import- ance, they may be ascertained from a trea- tise upon the reformation of Ecclesiastical laws, which was composed under his su- perintendency, and [)robably with much of his individual assistance. In this work the scrupulous superstition of those is ex- pressly condemned as impious, who so conipletely tie down the grace of God and the holy Spirit to the sacramental elements, as explicitly to affirm, that no infant can obtain eternal salvation, who dies before baptism : an opinion, it is said, far differ- ent from ours (^^). But more direct proof than this may be adduced, and proof which may, perhaps, be deemed conclusive. At the commence- ment of our baptismal service the Minister prays, that the child to be baptized may be received into the ark of Christ^s Church ; to which, as the form originally stood, it was added, '' and so saved from perishing;"' expressions too unequivocal to be miscon- ceived. But when our Liturgy was in the first instance revised and corrected, which, it should be noticed, was immediately be- fore the appearance of our Articles, this offensive passage was entirely omitted ; an F 4 72 SERMON III. omission certainly not made without rea- son, nor adopted without design (^^). Indeed had our Reformers on this oc- casion deliberately patronized the tenet, which some attribute to them, they would have directly incurred, what it is supposed they wished to avoid, the charge of singu- larity. No doubt can exist that Luther disapproved it. Calvin likewise was far from admitting it in an unqualified sense, hesitating to avow the distinction which his theory required (^^); while the Zuin- glians unreservedly opposed it in the most manly way, maintaining, upon their fa- vourite principle of Universal Redemption, that all infants without exception, whether baptized, or unbaptized, are saved through God's gracious promise, and in virtue of his Covenant, by the expiation which Christ made upon the cross for the whole race of mankind ; an expiation only capable of being rendered void in its effects by wil- ful perversity and conscious crime (^'^). To conclude, from a retrospective view of what has been advanced, it appears, that the Reformers of this country, hke their predecessors in Germany, solely wished to establish the doctrine of a mental dege- neracy, which the Church of Rome denied. SERMON m. 73 Against the subtleties of the Schools both entertained an equal, and avowed an open, hostility. Impressed with a due sense of human frailty, and instructed by the uner- ring page of Revelation, they rejected with contempt the dreams of Sophists ; and on the other hand inculcated a creed, which was more popular because less abstruse, and which, appealing to the affections, seemed to be no less founded on the gene- ral experience of mankind, than on the common basis of Scripture and Reason. They encountered not the formidable logic of the Schools from any principle of vain glory, to display their eloquence or ability ; nor did they represent human na- ture as corrupted, by way of furnishing a pretext for criminal indulgences, (for all were good men, and some in this country proved their sincerity by sacrificing life to conscience;) but weary of scholastical tri- fling, and zealous for the propagation of re- vealed truth, they endeavoured to produce in the minds of others the same conviction which they felt in their own. Avoiding one extreme, they meant not to rush into another ; and whatsoever use ignorant or enthusiastical men may have since made of any strong expressions, which they adopted, 74 SERMON III. offensive only when misapplied, they never intended so to degrade our nature, as if it were lost to every sense of moral excel- lence (^^); they were alone desirous of re- ducing its proud pretensions to the una- dulterated standard of holy Scripture, to demonstrate, that the Christian redemption is not useless, nor grace promised us in vain Q^). Neither were their efforts una- vailing. In proportion as the sacred Writ- ings, to which they constantly referred, be- came more read and better understood, the credit of the theological dictators of preceding ages was gradually diminished, until at length the fairy visions and phan- tastical speculations, with which a credu- lous world had been long amused, vanished before the splendour of Gospel day. So puerile indeed were some of these eccen- tric writers in their glosses upon the fall of man, and the transmission of its effects, that the Church of Rome herself began to grow ashamed of such folly ; and to slight in one respect at least the authority of those, who had been her instructors for centuries. From the general disrepute, however, which has since attached to scho- lastical theories among Protestants, a ma- nifest inconvenience has arisen ; much mis- SERMON 111. 75 apprehension respecting the opinions, which were opposed to them, has sometimes una- voidably taken place in the mind of the modern controversialist, who averting his eye from them, and directing it to another quarter, has often lost sight of the only object, upon which it should have been constantly fixed. Of the justice of this re- mark we shall be further convinced as we proceed in the enquiry, through the whole of which we shall almost always find it ne- cessary to keep in view the dogmas of the Scholastics, of those once applauded rea- soners, who supported with the acuteness of men the reveries of children, who la- boured to perplex with subtleties the plain- est and most simple truths, and who never were more pleased, than when entangling common sense in the web of their sophis- try, or fanning into flame the secret spark of human pride. SERMON IV. Acts x. 4. Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God, X HE case of Cornelius^ whose prayers and alms are here said to have ascended up for a memorial before God, was often quoted by the advocates of the Church of Rome, to prove the merit of works before the reception of grace ; to prove the hu- man will capable, by its own inherent rec- titude, of deserving the favour and appro- bation of Heaven. The Lutherans, on the other hand, contended, that the argument supported not the conclusion drawn from it ; and was therefore irrelevant ; that the works of Cornelius were not the causes but the effects of grace ; and that this is suffi- ciently apparent from the context, in which he is described as a devout man, who feared God, and prayed continually (^). In allusion to the general question upon this subject, our Church asserts, that man 78 SERMON IV. is incapable of turning and preparing him- self to true faith and invocation by his own unassisted efforts, of performing acceptable works without preventing and cooperating grace ; that such as precede justification are neither pleasing to the Almighty, nor meritorious of his favours, by what the School Divines termed Congruity ; and that not being done as God has willed and commanded them to be done, they are to be considered as participating of the na- ture of sin. But what these works before justification properly are, what is signified by the expression Congruity, and even the appellation Sinful, by which they are cha- racterized, evident as its sense may be sup- posed to appear, or with what particular view the insufficiency of our natural powers is so repeatedly urged, we shall in vain seek to discover by consulting modern contro- versies. In later times one object alone seems to have been contemplated, when the topic has been discussed respecting the efficacy or inefficacy of mere human abi- lity in the production of good ; the appli- cation of such a principle to the doctrine of Predestination. To this has every ar- gument and almost every expression been directed. I should, however, premise, that S E R M O N IV. 79 with this, in the instance under considera- tion, it is not properly connected ; as it solely tends to establish the importance of Christian aid, and the necessity of Christian redemption. On the present occasion I shall endea- vour to deduce from its origin so much of the doctrine contained in our Articles upon Free Will and Works before Justification, (both embracing but one object,) as may be necessary to illustrate them ; the illus- tration itself I shall defer to the succeeding Lecture. When we turn our eye towards the distant aera of which I am treating, we perceive, that the Calvinistical cloud, which arose in the reign of Elizabeth, so long obscured the genuine tenets of the Reformation, that it is not easy to distinguish them through the almost impenetrable darkness, in which they have been involved. Yet this perhaps appears least to have been the case of the subject under review, one, which was con- troverted between the Lutherans and their opponents in the Church of Rome, with much inflexibility on both sides, not only before the reputation of Calvin became extended, but even before his name was known in the world. For so obvious a 80 SERMON IV. reason, therefore, if no other could be assigned, it would surely be proper princi- pally to consult the writings of the Luther- ans, when investigating the tendency of opinions, and the force of expressions, evi- dently derived from Lutheran sources. But to explain the leading points of this once interesting, although now obsolete controversy, it will be requisite in some degree to explore the perplexed mazes of scholaslical disquisition. The clew, hovv- ever, which the volumes of Luther afford on the occasion, renders the attempt less bewildering, as we are not left to wander unguided from labyrinth to labyrinth, but solely to follow where he conducts us. Nor will it be requisite, in developing the an- cient sophistry of the Schools, to regard in any way the glosses of modern Commenta- tors; it will only be important to deter- mine, in what view he contemplated it, and what were the more obnoxious, as well as prominent parts of it in his conception. The question, therefore, to be investi- gated, was evidently scholastical, in the discussion of which, although the disputa- tious advocates of the Schools seemed not always to agree among themselves, and even sometimes to disagree respecting SERMON IV. 81 terms and modes of expression, yet until the period of the Reformation nothing Hke a serious opposition to it existed ; until then the flame of controversy, which encir- cled the metaphysical system, played harm- less around it, and, instead of consuming, only served to adorn it. The disciples of Lombard, how variously soever distinguished by sects and parties, in whatsoever mode disposed to pervert reason, and annihilate Scripture, univer- sally held, that neither before nor after the fall was man in himself capable of meriting heaven ; that by the gratuitous endow- ments of his creation, even in Paradise, he was only enabled to preserve his innocence, and not to sin ; and that he was utterly incompetent to proceed one step further, efiicaciously to will a remunerable good, and by his natural exertions to obtain a reward above his nature, original righte- ousness being reputed not a connate qua- lity, but a supernatural habit (^). Thus he could resist evil, but not advance good to perfection; could in some sense live well, by living free from sin ; but could not, without divine aid, so live as to deserve everlasting life. For such a purpose, they asserted, that grace was necessary, to ope- G 82 SERMON IV. rate upon his will in its primary determina- tions, and to cooperate with it in its ulti- mate acts. It was therefore in the loss of this celestial aid, this superadded gift, and not in any depravity of his mind, that they supposed the principal evil derivable from his lapse to consist ; a loss however, which, by a due exertion of his innate abilities, they deemed to be retrievable ; and hence sprung that offensive doctrine of human sufficiency, which, in the Lutheran^s eye, completely obscured the glory of the Gos- pel, and which, when applied to the sin- ner's conscience, taught the haughty to presume, and the humble to despair. According then to the system under con- sideration, the favour of God in this life, and his beatific presence in the life to come, are both attainable by personal merit ; the former by congruous, as it was termed, the latter by condign ; the one without, the other with the assistance of grace. By our natural strength, it was said, we can fulfil the commandments of God, as far as their obligation extends ; yet was it added, that we cannot fulfil them according to the intention of the Divine Legislator: an intention of rewarding only those, who obey them in virtue, formed by SERMON IV. 83 charity, under the influence of a quaUty, rather regulating the tendency, than aug- menting the purity, of the action (^). But although the blessing of eternal feli- city be beyond our reach, yet is the only requisite, which we want to secure that blessing, within it : although we cannot, they said, merit heaven itself without works of condignity, yet can we merit the means of obtaining it by works of congruity. Considering, therefore, the latter as intro- ductory to the former, they stated, that we may so prepare ourselves for grace, as to become entitled to it congruously, not as to a debt, which, in strict justice, God is bound to pay, but as to a grant, which it is congruous in him to give, and which it would be inconsistent with his attributes to withhold (^). In a higher or lower sense, in proportion as Christianity was left at a distance more or less remote, was this fa- vourite doctrine supported by every de- nomination of Scholastics, and by every individual of the Church of Rome. Con- gruous merit was universally esteemed a pearl above all price, the intrinsic value of which attracted the regard, and conciliated the benevolence of the Almighty. Arrogantly, however, as it was charac- g2 84 SERMON IV. terized, they nevertheless esteemed it not to be in every point completely good ; at least, not so sublimely good, as to demand a celestial recompense : yet did they not impute its deficiency in this respect to a degeneracy in the human faculties. For without grace, even before his lapse, man was believed to have been equally incom- petent ; after it, then, could he possibly be supposed to possess by nature a perfection, of which he had not to boast even while innocent ? Although preparatory works, therefore, were represented as meritorious only in a certain degree, and in a pecuhar sense, as holding a kind of middle state be- tween absolute merit and actual demerit (^), yet ought it to be observed, that when we were stated, by the sole exertion of our natural powers, to be capable of not trans- gressing the laws of God, not to sin, more was comprehended in the expression than meets the ear. It was not merely hinted, that we can remove ourselves a degree above real crime, and attain a species of negative holiness, but that we can with sincerity fulfil our obligations both to God and man, and cultivate, without divine aid, the lovely train of moral virtues and pious affections. SERMON IV. 85 For, according to their conception, we are endowed with an innate propensity to good, which vice itself can never obliterate, and are able not only to reverence and adore the Supreme Being, but to love him above other objects. In this way they argued, that man's attachment to terrestrial good, such as his eager desire of wealth, in the pursuit of which he exposes himself to ten thousand dangers, and the indissoluble union of heart between the sexes, which disregards every consequence, and despises all control, surmounts the most formidable difficulties, and braves in its gratification even death itself, incontestibly proves his power of loving God above all things : for if in so great a degree he can esteem the inferior, how much more, they said, can he devote himself to the superior good, how much more idolize the Creator than the creature (^). After such a mode of reasoning it was, that they pronounced him to be furnished with the purest feelings, and adequate to the sublimest acts of devo- tion. Nor was this the only brilliancy in their finished portrait: for they supposed him competent no less to the efficient prac- tice, than the barren admiration, of holi- ness ; enabled as well to obey the laws, as g3 86 SERMON IV. to love the goodness, of the Ahiaighty ; and, if not to deserve the rewards, at least to discharge the obligations, of religion. Impressed therefore with such exalted notions of human ability, and forgetful of the Christian propitiation for sin, the Sophists of the Schools maintained, that the soul of man possesses in the freedom, or rather the capacity, of her will a faculty almost divine. Stimulated by the most upright propensities, and undepraved in her noblest powers, she directs her pro- gress in the path of truth and the road to bliss, by the pure and inextinguishable light of an unperverled reason (^). Although mutable in her decisions, nevertheless c'om- plete controller of her conduct, she be- comes at pleasure either the servant of righteousness, or the slave of sin ; and dis- daining to be anticipated by God himself, prevents him in his supernatural gifts by a previous display of her own meritorious deeds, challenging, as a congruous right, that which only could have been otherwise conferred as a favour undeserved. Ap- proaching the throne of mercy, not with a conscious sense of frailty, but with a con- fident persuasion of her inherent dignity, she wrests from a sonmivolent Deity, hi- SERMON IV. 87 therto but a slumbering spectator of her efforts, an ornamental grace, enabling her to merit that reward by condignity, which, without any defect of virtue, but merely by the appointed order of things, she is in- capable of meriting by congruity. Yet high as the pretensions of this latter merit were exalted above all evangelical considerations, the partisans of the Church of Rome, in their practical application of it, often stated it to consist as well in mere outward sanctity, as in an inward principle of the mind. If, said they, he, who con- tinues polluted by mortal crime, performs any external act of devotion, with only a good natural intention, before his life is reformed, or his heart converted, he merits congruously, as the Scholastics phrased it, " ex opere operato." But the infatuation rested not here. " By the bare observance '' of my holy order," exclaimed the se- cluded devotee, " I am able not solely to obtain grace for myself, but by the works, which I then may do, can accu- mulate merit, sufficient both to supply my own wants and those of others, so that I may sell the superabundance of my acquired treasure." (^) Can we be surprised that a Reformer of Luther's manly g4 88 SERMON IV. disposition, who wrote without reserve, and reasoned without control, when adverting to opinions of so noxious a tendencjj should sometimes, from excess of zeal, lose sight of moderation in his censures ? Having thus traced the outline of the scholastical tenet upon this subject, I pro- ceed to consider that, which was supported on the other side by the Lutherans. En- gaging in a conflict, which, if some think too pertinaciously, none will deny to have been ably fought, they commenced the attack under a persuasion, that the position of their opponents militated against the leading principles of Christianity. If man, they said, be capable of pleasing God by his own works, abstractedly considered, without divine assistance, where is the ne- cessity, and what is the utility, of that as- sistance ? Then taking the question in a higher point of view, they argued, that were it possible for the moral virtues of the mind by their own efficiency to render our persons acceptable to God, and obtain his lost favour, no need would exist of any other satisfaction for sin, and thus the Avhole scheme of Gospel redemption would have been fruitless, and Christ have died in vain C^). While therefore the doctrine SERMON IV. 89 of the Atonement presented nothing but '^ a cloud and darkness to their adversa- '' ries, it gave light by night to these ;'' on them it shone, amidst surrounding gloom, with lustre unobscured. The controversy before us was among the first of those, which shook the Papal system to its foundation, and which, ac- cording to the custom of the times, were originally agitated in public disputations. The spirit of chivalry was not wholly ex- tinguished ; contending parties of different denominations, whether renowned for arts or for arms, entered the lists, prepared to decide every point at issue, the one by personal, the other by intellectual prowess. In literary digladiations, that the disgrace of a drawn battle might not be incurred, and that victory, when obtained, might be declared with more precision, the theses, which formed the basis for argument, were generally couched in terms, as remote as possible from those, which on the other side were admitted ; terms, not indeed necessarily running into extremes, but strongly and broadly marking a contrariety of opinion. Hence it happens, that in taking a cursory view of some positions brought forward at the Reformation, after 90 SERMON IV. the mode and for the purpose alluded to^ a modern reader is sometimes startled by the singular turn of the expressions, in which they are defined , and the striking boldness of the conclusions, to which thev apparently tend : but his surprise abates, when he learns, with what design they were framed, and after what customary manner, as well as against what pecuhar dogmas, it was intended to support them. This is particularly the case of the question under consideration, which, with others, some of less, but few of greater importance, was formally contested at the commencement of the Reformation in theological combat. It was with a view to disputations of such a description, that Luther first ad- vanced a proposition, which proved highly offensive to the Papists, and which they never ceased to condemn and calumniate. His assertion was, that he who exerts him- self to the utmost of his ability still con- tinues to sin ; an assertion, in which the very essence of the controversy seems to be contained (^^). I have already observed, that, on the other side, unassisted man was thought in- capable of performing an action remu- nerably good, or, as it was usually termed, SERMON IV. 91 condignly meritorious, even before his lapse ; and that consequently, in his fallen state, all, to which he was conceived competent by his innate strength, was not to sin. When Luther therefore drew up his thesis against the tenet of congruous works, if little delicacy, yet some cavition, and much dis- crimination, appeared requisite. Had he stated them to be thus good in a scholas- tical sense, which in a scholastical discus- sion was the only sense admissible, he would have completely lost sight of his ob- ject, and allowed more than even his op- ponents themselves. Had he described them as not demeritorious, or, in other words, not sinful, he would have precisely maintained the adverse position, and might consequently have spared his labour; at the same time, that he would have tacitly acknowledged them to possess, what he could not consistently with truth attribute to them, every natural perfection of virtue and holiness. Under what denomination then could he class them, except under that of sinful ; a denomination which he the more readily adopted, because even among his adversaries themselves, the words Sin and Grace, as he remarked, were 92 SERMON IV. in general immediately opposed to each other ? (^0 Let lis not however imagine, that the Lutherans on this occasion attempted to confuse together virtue and vice without distinction, from any absurd attachment to puerile paradox. Far was it from their in- tention to break down the sacred barriers of morality, and call evil good, or good evil ; to destroy what God has established in the human breast as the rule of reason, and the law of rectitude ; to depreciate that, which constitutes the firmest bond of social duty, and the true dignity of our nature in its connexion with this sublunary world : but, anxious to rescue Christian theology from the grasp of those, who embraced only to betray, they merely laboured to re- store that importance to the doctrine of Redemption, with which the Scriptures in- vest it, but of which, by a subtle perversity, it had long been deprived. The principal object therefore in their view evidently was, to christianize the speculations of the Schools ; and the principal drift of their argument to prove, that human virtue, how extravagantly soever extolled by a vain philosophy, is wholly insufficient (be- SERMON IV. 93 cause imperfect) to merit the favour of Heaven. Allowing no medium between righteousness and unrighteousness, the ap- probation and disapprobation of the Al- mighty (^^), characterizing that as sinful, which is confessedly not holy, and thus an- nihilating every ground of self-presumption, they inculcated the necessity of contem- plating with the eye of faith those means of reconciliation, which Christianity alone affords. But obvious as seems the scope of their controversy, it has nevertheless been some- times misconceived, and a tendency im- puted to their principles abhorrent from their feelings. It has been insinuated, that their doctrine went to prove man's total inability of extricating himself from crime, until the arrival of some uncertain moment, which brings with it, without his own en- deavours, a regeneration from on high, the sudden transfusion of a new light and new virtues. But those, who thus conceive of it, are not probably aware that the author of the Augsburg Confession warmly re- probates this precise idea, which he deno- minates a Manichsean conceit and a hor- rible falsehood (^^). Upon the abstract question of Free Will it is indeed true, that 94 SERMON IV. Melancthon, no less than Luther, at first held opinions, which he was afterwards happy to retract : but when this is acknow- ledged, it should be added, that he made ample amends for his indiscretion, by not only expunging the offensive passages from the single work, which contained them, but by introducing others of a nature diame- trically opposite. And although the more inflexible coadjutor of Melancthon was too proud to correct what he had once made public, and too magnanimous to regard the charge of inconsistency, which his ad- versaries urged against him ; yet wdiat his better judgment approved clearly appears from a preface, written not long before his death ; in which, while he expressed an anxietv to have his own chaotic labours, as he styled them, buried in eternal oblivion, he recommended in strong terms, as a work admirably adapted to form the Chris- tian Divine, that very performance of his friend, which was remarkable for some- thing more than a mere recantation of the opinions alluded to (^^). But to return to the leading point of the topic in contemplation, it appears upon the whole, that the great object of the Lu- therans, in thus opposing human ability, SERMON IV. 95 was very different from what some have conjectured ; and that their attacks were solely levelled against the proud presump- tion of congruous works. We must not however hence conclude^ that their objec- tion was only applicable to these ; it like- wise applied to condign, to those which were performed with, as well as those which were performed without, the assistance of grace ; for in both instances they disallowed the plea of personal merit, in the scholas- tical, strict, and only proper sense of that expression. It was not therefore against any conceived deficiency in the quality of our virtue that they argued, but against its supposed competency, whether wrought in or out of grace, with greater or less degrees of purity to eiffect that, which the oblation of Christ alone accomplishes. Upon both points Luther treated the doctrine of his ad- versaries as altogether frivolous, and inca- pable of corroboration by a single fact ; as the idle speculation of vain men, who trifled with the mercy of God and the misery of man, who, exalting their own wisdom above the divine, slighted, if not despised, the efficacy of that redemption, which Chris- tianity has revealed to reconcile justice 96 SERMON IV. with compassion, to subdue our fears, and to animate our hopes (^^). Futile however as the scholastical tenet appeared to be, although deficient in proof, and unsupported by example, upon this, he remarked with indignation and grief, was founded the whole system of Papal de- lusion. Congruous merit was said infallibly to produce condign ; and, in the applica- tion of them to practical purposes, both were thought principally to consist in va- rious external works of piety, and supersti- tious observances, the extravagant vene- ration of which extended the authority of the Church, and augmented its wealth and splendour ; filled Rome with vanity, and Europe with absurdity. Besides the ob- vious acts of devotion and mortification within the compass of vulgar ability, the most romantic system of virtue was adopted ; orders of various kinds were in- vented, and vows encouraged of almost every thing, which affiected the lusts of the flesh, or the pride of life. Secluding them- selves from all temporal concerns^ some entered into solitude, and forgetting the world, forgot many important purposes, for which they came into it ; solicitous to dis- SERMON IV. 97 charge iheir duty to God, they neglected, what he equally enjoined, their duty to man. Saints were believed to abound in merits beyond what their own immediate exigences required ; and not only to possess such supererogatory treasures for the public good, but to preserve them even after death ; in their very relics was supposed to exist a communicable property of holi- ness, and virtue to be derived froai pro- stration before the shrines dedicated to their names. Pilgrimages were consequently held fn universal estimation, and conceived more worthy of divine regard, if attended with difficulties and dangers, particularly when directed to that favoured land, where God dispensed his covenanted mercies to mankind. But Pilgrims were not the only devotees, whom Christianity blushed to behold in Judea : there the votaries of the Cross erected in her cause their hallowed standards, and imbrued their hands in the blood of Infidels, to obtain the remission of their sins, and the salvation of their souls. Such were some of the consequences re- sulting from the doctrine of human merit ; consequences, which, in Luther's idea, ren- dered it no less odious than contemptible. Upon these he anxiously fixed his eye, and. 98 SERMON IV. in order to annihilate the evil, laboured with a zeal, which we cannot censure, and with a sincerity, which we must applaud, to cut off the corrupted source, from which it flowed. SERMON V. John xv. 5. Without me ye can do nothing, JlxAVING in a former Lecture endea- voured to explain the doctrine of congruous merit, as supported by the Church of Rome, and opposed by the Lutherans, I proceed to consider the sentiments of our own Re- formers upon the same subject. I have observed, that among the Arti- cles of our Church there are two, which evidently relate to this much controverted question ; the one upon Free Will, the other upon Works before Justification. The object of the latter, from the allusions which it contains, it seems impossible to mistake ; nor is that of the former less ap- parent, when we consider its general ten- dency, and the peculiar phraseology of the Schools, in which it is expressed. Both therefore take but one and that the same obvious direction, alike asserting our in- H 2 100 SERMON V. competency to please God, and obtain his favour by our own merits, in contempt of those, to which the eye of faith should be alone directed. But because our Church ascribes not to human virtue, contemplated as inde- pendent of Christianity, the power of con- ciliating divine approbation, we must not hence conclude, that she restricts the un- covenanted mercies of God, withholding salvation from Heathens, upon whom, walking in darkness and the shadow of death, the light of the blessed Gospel has never arisen. Although persuaded '' that ^' there is none other name under heaven " given to man, in which, and through ^' which, we can receive health and salva- '' tion, but only the name of Christ ;" al- though rejecting the creed of the Infidel as vain, who, actuated by presumption and pride, treads under foot the Son of God, and deems the blood of the covenant, where- with he was sanctified, an unholy thing; yet she determines not the case of the Gen- tile world, or in any way solves a question foreign to her purpose. Indeed the real sentiments of our Reformers upon this point appear to have been different from those, which some have imputed to them. SERMON V. 101 For while, like Luther, whose private opi- nion upon it was nevertheless far from be- ing contracted(^), they established nothing directly upon the subject, they indirectly seemed to assert, what Zuingle had boldly and publicly taught, that the Kingdom of Heaven is open to Heathens as well as Christians (^); at least, in the liberal lan- guage of the Zuinglians, they held the ob- lation of Christ upon the cross to be " a *' perfect redemption, propitiation, and sa- «' tisfaction, for all the sins of the whole " world."(^) In the Articles, however, immediately under review, they proposed to themselves another object : in these they meant not to launch out into any unnecessary specu- lations, but to attack in one of its strong holds the pride of scholastical sophistry ; to oppose the presumptuous doctrine of congruous merit. Of a position as remote from the humility, as adverse to the prin- ciples, of the Gospel, it was impossible for those to approve, vi^ho in their search after Christian truth were solely guided by the genuine oracles of Christianity. With per- fect unanimity therefore they maintained, against the favourite Theology of the times, h3 102 SERMON V. that our natural powers are inadequate to the annihilation of crime, and the recovery of God's lost favour, or, as they expressed themselves with this view in the Homilies, '^ that of ourselves and by ourselves we ^' have no goodness, help, or salvation ; '' but that all comes to us only through the '' great mercy of God by Christ/''^^) But their zeal upon the same point was further inflamed by the misapplications of the scholastical tenet, which the Church of Rome had countenanced, and the miscon- ceptions respecting it, which prevailed in the minds of an ignorant laity. The peo- ple were taught, that much efficacy was derivable from a compliance with mere ex- ternal acts of devotion ; hence little atten- tion was paid to inward principles of action, and the religion of the heart became disre- garded, while that of the lip was scrupu- lously adhered to. At a period, therefore, when common sense had begun to dethrone sophistry, and reassert her dominion over the human mind, and when evangelical simplicity had effected its escape from the metaphysical labyrinths, in which it had long been bewildered, to have preserved a stubborn silence upon such a doctrine would SERMON V. 103 have been deemed culpable, and to have attempted any modification of it even cri- minal. The Article which I propose first to con- sider is that upon Free Will. But before I proceed to examine its contents, I should premise, that it consists of two separate clauses, framed at different periods ; that the former was added in the reign of Eli- zabeth, and adopted almost verbatim from the Wirtemberg Confession (^); and that the latter contained the whole of the Arti- cle, as it originally existed, which was prin- cipally taken from a passage in the wTitings of St. Austin, altered so as to receive a par- ticular and appropriate application (^). Regardless, however, of its general con- struction, and directing their attention solely to modern controversies, some have conjectured, that it is entirely Calvinistical ; others, that it at least steers a middle course between the two extremes of Calvinism on one side, and Arminianism on the other. Although in these collateral topics, the dis- cussion of which would lead me too far from the track proposed, I mean not to in- terfere, it may nevertheless be proper to remark, that since the first part of the Ar- ticle was extracted from a Lutheran Con- h4 104 SERMON V. fession, composed for exhibition in the Council of Trent, and the last chiefly de- rived from a more ancient source, those, who choose to consider it as connected with the Predestinarian system, cannot at least support their argument by alleging, that it was drawn up with an eye to the lan- guage and sentiments of Calvin. Contemplating then the subject of Free Will only as it is allied to the tenet of con- gruous merit, the Article states " the con- " dition of man after the fall of Adam to " be such, that he cannot turn and prepare " himself by his natural strength, and good " works, to faith and calling upon God." That the object of this paragraph is that to which I allude, the very expressions '^ to " turn and prepare himself by his natural " strength and good works" distinctly prove ; expressions borrowed from the phraseology of the Scholastics, and appro- priated to the controversy under our con- sideration. By them it was argued, as on a former occasion I remarked, that al- though we cannot live spiritually without the infusion of a certain supernatural prin- ciple, to form our virtues, (not to improve their nature, but merely adorn them, and give them a celestial adaptation,) we can SERMON V. 105 nevertheless by our own energies so dispose our minds for the infusion of such a prin- ciple, as to deserve it congruously, the pre- vious disposition of the svibject- matter for the reception of the form (which never fails of its intended effect) being producible by our own individual exertions. In contra- distinction to this idea, which subverts the foundation of our surest hopes, and ren- ders Revelation nugatory, our Church maintains, that through man's first trans- gression we are become incapable of thus disposing ourselves to the true spiritual life, to the faith and invocation of God, " ad " fidem et invocationem Dei,''(^) and con- sequently of regaining that state of accept- ance, by our own dignity, without the mediation of Christ, of which the lapse of Adam has deprived us. For, in the con- ception of our Reformers, to assert, that so much integrity remains in our natural powers, with the certainty of leading to so beneficial a result, was to assert a position, which supersedes Christianity. The scope of the concluding clause seems precisely similar to that of the one, which I have attempted to illustrate, while on some points perhaps it is even more ex- press and particular. It affirms, " that we 106 SERMON V. " cannot do good works pleasant and ac- '' ceptable to God, without his grace by '' Christ preventing us and cooperating " with us." If the peculiar tendency of this clause were not otherwise manifest, the scholastical terms, " works pleasant " and acceptable to God/' would suffici- ently point it out ; especially when it is considered, that these words are not to be found in the author, from whom the prin- cipal part of the passage was taken, but were inserted by our Reformers, in order thus to fix its application. With respect to the argument itself, its object is to prove, that by the exertion of our natural powers we cannot please God congruously, but that fortius purpose the assistance of grace is requisite ; not of that grace, it is added, still further to carry on the contrast, which we can merit by a previous preparation, but which Christ has merited for us, " gratia, quse per Christum est;" (expres- sions, we should likewise observe, not used by (^) St. Austin ;) nor of that, which be- ing acquired by an act of the will, must necessarily be consequent to it ; but which prevents, or more properly precedes such an act, and cooperates with the mind in the production of it. The inference dedu- SERMON V. 107 cible from hence is obvious. It is this ; that as human ability by its own efficiency cannot claim acceptance with God, but is incompetent to a due renovation of the heart, to that, which, as it is expressed in our Homilies, is not " man's only work ^' without God," (^) we must look for other means to appease the anger, and obtain the approbation of Heaven. But, although the strict philosophical question respecting the freedom of the mind appears not to be involved in the en- quiry, some have endeavoured so to in- terpret the word ^' prevent/' as if it meant not simply to go before the act of tlie will, but to impede the liberty of its action ; and, forgetful of what follows, have con- tended for the idea of such an inoperation, as entirely excludes all personal agency. To enter into an explanation of this word, before those whom I am addressing, would be superfluous ; it may nevertheless, per- haps, be proper to observe, that it was used in the English language according to the more obvious sense of it in the Latin, even subsequently to the Reformation ; a fact, which our common translation of the Bible sufficiently proves. " We," it is there said, '' which are alive and remain 108 SERMON V. " unto the coming of the Lord, shall not " prevent them that are asleep, but shall ^' be caught up together with them in the '' clouds." (^^) When, however, any doubt arises with regard either to the meaning or the construction of an Article, the Latin, and not the English, copy ought always to be consulted; because this, as a mere trans- lation, has been differently printed in dif- ferent editions ; while that, as the original, has never varied. If then we refer to the Latin, the force of the expression, in the sense which I have annexed to it, will not only be apparent from the general use of it in that language, but be fully corrobo- rated by another circumstance. For by comparing the Article with the source from which it was derived, we perceive, that, instead of the term operans^ which St. Austin adopted, our Reformers substituted (and certainly not without design) that of prcevenie7is, a term studiously selected to point out the period, and not the mode, of divine assistance, when considered sepa- rately; and when combined with the remain- der of the definition, to point out, that grace does not, as the Scholastics held, follow, but precede, the acceptable will, and con- cur with us in producing it. SERMON V. 109 To establish however such an interpreta- tion beyond controversy, it may be ob- jected, that a further change seems requi- site ; that the cooperation should have been specifically represented as taking place before the disposition is actually formed, and while it is yet only in formation. Prove this, it may be said, and the conclu- sion will be inevitable. Now it is singular, that a change of the kind alluded to has been made in the language of St. Austin ; that the sentence, which in him is read, '' Cooperante cum volumus/' was altered by our Reformers, to avoid all ambiguity, into " Cooperante dwn volumus ;'' the con- junction dmn being manifestly chosen for the express purpose of unequivocally as- serting a cooperation during the conti- nuance of volition, while the act of the mind is incomplete, and still in a state of progression ("). Thus, in opposition to the creed of their adversaries, while they considered grace as a cause, and not a consequence, of the will, they held it not to be the sole, but only a concomi- tant, cause ; and, anxious in the extreme to express themselves without obscurity on this point, they so corrected the passage, upon which the clause was modelled, as to 110 SERMON V. convey their meaning with precision, and to prevent, one would conceive, the very possibility of a misconstruction. To their object in so strenuously main- taining the cooperation of divine aid, at a period previous to the actual volition of good, I have already alluded : it was simply to oppose the offensive doctrine of congru- ous merit, as the means of pleasing God, and of obtaining grace without Christi- anity ; a doctrine, which in their ear sounded so hollow as to ring at every touch. Upon this construction, therefore, which seems the most appropriate and consistent, it is evident, that they considered not the intricate subject of Free Will in a general, but only in a particular, point of view ; averting from a controversy, which is rather calculated to gratify polemical vanity, than promote personal humility, and which is seldom discussed without sacrificing the simplicity of Christian truth to the pride of metaphysical talent. Although they denied not that the decency of moral, and the dignity of philosophical virtue are within the sphere of our natural ability, they nevertheless argued, that virtue merely human possesses not a propitiatory and SERMON V. Ill mediatorial efficacy ; that we can neither render ourselves acceptable to God, and yield him the homage of a spiritual obe- dience without grace, nor without Christ obtain from him that invaluable aid by our OAvn deservings. While they esteemed the iieart to be the consecrated altar of pure religion, they taught, that its oblations should be offered up in the name of him, whose perfections abundantly supply our defects, and be hallowed by the sacred fire, which comes down from Heaven ; by that grace of God through Christ, (gratia, quae per Christum est,) which is conferred upon us without our own deserts, not to make us vainer, but better, to sanctify our feel- ings, and regulate our dispositions, and so to free us from the servitude of sin, that, " running the way of God's command- '' ments, we may obtain his gracious pro- " mises, and be made partakers of his hea- '' venly treasure." Q^) Having explained the Article upon " Free " Will," I proceed to that upon ''Works '' before Justification,'' which is manifestly of the same tendency, both being opposed to the position of congruous merit ; the former denying the competency of the will, the latter the acceptability of the work. Yet 112 SERMON V. obvious as this appears to be, it has not unfrequently been overlooked or disre- garded ; and the word Justification been contemplated only in the sense, in which it is applied by the followers of Calvin. But our Reformers entertained no such idea of its appHcation. They believed it not to be a blessing, which we may in vain sigh to behold above our reach, granted to certain individuals alone, and always granted irrespectively, by a divine decree, fixed and immutable ; but one, which we all possess in infancy, and of which nothing but our own folly can afterwards deprive us. They never asserted the total inability of a Christian to perform a good action, or even think a good thought, until the ar- rival of some destined moment, when it shall please God, without his own endea- vours, to illuminate his understanding, and renovate his affections. The gift of grace, not to be purchased by human merit, but always bestowed gratuitously, they confined not to a selected few, the predestinated favourites of Heaven, but extended to all, who neither by wilful perversity oppose its reception, nor, when received, by actual crime discard it. On the present occasion, indeed, they simply regarded Works before SERMON V. 113 Justification as those, which were more usually denominated works of Congruity, adopting perhaps the former term in pre- ference, because it was precisely that, which had been recently used in the same sense by the Council of Trent (^^). But this is not the only error, which has prevailed in the general conception of this Article. Another of the same description has arisen in the minds of those, who have annexed to the word " inspiration,'^ which is to be found in it, a too modern interpre- tation. Let us not, however, so grossly misapprehend the Restorers of a rational Christianity, as to suppose, that by this expression they intended to patronize the dreams of Enthusiasts, and to lay the foun- dation of that childish fabric of absurdi- ties, which sometimes weak but well mean- ing, sometimes designing and wicked, men have raised in later times, and made an object of concern to sober Christians, and of contempt to Infidels : that they under- stood by it a certain incomprehensible operation upon the soul of man by the Spirit of God, of which much has been written, but little understood ; which few are conceived to feel, and which none can intelligibly describe. How much soever it I 114 SERMON V. may since have been abused, it then con- veyed no indistinct meaning, nor mystical allusion ; it had not then been rendered obscure in its definition, or suspicious in its tendency, by enthusiastical conceit. Inspiration, according to them, is nothing more than that sacred influence promised by the Gospel, which, in the language of our Liturgy, " cleanses the thoughts of ^' our hearts, that we may perfectly love, '' and worthily magnify God's holy name;" it is that divine assistance, which is con- ferred upon us all, before it is possible for us to experience the assaults of temptation, and never totally forsakes us from the cradle to the grave, unless when obstructed in its effects by the indulgence of sensual appetite, and the commission of deliberate crime. The Article states, that '' works done '^ before the grace of Christ, and the in- " spiration of his Spirit, are not pleasant '' to God ; forasmuch as they spring not " of faith in Jesus Christ, neither (as the " School authors say) do they deserve " grace of congruity ; yea rather for that " they are not done as God has willed and '' commanded them to be done, we doubt " not but they have the nature of sin." 8ERMON V. 115 After the observations which have been made, this Article will require but little illustration. It relates wholly to works con- templated in themselves abstractedly ; a subject upon which, we must be convinced that it was necessary at the time to anim- advert, when we recollect the efficacy, which the Church of Rome attributed to mere external performances ; when we re- collect, that the bare participation of the Sacraments, and discharge of social duties, were deemed congruously meritorious, ex opere operator even in sinners, who still continue polluted by mortal crime. In opposition to conceits in every point of view so obnoxious, so delusive in theory, and pernicious in practice, our Church simply contends, that those works are by no means pleasing to God, which spring not from the faith of Christ, " ex fide Jesu " Christi ;" which, whatsoever other virtue they may claim, avowedly proceed not from any principle of Christian piety. Let us not, however, hence imagine, that she im- putes to faith, as to an operation of the mind under a superior agency, that, which she denies to the sole exertion of our na- tural powers ; for neither on this, or on any other occasion, does she attribute the i2 116 SERMON V. acceptance of our performances to the act of faith, but to the object of it ; ''to the merits '' of Christ alone, on account of which," as Cranmer expressed himself upon the same subject, " we being sorry that we " cannot do all things more exquisitely '' and duly, our works shall be accepted " and taken as most exquisite, pure, and " perfect." Q^) To prevent therefore every misconcep- tion on this head, and to point out the true cause why congruous works are inefficient, she adds, " forasmuch as they are not '^ done as God has willed and commanded " them to be done," because they are in themselves imperfect, " we doubt not but " they have the nature of sin/" In what sense the Lutherans applied this term to them, I have already explained. That our Reformers characterized them by so strong an appellation upon a similar principle, upon the ground of their imperfection, seems manifest from the reason which was adduced, " forasmuch as they are not " done as God has willed and commanded '' them to be done ;'" for " let us not be " ashamed,'' thev elsewhere remarked, " to " confess plainly our state of imperfection, " since we cannot rejoice in any works that SERMON V. 117 '' we do, which are all so imperfect and " impure, that they are not able to stand *' before the righteous judgment-seat of " God/'(^^) But while they supported with the Lutherans the negative side of a pro- position, which their adversaries had for ages maintained affirmatively, the existence of a middle state between merit and de- merit, which, exempt from the defects of the latter, entitled to the advantages, and even assumed the name, of the former, they never intended by the appellation ^' sinful" to erase a moral action from the catalogue of virtues, or to consider it as neither commendable nor good ; but merely to oppose its exaltation above its appro- priate character, and its investiture with the high office of conciliation between man and his offended Creator. Upon a general review then of these Articles, we perceive, that both were solely framed with an eye to Romish error, and are in no respect connected with the Cal- vinistical controversy of Free Will, as the hinge, upon which principally turns the doctrine of an absolute Predestination. Calvin had indeed begun the attempt of giving that peculiar bias to the subject, la- bouring to divert it Irom the track, which i3 118 SERMON V. it had previously pursued : but some writers, either not knowing, or, if knowing, disre- garding its real destination, argue as if this was its original direction, instead of being a manifest deviation from its proper course ; nor do they recollect, that the system, which has since been so much idohzed, was then so far from having obtained general approbation, that it was only in the first instance attracting public attention to its singularities. Zealous likewise for a fa- vourite opinion^ they at the same time for- get, or at least choose not to notice, that our Church evidently maintains that very cooperation of man with the grace of God, which Calvin denied ; and have thus en- deavoured to press into the service of their cause an Article, which, as far as it bears a collateral affinity to the question, com- pletely makes against them. For upon this important topic our Reformers coin- cided not with the harsh, unqualified senti- ments of the Reformer of Geneva, but with those of the Lutherans, as contained in the most celebrated performance of the day, the Loci Theologici of Melancthon (^^). And here, it should be subjoined, was the Church of England always uniform, assert- ing, at every period of her progress towards SERMON V. 119 perfection, the consistency of Free Will with preventing and cooperating Grace, in a language, which cannot easily be mis- conceived, or misapplied (^^). This was the doctrine which she taught, when the yoke of the imperious Henry lay heavy on the neck of Reformation ; and this she still continued to teach, when she trod the pride of Popery in the dust, and when her triumph corresponded with her most san- guine wishes. It cannot therefore be too frequently re- peated, that the great object of the Articles, which have been considered, was by no means what many have conjectured it to be ; it was not to exalt Calvinistical specu- lation, but to lower scholastical presump- tion, by opposing the dangerous delusion of preparatory works. For while the phi- losophical Papist boasted of challenging the approbation of Heaven by the arrogant display of moral virtue, and the supersti- tious one, by the scrupulous discharge of external observances, (merit in either case considered abstractedly, and in contempt of the Christian sacrifice for sin,) by the principle contained in these the more hum- ble Protestant was instructed to solicit so valuable a blessing, as a gift procured for i4 120 SERMON V him by the sufferings and death of his Re- deemer ; to place in human dignity no groundless foundation of hope ; but, per- suaded that even his best performances cannot on their own account prove accept- able to Almighty God, because replete with failings, to renounce every meritorious claim, and receive with gratitude that gra- cious redemption, which, undiscoverable by reason, the sacred page of Revelation alone discloses. SERMON VI. Romans iii. 24, 25. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption, that is in Jesus Christ, whom God hath set forth to he a propitiation through faith in his blood, Jr EW subjects have afforded more scope for controversy, or produced a greater variety of distinctions without a difference, of definitions sometimes inaccurately con- ceived on one side, and often totally mis- represented on the other, than the plain doctrine of faith in the propitiatory blood of a Redeemer. Human ingenuity has been exhausted to prove, what, at the time it was stated, human intellect cannot com- prehend : the appeal has been made to feeling rather than to argument ; to certain internal persuasions and convincing expe- riences, as they have been called, which mock the powers of language to describe, and elude all rational investigation. While 122 SERMON VI. the judgment has been restrained, the ima- gination lias received an unlimited indul- gence ; and the love of mystery frequently superseded the sober enquiry after truth. But to questions of this description, as the spurious productions of a more recent period, the topic, which comes next to be discussed, is in no respect allied. Averting therefore from more moder^i and of course irrelevant disquisitions upon this subject, brought forward by a class of theological disputants, who had in view a new object, and consequently gave a new turn to the question, I shall endeavour simply to con- sider it, as it was originally contested be- tween the Lutherans and the Church of Rome. But here, to avoid a misconception of the argument, it seems necessary previously to state in what sense the word Justifica- tion, which comprehends the sole ground of contention, was used by the opposing parties. Upon both sides it was supposed entirely to consist in the remission of sin (0. Tiie Scholastics on this head were re- markably distinct in their ideas, and ex- press in their language. They represented it as an effect produced by the infusion of SERMON VI. 123 divine grace into a mind properly disposed; not as consequent to a well spent life, but as preceding all remunerable obedience, as the intervening point between night and day, the gloom of a guilty and the light of a self-approving conscience ; or in other words, and to adopt their own phrase- ology, as the exact boundary where merit of congruity ends, and merit of condignity begins, the infallible result of a previous disposition on our part, which never fails of alluring from on high that supernatural quality, which, being itself love, renders the soul beloved (^). While the Lutherans however adhered to the general import of the term, as un- derstood in the Schools, they waged an incessant warfare upon another point ; while they allowed, that justification con- sists in the remission of sin, they denied, that this remission is to be acquired by the merit of the individual. Their opponents maintained, that man is justified in the sight of God in consequence of his own preparation, and on account of his personal qualities. They on the other hand argued, with an inflexibility, which admitted of no compromise, that, possessing not merits of his own to plead, he freely received for- 124 SERMON VI. giveness through the mercy of God solely on account of the merits of Christ. The effective principle, therefore, or meritorious cause of justification, it should be observed, was the great point contested. But before I particularize the doctrine of the Lutherans upon this subject, it will be requisite more at large to explain that of their adversaries. To investigate it however minutely, to trace it through its circuitous channels, and mark its progress, winding in all the fan- tastical curves of metaphysical vanity, would prove a tedious as well as unnecessary task. The principle of it still remains the same, and constantly recurs to the eye how much soever varied. When the sinner, conscious of his past transgressions, enquired where he was to seek the expiation of his crime, and deli- verance from the dreadful consequences of it, their general answer was in the merit of penitence, a merit capable of annihilating guilt, and appeasing the anger of incensed Omnipotence. He, they argued, who, having disobeyed the laws of heaven, is desirous of returning into that state of ac- ceptance, from which he has fallen, must not expect free forgiveness ; but previously SERMON VI. 125 by unfeigned sorrow of heart deserve the restoration of grace, and with it the oblite- ration of his offences. To eff'ect this desir- able purpose he is bound strictly to survey and detest his former conduct, accurately to enumerate his transgressions, and deeply feel them, and, impressed with a due sense of their magnitude, impurity, and conse- quences, to condemn his folly, and deplore his fault, which have made him an outcast of heaven, and exposed him to eternal mi- sery. So far he can proceed by that ope- ration of the mind, which they denominated Attrition, and which Ijeing within the sphere of his natural powers they regarded as congruous piety meritorious of justifi- cation, as a preparation of the soul more or less necessary to receive and merit jus- tifying grace. When he is arrived there- fore at this point, attrition ceases, and con- trition commences ; the habit of sin is ex- pelled, while that of holiness is superin- duced in its stead, and with the infusion of charity, the plastic principle of a new obedience, justification becomes complete. But even here it was not conceived, that a total deliverance takes place ; a libera- tion from guilt and eternal punishment is effected ; but not from temporal, which is 126 SERMON VL never remitted, unless either by the inflic- tion of some personal suffering or satisfac- tory compensation required of him, who is already justified and approved by Heaven. To accomplish however this remaining ob- ject nothing more is wanting, than a con- tinuation to a sufficient intensity of that compunction of heart, which is now deno- minated Contrition, grace supplying the defects of nature, and enabling penitential merit not only to justify, but obtain exemp- tion from punishment of every species ('^). Such was the favourite doctrine of the Scholastics respecting penitence, and such the efficacy, which they attributed to it. But so great appeared to them the frailty of man and the severity of God, that no inconsiderable difficulty occurred in the due application of it to individuals ; for the means of expiation they imagined ought always to be proportionate to the magni- tude of the offences. How, they reasoned, are we to be assured, that our contrition has been either sufficient or sincere, and whether it has been so in the obliteration not only of one crime, but of all ; whether it has atoned for past transgressions of every kind, the number of which may per- plex, as well as their guilt confound us ? SERMON VI. 127 Hence, they added, in ordinary cases a constant succession of doubts must arise in the mind of the penitent ; to which so- ever side he turns, a cloud of uncertainty hangs over the darkening prospect ; nor is it possible for his conscience to be at rest, while all is gloom without, and terror within. Instead therefore of penitence in its strictest acceptation, as a perfect virtue, God, they said, in condescension to human infirmity, has substituted for general prac- tice the Sacrament of it, which requires only for the attainment of full remission a moderate compunction of soul, with con- fession to the Priest, and the discharge of such satisfaction, as he may enjoin. And, still lower to reduce the terms of accept- ance, they even argued, that it is not abso- lutely necessary for the penitent to expe- rience an entire conversion of heart, but only not to oppose the impediment of mortal crime, to feel some displeasure at his past conduct, and to express a resolu- tion of amending it in future ('*). But after all, and in spite of the boasted authority of the Keys, complete confidence in divine forgiveness was never inculcated ; for it was neither the interest nor inclina- 128 SERMON VL tion of the Church of Rome to teach the simple doctrine of Christian Faith, but ra- ther to involve it in metaphysical obscurity. Under the pretext therefore of relieving the throbbing breast from its apprehensions, they had recourse to numerous inventions for propping the insecure fabric of peniten- tial hope ; asserting among other extrava- gances, that the Sacraments are in them- selves efficacious by virtue of their own operation, exclusively of all merit in the recipient ; and that the Sacrament of the altar in particular acts so powerfully in this respect as to communicate grace, not only to those, who partake of it, but to others, for whom it is received by substitution, provided that its operation be not impeded by flagrant immorality. And so deeply rooted in the public mind was the persua- sion of its thus effecting the best of pur- poses, and that even without the necessity of an actual participation of it by him, upon whom the benefit is conferred, that the celebration of the Mass was univer- sally regarded as the means of appeasing the anger of Heaven and obtaining pardon and peace, of procuring divine assistance for the living, and for the dead deliverance from the bitter pains of purgatory (^). SERMON VI. 129 Nor by the Sacraments alone, but, as I have already sufficiently remarked, by every good external work, as well as inter- nal disposition, was justifying grace sup- posed to be merited congruously, and sa- tisfaction for sin to be made condignly. In monastical institutions hkewise were found no mean materials for similar pur- poses, particularly for the latter ; 'Mn those '' feigned religions,'' as our Homilies de- scribe them, " the devotees of which boasted '' of having lamps, which ran alvvays over, '' conceiving themselves capable of satisfy- '' ing not only for their own sins, but like- " wise for all other their benefactors, bro- " thers, and sisters of religion and '^ therefore keeping in divers places (as it '^ were) marts and markets of merits, being '^ full of their holy relics, images, shrines, '^ and works of overflowing abundance " ready to be sold."(^) Yet whether the dubious penitent was instructed to derive consolation from the efficacy of the Sacra- ments, from his own personal qualities, or from any of what Cranmer aptly termed " the fantastical works of man's inven- ^^ tion,"(^) it should be observed, that he was not directly taught to consider these, as wholly superseding the virtue of repent- K 130 SERMON VI. ance, but as supplying his deficiencies in the performance of it ; an incongruous system of atonement, fabricated by the avarice of Rome, and the obsequiousness of scholastical philosophy, to augment the treasures and extend the influence of the Church, to extinguish the light of Gospel truth, and, while keeping the world at large in ignorance, to hold the conscience of the individual in slavery. Upon the whole then the Scholastics maintained, that justification is unattainable without repentance, at least without some degree of attrition on our part ; but in the common apprehension of the doctrine even this seems to have been forgotten, and me- rit of congruity considered in a general point of view as alone efficacious. Thus good works of every species preceding grace were said to deserve it ; and by de- serving grace to deserve the justifying prin- ciple. And always were they careful to impute the cause of forgiveness, not to the mercy of God in Christ, but to the sole change in the individual, to his transmuta- tion from a state of unrighteousness to one of righteousness, " transmutationem a statu " injustitise ad statu mjustitise,^' to his pos- session of a quality, which renders him a SERMON VI. 131 worthy object of divine approbation (^). For in every instance personal merit was conceived to be the solid basis, upon which rests the complete remission of sin. To this they constantly looked as to that sun of righteousness, which illuminating the heart of man attracts the eye of heaven to the brightness of its rising ; forgetful of the prophetical annunciation to the Church of Christ, ^' the Lord shall be unto thee an ^' everlasting light, and thy God, thy glo- ",iy."e) Having thus briefly explained the doc- trine of the Scholastics on this subject, 1 proceed to that, which on the other side was opposed to it by the Lutherans. Upon no one point, perhaps, has the opinion of Luther been more misrepre- sented than upon this. For, unmindful of that, with which only it ought to have been contrasted, some have ascribed to it a so- lifidian tendency, if not of the most en- thusiastical, at least of the most unqualified, description. It must however be con- fessed, that the cursory reader of his works is at all times liable to mistake him, in con- sequence of the involved construction of his style, too frequently confused by a ver- bose circumlocution, which, as he was him- k2 132 SERMON VI. self fully sensible, oppressed the exuberance of his conception, and the energy of his expression (^^). When therefore we find, that particular passages have been selected from his voluminous productions, (produc- tions often repubUshed, but never revised,) and wrested from their true meaning, al- though we may regret the perversion, we cannot be surprised at it. But upon the question before us, it seems indeed impossible accurately to com- prehend the position, which he maintained, if we examine it in an insulated point of view, unless we connect it with that, of which in the Church of Rome it properly formed a part, and from which he never intended to separate it, the doctrine of pe- nitence. In opposing the absurdity of Papal indulgences, the first impiety against which his manly mind revolted, a ray of light, be- fore unnoticed, darted uponhim^ and opened a completely new scene, which, while it sti- mulated his eflbrts as a Reformer, animated his hopes as a Christian. Hence averting with disdain from the speculations of So- phists, and turning to the sacred page of Revelation, he there beheld an affiance very different from what the Schools inculcated; and thus, while tJieir vain language was, SERMON VI. 133 '' Repent, and trust to the efficacy of your " contrition, either with or without extra- " neous works, according to the degree of ^' its intensity, for the expiation of your '' offences," his, more scriptural and more consoling, became simply this ; " Repent, ^* and trust not for expiation to your own *^ merits of any kind, but solely to those " of your Redeemer." In contemplating therefore the tenet of the Lutherans, we ought never to consider it as detached from penitence. Rejecting the dreams of their adversaries with respect to the nature and effects of this important duty, they represented it as consisting of two essential parts, contrition, and faith, the latter as always associated with the former. Hence in the apology of their Confession they repeatedly declared a dis- avowal of all faith, except such as exists in the contrite heart (^^). Far was it from their intention to encourage the presump- tuous or fanatical sinner in a false security ; their object was very different and more laudable ; they laboured lo fix the eye of him, who both laments and detests his of- fences, upon the only deserving object of human confidence and divine complacency. Properly then, as they frequently remarked, k3 134 SERMON VI. their doctrine of justification was appro- priated to troubled consciences, at every period of true repentance, and particularly at the awful hour of death, when the time for habitual proofs of amendment has elapsed, and when the past appears replete with guilt, and the future with terror (^^). At such moments, they taught not, with the Schools, an affiance in human merit, but in the gratuitous mercy of God through Christ : to contrition, as a preparatory qua- lification, or previous requisite, they added faith, and from faith they deemed every principle of real piety and virtue insepara- ble. When therefore they urged a justi- fication by faith alone, they meant not to exclude repentance, and every good dispo- sition connected with it; but merely to op- pose that, for which their adversaries prin- cipally contended, and which, in their con- ception, struck at the very root of Chris- tianity, the obliteration of crime by the merit of the individual, instead of the atone- ment of a Saviour (^^). But although they stated penitence to consist only of the two parts afiuded to, when they strictly defined it as embracing, according to the idea of the Schools, the means and immediate effects of justification, SERMON VI. 135 yet when they considered it, as a general rule of Christian duty and a total conversion, they added a third part, actual obedience(^^). In this point of view, and in this alone, good works, or the outward fruits of an in- ward renovation of mind, were said to fol- low remission of sins, internal necessarily preceding external reformation. For the individual, they argued, must himself be good before the action can be so denomi- nated, be justified before it can be deemed just, and accepted before it can prove ac- ceptable, distinguishing between the pri- mary admission into God's favour and the subsequent preservation of that favour. The terms then of acceptance on the sin- ner's part they held to be Contrition, (or as in modern language it is more usually termed, Repentance,) and Faith connected with every devout affection ; the necessary consequences as well as proofs of this state of acceptance, good works, or external acts of obedience ; and the rule of retribution in the world to come, the whole of man, including both his inward impressions and outward demonstrations of holiness Q^). After having thus endeavoured to re- move from the doctrine of the Lutherans those dark spots, which in the eye of some, k4 136 SERMON VI. who contemplate it through an indistinct medium, appear to obscure its lustre, there will be little occasion of dwelling upon that, which our own Church maintains in the same sense and on a similar principle. Both in their object and tendency perfectly accord ; but the latter is, if possible, more guarded than the former against the obli- quities of Enthusiasm. Our Church as- serts, " that we are accounted righteous " before God, for the merit of our Lord '' and Saviour Jesus Christ, by faith, and " not for our own works and deserving;" and then adds, that "justification by faith '^ alone is a most wholesome doctrine, and '^ very full of comfort, as is more largely " expressed in the Homily upon that sub- '' ject." By referring to the Homily al- luded to, we find the obvious meaning of the Article to be, that we are esteemed righteous in the sight of God solely for the sake of Christ, and not rendered perfectly so in point of fact, as the Papists held, by our own virtues, which we are told ^'are *^ far too weak, insufficient, and imperfect, '' to deserve the remission of our sins ;'' and that we are thus reputed righteous, not on account of the act but the object of faith, on account of him, in whom alone SERMON VI. 137 we are to trust, yet in whom we are not entitled to trust, except upon a previous condition, except " we truly repent, and '' turn to God unfeignedly/'(^^) For when we are said> as the same Homily remarks, to be justified by faith only, it is not meant " that this our own act to believe in " Christ doth justify us, for " that were to count ourselves to bejusti- *' fied by some act or virtue that is within " ourselves, nor that the said justi- '' fying faith is alone in man without true " repentance, hope, charity, the dread and " fear of God at any time and season ;'' but the purport of such expressions " is to " take away clearly all merit of our works, " as being unable to deserve our justifica- " tion at God's hands, Christ him- " self only being the cause meritorious <' thereof."(^7) To enter into a minuter examination of the doctrine, which our Church inculcates on this point, after what has been advanced, seems unnecessary. It ought not however to be omitted, that the very definition, which she gives of the word Faith in an- other Homily composed at the same period, is admirably calculated to preclude the worst of errors upon the most important 138 SERMON VI. topic of Christianity ; it is defined to be a trust in God that our offences are obhle- rated by the blood of Christ, not when we believe them to be thus obliterated, but " whensoever we repenting truly return to ^' him with our whole heart, stedfastly de- '* termining with ourselves through his " grace to obey and serve him in keeping " his commandments."(^^) It is likewise worthy of observation, that in our office for the Visitation of the Sick, the Minister, after rehearsing to the person visited the Articles of our Belief, is directed to require of him, not to ascertain what some in the present day would perhaps think preferable, whether he ever possessed a consciousness of that saving principle, which when once obtained is supposed never afterwards to be lost, or whether he feels an internal confidence, that his name is written in the book of life, but " forasmuch as after this '' life there is an account to be mven unto " the righteous Judge, by whom all must " be judged without respect of persons, to " examine himself and his estate both to- '' wards God and man, so that accusing " and condemning himself for his own " faults he may find mercy at our heavenly " Father's hand for Christ's sake, and not SERMON VI. 139 '' be accused, and condemned in that " fearful judgment/' Indeed through every part both of our Homilies and Liturgy the necessity of something more is enforced than a bare persuasion of faith : but no where with more perspicuity and energy, than in the following passage. " Where- ' fore, it is said, as you have any zeal for ' the right and pure honouring of God, as ' you have any regard to your own souls, ' and to the life that is to come, which is ' both without pain and without end, ' apply yourselves chiefly above all things ^ to read and hear God's word, mark di- ' ligently therein what his will is that you ' shall do, and with all your endeavour ' apply yourselves to follow the same."(^^) To conclude, from a retrospect of the whole it appears, that the great point in dispute was this : Whether he who sincerely repents of his past transgressions should trust (for affiance must be somewhere placed) in the efficacy of his own merits, or in that of his Redeemer's. But while our Reformers, like the Lutherans, pertina- ciously contended for an affiance of the latter description, they never dreamed of imputing to it any mysterious operation, or of investing it with a higher character of 140 SERMON VI. certainty, than what it derives from the stable foundation, upon which it rests. Without reserve or hesitation they declared, that he, who contemplates it as an act of the mind in itself capable of justifying him, disregarding all internal change of disposi- tion, and external emendation of life, only trifles with God, and deceives himself (^^). Repentance and amendment they incul- cated as no less necessary to a state of ac- ceptance, than faith, not indeed as meri- torious, but as requisite conditions, as con- ditions, without which it is neither to be obtained nor preserved. Never therefore should it be forgotten, that when they spoke of justification by faith alone, they solely opposed the scholastical system, so frequently alluded to, which attributed to our merits the expiation of crime, and a readmission into the favour of God ; this, with an inflexibility not greater than the occasion demanded, they constantly la- boured to annihilate, and to restore in its stead the plain doctrine of a perfect propi- tiation and satisfaction for sin by the death of Christ : a doctrine which had been lost to the world during centuries of intellec- tual darkness, and with which had disap- peared the genuine splendour of Christi- SERMON VI. 141 anity. But, although a long and gloomy night succeeded, the Day Spring from on high at length returned ; when Reforma- tion approached, the dawn again began to break, and the Day Star arose in the peni- tential heart, diffusing around it consola- tion and joy. SERMON VII. 1 Peter i. 2. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. X HE doctrine of Predestination, the last subject which I proposed to consider, has been so frequently involved in metaphysical obscurity, and disgraced by enthusiastical conceit, that men of moderate principles have been averse from admitting it in any sense. Yet even in its harshest construc- tion we cannot deny, that it has sometimes found advocates among writers of worth and talent, although it has been thus gene- rally supported by those, who possessed more vanity than piety, and zeal than ability. This, above all other controver- sies, has contributed to augment the scorn of Infidels, to dissolve the bonds of Chris- tian charity, and obliterate the character- istical simphcity of Gospel redemption. While the wise have been perplexed by the 144 SERMON VII. turn, which its discussions have occasion- ally taken ^ the weak have been alarmed, and the feelings even of the good, lost in its circuitous mazes, almost excited to de- spair. The unfathomable depths of divine Pre- science and Predetermination, human rea- son in vain attempts to sound ; finite fa- culties to scan infinite ; the limited intel- lect of man to comprehend the immensity of the Godhead. Erasmus, a peculiar fa- vourite with the Reformers of our own country, when contemplating this inexph- cable subject, observed, that in the holy Scriptures there are certain secret recesses, which God is unwilling for us too minutely to explore, and which if we endeavour to explore, in proportion as we penetrate fur- ther and further, our minds become more and more oppressed with darkness and stupefaction, that thus we might acknow- ledge the inscrutable majesty of the divine wisdom, and the imbecility of the human mind (^). Congenial also with the feelings and sentiments of Erasmus upon this point, were those of Luther. To acquire any knowledge, he remarked, of a Deity not revealed in Scripture, to know what his existence is, his actions, and dispositions. SERMON VII. 145 belongs not to me ; my duty is only this ; to know what are his precepts, his pro- mises, and his threatenings. Pernicious and pestilent is the thought of investigating causes, and brings with it inevitable ruin, especially when we ascend too high, and wish to philosophize upon Predestina- tion (^). How differently Calyin felt upon the same subject, and with what little reserve, or rather with what bold temerity, he la- boured to scrutinize the unrevealed Divi- nity, is too well known, to require any thing beyond a bare allusion to the cir- cumstance. His sentiments however, as on a former occasion I noticed, were much less regarded by our Reformers, than some are disposed to allow; and upon the par- ticular question before us, so far were they from having attained their full celebrity at the period under consideration, that they were not taught without opposition, even in his own unimportant territory of Ge- neva. For at that precise aera he was publicly accused of making God the au- thor of sin ; and although, not contented with silencing, he first imprisoned, and afterwards banished, his accuser, yet he h 146 SERMON VII. could not expel the opinions of his adver- sary f). Turning then from the devious track which he was pursuing, our Reformers, as generally on other occasions, trod in the wary steps of the Lutherans, who, while the Church of Rome maintained a pre- destination to Hfe of one man in preference to another individually, on account of per- sonal merit, taught on the other hand a gratuitous predestination of Christians col- lectively, of those, whom God has chosen in Christ out of mankind; and by this single point of difference were the con- tending opinions principally contradistin- guished. My object in the present Lecture will be, to point out the Scholastical and Lu- theran sentiments upon this much agitated question, reserving those of our own Church for a future consideration. With us the system of Calvin for so long a period superseded every other, and even still retains so many zealous advocates, that to a modern ear the very term Predestina- tion seems to convey a meaning only con- formable with his particular system. It should however be observed, that the SERMON VII. 147 word was in familiar use for centuries be- fore the Reformation, in a sense very dif- ferent from what he imputed to it; not as preceding the divine prescience, but as resulting from it, much in the same sense as that in which it lias since been sup- ported by the Arminians. Yet, obvious as this appears, writers of respectability strangely persuade themselves, that im- mediately prior to the Reformation the doctrines of the Church of Rome were completely Calvinistical ; a conclusion, to which certainlv none can subscribe, who are sufficiently conversant with the favourite productions of the time ; who possess enough of fortitude to encounter the bar- barisms of scholastical argument, and of patience to investigate its real object. So far indeed was this from being the fact, that Calvin peculiarly prided himself in de- parting from the common definition of the term, which had long been adopted by the adherents of the Schools, and retained with a scrupulous precision. For while they held, that the expression prcsdestinati is exclusively applicable to the elect, whom God, foreknowing as meritorious objects of his mercy, predestinates to life ; and appropriated that of prcesciti to the non- 1.2 148 SERMON VII. elect, whose perseverance in transgression is simply foreknown ; he, on the other side, treating the distinction as a frivolous sub- terfuge, contended, that God, decreeing the final doom of the elect and non-elect irrespectively, predestinates both, not sub- sequently, but previously to all foreknow- ledge of their individual dispositions, espe- cially devotes the latter to destruction through the medium of crime, and creates them by a fatal destiny to perish (^). What- soever therefore modern conjecture may have attributed to the Scholastics, it is cer- tain, that, abhorring every speculation, which tends in the remotest degree to make God the author of sin, they believed, that only salutary good is predestinated ; grace to those, who deserve it congru- ously, and glory to those, who deserve it condignly (^). But to enter more particularly into their leading opinions upon this subject, they maintained, that Almighty God, before the foundations of the world were laid, survey- ing in his comprehensive idea, or, as they phrased it, in his Prescience of simple in- telligence, the possibilities of all things, before he determined their actvial existence, foresaw that if mankind were created, al- SERMON VII. 149 though he willed the salvation of all, and was inclined to assist all indifferently, yet that some would deserve eternal happiness, and others eternal misery ; and that there- fore he approved and elected the former, but disapproved or reprobated the latter. Thus grounding election upon foreknowledge, they contemplated it, not as an arbitrary principle, separating one individual from another, under the influence of a Wind chance, or an irrational caprice; but, on the contrary, as a wise and just one, which presupposes a diversity of nature between those who are accepted, and those who are rejected (^). Persuaded then that God is the fountain of all good, that from his divine preordina- tion freely flows the stream of grace, which refreshes and invigorates the soul, they be- lieved, that he has regulated his predeter- mination by the quality of the soil through which his grace passes, and the effects which in every case it produces, not re- stricting his favours, but distributing them with an impartial hand over the barren H^- sart and the fruitful field ; equally disposed towards all men, but, because all are not equally disposed towards him, distinguish- ing only such as prove deserving of his l3 150 SERMON VII. bounty. Although no adequate cause in- deed exists, (according to the strict and accurate meaning of that expression,) why God should confer his gifts even upon the best of men, except in the plenitude of di- vine munificence, yet they conceived, that a sufficient reason was to be assigned, why he should communicate them rather to this man than to that, why he should elect the good, and reject the bad. Hence it was, that in order to systema- tize upon this principle of election, and shew how consistent it is, as well with the justice, as the benevolence of the Deity, the will of God was considered in a double point of view, as absolute and conditional, or, in the technical language of the Schools, as antecedent and consequent. In the first instance, by his absolute or antecedent will, he was said to desire the salvation of every man ; in the latter, by his conditional or consequent will, that only of those, whom he foresaw abstaining from sin, and obeying his commandments ; the one ex- piv^oood his geneicLl Inclination, the other his particular resolution, upon the view of individual circumstances and conditions (J). To the enquiry, why some are unendowed with ^race, their answer was, because some SERMON VII. 151 are not willing to receive it, and not be- cause God is unwilling to give it : he, they said, offers his light to all : he is absent from none, but man absents himself from the present Deity, like one who shuts his eyes against the noon-day blaze (^). To the foregoing statement it should be added, that they held an election, or rather an ordination, to grace (which they ex~ pressly asserted to be defectible) distinct from an election to glory ; that, according to them, a name may be written in the book of life at one period, which at another may be erased from it ; and that predesti- nation to eternal happiness solely depends upon final perseverance in well doing (^). On the whole it is evident, that they considered the dignity of the individual as the meritorious basis of predestination ; merit of congruity as the basis of a preor- dination to grace ; and merit of condignity as that of a preordination to glory (*°). Thus, not more fastidious in the choice of their terms, than accurate in the use of them, while they denied, that the pre- science of human virtue, correctly speak- ing, could be the primary cause of the di- vine will, because nothing in time can pro- perly give birth to that, which has existed l4 152 SERMON VII. from eternity, they strenuously maintained it to be a secondary cause, the ratio or rule in the mind of the Deity, which regu- lated his will in the formation of its ulti- mate decisions (^^). To enter more minutely into the detail of scholastical disquisition upon this topic, appears unnecessary, at least to the illustra- tion of any opinions entertained by the Lutherans, whose peculiar tenets I proceed in the next place to consider. It should previously however be observed, that, although in the established Confession of their faith all allusion to the subject was avoided, it was nevertheless introduced into another work of importance, and of consi- derable public authority, the Loci Theolo- gici of Melancthon, a production, which, at the period under review, was every where received as the standard of Lutheran divi- nity (^^). Both Luther and Melancthon, after their creed became permanently set- tled at the diet of Augsburg, kept one object constantly in view ; to inculcate only what was plain and practical, and never to attempt philosophizing. They perceived, that before the Reformation the doctrine of divine foreknowledge had been grossly misconceived and abused, although SERMON VII. 153 fi^uarded by all the logic of the Schools ; and they felt, that, after it, they had them- selves at first contributed to increase the evil, by grounding upon the same high argument, although for a very different purpose, the position of an infallible neces- sity ; and thenceforward, therefore, they only taught a predestination, which the Christian religion explains, and the Chris- tian life exemplifies. But to what, it may be said, did the Lu- therans object in the theory of their oppo- nents, when they abandoned the tenet of necessity ? Certainly not to the sobriety and moderation of that part of it, which vindicated the justice, and displayed the benevolence, of the Almighty ; but gene- rally to the principles upon which it pro- ceeded ; to its presumption, in overleaping the boundary, which Heaven has prescribed to our limited faculties, and which we can- not pass without plunging into darkness and error ; and to its impiety, in disre- garding, if not despising, the most import- ant truths of Christianity. A system of such a nature they hesitated not to reject, anxious to conduct themselves by the light of Scripture albne, nor presuming to be wise above what God has been please^' ^^ 154 SERMON VII. discover. Thus while their adversaries philosophized upon a predestination of in- dividuals, preferred one before another by divine regard, because worthy of such a preference, they taught only that, which has been revealed vvith certainty, the pre- destination of a peculiar description of per- sons, ^'of a people zealous of good works," of the Christian Church contemplated as an aggregate, not on account of its own dignity, but on account of Christ its su- preme Head, and the Author of eternal salvation, to all who obey him. Maintain- ing, not a particular election of personal favourites, either by an absolute will, or even a conditional one, dependent upon the ratio of merit, but a general election of all, who by baptism in their infancy, or by faith and obedience in maturer years, become the adopted heirs of heaven ; they conceived this to be the only election, to which the Gospel alludes, and conse- quently the only one, upon which we can speak with confidence, or reason without presumption (^^). If it be observed, that the selection of an integral body necessarily infers that of its component parts, the answer is obvious ; ^^^ latter, although indeed it be necessarily SERMON VII. 155 inferred by the former, is nevertheless not a prior requisite, but a posterior result of the divine ordination. What they deemed absolute on the part of God, was his ever- lasting purpose to save his elect in Christ, or real Christians, considered as a whole, and contrasted with the remainder of the human race ; the completion of this pur- pose being regulated by peculiar circum- stances, operating as inferior causes of a particular segregation. For, persuaded of his fi^ood will towards all men without dis- tinction, of his being indiscriminately dis- posed to promote the salvation of all, and of his seriously, not fictitiously, as Calvin taught, including all in the universal pro- mise of Christianity, they imputed to him nothing like a partial choice, no limitation of favours, nor irrespective exclusion of persons ; but, assuming the Christian cha- racter as the sole ground of individual pre- ference, they believed that every baptized infant, by being made a member of Christ, not by being comprised in a previous arbi- trary decree, is truly the elect of God, and, *^ying in infancy, certain of eternal happi- ness ; ilmf he, who in maturer years be- comes polluted by wilful crime, loses that 156 SERMON VII. state of salvation, which before he pos- sessed ; that nevertheless by true repent- ance, and conversion to the Father of mercy and God of all consolation, he is again reinstated in it ; and that, by finally persevering in it, he at length receives the kingdom prepared for every sincere Chris- tian before the foundation of the world (^^). Can any man, whom prejudice has not blinded, rank these sentiments with those of Calvin ? While restoring to the doctrine of pre- destination, perplexed and disfigured by the vanity of the Schools, scriptural simpli- city, they studiously and anxiously pre- served every trace of that universal bene- volence, by which Christianity is peculiarly distinguished. Let us, they said, with both our hands, or rather with all our heart, hold fast the true and pious maxim, that God is not the author of sin ; that he sits not in heaven, writing Stoical laws in the volumes of fate ; but, endowed with a per- fect freedom himself, communicates a li- berty of action to his creatures ; firmly op- posing the position of necessity as falser and pernicious to morals and ^ngion. God, we may be assured, i» no cruel and SERMON VII. 157 merciless tyrant ; he does not hate and re- ject men, but loves them, as a parent loves his children (^^). Universal grace, indeed, was at all times a favourite topic with the Lutherans ; nor would they admit of any predestination, except that of a beneficent Deity, who was in Christ reconciling the world to himself; except a predestination, conformable with that order of things, which he has esta- blished, and with the use, or abuse, of the means, which he has ordained. The Al- mighty, they said, has seriously willed and decreed, from eternity, all men to be saved, and to enjoy everlasting felicity ; let us not therefore indulge in evil suggestions, and separate ourselves from his grace, which is as expanded as the space between heaven and earth ; let us not restrain the general promise, in which he offers his fa- vour to all without discrimination, nor con- fine it to those, who, affecting a peculiar garb, wish to be alone esteemed pious and sanctified. If many perish, the fault is not to be imputed to the divine will, but to hu- man obstinacy, which despises that will, and disregards a salvation destined for all men Q^). And because many are called, but few are chosen, let us not, they added. 158 SERMON VII. entertain an opinion liighly impious, that God tenders his grace to many, but com- municates it only to a few ; for should we not in the greatest degree detest a Deity, by whose arbitrary will we believed our- selves to be precluded from salvation ? (^^) Upon the important point likewise of the conditional acceptance of the individual, their ideas were not more distinct, than their language was explicit. If God chose, they argued, certain persons only, in order to unite them to himself, and rejected the remainder in all respects alike, would not such an election without causes seem ty- rannical ? Let us therefore be persuaded, that some cause exists in us, as some differ- ence is to be found between those who are, and those who are not, accepted (^^). Thus they conceived that, predestinating his elect in Christ, or the Christian Church, to eter- nal salvation, he excludes none from that number by a partial adoption of favourites, but calls all equally, and accepts of all, who obey his calling, or in other words, become true Christians, by possessing the qualifi- cations, which Christianity requires. After what has been observed, it may seem perhaps almost unnecessary to sub- join, that they held the Defectibility of SERMON VII. 159 grace, its Indefectibility being a position supported but by those, who think that the Redeemer died for a selected few alone. He, they stated, who falls from grace, cannot but perish, completely losing remis- sion of sin, with the other benefits which Christ has purchased for him^ and acquir- ing in their stead divine wrath and death eternal (^^). Let us execrate, said Me- lancthou, who, it should be remarked, in his private correspondence expressly termed Calvin the Zeno of his day (^^), let us ex- ecrate the Stoical disputations which some introduce, who imagine, that the elect al- ways retain the Holy Spirit, even when they commit atrocious crimes ; a manifest and highly reprehensible error ; and let us not confirm in fools security and blind- ness (^^). Upon the whole then it appears, that the Lutherans, affecting not in any way to philosophize, but committing themselves solely to the guidance of Scripture, differed from the Church of Rome in several im- portant particulars. For although on some points they coincided with her, although they inculcated with equal zeal, and upon a better principle, both the Universahty and Defectibility of grace, as well as a con- 160 SERMON VIl. ditional admission into the number of the elect, they nevertheless were entirely at variance with her upon the very foundation of the system. Thus while their oppo- nents taught, that predestination consists in the prospective discrimination of indivi- duals by divine favour, according to the foreseen ratio of every man's own merit, works of congruity deserving grace here, and works of condignity eternal life here- after, and that in this way it principally rests upon human worth ; they, on the other side, disclaiming^ everv idea of such a dis- crimination, placed it upon the same basis as they assumed in the case of justifica- tion, that of an effectual redemption by Christ C^), Instead therefore of holding the election of individuals as men, on ac- count of personal dignity, they maintained the election of a general mass, as Chris- tians, on account of Christ alone ; adding, that we are admitted into that number, or discarded from it, in the eye of Heaven, proportionably as we embrace or reject the salvation offered to all, embracing it with a faith inseparable from genuine virtue, or rejecting it by incredulity and crime. For neither in this, nor in the instance of justi- fication, did they exclude repentance and SERMON VII. 161 a true conversion of the heart and life, as necessary requisites, but only as merito- rious causes, from the contemplation of God's omniscient intellect. Let those, said Luther, who wish to be elected, avoid an evil conscience, and not transgress the divine commandments (^^). Instructed then by the unerring page of truth, they as- serted no other predestination, except what is there expressly revealed ; that of the good and gracious Father of mankind, who from eternity has been disposed to promote the happiness and welfare of all men, has destined Christ to be the Saviour of the whole world, and withholden from none the exalted hope of the Christian calling. Convinced that this is the only predesti- nation which Christianity discloses, and consequently the only one which we can either with safety or certainty embrace, they discouraged every attempt at investi- gating the will, out of the word, of God ; every attempt at effecting impossibilities, at imveihng the secret counsels of him, who shrouds his divine perfections in dark- ness, impervious to mortal eyes. With such investigations, indeed, the world had already been sufficiently bewildered by the , Scholastics, who, endowed with a ready ta- M 102 SERMON VIL lent at perplexing what before was plain, and at rendering abstruseness still more abstruse, had made the subject totally inex- plicable, vainly labouring to develop with precision that mysterious will, upon which the wise must ever think it folly, and the good impiety, to speculate. I shall conclude with the memorable sen- timents of Luther upon disquisitions of this presumptuous nature, which, from a per- sonal experience of their mischievous ten- dency, he abjured himself, and deprecated in others. Are we, miserable men, he ex- claimed, who as yet are incapable of com- prehending the rays of God's promises, the ghmmerings of his precepts and his works, although confirmed by words and miracles, are we, infirm and impure as we are, eager to comprehend all, that is great and glo- rious in the Solar light itself, in the incom- prehensible light of a miraculous Godhead? Do we not know, that God dwells in splen- dour inaccessible ? And yet do we ap- proach, or rather do we presume to ap- proach it ? Are we not aware, that his judgments are inscrutable ? And yet do we endeavour to scrutinize them ? And these things we do, before we are habi- tuated even to the faint lustre of his pro- SERMON VII. 163 mises and precepts, with a vision still im- perfect, blindly rushing into the majesty of that light, which, secret and unseen, has never been by words or miracles exhibited. What wonder then, if, while we explore its majesty, we are overwhelmed with glory ! C') M 2 SERMON VIII. Ephes. i. 5. Having predestinated vs to the adoption of chil- dren by Jesus Christ, X HE doctrine of Predestination, accord- ing to the system adopted by the Luther- ans, the outline of which on a former oc- casion I endeavoured to trace, was never intended to excite enthusiasm, or encou- rage presumption, but rather to administer solid consolation to pious and reflecting minds. Thus, they said, amidst the mu- tabilities of all things temporal, the subver- sions of ecclesiastical establishments, and the ruins of empires, we may with comfort and confidence assert, that God has pre- destinated the perpetual existence of a Church, against which the gates of hell shall not prevail; of a Church, which, founded upon the rock of his promise, can never fall, so that in vain the rains come, m3 / 166 SERMON VIII. and the floods descend, and the tempests beat against it Q). While maintaining therefore the election of a collective mass on account of Christ, and not that of each separate individual on account of his own merits, they at the same time inculcated the important truth, that Almighty God is no respecter of persons, no capricious tyrant (^), but just and equi- table in his proceedings ; that he has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the whole world ; and has in consequence predesti- nated to the adoption of children those, who duly receive and apply the means of salvation, which he has thus gratuitously provided for them, excluding none from his affections, except such as exclude them- selves. Nor should it, they thought, be esteemed a point of indifference to be per- suaded of his good will towards us as men, and to be assured of it as Christians, as well as to be convinced of possessing a cer- tain title to everlasting happiness; '^ to an ^' inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, '' and that fadeth not away, reserved for us ^^ in heaven," of which nothing but our own contumacy in crime can depriv^e us. But the sentiments of the Lutherans on this head I have already sufficiently de- SERMON Vlll. 167 tailed. I proceed, therefore, in the last place, to consider what our own Church has established in her Article upon the same subject; a subject, perplexing only by being contemplated as Calvin contem- plated it, who, with all the confidence of the Schools, and the v anity of his country, endeavoured to explain that, which his better judgment should have told him was inexplicable. So far indeed is the Article in question from sanctioning the creed of the French Reformer, that, like those al- ready reviewed, it seems to have been framed in perfect conformity with the less abstruse, and more scriptural, opinions of the Lutherans. With them it teaches an election of Christians out of the human race, conceives abundant consolation derivable from such an election, when piously sur- veyed, and not perverted by a profligate fatalism ; and, lastly, represents its position upon the point as consistent with God's universal promises and revealed will, ex- pressly declared to us in the holy Scrip- tures. But in order accurately to comprehend its scope, it will be requisite to examine it more minutely. '' Predestination to life" it defines to be M 4 168 SERMON YIIl. " the everlasting purpose of God, whereby, " before the foundations of the world were " laid, he hath constantly decreed, by his " counsel secret to us, to deliver from curse '' and damnation those, whom he hath " chosen in Christ out of mankind, and to " bring them by Christ to everlasting sal- " vation, as vessels made to honour." The tendency and propriety of the leading terms adopted in this definition, we imme- diately perceive, when we recollect the system of the Scholastics, to which it was opposed. They believed predestination to be God's everlasting purpose to confer grace and glory upon individuals, who de- serve the first congruously, and the latter condignly ; conceiving us competent by our own virtues to extricate ourselves from crime, and its alarming consequences. Our Church, on the other hand, always keeping the idea of redemption in view, states it to be the everlasting purpose of the Almighty, to deliver from a state of malediction and destruction, [" a male- '^ dicto et exitio liberare,") from a guilt, which none can themselves obliterate ; and to render eternally happy, through Christ, or Christianity, as vessels before dishonour- able thus formed to honour, those, whom ii SERMON Vm. 169 he has elected not as meritorious indivi- duals separately, but as a certain class of persons, as Christians collectively, " whom ^' he has chosen in Christ out of mankind." After having explained the nature, and slightly alluded to the objects, of that pre- destination, which alone it inculcates, the Article proceeds to enlarge upon the latter point, and to specify the peculiar character- istics of this highly favoured community. Wherefore/' it is added, " they which be endued with so excellent a benefit of God, " be called according to his purpose, by ^^ his Spirit working in due season," Spi- ritii ejus opportuno tempore operant e ; by his Spirit operating, not irresistibly at plea- sure, without regard to time and circum- stances, but conformablv with the esta- blished constitution of human nature, at a seasonable period, when the mind is indis- posed to resistance, or, as in infancy, inca- pable of it (^) ; " they through grace obey ''the calling, they are justified freely;" are justified without any expiation or satis- faction for sin on their part, Christ himself only being the meritorious cause of it;" '' they are made the children of God by " adoption; they walk religiously in good " works ; and at length by God's mercy,"' 170 SERMON Vm. not by condign merits ''attain everlasting " felicity." Such is the description given of those, who are predestinated to life ; a description, which, when connected with the preceding clause, manifestly points out the election of a part out of the whole, yet not, according to the tenet of the Romish Church, the election of men preferred one before another on account of their per- sonal qualities, but of Christians, distin- guished as an aggregate from the remainder of the human race, by a characteristical discrimination, by being called, justified, and sanctified, through Christianity. The definition of the doctrine being com- pleted, the subsequent passage, still carry- ing on the contrast with the Church of Rome, touches, in guarded but not ambi- guous language, upon the application of it. " As the godly consideration,'^ it remarks, " of predestination and our election in " Christ,'" of the election of us Christians, " is full of sweet, pleasant, and vmspeakable " comfort to godly persons, and such as " feel in themselves the working of the " Spirit of Christ," vim Spirifus Christi ; the influence of that holy Spirit, of which the Gospel speaks, and not of that meri- torious principle, which the Schools termed SERMON Vm. 171 Charity, '^ mortifying the works of the flesh, " and drawing up the mind to high and hea- '' venly things; as well because it greatly '^ establishes and confirms our faith of '' eternal salvation to be enjoyed through ^' Christ/' fidem nostram de aeterna salute consequenda per Christum, our confidence in Christian salvation generally, and not theirs particularly, a change of the pro- noun adopted in the Latin not without de- sign, *^as because it fervently kindles our '' love towards God ; so for curious and *^ carnal persons, lacking the Spirit of '^ Christ, to have continually before their '* eyes the sentence of God's predestina- " tion," to believe, that God has prede- termined something certain respecting their final doom, '^ is a most dangerous downfal, " whereby the Devil doth thrust them into " desperation, or into wretchlessness of '^ most unclean living, no less perilous than '^ desperation." In this important clause we are taught, that none except the truly pious can derive consolation from the doc- trine of our election in Christ, of ours col- lectively in a religious, and not of theirs individually in a personal, capacity ; and that the opposite idea of a predestination which regards the persons of men, fixing the 172 SERMON VIII. fate of each irrevocably, when entertained by those, whose curiosity and crime exceed their piety, tends to drive them into de- spair, from a persuasion of their being ex- posed to the wrath of heaven, as the non- elect, or from a presumption of their ulti- mate security, as the elect, into the most abandoned profligacy (^). But the conclusion of the Article, as dis- tinctly expressive of the basis, upon which the doctrine is founded, and admirably cal- culated to prevent every misapplication of t, is worthy of particular observation. ' Furthermore," it is said, " we must re- ' ceive God's promises in such wise as ' they are generally set forth to us in holy ' Scripture, and in our doings that will of ^ God is to be followed, which we have ' expressly declared to us in the word of ' God." When we consider the preceding parts of the Article, the connexion of the whole, and the sentiments of the Lutherans, whose very style upon the subject seems particularly attended to, is it possible for a moment to imagine, (according to the con- ception of some,) that the object of this clause is to admit an absolute predestina- tion in theory, but to proscribe it in prac- tice ? So far indeed from adopting such a SERMON VIII. 173 conclusion, we ought rather to be per- suaded, that the tendency of it is very dif- ferent ; and that, instead of allowing in one sense, what it disallows in another, it rejects the same in both. For, assuming God's universal promises as the ground- work of Predestination, it requires us to embrace them, not as confined to certain favourites previously ordained to bhss, but as general to the whole human species, to whom our Church elsewhere considers eternal life as offered without discrimina- tion (^), and not to indulge every evil pro- pensity of our nature, under the pretence of being over-ruled by a secret will of Hea- ven, which we can neither promote nor resist ; but to act in conformity with that will, which is clearly revealed to us in holy Scripture ; a disposition in the common Parent of all men to effect the salvation of all, who obstruct not his operations on their part, discarding '^ the means of grace, " and the hope of glory." That the Lu- therans perpetually urged the universality of the divine promises and will, I have al- ready pointed out; and it should be re- marked, that our Reformers on this occa- sion kept an eye even upon the language, as well as opinions, of Melancthon (^). 174 SERMON VIII. Had they been inclined to favour the tenet of Calvin, we may be assured, that they would not have countenanced an idea, which gave particular offence to that Re- former, which he never alluded to, unless to explain it away, and which he prided himself upon having refuted, as an error. *' Aliquid disserui," he remarks in his In- stitute, ^* eorum errorem refellens, quibus " generalitas promissionum videtur aequare '' totum humanum genus." Lib. iii. cap. 24. §. 1. What was the utmost latitude of expression upon the subject, which, had they been his disciples, they would have admitted, we may learn from the Helvetic Confession, which speaks indeed of God's promises being universal, but, instead of extending that universality to all, restricts it to the faithful, ^' Promissiones Dei sunt '^ universales fidelibus." (^) Having considered the whole of the Arti- cle, in a point of view, which no less exhi- bits the moderation of our Church, than her wisdom and piety, I shall simply refer, in confirmation of what has been advanced, to our baptismal service, which every where proceeds upon the principles suggested. There we are directly taught the benignity of our gracious Creator towards us all, SERMON VIII. 175 without distinction, his election of us as Christians, and his subsequent rejection only of those, who, polluted by vice, divest themselves of that sacred character. So strikingly prominent indeed are these senti- ments in the office alluded to, that in order not to perceive them, or to deny their ex- istence, we must shut our eyes against the obvious construction of the English lan- guage. It expressly asserts, that the good will of our heavenly Father is equal to- wards all, who are brought to his holy bap- tism, that he favourably receives them, and embl*aces them with the arms of his mercy, gives unto them the blessing of eternal life, and makes them partakers of his everlasting kingdom (^). But, lest even this should be deemed equivocal, or at least not sufficiently declarative of the ob- ject in view, the baptized are further said not only to be regenerated with his holy Spirit, and made his own children by adop- tion, but, still more explicitly, to be ad- mitted " into the number of the children *' of God, and heirs of everlasting life." (^) Was it possible for words more precise, distinct, and expressive, to be adopted ? And yet there are writers who contend^ that all infants are not supposed to be thus 176 SERMON VIII. regenerated, and numbered among the elect of God, but only a fortunate few, irrespectively chosen, regeneration not al- ways taking place in point of fact, but only in the judgment of charity ; and that the words, upon which so much stress is laid, are only general expressions adapted to general forms. But those, who advance this argument in opposition to the plain import of the terms in contemplation, for- get, or perhaps do not know, that we find no such general expressions, no such cha- ritable judgment in the formulary of bap- tism drawn up and used by Calvin (^^) ; and that the office of our own Church is prin- cipally borrowed from that of the Lu- therans (^^), whose well known sentiments on the subject it is unnecessary to repeat, decisive of the question, subjoined in the Rubric, which declares it to be certain, that baptized children, dying before they com- mit actual sin, are undoubtedly saved (^^) ; a declaration which would be useless and absurd, if it could be so interpreted as to mean those alone, who are included in an absolute, and to us inscrutable, decree of predestination. Let us not however hence imagine, that our Reformers intended to SERMON VIII. 177 establish any opinion inconsistent with the salvation of infants unbaptized. On the contrary, no less here, than upon an occa- sion formerly alluded to, the very reverse appears to have been the fact. For it should be observed, that the passage before us is not original, but borrowed from a work of popular instruction, composed in the reign of Henry, which, after stating, that by this Sacrament we are made the very sons of God, adds, '' Insomuch that '' infants and children, dying in their in- '' fancy, shall undoubtedly be saved there- '' by, and else not."(^^) Now, while the omission of the latter part of the clause in our Liturgy evidently points out the im- provement in the creed of our Reformers, the insertion of the short sentence prefixed, " it is certain by God's word," seems no less convincingly to prove, that they speak only of that, which the lips of truth have revealed, and placed beyond conjecture, the covenanted mercy of Almighty God. On the whole, by explaining this Article in conformity with our baptismal service, we instantly perceive, upon what principles divine election is supposed to proceed, and what is that general promise and will of God, of which it speaks, as expressly de- N 178 SERMON VUI. clared in the word of God ; we perceive^ that grace, according to the Lutheran doc- trine, is directly taught to be both Univer- sal and Defectible(^'^), circumstances, which necessarily preclude every idea of an arbi- trary selection of individuals. Our benevo- lent Creator, we are told, possesses no pri- vate partiality for certain preordained ob- jects of his bounty, but is equally disposed to all, embraces all indiscriminately with the arms of his mercy, and receives all, when dedicated to him by baptism, into the number of his elect; and when, at any subsequent period of our existence, he withdraws from us the light of his heavenly countenance, the cause of that deplorable change is not imputable to him, but to us, who prove defective on our parts, forfeit- ing in maturer years our title to eternal happiness, and excluding ourselves from salvation. Thus, when captivated with the pleasures of the w^orld, and subdued by its temptations, we cease " manfully to fight " under the banner of Christ," we com- pletely lose that state of security, in which we before were placed ; for it is not suffi- cient to be once regenerated, and made the children of Heaven by adoption, unless we are daily renewed by the holy Spirit, SERMON VIII. 179 which we can never be, while we despise his dominion, resist his influence, and pol- lute the hallowed sanctuary, which he has established in our hearts. Hence there- fore, from this diversity in us, (some finally abandoning the hope of their calling, and perishing in their crimes, others by repent- ance and amendment recovering it,) arises the rule of a personal discrimination in the mind of God ; for although his purpose is indeed immutable, and his predestination of the elect, as a collective body, conse- quently absolute, yet our continuation in that number, or rejection from it, is evi- dently conditional, depending not upon his irrespective decree, but upon our Christian conduct, '' upon our being endued with hea- " venly virtues," by which alone, through the merits and for the sake of Christ, we are '' everlastingly rewarded." Q^^ And when we recollect, what our Church main- tains in her Article of Free Will upon the point of human cooperation with divine agency, we see, that, according to her sen- timents, widely differing from those of Calvin, in ourselves is to be found one es- sential requisite towards the performance of that condition, upon which, when erased N 2 180 SERMON VIII. by guilt, our names are again inscribed in the book of life. In the preceding observations upon this Article, I have endeavoured to make our Church her own interpreter^ and, omitting as unnecessary the elucidations, which might have been easily adduced from other parts of her Liturgy, confined myself to those, which her office of Baptism so ap- propriately and eminently affords (^^). The private sentiments of our Reformers on this occasion, it seems of little miportance to ascertain, because, in truth, the question turns not upon what they privately and in- dividually believed, but upon what they publicly and collectively taught ; it may notwithstanding be satisfactory to know, that, as far as we are enabled to judge from their writings, they maintained no- thing which invalidates, but rather much which confirms, what has been advanced (^^). One of them indeed, who was the most copious and explicit upon the subject, has been given up by the Calvinists (if the anachronism be allowable) as a complete Arminian. But this concession proves more, than was perhaps intended by those who made it ; it proves, that Arminianism SERMON VIII. 181 and Lutheranism are precisely the same thing ; for it is remarkable, that some of the passages, usually quoted from the works of Bishop Hooper, for the purpose under consideration, were literally translated from the Loci Theologici of Melancthon (^^). After having completed the illustration which I proposed, it only remains for me to restate, in few words, the various topics, which have been discussed. In adverting, however slightly, to each, we immediately perceive, that the leading object of our Reformers in every instance was to chris- tianize the speculations of the Schools ; to point out, as I have had frequent occasion to observe, the necessity and efficacy of redemption. According to the perverted theology of their opponents, by whom the oracles of divine truth were little studied, and less regarded, the corruption of our nature, as far at least as it relates to the mental faculties, was deemed wholly ideal ; by congruous merit we were thought com- petent to obtain God's favour here, and by condign the fruition of his glorious God- head hereafter; while it was conceived, that on account of both we were pre- destined to salvation. Fascinated there- n3 182 SERMON VIII. fore by the potent magic of the Schools, when the soul of man surveyed her powers and her prospects, instead of viewing her- self as a sinful and fallen creature, contami- nated by original, and ruined, beyond all hope of human remedy, by actual de- pravity, she beheld herself transformed into an angel of light. Contemplating the ap- probation of Heaven, not as a boon to be supplicated, but as a reward to be de- served, she disdained to accept it gratui- tously, but claimed it as the recompense of her virtues, and challenged it as her due. To her own merits she imputed her justifi- cation in this life, and her provid title to bliss in the life to come, unmindful of those, which the Christian ought alone to plead at the throne of mercy, and which by repentance and faith he makes his own. Nor did her complacency in her own good qualities and superior endowments rest even here. Arrayed in all the dignity of moral excellence, and the graces of genuine piety, she beheld herself eternally present to the eye of God, elected before others for her intrinsic worth, and predestinated to ever- lasting felicity, because deserving of it. Where, in such a system, is to be found a place for the full, perfect, and sufficient SERMON Vm. 183 oblation and satisfaction of him, who came to seek and to save that which was lost ? On the other hand, when contrasted with the scholastical doctrine, in how ad- vantageous a point of view, how much more consistent with Gospel truth, and declarative of Gospel beneficence, ap- pears that of the Church of England ! The ever- memorable Divines, who com- piled her Offices, and reformed her Creed, instead of exercising their talents in ab- struse theory and vain speculation, directed their attention wholly to the word of God. Upon this grounding every position which they established, they taught, with no less simplicity than sincerity, that we possess by nature a tendency to evil, which in itself is no innocuous quality, but one offensive to a just and holy God, when abstractedly considered ; that we cannot ourselves in any way atone for sin ; but that an atone- ment has been once made for all bv the common Saviour of mankind ; and that consequently, instead of attempting to ex- piate it by our own merits, whether con- gruous or condign, we ought rather, with a lively faith, united to a truly penitent and contrite heart, to trust in the expia- tion of Christ alone, because something N 4 184 SERMON VIIL more is requisite than we can perform, to appease the displeasure and satisfy the jus- tice of Heaven. Thus while their adver- saries laboured to promote pharisaical pride, and render the cross of Christ of no effect, they solely endeavoured to in- culcate Christian humility, and to demon- strate the inestimable value of Christian redemption ; not indeed in a Calvinistical sense, as if faith were appropriated to the elect only, for that would have been to exchange one species of personal conceit for another ; but in a sense, which both Scripture and Reason approve, which makes the light of the evangelical as general in its influences, as that of the natural day. For upon the subject of Pre- destination, as well as upon every other, which has been alluded to, their prudence was not less conspicuous than their piety. Approaching it with reverence, and treat- ing it with circumspection, they indulged not, like many in the Church of Rome, and like some who were enumerated among the friends of reformation, in abstruse dis- quisitions upon the nature of the divine will ; they boasted not of a philosophy, which affected to soar above vulgar view, and fix its sublime abode in the bosom of SERMON VIII. 185 God himself. That he, whom the wonders of created being perplex, who knows not half the wisdom of the meanest insect, that man, equally imperfect as impure, should presume to investigate the arcana of the omniscient mind, appeared to them the height of extravagance and crime. Their feelings recoiled at the idea of passing the boundary, which the Scriptures have pre- scribed, and of exploring without an infal- lible guide the abyss of the unrevealed Godhead ; what no human intellect can comprehend, they were contented in silence to adore. Every attempt therefore to ex- plain the will of the unknown God, as he exists in his native majesty, amid clouds of impenetrable darkness, they utterly dis- claimed, and spoke only of that consolatory effect of it, which the sacred volumes dis- close to us, and represent as certain, the predestination of Christians to eternal life. With this express object in view they inti- mately blended the doctrine of election with the holy ordinance of baptism, in- cluding all in the universal promise, and regulating the decrees of God by our as- sumption or rejection of the Christian cha- racter ; persuaded that the contrary tenet of a predestination by individual destiny is 186 SERMON VIII. attended with the worst of consequences ; that while it furnishes the profligate sinner with a pretext for his vices, it increases the agony of the desponding, whose petitions for mercy and forgiveness seem never to reach the throne of grace, but return to his afflicted soul disregarded, if not despised; adding tenfold horror to his despair. To conclude, we perceive with much concern, and feel perhaps with some re- sentment, that upon the subjects, which have been considered in these Lectures, the creed of our Church has been often igno- rantly misconceived, or maliciously misre- presented. Contemplated as the inflexible advocate of fatalism, by some she has been extravagantly applauded, and by others unreasonably traduced. The Socinian in particular has been often gratified in im- puting to her obnoxious opinions, has some- times added insult to injury, and, where her liberality should have been com- mended, has insidiously held up her sup- posed bigotry to public scorn and detesta- tion. Let us not however, on this account, abandon her cause, or cease to vindicate her real sentiments ; but rather persevere in our efforts with the firmness of men, and the temper of Christians, supported by the SERMON VIII. 187 consoling assurance, that truth will not hang for ever suspended between calumny and falsehood, but will at length assert its genuine character ; ^^ Non semper pende- " bit inter latrones Christus; resurget ali- *' quando crucifixa Veritas.*' (*^) NOTES. NOTES ON SERMON I Page 8, note (/ ). 1. HIS is sufficiently evinced by the well known at- tempts of the Calvinists, both in the reign of Elizabeth and James, to procure the insertion of the Lambeth Articles among the established Articles of our Church. Upon the accession of the latter Prince, a conference was publicly held at Hampton Court, in which the innovation alluded to, with others of equal importance, was suggested. The particulars of this conference were subsequently published, in which the spokesman of the Calvinists is stated to have moved his Majesty, " That <' the Book of Articles of Religion, concluded in 1562, " might be explained in places obscure, and enlarged '* where some things were defective. For example, *' whereas Art. 16'. the words are these. After we have " 7'eceived the Holy Ghost, we may depart from grace, " notwithstanding the meaning be sound, yet he desired, '' that, because they may seem to be contrary to the " doctrine of God's Predestination and Election in the " 17th Article, both these words might be explained " with this or the like addition; yet neither totally nor ^'f?ially ; and also that the nine assertions orthodoxall, as " he termed them, concluded upon at Lambeth, might he " inserted into that book of Articles" p. *24f. To this conference James himself alluded in his Proclamation for authorizing an uniformity of the Book of Common Prayer. " At our very first entry (he remarked) into 192 NOTES ON SERMON I. " this realm, being entertained and importuned with " informations of sundry ministers complaining of the " errors and imperfections of the Church here, as well *' in matter of doctrine as of discipline, although we had " no reason to presume &c yet because the impor- " tunity of the complainers were great, their affirmations " vehement, and the zeal wherewith the same did seem " to be accompanied very specious, we were moved " thereby to make it our occasion to discharge that " duty which is the chiefest of all kingly duties, that is, *' to settle the affiiirs of religion and the service of God " before their own. Which v/hile we were in hand to " do, as the contagion of the sickness reigning in our " city of London and other places would permit an as- " sembly of persons meet for that purpose, some of " those who misliked the state of reliofion here esta- " blished, presuming more of our intents, than ever we *' gave them cause to do, and transported with humour, " began such proceedings, as did rather raise a scandal " in the Church than take offence away. For both " they used forms of public sei'ving of God not here " allowed, held assemblies without authority, and did ^' other things carrying a very apparent shew of sedi- ** tion, more than of zeal ; vvhom we restrained by a " former proclamation in the month of October last, '* and gave intimation of the conference we intended to '' be had with as much speed as conveniently could be, " for the orderinor of those thinf^s of the Church, which *' accordingly followed in the month of January last, at " our Honour of Hampton Court, where before ourself *' and our Privy Council were assembled many of the " gravest Bishops and Prelates of the realms, and many " other learned men, as well of those, that are conform- " able to the state of the Church established, as of those " that dissented. Among whom what our pains were, " what our patience in hearing and replying, and what NOTES ON SERMON I. 193 " the indifference and uprightness of our judgment in '^ determining, we leave to the report of those who " heard the same, contenting ourself with the sincerity " of our own heart therein. But we cannot conceal, *" that the success of that conference was such, as hap- " peneth to many other things, which, moving great " expectation before they be entered into, in their issue " produce small effects/' The ni7ie assertions orthodoxal referred to on this oc- casion, or the nine predestinarian propositions originally drawn up at Lambeth, in consequence of some public disputes at Cambridge, were the following; " 1. Deus ab aeterno praedestinavit quosdam ad vi- " tam, quostlam reprobavit ad mortem. " 2. Causa movens aut efficiens praedestinationis ad " vitam, non est praevisio fidei aut perseverantiae, aut " bonorum operum, aut ullius rel quae insit in personis " praedestinatis, sed sola voluntas beneplaciti Dei. *' 3. Praedestinatorum praefinitus et certus est nume- *' rus, qui nee augeri nee minui potest. " 4. Qui non sunt praedestinati ad salutem, necessa- " rio propter peccata sua damnabuntur. " 5. Vera, viva, et justificans fides, et Spiritus Dei " justificantis, non extinguitur, non excidit, non eva- " nescit, in electis aut finaliter aut totaliter. " 6. Homo vere fidelis, id est, fide justificante prae- " ditus, certus est plerophoria fidei de remissione pecca- " torum suorum, et salute sempiterna sua per Christum. " 7. Gratia salutaris non tribuitur, non communica- " tur, non conceditur universis hominibus, qua servari " possint, si velint. " 8. Nemo potest venire ad Christum, nisi datum ei ** fuerit, et nisi pater eum traxerit, et omnes homines '' non trahuntur a patre, ut veniant ad filium. " 9. Non est positum in arbitrio aut potestate unius " cuj usque hominis servari." o 194 NOTES ON SERMON I. Although the Calvinists failed under James in their attempt to correct what they deemed to be " the errors *^ and imperfections of the Churchy as well in matter of ^' doctrine as discipline^'' nevertheless under his un- happy Successor, or rather under the authority of a Parliament in opposition to the Sovereign, they com- menced an actual Reformation of our Articles. In the year 1643 " the Assembly of Divines," as the Com- mittee alluded to has been usually styled, revised the first fifteen, " with a design," as the historian of the Puritans himself observes, " to render their sense more " express, and determinate in favour of Calvinism/* Neal's History of the Puritans, vol. i. p. 48. ed. 1 754. The 9th Article of Original Sin was thus amended by them ; " Original Sin standeth not in the following of *' Adam, as the Pelagians do vainly talk, but {together *' with his first sin imputed'^ ii is the fault and corruption ** of the nature of every man that naturally is propagated " from Adam, whereby man is wholly deprived of (not " as before, "oerij far gone from) original righteousness, '' and is of his own nature inclined [only'] to evil .... " yet the Apostle doth confess, that concupiscence and " lust is truly and properly sin" (instead of hath of itself the nature of si?i). In the 10th Art. upon Free Will they made only one interpolation, but that of some im- portance. After the words, " without the grace of God *' by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good " will," they inserted, " and working so effectually in us, '^ as that it determiiieth our will to that which is good," And again in the 11th Art. upon Justification, another explanation of no less importance was introduced. '« We are justified," it was said, " that is, we are ac- *' counted righteous before God, and have remission of ^' sins not for nor by our own works or deservings, but " freely by his grace, only for our Lord and Saviour "Jesus Christ^s sake, his whole obedience and satisfac- NOTES ON SERMON I. \95 <* tion being by God impeded unto us, and Christ with his " righteousness bei?ig apprehended and rested o?i by faith " only.^^ Ibid. Appendix, No. 1. Do not these emenda- tions prove, that the respective opinions introduced were not, in the judgment of those who proposed them, at least necessarily contained in the original Articles? An unprejudiced Calvinist might perhaps admit a stronger conclusion to be warrantable. That the Assembly of Divines proceeded no further in their labours than to the review of the 15th Article, might be owing to a persuasion of the attempt being hopeless, from the incorrigibility of the ancient creed ; or perhaps to a prospect, which then began rapidly to o})en upon the Puritanical cause, not merely of reform- ing the Church, but altogether of subverting it. Page 10, note (^). Ego persuasus sum sine literarum peritia prorsus stare non posse sinceram theologiam, sicut hactenus, ruentibus et jacentibus literis, miserrime et cecidit et jacuit. Quin video, nunquam fuisse insignem factam verbi Dei revelationem, nisi primo, velut praecursoribus Baptistis, viam pararit surgentibus et florentibus Un- guis et literis. Lutheri Epistol. vol. ii. p. 307. Vitse German. Theologorum a Melchiore Adamo, p. 164. Page 12, note (^). " How not only men of the new learning (as they be " called) but also the very Papistical authors do allow, " &c." Letter from Cranmer to Henrv VIII. Burnet's History of the Reformation, vol. i. Addenda, p. 319. " But when a good number of the best learned men " reputed within this realm, some favouring the old, " and some the new learning, as they term it, &c." Cranmer's Letter to Queen Mary, Fox's Martyrology, vol. ii. p. 1715. ed. 1610. Page 1 3, note {'*). After the commencement of our Reformation, Me- o2 196 NOTES ON SERMON I. lancthon was repeatedly pressed personally to assist in completing it, both in Henry's and Edward's reign. An invitation of this kind certainly took place so early as March 1534; for in a letter of that date he thus ex- presses himself; " Ego jam alteris literis in Angliam " vocor." Epist. p. 717. And again in the October of the following year ; '' Ego rursus Anglicis non solum " literis, sed etiam legationibus, et vocor et exerceor." Epist. p. 732. lib. iv. epist. 179. Ed, Loud. 1642. The cause however why he came not then, as at first he in- tended, (for the Elector of Saxony had consented to his journey, and Luther was anxious for it,) he explains in another letter to Camerarius ; ** Anglicae profectionis " cura prorsus liberatus sum. Postquam enim tragici " casus in Anglia acciderunt, magna consiliorum mu- " tatio secuta est. Posterior Regina" (viz. Ann Boleyn) " magis accusata, quam convicta, adulterii, ultimo " supplicio alFecta est." Anno 1536. Epist. lib. iv. epist. 187. In 1538 he was again solicited. Upon the return of Fred. Myconius, and the other Germans, who had been sent hither by the Protestant Princes of Germany, with the hope of obtaining Henry's accession to their religious league, that monarch wrote thus to the Elector of Saxony ; " Mutuas vero has actiones nostras " ubi vestra excellentia ex suis oratoribus penitus cogno- *' verit, ipsi pro sua singulari prudentia, et innato quo- " dam conatus quosque optimos promovendi studio, *' quam maxime probatum iri non ambigimus ; et pro " his, quae feliciter agi coepta sunt, felicius absolvendis " concludendisque expectamus, ut Dominum Philippum " Melancthoneniy in cujus excellenti eruditione et sano ^^ judicio a bonis omnibus multa spes reposita est, doctos- " que alios et probos viros, primo quoque tempore, ad <' nos mittat." Seckendorf. Histor. Luther, lib. iii. §. Q6, add. 1. The same wish also on the part of Henry those Ambassadors noticed, in the report of their pro- NOTES ON SERMON I. 197 ceedings here. " Mira," says Seckendorf, " in ilia (viz. '' relatione) narratur Regis huinanitas, ut legates, prae- " sentibus aulae proceribus, honorifice admiserit, am- " plexu suo dignatus sit, benigne audiverit, placidissime ** respondent, scepe etiam Melancthonis prcesentiam desi- " derari a se testatus sit." Ibid. Melancthon indeed was so much valued by that Monarch, that Gardiner (who certainly more deserved the appellation of Henri- cianus, than Cranmer, to whom it has been insidiously applied) thought it proper to profess the greatest regard for him. " How highly,'* said the latter to the former, in their controversy upon the Eucharist, " you have " esteemed Melancthon in times past, it is not un- " known." Answer to Gardiner, p. 138. During the short reign of Edward, solicitations of a similar nature appear to have been frequent. Latimer, in a sermon preached before the King, March 22, 1549, thus alludes to a report of the time : " I heard say " master Melancthon, that great dark, should come " hither. I would wish him, and such as he is, to have " two hundred pound a year. The king should never " want it in his coffers at the year's end." Latimer's Sermons, p. 47- Ed. Loud. 1635. In the subsequent year his presence here was a second time requested. " Ego," he remarks in a letter to J. Cameririus, " rursus in An- " gliam vocor." Epist. p. 915. lib. iv. ep. 780. anno 1550. May 17. And lastly, again immediately before the death of that much lamented Prince : *' Remis literis " vocor in Angliam, qua) scriptae sunt mense Maio. ** Postea secuta est mors nobilissimi adolescentis, qui " etiam exemplum est humanae imbecillitatis." J. Came- rario, ibid. p. 930. lib. iv. epist. 813. anno 1553. The latter circumstance Strype notices in his Ecclesiastical Memorials ; *' Had not," he says, " the King died so " soon, the moderate, learned, and wise Melancthon *' would have come into England, and been placed in o 3 198 NOTES ON SERMON I. " the University of Cambridge. For in the month of *^ May a letter in Latin was sent to him from the King, " signifying, that the King had elected him to supply " that place, which Martin Bucer, deceased, had in '• that University. And June 6 following, a warrant " was issued to the Treasurer of the Augmentations, to " deliver to the Archbishop of Canterbury 50 pounds, " to be sent over the seas by him, for the expences of " the same learned man coming to the King's presence." Vol. ii. p. 401. If the reader compares the date of Melancthon's first invitation to England, with that of the publications in the following note, he will find, that it preceded every doctrinal reformation in this country. Nor perhaps is it too much to suppose, that the formularies of faith, which were promulgated in the reign of Henry, ori- ginated in the advice of Melancthon, as contained in a letter to that Prince, dated March 3, 1535, and that they were formed, in part at least, upon his decisions of certain points committed to writing. " Nee vero dubi- " to," remarks the Lutheran Reformer, " quin et ipsae " religionum controversiae mitigarentur, si regia ma- " jestas tua, cum autoritatem suam conferret ad reges " caeteros ad moderationem flectendos, turn vero cum " doctis hominibiis de genere doctriricc deliheraret. Nam " et illud minime obscurum est, in Ecclesiam abusus *' quosdam non dissimulandos irrepsisse; neque tamen " operam dare reges, ut extet aliqua simplex et certa *' doctrince forma D. Antonius" (Dr. Barnes, after- wards a Martyr, but at that time Henry's Ambas- sador in Germany) " summa fide et diligentia de certis " Articidis nobiscum disputavit, de quibus meum judicium " ipsi perscriptum dedi." Epistolae Londin. p. 11. In the very next year certain Articles of Religion were drawn up and edited in the King's name, which were evidently of a Lutheran tendency. Indeed the dcfini- NOTES ON SERMON 1. 199 tion of so interesting a topic as that of Justification was evidently translated from the Loci Theologici of Me- lancthon. " The word Justification," it was said, '' sig- " nifieth remission of our sins, and our acceptation or " reconciliation into the grace and favour of God." Melancthon's words are ; " Justificatio significat remis- " sionem peccatorum, et reconciliationem, seu accepta- " tionem personae ad vitam seternam." Loci Theolog. de Gratia et Justific. Page 14, note (^). The first public attempt at a reformation of opinion was made in the year 1536, vv'hen a short code of doc- trine was published, under the title of " Articles de- " vised by the King's Highness Majesty, to stablish " Christian quietness and unity among us, and to avoid " contentious opinions, which Articles be also approved " by the consent and determination of the whole clergy " of this realm/' In the subsequent year appeared a larger work of religious instruction, commonly called The Bishops' Book, because it was principally composed by the Bishops, although not without the assistance of other able Divines. This, which was denominated *' The '^ Institution of a Christian Man," contained an exposi- tion of the Creed, the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, the Sacraments, the Ave Maria, Justification, and Purgatory. The two last, with the doctrine upon Baptism, Penitence, and the Eucharist, were taken word for word from the preceding Articles. By some unaccountable mistake Collier states, that '• this book was drawn up in a convocation three years "before;" Eccles. History, vol. ii. p. 139. when the Articles above mentioned, parts of which were intro- duced in it, were not in existence. While Collier blunders about its date, Strype misconceives the work altogether, imagining it to have been nothing more o 4 200 NOTES ON SERMON I. than the Articles themselves. In the first vol. of his Ecclesiastical Memorials, p. 381, he says, " The Insti- " tution is reprinted in the Addenda to the first vol. of " the History of the Reformation." By referring to the page of Burnet, which he quotes, the Articles only are to be found. In fact, had Burnet ever seen the production, (w^hich is very doubtful,) it would have been too voluminous for insertion. Afterwards, in 154<3, a similar performance came out with the royal sanction, under the title of " A necessary "Doctrine and Erudition for any Christian Man;'* and therefore usually termed The King's Book. It was confined to the same subjects as the foregoing, with the addition of some explanations upon the points of Faith, Free Will, and Good Works ; and although not a mere revision of the " Institution,'" it nevertheless contained little more than the sentiments of that work (the doc- trine of Transubstantiation alone excepted) differently, and perhaps something more sophistically, expressed. Before its publication it was approved by the Convo- cation then sitting, in which it was examined in parts, as appears evident from the minutes of that assembly, in Wilkins's Concilia Magnae Britannise, vol. iii. p. 868. Yet Burnet twice remarks, that it was never intro- duced there. See his History of the Reformation, vol. i. p. 286. and his Supplement, p. 159. This is the more remarkable, as he seems to have perused a copy of the authentic record of the transaction. Supplement, p. 161. But we cannot be surprised at any want of accuracy in this historian, when we read the following confession ; " I did, in my second volume, publish a " commission to Cromwell, thinking it was that, which " constituted him the King's vicegerent, which I, in *' reading the beginning of it, took to be so ; but this " was one of the effects of the haste, in "which I wrote that " workJ" Supplement, p. 142. This haste however is NOTES ON SERMON I. 201 not only visible in the work itself, but in the Supple- ment to it. For unfortunately in the very instance under consideration, he observes, " In the Convocation " of the year 1543, we have only this short word ; that " on the 29th of April the Archbishop treated of the " Sacraments, and on the next day on the Article of " Free Will. This is all that I could gather from the " copy of the minutes of the Convocation." p. 161. If the reader turns to the minutes alluded to, which are preserved in Wilkins, as above quoted, he will find, that something more than Burnet's short word was re- corded ; he will perceive, that on the 20th of April the Exposition of the Lord's Prayer in English was consi- dered ; on the 21st, that of the five first precepts of the Decalogue; on the 24th and 2oth, that of the remaining five, with another of the Sacraments, and not on the 29th, as Burnet states ; on the 27th, that of the word Faith, of the 12 Articles of Faith, of Justification, Works, and Prayer for the dead ; and on the 30th, that of the Article of Free Will. Upon which latter day the minute runs thus; " Quo die lectos et publice " expositos in vulgari Articulos liberi Arbitrii tradidit " Reverendissimus Prolocutor! eo animo, ut ipse eun- " dem tractatum coram Praelatis inferioris Domus per- " legeret. Quern lectum restituerunt superior! Domui " cum hac approbatione, quod pro catholicis et reli- " giosis eos acceptarunt, necnon gratias ingentes patri- " bus egerunt, quod tantos labores, sudores, et vigilias " religionis et reipublicae causa, et unitatis gratia, subie- " runt." Now the different expositions thus considered, comprise the several parts of the " Necessary Erudi- " tion," published !n that year. If these productions be minutely examined, not only the ideas, but sometimes the very language, of the Lu- therans will appear to have been closely copied in both, upon the subject at least before me. The reader may 202 NOTES ON SERMON I. find the Articles in Burnet's Hist. Reform, vol. i. Ad- denda, p. 305 ; some account of " The Necessary Eru- dition" in the same work, vol. i. p. 286. and of " The " Institution^' in Collier's Eccles. Hist. vol. ii. p. 139. I have fixed the date of the " Necessary Erudition^' in 1543, as Collier has correctly done, and not in 1540, according to Burnet. The latter observes, '' It was "finished and set forth in this year, (viz. 1540,) with " a preface written by those of the Clergy, who had " been employed in it," (a preface however, which never existed except in his own imagination.) '< To this the " King added another preface some years after." Vol. i. p. 293. But this is not all. To corroborate his state- ment, Burnet misquotes an Act of Parliament, which passed in the year when the work actually appeared, but before it was completed for publication. In this statute (he remarks) all the Books of the Old and New Testament of Tindal's translation are forbidden to be kept or used in the King's dominions, " with all other " books contrary to the doctrine set forth in the year " 1540." And again, " Every person might read and " teach in their houses the book set out in the year 1540." Vol. i. p. 322. Now the words of the Act are these : in the first instance, " contrary to that doctrine, which, " since the year of our Lord L540, is, or any time here- " after during the King's Majesty's life, &c. .... shall " be set forth by his Highness ;'' and in the second in- stance, (not the book set out in the year 1540, but) " all " such doctrine^ as, since the said year of our Lord 1540, " is or shall be set forth by the King's Majesty, &c." expressions certainly conveying a meaning very dif- ferent from that of Burnet. The truth was, that the commissioners, appointed to draw up the work in ques- tion (as mentioned in the subsequent note) did certainly meet in 1540; but that the work itself was not pub- lished until after the prorogation of the Parliament, on NOTES ON SERMON I. 203 the 12th of May, 1543. During the last week in April we find it in the hands of the Convocation ; and on the following 29th of May it was printed. I have been the more particular on this occasion in pointing out the inaccuracies of Burnet, because he seems in general to have been too implicitly trusted, misleading perhaps subsequent writers by his loose style, and looser statements, more than any other his- torian. - Page 15, 7iote (^). In the year 1540, a motion was made by Cromwell, in the upper House, for the appointment of a committee *' of Bishops and Divines, to draw up an exposition of " those things, that were necessary for the institution of " a Christian man." Burnet, vol. i. p. 274, and Journal of the House of Lords, in which Cromwell's Speech is given. The committee was accordingly appointed, and drew up, not the work entitled, " The Institution of a '* Christian Man," which had been published three years before, but that which was termed, " A Necessary Doc- " trine and Erudition for any Christian Man." Crom- welPs motion for the appointment of the committee was made April 13, 1540; upon the 13th of June following, he was arrested and sent to the Tower, and upon the 28th of July beheaded. Seven days before his execu- tion, a bill passed both Houses of Parliament, which empowered this committee, or any other which the King might appoint, " to declare the principal Articles of the " Christian belief with the ceremonies, and way of " God's service to be observed." It appears by Fox's Martyrology, vol. ii. p. 1693. ed. 1610, that at this pre- cise period these Commissioners attempted to establish such Doctrines, as might tend to the revival of Popish error and superstition ; that even Bishop Heath and Bishop Skip (who were in the commission, and friendly to the Protestant cause) earnestly entreated Cranmer 204 NOTES ON SERMON I. not to oppose the design, for fear of incurring the King's displeasure; but that he resisted their entreaties, dis- daining, as Fox terms it, to deal colourably on the oc- casion, notwithstanding the dread of Henry's anger, and the alarminor effects of it visible in the sudden fall and expected fate of Cromwell ; '' and that in the end, " by discharging his conscience, and declaring the truth " unto the King, God so wrought with the King, that " his Highness joined with him against the rest, so that, " the book of Articles passing on his side, he won the ^* goal from them all, contrary to all their expectations, " when many wagers would have been laid in London, '' that he should have been laid up with Cromwell, at " that time in the Tower for his stiff standing to his " tackle. After that day/' adds the historian, " there " could neither Counsellor, Bishop, or Papist, win him *' out of the King's favour." The Articles in question, or wh^t are given as such, may be seen in Strype's Ec- clesiastical Memorials, vol. i. Appendix, p. 306. They were probably intended, as the same writer observes, (vol. i. p. 356.) to contain " the public judgment and " professed doctrine of the Church of England," as they constantly commence with the phrases, "Docemus, cre- '' dimus." From them, parts of our 25th, 26th, and S^th Articles were borrowed. In our •25th Art. (as worded in 1552,) the Sacraments are thus defined; " Sacra- " menta a Christo instituta non tantum sunt notae pro- *' fessionis Christianorum, sed certa quasdam potius tes- " timonia, et efficacia signa gratiae atque bona in nos " voluntatis Dei, per quae invisibiliter ipse in nobis ope- " ratur, nostramque fidem in se non solum excitat, ve- " rum etiam confirmat." This was manifestly taken from the production of the year 154'0, above alluded to. " Docemus," it is there said, " quod Sacramenta, qufe '' per verbum Dei instituta sunt, non tantum sunt notae " professionis inter Christianos, sed magis certa quae- NOTES ON SERMON I. 205 *' dam testimonia et efficacia signa gratiae, et bonse vo- " luntatis Dei erga nos, per quae Deus invisibiliter ope- " ratur in nobis, et suam gratiam in nos invisibiliter dif- " fundit, siquidem ea rite susceperimus. Quodque per " ea excitatur et confirmatur fides in his, qui eis ** utuntur." Strype's Eccles. Mem. vol. i. Appendix, p. 306*. But even this passage is derived from the fol- lowing in the Augsburg Confession; " De Sacramen- *' torum usu docent, quod Sacramenta instituta sunt, " non modo ut sint notae professionis inter homines, sed " magis ut sint signa, et testimonia voluntatis Dei erga " nos." Art. 13. August. Confess. 26th Article of our Church. '^ Quamvis in Ecclesia visibili bonis mali sunt semper '' admixti, atque interdum ministerio verbi et Sacramen- " torum administration i praesint, tamen cum non suo, sed " Christi nomine agant, ejusque mandato et authoritate '' ministrent, illorum ministerio uti licet, cum in verbo '' Dei audiendo, tum in Sacramentis percipiendis, neque " per illorum malitiam efFectus institutorum Christi " tollitur, aut gratia donorum Dei minuitur, quoad eos, " qui fide et rite sibi oblata percipiunt, quae propter in- '' stitutionem Christi, et promissionem efficacia sunt, " licet per malos administrentur." Articles of 1540. '' Et quamvis in Ecclesia secundum posteriorem ac- " ceptionem mali sunt bonis admixti, atque etiam mi- " nisteriis verbi et Sacramentorum nonnunquam prae- " sint, tamen, cum ministrent non suo, sed Christi no- " mine mandato et authoritate, licet eorum ministerio ** uti, tam in verbo audiendo quam recipiendis Sacra- " mentis, juxta illud, Qui vos audit, me audit. Nee per " eorum malitiam imminuitur efFectus, aut gratia dono- " rum Christi rite accipientibus. Sunt enim efficacia " propter promissionem et ordinationem Christi, etiamsi *' per malos exhibeantur." 206 NOTES ON SERMON I. Augsburg Confession. " Cum in hac vita multi hypocritse et mali admixti *' sint, licet uti Sacramentis, quae per males admini- '' strantur, juxta vocem Christi, Matt, xxiii. 2. Sedent *' Scrihce et Phariscei in cathedra Mosisy &c. Et Sacra- " menta et verbum propter ordinationem et mandatum " Christi sunt efficacia, etiamsi per males exhibeantur." Art. 8. 34th Article of our Church. ^' Traditiones atque ceremonirs easdem non omni- *' no necesse est esse ubique, aut prorsus consimiles. " Nam et varise semper fuerunt, et mutari possunt pro *' regionum, temporum, et morum diversitate, mode " nihil contra verbum Dei instituatur." Articles of 1540. " Traditiones vero et ritus atque ceremonias, quae ^* vel ad decorem, vel ordinem, vel disciplinam Ec- ^' cleslae ab hominibus sunt institutae, non omnino ne- " cesse est, ut esedem sint ubique aut prorsus similes. " Hfe enim et variae fuere, et variari possunt pro regio- " num atque morum diversitate ac commode, sic tamen, " ut sint consentientes verbo Dei.'' Augsburg Confession. '^ Nee necesse est ubique similes esse traditiones hu- *' manas, seu ritus, aut ceremonias ab hominibus insti- " tutas." Art. 7. In contemplating the doctrinal Reformation of Hen- ry's reign, we should not perhaps attribute so much im- portance to the counsels of Cromwell, as we usually do ; for, by a diligent perusal of these Articles, we perceive how ably Cranmer could contend without him. Nor ought we to regard it as detached from that which followed; because we see that the same person was principally concerned in both, and in the latter instance not forgetful of what he had effected in the former. NOTES ON SERMON I. 207 Page 16, 7iote (^), The origin of our Common Prayer is by no means dubious. An abridgment of die Service of tlie Romish Church, with such alterations and amendments, as were judged requisite to purify it from error and superstition, became the Liturgy of the Lutherans. Our own was modelled in the same way, being little more than a com- pilation of the ancient forms, selected with prudence, corrected with judgment, and arranged with simplicity. In most parts of it our Reformers kept in view a work of a similar description, then recently drawn up by Me- lancthon and Bucer, for the use of the Archbishopric of Coloirne. This I shall have occasion to notice here- after. Calvin, on the other hand, (who equally approved of public forms, and never, like his followers in aftertimes, dreamed of praying by the Spirit,) chose rather to be- come an author than compiler, preferring the task of composing a new Liturgy, to that of reforming an old one. A performance of this kind he originally prepared in French, and seems to have first used, when he taught at Strasburff. This he afterwards translated into Latin, with emendations, and published at Geneva, as the form of that Church, in the year 1545. See his Opuscula, p. 39. Another translation of the same work was printed at London, in 1551, by Valerandus Polla- rjus, his successor at Strasburg, then a refugee in England. Now it is certain, that our own Liturgy, as it first appeared in 1 549, bore not the most distant re- semblance to this novel production. In 1552 however, when the same was revised and republished, the intro- ductory Sentences, Exhortation, Confession, and Abso- lution, then added at the beginning of our Daily Prayer, were in some degree taken from it, yet not from Calvin's own translation, but from that of PoUanus, which was printed in England at the very period when the Book of 208 NOTES ON SERMON I. Common Prayer was under revision. This is evident from the circumstance, that the translation of Pollanus alone contains an Absolution^ Calvin^s not having the slightest trace of one. If it be conjectured, that our Reformers took the hint alluded to from the former translation, because they were ignorant of the latter, it shews how little the production of Calvin was at that time known ; if because they preferred the former, it shews how little it was regarded. After all, the idea only of such forms, or at most an occasional allusion or two, seems to have been borrowed. In proof of which I shall subjoin the Latin of Pollanus. " Die Dominico mane, hora octava, cum jam adest po- " pulus, Pastore accedente, Choraules incipit clara " voce, Leve le Cueur, ac populus accinit cum modestia " et gravitate summa, ut ne quid voluptati aurium, sed *^ serviant omnia reverentiae Dei et sedificationi tam ca- " nentium quam audientium, si qui fortasse adsint non *' canentes. Cum absolverint primam tabulam" (viz. Decalogi), " tum Pastor, mensae astans, versus ad po- " pulum sic incipit ; * Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini, qui fecit * coelum et terram. Amen.' " Deinde clara et distincta voce populum admonet " de confessione peccatorum, hisque verbis prseit ; * Fratres, cogitet unusquisque se coram Deo sisti, ut ' peccata et delicta sua omnia simplici animo confiteatur, * et agnoscat, atque apud vosmetipsos me prfeeuntem * sequimini his verbis ;' Confessio Peccatorum. ' Domine Deus, Pater aeterne et omnipotens, agno- * scimus et fatemur ingenue apud sanctissimam maje- * statem tuam, peccatores esse nos miseros, adeoque a ' prima origine, qua concepti et nati sumus, tam ad ' omne malum esse pronos, quam ab omni bono alie- * nos ; quo vitic tuas leges sanctissimas assidue trans- NOTES ON SERMON I. 209 * gredimur, eoque nobis exitium justissimo tuo judicio ' conquirimus. Attamen Domine Deus, poenitet sic ' ofFendisse bonitatem tuam, proindeque nos et facta * nostra omnia nimium scelerata damnamus, orantes, * ut tu pro tua dementia hiiic nostrae calamitati suc- ' curras. Miserere igitur nostri omnium, O Deus et ' Pater clementissime ac misericors, per nomen Filii tui ' Jesu Christi, Domini nostri, te obtestamur ; ac deletis ' vitiis, ablutisque sordibus cunctis, largire atque adauge * indies Spiritus tui Sancti vim et dona in nobis, quo ' vere et serio nostrara miseriam intelligentes, nostram- « que injustitiam agnoscentes, veram poenitentiam ao-a- * mus ; qua mortui peccato deinceps abundemus fructi- * bus justitiae ac innocentiae, quibus tibi placeamus per ' Jesum Christum Filium tuum, unicum Redemptorem ' ac Mediatorem nostrum. Amen/ Absolutio. " Hie Pastor ex Scriptura sacra sententiam aliquam " remissionis peccatorum populo recitat, in nomine Pa- " tris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti." Another circumstance likewise strongly corroborates the observation which has been made. In the amended Liturgy of Edward VI. besides the additions mentioned, the Ten Command men t!=, with the Responses subjoined to them at the beginning of our Communion, were first introduced. That the propriety of such an introduction was suggested by the work of Pollanus, appears almost certain from the circumstance of the Decalogue beino- there ordered to be read at the beginning of the Sunday Service, with the following Prayer after it ; " Domine " Deus, Pater misericors, qui hoc Decalogo per servum " tuum Mosen nos Icgis tuas justitiam docuisti, dignare *' cordihis nosiris earn ita tuo Spiritu inscribere, ut &c." words almost precisely corresponding with our conclud- ing response, " Write all these thy laws in our hearts, " we beseech thee." That it could not be suggested by p ^10 NOTES ON SERMON L Calvin's publication, is beyond conjecture, because nei- ther the reading of the Decalogue, nor the subsequent Prayer, is there to be found. A short account of the Strasburg Liturgy, in many respects different from that of Geneva, may be seen in Strype's Eccles. Mem. vol. i. p. 243. Except in the instances pointed out, I can trace no resemblance between the Strasburg Liturgy and our own. Page 16,- note ( 8 ). See note 4. Page 17, note (9 ). The Catechism alluded to Cranmer first published in the year 1547. In his answer to Gardiner it is thus noticed ; " Winchester. ** Justus Jonas hath translated a Catechism out of *' Dutch into Latin, taught in the city of Noreraberg *' in Germany, where Osiander is chief Preacher " which Catechism was translated into English, in this "^^ author's name, about two years past.'* Answer to Gardiner, p. 14. " Canterbury. " And as for the Catechism of Germany, by me " translated into English " Ibid. p. 199. To the niece of Osiander, it should be observed, Cranmer was married. Justus Jonas was the friend and fellow-labourer of Luther and Melancthon, whose son resided long at Lambeth, and seems to have been the principal medium of correspondence between the Arch- bishop and the Lutherans. In the College library of C. C. C. Oxford, there is a copy of Luther's works, the two first volumes of which appear to have belonged to the Primate. In the title-page of both is written " Tho- '' mas Cantuarien." apparently in his own hand-writing, and at the bottom, the following inscription, probably in that of Jonas ; " Reverendissimo in Christo patri, ac NOTES ON SERMON I. 211 *' Domino Domino Thomae Cranmero Archiepiscopo ^' Cantuariensi, fideli primati Angliae, dominio suo cle- " mentissimo exhibuit Justus Jonas Junior, 1548." Indeed, as Strype observes, to Germany " he had a par- '' ticular kindness he had many exhibitioners *' there ; and held at least a monthly correspondence to *' and from learned Germans." Memorials of Cranmer, p. 287. That the doctrine upon the Eucharist con- tained in this Catechism is completely Lutheran, has never been denied. " This," said Cranmer, " I confess " of myself, that not long before I wrote the said Cate- " chism, I was in that error of the real presence, as I " was in many years past in divers other errors, as of " transubstantiation, &c." Answer to Gardiner, p. 402. Page 18, note (lo). " But as for any untrue report made by me herein, '^^ willingly against my conscience, (as you untruly re- " port of me,) b}?^ that time I have joined with you " throughout your book, you shall right well perceive, " I trust, that I have said nothing wittingly, but what '' my conscience shall be able to defend at the great " day, in the sight of the everliving God." Answer to Gardiner, p. 50. In the year 1550, he published his principal work^ entitled, '' A Defence of the True and Catholic Doc- " trine of the Sacrament, &c." This was almost im- mediately attacked by the Bishop of Winchester; and supported in an able refutation of his opponent's argu- ments by Cranmer. Gardiner (as might have been ex- pected) failed not to point out the inconsistency between the Catechism and the new production, which evidently militated against Consubstantiation, as well as Tran- substantiation, accusing its author of having been first a Papist upon this point, afterwards a Lutheran, and at last a Zuino'lian. The same accusation was likewise brought against him by another adversary, of the name v2 212 NOTES ON SERMON I. of Smith. To this charge the Archbishop pleaded guilty, feeling no disgrace in a change of opinion for the better, and explaining the progress of improvement in his mind with no less simplicity than sincerity. *' After," he observed, " it had pleased God to shew unto me by his " word a more perfect knowledge of his Son Jesus Christ? " from time to time, as I grew in knowledge of him, by *' little and little I put away my former ignorance. ^* And as God of his m.ercy gave me light, so through " his grace I opened my eyes to receive it, and did not " wilfully repugn unto God, and remain in darkness. " And I trust in God's mercy and pardon for my for- *' mer errors, because I erred but of frailness and igno- " ranee." Answer to Gardiner, p. 402. And again, '^ It is lawful and commendable for a man to learn from " time to time, and to go from his ignorance, that he ^* may receive and embrace the truth. As for me, I am " not, I grant, of that nature, that the Papists for most " part be, who study to devise all shameful shifts, ra- " ther than they will forsake any error, wherewith they " were infected in youth." Ibid. p. 62. Those who have accurately investigated his character, and duly appreciate its value, must read with pleasure the follow- ing awful appeal to heaven, against the false imputation of a time-serving flexibility in his religious sentiments. " I will not here answer for myself, but leave the judg- " ment to God, who seeth the bottom of all men's hearts, " and at whose only judgment I shall stand or fall, sav- '' ing, that this 1 will say before him, (who is every " where present, and knoweth all things that be done,) '^ that as for seeking to please men in this matter, I " think my conscience clear, that I never sought herein, '* but only the pleasure and glory of God." Ibid. p. 403. It may not perhaps be altogether irrelevant to the subject of this note, as bespeaking his confidence in the NOTES ON SERMON I. 213 goodness of his cause, if I add here the admh'able stric- tures which he passes upon the argument of his oppo- nents. " Wherefore," he remarks, " inasmuch as I " purpose, God willing, in this defence of my former " book, not only to answer you, but by the way also to " touch D. Smith ; two things I would wish in you " both. The one is, truth with simplicity ; the other is, " that either of you both had so much learning as you " think you have, or else, that you thought of your- *' selves no more than you have indeed. But to answer '' both your books in few words. The one sheweth no- " thing else, but what railing, without reason or learn- *^ ing, the other what frowardness armed with wit and " eloquence, be able to do against the truth." Ibid. p. 39. " Thus have I answered to all that you have " brought against my fourth book, not obscurely, (as *^ you like a cuttel have done, hiding yourself in your " dark colours,) but plainly, to the capacity of all men, " as much as I can. And this have I done with some <' pain of writing, but little or no study of the matter ; *^ it being a very easy thing, for defence of the truth, to '« answer by God's word and ancient authors to an ig- " norant lawyer, well exercised in neither, but making " such divinity as he can dream in his sleep, or devise " of his own brain, or hath sucked out of Papistical ^' laws and decrees; and for lack of argument furnishing ** up his book with pretty toys, with glorious boasting, " and scornful tauntings." p. 249. " But to " avoid and dally away these words, that be so clear and " plain, there must need be laid on load of words, the " wit must be stretched out to the utmost, all fetches " must be brought in that can be devised, all colours of '' rhetoric must be sought out, all the air must be cast " over with clouds, all the water darkened with the " cuttel's ink, and, if it could be, (at the least as much ** as may be,) all men's eyes also must be put out, that p 3 214 NOTES ON SERMON I. " they should not see. But I could wish, that you " stood not so much in your own conceit, trusted not '* so much in your inventions and devices of wit, in elo- " quence, and craftiness of speech, and multitude of " words, looking that no man should dare encounter " you, but that all men should think you speak well, " because you speak much, and that you should be had " in great reputation among the multitude of them that " be ignorant, and cannot discern perfectly those, that " follow the right way of truth, from others, that would " lead them into error and blindness." p. 312. Page 19, 7wte (h). " He had a good judgment, but no great quickness '• of apprehension, nor closeness of style, which was " diffused and unconnected ; therefore when any thing " was to be penned that required more nerves, he made " use of Ridley." Burnet's History of the Reforma- tion, vol. ii. p. 336. The same censure is copied into the Biographica Britannica, and retained in the last edition. The above passage respecting the incapacity of Cran- mer seems to insinuate, that he only was the nominal, and Ridley the real, author of those compositions, to which his name was affixed. This however was placed before none, except the Catechism above alluded to, and his treatise upon the Sacrament. Of the Catechism the Archbishop expressly declares himself to have been the translator. Besides, it does not appear, that upon the point of the real presence, his supposed assistant was ever a Lutheran. That Ridley was not the author of the latter and more important work, his own testimony remains on record ; " Now, quoth he then ; and how " can ye make but a figure or a sign of the Sacrament, " as that book doth, which is set forth in my Lord of *' Canterbury's name? I wiss, ye can tell who made it. " Did not ye make it ? And here was much murmur- NOTES ON SERMON L 215 " ing of the rest, as if they would have given me the *' glory of the writing of that book, which yet was said " of some of them to contain the most heinous heresy '' that ever was." He then, without hesitation, an- swered, " That book was made by a great and learned " man, and one that was able to do the like again. " And that as for himself, he assured them, and bad " them not to be deceived in him, that he was never "able to do or write any such thing; and that the '' writer passed him no less than the learned master, his " young scholar.'' Ridley's Conference in the Tower, written by himself, and published in Fox's Martyro- logy, p. 1298. That this book must have been Cran- mer's treatise on the Sacrament, cannot be doubted, when it is recollected, that no other was set forth in the Archbishop's name, (the defence of it against Gardiner I consider as a part of the same work,) except the Lu- theran Catechism of 1547} which, from its sentiments upon the subject of the Lord's Supper, could not have been the production alluded to. The marginal conjec- ture, therefore, of Fox, that it was the Catechism, is evi- dently erroneous. Nor ought we on this occasion to suspect any inac- curacy in the detail of Ridley's conference, because it was written by himself. When Fox reports, through the medium of his adversaries, he wishes not always (p. 1702.) too implicitly to be trusted. But in truth no stronger evidence upon this point seems requisite, than what the remains of Ridley, pre- served by the Martyrologist, themselves afford; the style of which is manifestly different from that exhi- bited in the writings ascribed to Cranmer. In my own idea, much inferior to it. It is singular however, that while the Papists affected to believe, that Ridley was the author of the Archbi- shop's work upon the Sacrament, they accused the Arch- p 4 216 NOTES ON SERMON I. bishop of having written P. Martyr's treatise upon the same subject. " Item, that the said Thomas Cranmer «« did compile, and cause to be set abroad, di- " vers books. Whereunto, when the names of the " books were recited unto him, he denyed not such *' books, which he was the true author of. As touch- " ing the treatise of P. Martyr upon the Sacrament, *' he denyed that he ever saw it, before it was abroad, " yet did approve and well like it." Fox, p. 1704. Perhaps their object was similar in both instances; they might have hoped in the first, to obtain more po- sitive and allegeable proof, than they seemed at the time to possess, against Ridley, whose love of truth would have induced him, if at all concerned in it, not to disavow it ; and in the second, to procure an addi- tional charge against Cranmer. Page 20, note (i^). '' Itaque fuit crematus Angliae primas, maximae vir " eruditionis et authoritatis." Sleidani Commentarii, anno 1556. — '' Quibus perceptis, antiquissimos tarn " Graecos quam Latinos patres evolvit : concilia om- " nia, et antiquitatem, ad ipsa Apostolorum tempora, " investigavit. Theologiam totam, detracta ilia, quam " Sophistie obduxerunt, vitiata cute, ad vivum reseca- " vit ; quam tamen non doctrina magis quam moribus " atque vita expressit." Archbishop Parker's Antiquit. Britannicse, p. 331.—" Quaeque vir humanissimus a " Gratiis et Musis Jlctus promisit, ea omnia cumulatis- " sime praestitit." Melchior. Adam. Vitae Theologorum Exterorum, p. 18. Other testimonies might be adduced from P. Martyr's preface to his tract on the Sacrament, Andr. Osiander, &c. Tremellius, as Gilpin remarks, terms him, " homo (^iXo^svo^, nee minus einde plane ociosas *' in nobis stertereeas^ quae divinitus inspiratce sunt^ vigere " vero, quas nos paravimus." Melancthonis Opera, vol. ii. p. 51. " Scilicet obnoxiam fecistis rationem Evangelio, de- *' lire Thoma, et tu, somniator Scote, cum docuistis '' citra divini Spiritus auxilium posse singula lethalia '^ peccata vitari. Agnoscis, Thoma, placitum tuum? " Sic enim ais; ' Antequam ratio, in qua est mortale ' peccatum, reparetur per gratiam justificantem, potest * singula peccata mortalia vitare,* Hoccine est in Christi ^' obsequium vincire intellectum humanum ? Diversa " enim docuit ille, ut apud Johannem scriptum est, cum '* ait, ' Sine me nihil potestisfacere.' Quae est igitur in- *' sania docere, quod citra Christi spiritum vitari pecca- " tumpossit? Tu vero, Occame, deliciae quondam nos- " trae, quid sentiebas, quura disputares, ' Gratia opus *^ esse ad justificationem^ neque rationem, neque Scrip- *' turam, neque experientiam testari ? Agnoscis, opinor, *^ dogma tuum." Ibid. p. 58. Page 87, note ( » ). Quisque Monachus hanc habet imaginationem : " Ego '' per observantiam sanctai regulae possum mereri gra- ^' tiam de congruo ; operibus autem, quae post accep- " tam gratiam facio, tantum meritum accumulare pos- *^ sum, ut non tantum mihi sufficiat pro consequenda '^ vita aeterna, sed etiam hoc aliis communicare et ven- " dere possim." Sic docuerunt et vixerunt omnes Mo- nachi. Lutheri Opera^ vol. v. p. 307. Page 88, note ( 9 ). That the Lutherans represented the doctrine of con- gruous merit as striking at the very root of Christianity, appears evident from almost every page of their writ- NOTES ON SERMON IV. 303 ings ; and sufficiently, perhaps, from the extracts al- ready made. It may nevertheless be not improper to add one or two more directly to the point. " Similiter " Evangellon praedicat Christum Salvatorem nostrum ; *' id audiunt et recipiunt. At dogmatis suis juxta in- " ventis evacuant, et annihilant omnia propria Christi <^ opera et beneficia, dum docent, homines ex viribus et " operibus naturae gratiam posse mereri. Hoc dogmate " sane Christum rejiciunt cum omnibus operibus suis; id " quod de eis Petrus praedixit in posteriore Epistola, " capite secundo, ubi ait, ' Surgent in vobis falsi doc- « tores, qui Deum negabunt, qui ipsos redemit.' Nam " si natura suo marte potest gratiam mereri, quod modo '' omnes Academise, Collegia, et Coenobia, uno ore cum " Papa sentiunt, et docent, Christus prqfecto frustra et " natiis et mortuus est. Ad quid enim sanguinem suum " profudisset, ad promerendum nobis gratiam, si ipsam " viribus naturae possemus consequi?'* Postillas Majores Lutheri, p. 158. ^' Finge, inquam, quod Jaciendo, quod " i?i te est, acquiras gratiam, sis Justus, habeas Spiritum, *' Unde? Ex merito congruiP Ergo non opus habes *' Christo, sed tibi ociosus et gratis mortuus est " Hoc stante, necessario sequitur Christum gratis " esse mortuum. Quid enim homo opus habet Chris- " to, qui amet eum, et tradat seipsum pro eo, cum sine '' Christo per meritum congrui possit consequi gratiam. " Et deinde bene operari, et vitam aeternam de con- " digno mereri, aut certe faciendo legem, justificari? " Tollatur igitur Christus cum omnibus beneficiis suis, *' quia omnino ociosus est. At cur Christus nascitur, " crucifigltur, moritur? Cur lit Pontifex meus dili- '* gens, et tradens inaestimabilem hostiam, seipsum, pro " me? Cur ista omnia facit? Simpliciter frustra, si " ratio justificationis, quani sophistse tradunt, vera est; " quia in lege aut in me justitiam invenio extra gratiam ^' et Christum.'' Opera Lutheri, vol. v. p. 322. 304 NOTES ON SERMON IV. The same sentiment likewise not only occurs in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, but is thus re- peated in the Articles of Smalcald, drawn up by Luther, and signed by the German Reformers in the year 1537. '^ Talia et similia portenta orta sunt ex inscitia et igno- '^ rantia peccati, et Christi Servatoris nostri; suntque '' vere et mere Ethnica dogmata, quae tolerare non pos- '' sumus. Si enim ista approbantur, Christus frustra " mortuus est^ cum nullum peccatum et damnum sit in " homine, pro quo mori eum oportuerit ; aut solum modo ^^ pro corpore mortuus diceretur, non pro anima^ quan- *' doquidem anima prorsus sana, et solum corpus morti ^* obnoxium perhibetur." Liber Concordiae, p. 318. ed. 1606. Page 90, note (lo). This proposition, generally expressed in the same terms, and always conveying the same meaning, perpe- tually occurs in the controversies of Luther. Even be- fore liis celebrated disputation with Eccius, he attempted to bring it forward to public notice. In the year 1516, while his name was yet unknown in the world at large, he introduced it into a logical question upon the powers and will of man : '^ Homo, quando facit quod in se " est, peccat," was a collorary in his second conclusion upon the subject. Qusestio de viribus et voluntate ho- minis sine gratia. Opera, vol. i. p. 51. Page 92, note (n). See note 5. " Sed et ipsum Dom. Doctorem credo ** id ipsum asserere, quod gratia et peccatum apud Sc/io- ^' lasticos immediate opponuntur^ Lutheri Opera, vol. i. p. 287. Page 93, note (12). *' At ego prorsus nullum habeo medium inter peccatum " et gratiam, Sicut nee Christus, quando dicit, ' Qui ' non est mecum, contra me est.' Et iterum, ' Aut fa- * cite arborem bonam, aut facite arborem malam.'* Ibid. NOTES ON SERMON IV. 505 Upon this point the Lutherans argued, not only that our nature is sinful, because impure, {'^j^eccatum signi- " ficat .... vitiosajn naturam,'^ Opera Lutheri, vol. i. p. 449. Mel. Disput.) but that consequently our actions also are sinful, because equally impure and imperfect. And here they usually reasoned from the defects in our best virtues : " Si Justus in gratia non potest facere " bonum, quin simul peccef, quanto magis injustus non ''• facit honum f At per hoc concludo, aut bonum aut " malum esse actum hominis quemcunque, nee dari '^ actum medium et neutrumy Opera Lutheri, vol. i. p. 300. '^ Ut iterum ad Articulum Hassiticum Constan- " tise damnatum redeam ; quantus error est actum neu- " irum et non malum inveniri dicere, quando actus jus- '* torum non est justificabilis coram Deo? Quibus recte '' illud Jerem. xlix. dici potest; * Ecce, quibus judicium ' non erat, ut biberent, bibentes bibent. Et tu inno- ' cens eris? Non eris innocens.' Et 1 Pet. iv. 4. * Si Justus vix salvabitur, peccator et impius ubi pare- 'bunt?' '* Et vide monstra, quae sequuntur. Impio extra gra~ " tiam, in suo opere bono, tribuunt nee veniale jpeccatum, " sed solummodo non meritorium, cum hicjusto in opere " bono tribuatur adeo peccatum, ut, 5/ judicio Dei sis- " tatur, non possit justificari, (hoc est mortale et damna- " bile.) Quanto ergo magis impii opera bona sunt '' damnabilia et mortalia, nequaquam neutralia seu <« media." Oper. Luth. vol. i. p. 303. It should be recollected, that the precise object of this controversy was not to ascertain w^hat man is en- titled to, or what he is capable of effecting with the aids of Christianity, but what his claims and abilities are without them. In this exact point of view the Schools had always considered it. Hence, when the Lutherans argued, that our nature and actions are alike sinful, they contemplated both, as estimated out of Christianity, X 306 NOTES ON SERMON IV. according to the just judgment of a righteous God, " who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity." *' Cur" (Christus) '^ ista omnia facit ? Simpliciter frustra, si ** ratio justificationis, quam sophistae tradunt, vera est ; " quia in lege aut in me justitiam invenio extra gratiam ^« et Christum,'* Opera Lutheri, vol. v. p. 322. " II- *' lum syllogismum Apostoli dignum est perpendere, ' Si per legem justitia, &c.' cum fiducia pronunciat, *^ aut Christum esse mortuum, (quod est summa blas- '* phemia in Deum,) aut per legem nihil nisi peccatum '• haberi. Nam illi procul a sacris Uteris arcendi sunt, ** qui distinctionibus e suo cerebro depromtU, justitiam '^ aliam moralem, aliamjidei^ et nescio quas alias ad theo- ^* logiam aflPerunt. " Habeat sane civilis res suam justitiam, philosophi " suam, et quicunque suam. Nos oportet hie justitiam " ad intellectum Scripturae accipere, quam Apostolus '* plane negat esse, nisi perjidern Jesu Christi Ne " ergo in theologia justitiam vocaveris, quod extra Jidem <« Christi fuerit." Id. vol. v. p. 232. '* Disputabant quidem" (viz. Scholastici) " de peccato " originis, sed dicebant in baptismo sublatum esse ; et " extra baptismum in natura lumen esse reliqtium, quod si " quis sequatur, dari infallibiliter gratiam." Id. vol. iii. p. 465. " Quod si is non justificabitur in judicio Dei, " qui servus Dei est, nee omnes viventes, inter quos " necesse est sanctissimos aliquot esse, si Ecclesiam " sanctam sanctorum communionem in terris vivere cre- " dimus, qui tamen legem non implent ; qualis putas "furor est eorum, qui citra gratiam et extra Ecclesiam " insaniunt legem posse impleri ex naturalibus viribus, " quoad totam substantiam facti, licet non ad intentionem *' praecipientis." Id. vol. i. p. 302. But while they pointed out the insufficiency of fallen man to perform, without Christianity, a service me- ritoriously acceptable to Almighty God, they withheld NOTES ON SERMON IV. 307 not from him a freedom of will, (or rather a natural com- petency,) in the external discharge of every moral ob- ligation : '^ Neque vero adimimus humanae voluntati " libertatem. Habet humana voluntas libertatem in " operibus et rebus deligendis, quas ratio per se compre- " hendit. Potest aliquo modo efficere justitiam civilem, '*^ seujustitiam operum. Potest loqui de Deo, exhibere ^' Deo certum cultum externo opere, obedire magistra- " tibus, parentibus, in opere externo eligendo. Potest " continere manus a ccede^ ah adulterio^ a furto. Cum " reliqua sit in natura hominis ratio et judicium de rebus " sensui subjectis, reliquus est etiam delectus earum re- " rum, et libertas, et facultas efficiendae justitite civilis. " Id enim vocat Scriptura justitiam carnis, quam natura " carnalis, hoc est, ratio, per se efficit sine Spiritu '' Sancto.'' Apolog. Confess, p. 58. When therefore they denied the liberty of the will, they meant to deny, that it possesses the power of obtaining, independently of Christianity, the remission of sins, and eternal life. " Haec tot ac tam multiplicia mala ex peccato per Sa- " tanam enata, isti non vident, qui liberum arbitrium " defendunt. Etsi enim ratio imperare sibi potest^ ne " consentiat omnibus cupiditatibus, quod attinct ad ex- " ternum opus, sa;pe enim cohibet, S(^pe moderatur vi- " tiosos impetus, id enim nisi aliquo modo in nobis esset " positum, quae legum politicarum, quae disciplinae esset " utilitas, quam tamen tantopere divinitus commendari " videmus, [at docet experientia earn pcene solam efficere, " ne omnes pariter in ccsdes, adult eria, et alia vitia pro- " labamur ;) tamen inde effici non potest, quod sit arbi- "• trium liberum, hoc est, quod homo sine Spiritu Sancto " se gubernare rectefacere, ac Deo commendare possit ; id " quod caput est, de quo liber i arbitrii defensor es pugnant. " Nam ipsa concupiscentia peccatum est, nee est otiosa, " sed perpetuo contra legem Dei solicitat animos. Vere '' igitur nihil boni est, si non per Spiritum Sanctum X 2 308 NOTES ON SERMON IV. " prius corda fide purificata, et per remissionem pec- " catorum nobiscum nata iniquitas sublata fuerit. Atqui " hc€c nostra ratio est, quod liberum arbitrium dicimus " nullum esse, ac defendimus nihil esse boni, nee posse " ab homine aliquid boni fieri, nisi Spiritus Sanctus " eum regeneret. Sicut Ecclesia egregie profecto canit " de Spiritu : 'Sine tuo Numine nihil est in homine, ' nihil est innoxium.' Etsi enim externam discipli- " nam, quae in arbitrio hominis aliquo modo posita est, " Deus ejcigit et i^robat, tamen hacnon liber-amur a morte, '' non commendamur a Deo, ut remittal peccata, et cEter- " nam vitam doriet, Contingunt haec tantum fide ex " merito Filii Dei^ qui pro peccatis nostris sua morfe sa- '' tis/ecit,'' Lutheri Opera, vol. iv. p. 335. Page 93, note (is). Vidi multos non Epicureos, qui, cum essent in ali- quo moerore propter suos lapsus, disputabant, quomodo sperem me recipi, cum no7i sentiam in me transfundi novam lucem et novas virtutes ? Praeterea si nihil agit liberum arbitrium, interea, donee sensero fieri illam re- generationem, de qua dicitis, indulgebo diffidentiae, et aliis vitiosis afFectibus. Hcbc Manichcea imaginatio hor- ribile mendacium est ; et ab hoc errore mentes ab ducen- dae sunt, et docendae, agere aliquid liberum arbitrium. Loci Theologici, de libero Arbitrio, p. 92, 93. Page 94, 7iote (14). The passage referred to is in a Preface to the first volume of his works, dated in the year 1545. In that very year likewise appeared the last amended edition of the Loci Communes Theologici. The following are the words of Luther : " Multuni diuque restiti illis, " qui meos libros, seu verius confusiones mearum lucu- " brationum, voluerunt editas; tumque nolui antiquo- " rum labores meis novitatibus obrui, et kctorem a le- " gendis illis impediri, turn quod nunc Dei gratia ex- *' tent methodici libri quamplurimi, inter quos Loci NOTES ON SERMON IV. 309 ^' Communes Philippi excellunt, quihus theologus et epi- " Scopus jmlchre et abunde jirmari potest^ ut sit pote?is in *' sermone doctrines pietatis^ proesertim cum ipsa sacra " biblia nunc in omiii prope lingua haberi possint. " Mei autcm libri, ut ferebat, imo cogebat, reruni ge- " rendarum nuUus ordo, ita etiam ipsi sint quoddam " rude et indigestum chaos, quod nunc nee mihi ipsi " sit facile digerere. " His rationibus adductus, cupiebam omnes libros " nieos perpetua oblivionc sepultos, ut melioribus esset " locus." In the same preface also he thus bears pub- lic testimony to the general utility of Melancthon's la- bours: " Eodem anno jam M. Philippus Melancthon " a Principe Frederico vocatus hue fuerat ad docendas " literas Graecas, baud dubie ut haberem socium labo- " ris in theologia. Nam quid operatus sit Dominus ^^ per hoc orgarmm, non in literis tantum, sed in theolo- " gia, satis testantur ejus opera^ etiamsi irascatur Satan, " et omnes squamae ejus." The early opinions of Luther and Melancthon upon the doctrine of Necessity have been already adverted to in Serm. II. note 21. Harsh, however, as occasion- ally appear to have been the expressions of the former upon this head, his followers pertinaciously contend, that even the harshest cannot, with propriety, be con- strued into a sense favourable to the Calvinistical sys- tem. See Pet. Haberkornii Solida et Necessaria Vin- dicatio Lib. Arb. Luther. Those of the latter, in the first editions of his Loci Theologici, although occur- ring but in one or two instances, were nevertheless still more offensive, and less capable of a mitigated inter- pretation. So far indeed did they carry the doctrine of divine Predetermination, as to degrade man to a level with the brutes : " Postremo libertatem homini " adimit divina Praedestinatio. Eveniunt enim omnia ^^juxta divinam prcjcdestinatioyicm, cum externa opera^ x3 310 NOTES ON SERMON IV. " turn internee cogitationes in omnibus creaturisP Ed. 1525. Without entering into the general question, which would lead me too far from the object at present in con- templation, it may be proper to observe, that even at the period alluded to Luther denied not either the resistibility of grace, or, in a certain sense, the coope- ration of the human mind. The first seems evident from the following and other similar passages, in his early compositions: " Spiritualis sabbatismus, quem " Deus in hoc praecepto putavit, est, ut non solum la- " bores et opificia omittamus, sed multo magis, ut 'per- " mittamus duntaxat Deum in nobis operari, nihil pro- ** prie in onmibus nostris viribus operantes. Id vero *^jam non miti evenit otio ; sed hie vis facienda est *' naturae, et permittendum ut ei vis fiat." Opera, vol. V. p. 592. " Ut ita prorsus spiritualem sabbatismum " celebremus, vacantes a nostris operibus, et petmittentes " Deum in nobis operari." Ibid. p. 593. " Sed ut " sabbatum sanctifices, mortuus sis ac sepultus, si?ias- " que Deum in te operari." Vol. iii. p. 172. Here, while the mind is supposed to be passive during the act of forming a disposition to holiness, a kind of activity is maintained in submitting itself to such an operation. The second point perhaps is no less clear from the very work, which some consider as purposely written to prove the contrary. In the tract '' De servo Arbi- " trio," composed by way of answer to the attack of Erasmus, under the title of '' Diatribe, sive de libero •* Arbitrio," after noticing his opponent's argument upon the cooperation of the human mind with divine grace, expressed in various similitudes, Luther adds, " Sed dentur adhuc eadem opera et Deo et homini, "quid efficiunt istae similitudines ? Nihil, nisi quod " creatura operanti Deo cooperatur. At nunquid nos ** de cooperatione nunc disputamus, ac non potius de NOTES ON SERMON IV. 511 ** proTpria vi et operatione liberi arbitrii /'.... Sed non *' operatur in nobis sine nobis, ut quos ad hoc creavit ^' et servavit, ut in nobis operaretur, et nos ei cooperare- " mur, sive hoc fiat extra regnum suum generali omni- ^' potenlia, sive intra regnum suum singulari virtute Spi- " ritus sui,*^ Opera, vol. ii. p. 4-74. In what sense Erasmus understood this passage, his reply, published under the title of Hyperaspistes Diatribae, puts beyond a doubt : " Ego," he remarks, " nihil tribui libero ar- *' bitrio, nisi quod se priebet gratiae pulsanti, quod co- " operatur gratice operanti^ et quod ab utraque se potest " avert ere J semper excipio singularem Dei voluntatem, ^' qui potest ex causis incognitis vi rapere, quocunque ** velit. Haec eadem fatetur Augustinus, et tamen po- *' nit liberum arbitrium, et illi tribuit actionem. Idem ^^ fatetur Lutherus.'" Opera Erasmi^ vol. x. p. 1480. ed. Lugd. Bat. 1706. But, more accurately to comprehend the sentiments of Luther, we must pi-eviously understand the specific point in dispute. This may be easily collected from the following Scholastical quotation : " Ordine natu- " ras talis dispositio praecedit gratiam ; quod autem du- " ratione simul sint talis dispositio et gratia, patet sic; *^ sicut est in operibus natures, in quibus Deus principa- " liter operatur dando for^mam, licet agens naturale co- " operatur disponendo mater iam^ sic est in operibus gra- *' ticE^ in quibus Deus principaliter operatur dando gra- " liam^ licet liberum arbitrium cooperetur disponendo " subjectum vel materiam ; sed in praedictis operibus na- " turse videmus, quod disposita materia per agens na- '* turale ultima dispositione statim a Deo introducitur *' forma, (ut patet in generatione hominis,) ergo in jus- ^' tificatione peccatoris, quod est opus gratis, in quo li- *' berum arbitrium cooperatur Deo, (dicente Augustino, * qui creavit te sine te non te, &c.') posita ultima dis- " positione per actum liberi arbitrii statim a Deo in- X 4 312 NOTES ON SERMON IV. " funditur gratia, quae est forma justificationis." Du- randus de S. Porciano, In Lib. Sentent. lib. iv. distinct. 17. quaest. 1. Here the preparation of the subject- matter for the reception of the form is distinctly as- signed to free will alone, which is thus said to contri- bute by its own exertions a necessary requisite. This sole efficiency of free will Luther expressly opposed, fre- quently recalling the attention of his adversary to the only object of debate ; an efficiency, which (as he con- ceived) renders divine cooperation superfluous ; merely granted, " ut superbia liberi arbitrii, per sese satis ro- ^' husti, gratia, velut superfluo ornamento, diebus Bac- " chanalibus gestiat et ludat." Vol. ii. p. 475. de servo Arbitrio. " Si enim iiberum arbitrium de solo non " potest velle bonum, {loquimur enim de libero arhitrio, " seclusa gratia^ et utriusqiic propriam qucerimus vim) '* quis non videt solius gratiae esse bonam illam volun- " tatem, meritum etpraemium?" Ibid. p. 453. ^' Quid " vero dicit, quod homo adjiitus Dei mixilio possit ope- ^' ribus moralibus sese prccparare? Disputamusne de " divino mijcilio, vel de libero arhitrio P Quid enim " non sit possibile divino aiLvilio /"' Ibid. p. 469. With the rejection therefore of all self-energy in free will thus to prepare itself to grace, the controversy pro- perly terminated. But a subsequent question arose of a still more intricate description. Is the disposition to good produced wholly by grace, or conjointly with the operation of the human mind ? This implicated enquiry, foreign to the subject, was first introduced into it (not by the Lutherans themselves, but by their most formi- dable opponent, the wily Eccius,) in the celebrated dis- putation of the year 1519. In an epistle written at the time, Melancthon thus alludes to the circumstance : " Itaque die 27 mensis Jiinii, congrediuntur Johannes " Eccius et Carolostadius. De libero arbitrio propo- " situm est, ' An sit aliquod nobis uv^alpeTov bonum NOTES ON SERMON IV. 313 * opus/ hoc est, ut ipsi dicunt, 'An de congruo merea- ' mur gratiam, cum facimus quod in nobis est.' Utor ^' enim ipsorum verbis. Hoc cum agi deberet, vide '' quorsum contentione rapti sint, et in quos scopulos " impegerint. Agi debebat quid ^^6^ sese citra gratiam '' possit voluntas nostra. Ipsi quaestionem alio rapiunt, " et quatuor credo continiios dies in eo disceptant, * An ^ voluntas tanttcm recipiat honum opus, ipsumque bonum ' sola efficiat gratia.* In has symplegadas coegerunt *' causam, non ita multum necessarias, et plane alienas " ah instiUito Carolostadii" Melanct. Epist. in Oper. Lutheri, vol. i. p. 337. When Luther indeed touched upon this point, he certainly seemed to support the proposition, that the act of volition was solely derived from grace. At the same time, however, it should be particularly observed, that he held the power of admitting or rejecting this operative principle to be vested in the mind of man, as well as that of cooperating with it in the production of every Christian virtue. On the first head the pas- sages already quoted leave us no room to doubt his mean- ing. Upon the second, the following seem equally ex- plicit. " Sabbatismus autem, ut, operibus nostris ces- " santibus, Deus solus operetur, perficitur duobus mo- " dis. Primo per nostram propriam exercitationem, se- '* cundo per alienam externamque exercitationem, vel " agitationem. Nostram igitur exercitationem sic opor- *' tet esse institutam et instructam, ut primo videntes " quo sit nostra caro intenta, nostrique sensus, voluntas, " et cogitationes nos irritent, eis resistamus ac minime " obsequamur." Opera, vol. v. p. 592. '^ Duplex est " justitia Christianorum, sicut et duplex peccatum est " hominum. Prima est aliena et ab extra infusa. ''.... Secwida justitia est nostra et propria^ non quod " nos soli operemur eam, sed quod cooperemur illi primae " et alienae. Flaec nunc est ilia conversatio bona in ope^ 314 NOTES ON SERMON IV. (( ribus bonis ; primo, in mortificatione carnis et criicifirione '' concupiscentiarum erga seipsum, sicut Galat. v. * Qui ^* autem sunt Christi carnem suam crucifixerunt cum *^ vitiis et concupiscentiis.' Secundo, et in caritate erga ^^ proximum. Tertio, et in humilitate ac timore erga " Deum. De quibus plenus est Apostolus et omnis ^' Scriptura. Breviter autem omnia ad Titum ii. com- *' prehendit, dicens, ^ Sobrie, [quoad seipsum in carnis ' crucifixione^) et juste ^ [quoad proximum,) et pie, [quoad * Deum,) vivamus in hoc seculo,^' Opera, vol. i. p. 69. But as the subtle and perplexing turn, which this controversy first assumed in the public disputation with Eccius, ceased with the Hyperaspistes of Erasmus in the year 1527, and was not revived among the Luther- ans until after the aera when our Articles were com- posed, it appears not necessary to trace it more mi- nutely. It seems only of importance to state what was considered to be the Lutheran opinion upon the point, between the two periods alluded to; upon the single point, whether the cooperation of free will with grace assisted in forming the disposition itself to good, or only in producing its effects. In no established code of doctrines was the question directly alluded to, but, when occasionally hinted at, apparently viewed in a light different from that, in which Luther had previously placed it. The first slight reference to it occurred in the Articles composed for the Visitation of the Saxon Churches, in which it was said, " Non enim delectatur " Deus ista vitae feritate quorundam, qui cum audierint " non justificari nos viribus et operibus, somniant se " vellc expectare, a Deo donee trahantur, interea vivunt " impurissime ; hi maximas poenas dabunt Deo." Art. de Lege. In the Augsburg Confession the same hint is less obscurely, if not distinctly, given ; which, after stating that the human will retains a certain liberty in moral actions, adds, " Sed non habet vim sine Spiritu NOTES ON SERMON IV. 315 " Sancto efficiendae justitiae Dei, seu justitiae spiritualis; " 1 Cor. ii. 14. ' Quia animalis homo non percipit ea, * quae sunt Spiritus Dei ;' sed haec fit in cordibus, cum ^^ per verhim Spiritus Sanctus concipitur ; Art. 18. im- plying, that with the Holy Spirit it is competent jointly to effect what, without such an aid, would prove impos- sible. And again, in a paragraph quoted from St. Austin; '' Esse fatemur liberum arbitrium omnibus ho- " minibus, habens quidem judicium rationis, non per *' quod sit idoneum in iis, quae ad Deum pertinent, *' siue Deo aut inchoare aut certe peragere ;" contend- ing that free will cannot either begin, or [if it can begin) at least not complete^ a good work. But while we ad- mit, that the supposed idea in these passages is not fully explained, we may surely argue, that the tendency of them is too obvious to escape observation. Although, however, in a formulary of faith, Melancthon (the au- thor of both the preceding productions) might have thought it necessary to avoid a complete declaration of his meaning, yet he afterwards became explicit upon the point, in a work expressly composed for public instruc- tion, the corrected edition of his Loci Theologici ; a work, generally esteemed at the period under our con- sideration, of the greatest authority among the Luther- ans, and one, as I have observed, of which Luther him- self spoke in terms of high commendation. In the chap- ter De Libero Arbitrio, the doctrine of Synergism in conversion (as such a cooperation has usually been de- nominated) is thus openly avowed : " De actionibus " spiritualibus quaeritur. p. 89. Sciendum est autem, " Spiritum Sanctum efficacem esse per vocem Evangelii " auditam seu cogitatam, ut Galat. iii. dicitur, ' Ut pro- * missionem Spiritus accipiamus per fidem;' ac spepe " dictum est, cogitantes de Deo oportere ordiri a verbo '* Dei, non quaerere Deum sine suo verbo. Cumque ** ordimur a verbo, hie conciirr7int tres caiisce bonce actio- 316 NOTES ON SERMON IV. *' nis, verbum Dei, Spzritus Sanctus, et liumana voluntas, '' assentiens 7iec repugnans verho Dei. Posset enim ex- " cutere, ut excutit Saul sua sponte. Sed cum mens *^ audiens ac sustentans non repugnat, non indulget " diffidentiae, sed, adjuvante etiam Spirit u Sancto, co- " natur^ assentiri, in hoc certaraine voluntas non est " oiiosa. " Veteres dixerunt, praecedente gratia, comitante vo- " luntate, bona opera fieri. Sic et Basilius inquit, \x.ovov " 3^£X>j(70v, xai 0eoj •sr^oaTravTa, ' tantum velis, et Deus ' praeoccurrit.' Deus antevertit nos, vocat, movet, ad- '•juvat, sed nos viderimus, ne repugnemus. Constat " enim peccatum oriri a nobis non a voluntate Dei. «* Chrysostomus inquit, 6 ll eK>ioov, tov (SovKofxsvov s\xsi. *« Sicut et in illo ipso loco Joan, dicitur, ' Omnis qui * audit a Patre et discit, veniet ad me.' Discere jubet; " id est, audire verbum, non repugnare, sed assentiri " verho Dei, 7ion indidgere diffident ice.'* P- 91? 92. Such was the explication of this point, which he gave in his last corrected edition of 154-5. Fearing, however, that he might still be misunderstood, he afterwards inserted the passage quoted in the preceding note, and the fol- lowing : '• Si tantum expectanda e?set ilia infusio quali- " tatum, sine idla nostra actione, sicut Eiithusiastce et " Manichcei Jinxerunt, nihil opus esset minislerio Evan- " gelico, nulla etiam lucta in animis esset. Sed insti- " tuit Deus ministerium, ut vox accipiatur, ut promis- " sionem mens cogitet et amplectatur, et dum repugna- " mus diffidentiae, Spiritus Sanctus simul in nobis sit ^' efficax. " Sic igitur illis, qui cessationem suam excusant, qui " putant nihil agere liberum arbitrium, respondeo ; imo " mandatum Dei aeternum et immotum est, ut voci " Evangelii obtemperes, ut Filium Dei audias, ut ag- " noscas Mediatorem. Quam tetra sunt haec peccata, ** nolle aspicere donatum generi humano Mediatorem Fi- NOTES ON SERMON IV. S17 " Hum Dei ? Non possinn, inquies. Imo aliquo modo ^^ potes ; et cum te voce Evangelii sustentas, adjuvari " te a Deo petito, et scito velle Deum hoc ipso modo " nos convcrterc, cum promissione excitati luctamur " nobiscum^ invocamus, et I'epugnamus diffidenticE nostrcE^ " et aliis vitiosis affectihus. Ideo veteres aliqui sic dixe- " runt, liberum arbitrium in homine facidtatem esse appli- '' candi se ad grntiam, id est, audit pro7nissionem, et as- " sentiri conatur, et abjicit peccafa contra conscientiam. " Talia non fiunt in diaboiis. Discrimen igitur inter " diabolos et genus humanuni consideretur. Fiunt " autem haec illustriora considcrata promissione. Cum " promissio sit universalis, nee sint in Deo contrarice vo- " luntates, necesse est, in nobis esse aliquam discriminis " causam, cur Saul abjiciatur, David recipiatnr, id est, " necesse est, aliquam esse actionem dissimilem in his duo- '' bus," p. 93, 91-. These quotations require no com- ment. And that they are solely confined to the action of the human will, while converting from evil, and not while persevering in good, is manifest not only from their general construction, but from that which imme- diately follows : " Praeterea, si de tofa vita piorum loqua- " mur, etsi est ingens imbecillitas, tamen aliqua est " libertas voluntatis, cum quidem jam a Spiritu Sancto " adjuvetur, &c." That the doctrine of Contingency was fully asserted in all the later editions of this work, will be shewn in Serm. VII. note 15. Extracts of a similar description might be easily ad- duced from the other writings of Melancthon ; but the above perhaps may be sufficiently convincing. I shall however add another from an Exposition of the Nicene Creed, sent by Melancthon to Cranmer in the year 1550, which is expressed in terms too unequivocal to be mistaken : " Adversus Manichaeos hsec fundamenta '* tenenda sunt omnes homines posse converti ad " Deum, nee voluntatcm se habere pure passive, sed aliquo 318 NOTES ON SERMON IV. '* modo active, ac assentiri posse Deo trahenti,*' Opera, vol. i. p. 415. To be persuaded that the sentiments of the Loci Theologici were those of the Lutheran Church at the time, it will be only necessary to read the following declaration of Melancthon himself upon this very sub- ject, in answer to the calumnies of Flaccius, who had accused him of having corrupted the doctrine of Lu- ther : " Quod vero clamitat Flaccius Illyricus, et doc- trinam mutari, et restitui caeremonias quasdam aboli- tas, primura de doctrina respondebo. Palam refutat banc calumniam vox omnium docentium in Eccle- siis nostris, et in Scholis. Ac ne longa aut obscura sit responsio, de universa doctrina sentio, quod scripsi in eo libro, qui in multorum manibus est, titulo Lo- corum Theologicorum, in quo non volui novum doctri- nae genus constituere, sed Jideliter collegi doctrinam communem Jiarum Ecclesiarum, qua* amplexcs sunt con- fessionem exhibitam Imperatori anno 1530, quam sen- tentiam judico esse perpetuam Ecclesiae Catholicae doctrinam, ac volo dextre, et sine sophistica, et sine calumniis, intelligi id scriptum. '' Et quantum mihi conscius sum, non studio dissen- tiendi ab aliis, non amore novitatis, non (piKovsixU, aut uUa alia prava cupiditate impulsus sum, ut illam epitomen colligerem. Sed tempora occasionem prae- buerunt. Cum in prima inspectione Ecclesiarum" (viz. anno 1527.) *' comperissemus admodum dissonos clamo- res esse ineruditorum de multis rebus, summam doc- trinae, quam Lutherus in diversis et interpretation um et concionum voluminibus tradidit, tanquam in unum corpus redactam edidi, et quoesivi genus verborum, quo ad proprieiatem^ quae ad perspicuitatem et con- cordiam utilis est, discentes assuefierent, ac semper om- nia scripta judicio Ecclesice nostra et ipsius Lufheri per- misi ; de multis qucestionibus etiam discrte scisciiaius stim NOTES ON SERMON IV. S19 " Lutherum, quid seniiret, ac multi pagellariim istarum *^ exempla adhuc hahent" Epist. Lond. p. 134'. Indeed so generally was this fact admitted at the exact aera, in which our Articles were composed, that when Osi- ander attempted to propagate a novel opinion upon Justification, all his colleagues opposed it upon the principle, that necessarily it could not be consistent with the doctrine of Luther, because contrary to that of Melancthon. " Andreas Osiander, quern in Prussiam " ivisse diximus, novum hoc tempore dogma propo- " nit, .... suaeque sententiae Lutherum etiam fuisse " dicit. Reliqui vero theologi collegae fortiter oppug- " nant, deque Luthero falsum esse dicunt, qui non ita " multis mensibus ante mortem de libro Philippi Me- " lancthonis, quo sacras Scripturae Loci tractantur *' Communes, praeclarum et amplum reliquisset in primi " tomi praefatione testimonium. Qiium ergo Philippum " invadat, Lutherum quoque sibi facer e adversarium, " quod idem amho sentiant'^ Sleidani Comment, anno 1551. On the whole, therefore, it seems certain, that the Lutherans at every period maintained the resistibility of grace, and a cooperation of the mind with it, after a previous conversion of heart, in the production of genuine holiness ; and that, when their Creed began to be settled, they admitted likewise a cooperation during the act of conversion itself; for such a tenet was avowedly embraced in a work, purposely drawn up to comprise an unsophisticated explication of their faith, by the author of their public Confession, and as such universally received and studied. It should be added, that, when our Articles were composed, the Loci Theologici still remained in the highest credit; and that, although the Lutherans at a much later sera chose to reject its authority, upon the very topic under consideration, and revert to the idea of a pure passidty 320 NOTES ON SERMON IV. in conversion ; to the idea, that the human will, al- though not idle, contributed nothing towards the forma- tion of the act itself; yet their very rejection of it satis- factorily proved the nature of that doctrine, which they conceived it to inculcate. Let it not however be sup- posed, that because they denied, in a very important point of view, the agency of the human will, they on that account were disposed to patronise the Calvinistical system of Predestination. On the contrary, they be- held it with abhorrence; nor did they scruple to ex- press their disapprobation of it in language, which a modern Arminian would scarcely adopt, or a modern Calvinist endure. Page 96, 7iote (is). Deinde, ut palam fiat quam longe aberraverint a ve- ritate coeci isti et coecorum duces, et quam ista sua im- pia et blasphema doctrina non solum obscuraverint^ sed simpliciter sustulerint Evangelium et Christum ohruerint. Si enim ego existens in peccato mortaii possum facere aliquod opusculum, quod non solum secundum substan- tiam sit gratum Deo, sed etiam possit mereri gratiam de congruo, et ubi habuero gratiam, possum facere opera secundum gratiam, id est, delectionem, et acqui- rere de jure aeternam vitam, quid jam opus est mihi gra- tia Dei J remissione peccatorum^ promissione morte et victo- ria Christi P Christus jam plane mihi otiosus est ; habeo enim liberum arbitrium, et vires faciendi bonum opus, per quod gratiam mereor de congruo, et postea aeter- nam vitam de condigno Quare cum Paulo in toto negamus meritum congrui et condigni, et certa fiducia pronunciamus, istas speculationes esse mera ludibria Sa- tanse, nunquam facta aut exemplis ostensa. Nemini enim unquam dedit Deus gratiam et vitam aeternam pro merito congrui et condigni. Sunt ergo illae disputa- tiones Scholasticorum de merito congrui et condigni tantum inaniajigmenta et speculahllia hominum otiosoruni NOTES ON SERMON IV. 321 somnia de rebus nihili. Super qucje tamen universus pa- pains fundatus est, et adhuc hodie his nititur. Opera Lutheri, vol. v. p. 307. Ea enim inanissima somnia homines securi, qui nullis unquam tentationibus, et veris pavoribus peccati et mortis exercitati sunt, e suo capita finxerunt. Ideo non intelligunt quid loquantur, aut de quibus affirment. Deinde nullum exemplum operis ante gratiam et post gratiam potest dari. Su7it igitur nugacissimce Jabulcc, quibus Pajnstcjo seipsos et alios deludunt. Ibid. '^ Ut maxime sim peccator, nihil ta- *' men periculi est; facile huic malo remedium inve- " niam, si fecero hoc aut istud opus in Dei gloriam, si '* tot Missas celebravero, aut audiero, si a carnibus ali- " quot diebus abstinuero, si pensum precularum mea- *' rum absolvero, &c. Haec opera mea Deus respiciet, " et propter ea peccata remittet." Sed longe secus se res habet, O miser Etenim, si nos viribus hunianis peccata expiare, et mortem abo- lere, possemus, nihil fuisset necesse Christum Jiey^i homi- nem, baptizari^ et mori propter p^eccata nostra. Id. vol. vii. p. 375. NOTES ON SERMON V. Page 101, note{'). W HEN the Lutherans withheld from the Heathen world the security derivable from a participation of the Christian Covenant, they never meant to withhold from it (as I have previously remarked in the case of infants) a claim to the uncovenanted mercies of God. They ex- cluded it from the certainty, but not the probability, of salvation. Aurifaber, in his " Colloquia, oder Zischreden, " D. Mart. Lutheri," states, that Luther expressed him- self upon the point in the following unequivocal lan- guage, thus translated from the German ; " Cicero, a ' wise and good man, suffered and performed much. ' I hope, said Luther, God will be merciful unto him, ' and to such as he was. Howsoever it is not our duty ' to speak certaiyily touching that point, (Wiewol uns ' nicth geburet dass gewiss zu sagen, noch zu definiren ' und schliessen,) but to remain by the word revealed * unto us, namely, ' whosoever believeth and is baptized, the same shall be saved.' Yet, nevertheless, God is * able to dispense i and to hold a difference among the ' nations and the Heathens ; but our duty is not to * know nor to search after time and measure. For ' there will be a new heaven and a new earth, much ' larger and more broad than now they be : God can ' give to every one according to his pleasure." Col- y2 324 NOTES ON SERMON V. loquia Mensalia of Luther, translated by Capt, H. Bell, ed. 1652. p. 509. Luther therefore seems both to have hoped and believed, that God would be merciful to the Heathen world ; but, as nothing had been clearly re- vealed upon the subject, he thought it not his duty to speak positively upon it. Page 101, note ( ^ ). The sentiments of Zuingle upon this interesting topic may be collected from the extracts already given in note 17. Serm. III. His works indeed abound in passages lending to prove, that the virtuous heathen, who fulfils the law of God written in his heart, is equally to be enumerated among the elect, as the virtuous Christian : ** Nihil enim vetat, quo minus inter gentes quoque Deus *' sibi deligat, qui sese revereantur, qui observent, etpost " fata illi jungantur. Libera est enim electio ejus. Ego *' certe malim, si optio detur, Socratis aut Seneccc sortem " eliger-e, qui, ut numen unum agnoverunt, ita mentis " puritate sategerunt illud demereri, quam aut Po7itiJicis " Romani, qui tamen se Deum vel ipse indicaret, si lici- ^' tator adsit, aut cujusquam regis, imjperatoris, ac 'princi- " ^25, (lui huncjiciilrunn Deum tuetur, Illi enim, ut reli- " gionem ad verbum, et quod ad Sacramenta pertinet, " non agnoverint, attamen quod ad rem ipsam aio reli- *' giosiores ac sanctioresjuisse, quam omnes unquam Domi- " nicastri et Franci&cani,^^ Opera Zuinglii, vol. ii. p. 371. " Ista in hunc usum argumentati sumus, ut osten- " deremus toto errare coelo, etiamsi sint non modo " magna, sed Vetera quoque nomina, qui damnationi «' aeternae solent adjudicare nunc Christianorum infantes, " cum non sint baptismo tincti, nunc vero eos omnes, " quos Gentiles vocamus. Quid enim scimus, quidjidei " quisque in cordc suo Dei manu scriptum teneat ? Se- " neca viri sanctissimijidem, quam epistola ad Lucilium *' 34. prodit, quis non admirelur? Cum ait, ' Sic certe * vivendum est, tanquam aliquis in pectus intimum {)ro- NOTES ON SERMON V. S25 ' spicere possit, et potest. Quid enim prodest ab ho- * mine aliquid esse secretum? Nihil Deo clausum est. ' Interest animis nostris, et comtationibus mediis inter- ' venit. Sic intervenit dico non tanquam aliquando ' discedat.' Haec Seneca. Quis quaeso hanc Jidem in *' cor hominis hujus scripsit? Neque quisquam putet " ista m evacuationevi Christi tenderer ut quidam nos " insimulant ; amplificant enim illius glorzam. Per " Christum enim accedere oportet, quicunque ad Deum " veniunt, de qua re paulo post. Unde socerum Mosis " ne suspicamur quidem alia via, quam quae dicit, ' Ego ' sum via, Veritas, et vita,' ad Deum pervetiisse^ qua et " Moses et omnes veniunt. Hoc enim * qui non credide- ' rit, condemnabitur,' nuUatenus est absolute intelligen- " dum, sed de his, qui, audito Evangelio, credere nohie- " runt Non ergo imputatur ignoratio his, ad quos ^* nemo venit, ut mysterium Christi praedicet; Domifio ^' stant et cadunt'' Ibid. p. 118. *' Credimus ergo, *^ animos fidelium protinus, ut ex corporibus evaserint, " subvolare coelo, numini conjungi, aeternoque gaudere. " Hie tibi sperandum est, O piissime Rex, si modo in- " star Davidis, Ezechiae, et Josiae rerum summam a " Deo tibi creditam moderatus fueris, visurum esse pri- " mum numen ipsum in sua substantia, in sua specie, '' cumque universis dotibus opibusque illius, fruiturumque '^ his omnibus non parce, sed ad satietatem, non ad fasti- " dium, quod ferme comitatur saturitatem, sed ad ju- " cundam impletioncm Deinde sperandum est " tibi visurum esse sanctorum, prudentium, fidelium, " constantium, fortium, virtuosorum omnium, quicunque " a condito mundo fuerunt, sodalitatem, coetum, et con- " tubernium. Hie duos Adam, redemptum ac redem- ^^ ptorem ; hie Abelum, Enochium, Noam, Abrahamum, *' Isaacum, Judam, Mosen, Josuam, Gideonem, Sa- ^' muelem, Heliam, Heliseum, Isaiam, ac deiparam " Virginem, de qua ille pra^cinnit, Davidem, Ezekiam, y 3 326 NOTES ON SERMON V. " Josiam, Baptistam, Petrum, Paulum : hie Herculem, '' Tlieseumy Socratem, Aristidem, Aiitigonum, Numam, ^' Camillum, Catones, Scipiojies ; hie antecessores tuos, " et quotquot injide hinc migrarunt, majores tuos vide- " bis. Et summatim non fuit vir bonus, non erit mens " sancta, non fidelis anima, ab ipso mundi exordio usque '^ ad ejus consummationem, quern non sis isthic cuin «• Deo visurus. Quo spectaculo quid laetius, quid amoe- ** nius, quid denique honorificentius vel cogitari poterit?" Ibid. p. 559. The principles, upon which he grounded his posi- tion, were these; that as Christ died for all men, and as God is no respecter of persons, all are elected, whe- ther Christians or Heathens, who possess faith or genuine piety ; that is, who truly love and fear God ; " signum enim electionis est Deum amare et timere. " In adultis ergo sic requiritur fides." Opera, vol. i. p. 383. Accordingly therefore, he thus laid down the rule of election, although not the cause of it, which he in every instance attributed to the free and unconditional will of the Almighty : " iVo/z est jpersonarum respectus ^' apud Deum per Anthypophoram Gentibus occurrit, ^* quae se excusabant, nee damnatos existimabant. Et "in hoc judicio, inquit Paulus, nemo excipitur: qui- *' cunque bonum ex fide operatus est, recipiet prsemium : '' qui malum ex incredulitate, is recipiet poenam. 'NiJiil ^^ agit Deus odio aut favor e^ nihil ex affectibus ; nam " hujusmodi in Deum non cadunt^ In Rom. cap. 2. Opera, vol. iii. p. 411. The doctrine of Zuingle upon this head, as P. Simon remarks, in his observations upon the Commentaries of Conrad Pellican, was embraced by all his immediate followers : "En un mot, Pellican avec toute Fecole " Zuinglienne d'alors a etabli des graces generales de la " honte de Dieu a legard de toutes les nations.'' Biblio- theque Critique, vol. iii. p. 298. NOTES ON SERMON V. 327 It is evident then, that when the Zuinglians repre- sented congruous works as sinful, because not proceed- ing from faith, they considered not Heathen piety as of that description, but, like our own, as acceptable to God through the merits of Christ. In this sense Bullinger seems to have particularly alluded to the subject: "De- *^ inde interrogatur, ' An opera quae faciunt Gentiles, ac ' speciem habent probitatis vel virtutis, peccata sint, an ' bona opera.' Certum est Deum et inter Gentiles ha- " buisse SUDS electos. Si qui tales fuerunt, non canierunt *' Spiritu Sancto etjide, Idcirco opera ipsorumy^c^a ex ^^Jide bona fuerunt^ non peccata J^ Sermonum Decades quinque, p. 174?. In condemning congruous works, they solely condemned that merit of human virtue, which the Papists inculcated, as in itself entitled to di- vine acceptance, without the mercy of God, and the atonement of Christ: "Ergo si qui ex Gentibus sunt " salvati, non per opera naturae aut merita propria sunt " salvati, sed per 77iisericordiam Dei in Christo Domino " 7iostro. Neque vero lex naturae insita est hominibus " a Deo, ut salvet homines sine gratia et Christo, sed ^' magis ut doceat quid bonum sit, quid malum, ut evin- '^ cat nos esse peccatores, et inexcusabiles coram Do- " mino." Ibid. p. 38. Of the same opinion with Zuin- gle, or at least with Luther, upon the point of Heathen salvation, was Erasmus; who was patronised by Cran- mer, and beloved by Latimer, (Camerarii Vita Melanct. p. 340.) and of whose labours, even to the last, our Re- formers were not unmindful; see the Injunctions of Ed- ward and Elizabeth in Sparrow's Collection. '* Ubi '* nunc agat anima Ciceronis fortasse non est humani '* judicii pronuntiare. Me certe non admodum adver- *' sum habituri sint in ferendis calculis^ qui sperant ilium *' apud superos quietam vitam agere Verum hac '^ de re liberum esto suum cuique judicium.'^ Preface to the Tusculan Disputations. Y 4 328 NOTES ON SERMON V. Page 101, note (3). " Oblatio Christi, semel facta, perfecta est redemptio, " propitiatio, et satisfactio pro omnibus peccatis totius " mwidi tarn originalibus quam actualibus." Art. 31. This part of our Article (as I have observed in note 12. Serm. II.) vv^as in a great measure taken from the following in the Augsburg Confession, " Passio Christi " fuit oblatio et satisfactio non solum pro culpa originis, *« sed etiam pro omnibus reliquis peccatis." Art. de Missa. When they adopted this passage, our Re- formers, we perceive, introduced an idea, not to be found in the Confession, asserting the oblation of Christ to have been not only a satisfaction as well for actual as original sins, but a perfect redemptiori^ propitiation, and satisfliction for all the actual and original sins of the *whole world. To what can we more properly attribute their introduction of such an idea, than to their predi- lection for the universality of Christ*s sacrifice in the Zuinglian sense? BuUinger in his Decades of Sermons published in 1550, and dedicated to Edward VI. thus expresses himself upon the same subject. " Itaque re- '' linquitur jam indubitatum Christum Id ommuxn plena- " riam esse propitiationem, satisfactionem, hostiamque, '* ac victimam pro peccatis (pro poena, inquam, et pro " culpa) totius mundi, et quidem solam. Non est enim " in alio quoquam salus. Nee enim aliud nomen est '* datum inter homines, in quo oportet nos salvos fieri." p. 17. Our Reformers indeed might not have had this particular quotation in their eye ; it is nevertheless cer- tain, that they adopted a similar mode of expression, most probably with a similar intention. It should likewise be remarked, that in our Commu- nion service, language precisely the same was inserted in that part of the prayer of Consecration, which was ori- ginally composed at the time, at least, which is neither to be found in the Canon of the Mass, nor the form of NOTES ON SERMON V. 329 Cologne: '^ Who made there, by his one oblation of ^' himself, once offered, a full, perfect, and sufficient ^* sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, ybr the sins of the " "whole "world,^^ It must indeed be confessed, that the words under consideration, although they clearly admit, do not ne- cessarily imply, the sense alluded to ; at least that they might have been chiefly directed to another object. The following extracts however from the writings of Cranmer sufficiently evince, that the principal compiler of our Articles and Liturgy maintained an opinion upon the subject, which it seems still more difficult to distin- guish from that of Zuingle. " This is the honour and ^' glory of our High Priest, wherein he admitteth neither " partner nor successor. For by his own oblation he '^ satisfied the Father for all men's sins, and reconciled '*' mankind into his grace and favour And as he " dying once was offered for all, so, as much as pertai7ied " to him, he took all men's sins unto himself,"" Answer to Gardiner, p. 372. " What ought to be more certain " and known to all Christian people, than that Christ " died once, and but once, for the rede7nption of the " -joorld P" Ibid. p. 393. " For Almighty God, without " respect of persons, accepteth the oblation and sacrifice " of priest and lay-person, of king and subject, of man " and woman, of young and old, yea, of English, French, *' Scot, Greek, Latin, Jew, and Gentile, of every man, " according to his faithful and obedient heart unto him, ^* and that through the sacrifice p)^opitiatory of Jesus " Christ." Defence of the True Doctrine of the Sacra- ment, p. 1 14. But liberal as appears to have been the opinion of our Reformers upon this point, some have erroneously con- ceived, that our 18th Article is directly levelled against it. " Sunt et illi anathematizandi, qui dicere audent, " unumquemque in lege aut secta, quam profitetnr, esse 330 NOTES ON SERMON V. '^ servandum, modo juxta illam et lumen naturae accu- '* rate vixerit, cum sacrae literae tantum Jesu Christi " nomen prasdicent, in quo salvos fieri homines opor- " teat." This Article, we observe, immediately precedes one upon the visible Church of Christ ; a circumstance, which will be found in some degree to elucidate its real object. For among the many singularities of the day, one too important to be overlooked seems to have been that of esteeming the profession of Christia7iity a thing indifferent ; of being persuaded, that we shall be equally entitled to salvation, whether we conform ourselves to the law of Christ, of Moses, or of Mahomet. Against such a conceit therefore, and such alone, is the Article framed, which, in language unusually strong, anathema- tizes those, who presume to say, (evidently alluding to a bold opinion of the times; " Horribilis est et inanis illo- " rum audacia,'^ is the paraphrase of the Reform. Legum Eccles.) that every man will be saved by carefully regu- lating his life according to that law or sect, which he chooses to p7^ofess^ and that, therefore, we are not under the ne- cessity, according to the title of the Article, " o? hoping " for eternal salvation only in the name of Christ" (" De sperafida seterna salute tantum in nomirie Christi.") By the following quotations from Melancthon it will be seen, that those free-thinkers maintained the due ob- servation of that peculiar law, or rule of action, which we may embrace, to be the sole principle of merit in the eye of heaven : " Usitata et falsa distinctio est, tres esse '^ leges, naturalem, Mosaicam, et Evangelicam. Et " magis impium est, quod affi?igunt, singidos propter suce '' legis ohservationem consecutos esse remissionem peccato- " rum, et vitam csternam, Una enim lex moralis est " omnium aetatum, donee manet natura hominis. Est- " que lex aliquo modo naturaliter nota. Est et unum " Evangelium.'' Opera Lutheri, vol. i. p. 423. Melanct. Disput. *^ Non est igitur imaginandum, patres lege NOTES ON SERMON V. 331 " naturae salvatos esse, Judseos lege Moysi, ?ws salvaj'i " nostra quadam lege. Imo una lex est moralis omnium " aetatum, omnium gentium, ut supra diximus; sed nee ^' patres, nee Judaei, nee Gentes, nee nos ideo salvamur, " quia legi satisfacimus." Loci Theologici, de promis- sione Evangelii, p. 208. That Zuingle himself would not have scrupled to subscribe to our own Article, we may without hesitation assert, because in the year 1529 he subscribed to one upon a similar, if not the same, subject, apparently stronger. " Credimus," said the fifth Article signed in the Conference at Marpurg, "quod " ita liberamur ab hoc et omnibus peccatis, et morte " aeterna, si nostram fiduciam collocemus in Filium " Dei Jesum Christum, pro nobis mortuum ; et quod *' extra hancjidem per nullum opus, aut certce xntce genus, '* liberari possimus ab ullo peccato." Vita Zuinglii, Melchior. Adam. p. 32. Page 102, note ( * ). ^' Thus we have heard how evil we he of ourselves ^ '^ how of ourselves, and by ourselves, we have no good- '' ness, help, nor salvation, but contrariwise, sin, dam- ^' nation, and death everlasting ; which if we deeply " weigh and consider, we shall the better understand " the great mercy of God, and how our salvation cometJi " only by Christ^ Homily of the misery o^ all mankind, and of bis condemnation to death everlasting by his own sin, 2d part. The object of this Homily is to prove the necessity of redemption from the depravity of our nature since the fall of Adam, and the consequent im- perfection of our virtues ; circumstances, demonstrat- ing our incapacity to redeem ourselves, by our own efforts, from sin and misery. Hence, after pointing out our inability " to stand before the righteous judg- '' ment of God" on the score of human merit, it adds ; *^ To God therefore must we fly, or else we shall never " find peace, rest, and quietness of conscience in our 339 NOTES ON SERMON V. " hearts. For he is the Father of mercies, and God " of all consolation. He is the Lord, with whom is " plenteous redemption ; he is the God, which of his *' own mercy saveth us, and setteth out his charity and *^ exceeding love towards us, in that of his own volun- " tary goodness, when we were perishing, he saved us, *' and provided an everlasting kingdom for us. And '' all these heavenly treasures are given us, not for our " own deserts, merits, or good deeds, (which of ourselves " we have none,) but of his own mercy freely ^' Now how these exceeding great mercies of God, set " abroad in Christ Jesu for us, be obtained, and how '' we be delivered from the captivity of sin, death, and " hell, it shall more at large (with God's help) be de- " clared in the next Sermon." The next Homily is entitled, '' A Sermon of the salvation of mankind, by '^ only Christ our Saviour, from sin and death ever- " lasting." Page 103, note (5). " Ea est hojninis post lapsum AdcE co7iditio^ ut sese na- ^' turalibus suis viribus et bonis operibus adjidem et hwo- "^ cationem Dei convertere ac praeparare mm possit.^' J st Part of the 1 0th Article. This (as I have noticed in note 15. Serm. 11.) was manifestly taken from the fol- lowing passage in the Wirtemberg Confession : " Quod '' autem nonnulli affirmant, homini p)ost lapsum tantam ^« animi integritatem relictam^ ut possit sese naturalibus *' suis viribus, et bojiis operibus, ad Jidem et invocationem ** Dei convertere ac prccparare, baud obscure pugnat " cum Apostolica doctrina, et cum vero Ecclesise Ca- ^^ tholicae consensu." Art. de Peccato. When the terms of the Lutheran statement are considered, as well as the description of that assembly, for a public exhi- bition in which it was composed, no doubt perhaps will be entertained respecting the tendency of it. Tlie " nonnulli" alluded to were clearly the Scholastics, and NOTES ON SERMON V. 3S3 their disciples, who, of course, might have been expected to be sufficiently numerous in a Popish Council. Page 103, note (6). " Absque gratia Dei (quae per Christum est) nos *' prceveniente ut velimus^ et cooperante dum volumiis, ad *^ pietatis opet^a facienda^ quae Deo grata sunt et ac- " cepta, nihil valemus.^* 2d Part of our 10th Article. The passage of St. Austin, which our Reformers kept in view, was the following: ^'^ Sine illo vel operante ut " velimuSi vel cooperante cum volumus, ad bona pietatis *^ ope7'a nihil valemus.^^ De Gratia et libero Arbitrio, cap. 17. The additions, *' quae per Christum est,^' and '^ quae Deo grata sunt et accepta," were made to nar- row the question, and assert the single point of human inefficiency to merit congruously. That the object of this Article is that which has been pointed out, appears likewise from the " Reformatio Legum Ecclesiast." (Serm. III. note 14.) in which it is thus alluded to: " Et similiter nobis contra illos progrediendum est, qui ^' tantum in libero arbitrio roboris et nervorum ponunt, " ut eo solo, sine aliqua speciali Christi gratia, recte ab " hominibus vivi posse constituant ;" the precise idea, upon which the Scholastics grounded their position of Congruous Merit. Page 105, note ( 7 ). According to the doctrine of the Papists, prayer, without any real devotion of heart, was deemed in it- self meritorious^ ejc opere operato, of God's favours. Hence the Lutherans, on the other hand, always united faith and invocation, considering the latter as ineffec- tual without the former. " Jam qui scit, se per Chris- " turn habere propitium patrem, is vere novit Deum, " scit se ei curae esse, invocare Deum. Denique non est " sine Deo, sicut Gentes Sine Jide nullo modo '* potest humana natura^rzw/ aut secundi prcccepti opera ^^ facer e. Sine Jide non invocat Deum,'^ Augsburg 334. NOTES ON SERMON V. Confess, ed. 1530. Since therefore we cannot thus turn and prepare ourselves by our natural strength and good works, contemplated according to their own suffi- ciency, to true faith and invocation, these, they argued, must be regarded as the gifts of God through Chris- tianity. Page 106, note ( 8 ). The word grace was applied in various senses by the Scholastics ; yet, when put absolutely, was generally understood to be what they termed gratia gratum fa- ciens, the efficacious principle of condign merit. Thus works of congruity were said to be performed before and without grace. See Durandus a Sanct. Pore. In Lib. Sentent. lib. i. distinct. 16. qusest. 2. The same expression however was sometimes more largely used, for a species of general influx, (according to the Scho- lastical phrase,) of which all men participated. To this Melancthon seems to refer in an account of the public dispute between Carolostadius and Eccius, in the year 1519. " Neque jam disputo, ' Accedat pe- * culiare auxilium, necne ;' variant enim et ipsi quse- " stionum magistri. Certe magno co7isensu Scholcc id pe- ^' culiare auxilium gratiam Jesu Christi esse non permit- " timty Epist. Lond. p. 129. Hence we perceive a principal reason, why, to the terms '' gratia Dei," our Reformers subjoined '^ quae per Christum est," Fage 107, note (9). " .... A true and lively faith, which nevertheless is '' the gift of God, and not man*s only work without ^^ God." Homily of Salvation, 1st part. Page 108, note (lo). For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we, which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with NOTES ON SERMON V. 335 the trump of God ; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we, which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds. 1 Thess. iv, 15, 16, 17. ' Page 109, note (ii)- Why, on this occasion, the participle praveniens was substituted for that of operans, and a more definite con- junction for one less so, will more readily appear, if we review the whole passage, as it stands in St. Austin : " Et quis istam etsi parvam dare cceperat caritatem, nisi *^ ille, qui prccparat voluntatem, et cooperando perficit, " quod operando incipit P Quoniam ipse, ut velimus, ** operatur incipiens, qui volentibus cooperatur per- *^ ficiens. Propter quod Apostolus, ' Certus sum, quo- " niam, qui operatur in nobis opus bonum, perficiet ' usque ad diem Christi Jesu.' Ut ergo velimus sine " nobis operatur, cum autem volumus et sic volumus, " ut faciamus nobiscum cooperatur, tamen sine illo vel *' operante ut velimus, vel cooperante cum volumus, ad " bona pietatis opera nihil valemus." De Gratia, &c. In this quotation, the words '' ut velimus, sine nobis '* operatur," were usually considered as denoting only an operation in preparing the mind to will ; those which follow, " cum autem volumus et sic volumus, ut facia- " mus, nobiscum cooperatur," a cooperation in deter- mining its will to action. It must however be acknow- ledged, that they seem equivocal. Calvin therefore had so interpreted them, as to make them speak a language appli- cable only to divine, and inimical to all human, agency. But such an interpretation the compiler of our Article appears to have disapproved. And were a modern Ar- minian so to remodel the passage as to render it strictly conformable with his own sentiments, could he more effectually accomplish his purpose, than in the mode, which actually was pursued, by omitting the previous 336 NOTES ON SERMON V. part of the definition altogether, changing operans into prceveniens, and cum into dum ? Thus a well known extract from the writings of St. Austin was selected, because, with the addition of the sentence, " quae Deo grata sunt et accepta," it directly militated against the Scholastical position of Congruous Merit ; a position, which it was the principal object of the Article to oppose : but, as certain expressions, in which it was couched, might at least seem, upon a col- lateral and inferior point, to convey a meaning, which it was not wished to inculcate, those were either omitted, or corrected so as to prevent all ambiguity. I have remarked, that the Latin copy of our Articles ought to be consulted in cases of doubt and controversy. In Latin they were originally composed; nor were they ever subscribed in English, until the Convocation of the year 157L Previously therefore to that year, the English editions materially varied ; while the Latin (the errors of the press alone excepted) remained the same, unless where alterations were introduced by au- thority. But it should be added, that in the English copy, constantly used since the period referred to, the ex- pression is at least inaccurate. It is there said, " with- ^« out the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that ** we may have a good will, and working with us, "dohen " we have that good mil'' Certainly the words, 'when we have that good will, are not a correct translation of duvi voliimus. Nor is the precise grammatical sense of them very clear. The verb have, used actively, and not as an auxiliary, sometimes appears to mean rather the act of acquisition, than that of complete possession ; as Matthew xix. \6. *« Good Master, what good thing " shall I do, that I may have eternal life?'* and in other similar passages of the Bible. Indeed to this exact sense perhaps it is appropriated in the first part of the clause NOTES ON SERMON V. 337 before us, in which it is said, " preventing us, that we " may have'' (that is, obtain) ^' a good will." If there- fore in the latter part of the clause it be applied in the same way, the construction may be, cooperating with us, " when" (or at the period in which) '' we have" (or are having, obtain, or are obtaining) " that good will." Thus is the same verb used in the same incomplete pre- sent tense, when our Saviour addresses the disciples on their way to Emmaus : " What manner of communica- " tions are these, that ye have'' (or are having) '^ one " to another, as ye walk, and are sad ?" Luke xxiv. 17. Had the phraseology been, " preventing us, that we " may will what is good, and working with us, when ** we will that good," little or no obscurity would have occurred. It must however be confessed, that at first view the words, " when we have," seem to admit a very different interpretation, and to signify, not when we are obtaining, but after that we have obtained ; yet as this interpretation is irreconcileable with the evident mean- ing of the Latin, surely we ought not to explain a trans- lation in a sense directly repugnant to the original ; or, if it must be so explained, at least should consider it rather as an error of the translator, than the sentiment of the compiler. *' By way of contrast with the doctrine of our Church in this part of the Article, I shall subjoin that of Cal- vin upon the same question. " Sinistre," he remarks, ^' non minus quam infeliciter tritam illam distinctio- *' nem usurpant operantis gratiae et cooperantis. Hac " quidem usus est Augustinus, sed commoda defini- " tione leniens, Deum cooperando perficere, quod ope- " rando incipit; ac eandem esse gratiam, sed sortiri " nomen pro diverso raodo effectus. Unde sequitur " eum non partiri iriter Deiim et nos, ac si ex proprio '' utriusque motu esset mutua concurrentia ; sed gratice " multiplicationem notare Ad id, quod dicere so- z 338 NOTES ON SERMON V. " lent, postquam primoe gratise locum dedlmus, jam co- '' natusnostros subsequenti gratiae cooperari, respondeo. " Si intelligant nos, ex quo semel domini virtule in jus- ^' titiae obsequium edomiti sumus, uUro pergere, et pro- '^ pe?isos esse ad sequendam gratiae actionem, nihil re- '' clamo. Est enim certissimum, ubi gratia Dei reg- " nat, talem esse obsequendi promptitudinem. Unde " id tamen nisi quod Spiritus Dei ubique sibi consen- " tienSi quam principio generavit obedientiae afFectio- " nem, ad perseverandi constantiam fovet et confirmat? *• At si hominem a seipso suraere volunt, unde gratice '^ Dei collaboret, pestilentissime lialluci7iantur,^' Insti- tut. lib. ii. cap. 3. sect. 11. Here he plainly admits no cooperation, except that of grace cooperating with it- self; ^* Spiritus Dei ubique sibi conse?itiens," And hence was he always careful to distinguish his own te- net from that of the Schools^ which he thus censures : *' Id dum vult expedire magister Sententiarum dupli- ^' cem gratiam necessariam esse nobis docet, quo redda- " mur ad bonum opus idonei. Alteram vocat operan- '' tem, qua fit ut efficaciter velimus bonum : cooperan' " tern alteram, quae bonam voluntatem sequitur adjii- *' vando. In qua partitione hoc mihi displicet, quod, " dum gratiae Dei tribuit efficacem boni appetitum, in- *' nuit hominem jam suapte naliira bonum quodammodo, "licet inefficaciter appetere; sicut Bernardus bonam " quidem voluntatem opus Dei esse asserens, homini " tamen hoc concedit, ut 7Jiofu pr^oprio bonam ejusmodi " voluntatem appetat. Sed istud ab Augustini mente *' procul abest, a quo tamen sumpsisse partitionem videri " vult Lombardus. In secundo membro ambiguitas me ** oiFendit, quas perversam genuit interpretationem. *' Ideo enim putarunt nos secundse Dei gratiae cooperari, " quod nostri juris sit primam gratiam vel re'spuendo irri- *' tarn facer e, velobedienter sequendo coiifirmare Haec " duo notare obiter libuit, ut videas jam lector, quan- NOTES ON SERMON V. 339 *• turn a sanioribus Scholasticis dissentiam. Longiore '' enim intervallo a recentioribus sophistis differo, quanto " scilicet a vetustate longius abscesserunt." Ibid. lib. ii. cap. 2. sect. 6. Nor while he warmly contended for the truth of his opinion, did he wish to conceal its no- velty : " Ac voluntatem movet, non qualiter multis secu' '* lis traclituni est et creditum, ut nostras postea sit elec- <^ tionis motioni aut obtemperare aut refragari, sed illam " efficaciter afficiendo. Illud ergo toties a Chrysos- '•' tomo repetitum repudiari necesse est, ' Quern trahit * volentem trahit ;* quo insinuat Dominum porrecta " tantum manu expectare, an suo auxilio juvari nobis *' adlubescat." Ibid. lib. ii. cap. 3. sect. 10. Indeed, he frankly confesses, that, in support of his position upon free will in general, he cannot appeal to the au- thority of the Fathers, that of St. Austin alone excepted, whom^ of course, he explains in his own way. He states them to have been ambiguous : he might have allowed, that they were completely hostile to his system : " Quod si nos patrum auctoritas movet, illi quidem " assidue in ore habent vocabulum" (viz. liberum arbi- trium). Ibid. lib. ii. cap. 2. sect. 8. " Magnum mihi " prsejudicium attulisse forsan videar, qui Scriptores ^' omnes ecclesiasticos, excepto Augustino, ita ambigue ''' aut varie in hac re locutos esse confessus sum, ut *' certiim quippiam ex eorum scriptis haberi nequeat. " Hoc enim perinde nonnulli interpretabuntur, quasi a ** sufFragii jure depellere ideo ipsos voluerim, quia mihi " sint omnes adversarii. Ego vero nihil aliud spectavi, " quam quod volui simpliciter ac bona fide consultum " piis ingeniis : quae si eorum sententiam hac in parte ^* expectent, semper incerta fluctuabunt; adeo nunc ho- " minem liberi arbitrii viribus spoliatum ad solam gra- *' tiam confugere docent ; nunc propriis ipsum armis aut *' instruunt, aut videniur instruere,'^ Ibid. sect. 9. z 2 340 NOTES ON SERMON V. Page 111, note (12). O God, who declarest thy almighty power most chiefly in shewing mercy and pity, mercifully grant unto us such a measure of thy grace, that we, running the way of thy commandments, may obtain thy gracious promises, and be made pai'takers of thy heavenly trea- sures. Collect 11th Sunday after Trinity. Page 113, note (i3). Concil. Trident. Decret. de Justificatione, Sessio sex- ta. Canon 7. It may perhaps be proper to observe, that in the passage which follows, it is by no means intended ob- liquely to charge upon the Calvinistical doctrine of In- spiration, as appropriated to the elect, when correctly understood, the absurdities and impieties, which enthu- siasm has sometimes deduced from it. Calvin himself was both a wise and a good man ; inferior to none of his contemporaries in general ability, and superior to al- most all in the art, as well as elegance, of composition, in the perspicuity and arrangement of his ideas, the structure of his periods, and the Latinity of his diction. Although attached to a theory, which he found it diffi- cult in the extreme to free from the suspicion of blas- phemy against God, as the author of sin, he certainly was no blasphemer; but, on the contrary, adopted that very theory, from an anxiety, not to commit, but (as he conceived) to avoid blasphemy, that of ascribing to hu- man, what he deemed alone imputable to divine, agency. With respect to the application of it, at a later period, to enthusiastical purposes, no one would have more se- verely reprehended such an application, than he him- self; nor ought we perhaps to attribute the principles, which modern enthusiasts have extracted from it, to Calvin, more than we do those, which modern repub- licans have affected to derive from a political revolution NOTES ON SERMON V. 341 in this country, to the authors of that event. That the Calvinistical system, however, has a tendency to pro- mote enthusiasm, its more rational advocates will scarcely deny; or, although they may argue, that it has not a necessary tendency this way, surely they will admit, that il is extremely liable to be thus abused, and that such is the effect which it usually produces in minds, where judgment holds not the reins of passion, and ima- gination breaks loose from the restraints of reason; un- fortunately the case of mankind in general. Page 116, note (i4). See Strype's Memorials of Cranmer, Append, p. 60. Page 117, note (15). " Let us all confess with mouth and heart that we be " full of imperfections : Let us know our own works, " of what imperfection they be, and then we shall not *^ stand foolishly and arrogantly in our own conceits, " nor challenge any part of justification by our merits "or works. For truly there be imperfections in our " best works. We do not love God so much as we are " bound to do, with all our heart, mind, and power ; " we do not fear God so much as we ought to do; we *' do not pray to God, but with great and many impe?'- ^'fections ; we give, forgive, believe, live, and hope im" ^^ perfectly ; we speak, think, and do imperfectly; we *' fight against the devil, the world, and the flesh, imper^ ^'fectly ; let us therefore not he ashamed to confess plainly " our state of imperfection ; yea let us not be ashamed to ^' confess imperfection even in all our best works. Let " none of us be ashamed to say with holy St. Peter, ^ I * am a sinful man.' Let us say with the holy prophet " David, ' We have sinned with our fathers, we have ' done amiss, and dealt wickedly.* Let us all make ** open confession with the prodigal son to our Father, " and say unto him, ^ We have sinned against heaven, ' and before thee, (O father,) we are not worthy to be z 3 S49 NOTES ON SERMON V. ' called thy sons,' &c. &c In ourselves therefore " may we not glory, which (^of ourselves) are nothing but " sinful ; neither may we rejoice in any works that we do, '* which all be so imperfect and impure, that they are not *' able to stand before the righteous judgment-seat of " God.'' Homily of the misery of man, 2d part. I have remarked, note 4. that the object of this Homily is to prove the necessity of a Redeemer, in consequence of human imperfection ; a necessity, which congruous works, by deserving grace and justification, were con- ceived to supersede. When therefore it is said, that '* of ourselves, and by ourselves," (phrases perpetually repeated,) " we are not able either to think a good ** thought, or work a good deed," it is solely meant, that we can do neither so perfectly, as of ourselves, or, in other words, without Christianity, to obtain God's fa- vour by congruous merit; because, considered in this point of vie w^ " we are very si?iful," (or, w^hat is tanta- mount to that expression, i7nperfect,) " wretched, and " damnable," or liable to condemnation. Perhaps the following passages from Latimer may in some degree illustrate the subject under consideration : " First, when he is a right Papist given unto Monkery, " I warrant you he is in this opinion, that with his own " works he doth merit remission of his sins, and satis- " fieth the law through and by his own works, and " so thinketh himself to be saved everlastingly. " This is the opinion of all Papists, And this doc- <* trine was taught in times past in schools and in the " pulpits. Now all these, that be in such an opinion, " they be the enemies of the cross of Christ, of his pas- " sion and bloodshedding ; for they think in themselves, " Christ needed not to dye, and so they despise his bitter ** passion ,• they do not consider our birth, sin, and the " corruption of our nature, 7ior yet do they know the *' quantity of our actual sins; how many times we fall NOTES ON SERMON V. S43 " into sins, or how much our own power is diminished, ^' or what power and might the devil hath ; they con- *' sider not such things, but think themselves able *ix>ith ^^ their own works to enter into the kingdom of God.'* Latimer's Sermons, p. 208. ed. 1584. '^ We of our " own strength and power are not able to do his com- *' mandments, but that lack our Saviour will supply " with hi^ fulfilling, and with his perfectness he will take *' away our impejfectnessJ*'' p. 151. " Though the works " which we do be good outwardly, and God be pleased " with them, yet they be 7iot perfect, for we believe m- ^'^ perfectly, we love imperfectly, we suffer imperfectly, " not as we ought to do, and so all things that we do are " done imperfectly. But our Saviour hath so remedied '^ the" matter, and taken away our imperfectness, that '' they be counted now before God most perfect and <^ holy, not for our own sake, but for his sake, and " though they be not perfect, yet they he taken for per- ^^fect; and so we come to perfectness by him." p. 166. The idea of our deficiencies being removed by the fulness of Christ, (not to render good works merito- rious of divine forgiveness, but acceptable to Heaven, and available to eternal life,) our Homilies express al- most in the language of Latimer. It should be ob- served however, that they were composed before his Sermons were preached. " So that now in him and " by him every true Christian man may be called a ful- ^* filler of the law, forasmuch as that, which their i?i- ^^frmity lacked, Chrisf s justice hath supplied.^' Homily on salvation. Upon the whole, is it not evident, that we are thus taught to consider our best works (when abstracted from Christianity, and contemplated in themselves) as having " the nature of sin, ^* because they are imperfect, and as requiring to have their imperfection supplied by the perfection of Christ, in order to become " pleasant z 4 344 NOTES ON SERMON V. " to God," and capable " of standing before his righ- " teous judgment-seat ?" Page 118, note (i6). The writings of Melancthon had long enjoyed an un- rivalled reputation among the Lutherans. But above all his other productions (the Augsburg Confession and its Apology alone excepted) ranked his Loci Theo- locrici : which, as I have remarked in note 14. Serm. IV. he expressly designed to be a general compendium of the new doctrine, which he composed under the eye and immediate correction of Luther, and which, at the time of our own Reformation, was universally esteemed the standard of Lutheran opinion. Buddaeus alludes to its great celebrity at that period, in the following terms : " Initio itaque regnabat in Scholis et Academiis Phi- *' lippus Melancthon, Locique ejus Theologici passim " prselegebantur." Isagoge, lib. ii. p. 349 ; and gives this eulogy upon it, written by a contemporary : " Non melior liber est ullus post bihlia Christi, '^ Quam qui doctrines corpusque locique vocatur.'^ Ibid. lib. ii. p. 347. The works likewise of his opponents in the Church of Rome abundantly testify the very high estimation, in which Melancthon was every where held. This is particularly apparent from the Philippics of his invete- rate adversary, Cochlaeus. " Sed progressum," Coch- laeus remarks, " et successum hujus sectae non minus "juvit ac promovit (me judice) Phihppus, quam Lu- *' therus. Nam, cum esset ingenio vafro et acuto, atque '^ in grammaticse, dialecticaeque, et rhetoricae rudi- " mentis comptiori stylo exercitatus, magnam uhique per " Germaniam in Scholis assecutus est gratiam et favo- ^' rem, Unde factum est, ut repente in partes Lutheri " traxerit quoslibet eruditos, qui politioribus literis ac '' linguarum studiis delectabantur Wormaciae *' autem tanti faciei) at apud me in privato colloquio Jiunc NOTES ON SERMON V. 345 *' Philippum suum idem Lutherus, ut diceret, non vivere ^' hodie ullum hominem super terrain, qui in sacris li- ** teris doctior esset Philippo " Then alluding to the extent of his fame, in consequence of the Confession and its Apology, he adds, '' Quare et ipsi Luthero prcc- ^^ ferehatur in Lutlieranorum conventiculis^ ac, velut pub- " licus <;ommunis principum et civitatum Cancellarius, ** in eorum scribendis propositionibus et responsionibus *^ habebatur." Philippica Septima in Philippum Me- lancthonem, p. 553 et 55^, ed. 1549. The sentiments contained in the Loci Theologici upon the activity of the human will in conversion, or rather its cooperation with divine grace, at the com- mencement, as well as during the continuance, of a dis- position to good, have been already pointed out in the note above referred to. It should be added, that the same also frequently occurs in his other publications; from which to quote every passage upon the subject, would be to transcribe no inconsiderable portion of his works. The idea of Calvin upon the point has been adverted to in note 11. Page 119, note (i7). In the " Necessary Erudition," published under the sanction of royal authority, in the reign of Henry VIII. (note 5. Serm. I.) the liberty of the will was thus fully and unequivocally maintained : " If thou * wilt enter into life, keep the commandments,' which " undoubtedly should be said in vain, unless there " were some faculty or power left in man, whereby he '' may, by the help and grace of God, [if he mil re- " ceivc it wheJi it is offered unto him^) understand his ** commandments, and freely consent and obey unto " them In spiritual desires, and works to please *' God, it" (viz. free will) " is so weak and feeble, that it " cannot either hegi7i or perform them, unless by the " grace and help of God it he prevented and holpen, . . . 346 NOTES ON SERMON V. ** Man's strength and will, in all things which be faithful " to the soul, and shall please God, hath need of grace of " the Holy Ghost, by which such spiritual things be in- " spired to men, and strength and constancy given to " perform them, if men do not isoilfully refuse the said " grace offered to them " " It is surely of the ** grace of God only, that first we be inspired and moved " to any good thing; but to resist temptation, and to " persist in goodness, and go forward in it, is both of the " grace of God, and of our free will and endeavour " God is naturally good, and willeth all men to be " saved, and careth for them, and provideth all things, ^' by which they may be saved, except by their own " malice they will be evil, and so by righteous judgment " of God perish and be lost. For truly men be to them- <* selves the authors of sin and damnation. God is nei- " ther the author of sin, nor the cause of damnation. . . . ^* All men are brought into such blindness and infirmity, *' that they cannot eschew sin, except they be illumined ^^ and made free by especial grace, that is to say, by a " supernatural help and working of the Holy Ghost, '^ which although the goodness of God offereth to all " men, yet they only enjoy it, which by their free will <' do accept and embrace the samer Article of Free Will. •' Albeit God is the principal cause and chief worker of '^ this justification in us, without whose grace no man ** can do no good thing, but following his free will in *« the state of a sinner, increaseth his own injustice, and " multiplieth his sin ; yet so it pleaseth the high wisdom ** of God, that man prevented by his grace, (which being *^ offered man may, if he voill^ refuse or receive,) shall be *' also a worker, by his free consent and obedience to the " same, in the attaining of his own justification." Article of Justification. Such was the doctrine of our Church upon this point in the first stage of her Reformation. That the same NOTES ON SERMON V. 317 continued without change at the completion of it under Edward, seems a fact sufficiently apparent. Perhaps, however, I should add other testimonies from the writ- ings of Erasmus, whose Paraphrase upon the Gospel was ordered by the King's injunctions, to be provided in every parish, and publicly kept in Churches, for the general instruction of the people, at the time that the use of the Homilies was first enjoined ; but as his opinion on the subject is well known, and has been frequently ap- pealed to, it seems only necessary to make a few extracts from his Paraphrase: " Nothing is let pass on my behalf, " whereby thou mightest be saved, but contrariwise thou " hast done what thou canst to bring destruction to thee, " and to exclude salvation from thee. But to *uohom ^^ftee "uoill is once given, he cannot he saved against his " mil," Matthew, chap, xxiii. ver. 37. " The Father " doth not give this so great a gift" (viz. faith) but to ^^ them that be willing and desirous to have it. And " truly whoso doth with a ready will, and godly diligence , " deserve to be drawn of my Father, he shall obtain " everlasting life by me; (Non impartit ille tantum '^ munus, nisi volentihus et avidis. Quisquis autem^ro- *' meruerit sua prompt a voluntate suoque studio, ut attra- ** hatur a Patre, per me vitam seternam consequetur.) <* They that in the mean season do not believe, *' cannot excuse their fault by saying that they were <' not drawn. For the Father, so much as in him lieth, " (Pater enim, quod in ipso est, &c.) coveteth to draw all *' men. He that is not drawn, is in fault himself, be- ** cause he withdraweth himself from him, that else " would draw him." John vi. 44<. " Things of this " world are learned by man's endeavour and study. " This celestial philosophy is not understood, unless the " secret inspiration of the Father make man's heart apt *' to be taught The gift is God^s, but the endea- 348 NOTES ON SERMON V. " vour is yours; (Donum est Dei, sed vester est conatus.) '' A man heareth my words with bodily ears in vain, '^ except he hear before the secret voice of the Father, " which must inspire the mind with an insensible grace '* of faith. Therefore whosoever fashioneih himself to be ^' apt to receive this inspiration, the Father doth then " draw them. And he only that is drawn, cometh " finally to me. (Proinde quicunque se prcehent idoneos *' hide afflatui, hos sic attrahit Pater; et is demum venit *' ad me, qui sic fuerit attractus.)" Ver. 45. The endeavour or conatus here alluded to, as well as the general idea of Erasmus upon preventing and co- operating grace, is thus briefly explained in his Dia- tribe : " PrcBvenit Dei misericordia voluntatem nostram, " comitatur eandem in conando, dat felicem eventum. " Et tamen ijiterim volumus, currimus^ assequimurJ' p. 45. ed. 3 524. And again in his Hyperaspistes ; " Ego nihil '' tribui libero Arbitrio, nisi quod se prcehet graticE pul- *' santi, quod cooperatur gratice operanti, et quod ah *^ utraque se potest avertereJ* Opera, vol. x. p. 1480. ed. Lugd. Bat. 1706. to which, he adds, Luther himself ac- ceded : " Idem fatetur Lutherus." With the sentiments of Erasmus, thus obtruded on public notice in the reign of Edward, those of Cranmer seem to have perfectly accorded at the same period. What they were in the preceding reign, the " Neces- " sary Erudition" shews; at least what those were to which he assented, and which probably he drew up him- self, as the doctrine of the Church of England ; but it has been contended, that little deference is due to that work, because it might have been corrupted by the in- trigues of Gardiner, and the caprice of Henry. It may be of importance therefore (as far, I mean, as private opinion can be of importance to illustrate the general tendency of any point in a public Creed,) to consider what they were after the death of that Monarch, when NOTES ON SERMON V. 349 they proceeded voluntarily from himself. In his Cate- chism, translated from the German, the subject is inci- dentally mentioned. '^ God is so gentle, liberal, and " merciful, that of his own accord he desireth to do " good to all men, whereby his name is praised and ho- '' noured. Therefore he that will do pure service and " honour to God, let him give himself to rest and quiet- " ness, not working to be made holy by his own out- " ward works," (viz. Popish works of superstition, as, " gadding hither and thither on pilgrimage, painting, " gilding, or clothing Saints' images, &c.") " but let " him keep holy day, let him suffer the benefits of God *^ to be poured liberally and freely upon himJ" p, 33. " It " is our part to give place to his working, and not to " *mit}istand the same. And therefore we say in this " Creed, ' I believe in the Holy Ghost.' But it is ne- " cessary some things here to speak of tlie manner of *' sanctification, how and after what manner the Holy " Ghost doth hallow us, that we may so prepare our- '' selves, or x2i\heY give place to the Holy Ghost, which ^re- ^' venteth us, that he with his light, and almighty strength " and power, may work his will in us." p. 135. " As *' much as lieth in you, apply yourselves to hear godly " sermons, and give your hearts to God, like waa;, apt " and meet to receive what thing soever it shall please "him to print in you." p. 139. "And take this for " a sure conclusion, and doubt nothing thereof, that the " Holy Ghost, as he hath begun these things in us, so " he will finish the same in us, if we obey him, and con- " tinue in faith uuto the end of our lives. For he that " continueth to the end, shall be saved." p. 143. " We " wretched sinners do not first prevent God, and go " before him in the work of our justification, but it is ** God that layeth the^7'5^ foundation of our salvation. " He beginneth with us, and first calleth us by the Gos- ** pel. First he sendeth unto us godly and faithful 350 NOTES ON kSERMON V. " ministers, by whom we be baptized, and before 'we do *' any good work, he qffereth unto us his grace.'* p. 155. " And we Christian men, although by baptism we be " made the children of God, and receive the Holy ^* Ghost, (which doth help us to withstand all evil, and " to do that is good,) and although we commit no gross " sin, nor break the law by any outward act, yet we do *' not perfectly fulfil God's commandments." p. 192. *' For this is good and accepted in the sight of God our " Saviour, which willelh all men to be saved, and to " come to the knowledge of the truth. Now therefore, '' forasmuch as we know by God's holy commandments ** what his will is, it is our part to conform our wills to " his will, and to desire him to give us his grace and aid,'* p. 171. " He governeth by the holy word of his Gospel, " and the power of the Holy Ghost, (whom he poureth '^ plentifully upon all them^ that believe the Gospel,) " and by that comfortable word of the Gospel he gently " enticeth and draweth us unto him, that we should " gladly of our own free will obey him,'' p. 165. It is evident, from an accurate examination of the au- thorized Protestant Creeds, that although in some cases the individuals, who composed them, held opinions on many points, more or less approaching towards an ex- treme, nevertheless in them, as general rules of faith, a mitigated form of expression was always adopted. If Cranmer therefore, who compiled our Articles, had en- tertained sentiments upon free will even of the harshest description, it would not have followed, that he intro- duced the same, without modifications, into the Articles themselves: but when we find by the preceding quo- tations, that his private opinions were of the most mode- rate kind, surely it is impossible for a moment to doubt the moderation of that public Creed, which he esta- blished. The reformed doctrine of the Church of England, in NOTES ON SERMON V. 351 the time of Henry, was contained in the " Necessary " Erudition." This doctrine, it is well known, was further reformed in the reign of his successor. It seems therefore to follow, that where other tenets on particular points were subsequently brought forward, repugnant to those, which are there to be found, as upon transubstan- tiation, &c. that book ceases to prove illustrative of her meaning; yet that where, as in the present instance, not different, but the same ideas, and either the same, or synonymous expressions were afterwards used, it ought to be admitted as evidence of it. In the Latin edition of this work, published the same year, (viz. 1543.) entitled, " Pia et Catholica Christian! Hominis Institu- " tio," occur the following passages : " Interim tamen " meminisse oportet banc potentiam infirmiorem esse " quam ut ad ea, qucB Deo placita et accepta sunt, vel *' cogitanda vel facienda sese incitare possit nisi Dei '* auxilio ad id sublevetur Caeterum, ut ex mul- " tis scripturae locis probari potest libertas arbitrii, ita *' baud pauciores sunt, qui demonstrant, sic requiri^ra- *' tiam Dei^ ut nisi ea liberum arbitrium et prceveniat^ et ** comitetiiy^^ et dediicat, nihil boni aut sancti operis a " nobis confici, aut animo saltern, ac voluntate constitui " possit Ubi autem nobis Christi gratia affulserit, ^^jam ad salutem ipsi nostram cooper amur,^'' Art. de Libero Arbitrio. How exactly with these accords that part of our Article, which was altered from St. Austin, and which comprised the whole of it, as first composed: " Absque gratia Dei, quae per Christum est, nos prceve7ii- *' ente, ut velimiis, et cooperante, dum volumiis, ad opera ^* pietatis facienda, qua Deo grata sunt et accepta, nihil " valemus." NOTES ON SERMON Vf Page 122, note (1). Justification is thus defined by Aquinas : " Pri- " mo quaeritur, an justificatio impii sit remissio pecca- " torum ? Et videtur, quod non Sed contra est, *' quod dicitur in Glossa Rom. viii. super illud, ' Quos ' vocavit, hos et justificavit,' Glo. remissione peccato- *' rum ; ergo remissio iieccatorum est justificatio,'^ Qu&e- stiones Disput. quasst. 28. art. 1. In the Loci Theologici Melancthon expresses him- self to the same effect : " Justificatio significat remissio- *' nem peccatorum^ et rcconciliatiojiem seu acceptatioriem " ad vitam ceternam.^' De Gratia et Justificatione. Our own Church, in the reign of Henry, almost li- terally adopted the definition of Melancthon: " Justifi- " cation signifies remission of our sins, and our accepta- " tio7i or reconciliation into the grace and favour of God." Articles of 1536, art. Justification. The same idea likewise occurs in our Homilies, in which it is said, " Every man of necessity is constrained '' to seek for another justification, to be received at " God's hands, that is to say, the remission, pardon, and ^^forgiveness of his sins and trespasses, in such things " as he has offended." Homily of the salvation of man- kind, ed. 154^7. A a S54 NOTES ON SERMON VI. Page\'23,note ['^), Ad oppositum. Impossiblle est aliquem esse carum Deo sine caritate, sicut impossiblle est aliquem esse aU hum sine alhedine ; sed caritas est qualitas absoluta, quia est virtus theologica ; ergo &c. Ad istam quaestionem est una opinio, quod ad hoc, quod anima sit Deo grata^ cara^ et accepta, necessai^io requiritur aliqua talis forma creata et absoluta, ita quod de potentia Dei absoluta sine tali forma non potest esse Deo cara ; et ipsa forma necessario est Deo cara^ et similiter anima ilia forma informata ; ita quod, stante ilia forma, non potest de potentia Dei absoluta non esse Deo cara. Occam, lib. i. dist. 17. qutest. 1. Page 126, 7iote (3). ^' Et praedictis patet solutio quaestionis, videlicet, " quod ad deletionem peccati mortalis post haptismum com- '^ 7nissi, requiritur pcenitentia, quia ad deletionem pec- '' cati requiritur punitio voluntaria, ut dictum est. " Poenitentia autem est hujasmodi, ut patet ex prse- ^' dictis : ergo, &c." Nic. de Orbellis, lib. iv. dist. 14. quaest. 1. Scotus accurately defines the difference between at- trition and contrition, and ascribes the true merit of justification to the former. " De tertio dico, quod ali- '^ quem actum humanum requiri ad deletionem pec- " cati potest dupliciter intelligi, vel ut dispositionem prce- " viam, vel ut concomitantem, Primo modo sufUcit ac- " tus iiformis; immo semper est informis, quia dispo- " sitio praevia ad peccati deletionem est semper sine '' gratia et caritate ; a cujus solius inhaerentia et incli- '' natione ad actum dicitur actus formatus. Nam i7i " illo instanti, in quo deletur pcccatum^ caritas inest, et *' per consequens, si actus requiritur, ut concomitans *' requiritur, ut formatus. " Ad hujus intellectum sciendum, quod peccator in " pcccatis existens, eo modo quo dictum est in prsece-^ NOTES ON SERMON VI. S55 " dente quaestione, art. 1. peccatum manere post ac- " turn, potest ex naturalibus cum communi iiifluentia '' considerare peccatum commissum, ut offensivum Dei, *' et ut contra legem divinam, &c. et sub multis talibus " rationibus ; et potest voluntas ipsum, sub aliqua il- ^' larum rationum, vel sub multis, illud peccatum sic " consideratum detestari, et ille motus potest conti- *' nuari et intendi ante infusionem gratice. Potest etiam " ista detestatio esse totaliter circumstantionata circum- " stantiis moralibus debitis; non est enim verlsimile, " quod necesse sit propter peccatum istud remanens " actum quemcunque circa peccatum commissum esse " defectivum in aliqua circurastantia morali. Iste au- " tem motus dicitur attritio, et est dispositio, sive meri- *' turn de congnio, ad deletio7iem peccati mortalis, quce '* sequitur in idtimo instanti alicujus temporis, in quo " tempore ista attritio duravit Idem motus^ qui " jprius fuit attritio^ in illo instanti jit contritio^ quia in *' illo instanti fit concomitant gratia, et ita actus forma- ^^ tus, quia habens secum caritatem, quce est forma ac- *' tus^ ut hie loquimur. Ibi tamen oportet distinguere *' signa naturas inter actum, ut est talis inesse naturae et " moris, et inter caritatem et inter actum, ut est for- " matus, quia in primo signo naturae est ibi actus talis, '' in secundo caritas, in tertio actus formatus a caritate, " jam inclinante et inhasrente, et sic attritio fit contritio, ** sine omni mutatione reali ipsius actus. Contra ergo *' non per contritionem deletur culpa, quia non est " contritio nisi in tertio signo naturas, et in secundo " deletur ; neque etiam per contritionem illam, ut per " meritum, quia sequitur illam deletionem. Potest *' ergo dici, quod Deus disponit per attritionem in ali- *' quo tempore, tanquam per aliquod meritum de congruo, " in aliquo instanti dare gratiam, et pro ilia attritione, " ut pro meritOjjustificat, sicut est meritum justificationis» ** Et licet non continuaretur idem actus circa pecca^ A a 2 S56 NOTES ON SERMON VI. '^ turn in genere naturae et moris, qui prius, adhuc in " illo iiistanti i?ifu?iderefur g7'atia, quia jam p7^cecessit me-^ " ritum de congruo,^^ Scotus, lib. iv. dist. 14. quaest. 2. The change of eternal into temporal punishment is noticed in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession : " Sic enim" (viz. adversarii) " docent, in remissione '* peccati Deum remittere culpam ; et tamen, quia con- '* venii: justitice divincje punire peccatum^ mutare pcenani " seternam in poenam temporalem. Addunt amplius " partem illius temporalis poenae remitti potestate cla- " vium, reliquum autem redimi per satisfactiones.'* De Pcenitcntia. See Aquinas, Summa Prim. Secund. quaest. 86. art. 4. But it was believed, that although temporal punish- ment usually remains to be exacted, after eternal is expiated, yet the act of contrition may prove sufficiently intense to atone likewise for that. '' Respondeo dicen- '' dum quod intentio contritionis potest attendi dupli- " citer. Uno modo ex parte caritatis in actu, quod " contritio inde sequens merebitur non solum amoiio- *' nem, sed etiam absolutionem^ ah omni poena. Alio modo " ex parte doloris se7isibilis, quern voluntas in contritione '^ excitat ; et quia ille etiam poena quaedam est, tantum *' potest intendi, quod sufficiet ad deletionem culpae et " poenae." Aquin. Sum. The. tert. quaest. 5. art. 2. '' Item notandum, quod actus contritionis potest esse " ita intens7is, quod pcenitens mereatur remissionem " totius poenae peccato debitae ; ita quod, si post com- " pletum motum illius contritionis decederet, nuUam " poenam in purgatorio sustineret.'* Nic. de Orbellis, lib. iv. dist. l^, quaest. 2. Page 127, 7iote ( ^ ). Independently of the divine precept, which was con- ceived to enjoin the Sacrament of penance, the Schools held that Sacrament to be necessary on another ac- count; on account of the difficulty in ascertaining the NOTES ON SERMON VI. $57 sufficiency of contrition. " Ad primum ergo dicendum, " quod aliquis non potest esse ccrtus, quod contritio sua " sit siifficiciis ad deletionem poen^ et culpoe; et ideo '^ ieneiuY corifiteri ct satisfacere ; maxime cum contritio " vera non fuerit, nisi propositum confitendi habuisset " annexum, quod debet ad efFectum reduci etiam propter " praeceptum, quod est de confessione datum.'^ Aquin. Sum. Tlie. tert. quaest. 5. art. 2. It should be observed, that when the Sacrament of Penitence vvas said to con- sist in these three parts, contrition, confession, and satis- faction, in the word contrition, attrition vvas always in- cluded; the former being frequently put for penitential sorrow in general, whether proceeding from the opera- tion of the liuman mind alone, or in conjunction with grace. The Scotists however usually expressed them- selves correctly upon the point. The great mercy of God in accepting a more easy expiation of crime, effected through the Sacrament, in lieu of one, which requires the perfect virtue itself, is thus described by Nicolaus de Orbellls, upon the prin- ciples, and in the language, of Scotus : '' In eodem " enim instanti temporis est deletio culpae, et infusio *' gratia?, vel caritatis. Sicut adultus potest habere " primam gratiam delentem originale pcccatum du- " plici via^ scilicet, vel ex bono motu disponente de " congruo ad istam gratiam, vel ex susceptione bap- *^ tismi; sic in proposito. Et hoc est majoris miseri- " cordicfi diqdicem viam scilicet instituere, per quam ^^ justificetur peccator, quam ipsum ad unam viam arc- " tare, tum etiam quia in susceptione gratiae per sacra- " mentum non requiritur attritio, quae sit memoria de " congruo, sicut in prima susceptione, sed siifficit, quod " suscipiens sacramentum non jponat obicem peccati mov' " talis in voluntate tunc actualiter existentis, et quod " habeat aliqualem attritioncm, seu dispUcentiam de pec- ** catis commissisy cum jyToposito cavendi de futurOy et A a 3 358 NOTES ON SERMON VI. " quod velit suscipere Sacramentum Poenitentiae, sicut '^ dispensatur in Ecclesia. Talis enim in ultimo instanti «' prolationis verborum recipit effectual Sacramenti, ''scilicet, gratiam poenitentialem ; et ilia attritio fit " contritio, non quidem ex merito, quia dispositio ilia " non erat siifficieiis per modum meriti, sed ex pacto " Dei assistentis suo Sacramento ad effectum illum^ ad " quem institutum est." Lib. iv. dist. 14. qusest. 2. Page 128, note (-5 ). The Lutherans frequently maintained, that, as Chris- tians, we ought not to doubt of God's will towards us, but, repenting and believing, to be persuaded that we are certainly restored to his favour. This position, however, was not in any way connected with that of a secret and personal Predestination, but was solely levelled against a very lucrative and highly offensive doctrine of the Church of Rome, the uncertainty re- specting a due obliteration of crime, by penitential merit, in the mind of the individual. " Multis indicavi," said Luther, " Christianum Jiominem oportere certissime ' statuere se esse in gratia Dei, et habere clamorem ' Spiritus Sancti in corde suo. Hoc ideo feci, ut om- ' nino discamus y^epudiare pestilentissimam opinionem ' tothis regni Papcje, hominem incertum debere esse de ' gratia Dei erga se. Hac opinione stante, Christus ^ plane nihil prodest. Num, quia de gratia Dei erga ' se dubitat, ilium necesse est etia7n duhitare de promis- ' sionihus divinis^ et per consequens de voluntate Dei, de ' Christi henejiciis, quod pro nobis passiis, mortuus est, ' resurrexit, S^c. Nulla autem major blasphemia in Deum ' est, quam negare ejus promissa, negare Deum ipsum, ' Christum, &c. Ideo extrema fuit non solum dementia, ' sed etiam impietas, quod Monachi tanto studio allexe- ' runt juventutem utriusque sexus in Monasteria, ad reli- ' giones, et ordines sanctos, ut vocaverunt, tanquam ad ' certissimum statum saliitis ; et tamen postea allectos NOTES aN SERMON VI. 359 ■''jusserunt dubitare de gratia Dei Hoc Papa *'nescit; ideo impie nugatur cum suis furiis, ncminem " scire^ ne justos quidem et sapientes, utrum digni sunt " amore, &c. Imo si justi et sapientes sunt, certo sciunt " se diligi a Deo, vel justi et sapientes non sunt " Papa igitur hoc impio dogmate, quo jussit homines " dubitare de favore Dei erga se, sustidit Deum et omnes ^' projnissiojies de Ecclesia, ohruit henefacta Christie et " totimt Evangeliicm abolevitJ' Vol. v. p. 379, 380. Nor, while arguing against the Papistical doctrine of peniten- tial doubt, did he, on the other hand, contend for a cer- tainty, which the presumptuous sinner could abuse, but for one of a more rational description, founded upon the stability of God's nature and promises, and solely applicable to those who forsake their sins. " Cur nunc '* de voluntate Dei erga te dubites^ postquam per Filium " Dei Deo reconciliatus es ? Sed inquies, ' Peccator ' sum ; ofFendi Deum ; nee parui voluntati ejus ita, ut ^ par erat.' Sint haec quoque. Non enim negabimus " peccatum. Tu igitur mutatus esj ex bono factus es " malus, ex filio factus es inobediens. Sed nunc ideo *' statues Deum quoque mutatum, aut alium factum ? '' Quin discede a malo. Peccasti. Peccare desine : " pete veniam : spera per Christum Deum sic tibi re- " conciliatum, ut reconciliatio sit geterna, non unius aut '' alterius diei, vel anni, sed perpetua; et comperies pro- " phetam non mentitum, qui eum vocat (chanum) pla- ^' cabilem, mitem, benignum, clementem." Id. voh iv. p. 358. See also note 11. The supposed efficacy of the Sacraments, particularly of the Mass, ex opere operato, was taught by all the Scholastics, and severely reprobated by the Lutherans. The Apology of the Augsburg Confession thus notices it : " Hie damnamus totum populum Scholasticorum '^ doctorum, qui docent, quod Sacramenta non ponenti ^' obicem conferant gratiam ex opere operato sine bono A a 4 360 NOTES ON SERMON VI. " motu utentis. Haec simpliciter Judaica opinio est *' sentire, quod per ceremoniam justificemur, sine bono " motu cordis, hoc est, sineJideT Art. de Usu et Numero Sac ram en tor um. " Repudiandi sunt et reliqui com- *' munes errores, quod Missa conferat gratiam ex opera *' operato facienti. Item quod applicata pro aliis, etiam *' injustis, non jponentihus obicem mereatur eis remissio- " nem peccatorum, culpa?, et poenae. Haec omnia falsa " et impia sunt, nuper ab indoctis Monachis conficta, '^ et obruunt gloriam passionis Christ i, et jiistitiamjidei,^^ Art. de Missa. " Nemo enim sanus illam Pharisai- " cam et Ethnicam persuasionem de opere operato pro- *' bare potest. Et tamen haec persuasio haeret in po- *'pulo; haec auxit in infinitum Missarum numerum. " Conducuntur enim Missae ad iram Dei placandam, et " hoc opere remissionem culpa; aut pcence consequi volunt ; ^' voiunt impetrare quidquid in omni vita opus est; w- " liint etiam inortuos liberare. Hanc Pharisaicam opi- " nionem docuerunt in Ecclesia sophistae." Ibid. Page 129, note (6). " Sects and feiojned reli^^ions were neither the for- " tieth part so many among the Jews, nor more super- ** stiiiously and ungodly abused, than of late days they " have been amonoj us. Which sects and reli":ions had " so many hypocritical and feigned works in their state " of religion, (as they arrogantly named it,) that their " lamps (as they said) ran always over, able to satisfy^ " not only for their own sins, but also for all other their *' benefactors, brothers, and sisters of religion, as most " ungodly and craftily they had persuaded the multi- " tude of ignorant people ; keeping in divers places (as *' it were) marts or markets of merits, being full of their " holy relics, images, shrines, and works of overflowing ^* abundance, ready to be sold." " Let us rehearse some other kinds of Papistical su- f' perstilions and abuses, as of beads, of Lady Psalters NOTES ON SERMON VI. 361 *' and Rosaries of superstitious fastings, of frater- " nitics or brotherhoods, of pardons, with such-like *' merchandize, which were so esteemed and abused, to ^' the great prejudice of God's glory and command- " ments, that they were made most high and holy things, " whereby to attain to the everlasting life, or remission " of sins.'* Homily of good works. The Confession of Augsburg thus refers to the same superstitious means of appeasing the anger of Heaven : " Constat autem Monachos docuisse, quod Jactitics re- '^ ligiones satisfaciant pro j^eccatis, mereantur gratiam et ^^ justijicationem. Quid hoc est aliud^ quam de gloria " Christ i detrahere, et ohscurare ac negare justitiam '^Jidei? . . . .Hi, qui votis tribuunt justificationem, " tribuunt propriis operibus hoc, quod proprie ad glo- *' riam Christi pertinet. Neque vero negari potest, " quin Monachi docuerint, se per vota et ohservationes '^ suas jnstijicare, et mereri rcmissionem peccatorum ; imo " affinxerunt absiu'dlora, et dixerunt se aliis mutuari " S2ia opera." De Ceremonialibus, art. 6. ed. 1530. " Olim vexabantur conscientiae doctrina operum, non " audiebant ex Evangelio consolationem ; quosdam con- '' scientia expulit in desertum, in monasteria, sperantes, " ibi se gratiam merituros esse per vitam Monasticam, ** Alii alia excogitaverunt opera ad. promerendam gra- '' tiam, et satisfaciendum pro peccatis. Ideo magnopere '•' fuit opus banc doctrinam de Jide in Christum tradere *^ et renovare, ne deesset consolatio pavidis conscien- *' tiis, sed scirent fide in Christum apprehendi gratiam, " et remissionem peccatorum^ et justificationem." Id. art. 20. Upon the doctrine of satisfaction indeed, which, in the vulgar idea, was conceived to be the principal mode of expiating crime, so various were the devices of the Church of Rome, that it is not easy even to enumerate them, " Restat tertius actus de satisfactionibus. Hie 362 NOTES ON SERMON VI. *' vero habent confusissimas disputationes. Fingunt " seternas poenas mutari in poenas purgatorii. Et ha- " rum partem remitti potestate clavium, partem docent '^ redimendam esse satisfactionibus. Addunt amplius, " quod oporteat satisfactiones esse opera supereroga- " tionis, et haec constituunt in stultissimis observationi- " bus, velut ^V^ peregrinationibus Rosariis, aut similibus " obsei'vationibus, quce non habent mandata Dei, Deinde, " sicut purgatorium satisfactionibus redimunt ; ita ex- " coo-itata est ars redimendi satisfactiones^ qu£E fuit qu(je- " stuosissima. Vendunt enim indulgentias, quas inter- '' pretantur esse re7nissiones satisfactionum. Et hie quae- " stus non solum ex vivis, sed midto amplior est ex mor- " tuis, Neque solum indulgentiis, scd etiam sacrificio " Misses redimunt satisfactiones rnortuoymm ; denique in- " finita res est do satisfactionibus. Inter hsec scandala, " non enim possumus enumerare omnia, et doctrinas " daemoniorum, j«C£'^ obriita doctrina de justitia Jidei in " Christum^ et de beneficio Christi.^' Apolog. Confess. Auo^ust. art. de Poenitentia. It may be necessary perhaps to add, that no tenet of the Scholastical theology was more abused in practice, than tliat of satisfaction. Nor seldom was its supposed effect totally misconceived. When, however, correctly understood, it implied solely that part of penitence, which the justified person, already coritrite and absolved^ is bound to perform, in order to exempt himself from tern- jporal punishment, and not that, which is requisite to ob- tain his justification ; a blessing thought to be previously received, with the obliteration of his fault, and the re- mission of eternal punishment. '^ His autem concur- " rentibus, justificatur homo prius peccator. Quum " enim in peccato mortali sunt tria, (ut dictum est su- *^ pra,) videlicet, deordinatio actus, privatio gratia^, (ra- *' tione cujus dicitur peccatori offensus, quia subtrahit <^ ei gratiam, quae est ad solum amicum,) et reatus poe- NOTES ON SERMON VI. 363 ' ncs ceternce, per contrition em reordinatur voluntas ' in actu, per gratiam remittitur offensa, et per conse- * quens poena £Eterna, quae est ad inimicum, commuta- * tur in temporalem, qua3 potest esse ad amicum et ad ' concivem ; et sic, licet sit debitor poen?e, non est ta- ' men debitor poenae impii, sed poenitentis et justificati ^ . . . . Ad aliud dicendum, quod plena et perfecta jus- ' tificatio impii, quoad poenam culpae debitam, requirit ^ satisfactionem, qufB frequenter sequitur infusionem ' gratiae, tamen quia poena debita post infusionem gra- ' tise, 71071 est cetenia, quas debetur impiis, secundum ' illud Esa. xxvi. * In terra sanctorum iniqua gessit, et ' non videbit gloriam Domini ;' sed est teinporalis, cujus ' justificatus potest esse debitor ; ideo, non obstante tali ' debito, peccator dicitur ex solis pYmcedcntihusjusti/i' ' cafus.'^ Durandus de S. Porciano, lib. iv. dist. 17. quaest. I . Page 129, 7wte (7). " Men*s dreams and phantastical inventions." Cran- mer's Answer to Gardiner, p. 14. So anxious were our Reformers to discourage the placing of a groundless trust in superstitious works of every description, that in the Injunctions of Edward they thus severely ex- pressed themselves against those, which were of appa- rently a trivial nature. " The persons above rehearsed ^' shall make, or cause to be made, in their Churches, '' and every other cure they have, one Sermon every '' quarter of a year, at the least, wherein they shall '^ purely and sincerely declare the word of God, and in " the same exhort their hearers to works of faith, mercy, " and charity, specially prescribed and commanded in " Scripture, and that ivorks devised by men's phantasies '' beside Scripture, as wandering on pilgrimages, offer- *' ing of money, candles, or tapers, or relics, or images, '^ or kissing and licking of the same, praying upon " beads, or such-like superstition, have not only no pro- 364. NOTES ON SERMON VI. ** mise of reward in Scripture, but contrariwise great " threats and maledictions of God, for that they be things " tending to idolatry and superstition." Sparrow's Collection, p. 2. Page 13 J, note (8). Without the virtue of repentance, Aquinas expressly states, that mortal sin is not remissible. ^^ Respondeo " dicendum, quod impossibile est peccatum actuale ** mortale sine pcenitentia remitti, loquendo de poeni- " tentia, quae est virtus." Summa tert.p. quaest. 86. art. 2. And it should be recollected, that in the Sacrament of penitence, some portion at least of this virtue was sup- posed always to exist, although the ingenuity of Scho- lastical, and the avarice of Papistical, philosophy had diminished that portion to nothing more, than the mere non-resistance of grace. The terra justification was thus minutely defined: *' Dicendum quod Justificatio passive accepta importat " motum adjiistitiam, sicut et calefactio motiim ad calo- ^' rem Alio modo potest fieri hujusmodi justitia in " homine secundum rationem motus, qui est de contra^ " rio in contrarium, et secundum hoc justificatio impor- " tat transmutationem qiiandam de statu injustitia ad sta- " turn justitice prcedictce. Et hoc modo loquimur de ^^ justificatione impii, secundum illud Apostoli ad Rom. " iv. * Et qui non operatur, credenti autem in eum, qui ' justificat impium,' &c. Et quia motus denominatur '' magis a termino ad quern, quam a termino a quo, idco " hujusmodi transmutatio, qua aliquis transmutatur a '' statu injustitiae per remissionem peccati, sortitur no- " men a termino ad quem^ et \ oc^tur justificatio im])ii.^^ Ibid, quaest. 113. art. 1. Page 1 SI, note (9), Isaiah Ix. 19. Page 132, note (lo). , Luther thus acknowledges his own literary defects. NOTES ON SERMON VI. 365 in his confidential letters to his friends: " Mitto hie " sermonem de Scholis, jjlane Lutheranwn, et Lxitheri " verbositate nihil authoreni suum negans, sed plenissi- " me referens. Sic sum." Philip. Melancthoni. Epistolge Luth. ed. Budd. p. 186. " Meus vero" (viz. Sermo) " praeterquam quod artibus dicendi imperitus et incul- '' tus, nihil nisi sylvavi et chaos verhorum evomuit ; turn " etiam eo fato agitur, ut turbulentus et impetiiosus veU " ut luctator cum monstris irifinitis semper congredi co- ^^ gatur Solor tamen meipsum, quod existimem, *' imo sciam, Patrem ilium familias coelestem, pro mag- " nitudine suae domus, etiam opus habere uno et altero ** servo, duro contra duros, et aspero contra asperos, " veluti malo cuneo in malos nodos. Et tonanti Deo '' opus est non tantum pluvia irrigante, sed etiam toni- " tru concutiente, et fulgure auras purgante, quo feli- '^ cius et copiosius terra fructificet.'^ J. Brentio. Ibid. p. 193. '' Mihij ut videtis, Latinae linguae modicus est usus, " qui in barbarie Scholasticonim doctorum cEtaiem con- ** sumpsi.'' Balthas. Alterio. Ibid. p. 287. Page 133, note (n). In the Apology of their Confession, the Lutherans were particularly solicitous to prevent the possibility of disconnecting faith from repentance ; '^ Quare intelli- " gunt omnes boni viri utiliter et pie reprehensam esse *' doctrinam sophistarum et canonistarum de pcenitentia. '^ Nam haec dogmata aperte falsa suntj et non solum " alien a a scripturis sacris, sed etiam ab ecclesiasticis *' patribus. 1. Quod per opera extra gratiam facta me- " reamur ex pacto divino gratiam. 2. Quod per attri- " tionem mereamur gratiam 9. Quod susceptio *' sacramenti pcenitentiae, ex opere operate, siiie bono *' motu uteJitis, hoc est, sine ^de in Christum, consequa- " tur gratiam Nos igitur ut explicaremus pias " conscientias ex his labyrinihis sophistarum, constitui- *^ mus duas partes pcenitenticc, videlicet, contritionem et 366 NOTES ON SERMON VI. ^^Jidem* Si quis volet addere tertiam, videlicet, dig7ios ^'fructus pcenitcnticc, hoc est, mutationem totius vitce ac '' morum in melius^ nonrefragahimury Do Poenitentia, p. 40. " Sed quia adversarii nominatim hoc damnant, '^ quod diximus, homines fide consequi remissionem *' peccatorum, addemus paucas quasdam probationes, " ex quibus intelligi potest, remissionem peccatorum " contingere non ex opere ojpcrato propter contritionem, " sed Jide ilia speciali, qua umisquisque credit sibi remitti ^^ peccata. Nam hie Articulus praecipuus est, de quo *^ digladiamur cum adversariis, et cujus cognitionem " ducimus maxime necessariam esse Christianis omnibus, " Adversarii, cum de fide loquuntur, et dicunt *' earn prsecedere poenitentiam, intelligunt fidem non " banc, quae justificat, sed quae in genere credit Deum *' esse, poenas propositas esse impiis, &c. Nos prgeter " illam fidem requirimus, ut credat sibi quisque remitti '^ peccata, De hac fide speciali litigamus, et opponimus *' earn opinion^ quae jubet confidere, non in promissione " C/iristi, sed in opere operato co?itritionis, confessionis^ et " satisfactiu7iu7n," Ibid. p. 42. We here perceive what the Lutherans meant by the terms " special faith,'' which have been in later times so differently appropri- ated by the Calvinists : we see, that their only object was to teach the drooping penitent, by a special, op- posed to a general, faith in Christianity, the necessity of grounding his individual hope of pardon upon the promise of Christ, and not upon the inherent efficacy of his 0W71 contrition, confession, and satisfactions. Nor, when we read the following explicit passage in the works of Luther, will it be possible for us to suppose, that he ever contended for an assurance in divine for- giveness upon the contracted principle of personal elec- tion. " Fides acquisita seu sophistarum infusa, de " Christo dicit, ' Credo Filium Dei passum et resusci- " tatum,' atque hie desinit, Sed vera fides dicit, ' Credo NOTES ON SERMON VL 367 * quidem Filium Dei passum et resuscitatum, sed hoc ' totum pro 772C, jjtv peccatis 7?ieis, de quo certus sum. Est ' enim pro tot'ms mtmdi peccatis mortuus. Ac certissi- ' mum est, me esse partem aliquam mzmdi, ergo certissi- ' mum est pro mcis qiioque peccatis mortuum esse.'* Opera, vol. i. p. 386. That they inculcated a faith, which is only to be found in penitence, their Apology sufficiently proves : " Item fides ilia, de qua loquimur, existit in pcenitentia. " . . . . Quare non potest existere in his, qui secundum *' carnem vivunt, qui delectantur cupiditatihus suis, et oh- " temperant eis Quare fides ilia, quae accipit re- " missionem peccatorum m cor de pericr7Tfacto etjugiente "^ peccatum, non manet in his, qui obtemperant cupidi- ^' tatibus, nee existit cum mortali peccato.^' De Di- lectione, &c. p. 13. " Haec fides, de qua loquimur, " existit in pcenitentia,'^ Responsio ad Argum. &c. p. 29. " Fides non manet in his, qui abjiciunt poeniten- '' tiam; sicut supra diximus, fidem existere in pceniten- " tiaJ* De Usu et Numero Sacram. p. 60. Indeed, Melancthon had before strongly impressed the same idea in the Articles which he drew up for the Visitation of the Saxon Churches: ^' Pastores debent ^' cxemplum Christi sequi, qui, quoniam poenitentiam " et remissionem peccatorum docet, debent eadem et *' ipsi tradere Ecclesiis. Nunc vidgare est vociferare de ^^Jide, et tamen intelligi quid sit Jides non potest, nisi ^^ prcedicata pcenitentia. Plane vinum novum in utres " veteres infundunt, quijidem sine pcenitentia, sine doc- " trina timoris Dei, sine doctrina legis prcedicanf, et ad " carnalem quandam securitatem assuefaciunt vulgus, Et " securitas est deterior, quam plerique errores antea '^ sub papatu fuerunt. Hoc genus concionatorum de- " scribit Hier. et vituperat eos, qui dicunt, * Pax, pax, et * 71071 est pax." Art. Pastorum Officium, ed. 1530. '• Hi, qui decent in Ecclesiis, tradant doctrinam legis, 368 NOTES ON SERMON VI. " alioqui, ubi doctrina fidei sine lege traditur, wfinita " scandala oriuntur, vulgusjit securwn, et somniant se " habere justitiam fidei, quia nesciunt fidem in his " tantum esse posse, qui habent contrita -per legem *' cor da y Art. de Lege. Such was the faith which they maintained, when they spoke of that principle as the medium of Christian consolation. It is neverthe- less necessary to add, that they sometimes used the word in a more extended sense, as embracing the whole of Christianity. " Sacrilegium itaque est ordines reli- ^* giosorum sancfos appellare. Una religio sancta et " sanctificans est, Christianismus, seu fides.^' Opera Lutheri, vol. i. p. 376. " Duae sunt partes jfof^z, sive '' religionis Christiana; ; poenitentia nempe, sive con- " tritio ob peccata, deinde fiducia de remissione pecca- " torum. Tertia est vitse Christianse, sive bonorum " operum exercitium." Art. Visit. Saxon, apud Seck- endorf. lib. ii. sect. 13. §. 36. Page 134<, note (12). How much soever any strong expressions of Luther upon the subject of faith, which he solely opposed to the Scholastical doctrine of merit, may have been mis- understood, as verging towards fanaticism, it is certain, that he himself never intended to give them that bias. " Ex hoc tamen non sequitur, quod debeas peccatum " extenuare aut contemnere, quia Deus illud non im- *' putat. Non imputat quidem ; sed quibus, et propter " quid P Non duris et securis, sed pcenitentiam agen- " tibus, etjide apprehenderitibus Christum propitiatorem, ^^ propter quern ut remittuntur eis omnia peccata, ita et " reliquiae peccati eis non imputantur." Opera, vol. v. p. 421. " Christiana libertate hodie abutuntur plurimi, " dicenles, * Gratia^ gratia ,- ergo non est opus bona fa- * cere aut mala pati." Ibid. p. 14. " Nemo prsesumat " per somnium id atque cogitationem de fide, quam ipse ** sibi Jinxit, se in illud" (regnum coelorum) " Ingres- NOTES ON SERMON VI. 869 ** surum. Fide opus est viva, quaeque probata et exer- '' citata*' {bonis operibus) " sit cgregie. Sed proh Deus ! " ut pugnantia cum hoc loco et scripserunt et praedi- " carunt nostri impostores, non doctores, asserentes, qui *' minutissimum duntaxat gradum, et vel scintillulam ali- " quamjidei moriturus habuerit, hunc salutem assecu- " turum." Vol. v. p. 44-8. "Pfl?mto^^ia omnium testi- '' monio et veio, est dolor de peccato, cum adjuncto pro- " posito melioris vitce^ Disput. contra Antinomos. Id. vol. i. p. 401. '^ Cavenda igitur doctrina Papistarum '' de poenitentia, sicut ipse infernus et diabolus. Multo " magis cavendi sunt, qui 7iullam prorsus pceiiitentiam in " Ecclesia relinquuntr Ibid. p. 404. " Foedus est er- "^ ror, quod quispiam de peccatis se putet satisfactu- '' rum ,' quae ex inestimabili dementia Deus et semper *^ et gratis remittit atque condonat, nihil a nobis invicem ^' requirens^ quam ut in posterum benevivamiis.^^ Id. vol. i. p. 59. When speaking of divine, as opposed to hu- man, excommunication for crime, he adds; '' Sed non '^ perpetuo ab eis aberit judicium Dei. Homines fal- " lunt ; Deum fallere non possunt. Is in novissimo " die colliget per angelos omnia scandala, et conjiciet '* in aeternum ignem. Ab hac Dei excommunicatione " occulta qui volet liberari, caveat p)eccata, et pceniten- ^' tiam agat, hoc est, emendet vitam^ deinde precetur et " credat ve7iiam per Christum. Haec unica via est illam ^' occultam Dei excommunicationem effugiendi." Id. vol. V. p. 381. Upon the peculiar application of the doctrine, that we are justified by faith alone, to the conscience of the penitent sinner, alarmed by the recollection of his past transgressions, Melancthon delivers himself in the most explicit terms: " Est sane 'uraqoclo^ov dicere, quod sola " fide justi sumus, multum enim scandalorum videtur pa- " rere legis abrogatio ; sed heec doctrina pertinet non ad " vitam exteriorem, sed ad. certamen consciejiticv luctantis Bb 370 NOTES ON SERMON VI. " cum judicio Dei, .... Justificatio autem apud Pau- " lura intelligitur relative de acceptatione, Non sumus " justi, neque operzbus, neque novitate nostra post regene- '* rationem^ sed sola misericordia, si tamen accipiamus <^ earn fide. Fides autem ipsa est notitia vera Dei, legis «' obediential inchoatio vitcje cetemce ,- Joan. xvii. * Haec ' est vita jeterna, ut agnoscant te solum Deum verum, ' et quem misisti, Jesum Christum.'* Opera Lutheri, vol. i. p. 484. Disputationes Melancthonis. What the Lutherans meant by the word Regeneration, when they confined it not strictly to its proper sense, Bap- tismal renovation^ we learn from their Apology : " Nos " dicimus quod pcenitentiam, hoc est, cotiversionem, seu " regenerationem, boni fructus, bona opera, in omni " vita sequi debeant." De Poenitentia, p. 48. Page 134, note (is). Penitence is thus defined in the Augsburg Confes- sion : " Constat autem poenitentia (hoc est, conversio ** impii, ed. 1540.) proprie his duabus partibus: altera <^ est contritio, seu terrores incussi conscientiae agnito "peccato: (in quibus et iram Dei agnoscimus, et do- ^^ lemus nos peccasse, et peccata detestamur et fiigimus, «' sicut Joel conscionatur, ' Scindite corda vestra, et * non vestimenta vestra, et convertimini ad Dominum ' Deum vestrum,' &c. ed. 1540.) altera esijides, quae " concipitur ex Evangelio seu absolutione, et credit " propter Christum (certo, ed. 1540.) remitti peccata, *^ consolatur conscientiam, et ex terroribus liberat; (de '' qua fide Paulus loquitur, cum ait, * Justificati fide, ' pacem habemus,' ed. 1540). De'inde sequi debe7tt bo?ia " opera, quae sunt fructus poenitentiae. (Deinde sequi " debent boni fructus poenitentiae, hoc est, obedientia " erga Deum, juxta illud, ' Debitores sumus non car- ' ni, ut secundum carnem vivamus. Si enim secundum ' carnem vivetis, moriemini ; sed si Spiritu actiones ' corporis mortificabitis, vivetis,' ed. 1540.)" Art. 11. NOTES ON SERMON VL 371 But when the Lutherans described penitence as con- sisting only of contrition and faith, it should be observed, that they contemplated it according to its proper sig- nification, (" Constat autem poenitentia j^roj^nV,'') solely as the conversion of a sinner, as the act of his returning from vice to virtue, and " from the power of Satan unto " God ;" and that with contrition and faith they ex- pressly maintained the necessary coexistence of every genuine principle of holiness. " Nee aliud volunt nostri, " cum dicunt, ' sola fide justificamur,' quam quod jam " dixi, gratis fide propter Christum consequimur remis- '^ sionem peccatorum, non propter nostram dignitatem. " Nee excludit particula sola, contriiionem aut cceteras " virtuteSi ne adsint, sed negat eas esse causas reconci- *' liationis, et transfert causam in solum Christum.^* Loci Theolog. de Vocab. Gratife, p. 240. ed. 1595. " Quid "autem planius et simplicius dici potest hac voce? " Etiamsi existere in nobis poenitentiam oportet, tamen " statuendum esse quod non propter nostras virtutes, " sed propter Filium Dei Mediatorem, recipiamur, et " placeamus Deo. Quid haec vox habet absurdi ? PostU' ** lat^ ut adsint mrtutes^ et tamen causam reconcilia- " tionis transfert in Christum, tribuit Christo debitura " honorem, et monstrat piis firmam consolationem." Ibid, de Vocab. Gratise^ p. 243. See also p. 284, 434, and 281. " De magna re disputamus, dehonore Christi, " et U7ide petant bonce mentes certam et firmam consola- <« tionem. Utrum fiducia collocanda sit in Christum, " an in opera nostra. Quod si in opera nostra col- " locanda sit, detrahitur Christi honos Mediatoris et " Propitiatoris." Apologia Confess, de dilect. et implet. Legis, p. 14. Their object in introducing the term faith into the definition of penitence, instead of arising, as some have conceived, from a propensity to make religion a sort of ecstatical reverie, and to gratify the imagination at the R b 2 372 NOTES ON SERMON VI. expence of the judgment, was simply to impress the ne- cessity of trusting in divine forgiveness upon a Christian principle; a principle, which the Church of Rome seemed totally to have discarded. " Quod aiiter Mona- ^' chi scripserunt, eo fit, quia non discernebant Legem et " Evangelium, et de justificatione loquuntur philosophico '' more ; prorsus ut Plato vel Aristoteles cogitat, Achil- '* lem esse fortem virum, quia habet hanc virtutem, et " afflatum quendam divinum, ita hi dicunt, Paulum " justum esse propter suas virtutes, et afflatum dwhium, '' nihil addunt de Mediatore, de promissionibiis seu Evan- ^' gelio, et de Jide, seu fiducia Mediatoris ; imo jubent '' dubitare de reconciliaiionef hoc est, delere Evangelium " et promissionem, et sepelire Christum. Quoties igitur *^ venit in mentem hujus controversiae, refer oculos ad hunc " scopum. Cum reipsa et vere hoc dicatur, necessariam " esse poenitentiam, et tamen nos propter Filium Dei " habere remiss ion em, placere, et exaudiri, tribuam " Filio Dei suum honorem, et hac fide seu fiducia pro- " missae misericordiae Deum invocabo." Loci Theolog. de argum. Adversariorum, p. 282. But while they argued for the necessity of trusting in God's free mercy through Christ, and not in our own merits, for the remission of sin, it was very far from their intention to represent that faith or trust, as an act or quality of the mind, justifying us, by its own nature, in the sight of God. The sole point at issue was to determine the meritorious cause of justification in the eye of Heaven ; and this they were anxious to attribute neither to faith, nor to any other virtue. " Coiicedo in Jiducia inesse di- '* lectionem^ et hmic virtutem et plerasque alias adesse " opm^tere ; sed cum dicimus, 'Fiducia sumus justi,* non " intelligatur nos propter virtutis istius dignitatem, sed *' per misericordiam recipi propter Mediatorem, quam " tamen oportet fide apprehendi.*' Loci Theolog. de argum. Advers. p. 284. " Fide sumus justi, id est, per NOTES ON SERMON VL 373 '* misericordiam propter Christum sumus justi; non quia ^^Jides sit virtus, qiice mereatur remissionem sua dignitate. " Quod vero additur, 'Jides est opus,^ concedendum est. " Est enim opus, ut dilectio, patientia, castitas." Ibid, p. 286. It seems therefore certain, that the justifying efficacy, which their adversaries attributed to works, they transferred not to faith, but to the object of it; an act of the mind only requisite, that the individual may himself apply his justification to his own conscience, when truly penitent, instead of having it applied for him, (particularly in the sacrifices of the Mass,) by a superstitious Priest, in a superstitious Sacrament. '^ Inde " factum est, quod docent ex opere operato, ut loquuntur, '' mereri'* (viz. Missam) ^* gratiam, et tollere peccata " vivorum et mortuorum. Haec opinio, quantopere " distet a Scripturis, ac gloriam passion is Christi lasdat, ^' Serenissima Regia Majestas vestra facillime judicabit. " Si enim hoc verum est, quod Missa pro aliis applicari " potest, quod peccata tolh't, et prodest tam vivis quam " mortuis, sequitur, justificationem ex opere Missarum " contingere, non exjide; verum hoc omnino Scripturse " repugnat, quae tradit, nos gratis propter Christum per " fidem justificari, ac peccata nobis condonari, et in gra- " tiam nos recipi, atque ita non alieno opere, s>C{{ propria '^jide, propter Christum singulos justos fieri ; at illi do- " cent alienum opus pro remittendis peccatis alteri" Letter of the German Ambassadors to Henry VIII. Burnet, vol. i. p. 335. Records. Page 135, note (14). The division of penitence into its respective parts is thus noticed in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession: " Constituimus dtcas partes poenitentiae, videlicet, con- *' tritionem et fidem. Si quis volet addere tertiam, vi- " delicet, dignos fructus pcenitentiae, hoc est, mutationem " totius vitce et morum in melius, non refragahimury De Pcenit. p. 40. Indeed, it is there sometimes contem- B b 3 574 NOTES ON SERMON VI. plated as necessarily comprehending its fruits ; " Agile « pceniientiam, certe loquitur de tota poenitentia, de tota « novitate vitse, etfructibus:' De Poenit. p. 48. " Verum « est enim quod in doctrina pcenitentiae requiruntur " opera, quia certe nova vita requiritur." Responsio ad arg. Adversar. p. 23. In the Loci Theologici it is de- fined much after the same manner : " Voco pceniten- " tiam, ut in Ecclesia loquimur, conversionem ad Deum, «' et hujus conversionis partes seu diversos motus, dicendi «^ causa, discerno. Dico partes esse contritionem et '* fidem. Has necessario sequi debet nova ohedientia, " quam si quis vult nominare tertiam partem no7i re- ^^ piigno'' Loci Theolog. de Poenit. p. 415. But, in the Saxon Confession, the third part is expressly in- cluded: " Docendi causa distribuimus conversionem, *« vel poenitentiam, in tria membra ; in contritionem, ^^Jidem, et novam ohedieyitiam. Nam has res ccmplectitur " vera conversio, ut vox divina et vera Ecclesiee expe- " rientia ostendunt. Nee tamen de raodis loquendi, aut " numero partium, contentiones movemus, sed res ne- " cessarias in conspectu omnibus esse volumus. Et " maxime necessarium est Ecclesiae extare veram doc- *^ trinam planam, maxime perspicuam, de iota conver- ** sione." Art. de Poenitent. In conformity likewise with this idea, Melancthon observes, '' Saepe Scriptura ^' poenitentiam vocat totam conversionem cum fructihus.^' Disput. Oper. Luther, vol. i. p. 450. It appears there- fore, that when the Lutherans described penitence merely as comprising what the Sacrament of it, accord- ing to the Church of Rome, was supposed to effect, they viewed it as consisting only of contrition and faith ; but that, when they considered it as an entire conversion both of the heart and life, they included in it actual obe- dience. Page 135, note (15). Upon the exercise of good works, as requisite to pre- NOTES ON SERMON VI. 315 serve the favour of God, and obtain the rewards of Heaven, the Augsburg Confession speaks without re- serve : ^' De hac obedientia etiam docemus, eos, qui ad- " mittunt peccata mortaha, non esse justos, quia Deus " requirit hanc obedientiam, ut resistamus vitiosis affec- " tibus. Qui autem non repugnant, sed obtemperant eis " contra consdentiam, hi sunt injusti, et neque Spiritum " Sanctum, neque fidem, id est, fiduciam misericordiae, " retinent. Nam in his, qui delectantur peccatis, nee '' agunt poenitentiam, ne potest quidem fiducia existere, " quae quaerat remissionem peccatorum Et verae *' virtutes sine ulla dubitatione sunt dona Dei. . . . Debet " autem ad haec dona accedere exercitatio nostra^ quae et '' cofiservat ea et mei'etur incy^ementum, juxta illud, ' Ha- ' benti dabitur.' Et Augustinus prseclare dixit, ' Di- * lectio meretur incrementum dilectionis,' cum videKcet " exercetur, Habent enim bona opera prcemia, cum in " hac vita, tum post hanc vitam in vita aeterna." Art. 20. de bonis operibus, ed. 1540. But Luther, commenting on these words in St. Mat- thew, " Et tunc reddet unicuique secundum opera sua," explained the point of future rewards more fully; ar- guing, that neither external works, nor internal piety, but a complete Christian obedience, will be the rule of retribution at the day of judgment. "Quod est ratio " in moralibus, hoc fides est in theologia, sicut in natura " arbor est prior fructu. Quaeri enim et hie potest, an " fructus faciat arborem, vel arbor fructum. Hie re- " spondebitur ex natura, nisi primum sit arbor habens " suum succum, &c. non fiunt fructus. Ita in mora- " libus, nisi homo sit bonus habens succum suum, id '' est, rectam rationem, non sequuntur bona opera. Ita <' in theologia, nisi adsit succus et pinguedo olivae, hoc *' est,Jides et cognitio Dei, non fiunt opera fidelia. Stat " ergo Veritas, arborem sine fructu et ante fructum esse *' bonam suo solo succo et natura. Stat Veritas, mo- B b 4 376 NOTES ON SERMON VI. " ralem hominem esse bonum sine operibus, et ante ^' opera, per solam rationem rectam. Stat Veritas, *' Christlanum esse justum sine caritatis operibus, et ** an tea caritatem, per solam fidem. Quid sit ergo, *' quod urgent opera et dicta de operibus, cum cogantur *' fateri, nullum opus esse posse, nisi prior sit efficiens *' seu operans sine opere, et opus necessario praerequirere '^personam, quae ipsum faciat? Cur ergo ita pugnant '' contra nos, quod fidem sine operibus dicimus esse, et '* facere personam justam ; postea sequi opera, quae non *' faciant personam justam, sed fiant a persona justa: '^ cum fateri cogantur id ita fieri tam in natura, quam in '^ philosophia morali, seu lege ? Vitiosissimum " igitur argumentum est; Deus reddet secundum opera, ^' ergo opera justificant vel damnant. Et est vere fal- " lacia compositionis et divisionis. Pessime enim divi- *' dunt, quae composita sunt. Siquidem illud verbum *' opera est compositum, includens fidem, seu rationem ^^Jbdelem^ per quam fiunt opera, &c. At ipsi dividimt " istud compositum, et sola opera, seu partem compositi, " opponunt fidei, et per opera voluiit salvari. Et ipse " textus Evangelii banc divisionem vitiosam non patitur, " quia conjungit opera cum persona, et facit tale com- '' positum ex operante et operibus, quod non sit dividen- " dum, Non enim dicit, ' Reddet cuilihet operi,^ sed sic " dicit, ' Reddet unicuique secundum opera sua.' Uni~ *' cuiqiie inquit, id est, qualis fuerit p)ersona operans, " talem accipiet mercedem. Quare non opera, sed ope- ** rans recipiet mercedem. Operans vero est, qui ante ^^ opus vel bonus vel mains est. Ergo argumentari ab '^ opere ad operantem, est a parte ad totum argumentari. " Sicut si argumenteris : Hoc animal habet duos pedes; " ergo est homo, quia duo pedes sunt pars hominis, non " totus homo. " Si ista subtiliora sunt, quam ut intelligi possint a " vulgo, tunc manendum est in ista simplicilaie, quod NOTES ON iSERMON VI. 377 " Scripturse de operibus et prcemiis loquentes sunt regu- " l(S, secundum quas tota vita agenda sit." Opera, vol. V. p. 69. Page 137, note (16). Homily of the salvation of mankind. Page 137, note (17). The same. This Homily, to which the Article refers for a fuller explanation of the subject, is expressed in language remarkably clear and unsophistical. The ob- ject of it is to point out, in opposition to the delusive doctrine of the Church of Rome, the true meritorious cause of justification, on which the returning penitent should fix his eye, who, by transgression, has lost that state of acceptance, which he before possessed, and con- sequently his sure title to eternal happiness. It com- mences therefore with stating, that justification consists in the forgiveness of sins, which nothing can deserve, except the sacrifice of Christ; a justification, received by infants in baptism, and recovered by adults through penitence. '^ Insomuch that infants being baptized, " and dying in their infancy, are by this sacrifice washed " from their sins, brought to God's favour, and made " his children, and inheritors of the kingdom of Heaven. '^ And they, which in act or deed do sin after baptism, " lichen they turn again to God unfeignedly^ ai'e like- " wise washed by this sacrifice from their sins, in such " sort, that there remaineth not any spot of sin, that '' shall be imputed to their damnation." Thus baptism is the mean of admission into God's favour in infancy, and penitence that of a reinstatement in it, if forfeited by crime, in maturer years, " "isohen we turn again to " God imfeignedly." But with respect to the latter case, although penitence be the mean, it is not the merit, of reconciliation; for it is said, that we are "justified by " faith only," or, in other words, by Christ only, in whose atonement, as the basis of our justification, alone 378 NOTES ON SERMON VI. we trust. *' And yet that faith," it is added, " doth not '' shut out repentance, hope, love, dread, and the fear of " God, to be joined'^ (that is, requisite to be joined) "in " every man, that is justified, but it shutteth them out " from the office'^ (or the meritorious agency) " of jus- '' tifying. So that although they be all present together '^ in him, that is justified, yet ih^y justify not all toge- " ther ;'' (accomplish that to which nothing but Christ's sacrifice is competent;) " neither doth faith shut out the " justice of our good works 7iecessarily to be done after- '^ *wards of duty towards God, (for we are most bou7iden ^' to serve God in doing deeds commanded by him in ** his holy Scripture, all the days of our life,) but it ex- " cludeth them, so that we may not do them to this in- " tent, to be made just hy doing of them. For all the " good works that we can do be imperfect^ and therefore ** not able to deserve our justification ; but our justifica- '' tion doth come freely by the mere mercy of God." We here plainly perceive, that with faith the coexistence of repentance, hope, love, the dread and fear of God, is deemed necessary before we can be justified, and the per- formance of every good work afterwards, as qualifications, which we are required to possess, although in point of merit they contribute nothing toward our justification. But that no mistake might arise upon this important subject, it is again explained more fully. *' Nevertheless " this sentence, that we be justified by faith only, is not *^ so meant of them," (viz. the Fathers,) " that the said *' justifying faith is alone in man \xiithout repentance, " hope, charity, dread and the fear of God at any time and " season. Nor when they say that we be justified freely, " they mean not that we should or might afterwards be '* idle, and that nothing should be required, on our parts " afterward : neither mean they, that we are so to be "justified without good works, that we should do no " good works at all, like as shall be more expressed at NOTES ON SERMON VI. 379 " large hereafter. But this saying, that we be justified " by faith only, freely and without works, is spoken for " to take away clearly all me7'it of our works, as being ^' unable to deserve our justification at God's hands, and " thereby most plainly to express the ^weakness of man ^' and the goodness of God, the great infirmity of our- " selves, and the might and poioer of God, the imperfect- '' ness of our own works, and the most abundant grace '' of our Saviour Christ, and therefore wholly to ascribe " the merit and deserving of our justification unto Christ " only, and his most precious blood-shedding." Can words more evidently demonstrate, that the great object of the Homily is to prove man incapable of deserving his justification, because he cannot by his own works ^* take away and purge his own sins, and so justify him- '^ self," as it is subsequently expressed ? Let us not, however, suppose, that our Reformers imagined faith, when contemplated in the light of a mere mental quality, to be more capable of justifying, than any other quality of the mind. For they remarked; " The true understanding of this doctrine, we be jus- *^ tified freely by faith without works, or that we be jus- *^ tified by faith in Christ only, is not, that this our own *^ act to believe in Christ, or this our faith in Christ, '^ which is within us, doth justify us, and deserve our "justification unto us; (for that were to count our- " selves to be justified by some act or virtue, that is within " ourselves j) but the true understanding and meaning *' thereof is, that, although we hear God's word and believe " it, although we have faith, hope, charity, repentance, *' dread and fear of God, within us, and do never so *' many works thereunto ; yet we must renounce the ** merit of all our said virtues, of faith, hope, charity, '* and all other virtues, and good deeds, which we either " have done, shall do, or can do, as things that be far " too weak and insufficient and imperfect to deserve the 380 NOTES ON SERMON VI. '^ remission of our 'sins." If therefore it be asked, in what is our confidence to be placed? the answer has been already given, and is again added in expressions, which, at the same time, manifestly point out the con- ditional nature of reconciliation. " We must trust," it is stated, " only in God's mercy, and that sacrifice, *« which our High Priest and Saviour Jesus Christ, the <^ Son of God, once offered upon the Cross, to obtain ** thereby God's grace, and remission as well of original " sin in baptism, as of all actual sin committed by us ** after our Baptism, if xve truly repent, and tiirn un- *^feignedly to him again" Is it possible to doubt, that the terms of acceptance are here understood in a condi- tional point of view, when Christ is expressly asserted to have obtained the remission of actual sin after baptism only "if," or upon the condition that, " we truly repent, " and turn unfeignedly to him again ?'' Indeed, that our Reformers solely intended to exclude repentance and the conversion of the heart from the contemplation of Omniscience, as meritorious causes, and not as necessary qualifications, the whole tenor of the Homily evinces. All that they meant by the phrase, " we are justified by ^' faith in Christ only," (as they themselves explained it,) " is this; we put our faith in Christ, that we be justified " by him only, that we be justified by God's free mercy " and the merits of our Saviour Christ only, and by no " virtue or good works of our own, that is in us, or that " we can be able to have, or to do, for to deserve the " same; Christ himself only being the cause meritorious " thereof. Nevertheless because faith doth di- '^ rectly send us to Christ for remission of our sins, and " that by faith given us of God we embrace the promise " of God's mercy and of the remission of our sins, " (which thing no7ie other of our virtues or works pro- ^^ perly doth,) therefore the Scripture useth to say, that '^ faith without works doth justify.'' ' NOTES ON SERMON VI. 381 In this Homily then, by way of contradistinction to the Church of Rome, which taught, that the " justificatio " impii" of the Schools, or, as it was more usually termed, the justification of him, who lapses after bap- tism, depends upon human merit, as upon an efficient principle, our own Church maintains, that thus it is wholly and solely imputable to the merit of the Re- deemer, and that it is received (for how, consistently with common sense, can it be otherwise received ?} by faith, but not received unconditionally, requiring a total conversion of the sinner, one accompanied by true re- pentance, and followed by actual amendment; not that ideal conversion of a more modern date, which pro- ceeds, we know not whence, and tends, we care not whither. Page 138, note (is). Homily upon faith. The whole definition of this point, given in the Homily, is thus worded. " Another " faith there is in Scripture, which is not (as the fore- " said faith) idle, unfruitful, and dead, but worketh by " charity, (as St. Paul declareth, Gal. v.) which as the " other vain faith is called a dead faith, so may this be " called a quick or lively faith. And this is not only '^ the common belief of the Articles of our faith, but " it is also a sure trust and confidence of the mercy of *' God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and a steadfast '' liojpe of all good things to be received at God's hands, " and that although we, through infirmity or tempta- " tion of our ghostly enemy, do fall from him by sin, " yet" {conditionally) " if we return again to him bi/ " true repentance^ that he will forgive and forget our " offences for his Son's sake, our Saviour Jesus Christ, " and will make us inheritors with him of his ever- " lasting kingdom; and that in the mean time, until '^ that kingdom come, he will be our protector and " defender in all perils and dangers, whatsoever do 382 NOTES ON SERMON VI. " chance ; and that though sometimes he doth send us *' sharp adversity, yet that evermore he will be a loving '* father unto us, correcting us for our sin, but not ^' withdrawing his mercy Jinalli/ from us," (which other- wise he will do, as having made no decree to the con- trary,) *' if we trust in him, and commit ourselves " wholly to him, hang only upon him, and call upon " him, ready to obey and serve him. This is the true " lively and unfeigned Christian faith." And again, in a subsequent part of the same Homily : '^ For the " very sure and lively Christian faith is, not only to be- " lieve all things of God, which are contained in holy " Scripture, but also to have an earnest trust and con- *^ fidence in God, that he doth regard us, and that he ** is careful over us, as the father is over the child, *^ whom he doth love, and that he will be merciful unto '' us for his only Son's sake, and that we have our Sa- '* viour Christ our perpetual Advocate and Prince, in " whose only merits, oblation, and suffering, we do " trust, that our offences be continually washed and " purged, ^whensoever we {repentiiig truly) do return to *' him with our whole heart, stedfastly determining with ** ourselves through his grace to obey and serve him in '' keepiyig his commandments, and never to turn back " again to sin. ^uch is the true faith, which the Scrip- *' ture doth so much commend.'^ Page 139, note (19). Homily of good works. This passage is immedi- ately succeeded by the following. " First you must '' have an assured faith in God, and give yourselves " wholly unto him, love him in prosperity and adver- " sity, and dread to offend him evermore. Then for " his sake love all men, friends and foes, because they " be his creation and image, and redeemed by Christ, as ^' ye are." Then after a short paraphrase upon the De- calogue, the Homily thus concludes, " And travailing NOTES ON SERMON VI. S83 <' continually, during this life, thus in keeping the com- *^ mandments of God, (wherein standeth the pure, prin- " cipal, and right honour of God, and which, wrought ^' in faith, God hath ordained to be the right trade " a7id path-isoay unto heaven,) you shall not fail, as " Christ hath promised, to come to that blessed and ^' everlasting life, where you shall live in glory and joy ^' with God for ever." Our Liturgy likewise abounds with declarations re- specting the necessity of repentance, no less than of faith, in order to obtain the forgiveness of our sins. These particularly occur in the exhortation, confession, and absolution of our daily Prayer, and also in the ex- hortation and absolution of our Communion-service. In the collect indeed for Ash Wednesday perfect remis- sion and forgiveness is ascribed to repentance alone. " Almighty and everlasting God, who hatest nothing " that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all " them that be penite^it, create and make in us neiso and " contrite hearts, that we worthily lamenting our sins, *^ and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of '^ thee, the God of all mercy, ^perfect remission and for- " giveness.^* And so studious were our Reformers of inculcating this doctrine on every proper occasion, that, where they found it not in the forms of the Romish Church, they introduced it, as in the absolution of the Communion-service : '^ Misereatur vestri omnipotens ** Deus, et dimittat vobis omnia peccata vestra, liberet " vos ab omni malo, conservet et confirmet in bono, " et ad vitam perducat feternam." Breviar. Praef. Mis- sae. " Almighty God, our heavenly Father^ isoho of his *' great mercy hath promised forgiveness of sins to all " them, that isoith hearty repentance and true faith turn " unto him, have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver " you from all your sins, confirm and strengthen you " in all goodness, and bring you to everlasting life." 384. NOTES ON SERMON VI. Page 140, note (2o). ^* When men hear in the Scriptures so high com- " mendations of faith, that it maketh us to please God, " to live with God, and to be the children of God, «^ if then they fancy, that they be set at liberty from ^' doing all good works, and may live as they list, tJieij " trifle with God, and deceive themselves" Homily of faith. " If these fruits do not follow," the same Homily towards the end repeats, '' we do but mock " God, deceive ourselves, and also other men." And in another Homily the means of providing against the fear of death, to obtain and preserve a hope full of immor- tality, are thus described : " Let us repent our sins, " amend our lives, trust in his mercy and satisfaction, and " death can neither take him from us, nor us from him." Homily against the fear of death. Nor did our Re- formers, who had sufficiently stated the meritorious cause of salvation in the Homilies, on other occasions scruple to consider Christian piety as entitled to re- wards, '* That they, plenteously bringing forth the " fruits of good works, may of thee be plenteously re- " warded" Collect 25th Sunday after Trinity. And likewise in our Articles themselves : " To the end that " man, according as either righteously or wickedly he " hath passed this life, may according to his works re- '^ ceive rewards or punishments." Art. 39. ed. 1553. With the doctrine of the Church of England in Ed- ward's reign, perfectly accorded that, which had been established in the preceding. This will appear by re- ferring to the Articles of Religion, published by the King and Clergy in the year 1536, which served as a basis for the subsequent Reformation. There justifica- tion is thus explained : <' As touching the order and " cause of our justification, we will, that all bishops " and preachers shall instruct and teach our people, " committed by us unto their spiritual charge, that NOTES ON SERMON VI. 385 *' this word justification signifieth remission of our sins, ^' and our acceptation or reconciliation into the grace ^« and favour of God, that is to say, our perfect reno- *^ vation in Christ. Item, that sifiners attain this justi- ^' fication by contritioii a7id faith, joined mth charityy ^' after such sort and manner as we before mentioned '' and declared, not as though our contrition or faith, '^ or any works proceeding thereof, can worthily merit " or deserve to attain the said justification ; for the only " mercy and grace of the Father, promised freely unto " us for his Son's sake Jesus Christ, and the merits of ^' his blood and passion, be the only sufficient and "wor- " thy causes thereof; and yet that notwithstanding to '^ the attaining of the said justification, God requireth " to be in us not only hvmard contrition, perfect faith *' and charity, certain hope and confidence^ 'with all other '' spiritual graces and motio7is, which, as we said be- " fore, 7nust necessarily concur in remission of our sins, ** that is to say, our justification ; but also he requireth " and commandeth us, that, after we be justified, we '« must also have good works of charity, and obedience ^' towards God, in the observing and fulfilling out- " *wardly of his laws and commandments; for, although '^ acceptation to everlasting life be conjoined with justi- " fication, yet our good works be necessarily required " to the attaimnent of everlasting life; and we being ^'justified, be necessarily hound, and it is our necessary '• duty, to do good works." Art. Justif. These Arti- cles, it should be observed, were of such authority at the period of their publication, that they were ordered to be plainly and distinctly read, upon holydays, in every Cathedral and Parochial Church throughout the kingdom. See Burnet, Histor. Reform, vol. i. p. 362. Addenda. The sentiments of Cranmcr, Latimer, and Hooper, upon the same subject, seem strongly to confirm the c c 386 NOTES ON SERMON VL tendency of the explanation, which has been given. Cranmer argued, that charity is no less necessary to justification, than faith, and that everlasting life through Christ is the reward of obedience. " Although all " that be justified must of necessity have charity^ as well *' as faith^ yet neither faith nor charity be the worthi- " ness or merits af our justification." Burnet, Histor. Reform, vol. i. p. 288. " Wherefore, good children, " labour with all diligence and study, that when Christ '^ shall come again to judge the world, he may find you " Jioly and obedient. For then he 'will reward you with ^' everlasting life J' Catech. p. 131. Latimer repeatedly impressed the necessity of repentance and amendment to obtain pardon here, and eternal happiness hereafter : ^^ May we rise from sin ? Yes, that we may ; for God " hath provided a remedy for us. What is that ? For- **^ sooth penance. We must have the staff of penance, " and rise up withal.'* Sermons, p. 227. " Almighty '* God set out his will by Moses and his Prophets, and ^* this will is contained in certain laws, which laws God " commandeth that we should keep ever before our *^ eyes, and look upon them as in a glass, and so learn '' to order our lives according unto the same. And in " case that a man swerve from the same, and so fall into " the danger of damnation, God revealed further his will, ^' how to remedy the matter ; namely, by repentance and ^^ faith. So that whosoever, from the bottom of his *^ heart, is sorry for his sins, and studieth to leave them, " and live uprightly, and then believeth in our Saviour^ •' confessing, that he came into this world to make " amends for our sins; this man or woman shall not " perish, but have forgiveness of sins, and so obtain *^ everlasting life.'* p. 142. " But if we will leave our " sins and wickedness, and study to live according unto '^ his will and commandments, no doubt he will fulfil his " promises, which he hath made unto us, of everlasting NOTES ON SERMON VI. 387 " life This is now a comfortable thing, and a "^ great promise, which God maketh to the wJwle " isoorld. .... It is not his pleasure, when we be " damfied Now therefore, if we will follow him, '' and leave our uoicJced living, convert and tnim ourselves ^' unto him, he sorry for that which is past, and intend to " amend our life now forward ; if we do so, no doubt " we shall live with him everlastingly, world without " end." p. 247. ^' And this Parliament will be suffi- '^ cient for all realms of the whole world, which is the " last day. Where our Saviour himself will bear the " rule, there shall be nothing done amiss, I warrant " you ; but every one, as he hath deserved, so he shall " have. The wicked shall have hell : the good shall pos- '^ sess heaven." p. 139. Nor were Hooper's tenets of a different description. In a small tract, published in 1547, (the same year with our Homilies,) he observed ; " Our new Eva^igelists " have another opinion. They dream of faith that "^ justifielh, the which neither repentance preccdeth, *^ neither honesty of life followeth which shall be to them " double damnation, if they amend not." A Declara- tion of Christ and his Office, chap. 4. '^ The Scripture ''is more diligent and more ample in teaching the " Christian justified man the obedience unto God, and *' virtuous life, than it is to shew us our salvation in " Christ ; for this purpose only, that we should not by " our licentious liberty receive the grace of God in " vain The science of the Scripture is practive^ " a7id not speculative. It requireth a doer, and not a " speaker only. There be many dissemble faith, and " have a certain shew of religion, when in the inward '' man is no faith at all. Let every man, therefore, " search his own conscience, with what faith he is en- '' dued, and remember that Christ said, it is a straight " and narrow way, that leadeth to life, and but a few c c 2 388 NOTES ON SERMON VI. " walk therein. Therefore our only remedy is to pray " for grace, and amend,'' Chap. 13. And in another work of the year 1549, he thus justifies the ways of God to man: <' Understand, that his justice extendeth " to two divers ends ; the one is, that he would all men *' to be saved; the other end, to give every man accord- '' ijig to his acts. To obtain the first end of his justice, " as many as be not utterly "isoickcd, and may be holpen, " partly with threatenings, and partly with promises, " he allureth and provoketh them unto amendment of life, '^ The other part of his justice reisoardeth the obedience '' of the good, a7id pwiisheth the inobedience and contempt '^ of the ill.'' Declaration of the Ten Commandments, Preface. Our Reformers indeed frequently reprobated, in the strongest language, the idea of a justification by our Olson works. But how harsh soever may have been their censures upon this head, we are not surprised at their zeal, when we turn to the Injunctions of Ridley, in the year 1550; for there we perceive, from the va- rious superstitions enumerated with the proscribed doc- trine, what those works of our o'con properly were, which they principally kept in view, when they expressed themselves on the occasion with so much severity* '* Item, that none maintain Purgatory, Invocation of '^ Saints, the six Articles, Bedrowls, Images, Reliques, " Rubrick Primers with invocation of Saints, Justifica- " tion of mayi by his oxim works. Holy bread, Palms, ^' Ashes, Candles, Sepulchre Paschal, Creeping to the " Cross, Hallowing of the fire or altar, or any such-like " abuses and superstitions, now taken away by the *' King's Grace's most godly proceedings." Burnet, vol. ii. p. 206. Records. NOTES ON SERMON VII Page 144, note ('). " ^UNT quidem in divinis Uteris adyta quaedam, in " quae Deus noluit nos altius pcnetrare, et si penetrare " conemur, quo fuerimus altius ingressi, hoc magis ac *' magis caligamus, quo vel sic agnoscerenius et divinai " sapientiffi majestatem impervestigabilem^ et humanae " mentis imbecillitatem. Quemadmodum do specu " quodam Coricio narrat Pomponius Mela, qui primum " jucunda quadam amoenitate allectat, ac ducit ad se, " donee altius atque altius ingressos tandem horror ^^ quidam, ac majestas numinis illic inhabitantis submo- " veat." Diatribe Erasmi, p. 5. ed. 1525. This pas- sage was particularly admired by Henry VIII. as ap- pears from a letter of Vives to Erasmus : '^ Regi est heri '' tuus liber redditus de libero Arbitrio; ex quo inter sa- " era legit pagellas aliquot, et ostendit sibi jperjplacere ; '' ait se perlecturum ; indicavit mihi locum, quo dicit se '' impense delectatum^ quum deterres homines ah immo- " dica per send atione adytorum divince illius majestatis,^^ Anno 1525. Epistolfe Melancth. Mori et Vivis Auctar. Epist. p. 104. Page 145, note (2 ). . De Deo incognito, hoc est, non revelato et pate- facto per verbum, scire aliquid, quid sit, quid faciat, quid velit, ad me non pertinct. Hoc autem ad me per- tinet^ ut sciam, quid prceceperit, quid promiserit, quid c c 3 390 NOTES ON SERMON VII. comminatus sit. Hsec cum meditaris studlose, invenis Deum. Imo ipse te coUigit in suum gremium, ex quo si excidas, hoc est, si aliquid tdtra ilia, quco verbo reve- lata sunt, prcesumis scire, ruis in abysses inferni. Recte igitur ille Heremita monuit. " Si videris," inquit, "juvenem Monachum ascendere ad coelum, et "jam quasi ponere alterum pedem in coelum, retrahe ^' eum statim ; si enim ambos ibi posuerit pedes, non in " codo, sed in inferno se esse videbit." Hsec vox aliud nihil monet, quam ut ynoderemur curiositatem, et mane- am us intra certos limites praefixos a Deo. Non enim in nubibus, sed in terra, voluit nos ingredi. Opera Lu- theri, vol. vi. p. 204?. Perniciosa et j:) est Hens cogitatio est de qiiare, ac certum afFert interitum, praesertim cum ascendimus altius, et de jprcedestinatiojie voliunus jyhiloso- phari. Ibid. p. 204. Page 146, note (3). See Serm. II. note 18. To the opposition which Calvin encountered, upon this subject, he himself thus alluded, at even a later period. ^* Midtos doctrinae mese " esse adversarios neque ignoro, neque miror ; quia no- '^ vum non est Christo, sub cujus auspiciis miHto, mul- " tos blaterones obstrepere : hoc tantum nomine doleo, " quod per latus meum configitur sacra ilia aeternaque *' Dei Veritas, quam reverenter a toto mundo suspici '' adorarique decebat Nulli tamen improborum " virulenti morsus unquam efficient, ut ejus me doctrinae' " poeniteat, quam a Deo auctore profectam esse certo " mihi constat. Nee tam male in tot, quibus me Deus " exercuit, certaminibus profeci, ut ad futiles vestros " crepitus adhuc expavescam." Opuscula, p. 1011. Whether indeed he always maintained the doctrine of predestination according to the sense, in which his Institute explains it, may perhaps be doubted ; at least, if he so held it in 1535, he certainly adopted a very singular mode to propagate it. For in the preface to a NOTES ON SERMON VIL 391 French translation of the New Testament (one of his earliest publications) he then expressed himself upon the point in a style, which cannot, without a forced con- struction, be completely reconciled to his system, and which he carefully avoided in his subsequent produc- tions. " Mediator ille D. N. Jesus Christus erat unus " verus eeternus, Dei Filius, quern missurus erat Pater *•' in mundum, ut omnes ex horrenda dispersione et vasti- " tate colligeret Tandem igitur, ubi adfuit ple- '^ num ilhid tempus ac dies a Domino praeordinata, '' adstitit coram Messlas ille tot retro sa^culis exoptatis- " simus ; atque idem ilia omnia cumulate praestitit, quae " erant ad omnium redemptionem- necessaria. Neque vero " intra unum Israelem tantum illud beneficium stetit, " cum potius ad univet'sum humanum genus usque porri- ^' gendum esset ; quia per unum Christum universum " humanum genus reconciliandum erat Deo, uti hie " novi foederis tabulis continetur, et amplissime demon- " stratur Ad istam hasreditatem vocamur omnes " sine jpersonarum acceptione^ masculi, fceminae, summi, " infimi, servi, magistri, discipuli, doctores, idiotee, Ju- " daei, Graeci, Galli, Romani. Nemo liinc ecccluditur^ " qui modo Christum, qualis ofFertur a Patre in salutem *' omnium,) admittat, et admissum complectatur." Epi- stolse, p. 395, 6, 7. ed. 1575. If it be said, that these expressions^ unambiguous as they appear, may notwithstanding be interpreted as only referring to God's universal offer of salvation, it may be observed in reply, that they are not so ex- plained in the preface itself, and that, occurring in one of his first works, they certainly conveyed no such li- mited idea to the reader of that day, unprovided with the master-key of the Calvinistical theory. Nor can those, who contend for an interpretation of this kind, deny, that at least they seem to countenance an opinion, which Calvin afterwards opposed. c c 4< 392 NOTES ON SERMON VII. But, in whatsoever sense he wished them to be under- stood, it must be admitted, that he sometimes adapted the style of others, who had a very different object in view, to his own peculiar opinions. And hence, from the want of a due discrimination, the sentiments of his contemporaries, opposite in their natural tendency, are often improperly forced into the vortex of Calvinism. Systematizing was his darling propensity, and the am- bition of being distinguislied as a leader in reform his predominant passion; in the arrangements of the former he never felt a doubt, or found a difficulty ; and in the pursuits of the latter he displayed an equal degree of perseverance and ardour. Thus in the doctrine of the Eucharist, it is well known, that he laboured to acquire celebrity, and conciliate followers, by maintaining a kind of middle sacramental presence between the cor- poreal of the Lutherans, and the mere spiritual of the Zuinglians, expressing himself in language, which, partly derived from one, and partly from the other, verged towards neither extreme, but which, by his sin- gular talent at perspicuous combination, he applied (and not without success) to his own particular purpose. Nor was he less solicitous to press into his service a foreign phraseology upon the subject more immediately before me ; a subject, on his theory of which he not a little prided himself, and seemed contented to stake his repu- tation. He perceived that the Lutherans, strongly reprobating every discussion upon the decrees of a Deity unrevealed to us, founded predestination solely on a scriptural basis, contending for a divine will, which is seriously, not fictitiously, disposed to save all men, and" predetermined to save all, who become and continue sincere Christians. Zuingle indeed had rea- soned from a different principle ; and, although per- suaded, that God's mercies in Christ were liberally be- stowed on all without distinction, on infants who com- NOTES ON SERMON VII. 393 mit not actual crime, and on the Heathen as well as the Christian world, he nevertheless was a Necessarian, in the strictest sense of the expression, referring events of every kind to an uncontrollable and absolute prede- termination. Zuingle however died in 1531, before the youth of Calvin permitted him to assume the cha- racter of a Reformer; who found Bullinger then at the head of the Zuinglian Church, not only appla^ud- ing, but adopting the moderation of the Lutherans; and plainly (to use the phrase of Turretin) Melancthon- izing. (" Pour Bullinger, on n'avoit pas tort de dire, " qu'il MelancJithonisoit.'' Bibliotheque Germanique, vol. xiii. p. 100.) But the doctrine alluded to, it may be imagined, was of a species too limited and unphiloso- phical for one of his enterprizing turn of mind, who never met with an obstacle which he attempted not in- stantly to surmount. Disregarding therefore the sober restrictions of the times, he gave loose to the most un- bounded speculation ; yet, anxious by all means to win over all to his opinion, he studiously laboured to pre- serve, on some popular points, a verbal conformity with the Lutherans. With them in words he taught the universality of God's good will ; but it was an uni- versality, which he extended only to the offey^ of sal- vation, conceiving the reprobate to be precluded from the reception of that offer by the secret decree of an immutable Deity. The striking feature of their system was an election in Christ, by which they meant an election as Christians. This also in words he incul- cated : his idea however of an election in Christ was totally different from theirs ; for he held it to be the j)revious election of certain favourites by an irrespective will of God, whom, and whom alone, Christ was subsequently appointed to save. But his ingenuity was such in adapting the terms borrowed from another source to his own theory, that some erroneously con- 394 NOTES ON SERMON VII. ceive them to have been thus originally used by the Lu- therans themselves. Hence therefore much confusion has arisen in the attempt of properly discriminating be- tween the various sentiments of Protestants upon this question, at the period under consideration ; all have been regarded as formed upon the model, which Calvin exhibited, at least by writers who have contemplated him as the greatest Reformer of his age, but who have forgotten, that, although they chose to esteem him the greatest, they could not represent him as the first in point of time, and that his title to preeminence in the common estimation of his contemporaries was then far from being acknowledged. Thus has the doctrine maintained by the founders of our own Church been supposed to be of this descrip- tion. But to prove, that, when they spoke in the lan- guage of the Lutherans, they meant to convey- the sense of Calvin, it seems requisite to shew, that they approved of his peculiar system of predestination in other respects; the contrary of which was, in truth, the case. Nor, according to his own account, was his in- fluence in this kingdom even at a later date considera- ble ; for in a letter, which he addressed to the English exiles at Frankfort in the reign of Mary, he admitted, that our countrymen attached but little credit to his name, or weight to his opinion. Discord existed among them upon the subject of our Liturgy. After giving them some very sensible and seasonable advice upon the occasion, he added; *' Sed egofrusfra ad eos sermo- " nem converto, qui forte non tantum mihi tribuunt, ^' ut consilium a tali auctore jprqfectum admittere dignen- " tur." Epist. p. 158. Page 148, note (4-). The term pr^sciti, in the Scholastical acceptation of it, was synonimous with reprobati^ and as such opposed to that of prcedestinati. '^ Prascienfia est futurorum NOTES ON SERMON VII. 395 " praecognitio, tarn bonorum, quam malorum ; appro- ^^ priatur tameii reprobationi. Unde reprohati appro- ^^ priate dicuntuv P7WSC it i ; quia reprobatio ultra prae- '* scientiam non addit talem rationem dignitatis, sicut ^^ prccdestinatio ; sic et nomen animalis appropriatur ir- " rationalibus animalibus, licet fit commune tam ra- " tioiialibuSi quam irratioiialihus^ Nic. de Orb. lib. i. dist. 41. ^' Reprobatio opponitur approbationir Aquin. lib. J. dist. 40. quaest. 4. art, 1. Calvin's sentiments upon Reprobation are too plainly expressed to be mistaken, and too broadly marked to be confused with those of the Schools. " Corruit ergofri- '' volum illud ejfugium, quod de prcescientia Scholastici " habent. Neque enim, prcevideri ruinam impiorum a " Domino Paulus tradit, sed ejus consilio et voluntate " ordiiiari, quemadmodum et Solomo docet, non modo ^^ prcecognitum fuisse impiorum interitum, sed impios *Mpsosyi«'55^ destinato creatos, ut perirent" In Rom. cap. ix. ver. 19. " Hie abstinebo a dissensione, ad *' quam feie scriptores ecclesiastiei recurrunt, non im- " pedire Dei prcescientiam, quo minus homo peccator " reputetur, quandoquidem illius mala, non sua, Deus *' praevideat. Non enim hie subsisteret cavillatio, *' Ecce, quum rerum omnium dispositio in manu *' Dei sit, quum penes ipsum resideat salutis ac mortis " arbitrium, consilio nutuque suo ita ordinat, ut inter *' homines ita nascantur, ab utero certce moi'ti devoti, " qui suo cxitio ipsius nomen glorificent. Si quis cau- " setur nullam eis inferri necessitatem ex Dei provi- " dentia, sed potius ea conditione ab ipso esse creatos, '• quoniamfuturam conim pravitatem pra^viderit ; neque " nihil dicit, neque totum. Solent quidem interdum " hac solutione uti veteres, sed quasi dubitanter. Scho- " lastici vero in ea quiescunt^ ac si nihil contra opponi ^^ posset Sed quum non alia ratione, quae futura " sunt, praevideat, nisi quia, ita ut fierent, decrcvit. 396 NOTES ON SERMON VII. " frustra de prcesczentia lis movetur, ubi constat ordinu' " tione potius, et nutu omnia evenire." Institutio, lib. iii. cap. 23. sect. 6. Indeed he freely confesses, that his doctrine, as well of election as of reprobation, runs counter not only to the common opinion, but to that of celebrated writers, in all ages : *< Vulgo existimant Deum, prout cujusque me- " rita fore praevidet, ila inter homines discernere ; quos " ergo sua gratia fore non indigrios praecognoscit, eos in " filiorum locum cooptare; quorum ingenia ad malitiam " et impietatem propensura dispicit, eos mortis damna- " tioni devovere. Sic, interposito prtsscientia velo, elec- " tionem non modo obscurant, sed originem aliunde " habere fingunt. Neque hsec vulgo recepta opinio " solius vulgi est; habuit enim saculis om?iibus magnos " autliores. Quod ingenue fateor, ne quis causae nostrse " magnopere obfuturum confidat, si eorum nomina contra " opponanttir, Certior est enim hie Dei Veritas, quam " ut concutiatur, clarior, quam ut obruatur, homifium " auctoritate." Instit. lib. iii. cap. 22. sect. 1. It should, however, be remarked, that the great names, to which he alludes, are not those of the Scholastics alone, but likewise of the Fathers, for he not only attem})ts to re- fute the subtilty of Aquinas, (" Thomae argutiam, Thomae argutiolam," sect. 9.) but admits the following to be the received sentiments of Ambrose, Origen, and Jerome, making a distinction in favour of Austin: *' At Ambrosius, Origenes, Hieronymus cen- " suerunt, Deum sua gratia inter homines dispensare, " prout ea quemque bene usurum prceviderit, Adde et '* Augustinum in ea fuisse aliquando sententia; sed, '' cum melius in Scripturae cognitione profecisset, non " retractavit modo ut evidenter falsam, sed fortiter con- '« futavit." lb. sect. 8. In the subsequent notes it will be seen, that the tenet of the Schools upon this intricate question widely dif- NOTES ON SERMON VII. 397 fered from that of Calvin ; and yet has it been ima- gined, that, at the period immediately preceding the Reformation, the Church of Rome was truly Calvinis- tical. Of all the Sententiarii, Aquinas attributed most to the agency of divine grace ; it will nevertheless ap- pear, that his ideas were, in truth, of a directly opposite tendency. Zuingle thus briefly and correctly states them : " Thomas Aquinatis (modo recte meminerim ejus '^ philosophise) de prasdestinatione sententia talis fuit ; " Deum, cum universa videat, antequam fiant, hominem " praedestinare, turn scilicet, cum per sapientiam viderit, ^' quails futnr us sitr Opera, vol. i. p. 367. But upon this point, as the language of the Schools will speak suf- ficiently for itself, it seems unnecessary to enlarge. Per- haps, however, it may be requisite to point out, from publications of the time not strictly Scholastical, that similar opinions were taught in the Church at large. In the Sermons of Bernard de Bustis, who flourished about the year 1480, and who composed the Services " de '' Conceptione B. Virginis," and " de Nomine Jesu," received into the Ofiiccs of the Church, (Cave's Histor. Literar. vol. ii. p. 1 96.) these passages occur. '* Scientia '^ Dei de futuris contingentibus non est ita determinata, '' sicut est de necessariis, sed est conditionata.^* vol. i. p. 206. ed. 1503. '* Et verum e5?t, quod ipse Deus, qui " vere est misericors, salvaret omnes, si ipsi se dispone- " rent. Licet, quia ipsi se non disponunt, ideo non sal- " vantur Magnes etiam habet virtutem attra- ^* hendi ferrum, et semper attrahit, nisi ferrum oleo " inungatur, per quod virtus magnetis impediatur. Et '' hoc non est ratione magnetis, cujus virtus est indif- " ferens ad omne ferrum, sed alterius impcdientis. Et " similiter Deus naturaliter est misericors, et omnes pa- ^^ ratus ad se cleme?iter trahcre.'' Ibid. vol. ii. p. 197. " Magister in i. dist. 40. dicit, ' Praedestinatio est quae- ' dam com para tio, qua Deus elegit, quos voluit, ante 398 NOTES ON SERMON VII. * mundi constltutionem ;' sed dices, ' Ergo est perso- ^ narum acceptor/ Respondeo, quod non sequitur; ^' nam ipse Deus ex hoc non acceptat personasy sed me- <' rita^ et damnat demerit a, Et ideo non omnes prsedes- " tinavit, quia prcovidit quosdam in peccata duraturos. «^ Unde illos tantum praedestinavit, quos recte jinituros " cognovit J' Ibid. p. 198. Such was the popular creed not long before the Reformation. That at the period immediately preceding it, and at its very commence- ment, the doctrine of the Church remained the same, is evident from the controversy of Fevre D' Staples, (Faber Stapulensis,) who was particularly patronised by Margaret Queen of Navarre, and persecuted for sup- posed heresy by the Sorbonne of Paris. Among other accusations, he was thus charged by Natalis Beda, whose censure of him was approved by the Sorbonne, (see Bayle's Life, note f.) as having maintained the position of Necessity, in his Commentary upon the 9th chapter of the Romans, which was published in the year 1515. " Quod vero adjicit, scilicet, posse salvari non est in " hominis voluntate, potestate, aut operibus, jf;/<2?z^ he- " reticum est^ et perniciossime scriptum Quid " redolere aliud videtur, nisi quod omnia futura de ne- " cessitate accidant, quasi, quodcunque agat homo, aut " non agat, jam de eo latum sit judicium ; neque si ^' omnia justissima operetur, aut quseque perversa, ilii ^' nihil conferre potest, sed Dei sola prtrscientia et electio. " Quo quidem dogmate toties non solum 'per Ecclesiam, " sed per omnes cum Jide philosophantes reprohato, quid " magis exitiale moribus ? Quid amplius omni politiae " Christian ge damnosum ? Stupeo totus ego sane con- " siderans hominem, qui, inter Catholicos nutritus doc- ^' tores, tarn facile in eorum potuit legere libris, divinam " pr£EScientiam nihil prorsus rerum contingentiae et li- " beriati voluntatis obsistere, et tam crebro puhlicis in *^ disputationibus ac concionibus ad populum nodum il- NOTES ON SERMON Vll. 399 *^ lum dissolutum audivit, ac aperiri lucidius ; orbi etiam ^' nosti^o cBVO praesumpsit ejusmodi errorum rursus pro- «' ponere tenebras." x\niiot. Natal. Bedae in Jac. Fa- brum Stapulen. Libri duo. Propos. 59. ed. 1526. But, perhaps, not the least convincing testimony may be found in the service of the Church itself, where the sub- sequent prayer occurs : " Omnipotens Sempiterne Deus, " qui vivorum dominaris simul et mortuorum, omnium- " que misereris, quos tuosjide et opere fiituros esse prce- " nosci's, te suppliciter exoramus, &c." Missale ad Usum Sarisb. Orationes General. Page 11' 8, note ( ^ ). Quantum ad secundum a quibusdam moventur dubia de prsedestinatione. Et primo quaeritur, " Cur me fe- " cit Deus, ut damnaret." Quibus respondendum est, quod nullos fecit Deus ad ipsos condemnandum, cum velit omnes homines salvos fieri, quantum in se est, dan- do scilicet antccedentia ad salutem, puta naturam ra- tionalem, et gratiam oiferendo, sed ipsam recipere re- cusamus. Nic. de Orb. lib. i. dist. 41. Deus habet p7'a^scieiitiam etiam de peccatis ; sed prcp- destinatio est de bo?iis salutaribtis, Aquin. Expositio in Kom. cap. 8. Prcjedestinatio enim includit in suo intel- lectu prcescicntiam et providentiam salutis omnium. Pro- videntia autem, ut dictum est, quamvis sit omnium, non lamen omnia necessario contingunt, sed secundum con- ditionem causarum proximarum^ quarum naturas et or^ dinem providentia et praedestinatio salvat. Praescientia etiam non imponit necessitatem rebus, nee in quantum est causa, cum sit causa j)rima, cujus conditioncm efFcc- tus non habet, sed causae proximae ; nee ratione adae- quationis ad rem scitam, quae ad rationem veritatis et certitudinis scientise exigitur, quia adfequatio ista at- tend itur scientiae Dei ad rem, noji secundum quod est in causis suis, in quibus est, ut jwssibile futurum tantum, sed ad ipsam rem, secundum quod hahct esse determina- 400 NOTES ON SERMON VII. turn, prout est prcesens et non futurum. Id. lib. i. dist. 40. quaest. 3. art. J. Page 149, note ( e ). The knowledge of simple intelligence was thus de- fined : '^ Dicendum quod Deus dicitur scire aliquid du- *^ pliciter, vel scientia visionis, secundum quod videt " res, quae sunt, vel erunt, vel fuerunt, no7i solum in po- ^' tentia causarum suarum, sed etiam in esse propria ; " vel scientia simplicis intelligenticc, secundum quod " scit, quffi nuUo tempore sunt, esse inpotentia causarum " suarum." Aquin. lib. i. dist. 39. quaest. 1. art. 2. But when the divine knowledge was considered as the cause of things, it was then denominated the knowledge of approbation : " Manifestum est autem, quod Deus ^' per intellectum suum causat res, cum suum esset, ut '^ suum intelligeret ; unde necesse est, quod sua scientia " sit causa rerum, secundum quod Jiabet voluntatem con- ^^junctam. Unde scientia Dei, secundum quod est '' causa rerum, consuevit nominari scientia apprvba- " tionis.^^ Id. Summ. 1. prim, quaest. 14. art. 8. This approving knowledge of God, however, was confined to that which is good and equitable, every defect in human nature being attributable to ourselves alone : " Istum " autem carere gratia ex duobus contingit : turn quia " ipse no7i vult reciperc, tum quia Deus non sibi infun- " dit, vel non vult infundere. Horum autem duorum '' talis est ordo, ut secundiwi non sit nisi ex suppositione ^^ primi. Cum enim Deus non velit nisi bonum, non '' vult istum carere gratia, nisi secundum quod bonum '^ est ; sed quod iste careat gratia, non est bonum sim- '^ pliciter^ unde hoc absolute consideratum non est vo- '* litum a Deo. Est tamen bonum, ut careat gratia, si *' eam habere 7ion vidt^ vel si ad eam habendam negli- " genter se prcjcparat, quia justum est, et hoc modo est '' voHtum a Deo. Patet ergo quod hujus defectus ab- ** solute causa prima est ex parte hominis, qui gratia NOTES ON SERMON VII. 40l ** caret, secI ex parte Dei 7ion est causa Inijus defectus, '' nisi ex suppositione illius, quod est causa ex parte ho- " 71117118." Id. lib. i. dist. 40. quasst. 4. art. 2. Neitlier \vas election stated to proceed from a principle less just and impartial: " Dicendum quod electio divina non " praeexigit diversitatem gratiae, quia hoc electioncm *' consequitiir ; sed jn'ccexigit diversitatem 7iaturce in di- " vina cognitione, et facit diversitatem gratia:, siciit " dispositio diversitatem 7iatur{S facit. '^ Id. lilj. i. dist. "11. quaest. 1. art. 2. Page 150, Tiofe (7). The equality of the divine will towards all men was expressly asserted : *' Dicendum quod, quamvis Deus, " quantum in se est, cequaliter se habeat ad omnes, 7wn " tamen cequaliter se habeant omnes ad ipsum, et ideo non *' (Eqiialiter omnibus gratia prcepa7'atur.^* Aquin. lib. i. dist. 4. quaest. 2. art. 2. What was properly understood by the antecedent and consequent will of God, is shortly explainetl by Nicolaus de Lyra^ in his Comment upon 1 Tim. ii. -1. *' Dicitur voluntas antecede7iSy quuai quis vult aliquid '^absolute; conseqiiens autem, quum vult aliquid cow5z- " dei^atis circu7nsta7itiis et conditionihus particularibus.*^ For a fuller account of this distinction, see Aquin. Summ. I. prim, qusest. 19. art. 6. and likewise in Lib. Sentent. lib. i. dist. 46. quaest. 1. art. 1. The antece- dent and consequent will of the Schools Bernard de Bustis terms the absolute and conditional : " Vel cla- " rius loquendo possumus considerare in Deo per mo- <« dum intelligendi duas voluntates Prima volun- «^ tas, quam in Deo possumus considerare, est absolufa, *< videlicet quod Deus omnino velit salvare 07n7ies, tarn <' bonos quam malos Alio modo possumus con- '^ siderare voluntatem Dei co7iditio7iatam^ videlicet, quod " velit salvare omnes homines, si ejus mandata servabunt, Dd 402 NOTES ON SERMON VII. «« et a peccatis abstinebunt." Rosarium Sermonuro^ vol. i. p. 198. Page 151, note (8). Contra est, quod dicunt Sancti communiter, Diony- sius, Augustinus, et Ansel mus, scilicet quod causa, quare iste non habet gratiam, est quia ipse noluit ac- cipere, et non quia Deus noluit dare, quia lumen suum om?iibus qffert ; quod tanien ab omnibus non percipitur, sicut nee lumen solis a coeco; sed obduratio est ipsa ca- rentia gratise, ergo obdurationis causa non est ex paite Dei Ad quartum dicendum, quod Deus, quantum in se est, nulli est absens ; sed homo a Deo praesente se ab- sentat, sicut a praesente lumine, qui claudit oculos. Aquin. lib. i. dist. 40. quaest. 4. art. 2. Page 151, note (9). " Utrum aliquis deleatur de libro vitae? Affirmatur. " Est enim liber vitae conscriptio ordinatorum in " vitam ceternam^ ad quam ordinatur aliquis ex duobus, " videlicet ex praedestinatione divina, et haec ordinatio *' nunquam deficit, et ex gratia; quicunque enim gra- " tiam habet, ex hoc ipso est dignus vita aeterna. Et " hsec ordinatio deficit interdum, quia aliqui ordinati '* sunt ex gratia habita ad habendam vitam ffiternam, " a qua tamen dejiciunt per peccatum mortale Tales " possunt deleri de libro vitae, ut deletio non referatur " ad notitiam Dei, quasi aliquid praesciat et postea ne- " sciat, sed ad rem scitam^ quia scilicet Deus scit aliquem ^^ priusorditiari in vitam ceternam^ et jiostea non or dinar i, " cum deficit a gratia," Aquin. Summ. 1. prim, quffist. 24. art. 3. " Liber vitae conscriptio ordinatorum ex " praedestinatione, et praesenti gratia; ergo ordinatorum '* indefectibiliter et defectihiliter Indefectihiles sunt "script! ad vitam aeternam in reipsa; defectibiles vero " sunt scripti ad vitam reternam in sua causa, scilicet, *' meritoriar Cardinal. Cajetan. Comment, in loc. NOTES ON SERMON VII. 403 *' Pi'CEdestinationis or do est certus, et tamen prpedestlna- " tionis effectus contingent er eveniimt juxta lihcrtatem '^ arhitriiJ* Id. Comment, quaest. 23. art. 6. " Sic " igitur et ordo prcsdestinationis est certus, et tamen li- '' bertas arhitrii 7ion tollitur, ex qua contingenter provenit ^^ prcjedestinationis effectus."' Aquinas, ibid. The mistakes upon this subject of those, who have but partially consulted the speculations of the Schools, seem to have arisen from the want of correctly compre- hending, what was meant by the effect of predestination, an effect always supposed to be contingent ; the opera- tions of free will, whether with or without grace, being considered only as foreknown, and not necessarily pre- determined. Page J 51, note (10). The distinction between congruous and condign merit, the former only as meritum secundum quid, the latter as meritum simpliciter, has been pointed out in notes 4 and 5, Serm. IV. To the first species of merit the term dis- positio in the following quotation refers. " Ad primum *' ergo dicendum, quod in illis verbis Ambros. non de- " signatur, quod opus nostrum sit causa voluntatis divi- " nae, neque etiam, quod sit causa ipsius dationis gratifle ; ^' sed solum dispositio quaidam^ ut hoc intelligatur non " de opere sequente gratiam, quod virtutem merendi *^ habet a gratia, et neque causa ejus est, neque dispo- " sitio ad ipsam, sed de opere prcecedente, quod est dis- '^ positio ad gratiam, llli enim 7;ropo7Z?V gratiam infun- " dere, quem prcescit se ad gratiam prceparatiutim *^ Possum us dicere, quod Deus dat isti gloriam, et non '^ illi, quia iste meruit, et non ille. Et similiter vult, " quod iste habeat, et non ille, qui iste dig?ius, et non " ille." Aquin. lib. i. dist. 41. quaest. I. art. 3. Page \5% note (i^). I have remarked, that the predestination and repro- bation of the Schools was universally maintained to be D d 2 4a4. NOTES ON SERMON VII. continorent; hence the following question, " Utrurn " possibile est aliquem praedestinatum damnari, et prse- " scitum salvari?" was always decided in the affirma- tive. Upon this head Occam remarks, " Tenendum '' est, quod, quicunque est prsedestinatus, est contingen- *' ter praedestinatus, itaque quod potest non praedestinari, ^' et per consequens potest danmari, quia potest non *' salvari. Hoc potest quia cujuslibet salvatio dependet " a voluntate divina, contingenter causante, ergo in pot- " estate Dei est conferre vitam aeternam, vel non con- " ferre, ergo quicunque potest non salvari. Praeterea, ^' nullo adulto confertur vita aeterna, nisi propter aliquod *' opus meritorium, sed omne opus meritorium est in '^ potestate merentis, ergo talis potest non mereri, et per " consequens potest non salvari. Et eodem modo est " de jjrcvscito, quia nulhis damnatur poena perpetua, et '' hoc poena sensus, nisi propter suum demeritum. Sed " omne demeritum est in potcstate bene merentis, ergo *^ potest non demereri, et per consequens potest salvari." Lib. i. dist. 40. quaest. 1. The Scholastics, indeed, contended, that in the strict philosophical meaning of the term, no adequate cause either of predestination or reprobation exists in the creature. '' Nidlius ceferni potest aliquod temporale esse " causa, et quicquid est in creatura est temporale, ergo " nihil quod est in creatura potest esse causa praedestina- '' tionis et reprobationis." Occam, ibid. Nevertheless the same writer expressly admits such a cause on the part of the effect. After discussing the nature, connexion, and efficiency of causes in general, he states, " Potest dici ^' sine prejudicio et assertione, quod praedestina- " tionis est aliqiia causa et ratioJ''' (excepting only the predestination of the Virgin Mary and some others, who were prevented by divine grace from sinning and losing eternal life.) " Praedestinationis .... vide- " tur esse aliqua ratio^ quia sicut damnandi ideo repro- NOTES ON SERMON VII. 405 *' bantur, qui praevidentur peccaturi Jinaliter, cum Deus ** non prius est ultor, quam aliquis sit peccator, ita est *' de praedestinatis. Praedcstinantur, quia ^^(jemdentur ^^ finaliter per sever are in charitate^ et quia Deus non con- " feret eis vitam aeternam, nisi prius merercnhtr vitam " aeternam.'^ Ibid, Page \S%notei}^). See Serm. IV. note 14?. page 308. and Serm. V. note 16. Page 154, notei}'^). The works of Luther abound with passages against speculating upon the will of God, beyond what the Scripture has clearly revealed respecting it, and against all philosophizing upon a particular predestination, ac- cording to the custom of the Schools; admitting only a general predestination founded upon Christianity. ^* Nemo ii^itur de divinilate nuda cocitet, sed has com- " tationes fugiat, tanquam infernum, ct ipsissimas Sa- " tanse tentationes." Op. vol. vi. p. 92. " Attcnde et " vide, ne tibi excidat, quod srepc dixi^ quomodo Chris- ** tus his verbis sui et patris cognitionem conjungit et *^ complicat, ita ut solum per Christum et in Christo " Pater cognoscatur. Siquidem hoc sa^pc dixi, quod '* iterum atque iterum repetens dico, quod etiam, ine mor- " tuo^ omnibus in memoria hasrere velim, id omnes doc- " tores non sccus atque diaholum caveamus, qui sublimibus " illis articulis de Deo docere incipiunt 7iude et sine ^' Christo, Sicut hactenus in Academiis sophistco et *^ magistri nostri fecerunt, speculando de suis operibus in " ccelo^ quid esset, quid cogitaret, quid faceret apud se- " ipsum, &c. Sed si secure agere volueris, et Deum ** apprehendere, ac gratiam et auxilium penes ilium in- " venire, tum nemini credas Deum te alibi, quam i?i ^' Christo, reperturum." Vol. v. p. 192. *' Et Satan nulla alia via nos faciVm^ prcvcipitare pot- ^^ estj quam ubi nos ad considerationem majestatis pro- D d 3 406 NOTES ON SERMON Vll. *' traxerit. Cujus tanta est amplitudoj ut animi statim ** desperabundi concidunt. Ideo Solomon etiam mo- " nuit, ' Qui scrutatur majestatem, opprimitur ab ea/ « His disputationibus animi paulatim assuefiunt " ad prophanas quaestiones, ut cum Deo tanquam cum " lutifigulo rixentur^ unde necessario sequitur ruina, *' Quare abstinendum est a talibus cogitationibus." Vol. V. p. 76. " De Deo, quatenus non est revelatus, nulla " est fides, nulla scientia, et cognitio nulla, Atque ibi " tenendum est, quod dicitur, quae supra nos nihil ad ** nos. Ejusmodi enim cogitationes, quae, supra^ aut ^' extra revelationem Dei^ sublimius aliquid rimantur, *^ prorsus Diabolicae sunt, quibus nihil amplius pro- *' ficiscitur, quam ut nos ipsos in exitium py^cecipitemus, *' quia objiciunt objectum impervestigabile, videlicet *' Deum non revelatum Detestari itaque et fugere '' sceleratas istas voces debebamus, quas jactant Epi- " curei, si necesse est, hoc fieri, fiat.'* Vol. vi. p. 354. '^ Satis ostendimus tales cogitationes non secus ut Dia- " bolum fugiendas, ac prorsus aliam discendi viam, ac " de voluntate Dei cogitandi insistendam esse, scilicet, " Deum in majestate et prcedestinationemissum faciendum " esse. Nam haec prorsus comprehendi non possunt, " neque potest de tantis rebus cogitatio sine scandalo " abire. Hoc est, vel desperationem ad tales cogitationes, " vel impietatem dissolutissimam sequi oportet. Qui *' vero veram ad Dei et ejus voluntatis cognitionem viam " insistere cogitat, ei sic ambulandum est, ut scandalum ** cavere, et pietatis incrementa consequi possit." Postilla Domestica, p. 57. The object of Luther, in these and other similar pas- sages, was to debar all enquiry into a divine will ante- cedent to Christianity, and to make the predestination of the person consequent to the conduct of the Chris- tian; an object, which Calvin despised, and an order, which he reversed. " In his persevera, tanquam mums NOTES ON SERMON VII. 407 <* aheneus, nihil aliud inculcari tibi sinens, quam quo modo <' se ipse ostendit et manifestat pe?' verbum Christie Vol. V. p. 197. '^ Ac initio quidem voluit Deus occur- '' rere huic curiositati; sic enim suam voluntatem et "consilium proposuit; 'Ego tihi prcescie?itia7n ei pr^- * destinationem egregie manifestabo, sed non ista via ra- ' tioni^ et sapicnticE carnalis, sicut tu imaginaris; sic fa- ' ciam ; ex Deo no7i revelato fiam revelatus, et tamen * idem Deus manebo.' Tu babes Evangelium, " es baptizatus, babes absolutionem, es Christianus, et *« tamen dubitas? Deus dicit tibi, « En babes fili- * um meum, hunc audias et acceptes. Id si facis, jam ' certus es de fide et salute tua.' Omittendae sunt " disputationes, et dicendum, ' Ego sum Christianus.^ ** Dedit tibi firmissima argumenta certitudinis et " veritatis suae. Dedit Filium in carnem et mortem, '^ instituit sacramenta, ut scias eum non velle fallacem '' esse, sed veracem Atque ita de praedestinatione " tua certus eris, remotis omnibus curiosis et periculosis " quastionibus de Dei arcanis cojisiliis," Vol. vi. p. 355. To the operation or effect of the predestinating prin- ciple in the mind of God, which produces the election, not of individuals from a personal partiality, but of a church at large, upon motives the most merciful, and by rules the most just, the writings of Melancthon fre- quently allude. " De effectu electionis teneamus banc '* consolationem, Deum, volentem non perire totum ge- '* nus humanum, semper propter Filium per misericor- " diam vocare, trahere et colligere Ecclesiam, et recipere " assentientes, atque ita velle semper aliquam esse Eccle- " siam, quam adjuvat et salvat." Loci Theologici de Praedest. " E contra vero ingens et immensa bonitas " Dei est, quod, quanquam multi sunt prophani, tamen '^ se patefecit certis testimoniis, et revelavit arcanum de- " cretum suum de remissione peccatorum, et colligit " sibi ex tarn corrupta massa humani generis Ecclesiam D d 4 408 NOTES ON SERMON VII. *^ cEternamr Disput. Oper. LiUberi, vol. ii. p. 505. *,' Magna autem consolatio primum haec est, quod certo " scimus ex verbo Dei, Deiim immensa misericordia *• propter Filium semper colligere Ecclesiam in genere hu- *' 7na7io, et quidem voce Evangelii Sed dices, haec " consolatio eo prodcst, quod scio aliis servari Ecclesiam, " fortassis autem mihi id nihil prodest, et quoinodo sciam " qui sunt electi ? Respondeo. Jlhi quoque haec gene- *' Talis consolatio prodest, quia credere debes, tibi quo- '* que servari Ecclesiam, et mandatum Dei ffiternum et " immotum est, ut tu quoqne aiidias Jilium, agas pceyii- " tentiam^ et credas te recipi a Deo fropter mediatorem, " Talis cum es, discedens ex hac "cita^ certum est, te in " numero electorum esse, sicut scriptum est, ' Quos justi- * ficat, eosdem et glorificat." Opera Melancth. vol. iv. p. 161. And that a principal part at least of Melanc- thon's doctrine of predestination (precisely the same as Luther's) was pretty correctly understood at an early period, appears from an account, which Bucer gave of it, (not a too favourable judge,) in the year 1536, who represented this as its leading feature. " Repellenda est ** quaestio, ' Sumusne proedestinati ?'^ " Nam ut dictum, ** qui de hoc dubitat, nee vocatum se, nee justificatum, " esse credere poterit, hoc est, nequit esse Christianus, '' Praesumend'um Igitur, ut nos omncs a Deo esse prce- '^ scitos, 'pr(vfinitos, separates a reliquis, et selectos in ** hoc, ut in aeternum servemur, hocque propositum Dei '* mutari non posse; et inde omnis nostra cogitatio cu- ** raque in hoc intendenda, ut prsedestinationi huic Dei, *' et vocationi respondeaniuSi ut ad vitam aeternam nos *' pro viribus, quas unquam Dominus suppeditavit, co- " operemur Certe quos vocat Deus, si sequantur '< modo vocantcm^ praedestinavit eos, atque prcEscivit ; ** justificabit quoque et glorificabit." Enarr. Epist, ad Horn. p. 359. ed. 1536. NOTES ON SERMON VII. 409 Page 156, 7iote (i4). The Lutherans maintained, that all children were regenerated in Baptism, (not through the virtue of the Sacrament, but by the promise of God,) and received into the number of the elect. " Vere in Ecclesia recipit " infantes, et laetemur in coetu vocatorum electos esse.'^ Melancth. Opera, vol. i. p. 320. " Spiritus Sanctus per ** Baptism um eis datur, qui efficit in eis novos motus, ^' novas inclinationes ad Deum, pro ipsorum mcdo, nee " id temere affirmatur Cum ergo certum sit, hos " infantes esse partem Ecclesiae, et placere Deo^ certum " hoc est, Deum in eis ejficacein esse J* Loci Thcolog. de Baptismo. *' Ita et nos Christian! per Baptism um su- «' mus regenerati, et JUii .Dei efFecti.'' Opera Lutheri, vol. vii. p. lO^. " Quicquid hie factum est, id omne " propter nos factum est, qui in ilium credimus, et in *' nomen ejus baptizati, et ad salutem destiiiati, atque *' electi siwius.'* Ibid. p. 355. " Sum factus salvus, " sum Jilius Dei, et hceres Dei, quia sum haptizatus." Vol. vi. p. 553. " Baptismus infantium defensus et or- " natus est multorum scriptis apud nos Sentimus '* eos in Baptismo fieri Jilios Dei, accipere Spiritum <' Sanctum, et manere in gratia Dei, tamdiu quoad non **' effimdunt eum peccatis actualibus, ea aetate, qute jam " dicitur rationis compos." Melanct. Opera, vol. iv. p. 6Q^. '^ Volo pios firmos et infirmos accedere ad Bap- " tismum infantium in suis Ecclesiis, .... quia in eo " coetu sunt adhuc allqui electi et sancti, ut pueri ; et " aiiqui adulti recte sentientes, sed infirmi, qui tamen *' sunt membra Christi" Melanct. Epist. in Opusc. Calvini. But while they asserted the fact, they denied, that any efficacy is attributable to the Sacrament itself. " Sophistae quoque nugantur, cum disputant, Qiiomodo ** Baptismus justificet. Nam Thomas et Bonaventura *' sentiunt, quandam viriutcm efficicndi a Deo aqucc in- 410 NOTES ON SERMON VIL *' dziam, cum baptizatur infans, ut ita aqua Baptismi *' sua virtute creet justification em. Contra nos dicimus, ** Aquam esse aquam.'^ Opera Lutheri, vol. vi. p. 52. " Papistae somniant etiam parvulis infundi gratiam vir- ** tute Sacramenti. Hoc est falsissimum, quia virtute ^^ promissionis salvantur, et accipiunt Spiritum Sanctum, " quia dixit Christus, ' Sinite parvulos ad me venire. * Talium enim est regnum coelorum.^' lb. p. 6^6, Page 157, note (15), " Alii fingunt Deum sedere in coelo, et scriberey«- ** tales leges, quasi in tabulis Parcarum, secundum quas *' velit distribuere virtutes et vitia, sicut Stoici de fato " suo sentiebant, et cogitant fatali motu impelli Pari- " dem, et similes. Sed nos, abjectis his delirame7itis *' humance caliginis^ referamus oculos et mentem ad " testimonia de Deo proposita. Sciamus Deum esse ** agentem vere liberum, et tantum velle bona, nee velle *' peccata Removeamus igitur a Paulo Stoicas " disputationes, quae fidem et invocationem evertunt. " Quomodo enim potest Saul credere aut invocare, cum *^ dubitat promissionem ad se pertinere, aut cum obrepit " ilia tabula Parcarum ?" Loci Theolog. de Praedest. *' Deus non est crudelis et immitis tyrajinus, non odit, *' non abjicit homines, sed amat; sicut nos solemus *' amare ex nobis natos, non propter lucrum aut nie- '' rita, sed quia odisse ex nobis natos non possumus. Lutheri Opera, vol. iv. p. 322. I have remarked, (Serm. IL note 21.) that the doc- trine of necessity, maintained in the first edition of the Loci Theologici, was expunged from it by Melancthon in the year 1535, and that of contingency substituted for it; but the amended work of that year, when the remark was made, I had not seen. I have since, how- ever, met with it in a volume of his writings printed at Basil in 1541. It avows the tenet of contingency in the most unequivocal terms: '^ Exercuit Ecclesiam NOTES ON SERMON VII. 411 " aliquoties et magnas tragoedias excitavit utraque dis- " putatio de causa peccati, et de contingentia. Et de " utraque re multa colligunt homines acuti inextrica- " bilia et ahsurda. Quae quoniam habent aliquid peri- '' culi, monendi sunt juvenes, ut, omissis illis infinitis " disputationibup, potius quaerant simplicem ac piam " sententiam utilem religioni et moribus, in qua resistant, " nee sinant se ab ea illis disputationum prsestigiis ab- " duci. Est autem haec pia et vey-a sententia utraque " manu ac verius toto pectore tenenda, quod Deus non " sit causa peccati, et quod Deus non velit peccatum. " Sed causae peccati sunt voluntas diaboli, et voluntas " hominis Constituta autem hac sententia, quod " Deus non sit causa peccati, plane scquittcr contingen- *' tiam concedendam esse Est autem libertas volun- " tatis causa contingentise nostrarum actionum '' Nee invehenda sunt in Ecclesiam delir anient a de Stoico ^'fato^ aut -575^) avayxyjV, quia sunt inextricabilia, et in- '^ terdum nocent pietati et moribus Ab his opinio- " nibus decet pios abhorrere auribus atque animis." Opera Melanct. Basil. 1541. p. 463. In the 18th note also of the same Sermon, I have re- presented Beza as incorrect in stating, that Melancthon began in the year 1552 to censure the advocates of Stoicism, and thus indirectly to point at the Reformers of Geneva. From the above however it appears, that he reprobated the idea of introducing such a doctrine into the Church, before Calvin was distinguished either as an Author, or a Reformer. It should be added, that, in his later works of almost every description, contingency is repeatedly alluded to, and strenuously defended. Page 157, note (16). The sentiments of Luther upon universal grace are clearly expressed in his epistolary correspondence, as well as in his more public productions. From the for- 412 NOTES ON SERMON VIL mer, even of an early date, Seckendorf gives a quotation exactly to the point : '•' Clarius discimus,'* the histo- rian observes, " ex epistola egregia 20. Jul. ad insignem ** quendam virum in Saxonia inferiori, qui iisdeni de " praedestinatione cogitationibus angebatur, hoc anno *' (1528) Germanice scripta, quae habetur torn. iv. alt. ** f. 428. et seq. ' In hac praesupponendo frcescivisse et * decrevisse Deum omnia, et sic etiam salutem aut ' damnationem hominuni, sciendum tamen esse dicit, * Deum ab aeterno serio voluisse et decrevisse, ut omnes ' homines salvi essent^, et aeterno gaudio potirentur.* " Allegat dictum Ezcch. xviii. £3. ' Si igitur vult, ut * peccatores sub quocunque coeli climate degant, con- * vertantur a viis et vivant, non est indulgendum sug- * gestis a diabolo cogitationibus, ut seiparemus, nos ab * ilia gratia Dei, quae est secundum aJtitudincm coeli a ' te}Ta, ab ortu ad occidentem. Ps. ciii. 11, 12. Itaque * omnes poenitentes et auxilium ejus rogantes obum- * brat : dives enim est in oimies, qui invocant ilium. * Rom. X. 12.' Allegat electionem Dei Ephes. i. * 9. traditam : ' ab ilia," dicit, " non a lege et ratioci' " natione incipiendum esse.' Provocat ad angelum gau- *' dium omni populi annuntiantem, Luc. ii. 10. ' Non * est restringenda,'' ait, ^^ geiieralis promissio, qua gratiam * bonis, malis, parvis, magnis^ frigidis, calidis, aridis, * et viridibus ofFert ; non est arctanda ad illos, qui, ta- ^ laribus stolis induti, pii et sancti esse volunt.' De- " nique, ne ilia universalitas in abusum vertatur, fol. " 931. concludit cum distinctione loquendum esse, et " clare, ' Si Evangelium," ait, '^ et verbum Dei accipis, ' illi inhseres, ejus promissionem tibi applicas, et in hac * fide ad jinem usque "perseveras, salvaberis; sin minus, * in geternum damnaberis." Seckendorf, vol. i. lib. ii. sect. 43. §. 5. In his Commentaries, and other writings, the same idea often occurs : ** Quod autem Christum non omnes NOTES ON SERMON VII. 413 *« accipiunt, ipsorum culpa fit, quod non credunt, et ** indulgent diffidentiae suse. Interim manet sententia '' Dei ct promissio universalis, quod Deus omnes ho- " mines vult salvos esse Ecce colligendi studium, *' ut omnes colligat. Sed huic voluntati Dei ohsistunt ** increduli, cum verbo parere et id accipere nolu7it. " Itaque tantum reliquiae Israel colliguntur, et salvan- " tur." Vol. iv. p. 441. " Tantum per hunc salvato- " rem haec liberatio omnibus constituenda est. Salva- *^ tor hie non ejusmodi est, qui propter quosdarn, et " propter quosdam non, venerit. Paravit Deus, inquit, " hoc salutare non ante quornndam, sed ante faciem ** omnium populorum Simeonis non obscura verba '* sunt, quod Deus salutare paraverit ante faciem om- " nium populorum, in quo salutem et vitam omnes con- *' sequuntur. De hac igitur voluntate evidentissime " coll igitur juxta Paulum, 1 Tim. ii. ' Quod Deus velit * omnes homines salvos fieri,' non corporali tantum " salute, verum aelerna, contra peccatum et mortem. '' Nam Jmc illud salutare destinatum est, quod Deus " omnibus populis paravit. Quis igitur hunc Deum *' metuat, quis ad ejus judicium expavescat, cum suam *' voluntatem de nostra salute cupidissimam declaret, ac *' qui omnia ad salutem necessaria suppeditet ? Quod *' vero plerique pereunt, et salutare id non conse- '^ quuntur, non haec cidpa voluntatis divines est, verum ^^ pervicacicB humance, quae voluntatem Dei aspernatur, ^' salutare Dei non curat, quod a Deo destinatum est, " ut omnes salvet. Si omnibus mendicis sublevatio " egestatis suae proponerctur, et tamen certi essent, qui " hoc beneficio uti nolle nt ; non culpa eorum esset, qui *« donant, sed qui accipere nollent" Postilla Domestica, p. 67. " Nam quid huic responderet, cui nos hoc testi- *« monium ferre oportet, quod nobis suum Filium dede- *' rit, universam gratiam in Baptismo et Evangelio nobis ^< exhibuerit?" Jbid. p. 218. Deus mundum sic dilex- 414. NOTES ON SERMON VII. <' erit, ut Filium suiim unigenitum traderet. De hoc " res certa est, quod mundus non significat Mariam, '^ Petrum, Paulum, Verum mundus significat totum " genus mortalium simul. Itaque si credis te hominem " ^55^5 aut si hoc nondum sentis, si te cum aiiis confers, *^ ut te hominem esse intelligas, cur te sub hoc vocabulo " venire non poteris, cum Christus claris verbis dicat, " Deum Filium suum non sokim sanctce Marice, aut " Pefro, aut Pauloy verum mundo tradidisse, ut omnes '^ eum accipiant, qui tantum j^lii hominum sunt ? . . . . " Universe mundo hoc donum destinatum estT Ibid. p. n4. The universality of the Gospel promise, in its most enlarged sense, was likewise inculcated by Melancthon, who distinctly assumed it as a principal basis of Scrip- tural predestination. It perpetually recurs, often in the same words, and always to the same effect, in almost all his productions. " Duo autem sunt consideranda in '* promissione Evangelii, videlicet, quod et gratis pro- ** mittit justitiam, et quod promissio est universalis. ** Nam haec duo exercent humanos animos. Disputa- ** mus alias de dignitate, nos ideo non esse electos, quia '^ simus indigni. Alias disputamus de particularitate ,• '^ etiamsi digni essemus, tamen Deum suos quosdam " elegisse, quibus fuerit cequior. Ideoque negamus '^ nobis sperandam esse salutem, quia fortasse non " simus in eo numero. Utraque imaginatio repudianda *' est^ et magnopere prodest adversus eas diligenter mu- ** nire pias mentes. Ideo neque dignitatem nostram " respicere debemus, neque ex universali promissione ^^ particularern efficere. Sed singuli nos in illam uni- " versalem includamus. Cum igitur de electione angi- " mur, aut disputamus, non ordimur a nostris supputa- " tionibus^ vel a lege, sed a promissione Evaiigelii. Si *' quis extra Evangelium causam quserit electionis, is '' non potest non errare, Ideo non sinamus nos ab NOTES ON SERMON VII. 415 " Evangelio avelli, ac ceeteras supputationes procul re- "jiciamus/* Loci Theolog. de Praedest. Ed. 1535. " Ut praedicatio poenitentiae universalis est, et omnes " arguit, ut Rom. iii. clare dicitur ; ita et promissio gra- *' tice est universalis^ ut multa dicta testantur " Quare non deflectamus oculos atque animos a pro- '' missione imiversali, sed in banc nos includamus, et " sciamus vere in ea voluntatem Dei expressam esse " Removeamus igitur a Paulo Stoicas disputationes, '' quae fidem et invocationem evertunt Adversus *' has im agin ati ones discamus voluntatem Dei ex Evan- " gelio, agnoscamus promissionem esse universalem^ ut " fides et invocatio accendi possit.'' Ibid. Ed. 154-5. *^ Prodest piis tenere, quod promissio sit universalis^ nee " deberaus de voluntale Dei aliter judicare, quam juxta *' verbum revelatum.'' Opera, vol. iv. p. 499. *' Est au- " tern utraque concio universalis, praedicatio poenitentiae " et promissio. Utrique igitur omnes assentiamur, " agamus poenitentiam, credamus omnes in Filium, nee " disputemus de alia arcana voluntate, r\ec Jingamus in " Deo contradict ornas voluntates." Vol. ii. p. 347. '' Si- " militudo de luto et Jigulo non hoc vult, nihil agere " impios, sed eatenus convenit, quod ex una massa generis " liumani Deus alios suo judicio salvat, alios damnat. " Causae in similitudine non omnino accommodari pos- " sunt. Tenenda est enim sententia, quod Deus non sit '' causa peccati. Retinendum et hoc est, quod promissio " sit universalis^^ Vol. iii. p. 1017. " Scepe autem dixi, ^* necessariam esse considerationem particulae universalis, ** ut unusquisque se in promissionem imiversalem in- ^* cludat, nee fingat in Deo t^go(rM'7roXYi^l;iav, aut contra- " dictorias voluntates." Vol. iv. p. 168. How differently Melancthon interpreted the celebrated passage, " Non '^ est acceptio personarum apud Deum,'* from Calvin, will appear by the following quotation : *' Contra banc " mensuram facere inaequalitas est, quae est injiista ut 416 NOTES ON SERMON VIL '^ tyrannu, Ideo cum dicitur, apud Deum non est ac- '' ceptio personarum, tribuitur ei laus jiistiticE et CEqua- " litatiSi cujus base mensura est. Universaliter irascitur " Deus peccato in homine, et universaliter accipit omyies " ad Mediatorem confugientes. Hanc mensuram suo ** sapientissimo et justissimo consilio sanxit, et vult im- *' motam esse. Ac fingere, quod non servet hanc sequa- " litatem, est tribuere ei 'STgoa-coTrokYi^loiv. Ideo et Paulus ^' inquit, ' Deus vult omnes salvos fieri :' id est, cequalis " est omnibus juxta mensuram, quam instituit. Et '* qtwd ad ipsius voluntatem attinet, vult onuies homines " sah OS facer e, sed multi 5M« culpa obiatum beneficium " non accipiunt." Vol. iv. p. 71. See vol. i. p. 23. vol. iii. p. 434-, p. 777, p. 1014. vol. iv. p. 86, p. 160, p. 162, p. 173. The same argument likewise is clearly and forcibly urged in an Exposition of the Nicene Creed, (vol. i. p. 420.) which Melancthon sent to Cranmer in the year 1550. Calvin's sentiments upon the point are clearly ex- plained in his Institute : " Jam et tertia absurditate " Dei prsedestinationem infama7it ejus adversarii. Quum " enim non alio referamus, quam ad divinse voluntatis " arbitrium, quod universali exitio eximantur, quos in " regni sui hosredes Deus assumit, ex eo colligunt, " apud ipsum ergo esse acceptionem personarum " Alio sensu negat Scriptura Deum esse personarum ac- " ceptorem, quam quo ipsi judicant, siquidem persons <* vocabulo non hominem significat, sed quae m Jiominum " oculis conspicua, vel favorem, gratiam, dignitatem, '' conciliarc, vel odium, contemptum, dedecus conflare " Solent." Lib. xxiii. sect. 10. " Quaxefalso et pessime " Deum incequalis justitice insimulant nonnulli, quod " non eundem erga omnes tenorem in sua praedestinatione " servat." Ibid. sect. 11. Page 158, note (i7). The idea of grace being offered to all, but commu- NOTES ON SERMON VII. 417 nicated only to a few, (the principal hinge of the Cal- vinistical predestination,) was strongly reprobated by Luther. " Curiosis in posteriore sententia, ' Miilti simt * vocati, pauci electi,' magna materia absurdilatis et im- " piarum cogitationum est. * Quos Deus eligit, neces- ' sario salvantur ; e contra vcro, quos non eligit, quic- * quid etiam fecerint, qualecunque pietatis studium prie- * stent, tamen exitium cicclinare non poterunt, neque ' salutem consequentur. Proinde ergo nie ncccssilati * non opponam. Si ita destinatum est, ut salver, salva- * bor; sin minus, irritum erit, quicquid conatus fuero.' *' Omnes facile judicare possunt, quanta perversitas tt " dissolutio ex cogitationibus hisce imjnisemerg'Cii " Quomodo nostra pernicie dclectari posset, cum niliil " omnium rerum pra^termittit, ut horainibus vitam et '^ salutem instauret? Atque hie demum verus adilus ad " Deum est, sicut Christus etiam de hoc concionatur, " Joan. iii. ' Sic Deus dilexit mundum, ut Filium suum ' unigenitum traderet, ut omnis credens in eum non ' pereat, sed habeat vitam teternam.' Verum, si nunc " has cogitationes cum superioribus de praedestinatione *' conferantur, id certo deprehendetur, priores ex dia- " holo esse, quae hominibus cum exitiali scandalo sunt, ut " vel nunc desperent, vel oninem vercc pietatis sensinn ab- ^' jiciant. Nam de Dei bona voluntate erga se nulla fi- " ducia esse potest. " Alii sunt, qui hsec verba sic interpretantur : Multl " sunt vocati ; id est, Deus midtis suam gratiam qfjcrt ; '^ pauci vero sunt electi ; id est, C2im paucis suam gra- '^ tiam communicate nam pauci salvantur. Valde impia " haec sententia est. l!^am quis non Deum suvime oderit, ^* si de Deo non aliter sentiat, quam ejns voluntatis culpa ^^Jieri, ut non salvemur.'' Postilla Domestica, p. 57. For the remainder of this passage see note 23. Page 158, note {}% " Quia a lege et coUatione meritorum disceditur, dis- E e 418 NOTES ON SERMON VII. i< putat mens Deum esse personarum acceptorem ; ex " toto genere humano qiiosdam excerpcre, quos sibi ad- '' jungat, cceteros pares rejicere. Talis eleclio sine causis *' videtur tyrannica. Huic tentationi opponatur uni- " versalis promissio, quae testatur Deum ofFerre omnibus ** salutem, nee dubium est^ mandatum esse Dei, ut huic ** promissioni omnes credant ; Item ut omnes audiant " Filium Dei. Quos igitur eligit ? Eligit eos, qui se " sustentant promissione, quae propter Filium proposita " est. Quanquam igitur non jpropter hominum merita " eligit, tamen discrimen est inter eos, qui recipiuntur, *< et caeteros." Melancth. Opera, vol. iii, p. 683. " Est *' iffitur in voluntate Dei causa electionis miscricordia et *' 7neritum Christie sed concurrere oportet apprehensionem *^ nostram. Cum enim promissio gratiae sit universalis, ut " manifestum est, et necesse sit nos obedire promissioni, *' aliquod discrimen inter electos et rejectos a voluntate " nostra sumendum est^ videlicet, repiignantes promissioni '' rejici; e contra vero amplectentes promissionem recipi." lb. p. 777. " Elegit Deus, qui vocare nos ad Filii agni- ** tionem decrevit, et NxsX'i generi humano suam volunta- '• tem et sua beneficia innotescere. Approhat igitur et ** eligit ohtemper antes vocationi.'' Loci Theolog. de Prae- dest. Nor did Melancthon withhold from the human mind, assisted by divine grace, the ability of turning to God, and embracing his promised mercy. " Certissi- '' mum est ex Evangelio displicere Deo omnes, in qul- " bus non est pcenitentia sen cojiversio Non re- " moretur te hfec imaginatio, quod noTi possis eflficere " conversionem. Imo potes, Deo juvante, et ipse vere " yu\t Juvare, et juvat petentes." Vol. iii. p. 530. From the sentiments of Melancthon upon divine equity, it seems not easy to distinguish these of Bul- linger. " Salvat autem gratuito, quos salvat, per Christ! " videlicet meritum ; perdit item juste et propter pec- NOTES ON SERMON VII. 419 ** cata et impietatem, quos damnat. Velle enim Dei *^ non est tyrannica qucedam et herilis licentia, de qua ** poeta, ^ Sic volo, sic jiibeo, sit pro ratione voluntas;* ** sed Dei voluntas justissima et cequissima est." Bullin- geri Comment, in Roman, p. 61. Page 159, note (19). The Lutherans, always anxious to repress presump- tuous speculation and personal conceit, unambiguously taught, that we may fall from grace both totally and Jinally, " Non sunt frigide et oscitanter suspicienda ** haec verba, ' A gratia excidistis;' sunt enim valde em- *^ phatica. Qui excidit a gratia, amittit simpliciter ex- ^' piationeyn, remissioiiem peccatorum^ justitiam, liherta- '' tem^ vitam, &c. quam Christus sua morte et resur- " rectione nobis emeruit. Et vicissim acquirit in locum '' illoruinii iram et judicium Dei, peccatum, mortem^ ser- " vitutem diaboli, ac damnationem cEternam^^ Luth. Oper. vol. V. p. 405. " Quid igitur, inquies, de his " exemplis statuemus ?" (viz. the reprobation of Ham after a previous and long possession of divine favour : " nisi credidisset et orasset, nisi timuisset De?im, neuti- *' quam esset servatus in area, tamen postea reprobatur'^) *' nihil aliud quam quod proposita nobis sunt ad instil- *' landum nobis timorem Dei, ne putemus post semel " acceptam gratiam, nos non posse iterum a gratia ex- ^' cidere." Vol. vi. p. 98. " Cseterum si sectarii quidam '' orirentur, quorum nonnuUi jam forsan adsunt, et tem- " pore seditionis rusticanae mihi ipsi in conspectum <* veniebant, sentientes omnes eos, qui semel Spiritum aut *^ remissionem peccatorum accepissent, et credentes facti *^ essent, etsi deinde peccarent^ manere tamen in Jide, et *' peccatum ipsis nihil oh esse : hinc voces ipsorum; ^ Fac *• quidquid lubet, modo credas, nihil tibi nocet,Jides omnia * peccata delet, &c. :' addunt praeterea ; ' Si quis post fi- ' dem et Spiritum acceptum peccet, eum nunquam Spi- * ritum et Jidem vere habuisse :* et tarn insanos homines E e 2 420 NOTES ON SERMON VII. ^« vkli, et audivi multos, et vereor, ne adhuc in non- <' nullis dcemon iste latitaiis habitet : si igitur, inquam, *^ tales in j)osterum etiam orirentur, sciendum et docen- «' dum est, quod, si sancti, qui originale peccatum ad- " hue habere se sentiunt, et quotidie de eo poenitent, " et cum eo luctantur, insuper ruant in manifesta pec- ^' cata, ut David in adulterium, homicidium, et blas- '' phemiam, eos excutere Jideni et Spiritum sanctum''' Smalcald, Art. de falsa poenitentia, anno 1537. Seckendorf remarks, that Luther, Bugenhagius, and Melancthon jointly expressed their disapprobation of a certain production, because the author of it had con- templated predestination in a dangerous point of view, and had maintained, that the elect lose not the Holy Spirit, when they fall into manifest crimes. " Asse- " verant autem," he adds, " se semper unanimiter in om- " nibus Ecclesiis contrarium docuisse ; nempe, si quis '* sanctus et fidelis sciens et ex proposito contra prae- '• cepta Dei peccet, non amplius esse sanctum, sed veram ^'Jidem et Spir^itum safictum abjecisse,'' Vol. ii. lib. iii. p. 135. Upon such a principle then Luther conceived, that many begin well, but fail in the midst of their Christian labours ; " Multi prceclare incipiunt, sed in " medio iessijlnem deserimt ;'' vol. v. p. 67. and that it is impossible to determine who will remain faithful : *' Non potest quidem certo demonstrari, quis futurus " posthac sit, aut mansunis inter eos, quos Christo dedit «« Pater." Seckendorf, vol. ii. p. 85. In the Saxon Confession likewise the same subject is directly noticed. '' Manifestum est aliquosrenatos con- ^' tristare et excutere Spiritum Sanctum, et rursus ab- ^^jici a Deo, ac fieri reos irce Dei, et ceternarumpcenarum. <^ Cum igitur homines non retinent fidem .... aut *' violant uUum praeceptura Dei contra conscientiam, ^^ effundunt Spiritum sanctum, et rursus fiant r^z ircB " Dei et pcence cBternce ; et nisi fiat conversio, tales mo- NOTES ON SERMON VII. 421 *^ rientes ahjiciuntur in ccternas pcenas.^^ De Discrimine Peccati. Thus too, for the express purpose of prov- intr, that a fall from grace may be final, as well as total, Melancthon frequently referred to the example of Saul. " Exempla cogitemus Saulis ct Davidis, qui et beneficia, " quae recensui, tenuerunt ante lapsum, et post lapsuni " exuti tantis bonis, poenas senserunt, quas recitavi. Et " Saul pj'orsus periit, oppressus ccternis pcenis ; David " vero rursus ad Deum conversus est/' Loci Theolo- temperantes vocationi." Loci Theolog. de Prasdest. p. 475. See also p. 473. As nothing of this kind appears in the writings of Calvin, but much in those of Melancthon, can we pos- sibly doubt, to which the eye of our Reformers was directed ? It should moreover be observed, that Cran- mer was probably induced to draw up this very form upon the topic of predestination by a suggestion of the latter, who, when consulted by him (in the year 1548) respecting the compilation of a public Creed, thus ad- verted to the subject : " Nimis horridae fuerunt initio '' Stoicae disputationes apud nostros de fato, et disci- ^* plina3 nocuerunt. Qjiare te rogo, iit de tali aliqua ''^formula docirince cogites^ See Serm. II. note 6. p. 223. This last clause of the Article has been usually de- nominated a caveat. If by such an expression it be meant, that after having been taught to believe in an NOTES ON SERMON VIIL 439 absolute, we are required to act upon the principle of a conditional, predestination, there certainly appears a " manifest impropriety in the term. For, according to Melancthon, the universality of the divine promises, and that will of God, equally inclined to the salvation of all men, which is truly revealed to us in the word of God, form the principal foundation of the whole system. And indeed, if we turn to the first amended edition of his Loci Theologici, we perceive, that he originally inculcated the universality of the Gospel promise, solely with a view to counteract the idea of a particular election upon motives of personal partiality. See Serm. VII. note 22. p. 426. Perhaps the passage under consideration cannot be better explained, than in language similar to that, in which Bucer expressed Melancthon's leading senti- ments. '•' Furthermore, we must receive'^ [embrace^ amplecti) '' the promises of God, in such wise as they " are generally set forth to us in holy Scripture," or, as they are proposed to us all in Scripture, because «//, as Christiam^ arc iiredesiined to salvation, " and in our " doings that will of God is to be followed,'^ or, and therefore we must not conceive, that God has a secret will respecting us, but must cooperate with that "doill of God, (" et Dei voluntas in nostris actionibus ea se- '^ quenda est,") " which we have expressly declared" (7'evealed, revelatam) " to us in the word of God." Page 174-, 7wte (7). Consoletur nos in tentatione praedestinationis, qua vix alia est periculosior, quod promissioncs Dei sunt umwexsoXesJidelihus, Confessio Helvetica, de Praedest. Page 175, note (8). " Wherefore wc being thus persuaded o^ the good will " of our heavenly Father towards this infant, declared " by his Son Jesus Christ, Sec." Office of public Bap- tism. ** Doubt ye not therefore, but earnestly believe, Ff4 440 NOTES ON SERMON VIIL ** that he hath likewise fa-vourahly received this present *' infant, that he hath embraced him laith the arms of his " mercy i that he hath given to him the blessing of eteriial " life^ and made him fartaher of his everlasting king- *' dom.'^ Office of private Baptism. Editions of 1549 and 1552. An alteration of the tense in the concluding part of the last quotation was afterwards adopted, but not by our Reformers themselves. The words, as they now stand, are ; " and (as he has promised in his holy '' word) will give unto him the blessing of eternal life, *^ and maJ{e him partaker of his everlasting kingdom." Nothing more seems to have been originally meant by the expressions, " hath given to him the blessing of eter- '^ nal life," than " hath giveii to him a title to the bless- " ing of eternal life;" and by those which follow, " made him partaker of his everlasting kingdom," than " made him partaker in a right to the enjoyment of his " everlasting kingdom." These passages, however, appear to have been subsequently understood, as if re- ferring to an actual possession, and perhaps on that ac- count solely were at length altered. Page 175, 7iote {'^). In the prayer after Baptism, every child is expressly declared to be regenerated : '' We yield thee hearty '' thanks, most merciful Father, that it hath pleased " thee to regenerate this infant nsoith thy Holy Spirit, " to receive him for thine own child by adoption, and " to incorporate him into thy holy Church." And in the Office of private Baptism it is unreservedly stated, that he " is now by the laver of regeneration in Bap- " tism received into the number of the children of God, " and heirs of everlasting life^^ That all baptized chil- dren are not nominally, but really, the elect of God, our Church Catechism likewise distinctly asserts. Q. '^ Who gave you that name ? A. My Godfathers and ♦' Godmothers in my Baptism, wherein I was made a NOTES ON SERMON VIIL 441 " member of Christ, the child of God, and an inheritor ** of the kingdom of Heaven 1 learn to believe in '^ God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth mc, and all the '^ elect people of God J^ Nor is the position, that an actual regeneration al- ways takes place, confined to our Baptismal service, but also subsequently recognized in the Order of Con- firmation, the first prayer of which thus commences : " Almighty and everlasting God, who hast vouchsafed *' to regenerate these thy servants by water, and the Holy '* Ghost, &c." Surely it requires something more than a common share of ingenuity to pervert language like this from its plain, grammatical sense, into one directly repugnant. See p. 377. for the doctrine of our Ho- milies on the same point. Page 176, yiote (lo). No man, perhaps, was ever less scrupulous in the adoption of general expressions, but, perhaps, no man adopted them with more mental reservations, than Calvin. To his conduct in this particular, upon the point of Baptismal efficacy, I have already alluded in Serm. III. note \6, With such a disposition, how- ever, he certainly was very sparing in his use of them, when he composed his office of Baptism. He indeed admitted, that the children of Christians are included with their parents in the Covenant of Christianity; but this he asserted to be the case isoithout Baptism, and considered as solely applicable to an exteriial Cove- nant. Hence the Assembly of Divines, in their cele- brated Directory of 164-4, who almost literally trans- lated his language, and correctly expressed his mean- ing, directed the minister to shew " . . . . that the pro- " mise is made to believers, and their seed, and that " the seed and posterity of the faithful, born within ^' the Church, have, by their birth, interest in the ^' Covenant, and right to the scat of it, and to the out- U^ NOTES ON SERMON VIIL " ward privileges of the Church That children '' by Baptism are solemnly received into the bosom of «« the visible Church, &c." Directory, p. 22. ed. 1546. With Calvin's principle therefore, that, although all children are outwardly incorporated into Christ's Church, some only are inwardly regenerated by the Spirit, the following declaration in our Baptismal ser- vice is utterly inconsistent : " Seeing now, dearly be- ^* loved, that this child is rege?ierated, and grafted into " the body of Christ's Church ;" words, which unequi- vocally convey the idea of a participation as well in the internal, as in the external, privileges of the Gospel Cove- nant. When regeneration is supposed to take place, according to his creed, we learn from the Articles of Concord between the Churches of Zurich and Geneva, drawn up in the year 1549, which observe; " Qui i?t ** prima infantia baptizati sunt, eos in pueritia, vel in- *' eunte adolescentia, interdum etiam in senectute, rege- '* nerat Deus." Art. 20. Opusc. p. 1038. These were the Articles of Concord, which gave so much offence to Melancthon, (see Serm. VII. note 20.) and one of which he indignantly erased from the copy shewn to him. Nor is it difficult, perhaps, to point out the offen- sive passage. That it was the following seems almost certain, because no other relates to the subject of pre- destination: " Praeterea sedulo docemus, Deum 7ion ii ■projnisciie vim suam exerere in omnibus, qui Sacra- ^' menta recipiunt, sed iantum in electis. Nam quemad- ** modum non alios in fidem illuminat, quam quos pra- " ordinavit ad vitam^ ita arcana Spiritus sui virtute " efficit, ut percipiant electi^ quae ofFerunt Sacramenta." Art. 16. The full extent, then, of Calvin's charity on this occasion, it is not difficult to estimate. What that of Beza's subsequently was, who imbibed all the spirit, but not all the prudence, of his master, appears from NOTES ON SERMON VIII. 443 a public conference, which he held with the Lutherans in the year 1586. " Idem," he then remarked, in " Baptismo fit, quern niulta millia infantum accipiunt, " qui tamen nunquam regciicranttir, sed iii cctcrnum '^ pereunty Acta Colioquii Montisbcll/ p. 393. ed. 1613. Page 176, note (H). In the year 1543, Mclancthon and Bucer drew up a reformed Lilurg}^, and with it an exposition of several controverted points of fiiith, for the use of the Arch- bishopric of Cologne. From this work the occasional services of our own Church, where they vary from the ancient forms, s^em principally to have been derived. It was not, however, itself original, but in a great de- gree borrowed from a Liturgy previously established at Norimberg. This appears from the epistles of Me- lancthon. *' Scripsi vobis antea, Episcopum secutu- *^ rum essejbr?nam ISorimhergensem, Eratque ante meum " adventum institutus liber, ad exemplum Norimber- " gense, Retinuit pleraque Bucerus ; quosdam Arti- " culos auxit, ut est copiosus. Mihi, cum omnia rele- " gissem, attribuit Articulos -crs^t r^iwf uTrofacrewv, de *' creatione, de peccato originis, de justitia fidei et " operum, de Ecclesia, de poenitentia. In his con- " sumpsi tempus hactenus, et legi de caeremoniis Bap- ** tismi, et coenae Domini, quae ipse composuit. Arbi- ^' tror paene finitum esse opus." Ep. p. 546. " Post- *^ quam veni Bonnam, intellexi Episcopum dedisse man- *^ datum, ut forma doctrinae et rituum proponenda ** Ecclesiis conscribatur, et quidem ad exemplum No- " rimhergensis formcc" M. Luthero, Ibid, p: 91. It should be observed, that the author of the Reformation at Norimberg was not Osiander, but Winceslaus Lincus, who settled there in the vear 1525. Gerdes. Introduc- tio, vol. i. p. 243. All our Offices bear evident marks of having been 444 NOTES ON SERMON VIII. partly taken from this work ; liberally imitating, but not servilely copying it. In our Baptismal service the resemblance between the two productions is parti^ cularly striking ; nor in the Cologne form is the doc- trine of universal regeneration and election in Baptism less prominent, than in our own. The sense of the following passages cannot easily be mistaken. " Bap- tismus est Sacramentum regenerationis, quo Christo Domino inserimur, incorporamur, sepelimur in mor- tem ejus, induimur eo, et efficimur per eum Jilii et hceredes Dei." Nostra Hermmmi^ &c. simplex ac pia Deliberatio, &c. p. 69. ed. 1545. " Sed Deus Pater, pro inefFabili sua misericordia erga genus Immanum^ Filium sumn misit, ut mundum servaret, quare etiam et lios infantes servatos vult. Ille peccata totius mun- di tulit, et tarn parvulos, quam nos adultos, a pecca- tis, morte, diabolo, et aeterna damnatione liberavit, et salvos fecit, qui voluit sibi offerri parvulos, ut iis benedictionem impartiretur. Quare pro immensa Christiana pietate vestra hunc jpuerum assumite, et ad Christum adducite, et offerte piis vestris precibus^ quo peccatorum suorum ab illo consequatur remis- sionem, transferatur in regnum gratiae, ereptus e ty- rannide Satanse, et constituatur hcEres ceternce salutis. Et vobis certissimum sit, Domiimm nostrum Jesum Chris- turn hoc opus charitatis vestrcs erga hunc infantem cle- mentissime respecturum," p. 71. '^ Wherefore we being thus persuaded of the good will of our heavenly Father towards this infant, declared by his Son Jesus Christ, and nothing doubting, hut that he favourably alloweth this charitable work of ours, &c." " His verbis et huic facto Domini nostri Jesu Christi super iWosfidem habete, nee dubitate eum et vestros infantes sic in sacra baptismate suscepturum, et complexurum esse id7iis mise- ricordia: sua:, et benedictionem vitce ceternce, et sempi- ternam regni Dei communionem iis collaturum,'" p. 72* NOTES ON SERMON VIll. 445 ' Doubt ye not therefore, hut earnestly believe, that he ywill likewise favourably receive this present infant; ' that he mil embrace him with the arms of his mercy ,• ' that he will give unto him the blessing of eternal life; ' and make him partaker of his everlasting kingdom,'* ' Itaque ex baptismate certo statuimiis, nos Deo accep- ' tos et foedere gratiae sempiterno ei conjunctos esse." p. 72. " Debent pastores subinde accuraiius et soli- * dius explicare et excutere ratum habere Deum bap- ' tisma infantinm 7iostrorwn, infantes per baptismum * adoptare in flios, et constituere hceredes gratice suce et * vitce ceternce,'' p. 75. '' Quod cum fecerint, ne du~ * bitent infantem suum vere baptizatum, peccatis ablu- ^ turn, in Christo renatum, et flium hceredemque Dei 'factum esse.'' p. 77. " Ex his ergo Christi verbis ' certi sumus infantes, quicunque Christo juxta verbum * ejus oiFeruntur, pertinere ad regnum Dei, esse flios ' Dei, membra Christi." Ibid. " Hunc igitur infantu- ' lum filium et hceredem Dei, fratrem et cohceredem * Christi, membrum Christi, et vestrum in Christo, &c." p. 78. That these passages express something more than the language of hope, will not, perhaps, be contro- verted. It should however be recollected, that when the Lutherans spoke thus certainly of the regeneration and election of every infant in Baptism, they attributed nothing to tlie Sacramental efficacy, but all to the di- vine promise. Hence our Church strongly urges that promise, as the sure and only ground of our confidence. '' Dearly beloved, ye have brought this child to be bap- ^' tized; ye have prayed, that our Lord Jesus Christ ** would vouchsafe to receive him, to release him of his " sins, to sanctify him with the Holy Ghost, to give '* him" (a title to) " the kingdom of Heaven and ever- " lasting life. Ye have heard also, that our Lord Jesus ^' Christ hath promised in his Gospel to grant all these U6 NOTES ON SERMON VIII. *^ things, that ye have prayed for ; whick promise he for '' his part will most surely keep and perform" In the Reformatio Legum Ecclesiosticarum likewise this point is directly noticed : *' Plures item," it is there ob- served, " ab aliis cumulantur errores in Baptismo, quern " aliqui sic attoniti spectant, ut ah ipso illo externo cre- " dant elemento Spiritum Sanctum emergere^ vimque ejus " nomen et virtutem, ex qua recreamur, et gratiam et " reliqua ex eo proficiscentia dona in ipsis Baptismi ^^fonticulis enatare. In summa totam regenerationem ^' nostram illi sacro puteo deberi volunt, qui in sensus ^' nostros incurrunt. Verum salus animarum, instau- " ratio Spiritus, et beneficium adoptionis, quo nos Dcus '^ pro fliis agnoscit, a misericordia divina per Christum " ad nos dimanante, tum etiam ex promissione sacris " in Scripturis apparente, proveniunt.'^ Cap. de Bap- tismo. Page 176, note (i2). It is certain by God's word, that children, which are baptized, dying before they commit actual sin, are undoubtedly saved. Rubrick after the Office of public Baptism. Fage 177, note (i3). The work referred to is " The Institution of a Chris- *« tian Man," published in 1537. " Item, that the pro- " mise of grace and everlasting life (which promise is '' adjoined unto this Sacrament of Baptism) pertaineth " not only unto such, as have the use of reason, but " also to infants^ innocents^ arid, young children^ and that *' they ought therefore, and must needs be baptized, " and that by the Sacrament of Baptism they do also " obtain remission of their sins, the grace and favour of " God, and be made thereby the very sons of God, In- *' somu€h as infants and children, dying in their infancy^ '* shall undoubtedly he saved thereby, and else not." p. 35, The same publication likewise contemplates faith NOTES ON SERMON VIII. U1 and obedience in maturer years, not as the conse- quences, but as the causes of election. " There is, '' and hath been ever from the beginning of the world, *' and so shall endure and continue, a certain number, *•' society, communion, or company, of the elect and *' faithful people of God, of which number our Saviour '' Jesus Christ is the only head and governor, and the " members of the same be all these holy saints^ which *' be now in Heaven, and also all the faithful people of '' God, which be alive, or that ever heretofore have " lived, or shall live in this world, from the beginning ** unto the end of the same, and be ordained, ybr then- " true faith and obedience unto the ivill of God, to *' be saved, and to enjoy everlasting life in Heaven." p. 13. Page lis, note {^^). When our Church maintains the actual regenera- tion of all infants dedicated to Christ in Baptism, it is evident, that at the same time she inculcates the uni- versality of grace. That she equally holds its defecti- bility, not only follows as a consequence of the pre- ceding position, but is itself distinctly and explicitly alluded to: " Grant, that this child, now to be bap- " tized therein, may receive the fulness of thy grace, ^' and ever remain in the number of thy faithfid and " elect children." Office of Baptism. " That as he is " made partaker of the death of thy Son, he may also " be partaker of his resurrection ; so that finally^ (not for a period only) " with the residue of thy holy Church, " he may be an inheritor" (or heir) " of thine everlast- " ing kingdom." The same. " Defend, O Lord, this " thy child with thy heavenly grace, that he may con- *' tinue thine for ever." Order of Confirmation. Page 179, note (i-^). Although Heaven is the gift of Christianity, and by 448 NOTES ON SERMON VIII. becoming Christians we become entitled to it, yet are its rewards solely conferred on persevering virtue : " Grant, that whosoever is here dedicated to thee by ** our office and ministry, may also be endued with " heavenly virtues^ and everlastingly re^arded.^^ Office of Baptism. Page 180, note (16). The impossibility of reconciling the doctrine con- tained in our Liturfjv and Homilies with the Calvin- istical predestination, has been so frequently and ably demonstrated, that a repetition of that argument seems unnecessary. There is, nevertheless, a paragraph in our Burial service, of much importance to the contro- versy, which I have never seen fully elucidated. It is the following ; " Suffer us not, at our last hour, for " any pains of death to fall from thee.'^ The Calvinists endeavour to get rid of the difficulty, which these ex- pressions oppose to their system, by asserting, that they only relate to a fall from a fictitious faith. But the contrary appears to be the fact, if we trace them to their real source. The passage, in which they are found, was taken from a German Hymn of Luther, composed as a kind of poetical paraphrase upon an- other very ancient one in the Offices of the Romish Church. The words of Luther in the latter part of this Hymn are " Heiliger Her re Gott, heiliger star- '* ker Gott, heiliger harmbertziger Heyland, du ewi- " ger Gott, lass uns nicht entfallen von des rechten " glaubens trost." Geistliches Handbuchlein, p. 136. " O Holy Lord God, O holy mighty God, O holy " merciful Saviour, thou God eternal, suffer us not to ^^ fall from the consolatio7i of true faiths To ascertain, therefore, the precise meaning of the terms in our own Liturgy, nothing more seems requisite, than to com- pare them with the original. Indeed, to consider a fall NOTES ON SERMON VIII. 449 Jrom God as meaning a fall from an ideal faith in God, is a species of forced interpretation, in itself not easily admissible. But the language, as well as sentiments, of our Re- formers on this occasion, may be further illustrated by the publications of the preceding reign, lu the Bi- shops' Book it is said ; " Keep us from the inticements *' of the devil, that we consent not to any of his tempt- " ations or persuasions. Keep us, that he by no sug- ** gestion bring us Jio?n the right Jailh, neither cm/sc 7/s ■^^ to Jail into despcratioji, now, nor in the point of death.''' p. 91. And in the King's Book, thus still more di- rectly to the point. " Whether there be any special, ^' particular knowledge, which man by faith hath cer~ ^' tainly of himself, whereby he may testify to himself, ** that he is of the predestinates^ which shall to the end ''' persevere in their calling, we have not spoken ; nor ^ can in Scripture nor doctors find, that any such faith ** can be taught or preached. Truth it is, that in the ^' Sacraments instituted by Christ we may constantly '^^ believe the works of God in them to our present com- *' fort, and application of his grace and favour, with ■'^ assurance also, that he will not fail us, if we fall not '^ from himy Art. of Faith. *' Albeit in this assembly *' of men called by the word of God, and received by ^' faith and baptism, be many evil men, many sinners, *' many that turn by true penance to grace, and yet ^' sometimes fall again, some, after they turn by true ^' penance, still persevere, and increase in goodness ; " many, that fall, and never rise again, &c." 9th art. of the Creed. Perhaps likewise a reference to the Creed of Cranmer, respecting the possibility of perish- infi: in the dreadful hour of affliction and death, may not be deemed unimportant. " In this petition (deliver *' us from evil) we must le^irn both wisdom and pa- ^^ tience : wisdom to beware of sin, when it provoketh 4.50 NOTES ON SERMON VIIL '* us, and in no wise to follow the same ; and patience^, " to suffer willingly the cross, and such afflictions as " God shall send unto us, and to pray God with ferveiit '^ desire, that he siiffer ns not to perish in the same ; but ** mercifully defend us, until such time as it shall please " him clearly to deliver us, which shall be, lichen ive shall " die At that hour we be iji the most dange?' of " all evils and temptations. Wherefore it is most neces- " sary for us, even from our tender age, to pray to our " Lord, that at that last hour he 'will he good and gra- '* ciotis to us, delivering us from all manner of evil." Catechism, p. 210. Page 180, note (i7). The individual opinions of Cranmer upon the sub- ject of predestination, probably because little known, have been seldom adduced. That he thought very dif- ferently from Calvin respecting universal redemption, the extracts, which I have given from his writings, in p. 329. will perhaps be admitted as complete evidence, even by those, who may not esteem them fully satisfac- tory upon the collateral question, for the illustration of which they are there quoted. Neither is it difficult to shew, not only that he further differed from the Re- former of Geneva on the point of final perseverance, but that he held the same doctrine of regeneration and an election in Clu'ist through Baptism, which is so con- spicuous in the Offices of our Church. In his Cate- chism his sentiments are thus delivered : " And we " Christian men, although by Baptism we he made the " children of God, and receive the Holy Ghost, &c." p. 192, '' Here we mean a second hirtli, which is spiritual, " whereby our inward man and mind is renewed of the " Holy Ghost, so that our hearts and minds receive " new desires, which they had not of "cvmx first birth or " nativity. And the second birth is by the water of " Baptism, which Paul calleth tlie laver of regeneration, NOTES ON SERMON VIII. 451 " because our sins be forgiven us in Baptism, and the " Holij Ghost is poured into its, as into God's beloved " children, so that by the j)ower and working of the " Holy Ghost we are born again spiritually, and made " new creatures. And so by Baptism we eriter into the " kingdom of God, and shall be saved for ever, if we " continue to our lives* end in the faith of Christ." p. 214. When speaking of adults, he observes, " All these •' benefits we receive by faith, in the which whosoever '^ continueth unto the end of his lije shall be saved; the " which God grant to us all.'" p. 121. " Take this for *' a sure conclusion, and doubt nothing thereof, that " the Holy Ghost, as he hath begun these thini^s in us, " so he wiWfnish the same, if we obey him, and continue " in faith unto the end of our lives. For he that con- " tinueth unto the end shall be saved." p. 143. Such were his ideas, when our Liturgy was first compiled ; and that they were not afterwards changed, when he became a Zuinglian on the point of the Sacramental presence, we may conclude from the last of his produc- tions, his answer to Gardiner, in which he says; " For '' this cause Christ ordained Baptism in water, that, as '* surely as we feel and touch the water, so assuredly '^ ought we to believe, when we are baptized, that Christ " is verily present with us, and that by him we be newly ^' horn again spiritually, and washed from oar sins, and " grafted in the stock of Christ's own body, and be ap- " pareled, clothed, and liarnessed with him in such '' wise, that as the devil hath no power against Christ, '' so hath he none against us, so long as we remain " g^ofted in that stock, and he clothed, with that apparel, " and he harnessed with that armour J' p. 38. ** The Holy '' Ghost doth not only come to us in Baptism, and Christ " doth there clothe us, but they do the same to us con- " tinually, so long as we dwell in Christ." p. 71. Upon the same points, the universality and defectibi- Gg2 452 NOTES ON SERMON VIII. lity of grace, points utterly incompatible with the Cal- vinistical theory, Latimer seems to have spoken no less decidedly, than Cranmer. On the first head he adopted the following unambiguous mode of expression. " The " promises of Christ our Saviour are general ; they " pertain to all manlcind. He made a general procla- " mation, saying, ' Whosoever believeth in me hath « everlasting life !' Likewise St. Paul saith ; * The * erace and mercies of God exceed far our sins.' " Therefore let us ever think and believe, that the '' grace of God, his mercy and goodness, exceedeth " our sins. Also consider, what Christ saith with his " own mouth ; * Come to me, all ye, that labour, and ' are laden, and I will ease you.' Mark here he saith, 'Come all ye;' wherefore then should any man de- *' spair, to shut out himself from these promises of '' Christ, which be general, and pertain to the "wJiole ^^ ivorld P" Sermons, p. 182. ed. 1584. "Now seeing, " that the Gospel is iiniveisal, it appeareth, that he " would have all mankind saved, and that the fault is " not in him, if we be damned. For it is written " thus ; ' God would have all men to be saved.' His " salvation is sufficient to save all mankind ; but we are " so wicked of ourselves, that we refuse the same, and " we "mil not take it, when it is offered unto us ; and *' therefore he saith ; ' Few are chosen.' p. 3G7. Is it possible for any man at all conversant with the writings of Luther and Melancthon on one side, and with those of Calvin on the other, to hesitate in determining, from which the preceding language was derived ? Nor was he deficient in precision ujion the second head. On this he remarked, " I do not put you in comfort that " if you have once the Spirit, ye cannot lose it. There " be ncix) spirits started up now of late, that say, after " we have received the Spirit, w^ cannot sin. I will " make but one argument. St. Paul had brought the NOTES ON SERMON VIII. 453 ** Galatians to the profession of the faith, and left " them in that state. They had received the Spirit " once, and they simied again If this be true, we " may lose the Spirit, that we have once possessed. It ** is vifoiid thing, I will not tarry in it." p. 81<. *' Who- " soever purposely sinneth, contra conscienliam, against " his conscience, he hatJi lost the Holy Ghost, the re- " mission of sins, and finally Christ himself.'' p. 170. " As there be many of us, which, when we fall willingly " into sin against conscience, we lose the favour of God ^ " our salvation^ and finally the Holy Ghost'' p. 226. *' Tiiat man or woman, that committcth such an act, *' loseth the Holy Ghost, and the remission of sins, and " so becometh the child of the Devil, being before the «' child of God Now he that is led so with sin, he " is in the state of damnation, and sinneth damnably J* p. 227. ^' We may one time be in the book, and *^ another time come out again, as it appcareth by " David, which was written in the book of life. But " when he sinned, he at that same time was out of the *' book of the favour of God, until he had repented, '' and was sorry for his faults. So *we may be iji the " book at one time, and afterward, when we forget " God, and his word, and do wickedly, we come out " of the book, that is out of Christ, who is the book." p. 312. Page 181, note (is). An eminent Calvinistical controversialist of the pre- sent day makes the following concession respecting the opinion of Hooper upon predestination. " Your next " quotation is from Bishop Hooper, and in this single *' point, it is clearly on your side of the question.** Goliath slain, p. 103. The quotations from the writings of Hooper have been generally taken from the preface to his Declara- tion of the Ten Commandments, which seems to have G g 3 454 NOTES ON SERMON VIII. been composed, like the 17th Article of our Church, not to encourage, but repress, all vain speculation, upon what he terms " the disputation of God's jjrovidence/' which he censures as " a curiosity^ and no religion^ a pre- '^ sumj^tioiif and no Jail/i, a let of virtue and a further- " ance of vice'' p. 89. In this preface the subsequent passages, which define the causes of election and repro- bation, (the leading points of the controversy,) are ver- bally translated from Melancthon. " The cause of re- " probation or damnation is sin in man^ which ttvYZ not '•' hear, neither receive the promise of the Gospel. " . . . . This sentence is true^ howsoever man may judge " of predestination. God is not the cause of sin, nor " would have man to sin. ' Thou art not the God, 'that willeth sin.' Psalm v. 4. And it is said; 'Thy * perdition, O Israel, is of thyself, and thy succour only ' of me.' Hos. xiii. 9. Causam reprobationis certum est " hanc esse, videlicet peccatum in hominibus, qui pror- " sus non audiunt, nee accipiunt, Evangelium In " his certum est, causam esse reprobationis peccatum *' ipsorum, et humanam voluntatem. Nam verissima " est sententia, Deum non esse causam peccati, nee velle ''peccatum. Nota est enim vox Psalmi: 'Non Deus ' volens iniquitatem tu es/ Et Hos. xiii. dicitur ; « Perditio tua est Israel. Tantum in me auxilium tuum ' est.' Loci Theolog. de prsed. p. 472. The cause of " our election is the mercy of God in Christ. Howbeit " he that will be partaker of this election, must receive " the promise in Christ by futh, for therefore we be " elected, because afterv/ard we are made the members " of Christ. Therefore as in the justification and re- '• mission of sin, there is a cause, though no dignity at " all in the receiver of his justification, and so we judge " him by the Scripture to be justified and have remis- " sionof his sin, because he received the grace promised " in Christ ; so we judge of election, by the event or ■ NOTES ON SERMON VIII. ^55 " success, that happenclh in tlio life of Jiian, these only " to be elected, that by faith apprehend the mercy pro- '< misedin Christ." " llccte dicitur, causani electionis " esse misericordiam in voluntate Dei Sccl tanicn " in accipienic concurrerc oportet apprehensionem i)ro- " missionis, seu agnitionem Christi. Nam idea elccli " sumus, qtcia efficimur membra Cln-isti. Ergo in jus- " tificatione diximiis aliquam esse in accipiente, caiiscnn, " non dignitatem, sed quia promissionem apprcliendit, *' ita de electione a poslcriorc judicamus, vidcli- " cet hand dubie eh^ctos esse eos, qui misericordiam " propter Christum promissam fide apprehendunt." lb. Pi 473. " John saitl), « No man cometh to me, except ' my Father draw him.' Many men understand these " words in a wrong sense, as though God required in a ** reasonable man no more than in a dead })ost, and " marketh not the words that follow ; * Every man that ' heareth and learneth of my Father cometh to me.' " God draweth with his word and the Holy Ghost, but " matins duty is to hear and learn, that is to say, receive '' the grace offered, consent to the promise, and not re- ^^ pugn the God, that calletli." " Sic cum Joan. vi. dic- " tum esset, ' Nemo venit ad me, nisi l^ater traxerit * eum,' sequitur statim, ' Omnis, qui audit a Patre, et ' discit, venit ad me/ Orditur Deus, et trahit verbo " suo, et Spiritu Sancto, sed audire 7ios ojwrtct, et disce- " re, id est, apprehendere promissionem, i^iassenliri, nun " rcpngnare.'' lb. Nor was the principal object, which Hooper proposed to himself in this adoption of Melanc- thon's ideas, at all obscure ; for in the sentence imme- diately preceding the first quotation lie observes, that it is not the Christian's part " to say God hath written " fatal laws, as the Stoic^ and with necessity of destiny '^ violently lyullcth one man by the hair into heaven, and " thrusteth the other headlong into hell:"' and then adds, therefore " ascertain thyself by the Scripture what be Ggi 456 NOTES ON SERMON VIII. ** the causes of reprobation and what of election. The " cause of reprobation, &c." as before. But in a prior part of the same preface he more fully explains the scope of his whole reasoning. " As the sins of Adam," lie remarks, " without privilege or exception extended *^ unto all and every of Adam's posterity, so did the pi'O- '' mise of grace generally appertain as well to every and *' singular of Adam's posterity, as to Adam St. *' Paul doth by collation of Adam and Christ, sin and '' grace, thus interpret God's promise, and maketh not " Christ inferior to Adam^ nor grace to sin. If all then " shall be saved, what is to be said of those that Peter " speaketh of, that shall perish for their false doctrine? '* And likewise Christ saith ; ' that the gate is strait ' that leadeth to life, and few enter.' Thus the Scrip- " ture answereth, that the promise of grace appertaineth " to every sort of men in the world, and comprehendeth *' them all, howbeit imthin certain limits and bounds, the *' which if men neglect or j^^ss over, they exclude them- " selves from the promise in Christ; as Cain was no " more excluded, till he excluded himself than Abel, " Saul than David, Judas than Peter, Esau than Jacob. *' By the Scripture it seemeth, that tlie sentence of God *^ was given to save the one, and damn the other, be- '' fore the one loved God, or the other hated God. " Howbeit these threatenings of God against Esau, if *' he had not of his oiion iinlful malice excluded himself " from the promise of grace, should no more have hin- " dered his salvation, than God's threatenings against " Nineveh, which, notwithstanding that God said should " be destroyed within 40 days, stood a great time after, *' and did penance.'' Hence it appears, that he sup- posed the will of God to be conditional, which indeed he elsewhere avowed in direct terms. " That God re- '* penteth of the evil he purposed to do unto the Nine- '* vites, we learn, that all the threatenings of God be NOTES ON SERMON VIII. 457 *' conditionally, that is to say, to fall upon u?, if we rc- " pent not of our evil deeds." Sermons on Jonas, Scrm. 7. " Such as be sanctified by Christ, must live " an honest and holy life, or else his sanctification " availeth not; as God forsook the children of Israel, " so will he do us; they were elected to be his people '' 2ipon this condition ; ' Si audiendo audieris voccni * meani, et custodiers pactum meum, eris mihi pecu- * Hum de cunctis populis.' He that favoured not the '* Israelites, but took cruel vengeance upon them, be- " cause they walked not in their vocation, will do, and " doth daily the same unto ns. Therefore one of these " two we must needs do, that say we be justified and *' sanctified in Christ, either from the bottom of our '' hearts amend, or else be eternally lost, with all our " ghostly kfioidedgeJ' A Declaration of Christ and his Office, cap. 10. It is recorded both by Fox and Strype, that violent disputes upon the subject of predestination took place between the Protestant prisoners, (particularly those in the King's Bench,) during the persecution of Mary. The particulars of these disputes, it is generally sup- posed, are now lost. The contrary, however, appears to be the case ; for in the Bodleian Library there is a small Quarto Manuscript, (No. 1972. Cat. MS.) which contains a considerable portion, at least, of the controversy on both sides. As the circumstance is sin- gular and curious, and as the precise opinions of tlie moderate party seem never to have been made public, I shall subjoin a few extracts from their own state- ments. At one period there was a disposition to sign general terms of concord ; upon which occasion Trew, the leader of the Anti-Predestinarians, drew up Arti- cles of Unity, the '1th and 6th of which we find thus expressed : " 4. Also we confess, and believe, and »* faithfully acknowledge, that all salvation, justifica- 458 NOTES ON SERMON Vlll. '^ tion, redemption, and remission of sins, cometli unto " us wholl}' and solely through the mere mercy and " favour of God in Jesus Christ, purchased unto us " through his most precious death and bloodshedding, " and in no part through any of our own merit, works, " or deservings, how many or how good soever they be ; " and that his body was offered to the death once on " the cross for all the sins of Adam, and^o/- all and sin- *' gular of his posterity s sins, how great and many " soever they be ; and that all, that truly repent, un- , *' feignedly believe with a lively faith, and persevere " therein to the end of this mortal life, shall be saved, " and that there is no decree of God- to the contrary, '^ .... 6. Also we do heartily acknowledge, confess, and " believe, and are most assuredly certained by God's most " holy word, that our Lord Jesus Christ's pure religion, " and secret will, revealed in his word, sufficient for '* man's salvation, was in this realm declared and known *^ in good King Edward the Vlth's days, which word " of God was then truly preached and sufficiently taught, " and his Sacraments duly ministered, and of some fol- " lowed ; therefore we acknowledge them in England, '^Christ's true Church visible," MS. p. 124. These Articles, which are given in a short tract, written by Trew, respecting " the cause of contention in the King's " Bench, as concerning the Sects of Religion, the 30th " of January, Ann. Dom. 1555." although intended for mutual subscription, were nevertheless not subscribed by the Predestinarians, who are, on that account, ac- cused of a breach of promise. In the relation of par- ticulars, the writer bitterly inveighs against the princi- ples and conduct of the other side, who, he remarks, so interpreted those texts of Scripture, which warn all who are^ no less than all who are not^ in the favour of God, as if they were only "written to put the elect in fear to " do evil, that their lives might glorify their Father, NOTES ON SERMON VIII. 459 " which is in heaven, and not to put them in fear of " damnation. By this, in effect," he adds, " they af- " firmed those Scriptures to be written in vain, or to " put men in fear, where no fear is; ajjirming in effect, " that the words of the Holy Ghost do no more good, ** than a man of clo^tts^ mth a bow in his hand, doth in " a corn field, which will keep away the vermin crows " awhile; but when they know it, what it is, they will " fall down beside it, and devour the corn without fear." p. 117. He then shortly states his own leadino- senti- ments, and those of his friends, which had given so much offence to the Prcdestinarian party, and produced such unhappy divisions. " For we, that do hold and " affirm the truth, that Christ died for all men, we do " by the holy Scripture satisfy every man, that doth re- " pent, and unfeignedly believe with a lively faith, (that *' he) is in the state of salvation, and one of God's elect '' children, and shall certainly be saved, if he do not " with malice of heart utterly forsake God; .... and as ^* long as he feeleth repentance and hope, and that he " hath a will desirous to do God's will, he is under the '' promise of life, made by God the Father, in and " through his Son Jesus Christ, who hath fulfilled that, *' which was lacking on his jiart. So that he, that '^ through God's gift and assistance do continue to the " end, he shall be saved, though all men in earth, and " devils in hell, say and do v»^hat they can to the con- '* trary. This certainty of our election is sure and agree- " able to the word, but that, which they hold, is not. " Wherefore we durst not, for our lives and souls, for- '* sake this undoubted truth, and grant that, which they " by the word cannot approve to be true. For these " aforesaid causes^ and 7ione other, they did evil us, rail " on us, and call us heretics, cast dust in our faces, and " give sentence of damnation on us, and excommunicated " us, and would neither cat nor drink with us, nor yet 460 NOTES ON SERMON VIII. " bid us God speed, and did keep away such money, as *^ was given them in common to distribute among us, *' that did lie for the truth, and caused us to be locked '' up, that we should speak to nobody by their minds, *' lest we should warn them of their false and erroneous " opinion, and for no other cause, but that our ^' conscience, grounded on God's word, would net suffer " us to be of that scct.'^ p. 119. We see by these Articles of Unity the utmost latitude of expression, which the Anti-Predestinarians deemed admissible. By the following we perceive, with what very heavy " enormities" (as they termed it) they thought the opposite doctrine to be justly chargeable. " 1st " Enormity. That this foul and abominable error of " the Manichees sect, or imagined predestination, is '' most odious against God, for in that it affirmcth, God " ordained and created reprobates, and hardened their " hearts only to do evil, it approveth contrary to the " truth, that there is a 7iatiire or motion to evil in God ; " for it is written, as the workman is, such is the work. •< 2. Also in that it affirmeth, that God ordained some " to be saved, the residue to be damned, before any of " them had done good or evil, it maJceth God partial. ^' 3. Also it maketh God the author of all the sin and " abomination, that is done or committed on the earth, " and clean dischargeth the devil and man thereof; in <^ that it affirmeth, that he ordained and created those " that commit it for that only purpose, the which they " cannot avoid 6. Also in that it affirmeth, that " Christ died not for all men, it defaceth the dignity, " efficacy, and virtue of his passion. 7. Also it maketh " Christ inferior to Adam, in that it affirmeth, that he died " not for as many as Adam damned. 8. Also it maketh *^ grace inferior to sin, in that it affirmeth, that the grace " in Christ was not of power to save all them, that sin *' damned 12. Also it causeth many to live at NOTES ON SERMON VIII. 4G1 u free chance careless, in that it teacheth them, that they " were elected or reprobated before the foundations of ** the world were laid ; and if they be so, that they can- '' not fall ; and if they be not, that their \ijce}migmll *^ not help ]5. Also it destroyeth the certainty of '' our election, and is enough to drive all such as believe " it to despair^ for lack of knowledge, whether Christ " died for them, or not 17. Also it doth put away " and make frustrate the greatest part and principallest " point of the fear of God, in that in efiect it affirmeth, ^•' that none of those, that are 'predestinate and elect, can *' ever more finally perish, do what sin and wickedness " they can 19. Also it maketh God a mocker, in *' that it affirmeth, that he offereth faith to such^ who, " he knoweth, cannot receive it,'^ p. 119. Such were the sentiments of those, who at that period rejected the doctrine of absolute predestination. And even among its advocates, that one at least of the most respectable of them was not disposed to go the whole length of the Calvinistical system, the subsequent quota- tion from Bradford seems to prove : " God's foresight " is not the cause of sin, or excusable necessity to him '' that sinneth. The damned therefore have not, nor " shall have, any excuse, because God, foreseeing their " condemnation through their ow?i sin, did Jiot draw " them, as he doth his elect, unto Christ; but as the '' elect have cause to thank God for ever for his great " mercies in Christ, so the other have cause to lament *' their oxtm wickedness, sin, and contumacy of Christ,'^ (actual, not original, sin,) " which is the cause of their " reprobation^ and wherein we should look upon repro- '' bation, as the only goodness of God in Christ is the " cause of our election and salvation, wherein we should '' look upon God's election." Bradford's Meditations upon the Lord's Prayer, &c. p. 270. See also ** Let- " ters of Martyrs/' p. 409. 462 NOTES ON SERMON VIII. How completely Lutheran appears the doctrine of Trew, and how moderately Calvinistical (if Calvinistical it can be called) that of Bradford ! That the former, although branded by its adversaries with the title of Pelagianism, prevailed much at this period, we may conclude from a passage in the Confession of J. Cle- ment in the year 1.556, who remarks, "I do perceive, " that there is a wonderful sort of the Pelagians' sect, " swaj'ming every "uohere" Strype's Eccles. Mem. vol. iii. p. 219. Append. Page 187, 7iote (19). Dr. Priestley, and other professed Unitarians, have not confined themselves to mere insinuations on this head, but have expressly denominated those Articles, the illustration of which has been the object of these Lec- tures, absurd^ and the majority of the Clergy, who sub- scribe them, dishonest. *' Instead of merely subscribing *' their names to these Articles, as the Clergy now do, " I wish the experiment was made of making them de- " clare upon their honour, that they believe them, as ^^ they are required to do, in the obvious, literal, and " grammatical sense of the words, and that they make " this declaration, as the settled principle and convic- ^' lion of their heart, as they hope for mercy from the " God of truth. This new mode would at least make " many of your CXorgy thinJc a little more upon the sub- "jectjthan they appear to have done at present; and " your teachers^ though believing "what I have clearly *' she*wn to he exceedingly absiird^ and manifestly unscrip- " tural^ would at least be honest." Priestley's Letters to the Inhabitants of Birmingham, p. 123. The passage at the conclusion of the Sermon is taken from the modest reply of Sebastian Castellio to the un- merited censures of Calvin. See Serm. II. note 18. p. 251. THE END. Princeton Theological Semmary-Speer Library 1 1012 01130 9517 DATE DUE ^^^^mm^^^ik ^ •• HIGHSMITH #45115 ^ /'/.I