-ry^ •^. ^ tut mto\agi(^i J. PRINCETON, N. J. % PRESENTED Br THE PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION T\ V_ /osi V, 2- fj^' INSTITUTES CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 1/ JOHN CALVIN TRANSLATED FKOM THE ORIGINAL LATIN, AND COLLATED WITH THE author's last EDITION IN FRENCH, BY JOHN ALLEN. Noil taineii omiiiiio potuit mors invida totum Toilers Calvinum torris ; a>terna manebunt Ingenii monumenta tui : ct livorig iniqui Languida paula'tim cum flamma resedcrit, omnes Rcli^'io qua pura nitft se funJet in oras Fama tui Buchavam. THIRD AMERICAN EDITION, REVISED AND CORRECTED. IN TWO VOLUMES. vol.. II. PHILADELPHIA: PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION JAMES RUSSELL, PUBLISHING AGENT. 1^4 I (?.S, /I, ^1-24) INSTITUTES CHRISTIAN RELIGION BOOK III CHAPTER XIV. THE COMMENCEMENT AND CONTINUAL PROGRESS OF JUSTIFICATION. For the further elucidation of this subject, let us examine what kind of righteousness can be found in men during the whole course of their lives. Let us divide them into four classes. For either they are destitute of the knowledge of God, and immerged in idolatry ; or, having been initiated by the sacraments, they lead impure lives, denying God in their actions, while they confess him with their lips, and belong to Christ only in name; or they are hypocrites, concealing the iniquity of their hearts with vain disguises ; or, being regene- rated by the Spirit of God, they devote themselves to true holi- ness, in the first of these classes, judged of according to their natural characters, from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot there will not be found a single spark of goodness ; unless we mean to charge the Scripture with falsehood in these representations which it gives of all the sons of Adam — that "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately- wicked ; " {w) that " every imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth ; " {x) that " the thoughts of man are vanity ; that there is no fear of God before his eyes; " {y) that " there is none that understandeth, none that seeketh after God ; " {z) in a word, " that he is flesh," {a) a term expressive of all those works which are enumerated by Paul — " adultery, forni- (w) Jer. xvii. 9. (x) Gen. vi. 5; viii. 21. {y) Psalm xciv. 11 ; xxxvi. 1. (z) Psalm xiv. 1—3. Rom. iii. 11. («) Gen. vi. 3. 4 INSTITUTES OF THE [ BOOK III. cation, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders," (b) and every impurity and abomination that can be conceived. This is the dignity, in the confidence of which they must glory. But if any among them discover that in- tegrity in their conduct which among men has some appear- ance of sanctity, yet, since we know that God regards not external splendour, we must penetrate to the secret springs of these actions, if we wish them to avail any thing to justifica- tion. We must narrowly examine, I say, from what disposi- tion of heart these works proceed. Though a most extensive field of observation is now before us, yet, since the subject may be despatched in very few words, I shall be as compendi- ous as possible. II. In the first place, I do not deny, that whatever excellences appear in unbelievers, they are the gifts of God. I am not so at variance with the common opinion of mankind, as to con- tend that there is no diflerence between the justice, moderation, and equity of Titus or Trajan, and the rage, intemperance, and cruelty of Caligula, or Nero, or Domitian ; between the obsce- nities of Tiberius and the continence of Yespasian ; and, not to dwell on particular virtues or vices, between the observance and the contempt of moral obligation and positive laws. For so great is the difference between just and unjust, that it is visible even in the lifeless image of it. For what order will be left in the world, if these opposites be confounded together ? Such a distinction as this, therefore, between virtuous and vicious actions, has not only been engraven by the Lord in the heart of every man, but has also been frequently confirmed by his providential dispensations. We see how he confers many blessings of the present life on those who practise virtue among men. Not that this external resemblance of virtue merits the least favour from him ; but he is pleased to discover his great esteem of true righteousness, by not permitting that which is external and hy])ocritical to remain without a tem- poral reward. Whence it follows, as we have just acknow- ledged, that these virtues, whatever they may be, or rather images of virtues, are the gifts of God ; since there is nothing in any respect laudable which docs not proceed from him. III. Nevertheless the observation of Augustine is strictly true — that all who are strangers to the religion of the one true God, however they may be esteemed worthy of admiration for their reputed virtue, not only merit no reward, but are rather deserving of punishment, because they contaminate the pure gifts of God with the pollution of their own hearts. For ib) Gal. V. 19, &c. CHAP. XIV.J CHRISTIAN llELIGION. O though they are instruments used by God for the preservation of human society, by the exercise of justice, continence, friend- ship, temperance, fortitude, and prudence, yet they perform these good works of God very improperly ; being restrained from the commission of evil, not by a sincere attachment to true virtue, but either by mere ambition, or by self-love, or by some other irregular disposition. These actions, therefore, being corrupted in their very source by the impurity of their hearts, are no more entitled to be classed among virtues, than those vices which commonly deceive mankind by their affinity and similitude to virtues.' Besides, when we remember that the end of what is right is always to serve God, whatever is directed to any other end, can have no claim to that appella- tion. Therefore, since they regard not the end prescribed by Divine wisdom, though an act performed by them be externally and apparently good, yet, being directed to a wrong end, it becomes sin. He concludes, therefore, that all the Fabricii, Scipios, and Catos, in all their celebrated actions, were guilty of sin, inasmuch as, being destitute of the light of faith, they did not direct those actions to that end to which they ought to have directed them ; that consequently they had no genuine righteousness ; because moral duties are estimated not by ex- ternal actions, but by the ends for which such actions are designed. IV. Besides, if there be any truth in the assertion of John, that " he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life ; " (c) they who have no interest in Christ, whatever be their cha- racters, their actions, or their endeavours, are constantly ad- vancing, through the whole course of their lives, towards destruction and the sentence of eternal death. On this ar- gument is founded the following observation of Augustine : " Our religion discriminates between the righteous and the un- righteous, not by the law of works, but by that of faith, without which works apparently good are perverted into sins." Where- fore the same writer, in another place, strikingly compares the exertions of such men to a deviation in a race from the pre- scribed course. For the more vigorously any one runs out of the way, he recedes so much the further from the goal, and becomes so much the more unfortunate. Wherefore he con- tends, that it is better to halt in the way, than to run out of the way. Finally, it is evident that they are evil trees, since with- out a participation of Christ there is no sanctification. They may produce fruits fair and beautiful to the eye, and even sweet to the taste, but never any that are good. Hence we clearly perceive that all the thoughts, meditations, and actions of man, (c) 1 John V. 12. 6 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. antecedent to a reconciliation to God by faith, are accnrsed, and not only of no avail to justification, but certainly deserving of condenniation. But why do we dispute concerning it as a dubious point, when it is already proved by the testimony of the apostle, that •' without faith it is impossible to please God ? " (d) V. But the proof will be still clearer, if the grace of God be directly opposed to the natural condition of man. The Scrip- ture invariably proclaims, that God finds nothing in men which can incite him to bless them, but that he prevents them by his gratuitous goodness. For what can a dead man do to recover life ? But when God illuminates us with the knowledge of himself, he is said to raise us from death, and to make us new creatures, (e) For under this character we find the Divine goodness towards us frequently celebrated, especially by the apostle. " God," says he, " who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ," &c. (/) In another place, when, under the type of Abraham, he treats of the general calling of believers, he says. It is ". God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were." (if-) If we are nothing, what can we do? Wherefore God forcibly represses this presumption, in the Book of Job, in the following words : '' Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him ? Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine." (A) Paul, explaining this passage, concludes from it, that we ought not to suppose we bring any thing to the Lord but ignominious indigence and emptiness, (i) Wherefore, in the passage cited above, in order to prove that we attain to the hope of salvation, not by works, but solely by the grace of God, he alleges, that " we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (k) As though he would say, Who of us can boast that he has influenced God by his right- eousness, since our first power to do well proceeds from re- generation ? For, according to the constitution of our nature, oil might be extracted from a stone sooner than we could |)erform a good work. It is wonderful, indeed, that man, ooiidonnied to such ignominy, dares to pretend to have any thing left. Let us confess, therefore, with that eminent servant of the Lord, that "God hath saved us, and called us Avith a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace ; " (I) and that " the kindness and love of (iod our Saviour towards man appeared," because "not by works of ritrhteoiisncss which we have done, but according to (rf) Meb. xi. 6. (/) Eph. li. 4, 5. (A) Job xli. 11. (k) Ephes. ii. 10. (e) Jolm V. '.^5 (g) Rn,„. iv. 17. (j) Rom. li. 35 (/) 2 Tim. i. 9. CHAP. XIV.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 7 his mercy he saved us ; that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs of eternal life." (w) By this confession we divest man of all righteousness, even to the smallest particle, till through mere mercy he has been regenerated to the hope of eternal life ; for if a righteousness of works contributed any thing to our justification, we are not truly said to be "justified by grace." The apostle, when he asserted justification to be by grace, had certainly not forgotten his argument in another place, that "if it be of works, then it is no more grace." (yi) And what else does our Lord intend, when he declares, " I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners?" (o) If sinners only are admitted, why do we seek to enter by a counterfeit righteousness ? VI. The same thought frequently recurs to me, that I am in danger of injuring the mercy of God, by labouring with so much anxiety in the defence of this doctrine, as though it were doubtful or obscure. But such being our malignity, that, unless it be most powerfully subdued, it never allows to God that which belongs to him, I am constrained to dwell a little longer upon it. But as the Scripture is sufficiently perspicuous on this subject, I shall use its language in preference to my own. Isaiah, after having described the universal ruin of mankind, properly subjoins the method of recovery. " The Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment. And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no interces- sor : therefore his own arm brought salvation unto him ; and his righteousness it sustained him."(p) Where are our righteous- nesses, if it be true, as the prophet says, that no one assists the Lord in procuring his salvation ? So another prophet introduces the Lord speaking of the reconciliation of sinners to himself, say- ing, " I will betroth thee unto me for ever, in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies. I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy." (q) If this covenant, which is evidently our first union with God, depend on his mercy, there remains no foundation for our righteousness. And I should really wish to be informed by those, who pretend that man advances to meet God with some righteousness of works, whether there be any righteousness at all, but that which is accepted by God. If it be madness to entertain such a thought, what that is acceptable to God can proceed from his enemies, who, with all their actions, are the objects of his complete abhorrence ? And that we are all the inveterate and avowed enemies of our God, till we are justified and received into his friendship, is an undeniable truth, (r) If justification be the (ml Titus iii. 4, 5, 7. (o) Matt. ix. 13. (q) Hosea ii. 19, 23. In) Rom. xi. 6. (p) Isaiah lix. 15, 16. (r) Rom. v. 6, 10. Col. i. 21. 8 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. principle from which love originates, what righteousnesses of works can precede it? To destroy that pestilent arrogance, therefore, John carefully apprizes us that " we did not first love him." (s) And the Lord had by his prophet long before taught the same truth : " I will love them freely," saith he, "for mine anger is turned away."(^) If his love was spontaneously iu- chned towards us, it certainly is not excited by works. But the Ignorant mass of mankind have only this notion of it — that no man has merited that Christ should effect our redemption; but that towards obtaining the possession of redemption, we derive some assistance from our OAvn works. But however we may have been redeemed by Christ, yet till we are introduced into communion with him by the calling of the Father, we are both heirs of darkness and death, and enemies to God. For Paul teaches, that we are not purified and washed from our pollutions by the blood of Christ, till the Spirit effects that purification within us. {u) This is the same that Peter intends, when he declares that the " sanctification of the Spirit" is effectual " unto obedience, and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus ^j^';^f •'.' (■''') I^^^^e are sprinkled by the Spirit with the blood of Christ for purification, we must not imagine that before this ablution we are m any^ther state than that of sinners desti- tute of Christ. We may be certain, therefore, that the com- mencement of our salvation is, as it were, a resurrection from death to life ; because, when " on the behalf of Christ it is given to us to believe on him," (y) we then begin to experience a transition from death to life. VII. The same reasoning may be applied to the second and third classes of men in the division stated above. For the imi)unty of the conscience proves, that they are neither of them yet regenerated by the Spirit of God ; and their unregeneracy betrays also their want of faith: whence it appears, that they are not yet reconciled to God, or justified m his sight, since these blessings are only attained by faith. What can be per- ormed by sinners alienated from God, that is not execrable in Ins view . Yet all the impious, and especially hypocrites, are .ntlated with this toolish confidence. Though they know that ll.eir heart is full of impurity, yet if they perform any specious actions, they esteem them too good to be despised by God Hence that pernicious error, that though convicted of a polluted :md impious heart, they cannot be brought to confess them- selves destitute of righteousness; but while they acknowledge tliL'inselves to be unrighteous, because it cannot be denied they still arrogate to themselves some degree of righteousness. This (.) 1 John .v^ la (,) „o«ea xiv. 4. („) , Cor. vi. 11. (r) 1 Peter i. y. (y) p,„, ■ o<) CHAP. XIV.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 9 vanity the Lord excellently refutes by the prophet. " Ask now," saith he, " the priests, saying, If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said. No. Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean ? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean. Then answered Hag- gai, and said. So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the Lord ; and so is every work of their hands ; and that which they olFer there is unclean." (z) I wish that this passage might either obtain full credit with us, or be deeply impressed on our memory. For there is no one, however fla- gitious his whole life may be, who can suff"er himself to be persuaded of what the Lord here plainly declares. The great- est sinner, as soon as he has performed two or three duties of the law, doubts not but they are accepted of him for righteous- ness ; but the Lord positively denies that any sanctification is acquired by such actions, unless the heart be previously well purified ; and not content with this, he asserts that all the works of sinners are contaminated by the impurity of their hearts. Let the name of righteousness, then, no longer be given to these works which are condemned for their pollution by the lips of God. And by what a fine similitude does he demon- strate this ! For it might have been objected that what the Lord had enjoined was inviolably holy. But he shov/s, on the contrary, that it is not to be wondered at, if those things which are sanctified by the law of the Lord, are defiled by the pollu- tion of the wicked ; since an unclean hand cannot touch any thing that has been consecrated, without profaning it. VIII. He excellently pursues the same argument also in Isaiah : " Bring no more vain oblations ; incense is an abomina- tion unto me ; your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth ; they are a trouble unto me ; I am weary to bear them. When ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you ; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear : your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean ; put away the evil of your doings." (a) What is the reason that the Lord is so displeased at an obedience to his law ? But, in fact, he here rejects nothing that arises from the genuine ob- servance of the law ; the beginning of which, he every where teaches, is an unfeigned fear of his name, (b) If that be want- ing, all the oblations made to him are not merely trifles, but nauseous and abominable pollutions. Let hypocrites go now, and, retaining depravity concealed in their hearts, endeavour by (z) Hag. ii. 11—14. (a) Isaiah i. 13—16. (i) Deut. iv. 6. Psalm cxi. 10. Prov. i. 7 ; ix. 10. 10 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. their works to merit the favour of God. But by such means they will add provocation to provocation ; for " the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord ; but the prayer of the upright " alone " is his delight." (c) We lay it down, therefore, as an undoubted truth, wliich ought to be well known to such as are but moderately versed in the Scriptures, that even the most splendid works of men not yet truly sanctified, are so far from righteousness in the Divine view, that they are accounted sins. And therefore they have strictly adhered to the truth, who have maintained that the works of a man do not conciliate God's favour to his person ; but, on the contrary, that works are never acceptable to God, unless the person who performs them has previously found favour in his sight. And this order, to which the Scripture directs us, is religiously to be observed. Moses relates, that " The Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering." (d) Does he not plainly indicate that the Lord is propitious to men, before he regards their works ? Wherefore the purification of the heart is a necessary prerequisite, in order that the works which we perform may be favourably received by God ; for the declaration of Jeremiah is always in force, that the " eyes of the Lord are upon the truth." (e) And the |Ioly Spirit has asserted by the mouth of Peter, that it is "by faith" alone that the "heart" is "pu- rified," (/) which proves that the first foundation is laid in a true and living faith. IX. Let us now examine what degree of righteousness is possessed by those whom we have ranked in the fourth class. We admit, that when God, by the interposition of the right- eousness of Christ, reconciles us to himself, and having granted us the free remission of our sins, esteems us as righteous per- sons, to this mercy he adds also another blessing ; for he dwells in us by his Holy Spirit, by whose power our carnal desires are daily more and more mortified, and we are sanctified, that is, consecrated to the Lord unto real purity of life, having our hearts moulded to obey his law, so that it is our prevailing in- clination to submit to his will, and to promote his glory alone by all possible means. But even while, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we are walking in the ways of the Lord, — that we may not forget ourselves, and be filled with pride, we feel such remains of imperfection, as afford us abundant cause for hu- mility. The Scripture declares, that " there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good and sinneth not." (g) What kind of righteousness, tlien, will even believers obtain from their own works ? In the first place, I assert, that the best of their per- formances arc tarnished and corrupted by some carnal impurity, (f) Prov. XV. y. (rf) Gen. iv. 4. (e) Jer. v. 3. (/) Acts XV, 9. (g) Eccles. vii. 20. CHAP. XIV.] CHRISTIAN RE1.IGI0N. 11 and debased by a mixture of some alloy. Let any holy servant of God select from his whole life that which he shall conceive to have been the best of all his actions, and let him examine it with attention on every side ; he will undoubtedly discover in it some taint of the corruption of the flesh ; since our alacrity to good actions is never what it ought to be, but our course is retarded by great debility. Though we perceive that the ble- mishes which deform the works of the saints, are not difficult to be discovered, yet suppose we admit them to be very dimi- nutive spots, will they not be at all off"ensive in the sight of God, in which even the stars are not pure ? We have now ascer- tained, that there is not a single action performed by the saints, which, if judged according to its intrinsic merit, does not justly deserve to be rewarded with shame. X. In the next place, even though it were possible for us to perform any works completely pure and perfect, yet one sin is sufficient to extinguish and annihilate all remembrance of ante- cedent righteousness, as is declared by the prophet, (h) With him James also agrees: "Whosoever shall ofl'end," says he, " in one point, he is guilty of all." (?) Now, since this mortal life is never pm-e or free from sin, whatever righteousness we might acquire being perpetually corrupted, overpowered, arid destroyed by subsequent sins, it would neither be admitted in the sight of God, nor be imputed to us for righteousness. Lastly, in considering the righteousness of works, we should regard, not any action commanded in the law, but the com- mandment itself. Therefore, if we seek righteousness by the law, it is in vain for us to perform two or three works; a perpetual observance of the law is indispensably necessary. Wherefore God does not impute to us for righteousness that remission of sins, of which we have spoken, once only, (as some foohshly imagine,) in order that, having obtained pardon for our past lives, we may afterwards seek righteousness by the law ; which would be only sporting with us, and deluding us by a fallacious hope. For since perfection is unattainable by us, as long as we are in this mortal body, and the law denounces death and judgment on all whose works are not completely and universally righteous, it will always have matter of accusation and condemnation against us, unless it be prevented by the Divine mercy continually absolving us by a perpetual remission of our sins. Wherefore it will ever be true, as we asserted at the beginning, that if we be judged according to our demerits, whatever be our designs or undertakings, we are nevertheless, with all our endeavours and all our pursuits, deserving of death and destruction. (A) Ezek. xviii. 24. (i) James ii. 10 12 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. XI. We must strenuously insist on these two points — first, that there never was an action performed by a pious man, which, if examined by the scrutinizing eye of Divine justice, would not deserve condemnation ; and secondly, if any such thing be admitted, (though it cannot be the case with any indi- vidual of mankind,) yet being corrupted and contaminated by the sins, of which its performer is confessedly guilty, it loses every claim to the Divine favour. And this is the principal hinge on which our controversy [with the Papists] turns. For concerning the beginning of justification, there is no dispute between us and the sounder schoolmen, but we all agree, that a sinner being freely delivered from condemnation obtains right- eousness, and that by the remission of his sins ; only they, under the term justification, comprehend that renovation in which we are renewed by the Spirit of God to an obedience to the law, and so they describe the righteousness of a regenerate man as consisting in this — that a man, after having been once reconciled to God through faith in Christ, is accounted right- eous with God on account of his good works, the merit of which is the cause of his acceptance. But the Lord, on the contrary, declares, " that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness," {k) not during the time while he yet remained a worshipper of idols, but after he had been eminent during many years for the sanctity of his life. Abraham, then, had for a long time worshipped God from a pure heart, and performed all that obedience to the law, which a mortal man is capable of performing ; yet, after all. his righteousness consisted in faith. Whence we conclude, according to the argument of Paul, that it was not of Avorks. So when the prophet says, " The just shall live by his faith," (Z) he is not speaking of the impious and profane, whom the Lord justifies by converting them to the faith ; but his address is directed to believers, and they are promised life by faith. Paul also removes every doubt, when, in confirmation of this sentiment, he adduces the following passage of David : " Blessed are they whose iniquities are for- given." {m) But it is certain that David spake not of impious men, but of believers, whose characters resembled his own ; for he spoke from the experience of his own conscience. Where- fore it is necessary for us. not to have this blessing for once only, but to retain it as long as we live. Lastly, he asserts, that the message of a free reconciliation with God, is not only promulgated for a day or two, but is perpetual in the church, (w) Believers, therefore, even to the end of their lives, have no other righteousness than that which is there described. For the mediatorial oflice is perpetually sustained by Christ, by (k) Rom. iv. 9. (/) Hab. ii. 4. (wi) Rom. iv. 7. (n) 2 Cor. v. 18, 19. CHAP. XIV.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 13 whom the Father is reconciled to ns ; and the efficacy of whose death is perpetually the same, consisting in ablution, satisfaction, expiation, and perfect obedience, which covers all our iniquities. And Paul does not tell the Ephesians that they are indebted to grace merely for the beginning of their salva- tion, but that they "are saved by grace, not of works, lest any man should boast." (o) XII. The subterfuges, by which the schoolmen endeavour to evade these arguments, are unavailing. They say, that the sufficiency of good works to justification arises not from their intrinsic merit, but from the grace through which they are accepted. Secondly, because they are constrained to acknow- ledge the righteousness of works to be always imperfect in the present state, they admit, that as long as we live we need the remission of our sins, in order to supply the defects of our works ; but that our deficiencies are compensated by works of supererogation. I reply, that what they denominate the grace through which our works are accepted, is no other than the free goodness of the Father, with which he embraces us in Christ, when he invests us with the righteousness of Christ, and accepts it as ours, in order that, in consequence of it, he may treat us as holy, pure, and righteous persons. For the righteousness of Christ (which, being the only perfect right- eousness, is the only one that can bear the Divine scrutiny) must be produced on our behalf, and judicially presented, as in the case of a surety. Being furnished with this, we obtain by faith the perpetual remission of our sins. Our imperfections and impurities, being concealed by its purity, are not imputed to us, but are as it were buried, and prevented from appearing in the view of Divine justice, till the advent of that hour, when the old man being slain and utterly annihilated in us, the Divine goodness sliall receive us into a blessed peace with the new Adam, in that state to wait for the day of the Lord, when we shall receive incorruptible bodies, and be translated to the glories of the celestial kingdom. XIII. If these things are true, surely no works of ours can render us acceptable to God ; nor can the actions themselves be pleasing to him, any otherwise than as a man, who is covered with the righteousness of Christ, pleases God and obtains the remission of his sins. For God has not promised eternal life as a reward of certain works ; he only declares, that "he that doeth these things shall live," (j9) denouncing, on the contrary, that memorable curse against all who continue not in the observance of every one of his commands, (q) This aljundantly refutes the erroneous notion of a partial righteous- (o) Ephes. ii. 8, 9. (p) Lev. xviii. 5. Rom. x. 5. (q) Deut. xxvii. 26. Gal. iii. 10. 14 INSTITUTES OF THE [ BOOK III. ness, since no other righteousness is admitted into heaven but an entire observance of the law. Nor is there any more solidity in their pretence of a sufficient compensation for imperfections by works of supererogation. For are they not by this perpe- tually recurring to the subterfuge, from which they have already been driven, that the partial observance of the law constitutes, as far as it goes, a righteousness of works? They unblush- ingly assume as granted, what no man of sound judgment will concede. The Lord frequently declares, that he acknowledges no righteousness of works, except in a perfect obedience to his law. What presumption is it for us, who are destitute of this, in order that we may not appear to be despoiled of all our glory, or, in other words, to submit entirely to the Lord — what presumption is it for us to boast of I know not what fragments of a few actions, and to endeavour to supply deficiencies by other satisfactions ! Satisfactions have already been so com- pletely demolished, that they ought not to occupy even a transient thought. I only remark, that those who trifle in this manner, do not consider what an execrable thing sin is in the sight of God ; for indeed they ought to know, that all the righteous- ness of all mankind, accnmulated in one mass, is insufficient to compensate for a single sin. We see that man on account of one otrencc Avas rejected and abandoned by God, so that he lost all means of regaining salvation, (r) They are deprived, therefore, of the power of satisfaction, with which, however they flatter themselves, they will certainly never be able to render a satisfaction to God, to whom nothing will be pleasing or acceptable that proceeds from his enemies. Now, his ene- mies are all those to whom he determines to impute sin. Our sins, therefore, must be covered and forgiven, before the Lord can regard any of our works. Whence it follows that the remission of sins is absolutely gratuitous, and that it is wick- edly blasphemed by those who obtrude any satisfactions. Let US, therefore, after the example of the apostle, " forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, press toward the mark for the prize of our high calling." (s) XIV. But how is the pretence of Avorks of supererogation consistent with this injunction — " Wlien ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say. We are un- profitable servants ; we have done that which was our duty to do?" (t) This direction does not inculcate an act of simula- tion or falsehood, but a decision in our mind respecting that of which we are certain. The Lord, therefore, commands us sincerely to think and consider with ourselves, that om services (r) G«n. iii. (s) Phil. iii. 13, 14. (0 Luke xvii. 10. CHAP. XIV.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 15 to him are none of them gratuitous, but merely the performance of indispensable duties ; and that justly ; for we are servants under such numerous obligations as we could never discharge ; even though all our thoughts and all our members were devoted to the duties of the law. In saying, therefore, " When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded," he supposes a case of one man having attained to a degree of righteousness beyond what is attained by all the men in the world. How, then, while every one of us is at the greatest distance from this point, can we presume to glory that we have completely attained to that perfect standard? Nor can any one reasonably object, that there is nothing to prevent his eiforts from going beyond his necessary obligations, who in any respect fails of doing the duty incumbent on him. For we must acknowledge, that we cannot imagine any thing pertaining either to the service of God or to the love of our neighbour, which is not comprehend- ed in the Divine law. But if it is a part of the law, let us not boast of voluntary liberality, where we are bound by necessity. XV. It is irrelevant to this subject, to allege the boasting of Paul, (u) that among the Corinthians he voluntarily receded from what, if he had chosen, he might have claimed as his right, and not only did what was incumbent on him to do, but afforded them his gratuitous services beyond the requisi- tions of duty. They ought to attend to the reason there as- signed, that he acted thus, " lest he should hinder the gospel of Christ." {w) For wicked and fraudulent teachers recom- mended themselves by this stratagem of liberality, by which they endeavoured, both to conciliate a favourable reception to their ov^^n pernicious dogmas, and to fix an odium on the gos- pel ; so that Paul was necessitated either to endanger the doc- trine of Christ, or to oppose these artifices. Now, if it be a matter of indifference to a Christian to incur an offence when he may avoid it, I confess that the apostle performed for the Lord a work of supererogation ; but if this was justly required of a prudent minister of the gospel, I maintain that he did what was his duty to do. Even if no such reason appeared, yet the observation of Chrysostom is always true — that all that we have is on the same tenure as the possessions of slaves, which the law pronounces to be the property of their masters. And Christ has clearly delivered the same truth in the parable, where he inquires whether we thank a servant, when he re- turns home in the evening, after the various labours of the day. (.r) But it is possible that he may have laboured with greater diligence than we had ventured to require. This may be granted; yet he has done no more than, by the condition (u) 1 Cor. ix. (w) 1 Cor. ix. la. (a:) Luke xvii. 9. 16 IXSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. of servitude, he was under an obligation to do ; since he be- longs to us, with all the ability he has. I say nothing of the nature of the supererogations which these men wish to boast of before God ; for they are contemptible trifles, which he has never commanded, which he does not approve, nor, when they render up tbeir account to him, will he accept them. We cannot admit that there are any works of supererogation, ex- cept such as those of which it is said by the prophet, "Who hath required this at your hand ? ^' (y) But let them remem- ber the language of another passage respecting these things ■ " VVherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread '^ and your labour for that which satisfieth not ? " (2;) It is easy, mdeed, for these idle doctors to dispute concerning these things in easy chairs ; but when the Judge of all shall ascend the judgment seat, all such empty notions must vanish away The object of our inquiries ought to be, what plea we may brmg forward with confidence at his tribunal, not what we can invent in schools and cloisters. XVI. On this subject our minds require to be guarded chiefly against two pernicious principles — That we place no confidence in the righteousness of our works, and that we ascribe no glory to them. The Scriptures every wiiere drive us from all confidence, when they declare that all our ric^ht- eousnesses are odious in the Divine view, unless they are per- fumed with the holiness of Christ ; and that they can only excite the vengeance of God, unless they are supported by his merciful pardon. Thus they leave us nothing to do, but to deprecate the wrath of our Judge with the confession of David l^^nter not mto judgment with thy servant; for in thy sic-ht shall no man living be justified." (a) And where Job says If I be wicked, woe unto me ; and if I be righteous, yet will I not hit up my head ; " (b) though he refers to that consum- mate righteousness of God, compared to which even the an-els are deficient, yet he at the same time shows, that when God comes to judgment, all men must be dumb. For he not only means that he would rather freely recede, than incur the dan- ger of contending wiih the rigour of God, but signifies that he experiences in himself no other righteousness than what would instantaneously vanish before the Divine presence When confidence is destroyed, all boasting must of necessity be re lUKiuislied ^'''■>'- -•>'>•- — -;-- - .1- • ^ . . ■' 1' or who can give the i)raise of righteousness to .v,..xo ,., which he IS afraid to confide in the presence of .' We nui.st therefore have recourse to the Lord, in whom re assured, by Isaiah, that "all the seed of Israel shall be fied, and shall glory; "(c) for it is strictly true, as he ('') J"'^ ^- 1^- (r) Isaiah xlv. 25. CHAP. XIV.l CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 17 says in another place, that we are " the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified." {d) Our minds therefore will then be properly pnrified, when they shall in no degree confide nor glory in our works. But foolish men are led into such a false and delusive confidence, by the error of always considering their works as the cause of their salvation. XVII. But if we advert to the four kinds of causes, which the philosophers direct us to consider in the production of effects, we shall find none of them consistent with works in the accom- plishment of our salvation. For the Scripture every where proclaims, that the efficient cause of eternal life being procured for us, was the mercy of our heavenly Father, and his gra- tuitous love towards us ; that the material cause is Christ and his obedience, by which he obtained a righteousness for us ; and what shall we denominate the formal and instrumental cause, unless it be faith? These three John comprehends in one sentence, when he says, that " God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (e) The final cause the apostle declares to be, both the demonstration of the Divine righteousness and the praise of the Divme goodness, in a passage in which he also expressly mentions the other three causes. For this is his language to the Romans : '' All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God, bemg justihed freely by his grace : " (/) here we have the original source ot our salvation, which is the gratuitous mercy of God towards us. It follows, ''through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: here we have the matter of our justification. " Through faith in his blood: " here he points out the instrumental cause, by which the righteousness of Christ is revealed to us. Lastly, he subjoins the end of all, when he says, "To declare his righteousness ; that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." And to suggest, by the way, that this righteousness consists in reconciliation or propitiation, he expressly asserts that Christ was " set forth to be a propitiation. So also in the first chapter to the Ephesians, he teaches that we are received into the favour of God through his mere mercy ; that it is accomplished by the mediation of Christ ; that it is apprehended by faith ; and that the end of all is, that the glory of the Divine goodness may be fully displayed, {g) When we see that every part of our salvation is accomplished without us, what reason have we to confide or to glory m our works? Nor can even the most inveterate enemies of Divme grace raise any controversy with us concerning the efficient or the final (d) Isaiah Ixi. 3. (/) Rom. iii. 23, &c. (e) John iii. 16. ig) Ephes. i. 5-7, 13. VOL. II. 3 18 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. cause, unless they mean altogether to renounce the authority of the Scripture. Over the material and formal causes they superinduce a false colouring ; as if our own works were to share the honour of them with faith and the righteousness of Christ. But this also is contradicted by the Scripture, which allirms that Christ is the sole author of our righteousness and life, and that this blessing of righteousness is enjoyed by faith alone. XVIII. The saints often confirm and console themselves with the remembrance of their own innocence and integrity, and sometimes even refrain not from proclaiming it. Now, this is done for two reasons ; either that, in comparing their good cause with the bad cause of the impious, they derive from such comparison an assurance of victory, not so much by the com- mendation of their own righteousness, as by the just and merited condemnation of their adversaries ; or that, even with- out any comparison with others, while they examine them- selv^es before God, the purity of their consciences affords them some consolation and confidence. To the former of these rea- sons we shall advert hereafter ; let us now briefly examine the consistency of the latter with what we have before asserted, that in the sight of Go(J we ought to place no reliance on the merit of works, nor glory on account of them. The con- sistency appears in this — that for the foundation and accom- plishment of their salvation, the saints look to the Divine good- ness alone, without any regard to works. And they not only apply themselves to it above all things, as the commencement of their happiness, but likewise depend upon it as the con- summation of their felicity. A conscience thus founded, built up, and established, is also confirmed by the consideration of works ; that is, as far as they are evidences of God dwelling and reigning in us. Now, this confidence of works being found in none but those who have previously cast all the confidence of their souls on the mercy of God, it ought not to be thought contrary to that upon which it depends. Wherefore, when we exclude the confidence of works, we only mean that the mind of a Christian should not be directed to any merit of works as a mean of salvation ; but should altogether rely on the gratuitous pronnse of righteousness. We do not forbid him to support and confirm this faith by marks of the Divine benevolence to Inru. For if, when we call to remembrance the various gifts which (iod has conferred on us, they are all as so many rays horn thf Divine countenance, by which we are illuminated to contemplate the full blaze of supreme goodness, — much more the grace of good works, whieh demonstrates that we have received the Spirit of adoption. XIX. When the saints, therefore, confirm their faith, or CHAP. XIV,] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 19 derive matter of rejoicing from the integrity of their con- sciences, they only concUide, from the fruits of vocation, that they have been adopted by the Lord as his children. The de- claration of Solomon, that " In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence ; " (h) and the protestation sometimes used by the saints to obtain a favourable audience from the Lord, that "they have walked before " him "in truth and with a perfect heart ; " («) these things have no concern in laying the foun- dation for establishing the conscience ; nor are they of any value, except as they are consequences of the Divine vocation. For there nowhere exists that fear of God which can establish a full assurance, and the saints are conscious that their integrity is yet accompanied with many relics of corruption. Bat as the fruits of regeneration evince that the Holy Spirit dwells in them, this affords them ample encouragement to expect the as- sistance of God in all their necessities, because they experience him to be their Father in an affair of such vast importance. And even this they cannot attain, unless they have first appre- hended the Divine goodness, confirmed by no other assurance but that of the promise. For if they begin to estimate it by their good works, nothing will be weaker or more uncertain ; for, if their works be estimated in themselves, their imperfection will menace them with the wrath of God, as much as their purity, however incomplete, testifies his benevolence. In a word, they declare the benefits of God, but in such a way as not to turn away from his gratuitous favour, in which Paul as- sures us there is " length, and breadth, and depth, and height ; " as though he had said, Which way soever the pious turn their views, how high soever they ascend, how widely soever they expatiate, yet they ought not to go beyond the love of Christ, but employ themselves wholly in meditating on it, because it comprehends in itself all dimensions. Therefore he says that it " passeth knowledge," and that when we know how much Christ has loved us, we are "filled with all the fulness of God." (k) So also in another place, when he glories that believers are victorious in every conflict, he immediately adds, as the reason of it, " through him that loved us." (l) XX. We see now, that the confidence which the saints have in their works is not such as either ascribes any thing to the merit of them, (since they view them only as the gifts of God, in which they acknowledge his goodness, and as marks of their calling, whence they infer their election,) or derogates the least from the gratuitous righteousness which we obtain in Christ ; since it depends upon it, and cannot subsist without it. (h) Prov. xiv. 26. (k) Ephes. iii. 18, 19. (i) 2 Kings XX. 3. (0 Rom. viii. 37. 20 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK HI. This is concisely and beautifully represented by Augustine, when he says, " I do not say to the Lord, Despise not the works of my hands. I have sought the Lord with my hands, and I have not been deceived. But I commend not the works of my hands ; for I fear that when thou hast examined them, thou wilt find more sin than merit. This only I say, this I ask, this I desire ; Despise not the works of thy hands. Be- hold in me thy work, not mine. For if thou beholdest mine, thou condemnest me ; if thou beholdest thine own, thou crownest me. Because whatever good works I have, they are from thee." He assigns two reasons why he ventured not to boast of his works to God ; first, that if he has any good ones, he sees nothing of his own in them ; secondly, that even these are buried under a multitude of sins. Hence the conscience experiences more fear and consternation than security. There- fore he desires God to behold his best performances, only that he may recognize in them the grace of his own calling, and perfect the work which he has begun. XXI. The remaining objection is, that the Scripture repre- sents the good works of believers as the causes for which the Lord blesses them. But this must be understood so as not to affect what we have, before proved, that the efficient cause of our salvation is the love of God the Father ; the material cause, the obedience of the Son ; the instrumental cause, the illumination of the Spirit, that is, faith ; and the final cause, the glory of the infinite goodness of God. No obstacle arises from these things to prevent good works being considered by the Lord as inferior causes. But how does this happen ? Be- cause those whom his mercy has destined to the inheritance of eternal life, he, in his ordinary dispensations, introduces to the possession of it by good works. That which, in the order of his dispensations, precedes, he denominates the cause of that which follows. For this reason he sometimes deduces eternal life from \vorks ; not that the acceptance of it is to be referred to them ; but because he justifies the objects of his election, that he may finally glorify them ; he makes the former favour, which is a step to the succeeding one, in some sense the cause of it. But whenever the true cause is to be assigned, he does not direct us to take refuge in works, but confines our thoughts entirely to liis mercy. For what does he teach us by the apostle ? " The wages of sin is death ; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Why does he not oppose righteousness to sin, as well as life to death ? Why does he not make righteousness the cause of life, as well as sin the cause of death ? For then the antithesis would have been complete, whereas by this variation it is partly destroyed. But the apostle intended by tliis comparison to express a certain CHAP. XV.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 21 truth — that death is due to the demerits of men, and that life proceeds solely from the mercy of God. Lastly, these phrases denote rather the order of the Divine gifts, than the cause of them. In the accumulation of graces upon graces, God derives from the former a reason for adding the next, that he may not omit any thing necessary to the enrichment of his servants. And while he thus pursues his liberality, he would have us always to remember his gratuitous election, which is the source and original of all. For although he loves the gifts which he daily confers, as emanations from that fountain, yet it is our duty to adhere to that gratuitous acceptance, which alone can support our souls, and to connect the gifts of his Spirit, which he afterwards bestows on us, with the first cause, in such a manner as M'ill not be derogatory to it. CHAPTER XV. BOASTING OF THE MERIT OF WORKS, EQUALLY SUBVERSIVE OF god's glory IN THE GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND OF THE CERTAINTY OF SALVATION. We have now discussed the principal branch of this subject ; that because righteousness, if dependent on works, must inevi- tably be confounded in the sight of God, therefore it is con- tained exclusively in the mercy of God and the participation of Christ, and consequently in faith alone. Now, it must be carefully remarked that this is the principal hinge on which the argument turns, that we may not be implicated in the common delusion, which equally affects the learned and the vulgar. For as soon as justification by faith or works becomes the sub- ject of inquiry, they have immediate recourse to those passages which seem to attribute to works some degree of merit in the sight of God ; as though justification by works would be fully evinced, if they could be proved to be of any value before God. We have already clearly demonstrated that the right- eousness of works consists only in a perfect and complete ob- servance of the law. Whence it follows, that no man is justified by works, but he who, being elevated to the summit of perfec- tion, cannot be convicted even of the least transgression. This, therefore, is a different and separate question, whether, although works be utterly insufiicient for the justification of men, they do not, nevertheless, merit the grace of God. 22 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. II. In the first place, with respect to the term merit, it is necessary for me to premise, that whoever first applied it to human works, as compared with the Divine judgment, showed very little concern for the purity of the faith. I gladly abstain from all controversies about mere words ; but I could wish that this sobriety had always been observed by Christian writers, that they had avoided the unnecessary adoption of terms not used in the Scriptures, and calculated to produce great offence, but very little advantage. For what necessity was there for the introduction of the word merit, when the value of good works might be significantly expressed without offence by a different term ? But the great offence contained in it, appears in the great injury the world has received from it. The con- summate haughtiness of its import can only obscure the Divine grace, and taint the minds of men with presumptuous arro- gance. I confess, the ancient writers of the Church have generally used it, and I wish that their misuse of one word had not been the occasion of error to posterity. Yet they also de- clare in some places that they did not intend any thing preju- dicial to the truth. For this is the language of Augustine in one passage : "Let human merit, which was lost by Adam, here be silent, and let the grace of God reign through Jesus Christ." Again : " The saints ascribe nothing to their own merits; they will ascribe all, O God, only to thy mercy." In another place : " And when a man sees that whatever good he has, he has it not from himself, but from his God, he sees that all that is commended in him proceeds not from his own merits, but from the Divine mercy." We see how, by divesting man of the power of performing good actions, he likewise destroys the dignity of merit. Chrysostom says, "Our works, if there be any consequent on God's gratuitous vocation, are a retribu- tion and a debt ; but the gifts of God are grace, beneficence, and innnense liberality." Leaving the name, however, let us rather attend to the thing. I have before cited a passage from Bernard : " As not to presume on our merits is sufficiently meritorious, so to be destitute of merits is sufficient for the judgment." But by the explanation immediately annexed, he properly softens the harshness of these expressions, when he says, " Therefore you should be concerned to have merits ; and if you have them, you should know that they are given to you ; you should hope for the fruit, the mercy of God ; and you have escaped all danger of poverty, ingratitude, and presumj)- tion. Happy the Church which is not destitute, either of merits without presumption, or of presumption without merits." And just ])eforc he had fully shown how pious his meaning was. " For concerning merits," he says, " why should the Clunch be solicitous, which has a more firm and secure founda- CHAP. XV.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 23 tion for glorying in the purpose of God ? For God cannot deny himself; he will perform what he has promised. Thus you have no reason for inquiring, on account of what merits we may hope for blessings, especially when you read, ' Not for your sakes, but for my sake ; ' (w) it is sufficiently meritorious to know that merits are insufficient." III. The Scripture shows what all our works are capable of meriting, when it represents them as unable to bear the Divine scrutiny, because they are full of impurity ; and in the next place, what would be merited by the perfect observance of the law, if this could any where be found, when it directs us, " When ye shall have done all those things which are com- manded you, say. We are unprofitable servants ; " (n) because we shall not have conferred any favour on God, but only have performed the duties incumbent on us, for which no thanks are due. Nevertheless, the good works which the Lord has con- ferred on us, he denominates our own, and declares that he will not only accept, but also reward them. It is our duty to be animated by so great a promise, and to stir up our minds that we " be not weary in well doing," (o) and to be truly grateful for so great an instance of Divine goodness. It is beyond a doubt, that whatever is laudable in our works pro- ceeds from the grace of God ; and that we cannot properly ascribe the least portion of it to ourselves. If we truly and seriously acknowledge this truth, not only all confidence, but likewise all idea of merit, immediately vanishes. We, I say, do not, like the sophists, divide the praise of good works be- tween God and man, but we preserve it to the Lord complete, entire, and uncontaminated. All that we attribute to man, is, that those works which were otherwise good are tainted and polluted by his impurity. For nothing proceeds from the most perfect man, which is wholly immaculate. Therefore let the Lord sit in judgment on the best of human actions, and he will indeed recognize in them his own righteousness, but man's disgrace and shame. Good works, therefore, are pleasing to God, and not unprofitable to the authors of them ; and they will moreover receive the most ample blessings from God as their reward ; not because they merit them, but because the Divine goodness has freely appointed them this reward. But what wickedness is it, not to be content with that Divine liberality which remunerates works destitute of merit with unmerited rewards, but with sacrilegious ambition still to aim at more, that what entirely originates in the Divine munifi- cence may appear to be a compensation of the merit of works ! Here I appeal to the common sense of every man. If he who, (m) Ezek. xxxvi. 32. (w) Luke xvii. 10. (o) Gal. vi. 9. 2 Thess. iii. 13. 24 INSTITCTES OF TH£ [: BOOK III. by the liberality of another, enjoys the use and profit of an estate, usurp to himself also the title of proprietor, does he not by such ingratitude deserve to lose the possession which he had? So also if a slave, manumitted by his master, conceal his mean condition as a freed-man, and boast that he was free by birth, does he not deserve to be reduced to his former servitude ? For this is the legitimate way of enjoying a benefit, if we neither arrogate more than is given us, nor defraud our benefactor of his due praise ; but, on the contrary, conduct ourselves in such a manner, that what he has conferred on us may appear, as it were, to continue with himself. If this moderation ought to be observed towards men, let every one examine and consider what is due to God. IV. I know that the sophists abuse some texts in order to prove that the term merit is found in the Scriptures with refer- ence to God. They cite a passage from Ecclesiasticus : " Mercy shall make place for every man according to the merit of his works." (p) And from the Epistle to the Hebrews: " To do good, and to communicate, forget not ; for with such sacrifices men merit of God."(5') My right to reject the authority of Ecclesiasticus I at present relinquish ; but I deny that they faithfully cite the words of the writer of Ecclesiasticus, who- ever he might be ; for in the Greek copy it is as follows : narfr) sXerjfAotfuvr) ifoir^dsi ro'fov' kxacfTos yap xa) 2 Tim. ii. 20. Rom. ix. 23. (?) Luke ix. 23. (r) 2 Cor. iv. 8—10. CHAP. XVI.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 29 we shall also live with him ; if we suffer, we shall also reign with him." {t) " Being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." (m) The Father has predestinated all whom he has chosen in his Son " to be conformed to his image, that he might be the first-born among many brethren ; " and therefore " neither death, nor life, nor things present, nor things to come, shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus ; " (w) but " all things shall work together for good " {x) to us, and conduce to our salvation. We do not justify men by works before God ; but we say, that all who are of God are regenerated and made new creatures, that they may depart from the kingdom of sin into the kingdom of righteousness : and that by this testimony they ascertain their vocation, [y) and, like trees, are judged by their fruits. CHAPTER XVI. A REFUTATION OF THE INJURIOUS CALUMNIES OF THE PAPISTS AGAINST THIS DOCTRINE. The observation with which we closed the preceding chap- ter is, of itself, sufficient to refute the impudence of some impious persons, who accuse us, in the first place, of destroying good works, and seducing men from the pursuit of them, when we say that they are not justified by works, nor saved through their own merit ; and secondly, of making too easy a road to righteousness, when we teach that it consists in the gratuitous remission of sins ; and of enticing men, by this allurement, to the practice of sin, to which they have naturally too strong a propensity. These calumnies, I say, are sufficiently refuted by that one observation ; yet I will briefly reply to them both. They allege that justification by faith destroys good works. I forbear any remarks on the characters of these zealots for good works, who thus calumniate us. Let them rail with impunity as licentiously as they infest the whole world with the im- purity of their lives. They affect to lament that while faith is so magnificently extolled, works are degraded from their proper rank. What if they be more encouraged and established ? For we never dream either of a faith destitute of good works, (0 2 Tim. ii. 11, 12. (m) Phil. iii. 10, 11. {w) Rom. viii. 29, 38, 39. (z) Rom. yiii. 28. {y) 2 Peter i. 10. 30 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. or of a justification unattended by them : this is the sole dif- ference, that while we acknowledge a necessary connection between faith and good works, we attribute justification, not to works, but to faith. Our reason for this we can readily explain, if we only turn to Christ, towards whom faith is directed, and from whom it receives all its virtue. Why, then, are we justified by faith ? Because by faitli we apprehend the righteousness of Christ, which is the only medium of our re- conciliation to God. But this you cannot attain, without at the same time attaining to sanctification ; for he " is made unto us wisdom and righteousness, and sanctification and redemp- tion." (z) Christ therefore justifies no one whom he does not also sanctify. For these benefits are perpetually and indissolu- bly connected, so that whom he illuminates with his wisdom, them he redeems ; whom he redeems, he justifies ; whom he justifies, he sanctifies. But as the present question re- lates only to righteousness and sanctification, let us in- sist upon them. We may distinguish between them, but Christ contains both inseparably in himself. Do you wish, then, to obtain righteousness in Christ ? You must first pos- sess Christ ; but you cannot possess him without becoming a partaker of his sanctification ; for he cannot be divided. Since, then, the Lord affords us the enjoyment of these blessings only in the bestowment of himself, he gives them both together, and never one without the other. Thus we see how true it is that we are justified, not without works, yet not by works ; since miion with Christ, by which we are justified, contains sanctification as well as righteousness, II. It is also exceedingly false, that the minds of men are seduced from an inclination to virtue, by our divesting them of all ideas of merit. Here the reader must just be informed, that they impertinently argue from reward to merit, as I shall afterwards more fully explain ; because, in fact, they are igno- rant of this principle, that God is equally liberal in assigning a reward to good works, as in imparting an ability to perform tliem. But this I would rather defer to its proper place. It will sufiice, at jiresent, to show the weakness of their objection, which shall bo done two ways. For, first, when they say that there will be no concern about the pro})cr regulation of our life without a hope of reward being proposed, they altogether de- ceive themselves. If they only mean that men serve God in exj)ectation of a reward, and hire or sell their services to him, they gain biit little ; for he will be freely worshipped and freely loved, and he approves of tliat worshijiper who, after being deprived of all hope of receiving any reward, still ceases (2) 1 Cor. i. 30. CHAP. XVI.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 31 not to worship him. Besides, if men require to be stimulated, it is impossible to urge more forcible arguments than those which arise from the end of our redemption and calling; such as the word of God adduces, when it inculcates, that it is the greatest and most impious ingratitude not reciprocally to "love him who first loved us ; " (a) that "by the blood of Christ our consciences are purged from dead works, to serve the living God ; " (6) that it is a horrible sacrilege, after having been once purged, to defile ourselves with new pollutions, and to profane that sacred blood; (c) that we have been "delivered out of the hand of our enemies," that we "might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life ; " (. {t) Deut. vi. 25. (u) Deul. xxiv. 13. (ir) Psalm cvi. 30, 31. CHAP. XVII.] CHRISTIAN REI,IGIOxV. 41 quish all controversy respecting the word. Nor do we deny that the Divine law contains perfect righteousness. For al- though, being under an obligation to fulfil all its precepts, we should, even after a perfect obedience to it, only be unprofitable servants, — yet, since the Lord has honoured the observance of it with the title of righteousness^ we would not detract from what he has given. We freely acknowledge, therefore, that the perfect obedience of the law is righteousness, and that the observance of every particular command is a part of righteous- ness ; since complete righteousness consists of all the parts. But we deny that such a kind of righteousness any where ex- ists. And therefore we reject the righteousness of the law : not that it is of itself defective and mutilated, but because, on account of the debility of our flesh, {x) it is no where to be found. It may be said, that the Scripture not only calls the Divine precepts righteousnesses, but gives this appellation also to the works of the saints. As where it relates of Zacharias and his wife, that " they were both righteous before God, walking in all his commandments : " [y) certainly, when it speaks thus, it estimates their works rather according to the nature of the law, than according to the actual condition of the persons. Here it is necessary to repeat the observation which I have just made, that no rule is to be drawn from the incautiousness of the Greek translator. But as Luke has not thought proper to alter the common version, neither will I contend for it. Those things which are commanded in the law, God has enjoined upon man as necessary to righteousness ; but that righteousness we do not fulfil without observing the whole law, which is broken by every act of transgression. Since the law, there- fore, only prescribes a righteousness, if we contemplate the law itself, all its distinct commands are parts of righteousness ; if we consider men, by whom they are performed, they cannot obtain the praise of righteousness from one act, while they are transgressors in many, and while that same act is partly vicious by reason of its imperfection. VIII. But I proceed to the second class of texts, in which the principal difficulty lies. Paul urges nothing more forcible in proof of justification by faith, than what is stated respecting Abraham — that he "believed God, audit was counted unto him for righteousness." {z) Since the action of Phinehas, therefore, is said to have been " counted unto him for right- eousness," {a) we may also use the same argument concerning works, which Paul insists on respecting faith. Therefore our adversaries, as though they had established the point, determine (z) Rom. viii. 3. (2) Rom. iv. 3. Gal. iii. 6. {y) Luke i. 6. (a) Psalm cvi. 31. VOL. II. 6 42 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. that we are justified neither without faith, nor by faith alone ; and that our righteousness is completed by works. Therefore I conjure believer.s, if they know that the true rule of righteous- ness is to be sought in the Scripture alone, to accompany me in a serious and solemn examination how the Scripture may be properly reconciled with itself without any sophistry. Paul, knowing the righteousness of faith to be the refuge of tliose who are destitute of any righteousness of their own, boldly infers that all who are justified by faith, are excluded from the righteousness of works. It being likewise evident, on the other hand, that this is common to all believers, he with equal confidence concludes that no man is justified by works, but rather, on the contrary, that we are justified independently of all works. But it is one thing to dispute concerning the intrinsic value of works, and another, to argue respecting the place they ought to hold after the establishment of the right- eousness of faith. If we are to determine the value of works by their own worthiness, we say that they are unworthy to appear in the sight of God ; that there is nothing in our works of which we can glory before God ; and consequently, that being divested of all assistance from works, we are justified by faith alone. Now, wejdescribe this righteousness in the follow- ing manner : That a sinner, being admitted to communion with Christ, is by his grace reconciled to God ; while, being purified by his blood, he obtains remission of sins, and being clothed with his righteousness, as if it were his own, he stands secure before the heavenly tribunal. Where remission of sins has been previously received, the good works which succeed are estimated far beyond their intrinsic merit ; for all their imperfections are covered by the perfection of Christ, and all their blemishes are removed by his purity, that they may not be scrutinized by the Divine judgment. The guilt, therefore, of all transgressions, by which men are prevented from oliering any thing acceptable to God being obliterated, and the imperfec- tion, which universally deforms even the good works of believers, being buried in oblivion, their works are accounted righteous, or, which is the same thing, are imputed for righteousness. IX. Now, if any one urge this to me as an objection, to oppose the righteousness of faith, I will first ask him. Whether a man is reputed righteous on account of one or two holy works, who is in the other actions of his life a transgressor of the law. This would be too absurd to be pretended. I shall next inquire, If he is reputed righteous on account of many good works, while he is found guilty of any instance of trans- gression. Tliis, likewise, my adversary will not presume to maintain, in opposition to the sanction of the law, which de- noimces a curse on all those who do not fulfil every one of its CHAP. XVII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 43 precepts, (b) I will further inquire, If there is any work which does not deserve the charge of impurity or imperfec- tion, (c) But how could this be possible before those eyes, in Avhich the stars are not sufficiently pure, nor the angels suffi- ciently righteous ? Thus he will be compelled to concede, that there is not a good work to be found, which is not too much polluted, both by its own imperfection and by the transgressions with which it is attended, to have any claim to the honourable appellation of righteousness. Now, if it be evidently in con- sequence of justification by faith, that works, otherwise impure and imperfect, unworthy of the sight of God, and much more of his approbation, are imputed for righteousness, — why do they attempt, by boasting of the righteousness of works, to destroy the righteousness of faith, from which all righteousness of works pro- ceeds? But do they wish to produce a viperous offspring lo de- stroy the parent ? For such is the true tendency of this impious doctrine. They cannot deny that justification by faith is the be- ginning, foundation, cause, motive, and substance of the right- eousness of works ; yet they conclude, that a man is not justified by faith because good works also are imputed for righteousness. Let us therefore leave these impertinences, and acknowledge the real state of the case ; if all the righteousness which can be attributed to works depends on justification by faith, the latter is not only not diminished, but, on the contrary, is confirmed by it ; since its influence appears the more extensive. But let us not suppose that works, subsequent to gratuitous justification, are so highly esteemed, that they succeed to the office of justifying men, or divide that office with faith. For unless justification by faith remain always unimpaired, the impurity of their works will be detected. Nor is there any absurdity in saying, that a man is so justified by faith, that he is not only righteous him- self, but that even his works are accounted righteous beyond what they deserve. X. In this way we will admit, not only a partial righteous- ness of works, which our opponents maintain, but such as is approved by God, as though it were perfect and complete. A remembrance of the foundation on which it stands will solve every difficulty. For no work is ever acceptable, till it be received with pardon. Now, whence proceeds pardon, but from God's beholding us and all our actions in Christ ? When we are ingrafted into Christ, therefore, as our persons appear right- eous before God, because our iniquities are covered by his righteousness, so our works are accounted righteous, because the sinfulness otherwise belonging to them is not imputed, be- ing all buried in the purity of Christ. So we may justly (6) Deut. xxvii. 26. (c) Job iv. 18; xv. 15; xxv. 5. 44 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. assert, that not only our persons, but even our works, are justi- fied by faith alone. Now, if this righteousness of works, whatever be its nature, is consequent and dependent on faith and gratuitous justification, it ought to be included under it, and subordinated to it, as an effect to its cause ; so far is it from deserving to be exalted, either to destroy or to obscure the righteousness of faith. Thus Paul, to evince that oui blessedness depends on the mercy of God, and not on oui works, chiefly urges this declaration of David : " Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." (d) If, in opposition to this, the numerous passages be adduced where blessedness seems to be attributed to works ; such as, '•' Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord ; (e) that hath mercy on the poor ;(/) that walketh not in the counsel of the un- godly ; (§•) that endureth temptation ; " (h) " Blessed are they that keep judgment ; (i) the undefiled, (k) the poor in spirit, the meek, the merciful," «Stc. ; (I) they will not at all weaken the truth of what is advanced by Paul. For since no man ever attains all these characters, so as thereby to gain the Divine approbation, it appears that men are always miserable till they are delivered from misery by the pardon of their sms. Since all the beatitudes celebrated in the Scriptures are of no avail, and no man can derive any benefit from them, till he has obtained blessedness by the remission of his sins, which then makes room for the other beatitudes, it follows that -this is not merely the noblest and principal, but the only blessedness ; unless, indeed, we suppose it to be diminished by those which are dependent on it. Now, we have much less reason to be disturbed by the appellation of righteous, which is generally given to believers. I acknowledge that they are denomi- nated riglitcous from the sanctity of their lives ; but as they rather devote themselves to the pursuit of righteousness than actually attain to righteousness itself, it is proper that this righteousness, such as it is, should be subordinate to justifica- tion by faith, from which it derives its origin. XI. But our adversaries say that we have yet more difficulty with James, since he contradicts us in express terms. For he teaches, that " Abraham was justified by works," and that we are all "justified by works, and not by faith only." (m) What then? Will they draw Paul into a controversy with James ? If they consider James as a minister of Christ, his declarations must be understood in some sense not at variance with Christ (rf) Rom. iv. 7, 8. Psalm xxxii. 1, 2. ( «■) Psalm i. 1. (A) Psalm cxix. 1. (e) Psalm cxii. I. (A) James i. 12. (/) Matt. v. 3, 5, 7. ) Prov. xiv. 21. (i) Psalm cvi. 3. (w) James ii. 21, 24. i?: CHAP. XVII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 45 when speaking by the mouth of Paul. The Spirit asserts, by the mouth of Paul, that Abraham obtained righteousness by faith, not by works ; we likewise teach, that we are all justified by faith without the works of the law. The same Spirit affirms by James, that both Abraham's righteousness and ours consists in works, and not in faith only. That the Spirit is not inconsistent with himself is a certain truth. But what harmony can there be between these two apparently opposite assertions ? Our adversaries would be satisfied, if they could totally subvert the righteousness of faith, which we wish to be firmly es- tablished ; but to aff'ord tranquillity to the disturbed conscience, they feel very little concern. Hence we perceive, that they oppose the doctrine of justification by faith, but at the same time fix no certain rule of righteousness, by which the con- science may be satisfied. Let them triumph then as they please, if they can boast no other victory but that of having removed all certainty of righteousness. And this miserable victory, indeed, they will obtain, where, after having extinguished the light of truth, they are permitted by the Lord to spread the shades of error. But, wherever the truth of God remains, they will not prevail. I deny, therefore, that the assertion of James, which they hold up against us as an impenetrable shield, affords them the least support. To evince this, we shall first examine the scope of the apostle, and then remark wherein they are de- ceived. Because there were many persons at that time, and the Church is perpetually infested with similar characters, who, by neglecting and omitting the proper duties of believers, manifest- ly betrayed their real infidelity, while they continued to glory in the false pretence of faith, James here exposes the foolish con- fidence of such persons. It is not his design, then, to diminish, in any respect, the virtue of true faith, but to show the folly of these triflers, who were content with arrogating to themselves the vain image of it, and securely abandoned themselves to every vice. This statement being premised, it will be easy to discover where lies the error of our adversaries. For they fall into two fallacies ; one respecting the word " faith," the other respecting the word "justification." When the apostle gives the appellation oi faith to a vain notion, widely different from true faith, it is a concession which derogates nothing from the argument ; this he shows from the beginning in these words : "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works ? " {n) He does not say. If any one have faith without works ; but. If any one boast of having it. He speaks still more plainly just after, where he ridicules it by representing it as worse than the knowledge of devils; and lastly, (7j) James ii. 14. 46 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III when he calls it dead. But his meaning may be siiflicientlv miderstood from the definition he gives : " Thou believest," says he, " that there is one God." Indeed, if nothing be con- tained in this creed but a belief of the Divine existence, it is not at all surprising that it is inadequate to justification. And we must not suppose this denial to be derogatory to Christian faith, the nature of which is widely different. For how does true faith justify, but by uniting us to Christ, that, being made one with him, we may participate his righteousness ? It does not, therefore, justify us, by attaining a knowledge of God's existence, but by a reliance on the certainty of his mercy. XII. But we shall not have ascertained the whole scope of the apostle, till we have exposed the other fallacy ; for he at- tributes justification partly to works. If we wish to make James consistent with the rest of the Scriptures, and even with himself, we must understand the word "justify" in a different signification from that in which it is used by Paul. For we are said by Paul to be justified, when the memory of our unright- eousness is obliterated, and we are accounted righteous. If James had alluded to this, it would have been preposterous for him to make that quotation from Moses : " Abraham believed God," &c. (o) For he introduces it in the following manner : Abraham obtained righteousness by works, because he hesitated not to sacrifice his son at the command of God. And thus was the Scripture fulfilled, which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness. If an effect ante- cedent to its cause be an absurdity, either Moses falsely asserts in that place, that Abraham's faith was imputed to him for righteousness, or Abraham did not obtain righteousness by his obedience, displayed in the oblation of his son. Abraham was justified by faith, while Ishmael, who arrived at adolescence before the birth of Isaac, was not yet conceived. How, then, can we ascribe his justification to an act of obedience performed so long after ? Wherefore, either James improperly inverted the order of events, (which it is unlawful to imagine,) or, by saying that Abraham was justified, he did not moan that the patriarch deserved to be accounted righteous. What, then, was his meaning ? He evidently appears to speak of a declaration of righteousness before men, and not of an imputation of it in the sight of God ; as though he had said, They who are jus- tified by true faith, prove their justification, not by a barren and imaginary resemblance of faith, but by obedience and good works. In a word, he is not disputing concerning the method of justification, but requiring of believers a righteousness manifested in good works. And as Paul contends for justi- (o) James ii. 21—23. Gen. xv. G. CHAP. XVII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 47 fication independent of works, so James will not allow those to be accounted righteous, who are destitute of good works. The consideration of this object will extricate us from every diffi- culty. For the principal mistake of our adversaries consists in supposing, that James describes the method of justification, while he only endeavours to destroy the corrupt security of those who make vain pretences to faith, in order to excuse their contempt of good works. Into whatever forms, therefore, they pervert the words of James, they will extort nothing but these two truths — that a vain notion of faith cannot justify ; and that the faithful, not content with such an imagination, manifest their righteousness by their good works. XIII. Nor can they derive the least support from a similar passage which they cite from Paul, that '' Not the hearers of the law, but the doers of the law, shall be justified." (p) I have no wish to evade it by the explanation of Ambrose, that this is spoken, because faith in Christ is the fulfilling of the law. For this I conceive to be a mere subterfuge, which is totally un- necessary. The apostle in that place is demolishing the foolish confidence of the Jews, who boasted of possessing the exclusive knowledge of the law, whilst at the same time they were the greatest despisers of it. To prevent such great self-complacence on account of a mere acquaintance with the law, he admonishes them, that if righteousness be sought by the law, it is requisite not only to know but to observe it. We certainly do not question that the righteousness of the law consists in works, nor that this righteousness consists in the worthiness and merit of works. But still it cannot be proved that we are justified by works, unless some person be produced who has fulfilled the law. That Paul had no other meaning, is sufficiently evident from the context. After having con- demned the Gentiles and Jews indiscriminately for unright- eousness, he proceeds particularly to inform us, that " as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law ; " which refers to the Gentiles ; and that " as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law ; " which belongs to the Jews. Moreover, because they shut their eyes against their transgressions, and gloried in their mere possession of the law, he adds, what is exceedingly applicable, that the law was not given that men might be justified merely by hearing its voice, but by obeying it ; as though he had said, Do you seek righteousness by the law ? Plead not your having heard it, which of itself is a very small advantage, but produce works as an evi- dence that the law has not been given to you in vain. Since in this respect they were all deficient, they were consequently deprived of their glorying in the law. The meaning of Paul, (j») Rom. ii. 13. 48 INSTITUTES OF THE [uOOK III. therefore, rather furnishes an opposite argument : Legal right- eousness consists in perfect works ; no man can boast of having satisfied the law by his works; therefore there is no right- eousness by the law. XIV. Our adversaries proceed to adduce those passages in which the faithful boldly offer their righteousness to the ex- amination of Divine justice, and desire to be judged according to it. Such are the following : " Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me." {q) Again : " Hear the right, O Lord. Thou hast proved mine heart ; thou hast visited me in the night ; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing." (r) Again : " I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God. I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity. Therefore hath the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands." (s) Again : " Judge me, O liOrd, for I have walked in mine integ- rity. I have not sat Avith vain persons ; neither will I go in with dissemblers. Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men ; in whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes. But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity." {t) I have^ already spoken of the confidence which the saints appear to derive from their works. The passages now adduced will form no objection to our doctrine, when they are explained according to the occasion of them. Now, this is twofold. P^'or believers who have expressed themselves in this manner, have no wish to submit to a general examination, to be condemned or absolved according to the whole tenor of their lives, but they bring forward a particular cause to be judged ; and they attribute righteousness to themselves, not with reference to the Divine perfection, but in comparison with men of impious and abandoned characters. In the first place, in order to a man's being justified, it is requisite that he should have, not only a good cause in some particular instance, but a perpetual consistency of righteousness through life. But the saints, when they implore the judgment of God in approbation of their innocence, do not present themselves as free from every charge, and absolutely guiltless ; but having fixed their dependence on his goodness alone, and confiding in his readiness to avenge the poor who are unlawfully and unjustly afilicted, they supplicate his regard to the cause in which the innocent are oppressed. But when they place them- selves and their adversaries before the Divine tribunal, they boast not an innocence, which, on a severe examination, would (9) Psalm vii. 8. (s) Psalm xviii. 21, 23, 24. (r) Pealm xvii. 1, 3. (t) Psalm xxvi. 1, 4, 9—11. CHAP. XVII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 49 be found correspondent to the purity of God; but knowing that their sincerity, justice, simplicity, and purity, are pleasing and acceptable to God, in comparison with the malice, wicked- ness, fraud, and iniquity of their enemies, they are not afraid to invoke Him to judge between them. Thus, when David said to Saul, " The Lord render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness," [v] he did not mean that the Lord should ex- amine every individual by himself, and reward him according to his merits ; but he called the Lord to witness the greatness of his innocence in comparison with the iniquity of Saul. Nor did Paul, when he gloried in having "the testimony of" his " conscience " that he had conducted himself in the Church " with simplicity and godly sincerity," {lo) intend to rely on this before God ; but the calumnies of the impious constrained him to oppose all their slanderous aspersions by asserting his fidelity and probity, which he knew to be acceptable to the Divine good- ness. For we know what he says in another place : " I am con- scious to myself of nothing ; yet am I not hereby justified." (:r) Because, indeed, he was certain, that the judgment of God far transcended the narrow comprehension of man. However, therefore, the pious may vindicate their innocence against the hypocrisy of the impious, by invoking God to be their witness and judge, yet in their concerns with God alone, they all with one voice exclaim, " If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? " {y) Again: " Enter not into judg- ment with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no man living be justified." {z) And, diffident of their own works, they gladly sing, " Thy loving-kindness is better than life." {a) XV. There are likewise other passages, similar to the prece- ding, on which some person may yet insist. Solomon says, '' The just man walketh in his integrity." {h) Again : " In the way of righteousness there is life ; and in the pathway thereof there is no death." (c) Thus also Ezekiel declares, that he who "doth that which is lawful and right, shall surely live." (rf) We neither deny nor obscure any of these. But let one of the sons of Adam produce such an integrity. If no one can, they must either perish from the presence of God, or flee to the asylum of mercy. Nor do we deny, that to believers their integrity, however imperfect, is a step toward immortality. But what is the cause of this, unless it be that when the Lord has admitted any persons into the covenant of his grace, he does not scrutinize their works according to their intrinsic merit, but embraces them with paternal benignity ? By this (r) 1 Sam. xxvi. 23. (y) Psalm cxxx. 3. {h) Prov. xx. 7. (w) 2 Cor. i. 12. (2) Psalm cxliii. 2. (c) Prov. xii. 28. (z) 1 Cor. iv. 4. (a) Psalm Ixiii. 3. {d) Ez. xxxiii. 14, 15. VOL. II. 7 50 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. we mean, not merely what is taught by the schoolmen, ''that works receive their value from the grace \vhich accepts them ; " for they suppose, that works, otherwise inadequate to the at- tainment of salvation by the legal covenant, are rendered suf- ficient for this by the Divine acceptance of them. But I assert, that they are so defiled, both by other transgressions and by their own blemishes, that they are of no value at all, except as the Lord pardons both ; and this is no other than bestowing on a man gratuitous righteousness. It is irrelevant to this subject, to allege those prayers of the apostle, in which he desires such perfection for believers, that they may be un- blamable and irreprovable in the day of Christ, (e) These passages, indeed, the Celestines formerly perverted, in order to prove a perfection of righteousness in the present life. We think it sufficient briefly to reply, with Augustine, " that all the pious ought, indeed, to aspire to this object, to appear one day immaculate and guiltless before the presence of God ; but since the highest excellency in this life is nothing more than a progress towards perfection, we shall never attain it, till, being divested at once of mortality and sin, we shall fully adhere to the Lord." Nevertheless, I shall not pertinaciously contend with any person who chooses to attribute to the saints the character of perfection, provided he also defines it in the words of Augustine himself; who says, "When we denomi- nate the virtue of the saints perfect, to this perfection itself belongs the acknowledgment of imperfection, both in truth and in humility." CHAPTER XVIIL JUSTIFICATION BY WORKS NOT TO BE INFERRED FROM THE PROMISE OF A REWARD. Let us now proceed to those passages which affirm that "God will render to every man according to his deeds ; " (/) that "every one may receive the things done in his body, ac- cording to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." (g) "Tribulation and anguish upon every soul that doeth evil; but glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good."(/i) And, "All shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life ; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." (i) " Come, ye (e) 1 Thcss. iii. 13, et alibi. ( f) Rom. ii. 6. Matt. xvi. 27. (g) 2 Cfor. V. 10. (/i) Rom. ii.i», 10. (/) John v. 29. CHAP. XVIII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 51 blessed of my Father ; for I was a hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thhsty, and ye gave me drink," &c. (A') And with these let us also connect those which represent eternal life as the reward of works, such as the following : " The re- compense of a man's hands shall be rendered unto him." (I) "He that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded." (7/i) " Rejoice and be exceeding glad ; for great is your reward in heaven." (w) "Every one shall receive his own reward, ac- cording to his own labour." (o) The declaration, that God will render to every one according to his works, is easily ex- plained. For that phrase indicates the order of events, rather than the cause of them. But it is beyond all doubt, that the Lord proceeds to the consummation of our salvation by these several gradations of mercy : " Whom he hath predestinated, them he calls ; whom he hath called, he justifies ; and whom he hath justified, he finally glorifies." (p) Though he receives his children into eternal life, therefore, of his mere mercy, yet since he conducts them to the possession of it through a course of good works, that he may fulfil his work in them in the order he has appointed, we need not wonder if they are said to be rewarded according to their works, by which they are un- doubtedly prepared to receive the crown of immortality. And for this reason, they are properly said to "work out their own salvation," (r/) while, devoting themselves to good works, they aspire to eternal life ; just as in another place they are com- manded to "labor for the meat which perisheth not," when they obtain eternal life by believing in Christ ; and yet it is immediately added, " which the Son of man shall give unto you." (r) Whence it appears that the word work is not op- posed to grace, but refers to human endeavours ; and there- fore it does not follow, either that believers are the authors of their own salvation, or that salvation proceeds from their works. But as soon as they are introduced, by the knowledge of the gospel and the illumination of the Holy Spirit, into commu- nion with Christ, eternal life is begun in them. Now, " the good work which" God "hath begun in" them, "he will per- form until the day of Jesus Christ." (s) And it is performed, when they prove themselves to be the genuine children of God by their resemblance to their heavenly Father in righteousness and holiness. H. We have no reason to infer from the term reward^ that good works are the cause of salvation. First, let this truth be established in our minds, that the kingdom of heaven is not (A) Matt. XXV. 34— 36. (n) Matt. v. 12. Luke vi. 23. (y) Phil. ii. 12. \l) Prov. xii. 14. (o) 1 Cor. iii. 8. (r) John vi. 27. (m) Prov. xiii. 13. {p) Rom. viii. 30. (s) Phil. i. 6. 52 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. the stipend of servants, but the inheritance of children, which will be enjoyed only by those whom the Lord adopts as his children, and for no other cause than on account of this adop- tion. " For the son of the bond-woman shall not be heir with the son of the free-woman." (t) And, therefore, in the same passages in which the Holy Spirit promises eternal life as the re- ward of works, by expressly denominating it " an inheritance," he proves it to proceed from another cause. Thus Christ enu- merates the works which he compensates by the reward of heaven, when he calls the elect to the possession of it ; but at the same time adds, that it is to be enjoyed by right of inherit- ance, (v) So Pavd encourages servants, who faithfully discharge their duty, to hope for a reward from the Lord ; but at the same time calls it " the reward of the inheritance." (w) We see how they, almost in express terms, caution us against attributing eternal life to works, instead of ascribing it to Divine adoption. Why, then, it may be asked, do they at the same time make mention of works ? This question shall be elucidated by one example from the Scripture. Before the nativity of Isaac, there had been promised to Abraham a seed in whom all the nations of the earth were to be blessed, a multiplication of his posterity, which would.equal the stars of heaven and the sands of the sea, and other similar blessings, (.r) Many years after, in consequence of a Divine command, Abraham prepares to sacrifice his son. After this act of obedience, he receives this promise : " By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son ; that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore ; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies ; and in thy seed shall all the na- tions of the earth be blessed ; because thou hast obeyed my voice." (y) What ? did Abraliam by his obedience merit that blessing which had been promised him before the command was delivered ? Here, then, it appears, beyond all doubt, that the Lord rewards tlic works of believers with those blessings which he had already given them before their works were thought of, and while he had no reason for his beneficence, but his own mercy. III. Nor does the Lord deceive or trifle with us, when he says that he will requite works with what he had freely giv- en previously to the performance of them. For since it is his pleasure that we be employed in good works, while as- piring after the manifestation or enjoyment of those things (t) Gal. iv. 30. (r) Matt. xxv. 34. (w) Col. iii. 24. (i) Gen. xii. 2, 3 ; xiii. 16 ; xv. 5. (>/) Gen. xxii. 1&— lb. CHAP. XVIII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 53 which he has promised, and that they constitute the road in which we should travel to endeavour to attain the blessed hope proposed to us in heaven, therefore the fruit of the promises, to the perfection of which fruit those works conduct us, is justly- assigned to them. The apostle beautifully expressed both those ideas, when he said that the Colossians applied themselves to the duties of charity, " for the hope which was laid up for them in heaven, whereof they heard before in the word, of the truth of the gospel." (z) For his assertion, that they knew from the gospel, that there was hope laid up for them in hea- ven, is equivalent to a declaration that it depended not on any works, but on Christ alone ; which perfectly accords with the observation of Peter, that believers " are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time." (a) When it is said that they must labour for it, it implies, that in order to attain to it, believers have a race to run, which terminates only with their lives. Bat that we might not suppose the reward promised us by the Lord to be regula- ted according to the proportion of merit, he proposes a parable, in which he has represented himself under the character of a householder, who employs all the persons he meets in the cul- tivation of his vineyard ; some he hires at the first hour of the day, others at the second, others at the third, and some even at the eleventh hour ; in the evening he pays them all the same wages. (6) A brief and just explanation of this parable is given by the ancient writer, whoever he was, of the treatise " On the Calling of the Gentiles," which bears the name of Ambrose. I shall adopt his words in preference to my own. " By the example of this comparison, (says he,) the Lord has shown a variety of manifold vocation pertaining to the same grace. They Avho, having been admitted into the vineyard at the eleventh hour, are placed on an equality with them who had laboured the whole day, represent the state of those whom, to magnify the excellence of grace, God, in his mercy, has rewarded in the decline of the day, and at the con- clusion of life ; not paying them the wages due to their labour, but sending down the riches of his goodness, in copious effu- sions, on them whom he has chosen without works ; that even they who have laboured the most, and have received no more than the last, may understand theirs to be a reward of grace, not of works." Lastly, it is also worthy of being observed, that in those places where eternal life is called a reward of works, it is not to be understood simply of that communion which we have with God, as the prelude to a happy immor- tality, when he embraces us in Christ with paternal benevo- (2) Col. i. 4, 5. (a) 1 Peter i. 5. (b) Matt. xx. 1, «fec. 54 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. lence ; but of the possession or fruition of ultimate blessedness, as the very words of Christ import — -'in the world to come, eternal life." (c) And in another place, " Come, inherit the kingdom," &.c. (d) For the same reason, Paul applies the term adoption to the revelation of adoption, which shall be made in the resurrection ; and afterwards explains it to be " the redemption of our body." (e) Otherwise, as alienation from God is eternal death, so when a man is received into the favour of God so as to enjoy communion with him and become united to him, he is translated from death to life ; which is solely the fruit of adoption. And if they insist, with their ac- customed pertinacity, on the reward of works, we may retort against them that passage of Peter, where eternal life is called " the end (or reward) of faith." (/) IV". Let us not, therefore, imagine, that the Holy Spirit by these promises commends the worthiness of our works, as though they merited such a reward. For the Scripture leaves us nothing that can exalt us in the Divine presence. Its whole tendency is rather to repress our arrogance, and to inspire us with humility, dejection, and contrition. But such promises assist our weakness, which otherwise would immediately slide and fall, if it did not sustain itself by this expectation, and al- leviate its sorrows by this consolation. First, let every one re- flect, how difficult it is for a man to relinquish and renounce, not only all that belongs to him, but even himself. And yet this is the first lesson which Christ teaches his disciples, that is to say, all the pious. Afterwards he gives them such tuition during the remainder of their lives, under the discipline of the cross, that their hearts may not fix either their desires or their dependence on present advantages. In short, he generally ma- nages them in such a manner, that whithersoever they turn their views throughout the world, nothing but despair presents itself to them on every side ; so that Paul says, " If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most mise- rable." {g) To preserve them from sinking under these afliic- tions, they have the presence of the Lord, who encourages them to raise their heads higher, and to extend their views furtlier, by assurances that they will find in him that blessed- ness which they cannot see in the world. This blessedness he calls a reheard, a i^ecompcnsc ; not attributing any merit to their works, but signifying that it is a compensation for their oppressions, suflerings, and disgrace. Wherefore there is no objection against our following the example of the Scrip- ture in calling eternal life a reward; since in that state the (c) Mark X. SO. (d) Matt. xxv. 34. (e) Rom. viii. 23. (/) 1 Peter i. 9. (g) 1 Cor. iv. 19. CHAP. XVIII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 55 Lord receives his people from labor into rest ; from affliction into prosperity and happiness ; from sorrow into joy ; from poverty into affluence ; from ignominy into glory ; and commutes all the evils which they have endm-ed for blessings of superior magni- tude. So, likewise, it will occasion no inconvenience, if we con- sider holiness of life as the way, not which procures our admis- sion into the glory of the heavenly kingdom, but through which the elect are conducted by their God to the manifestation of it ; since it is his good pleasure to glorify them whom he has sanctified. Only let us not imagine a reciprocal relation of merit and reward, which is the error into which the sophists fell, for want of considering the end which we have stated. But how preposterous is it, when the Lord calls our attention to one end, for us to direct our views to another ! Nothing is clearer, than that the promise of a reward to good works is de- signed to afford some consolation to the weakness of our flesh, but not to inflate our minds with vain-glory. Whoever, there- fore, infers from this, that there is any merit in works, or ba- lances the work against the reward, errs very widely from the true design of God. V. Therefore, when the Scripture says, that " the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give " to his people " a crown of right- eousness," (h) I not only reply with Augustine — "To whom could the righteous Judge have given a crown, if the Father of mercies had never given grace ? and how would it have been an act of righteousness, if not preceded by that grace which justifies the ungodly ? how could these due rewards be rendered, unless those unmerited blessings were previously bestowed?" but I further inquire — How could he impute righteousness to our works, unless his indulgent mercy had concealed their unrighteousness ? How could he esteem them worthy of a reward, unless his infinite goodness had abolished all their demerit of punishment? Augustine is in the habit of designating eternal life by the word grace, because, when it is given as the reward of works, it is conferred on the gratui- tous gifts of God. But the Scripture humbles us more, and at the same time exalts us. For beside prohibiting us to glory in works, because they are the gratuitous gifts of God, it likewise teaches us that they are always defiled by some pollutions ; so that they cannot satisfy God, if examined according to the rule of his judgment ; but it is also added, to prevent our despon- dency, that they please him merely through his mercy. Now, though Augustine expresses himself somewhat diflferently from us, yet that there is no real difference of sentiment will appear from his language to Boniface. After a comparison between (A) 2 Tim. iv. 8. 56 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. two men, the one of a life holy and perfect even to a miracle, the other a man of probity and integrity, yet not so perfect but that many defects might be discovered, he at length makes this inference : " The latter, whose character appears inferior to the former, on account of the true faith in God by which he lives, and according to which he accuses himself in all his de- linquencies, and in all his good works praises God, ascribing the glory to him, the ignominy to himself, and deriving from him both the pardon of his sins and the love of virtue ; this man, I say, when delivered from this life, removes into the presence of Christ. AVherefore, but on account of faith ? which, though no man be saved by it without works, (for it is not a reprobate faith, but such as works by love,) yet produces re- mission of sins, for the just lives by faith ; (i) but without it, works apparently good are perverted into sins." Here he avows, without any obscurity, that for which we so strenuously contend — that the righteousness of good works depends on their acceptance by the Divine mercy. VI. Very similar to the foregoing passages is the import of the following : " Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness ; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations." (k) " Charge them that are rich in this world, that they he not high-minded, nor trust in uncer- tain riches, but in the living God ; that they do good, that they be rich in good works ; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life." (I) Here good works are compared to riches, which we may enjoy in the happiness of eternal life. I reply, that we shall never arrive at the true meaning of these passages, unless we advert to the design of the Spirit in such language. If Christ's declaration be true, that " where our treasure is, there will our heart be also," (m) — as the children of this world are generally intent on the acquisition of those things which conduce to the comfort of the present life, so it ought to be the concern of believers, after they have been tauglit that this life will ere long vanish like a dream, to trans- mit those things which they really wish to enjoy, to that place where they shall possess a perfect and permanent life. It behoves us, therefore, to imitate the conduct of those who determine to migrate to any new situation, where they have chosen to reside during the remainder of their lives ; they send their property before them, without regarding the inconveni- ence of a temporary absence from it ; esteeming their happiness the greater in proportion to the wealth which they possess in the i)lace which they intend for their permanent residence. If (/) Ileb. X. 38. (k) Luke xvi. 9. (/) 1 Tim. vi. 17—19. (w) Matt. vi. 21, CHAP. XVIII.] CHRISTIAN REUGION. 57 we believe heaven to be our country, it is better for us to transmit our wealth thither, than to retain it here, where we may lose it by a sudden removal. But how shall Ave transmit it ? Why, if we communicate to the necessities of the poor ; whatever is bestowed on them, the Lord considers as given to himself (?^) Whence that celebrated promise, "He that hath pity upon the poor, lendeth unto the Lord." (o) Again : "He which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully." (jp) For all things that are bestowed on our brethren in a way of charity, are so many deposits in the hand of the Lord ; which he, as a faithful depositary, will one day restore with ample interest. Are our acts of duty, then, it will be asked, so valu- able in the sight of God, that they are like riches reserved in his hand for us ? And who can be afraid to assert this, when the Scripture so frequently and plainly declares it ? But if any one, from the mere goodness of God, would infer the merit of works, these testimonies will afford no countenance to such an error. For we can infer nothing from them except the indulgence which God in his mercy is disposed to show us, since, in order to animate us to rectitude of conduct, though the duties we perform are unworthy of the least notice from him, yet he suffers not one of them to go unrewarded. VH. But they insist more on the words of the apostle, who, to console the Thessalonians under their tribulations, tells them that the design of their infliction is, " that they may be count- ed worthy of the kingdom of God, for which they also suffer. Seeing," says he, " it is a righteous thing with God to recom- pense tribulation to them that trouble you ; and to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven." (q) And the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews says, " God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have showed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints." (?•) To the first passage I reply. That it indicates no worthiness of merit ; but since it is the will of God the Father, that those whom he has chosen as his children be conformed to Christ his first begotten Son ; (s) as it was necessary for him first to suffer and then to enter into the glory destined for him ; (^) so "we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God." (u) The tribulations, therefore, which we suffer for the name of Christ, are, as it were, certain marks impressed on us by which God usually distinguishes the sheep of his flock. For this reason, then, we are accounted worthy of the kingdom of God, because (n) Matt. XXV. 40. (p) 2 Cor. ix. 6. (r) Heb. vi. 10. (t) Luke xxiv. 26 (o) Prov. xix. 17. (g) 2 Thess. i. 5—7. (s) Rom. viii. 29. (m) Acts xiv. 22. VOL. II. 8 58 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. we bear in our body the mai'ks of our Lord and Master, (w) which are the badges of the children of God. The same sentiment is conveyed in the following passages: "Bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body." (.r) " Being made conformable unto his death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." (y) The reason which the apostle subjoins tends not to establish any merit, but to confirm the hope of the kingdom of God ; as though he had said, As it is consistent with the judgment of God to avenge on your enemies those vexations with which they have harassed you, so it is also to grant you respite and repose from those vexations. Of the other passage, which represents it as becoming the right- eousness of God not to forget our services, so as almost to im- ply that he would be unrighteous if he did forget them, the meaning is, that in order to arouse our indolence, God has as- sured us that the labour which we undergo for the glory of his name shall not be in vain. And we should always remember that this promise, as well as all others, would be fraught with no benefit to us, unless it were preceded by the gratuitous cove- nant of mercy, on which the whole certainty of our salvation must depend. But relying on that covenant, we may securely confide, that our services, however unworthy, will not go with- out a reward from the goodness of God, To confirm us in that expectation, the apostle asserts that God is not unrighteous, but will perform the promise he has once made. This right- eousness, therefore, refers rather to the truth of the Divine promise, than to the equity of rendering to us any thing that is our due. To this purpose there is a remarkable observation of Augustine ; and as that holy man has not hesitated frequently to repeat it as deserving of remembrance, so I deem it not un- worthy of a constant place in our minds. " The Lord," says he, " is faithful, who has made himself our debtor, not by receiving any thing from us, but by promishig all things to us." Vin. Our Pharisees adduce the following passages of Paul : " Though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing." Again : " Now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three ; but the greatest of these is charity." (z) Again : " Above all these things, put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness." (a) From the first two pas- sages they contend that we are justified rather by charity than by faith ; that is, by the superior virtue, as they express it. But this argimient is easily overturned. For we have already shown, that what is mentioned in the first passage, has no (w) Gal. vi. 17. (x) 2 Cor. iv. 10. (y) Phil. iii. 10, 11. (z) 1 Cor. xiii. 2, 13. (a) Col. iii. 14. CHAP. XVIII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 59 reference to true faith. The second we explam to signify true faith, than which he calls charity greater, not as being more meritorious, but because it is more fruitful, more extensive, more generally serviceable, and perpetual in its duration ; whereas the use of faith is only temporary. In respect of ex- cellence, the preeminence must be given to the love of God, which is not in this place the subject of Paul's discourse. For the only point which he urges is, that with reciprocal charity we mutually edify one another in the Lord. But let us suppose that charity excels faith in all respects, yet what person pos- sessed of sound judgment, or even of the common exercise of reason, would argue from this that it has a greater concern in justification ? The power of justifying, attached to faith, con- sists not in the worthiness of the act. Our justification depends solely on the mercy of God and the merit of Christ, which when faith apprehends, it is said to justify us. Now, if we ask our adversaries in what sense they attribute justification to charity, they will reply, that because it is a duty pleasing to God, the merit of it, being accepted by the Divine goodness, is imputed to us for righteousness. Here we see how curiously their argument proceeds. We assert that faith justifies, not by procuring us a righteousness through its own merit, but as the instrument by which we freely obtain the righteousness of Christ. These men, passing over in silence the mercy of God, and making no mention of Christ, in whom is the substance of righteousness, contend that we are justified by the virtue of charity, because it is more excellent than faith ; just as though any one should insist that a king, in consequence of his superior rank, is more expert at making a shoe than a shoemaker. This one argument affords an ample proof that all the Sorbonic schools are destitute of the least experience of justification by faith. But if any wrangler should yet inquire, why we un- derstand Paul to use the word faith in different acceptations in the same discourse, I am prepared with a substantial reason for such an interpretation. For since those gifts which Paul enu- merates, are in some respect connected with faith and hope, because they relate to the knowledge of God, he summarily comprises them all under those two words ; as though he had said. The end of prophecy, and of tongues, of knowledge, and of the gift of interpretation, is to conduct us to the knowledge of God. But we know God in this life only by hope and faith. Therefore, when I mention faith and hope, I comprehend all these things under them. " And now abide th faith, hope, charity, these three ; " that is, all gifts, whatever may be their variety, are referred to these. " But the greatest of these is charity." From the third passage they infer, that if "charity is the bond of perfectness," it is therefore the bond of right- 60 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. eousness, which is no other than perfection. Now, to refrain from observing that what Paul calls pcrfectiicss^ is the mutual comiection which subsists between the members of a well-con- stituted church, and to admit that charity constitutes our per- fection before God ; yet what new advantage will they gain ? On the contrary, I shall always object, that we never arrive at that perfection, unless we fulfil all the branches of charity ; and hence I shall infer, that since all men are at an immense distance from complete charity, they are destitute of all hope of perfection. IX. I have no inclination to notice all the passages of Scrip- ture, which the folly of the modern Sorbonists seizes as they occur, and without any reason employs against us. For some of them are so truly ridiculous, that I could not even mention them, unless I wished to be accounted a fool. I shall therefore conclude this subject after having explained a sentence uttered by Christ, with which they are wonderfully pleased. To a lawyer, who asked him wiiat was necessary to salvation, he replied, " If thou wilt enter into life, keep the command- ments." {h) What can we wish more, say they, when the Author of grace himself commands to obtain the kingdom of heaven by an observance of the commandments ? As though it were not evident, that Christ adapted his replies to those with whom he conversed. Here a doctor of the law inquires the method of obtaining happiness, and that not simply, but what men must do in order to attain it. Both the character of the speaker and the inquiry itself induced the Lord to make this reply. The inquirer, persuaded of the righteousness of the law, possessed a blind confidence in his w^orks. Besides, he only inquired what were those works of riglitcousness by which sal- vation might be procured. lie is therefore justly referred to the law, which contains a perfect mirror of righteousness. We also explicitly declare, that if life be sought by works, it is indis- pensably requisite to keep the commandments. And this doctrine is necessary to be known by Christians ; for how should they flee for refuge to Christ, if they did not acknowledge themselves to have fallen from the way of life upon the precipice of death ? And how could they know how far they have wandered from the way of life, without a previous knowledge of what that way of life is ? It is then, therefore, that Christ is presented to them as the asylum of salvation, when they perceive the vast difference between their own lives and the Divine righteousness, which consists in the observance of the law. The sum of the whole is, that if we seek salvation by works, we must keep the commandments, by which we are taught perfect righteousness. {b) Matt. xix. 17. CHAP. XVIIl.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 61 But to stop here, would be failing in the midst of our course ; for to keep the commandments is a task to which none of us are equal. Being excluded, then, from the righteousness of the law, we are under the necessity of resorting to some other refuge, namely, to faith in Christ. Wherefore, as the Lord, knowing this doctor of the law to be inflated with a vain confidence in his works, recalls his attention to the law, that it may teach him his own character as a sinner, obnoxious to the tremendous sentence of eternal death, so, in another place, addressing those who have already been humbled under this knowledge, he omits all mention of the law, and consoles them with a promise of grace — "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest ; and ye shall find rest unto your souls." (c) X. At length, after our adversaries have wearied themselves with perversions of Scriptm-e, they betake themselves to sub- tleties and sophisms. They cavil, that faith is in some places called a work, (d) and hence they infer that we improperly oppose faith to works. As though faith procured righteousness for us by its intrinsic merit, as an act of obedience to the Divine will, and not rather because, by embracing the Divine mercy, it seals to our hearts the righteousness of Christ, which that mercy oflfers to us in the preaching of the gospel. The reader will pardon me for not dwelling on the confutation of such follies ; for they require nothing to refute them but their own weakness. But I wish briefly to answer one objection, which has some ap- pearance of reason, to prevent its being the source of any dif- ficulty to persons who have had but little experience. Since common sense dictates that opposites are subject to similar rules, and as all sins are imputed to us for unrighteousness, they maintain it to be reasonable, on the other hand, that all good works should be imputed to us for righteousness. Those who reply, that the condemnation of men proceeds from un- belief alone, and not from particular sins, do not satisfy me. I agree with them, that incredulity is the fountain and root of all evils. For it is the original defection from God, which is afterwards followed by particular transgressions of the law. But as they appear to fix one and the same rule for good and evil works in forming a judgment of righteousness or un- righteousness, here I am obliged to dissent from them. For the righteousness of works is the perfect obedience of the law. We cannot therefore be righteous by works, unless we follow this straight line throughout the whole of our lives. The first deviation from it is a lapse into unrighteousness. Hence it appears that righteousness arises not from one or a few works, (c) Matt. xi. 28, 29. (d) John vi. 29. 62 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. but from an inflexible and indefatigable observance of the Divine will. But the rule of judging of unrighteousness is very different. For he who has committed fornication or theft, is for one transgression liable to the sentence of death, because he has offended against the divine Majesty. These disputants of ours, therefore, fall into an error for want of adverting to the decision of James, that " whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." For he that said, " Do not commit adultery," said also, " Do not kill," &c. (e) It ought not, therefore, to be deemed absurd, when we say, that death is the reward justly due to every sin, because they are all and every one deserving of the indignation and vengeance of God. But it will be a weak argument to infer, on the contrary, that one good work will reconcile a man to God, whose wrath he has incurred by a multitude of sins. CHAPTER XIX. ON CHRISTIAN LIBERTY. We have now to treat of Christian liberty, an explanation of which ought not to be omitted in a treatise which is designed to comprehend a compendious summary of evangelical doctrine. For it is a subject of the first importance, and unless it be Avell understood, our consciences scarcely venture to undertake any thing without doubting, experience in many things hesitation and reluctance, and are always subject to fluctuations and fears. But especially it is an appendix to justification, and affords no small assistance towards the knowledge of its influence. Hence they who sincerely fear God will experience the incomparable advantage of that doctrine, which impious scoffers pursue with their railleries ; because in the spiritual intoxication with which they are seized, they allow themselves the most unbounded impudence. Wherefore this is the proper time to introduce the subject ; and though we have slightly touched upon it on some former occasions, yet it was useful to defer the full discussion of it to this place ; because, as soon as any mention is made of Christian liberty, then either inordinate passions rage, or violent emotions arise, unless timely opposition be made to those wanton spirits, who most nefai'iously corrupt things which are otherwise the best. For some, under the pretext of this liberty, (c) James ii. 10, 11. CHAP. XIX.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 63 cast off all obedience to God, and precipitate themselves into the most unbridled licentiousness ; and some despise it, sup- posing it to be subversive of all moderation, order, and moral distinctions. What can we do in this case, surrounded by such difficulties ? Shall we entirely discard Christian liberty, and so preclude the occasion of such dangers? But, as we have ob- served, unless this be understood, there can be no right know- ledge of Christ, or of evangelical truth, or of internal peace of mind. We should rather exert ourselves to prevent the sup- pression of such a necessary branch of doctrine, and at the same time to obviate those absurd objections which are fre- quently deduced from it. II. Christian liberty, according to my judgment, consist^ of three parts. The first part is, that the consciences of be- lievers, when seeking an assurance of their justification before God, should raise themselves above the law, and forget all the righteousness of the law. Por since the law, as we have else- where demonstrated, leaves no man righteous, either we must be excluded from all hope of justification, or it is necessary for us to be delivered from it, and that so completely as not to have any dependence on works. For he who imagines, that in order to obtain righteousness he must produce any works, however small, can fix no limit or boundary, but renders himself a debtor to the whole law. Avoiding, therefore, all mention of the law, and dismissing all thought of our own works, in reference to justification, we must embrace the Divine mercy alone, and turning our eyes from ourselves, fix them solely on Christ. For the question is, not how we can be righteous, but how, though unrighteous and unworthy, we can be considered as righteous. And the conscience that desires to attain any cer- tainty respecting this, must give no admission to the law. Nor will this authorize any one to conclude, that the law is of no use to believers, whom it still continues to instruct and exhort, and stimulate to duty, although it has no place in their consciences before the tribunal of God. For these two things, being very difli'erent, require to be properly and carefully dis- tinguished by us. The whole life of Christians ought to be an exercise of piety, since they are called to sanctification. (/) It is the office of the law to remind them of their duty, and there- by to excite them to the pursuit of holiness and integrity. But when their consciences are solicitous how God may be propi- tiated, what answer they shall make, and on what they shall rest their confidence, if called to his tribunal, there must then be no consideration of the requisitions of the law, but Christ alone must be proposed for righteousness, who exceeds all the perfection of the law. (/) Ephes. i. 4. 1 Thess. iv. 3, 7. 64 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. III. On this point turns almost the whole argument of the Epistle to the Galatians. For that they are erroneous ex- positors, who maintain, that Paul there contends only for liberty from ceremonies, may be proved from the topics of his reasoning. Such as these : " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." (g-) Again : '• Stand fast, there- fore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. Every man that is circumcised is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law ; ye are fallen from grace." (h) These passages certainly comprehend something more exalted than a freedom from ceremonies. I confess, indeed, that Paul is there treating of ceremonies, because he is contending with the false apostles, w^io attempted to introduce again into the Christian Church the ancient shadows of the law, which had been abolished by the advent of Christ. But for the decision of this question it was necessary to discuss some higher topics, in which the whole controversy lay. First, because the brightness of the gospel was obscured by those Jewish shadows, he shows that in Christ we have a complete exhibition of all those things which were adumbrated by the ceremonies of Moses. Secondly, because these impostors instilled into the people the very perni- cious opinion, that this ceremonial obedience was sufficient to merit the Divine favour, he principally contends, that be- lievers ought not to suppose that they can obtain righteousness before God by any works of the law, much less by those in- ferior elements. And he at the same time teaches, that from the condemnation of the law, which otherwise impends over all men, they are delivered by the cross of Christ, that they may rely with perfect security on him alone — a topic which properly belongs to our present subject. Lastly, he asserts the liberty of the consciences of believers, which ought to be laid under no obligation in things that are not necessaiy. IV. The second part of Christian liberty, which is dependent on the first, is, that their consciences do not observe the law, as being under any legal obligation; but that, being liberated from tlTe"yb"kc"~orihe law, they yield a vohmtaiy obedience to the will of God. For being possessed' with perpetual terrors, as long as they remain under the dominion of the law, they will never engage with alacrity and promptitude in the service of God, unless they have previously received this liberty. We shall more easily and clearly discover the design of these things from an example. The precept of the law is, " Thou shalt (S) Gat. iii. 13. (A) Gal. v. 1—4. CHAP. XIX.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 65 love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." (^) That this command may be fulfilled, our soul must be previously divested of every other perception and thought, our heart must be freed from all desires, and om* might must be collected and contracted to this one point. Those who, compared with others, have made a very consi- derable progress in the way of the Lord, are yet at an immense distance from this perfection. For though they love God with their soul, and with sincere affection of heart, yet they have still much of their heart and soul occupied by carnal desires, which retard their progress towards God. They do indeed press forward with strong exertions, but the flesh partly debilitates their strength, and partly attracts it to itself What can they do in this case, when they perceive that they are so far from ob- serving the law ? They wish, they aspire, they endeavour, but they do nothing with the perfection that is required. If they advert to the law, they see that every work they attempt or meditate is accursed. Nor is there the least reason for any person to deceive himself, by concluding that an action is not necessarily altogether evil, because it is imperfect, and that therefore the good part of it is accepted by God. For the law, requiring perfect love, condemns all imperfection, unless its rigour be mitigated. Let him consider his work, therefore, which he wished to be thought partly good, and he will find that very work to be a transgression of the law, because it is imperfect. V. See how all our works, if estimated according to the rigour of the law, are subject to its curse. How, then, could unhappy souls apply themselves with alacrity to any work for which they could expect to receive nothing but a curse ? On the contrary, if they are liberated from the severe exaction of the law, or rather from the whole of its rigour, and hear God calling them with paternal gentleness, then with cheerfulness and prompt alacrity they will answer to his call and follow his guidance. In short, they who are bound by the yoke of the law, are like slaves who have certain daily tasks appointed by their masters. They think they have done nothing, and pre- sume not to enter into the presence of their masters without having finished the work prescribed to them. But children, who are treated by their parents in a more liberal manner, hesitate not to jDresent to them their imperfect, and in some respects faulty works, in confidence that their obedience and promptitude of mind will be accepted by them, though they have not performed all that they wished. Such children ought we to be, feeling a certain confidence that our services, however (i) Deut. vi. 5. 66 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. small, rude, and imperfect, will be approved by onr most indul- gent Father. This he also confirms to us by the prophet : " 1 will spare them," saith he, "as a man spareth his own son that serveth him ; " (k) where it is evident, from the mention of service, that the word spare is used to denote indulgence, or an overlooking of faults. And we have great need of this confi- dence, without which all our endeavours will be vain ; for God considers us as serving him in none of our works, but such as are truly done by us to his honour. But how can this be done amidst those terrors, where it is a matter of doubt whether our works offend God or honour him ? VI. This is the reason why the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews refers to faith, and estimates only by faith, all the good works which are recorded of the holy patriarchs. {I) On this liberty there is a remarkable passage in the Epistle to the Romans, where Paul reasons that sin ought not to have do- minion over us, because we are not under the law, but under grace, (m) For after he had exhorted believers, " Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body ; neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness ; but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God," (w) — they might, on the contrary, object that they yet carried about with them the flesh full of inordinate desires, and that sin dwelt in them ; but he adds the consolation furnished by their liberty from the law ; as though he had said, Al- though you do not yet experience sin to be destroyed, and righteousness living in you in perfection, yet you have no cause for terror and dejection of mind, as if God were perpetu- ally oflended on account of your remaining sin ; because by grace you are emancipated from the law, that your works may not be judged according to that rule. But those, who infer that we may commit sin because we are not under the law, may be assured that they have no concern with this liberty, the end of which is to animate us to virtue. VII. The third part of Christian liberty teaches us, that we are bound by no obligation kefore God respecting external things, which in themselves are indiff"erent ; but that we may indifferently sometimes use, and at other times omit them. And the knowledge of this liberty also is very necessary for us ; for without it we shall have no tranquillity of conscience, nor will there be any end of superstitions. Many in the pre- sent age think it a folly to raise any dispute concerning the free use of meats, of days, and of habits, and similar subjects, considering these things as frivolous and nugatory ; but they (k) Mai. iii. 17. (0 Ileb. xi. 2. (m) Rom. vi. 14. (n) Rom. vi. 12, 15, CHAP. XIX.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 67 are of greater importance than is generally believed. For when the conscience has once fallen into the snare, it enters a long and inextricable labyrinth, from which it is afterwards difficult to escape ; if a man begin to doubt the lawfulness of using flax in sheets, shirts, handkerchiefs, napkins, and table cloths, neither will he be certain respecting hemp, and at last he will doubt of the lawfulness of using tow ; for he will consider with himself whether he cannot eat without table cloths or napkins, whether he cannot do without handkerchiefs. If any one imagine delicate food to be unlawful, he will ere long have no tranquillity before God in eating brown bread and common viands, while he remembers that he might support his body with meat of a quality still inferior. If he hesitate respecting good wine, he will afterwards be unable with any peace of conscience to drink the most vapid ; and at last he will not presume even to touch purer and sweeter water than others. In short, he will come to think it criminal to step over a twig that lies across his path. For this is the commencement of no trivial controversy ; but the dispute is whether the use of cer- tain things be agreeable to God, whose will ought to guide all our resolutions and all our actions. The necessary consequence is, that some are hurried by despair into a vortex of confusion, from which they see no way of escape ; and some, despising God, and casting off all fear of him, make a way of ruin for themselves. For all, who are involved in such doubts, which way soever they turn their views, behold something ofi'ensive to their consciences presenting itself on every side. VIII. " I know," says Paul, "that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean." (o) In these words he makes all ex- ternal things subject to our liberty, provided that our minds have regard to this liberty before God. But if any supersti- tious notion cause us to scruple, those things which were naturally pure become contaminated to us. Wherefore he sub- joins, " Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that which he alloweth. And he that doubteth is condemned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith ; for whatsoever is not of faith is sin." (p) Are not they, who in these perplexities show their superior boldness by the security of their presump- tion, guilty of departing from God? whilst they who are deeply affected with the true fear of God, when they are even con- strained to admit many things to which their own consciences are averse, are filled with terror and consternation. No persons of this description receive any of the gifts of God with thanks- giving, by which alone Paul, nevertheless, declares them to be all sanctified to our use. (q) I mean a thanksgiving proceeding (o) Rom. xiv. 14. (p) Rom. xiv. 22, 23. (?) 1 Tim. iv. 5. 68 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. from a mind which acknowledges the beneficence and good- ness of God in the blessings he bestows. For many of them, indeed, apprehend the good things which they use to be from God, whom they praiise in his works ; but not being persuaded that they are give7i to them, how could they give thanks to God as the giver of them? We see, in short, the tendency of this liberty, which is, that without any scruple of conscience or perturbation of mind, we should devote the gifts of God to that use for which he has given them ; by which confidence our souls may have peace with him, and acknowledge his liberality towards us. For this comprehends all ceremonies, the observa- tion of which is left free, that the conscience may not be bound by any obligation to observe them, but may remember that by the goodness of God it may use them, or abstain from them, as shall be most conducive to edification. IX. Now, it must be carefully observed, that Christian liberty is in all its branches a spiritual thing ; all the virtue of which consists in appeasing terrified consciences before God, whether they are disquieted and solicitous concerning the remission of their sins, or are anxious to know if their works, which are im- perfect and contaminated by the defilements of the flesh, be acceptable to God ; or are tormented concerning the use of things that are indifferent. Wherefore they are guilty of per- verting its meaning, who either make it the pretext of their irregular appetites, that they may abuse the Divine blessings to the purposes of sensuality, or who suppose that there is no liberty but what is used before men, and therefore in the exer- cise of it totally disregard their weak brethren. The former of these sins is the more common in the present age. There is scarcely any one, whom his wealth permits to be sumptuous, who is not delighted with luxurious splendour in his enter- tainments, in his dress, and in his buildings ; who does not desire a preeminence in every species of luxury ; who does not strangely flatter himself on his elegance. And all these things are defended under the pretext of Christian liberty. They allege that they are things i)idiflerent ; this I admit, provided they be indilTerently used. But where they are too ardently coveted, proudly boasted, or luxuriously lavished, these things, of them- selves otherwise indifi'erent, are completely polluted by such vices. This passage of Paul makes an excellent distinction respecting things which are indifferent : " Unto the pure all things are pure ; but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure ; but even their mind and conscience is de- filed." (r) For why are curses denounced on rich men, who " receive their consolation," who are " satiated," who " now (r) Titus i. 15. CHAP. XIX.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 69 laugh," who "lie on beds of ivory," who "join field to field," who " have the harp, and the lyre, and the tab ret, and wine in their feasts ? " (s) Ivory and gold, and riches of all kinds, are certainly blessings of Divine Providence^ not only permitted, but expressly designed for the use of men ; nor are we any where prohibited to laugh, or to be satiated with food, or to annex new possessions to those already enjoyed by ourselves or by our ancestors, or to be delighted with musical harmony, or_^o drink wine. This indeed is true ; but amidst an abundance of all things, to be immersed in sensual delights, to inebriate the heart and mind with present pleasures, and perpetually to grasp at new ones, — these things are very remote from a legitimate use of the Divine blessings. Let them banish, therefore, immoderate cupidity, excessive profusion, vanity, and arrogance ; that with a pure conscience they may make a proper use of the gifts of God. When their hearts shall be formed to this sobriety, they will have a rule for the legitimate enjoyment of them. On the contrary, without this moderation, even common and ordina- ry pleasures are chargeable with excess. For it is truly ob- served, that a proud heart frequently dwells under coarse and ragged garments, and that simplicity and humility are some- limes concealed under purple and fine linen. Let all men, in their respective stations, whether of poverty, of competence, or of splendour, live in the remembrance of this truth, that God confers his blessings on them for the support of life, not for luxury ; and let them consider this as the law of Christian liberty, that they learn the lesson which Paul had learned, when he said, " I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound : every where and in all things I am instructed, both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need." (t) X. Many persons err likewise in this respect, that, as if their liberty would not be perfectly secure unless witnessed by men, they make an indiscriminate and imprudent use of it — a dis- orderly practice, which occasions frequent offence to their weak brethren. There are some to be found, in the present day, who imagine their liberty would be abridged, if they were not to enter on the enjoyment of it by eating animal food on Friday. Their eating is not the subject of my reprehension ; but their minds require to be divested of this false notion ; for they ought to consider, that they obtain no advantage from their liberty before men, but with God ; and that it consists in abstinence as well as in use. If they apprehend it to be immaterial in God's view, whether they eat animal food or eggs, whether their garments be scarlet or black, it is quite sufficient. The (5) Luke vi. 24, 25. Amos vi. 1, &c. Isaiah v. 8, &c. («) Phil. iv. 11, 12. 70 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III, conscience, to which the benefit of this liberty was due, is now emancipated. Therefore, though they abstain from flesh, and wear but one color, during all the rest of their lives, this is no diminution of their freedom. Nay, because they are free, they therefore abstain with a free conscience. But they fall into a very pernicious error in disregarding the infirmity of their brethren, which it becomes us to bear, so as not rashly to do any thing which would give them the least offence. But it will be said, that it is sometimes right to assert our liberty before men. This I confess ; yet the greatest caution and moderation must be observed, lest we cast off all concern for the weak, whom God has so strongly recommended to our regards. XI. I shall now, therefore, make some observations con- cerning offences ; how they are to be discriminated, what are to be avoided, and what are to be disregarded ; whence we may afterwards determine what room there is for our liberty in our intercourse with mankind. I approve of the common distinc- tion between an offence given and an offence taken, since it is plainly countenanced by Scripture, and is likewise sufliciently significant of the thing intended to be expressed. If you do any thing at a wrong time or place, or with an unseasonable levity, or wantonness, 9r temerity, by which the weak and in- experienced are offended, it must be termed an offence given by you ; because it arises from your fault. And an offence is always said to be given in any action, the fault of which pro- ceeds from the performer of that action. An offence taken is, when any transaction, not otherwise unseasonable or culpable, is, through malevolence, or some perverse disposition, construed into an occasion of oftence. For in this instance the offence is not given, but taken without reason by such perversencss of construction. The first species of offence aflects none but the weak ; the second is created by moroseness of temper, and Pharisaical superciliousness. Wherefore we shall denominate the former, the offence of the weak, the latter, that of Pha- risees ; and we shall so temper the use of our liberty, that it ought to submit to the ignorance of weak brethren, but not at all to the austerity of Pharisees. For our duty to the weak, Paul fully shows in many places. " Him that is weak in the faith receive ye." Again: "Let us not therefore judge one another any more ; but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way ; " (?<) and much more to the same import, which were better exa- mined in its proper connection than recited here. The sum of all is, that " we, then, that are strong, ought to bear the infirmi- ties of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of («) Rom. xiv. 1,13. CHAP. XIX.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 71 US please his neighbour for his good to edification." (v) In another place : " But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling-block to them that are weak." (w) Again : " Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat ; ask- ing no questions for conscience' sake ; conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other." In short, "Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the Church of God." (.1-) In another place also: "Brethren, ye have been called unto liberty ; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another." (y) The meaning of this is, that our liberty is not given us to be used in opposition to our weak neighbours, to whom charity obliges us to do every possible service ; but rather in order that, having peace with God in our minds, we may also live peaceably among men. But how much attention should be paid to an offence taken by Pharisees, we learn from our Lord's injunction, " Let them alone; they be blind leaders of the blhid." (z) The disciples had informed him, that the Pharisees were offended with his discourse. He replies that they are to be let alone, and their offence disregarded. XIL But the subject is still pending in uncertainty, unless we know whom we are to account weak, and whom we are to consider as Pharisees ; without which distinction, I see no use of liberty in the midst of offences, but such as must be at- tended with the greatest danger. But Paul appears to me to have very clearly decided, both by doctrine and examples, how far our liberty should be either moderated or asserted on the occurrence of offences. When he made Timothy his associate, he circumcised him ; (a) but could not be induced to circum- cise Titus, (b) Here was a difference in his proceedings, but no change of mind or of purpose. In the circumcision of Ti- mothy, " though he was free from all men, yet he made himself servant unto all ; " and says he, " Unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews ; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law : I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some." (c) Thus we have a proper moderation of liberty, if it may be indifferently restricted with any advantage. His reason for resolutely refraining from circumcising Titus, he declares in the following words : " But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised ; and that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage ; to whom we (r) Rom. XV. 1, 2. (y) Gal. v. 13. (b) Gal. ii. 3. (w) 1 Cor. viii. 9. (z) Matt. xv. 14. (c) 1 Cor. ix. 19, (x) 1 Cor. X. 25, 29, 32. (a) Acts xvi. 3. 20, 22. 72 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III, gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour ; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you." (d) We also are under the necessity of vindicating our liberty, if it be endan- gered in weak consciences by the iniquitous requisitions of false apostles. We must at all times study charity, and keep in view the edification of our neighbour. "All things (says Paul) ai'c lawful for me, but all things are not expedient : all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. Let no man seek his own, but every man another's." (e) Nothing can be plainer than this rule, that our liberty should be used, if it con- duces to our neighbour's edification ; but that if it be not bene- ficial to our neighbour, it should be abridged. There are some, who pretend to imitate the prudence of Paul in refraining from the exercise of liberty, Avhile they are doing any thing but ex- ercising the duties of charity. For to promote their own tran- quillity, they wish all mention of liberty to be buried ; whereas it is no less advantageous to our neighbours sometimes to use our liberty to their benefit and edification, than at other times to moderate it for their accommodation. But a pious man con- siders this liberty in external things as granted him in order that he may be the better prepared for all the duties of charity. XIII. But whatever I have advanced respecting the avoid- ance of ofifences, I wish to be referred to indifferent and un- important things ; for necessary duties must not be omitted through fear of any offence : as our liberty should be subject to charity, so charity itself ought to be subservient to the purity of faith. It becomes us, indeed, to have regard to charity ; but we must not offend God for the love of our neighbour. We cannot approve the intemperance of those who do nothing but in a tumultuous manner, and who prefer violent measures to le- nient ones. Nor must we listen to those, who, while they show themselves the leaders in a thousand species of impiety, pretend that they are obliged to act in such a manner, that they may give no offence to their neighbours ; as though they are not at the same time fortifying the consciences of their neighbours in sin ; especially since they are always sticking in the same mire without any hope of deliverance. And whether their neighbour is to be instructed by doctrine or by example, they maintain that he ought to be fed with milk, though they are infecting him with the worst and most pernicious notions. Paul tells the Corinthians, " I have fed you with milk; " (/) but if the Popish mass had been then introduced among them, would he have united in that pretended sacrifice in order to feed them with milk ? Certainly not ; for milk is not poison. They are guilty of falsehood, therefore, in saying that they feed those (d) Gal. ii. 3—5. (e) 1 Cor. x. 23, 24. (/) 1 Cor. iii. 2. CHAP. XIX.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 73 whom they cruelly murder under the appearance of such flat- teries. But admittmg that such dissimulation is to be approved for a time, how long will they feed their children with the same milk ? For if they never grow, so as to be able to bear even some light meat, it is a clear proof that they were never fed with milk. I am prevented from pushing this con- troversy with them any further at present, by two reasons — first, because their absurdities scarcely deserve a refutation, being justly despised by all men of sound understanding ; secondly, having done this at large in particular treatises, I am unwilling to travel the same ground over again. Only let the readers remember, that with whatever offences Satan and the world may endeavour to divert us from the ordinances of God, or to retard our pursuit of what he enjoins, yet we must never- theless strenuously advance ; and moreover, that whatever dan- gers threaten us, we are not at liberty to deviate even a hair's breadth from his command, and that it is not lawful under any pretext to attempt any thing but what he permits. XIV. Now, since the consciences of believers, being pri- vileged with the liberty which we have described, have been delivered by the favour of Christ from all necessary obliga- tion to the observance of those things in which the Lord has been pleased they should be left free, we conclude that they are exempt from all human authority. For it is not right that Christ should lose the acknowledgments due to such kindness, or our consciences the benefit of it. Neither is that to be accounted a trivial thing, which we see cost Christ so much ; which he estimated not with gold or silver, but with his own blood ; (n) so that Paul hesitates not to assert, that his death is rendered vain, if we suffer our souls to be in subjection to men. (o) For his sole object in some chapters of his Epistle to the Gala- tians is to prove that Christ is obscured, or rather abolished, with respect to us, unless our consciences continue in their liberty ; from which they are certainly fallen, if they can be insnared in the bonds of laws and ordinances at the pleasure of men. Qd) But as it is a subject highly worthy of being understood, so it needs a more diffuse and perspicuous explanation. For as soon as a word is mentioned concerning the abrogation of human establishments, great tumults are excited, partly by seditious persons, partly by cavillers ; as though all obedience of men were at once subverted and destroyed. XV. To prevent any one from falling into this error, let us therefore consider, in the first place, that man is under two kinds of government — one spiritual, by which the conscience is formed to piety and the service of God ; the other political, by (n) 1 Peter i. 18, 19. (o) Gal. v. 1, 4. (p) 1 Cor. vii. 23 FOL. XL 10 74 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. which a man is instructed in the duties of humanity and civi- lity, which are to be observed in an intercourse with mankind. They are generally, and not improperly, denominated the spiritual and the temporal jurisdiction ; indicating that the former species of government pertains to the life of the soul, and that the latter relates to the concerns of the present state ; not only to the provision of food and clothing, but to the enactment of laws to regulate a man's life among his neighbours by the rules of holiness, integrity, and sobriety. For the former has its seat in the interior of the mind, whilst the latter only directs the external conduct : one may be termed a spiritual kingdom, and the other a political one. But these two, as we have dis- tinguished them, always require to be considered separately ; and while the one is under discussion, the mind must be ab- stracted from all consideration of the other. For man contains, as it were, two worlds, capable of being governed by various rulers and various laws. This distinction will prevent what the gospel inculcates concerning spiritual liberty from being misapplied to political regulations ; as though Christians were less subject to the external government of human laws, because their consciences have been set at liberty before God ; as though their freedom ©f spirit necessarily exempted them from all carnal servitude. Again, because even in those constitutions which seem to pertain to the spiritual kingdom, there may possibly be some deception, it is necessary to discriminate between these also ; which are to be accounted legitimate, as according with the Divine word, and which, on the contrary, ought not to be received among believers. Of civil govern- ment I shall treat in another place. Of ecclesiastical laws also I forbear to speak at present ; because a full discussion of them will be proper in the Fourth Book, where we shall treat of the power of the Church. But we shall conclude the present argument in the following manner : The question, which, as I have observed, is in itself not very obscure or intricate, greatly perplexes many, because they do not distinguish with sufficient precision between the external jurisdiction and the court of conscience. The difficulty is increased by Paul's injunction to obey magistrates " not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake ; " {q) from which it should follow, that the conscience also is bound by political laws. But if this were true, it would supersede all that we have already said, or are now about to say, respecting spiritual government. For the solution of this difficulty, it will be of use, first, to know what conscience is. And the definition of it must be derived from the etymology of the word. For as, when men apprehend the knowledge of ( Matt. vi. 7. {y) Luke xviii. 11 (z) Matt. vi. 6. CHAP. XX.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 115 God, whose temples our bodies ought to be, will accede to the desires of our souls. For he did not intend to deny the expedi- ency of praying also in other places ; but shows that prayer is a kind of secret thing, which lies principally in the heart, and re- quires a tranquillity of mind undisturbed by all cares. It was not without reason, therefore, that the Lord himself, when he would engage in an unusual vehemence of devotion, retired to some solitary place, far from the tumult of men ; but with a view to admonish us by his own example, that we ought not to neglect these helps, by which our hearts, naturally too inconstant, are more intensely fixed on the devotional exercise. But notwith- standing, as he did not refrain from praying even in the midst of a multitude, if at any time the occasion required it, so we, in all places where it may be necessary, should "lift up holy hands." (a) And so it is to be concluded, that whoever refuses to pray in the solemn assembly of the saints, knows nothing of private prayer, either solitary or domestic. And again, that he who neglects solitary and private prayer, how sedulously soever he may frequent the public assemblies, only forms there such as are mere wind, because he pays more de- ference to the opinion of men than to the secret judgment of God. In the mean time, that the common prayers of the Church might not sink into contempt, God anciently distin- guished them by splendid titles, especially when he called the temple a "house of prayer." (6) For by this expression he taught both that the duty of prayer is a principal part of his worship, and that the temple had been erected as a standard for believers, in order that they might engage in it with one consent. There was also added a remarkable promise : " Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion ; and unto thee shall the vow be performed ; " (c) in which words the Psalmist informs us that the prayers of the Church are never in vain, because the Lord supplies his people with perpetual matter of praise and joy. But though the legal shadows have ceased, yet since it has been the Divine will by this ceremony to maintain a unity of faith among us also, the same promise undoubtedly belongs to us, Christ having confirmed it with his own mouth, and Paul having represented it as perpetually valid. XXX. Now, as God in his word commands believers to miite in common prayers, so also it is necessary that public temples be appointed for performing them ; where they who refuse to join with the people of God in their devotions, have no just reason for abusing this pretext, that they enter into their closets, in obedience to the Divine mandate. For he who promises to grant whatever shall be implored by two or three (a) 1 Tim. li. 8. (6) Isaiah Ivi. 7. (c) Psalm Ixv. 1. \\Q INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. persons convenea in his name, (d) proves that he is far from despising prayers offered in public ; provided they be free from ostentation and a desire of human applause, and accompanied with a sincere and real affection dwelling in the secret recesses of the heart. If this be the legitimate use of temples, as it certainly is, there is need of great caution, lest we either con- sider them as the proper habitations of the Deity, where he may be nearer to us to hear our prayers, — an idea which has be- gun to be prevalent for several ages, — or ascribe to them I know not what mysterious sanctity, which might be supposed to ren- der our devotions more holy in the Divine view. For since we are ourselves the true temples of God, we must pray within ourselves, if we wish to invoke him in his holy temple. But let us, who are directed to worship the Lord " in spirit and in truth," (e) without any difference of place, relinquish those gross ideas of religion to the Jews or pagans. There was, indeed, anciently a temple dedicated, by Divine command, to the oblation of prayers and sacrifices : at that time the truth was figuratively concealed under such shadows ; but now, having been plainly discovered to us, it no longer permits an exclusive attachment to any material temple. Nor, indeed, was the temple recommended td the Jews that they might enclose the Divine presence within its walls, but that they might be em- ployed in contemplating a representation of the true temple. Therefore Isaiah and Stephen have sharply reprehended those who suppose that God dwells in any respect '• in temples made with hands." (/) XXXI. Hence it is moreover clearly evident, that neither voice nor singing, if used in prayer, has any validity, or produces the least benefit with God, unless it proceed from the inmost desire of the heart. But they rather provoke his wrath against us, if they be only emitted from the lips and throat ; since that is an abuse of his sacred name, and a derision of his majesty ; as we conclude from the words of Isaiah, which, though their meaning be more extensive, contain also a reproof of this of- fence : " The Lord said. Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men, — therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder ; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid." {g) Nor do we here condemn the use of the voice, or singing, but rather highly recommend them, provided (rf) Matt, xviii. 20. (/) Isaiah Ixvi. 1. Acts vii. 48. (e) John iv. 23. (^) Isaiah xxix 13, 14. Matt. xv. 8, 9. CHAP. XX.] CHRISTIAN RELJGION. 117 they accompany the affection of the heart. For they exercise the mind in Divine meditation, and fix the attention of the heart ; which by its hibricity and versatihty is easily relaxed and distracted to a variety of objects, unless it be supported by various helps. Besides, as the glory of God ought in some respect to be manifested in every part of our bodies, to this service, both in singing and in speaking, it becomes us espe- cially to addict and devote our tongues, which were created for the express purpose of declaring and celebrating the Divine praises. Nevertheless the principal use of the tongue is in the public prayers which are made in the congregations of be- lievers ; the design of which is, that with one common voice, and as it were with the same mouth, we may all at once pro- claim the glory of God, whom we worship in one spirit and with the same faith ; and this is publicly done, that all inter- changeably, each one of his brother, may receive the confes- sion of faith, and be invited and stimulated by his example. XXXII. Now, the custom of singing in churches (to speak of it by the way) not only appears to be very ancient, but that it was even used by the apostles, may be concluded from these words of Paul : " I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also."(/i) Again, to the Colossians : " Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." (i) For in the former passage he inculcates singing with the voice and with the heart ; and in the latter he recommends spiritual songs, which may conduce to the mutual edification of the saints. Yet that it was not universal is proved by Augustine, who relates that in the time of Ambrose, the church at Milan first adopted the practice of singing, when, during the persecution of the orthodox faith by Justina, the mother of Yalentinian, the people were unusually assiduous in their vigils ; and that the other Western churches followed. For he had just before mentioned that this custom had been derived from the churches of the East. He signifies also, in tlie second book of his Retractations, that in his time it was received in Africa. "One Hilary, (says he,) who held the tribunitial office, took every opportunity of loading with ma- licious censures the custom which was then introduced at Car- thage, that hymns from the Book of Psalms should be sung at the altar, either before the oblation, or while that which had been offered was distributed to the people. In obedience to the commands of my brethren, T answered him." And cer- tainly if singing be attempered to that gravity which becomes the presence of God and of angels, it adds a dignity and grace (A) 1 Cor, xiv. 15. (i) Col. iii. 16. 118 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. to sacred actions, and is very efficacious in exciting the mind to a true concern and ardour of devotion. Yet great caution is necessary, that the ears be not more attentive to the modulation of the notes, than the mind to the spiritual import of the words. With which danger Augustine confesses himself to have been so affected, as sometimes to have wished for the observance of the custom instituted by Athanasius, who directed that the reader should sound the words with such a gentle inflection of voice, as would be more nearly allied to rehearsing than to singing. But when he recollected the great benefit which himself had received from singing, he inclined to the other side. With the observance, therefore, of this limitation, it is without doubt an institution of great solemnity and usefulness. As, on the reverse, whatever music is composed only to please and delight the ear, is unbecoming the majesty of the Church, and cannot but be highly displeasing to God, XXXIII, Hence also it plainly appears, that public prayers are to be composed, not in Greek among the Latins, nor in Latin among the French or English, as has hitherto been uni- versally practised ; but in the vernacular tongue, which may be generally understood by the whole congregation ; for it ought to be conducted to the edification of the whole Church, to whom not the least benefit can result from sounds which they do not understand. But they who disregard the voice both of charity and of humanity, ought at least to discover some little respect for the authority of Paul, whose words are free from all ambiguity : " When thou shalt bless with the Spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest ? For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified." (k) Who, then, can sufliciently wonder at the unbridled license of the Papists, who, notwith- standing this apostolic caution against it, are not afraid to bel- low their verbose prayers in a foreign language, of which they neither sometimes understand a syllable themselves, nor wisli a syllable to be understood by others ! But Paul directs to a difterent practice : " What is it then ? (says he) I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also : I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understand- ing also." (Z) Signifying by the word spirit the peculiar gift of tongues, which was abused by some of its possessors, when they separated it from understanding. Thus it must be fully admitted, that both in public and in private prayer, the tongue, unaccompanied by the heart, cannot but be highly displeasing to God ; and likewise that the mind ought to be incited, in the (k) 1 Cor. xiv. 16, 17. (/) 1 Cor. xiv. 15. CHAP. XX.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 119 ardour of meditation, to rise to a much higher elevation than can ever be attained by the expression of the tongue : lastly, that the tongue is indeed not necessary to private prayer, any further than as the mind is insufficient to arouse itself, or as the vehemence of its emotions irresistibly carries the tongue along with them. For though some of the best prayers are not vocal, yet it is very common, under strong emotions, for the tongue to break forth into sounds, and the other members into gesUu-es, without the least ostentation. Hence the uncertain muttering of Hannah, (ni) somewhat similar to which is expe- rienced by the saints in all ages, when they break forth into abrupt and imperfect sounds. The corporeal gestures usually observed in prayer, such as kneeling and uncovering the head, are customs designed to increase our reverence of God. XXXIV. Now, we must learn not only a certain rule, but also the form of praying ; even that which our heavenly Father has given us by his beloved Son ; (w) in which we may recog- nize his infinite goodness and clemency. For beside advising and exhorting us to seek him in all our necessities, as chil- dren, whenever they are afflicted with any distress, are accus- tomed to have recourse to the protection of their parents ; seeing that we did not sufficiently perceive how great was our poverty, what it was right to implore, or what would be suitable to our condition, he has provided a remedy even for this our igno- rance, and abundantly supplied the deficiencies of our capacity. For he has prescribed for us a form, in which he gives a state- ment of all that it is lawful to desire of him, all that is condu- cive to our benefit, and all that it is necessary to ask. From this kindness of his, we derive great consolation in the persuasion that we pray for nothing absurd, nothing injurious or unseason- able ; in a word, nothing but what is agreeable to him ; since our petitions are almost in his own words. Plato, observing the igno- rance of men in presenting their supplications to God, which if granted were frequently very detrimental to them, pronounces this to be the best method of praying, borrowed from an an- cient poet : " King Jupiter, give us those things which are best, whether we pray for them or not ; but command evil things to remain at a distance from us, even though we implore them." And indeed the wisdom of that heathen is conspicu- ous in this instance, since he considers it as very dangerous to supplicate the Lord to gratify all the dictates of our appetites ; and at the same time discovers our infelicity, who cannot, without danger, even open our mouths in the presence of God, unless we be instructed by the Spirit in the right rule of prayer, (o) And this privilege deserves to be the more highly (m) 1 Sam. i. 13. (n) Matt. vi. 9. Luke xi. 9. (o) Rom. viii. 26, 27. 120 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. valued by us, since the only begotten Son of God puts words into our mouths, which may deliver our minds from all hesi- tation. XXXV, This form or rule of prayer, whichever appellation be given to it, is composed of six petitions. For my reason for not agreeing with those who divide it into seven parts is, that the Evangelist appears, by the insertion of the adversative con- junction, to connect together these two clauses ; as though he had said, Suffer us not to be oppressed with temptation, but rather succour our weakness, and deliver us, that we may not fall. The ancient writers of the Church also are of our opinion ; so that what is now added in Matthew in the seventh place, must be explained as belonging to the sixth petition. Now, though the whole prayer is such, that in every part of it the principal regard must be paid to the glory of God, yet to this the first three petitions are particularly devoted, and to this alone we ought to attend in them, without any consider- ation of our own interest. The remaining three concern our- selves, and are expressly assigned to supplications for those things which tend to our benefit. As when we pray that God's name may be hallowed, since he chooses to prove whether our love and \vorship of him be voluntary, or dictated by mercenary motives, we must then think nothing of our own interest, but his glory must be proposed as the only object of our fixed attention ; nor is it lawful for us to be differently affected in the other petitions of this class. And this indeed conduces to our great benefit ; because, when the Divine name is hallowed or sanctified as we pray, it becomes likewise our sanctification. But our eyes should overlook, and be, as it were, blind to such advantage, so as not to pay the least regard to it. And even if Ave were deprived of all hope of private benefit, yet this hallowing, and the other things which pertain to the glory of God, ought still to be the objects of our desires and of our prayers. This is conspicuous in the examples of Moses and Paul, (p) who felt a pleasure in averting their minds and eyes from themselves, and in praying with vehement and ardent zeal for their own destruction, that they might promote the king- dom and glory of God even at the expense of their own happi- ness. On the other hand, when we pray that our daily bread may be given us, although we wish for what is beneficial to ourselves, yet here also we ought principally to aim at the glory of God, so as not even to ask it, unless it tend to his glory. Now, let us attempt an explanation of the prayer itself. XXXVI. Our Father, who art in heaven, i^c. The first idea that occurs is, what we have before asserted, that we ought (p) Exod. x.xxii. 32. Rom. ix. 3. CHAP. XX.] CHKISTIAN RELIGION. 121 never to present a prayer to God but in the name of Christ, since no other name can recommend it to his regard. For by calHng God our Father, we certainly plead the name of Christ. For with what confidence could any one call God his Father ? who could proceed to snch a degree of temerity, as to arrogate to himself the dignity of a son of God, if we had not been adopted as the children of his grace in Christ ? who, being his true Son, has been given by him to us as our brother, that the character which properly belongs to him by nature, may be- come ours by the blessing of adoption, if we receive this in- estimable favour with a steady faith ; as John says, that to them is given " power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on the name of the only begotten of the Father." {q) Therefore he denominates himself our Father, and Avishes us to give him the same appellation ; delivering us from all diffidence by the great sweetness of this name, since the affection of love can nowhere be found in a stronger degree than in the heart of a father. Therefore he could not give us a more certain proof of his infinite love towards us, than by our being denominated the sons of God. But his love to us is as much greater and more excellent than all the love of our parents, as he is superior to all men in goodness and mercy ; (r) so that though all the fathers in the world, divested of every emotion of paternal affection, should leave their chil- dren destitute, he will never forsake us, because '' he cannot deny himself " (s) For we have his promise, "If ye, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto yoiur children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven ?" (^) Again, in the prophet : " Can a woman forget her child ? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee." {ii) But if we are his sons, then, as a son cannot commit himself to the protec- tion of a stranger and an alien, without at the same time com- plaining of the cruelty or poverty of his father, so neither can we seek supplies for our wants from any other quarter than from him, without charging him with indigence and inability, or with cruelty and excessive austerity. XXXVII. Neither let us plead that we are justly terrified by a consciousness of our sins, which may cause even a merci- ful, kind Father to be daily offended with us. For if, among men, a son can conduct his cause with his father by no better advocate, can conciliate and recover his lost favour by no bet- ter mediator, than by approaching him as an humble suppliant, acknowledging his own guilt, and imploring his father's mercy, (for the bowels of a father could not conceal their emotions at (j) John i. 12, 14. (r) 1 John iii. 1. Psalm xxvii. 10. Isaiah Ixiii. 16. (s) 2 Tim. ii. 13. {t) Matt. vii. 11. (m) Isaiah xlix. 15. VOL. II. 16 122 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. such supplications.) what will he do, who is "the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort ? " (.r) Will he not hear the cries and groans of his children when they deprecate his displeasure for themselves, especially since it is to this that he invites and exhorts us ; rather than attend to any intercessions of others, to which they resort in great consternation, not with- out some degree of despair, arising from a doubt of the kind- ness and clemency of their Father ? Of this exuberance of paternal kindness, he gives us a beautiful representation in a parable ; (y) where a father meets and embraces a son who had alienated himself from his family, who had dissolutely lavished his substance, who had grievously oflended him in every re- spect : nor does he wait till he actually supplicates for pardon, but anticipates him, recognizes him when returning at a great distance, voluntarily runs to meet him, consoles him, and re- ceives him into favour. For by proposing to our view an ex- ample of such great kindness in a man, he intended to teach us how much more abundant compassion we ought, notwithstand- ing our ingratitude, rebellion, and wickedness, to expect from him, who is not only our Father, but the most benevolent and merciful of all fathers, provided we only cast ourselves on his mercy. And to give us the more certain assurance that he is such a Father, if we be Christians, he will be called not only " Father," but expressly " Our Father ; " as though we might address him in the following manner : O Father, whose alfection towards thy children is so strong, and whose readiness to pardon them is so great, we thy children invoke thee and pray to thee, under the assurance and full persuasion that thou hast no other than a paternal affection towards us, how unworthy soever we are of such a Father. But because the contracted capacities of our minds cannot conceive of a favour of such immense magnitude, we not only have Christ as the pledge and earnest of adoption, but as a witness of this adoption he gives us the Spirit, by whom we are enabled with a loud voice freely to cry, " Abba, Father." (z) Whenever, therefore, we may be embarrassed by any difficulty, let us remember to supplicate him, that he will correct our timidity, and give us this spirit of magnanimity to enable us to pray with boldness. XXXVIII. But since we are not instructed, that every indi- vidual should appropriate him to himself exclusively as his Father, but rather that we should all in common call him Our Father, we are thereby admonished how strong a fraternal affection ought to prevail among us, who, by the same pri- vilege of mercy and free grace, are equally the children of such a Father. For if we all have one common Father, (a) from (x) 2 Cor. i. 3. (»/) Luke xv. 11, &c. (:) Gal. iv. C. (a) Matt, xxiii. 9 CHAP. XX.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. ^ 123 whom proceeds every blessing we enjoy, there ought to be nothing exclusively appropriated by any among us, but what we should be ready to communicate to each other with the greatest alacrity of heart, whenever necessity requires. Now, if we desire, as we ought, to exert ourselves for our mutual assistance, there is nothing in which we can better promote the interests of our brethren, than by commending them to the providential care of our most benevolent Father, with whose mercy and favour no other want can be experienced. And, indeed, this is a debt which we owe to our Father himself For as he who truly and cordially loves any father of a family, feels likewise a love and friendship for his whole household, in the same manner, our zeal and affection towards this hea- venly Father must be shown towards his people, his family, his inheritance, whom he has dignified with the honourable appel- lation of the "fulness" of his only begotten Son. (b) Let a Christian, then, regulate his prayers by this rule, that they be common, and comprehend all who are his brethren in Christ ; and not only those whom he at present sees and knows to be such, but all men in the world ; respecting whom, what God has determined is beyond our knowledge ; only that to wish and hope the best concerning them, is equally the dictate of piety and of humanity. It becomes us, however, to exercise a peculiar and superior affection " unto them who are of the household of faith ; " whom the apostle has in every case re- commended to our particular regards, (c) In a word, all our prayers ought to be such, as to respect that community which our Lord has established in his kingdom and in his family. XXXIX. Yet this is no objection to the lawfulness of par- ticular prayers, both for ourselves and for other certain indi- viduals ; provided our minds be not withdrawn from a regard to this community, nor even diverted from it, but refer every thing to this point. For though the words of them be singular, yet as they are directed to this end, they cease not to be com- mon. All this may be rendered very intelligible by a simili- tude. God has given a general command to relieve the wants of all the poor ; and yet this is obeyed by them who to that end succour the indigence of those whom they either know or see to be labouring under poverty ; even though they pass by multitudes who are oppressed with necessities equally severe, because neither their knowledge nor ability can extend to all. In the same manner, no opposition is made to the Divine will by them who, regarding and considering this common society of the Church, present such particular prayers, in which, with a public spirit, but in particular terms, they recommend to God (6) Ephes. i. 23. (c) Gal. vi. 10. 124 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. themselves or others, whose necessity he has placed within their more immediate knowledge. However, there is not a perfect similarity in every respect between prayer and donation of alms, for munificence cannot be exercised but towards them Avhose wants we have perceived ; but we may assist by our prayers even the greatest strangers, and those with whom we are the most unacquainted, how distant soever they may be from us. This is done by that general form of prayer, which comprehends all the children of God, among whom they also are numbered. To this may be referred the exhortation which Paul gives believers of his age, " that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands without wrath ; " ((/) because by admo- nishing them, that discord shuts the gate against prayers, he ad- vises them unanimously to unite all their petitions together. XL. It is added, That he is in heaven. From which it is not hastily to be inferred, that he is included and circum- scribed within the circumference of heaven, as by certain bar- riers. For Solomon confesses, that " the heaven of heavens cannot contain " him. (e) And he says himself, by the prophet, " The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool." (/) By which he clearly signifies that he is not limited to any par- ticular region, but diffwsed throughout all space. But because the dulness of our minds could not otherwise conceive of his ineffable glory, it is designated to us by the heaven, than which we can behold nothing more august or more majestic. Since, then, wherever our senses apprehend any thing, there they are accustomed to fix it, God is represented as beyond all place, that when we seek him we may be elevated above all reach of both body and soul. Moreover, by this form of expression, he is exalted above all possibility of corruption or mutation : finally, it is signified, that he comprehends and contains the whole world, and governs the universe by his power. Wherefore, this is the same as if he had been said to be possessed of an incomprehensible essence, infinite magnitude or sublimity, irresistible power, and unlimited immortality. But when we hear this, our thoughts must be raised to a higher elevation when God is mentioned ; that we may not entertain any ter- restrial or carnal imaginations concerning him, that we may not measure him by our diminutive proportions, or judge of his will by our affections. We should likewise be encouraged to place the most implicit reliance on him, by whose providence and power we understand both heaven and earth to be governed. To conclude : under the name of " Our Father " is represented to us, that God who has appeared to us in his own image, that (d) 1 Tim. ii. 8. (/) Isaiah Ixvi. 1. Acts vii. 49; (e) 1 Kings viii. 27. xvii. 24. CHAP. XX.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 125 we might call upon him with a steady faith ; and the famiHar appellation of Father is not only adapted to produce confidence, but also efficacious to prevent our minds from being seduced to dubious or fictitious deities, and to cause them to ascend from tlie only begotten Son to the common Father of angels and of saints ; moreover, when his throne is placed in heaven, we are reminded by his government of the world, that it is not in vain for us to approach to him who makes us the objects of his present and voluntary care. " He that cometh to God (says the apostle) must believe that he is, and that he is a re- warder of them that diligently seek him." (g) Christ asserts both these of his Father, that we may have first a firm faith in his existence, and then a certain persuasion that, since he deigns to extend his providence to us, he will not neglect our salvation. By these principles, Paul prepares us for praying in right manner ; for his exhortation, " Let your requests be made known unto God," is thus prefaced: " The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing." (h) Whence it appears, that their prayers must be attended with great doubt and perplexity of mind, who are not well established in this truth, that " the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous. " (i) XLL The first petition is, That God's name may be hal- lowed ; the necessity of which is connected with our great disgrace. For what is more shameful, than that the Divine glory should be obscured partly by our ingratitude, partly by our malignity, and, as far as possible, obliterated by our pre- sumption, infatuation, and perverseness ? Notwithstanding all the sacrilegious rage and clamours of the impious, yet the refulgence of holiness still adorns the Divine name. Nor does the Psalmist without reason exclaim, " According to thy name, 0 God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth." (k) For wherever God may be known, there must necessarily be a manifestation of his perfections of power, goodness, wisdom, righteousness, mercy, and truth, which command our admira- tion and excite us to celebrate his praise. Therefore, because God is so unjustly robbed of his holiness on earth, if it is not in our power to assert it for him, we are at least commanded to regard it in our prayers. The substance of it is, that we wish God to receive all the honour that he deserves, that men may never speak or think of him but with the highest reverence ; to which is opposed that profanation, which has always been too common in the world, as it continues to be in the present age. And hence the necessity of this petition, which, if we were influenced by only a tolerable degree of piety, ought to be (g) Heb. xi. 6. (/) Psalm xxxiv. 15 ; xxxiii. 18. (A) Phil. iy. 5, 6. {k) Psalm xlviii. 10. 126 INSTITUTES OF THE [ BOOK III. superfluous. But if the name of God be truly hallowed, when separated from all others it breathes pure glory, we are here commanded to pray, not only that God will vindicate his holy name from all contempt and ignominy, but also that he will constrain all mankind to revere it. Now, as God manifests himself to us partly by his word, and partly by his works, he is no otherwise hallowed by us, than if we attribute to him in both instances that which belongs to him, and so receive what- ever proceeds from him ; ascribing, moreover, equal praise to his severity and to his clemency ; since on the multiplicity and variety of his works he has impressed characters of his glory, which should draw from every tongue a confession of his praise. Thus will the Scripture obtain a just authority with us, nor will any event obstruct the benedictions which God deserves in the whole course of his government of the world. The tendency of the petition is, further, that all impiety which sul- lies this holy name, may be utterly abolished ; that whatever obscures or diminishes this hallowing, whether detraction or derision, may disappear ; and that while God restrains all sacrilege, his majesty may shine with increasing splendour. XLII. The second petition is, That the kingdom of God MAY come ; which, thoj^igh it contains nothing new, is yet not without reason distinguished from the first ; because, if we con- sider our inattention in the most important of all concerns, it is useful for that which ought of itself to have been most inti- mately known to us, to be inculcated in a variety of words. Therefore, after we have been commanded to pray to God to subdue, and at length utterly to destroy, every thing that sullies his holy name, there is now added another petition, similar and almost identically the same — That his kingdom may come. Now, though we have already given a definition of this king- dom, I now briefly repeat, that God reigns when men, renoun- cing themselves and despising the world and the present state, submit themselves to his righteousness, so as to aspire to the heavenly state. Thus this kingdom consists of two parts ; the one, God's correcting by the power of his Spirit all our carnal and depraved appetites, which oppose him in great numbers ; the other, his forming all our powers to an obedience to his commands. No others therefore observe a proper order in this petition, but they who begin from themselves, that is, that they may be purified from all corruptions which disturb the tran- quillity, or violate the purity, of God's kingdom. Now, since the Divine word resembles a royal sceptre, we are commanded to pray that he will subdue the hearts and minds of all men to a voluntary obedience to it. This is accomplished, when, by the secret inspiration of his Spirit, he displays the efficacy of his word, and causes it to obtain the honour it deserves. CHAP. XX.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 127 Afterwards, it is our duty to desceud to the impious, by whom his authority is resisted with the perseverauce of obstinacy and the fury of despair. God therefore erects his kingdom on the humiliation of the whole world, though his methods of humili- ation are various ; for he restrains the passions of some, and breaks the unsubdued arrogance of others. It ought to be the object of our daily wishes, that God would collect churches for himself from all the countries of the earth, that he would en- large their numbers, enrich them with gifts, and establish a legitimate order among them ; that, on the contrary, he would overthrow all the enemies of the pure doctrine and religion, that he would confound their counsels, and defeat their at- tempts. Whence it appears that the desire of a daily progress is not enjoined us in vain ; because human affairs are never in such a happy situation, as that all defilement of sin is removed, and purity can be seen in full perfection. This perfection is deferred till the last advent of Christ, when, the apostle says, "God will be all ii. all," (/) And so this petition ought to withdraw us from all the corruptions of the world, which sepa- rate us from God, and prevent his kingdom from flourishing within us ; it ought likewise to inflame us with an ardent desire of mortifying the flesh, and finally to teach us to bear the cross ; since these are the means which God chooses for the extension of his kingdom. Nor should we be impatient that the outward man is destroyed, provided the inward man be renewed. For this is the order of the kingdom of God, that, when we submit to his righteousness, he makes us par- takers of his glory. This is accomplished, when, discovering his light and truth with perpetual accession of splendour, before which the shades and falsehoods of Satan and of his kingdom vanish and become extinct, he by the aids of his Spnit directs his children into the path of rectitude, and strengthens them to perseverance ; but defeats the impious conspiracies of his enemies, confounds their insidious and fraud- ulent designs, disappoints their malice, and represses their ob- stinacy, till at length "he " will "consume " Antichrist "with the spirit of his mouth, and destroy " all impiety " with the brightness of his coming." (m) XLIII. The third petition is. That the will of God may BE done on earth AS IT IS IN HEAVEN ; wliich, thougli it is an appendage to his kingdom, and cannot be disjoined from it, is yet not without reason separately mentioned, on account of our ignorance, which does not apprehend with facility what it is for God to reign in the world. There will be nothing absurd, then, in understanding this as an explanation, that God's king- (l) 1 Cor. XV. 28. (m) 2 Thess. ii. 8. 128 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. dom will then prevail in the world, when all shall submit to his will. Now, we speak not here of his secret will, by which he governs all things, and appoints them to fulfil his own pur- poses. For though Satan and men oppose him with all the violence of rage, yet his incomprehensible wisdom is able, not only to divert their impetuosity, but to overrule it for the accomplishment of his decrees. But the Divine will here in- tended, is that to which voluntary obedience corresponds ; and therefore heaven is expressly compared with the earth, because the angels, as the Psahnist says, spontaneously " do his com- mandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word," (n) We are therefore commanded to desire that, as in heaven nothing is done but according to the Divine will, and the angels are placidly conformed to every thing that is right, so the earth, all obstinacy and depravity being annihilated, may be subject to the same government. And in praying for this, we renounce our own carnal desires ; because, unless we resign all our affec- tions to God, we are guilty of all the opposition in our power to his will, for nothing proceeds from us but what is sinful. And we are likewise habituated by this petition to a renuncia- tion of ourselves, that God may rule us according to his own pleasure ; and not only so, but that he may also create in us new minds and new hearts, annihilating our own, that we may experience no emotion of desire within us, but a mere consent to his will ; in a word, that we may have no will of our own, but that our hearts may be governed by his Spirit, by whose internal teachings we may learn to love those things which please him, and to hate those which he disapproves ; consequently, that he may render abortive all those desires which are repugnant to his will. These are the three first clauses of this prayer, in praying which we ought solely to have in view the glory of God, omitting all consideration of ourselves, and not regarding any advantage of our own, which, though they largely contribute to it, should not be our end in these petitions. But though all these things, even if we never think of them, nor wish for them, nor request them, must nevertheless happen in their appointed time, yet they ought to be the objects of our wishes, and the subjects of our prayers. And such petitions it will be highly proper for us to offer, that we may testify and profess ourselves to be the servants and sons of God ; manifesting the sincerest devotedness, and mak- ing the most zealous efibrts in our power for advancing the honour which is due to him, both as a Master and as a Father. Persons, therefore, who are not incited, by this ardent zeal for promoting the glory of God, to pray, that his name may be («) Psalm ciii. 20. CHAP. XX.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 129 hallowed, that his kingdom may come, and that his will may be done, are not to be numbered among his sons and servants ; and as all these things will be accompUshed in opposition to their inclinations, so they will contribute to their confusion and destruction. XLIY. Next follows the second part of the prayer, in which we descend to our own interests ; not that we must dismiss all thoughts of the Divine glory, (which, according to Paul, (o) should be regarded even in eating and drinking,) and only seek what is advantageous to ourselves ; but we have already an- nounced that this is the distinction — that God, by exclu- sively claiming three petitions, absorbs us entirely in the con- sideration of himself, that thus he may prove our piety ; after- wards he permits us to attend to our own interests, yet on this condition, that the end of all our requests be the illustration of his glory, by whatever benefits he confers on us, since nothing is more reasonable than that we live and die to him. But the first petition of the second part. Give us this day our daily BREAD, is a general request to God for a supply of all our corpo- real wants in the present state, not only for food and clothing, but also for every thing which he sees to be conducive to our good, that we may eat our bread in peace. By this we briefly surrender ourselves to his care, and commit ourselves to his providence, that he may feed, nourish, and preserve us. For our most benevolent Father disdains not to receive even our body into his charge and protection, that he may exercise our faith in these minute circumstances, while we expect every thing from him, even down to a crumb of bread and a drop of water. For since it is a strange effect of our iniquity, to be affected and distressed with greater solicitude for the body than for the soul, many, who venture to confide to God the interests of their souls, are nevertheless still solicitous concerning the body, still anxious what they shall eat and what they shall wear ; and unless they have an abundance of corn, wine, and oil, for the supply of their futnre wants, tremble with fear. Of so much greater importance to us is the shadow of this transitory life, than that eternal immortality. But they who, confiding in God, have once cast off that anxiety for the concerns of the body, expect likewise to receive from him superior blessings, even salvation and eternal life. It is therefore no trivial exer- cise of faith, to expect from God those things which otherwise fill us with so much anxiety ; nor is it a small proficiency when we have divested ourselves of this infidelity, which is almost universally interwoven with the human constitution. The speculations of some, concerning supernatural bread, appear to (o) 1 Cor. X. 31. VOL. II. 17 130 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. me not very consonant to the meaning of Christ ; for if we did not ascribe to God the character of our Supporter even in this transitory life, our prayer would be defective. The reason which they allege has too much profanity ; that it is unbecoming for the children of God, who ought to be spiritual, not only to devote their own attention to terrestrial cares, but also to in- volve God in the same anxieties with themselves ; as though, truly, his benedictiou and paternal favour were not conspicuous even in our sustenance ; or there were no meaning in the assertion, that "godliness hath promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." (p) Now, though remission of sins is of much greater value than corporeal aliments, yet Christ has given the first place to the inferior blessing, that he might gradually raise us to the two remaining petitions, which properly pertain to the heavenly life ; in which he has con- sulted our dulness. We are commanded to ask " our bread," that we may be content with the portion which our heavenly Father deigns to allot us, nor practise any illicit arts for the love of lucre. In the mean time, it must be understood that it becomes ours by a title of donation ; because neither our in- dustry, nor our labour, nor our hands, (as is observed by Mo- ses,) (7) acquire any thing for us of themselves, when unat- tended by the Divine blessing ; and that even an abundance of bread would not be of the least service to us, unless it were by the Divine power converted into nourishment. And there- fore this liberality of God is equally as necessary to the rich as to the poor ; for though their barns and cellars were full, they would faint with hunger and thirst, unless through his good- ness they enjoyed their food. The expression " this day," or " day by day," as it is in the other Evangelist, and the epithet dailij, restrain the inordinate desire of transitory things, with which we are often violently inflamed, and which leads to other evils ; since if we have a greater abundance, we fondly lavish it away in pleasure, delights, ostentation, and other kinds of luxury. Therefore we are enjoined to ask only as much as will supply our necessity, and as it were for the present day, with this confidence, that our heavenly Father, after having fed us to-day, will not fail us to-morrow. Whatever aflluence, then, we possess, even when our barns and cellars are full, yet it behoves us always to ask for our daily bread ; because it must be considered as an undeniable truth, that all property is nothing, any further than the Lord, by the effusions of his favour, blesses it with continual improvement ; and that even what we have in our possession is not our own, any further than as he hourly bestows on us some portion of it, and grants us the (p) 1 Tim. iv. 8. (q) Lev. xxvi. 20. CHAP. XX.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 131 use of it. Since the pride of man does not easily suffer itself to be convinced of this, the Lord declares that he has given to all ages an eminent proof of it, by feeding his people with manna in the desert, in order to apprize us '• that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of his mouth ; " (r) which implies, that it is his power alone by which our life and strength are sustained, although he commu- nicates it to us by corporeal means ; as he is accustomed to teach us likewise by an opposite example, when he breaks, at his pleasure, the strength (and, as he himself calls it, " the staff ") of bread, so that though men eat they pine with hunger, and though they drink are parched with thirst, (s) Now, they who are not satisfied with daily bread, but whose avidity is insatiable, and whose desires are unbounded, and they who are satiated with their abundance, and think themselves secure amid their immense riches, and who nevertheless supplicate the Divine Being in this petition, are guilty of mocking him. For the former ask what they would not wish to obtain, and even what most of all they abominate, that is, daily bread only ; they conceal from God, as much as they can, their avaricious disposition ; whereas true prayer ought to pour out before him the whole mind, and all the inmost secrets of the soul ; and the latter implore what they are far from expecting to receive from him, what they think they have in their own possession. In its being called " ours," the Divine goodness is, as we have observed, the more conspicuous, since it makes that ou?'s, to which we have no claim of right. Yet we must not reject the explanation which I have likewise hinted at, that it intends also such as is acquired by just and innocent labour, and not procured by acts of deception and rapine ; because, whatever we acquire by any criminal methods, is never our own, but belongs to others. Our praying that it may be " given " to us signifies that it is the simple and gratuitous donation of God, from what quarter soever we receive it ; even when it most of all appears to be obtained by our own skill and industry, and to be procured by our own hands ; since it is solely the efiect of his blessing, that ovu labours are attended with success. XLV. It follows — Forgive us our debts; in which peti- tion, and the next, Christ has comprised whatever relates to the heavenly life ; as in these two parts consists the spiritual covenant which God has made for the salvation of his Church — "I will write my law in their hearts, and will pardon their iniquities." (t) Here Christ begins with remission of sins : im- mediately after, he subjoins a second favour — that God would defend us by the power, and support us by the aid, of his Spirit, (r) Deut. viii. 3. Matt. iv. 4. (s) Lev. xxvi. 26. (t) Jer. xxxi. 33, 34; xxxiii. 8. 132 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. to enable ns to stand unconqnered against all temptations. Sins he calls debts, because we owe the penalty of them — a debt we are altogether incapable of discharging, unless we are released by this remission, which is a pardon flowing from his gratui- tous mercy, when he freely cancels these debts without any payment from us, being satisfied by his own mercy in Christ, who has once given himself for our redemption. Those, there- fore, who rely on God's being satisfied with their own merits, or the merits of others, and persuade themselves that remission of sins is purchased by these satisfactions, have no interest in this gratuitous forgiveness ; and while they call upon God in this form, they are only subscribing their own accusation, and even sealing their condemnation with their own testimony. For they confess themselves debtors, unless they are discharged by the benefit of remission, which nevertheless they accept not, but rather refuse, while they obtrude upon God their own merits and satisfactions. For in this way they do not implore his mercy, but appeal to his judgment. They who amuse themselves with dreams of perfection, superseding the necessity of praying for pardon, may have disciples whom itching ears lead into delusions ; but it must be clear that all whom they gain are perverted from Christ, since he teaches all to confess their guilt, and receives none but sinners ; not that he Avould flatter and encourage sins, but because he knew that believers are never wholly free from the vices of their flesh, but always remain obnoxious to the judgment of God. It ought, indeed, to be the object of our desires and strenuous exertions, that, having fully discharged every part of our duty, we may truly congratulate ourselves before God on being pure from every stain ; but as it {)leases God to restore his image within us by degrees, so that some contagion always remains in our flesh, the remedy ought never to be neglected. Now, if Christ, by the authority given him by the Father, enjoins us, as long as we live, to have recourse to prayer for the pardon of guilt, who will tolerate the new teachers, who endeavour to dazzle the eyes of the simple with a visionary phantom of perfect inno- cence, and fill them with a confidence in the possibility of their being delivered from all sin ? which, according to John, is no other than making God a liar, (u) At the same time, also, these worthless men, by obliterating one article, mutilate, and so totally invalidate, the covenant of God, in which we have seen our salvation is contained ; being thus guilty not only of sacrilege by separating things so united, but also of impiety and cruelty, by overwhelming miserable souls with despair, and of treachery to themselves and others, by contracting a habit of carelessness, in diametrical opposition to the Divine mercy. {u) 1 John i. 10. CHAP. XX.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 133 The objection of some, that in wishing the advent of God's king- dom, we desire at the same time the abolition of sin, is too puerile ; because, in the first part of the prayer, we have an ex- hibition of the highest perfection, but here of infirmity. Thus these two things are perfectly consistent, that in aspiring to- wards the mark we may not neglect the remedies required by our necessity. Lastly, we pray that we may be forgiven as WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS ; that is, as we forgive and pardon all who have ever injured us, either by unjust actions or by contumelious language. Not that it is our province to forgive the guilt of sin and transgression ; this is the prerogative of God alone : our forgiveness consists in divesting the mind of anger, enmity, and desire of revenge, and losing the memory of injuries by a voluntary forgetfulness. Wherefore we must not pray to God for forgiveness of sins, unless we also forgive all the offences and injuries of others against us, either present or past. But if we retain any enmities in our minds, meditate acts of revenge, and seek opportunities of annoyance, and even if we do not endeavour to obtain reconciliation with our ene- mies, to oblige them by all kind offices, and to render them our friends, — we beseech God, by this petition, not to grant us remission of sins. For we supplicate him to grant to us what we grant to others. This is praying him not to grant it to us, unless we grant it also. What do persons of this description gain by their prayers but a heavier judgment ? Lastly, it must be observed, that this is not a condition, that he would forgive us as we forgive our debtors, because we can merit his forgive- ness of us by our forgiveness of others, as though it described the cause of his forgiveness ; but, by this expression, the Lord intended, partly to comfort the weakness of our faith ; for he has added this as a sign, that we may be as certainly assured of remission of sins being granted us by him, as we are certain and conscious of our granting it to others ; if, at the same time, our minds be freed and purified from all hatred, envy, and re- venge ; partly by this, as a criterion, he expunges from the number of his children, those who, hasty to revenge and difficult to forgive, maintain inveterate enmities, and cherish in their own hearts towards others, that indignation which they deprecate from themselves, that they may not presume to invoke him as their Father. Which is also clearly expressed by Luke in Christ's own words. XLVI. The sixth petition is, Lead us not into tempta- tion, BUT deliver us FROM EVIL. This, as we have said, corrC'- sponds to the promise respecting the law of God to be engraven in our hearts. But because our obedience to God is not with- out continual warfare, and severe and arduous conflicts, we here pray for arms, and assistance to enable us to gain the victory. 134 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. This suggests to us our necessity, not only of the grace of the Spirit within us to soften, bend, and direct our hearts to obe- dience to God, but also of his aid to render us invincible, in opposition to all the stratagems and violent assaults of Satan. Now, the forms of temptations are many and various. For the corrupt conceptions of the mind, provoking us to transgressions of the law, whether suggested by our own concupiscence or excited by the devil, are temptations ; and things not evil in themselves, nevertheless become temptations through the sub- tlety of the devil, when they are obtruded on our eyes in such a manner that their intervention occasions our seduction or declension from God. And these temptations are either from prosperous, or from adverse events. From prosperous ones, as riches, power, honours ; which generally dazzle men's eyes by their glitter and external appearance of goodness, and insnare them with their blandishments, that, caught with such delusions and intoxicated with such delights, they forget their God. From unpropitious ones, as poverty, reproaches, contempt, afflictions, and other things of this kind ; overcome with the bitterness and difficulty of which, they fall into despondency, cast away faith and hope, and at length become altogether alienated from God. To both these kinds ©f temptations which assail us, whether kindled within us by our concupiscence, or presented to us by the craft of Satan, we pray our heavenly Father not to ]iermit us to yield, but rather to sustain and raise us up with his hand, that, strong in his might, we may be able to stand firm against all the assaults of our malignant enemy, whatever imaginations he may inject into our minds ; and also, that whatever is pre- sented to us on either quarter, we may convert it to our benefit ; that is, by not being elated with prosperity or dejected with adversity. Yet we do not here pray for an entire exemption from all temptations, which we very much need, to excite, stimulate, and animate us, lest we should grow torpid with too much rest. For it was not without reason that David wished to be tempted or tried ; nor is it without cause that the Lord daily tries his elect, chastising them by ignominy, poverty, tribu- lation, and the cross in various forms. But the temptations of God are widely dilferent from those of Satan. Satan tempts to overthrow, condemn, confound, and destroy. But God, that, by proving his people, he may make a trial of their sincerity, to confirm their strength by exercising it, to mortify, purify, and refine their flesh, which, without such restraints, would run into the greatest excesses. Besides, Satan attacks persons unarmed and unprepared, to overwhelm the unwary. " God, with the tem})tation, also makes a way to escape, that they may be able to bear " whatever he brings upon them, (y) By (y) 1 Cor. X. 13. CHAP. XX.] CHRISTIAN REi^IGION. 135 the Avord evil, whether we understand the devil or sin, is of Httle importance. Satan himself, indeed, is the enemy that lies in wait for our life ; but sin is the weapon with which he seeks our destruction. Our petition therefore is, that we may not be overwhelmed and conquered by any temptations, but that we may stand, strong in the power of the Lord, against all adverse powers that assault us, which is not to submit to temptations ; that being taken into his custody and charge, and being secure in his protection, we may persevere uncon- quered, and rise superior to sin, death, the gates of hell, and the whole kingdom of the devil. This is being delivered from evil. Here it must also be carefully remarked, that it is not in our power to contend with so powerful an enemy as the devil, and sustain the violence of his assaults. Otherwise it would be useless, or insulting, to supplicate from God what we already possessed in ourselves. Certainly, they who prepare themselves for such a combat with self-confidence, are not sufficiently aware of the skill and prowess of the enemy that they have to meet. Now, we pray to be delivered from his power, as from the mouth of a ravenous and raging lion, just about to tear us with his teeth and claws, and to swallow us down his throat, unless the Lord snatch us from the jaws of death ; knowing, at the same time, that if the Lord shall be present and fight for us while we are silent, in his strength " we shall do valiantly." {z) Let others confide as they please in the native abilities and powers of free-will, which they suppose themselves to possess, — let it be sufficient for us, to stand and be strong in the power of God alone. But this petition comprehends more than at first appears. For if the Spirit of God is our strength for fighting the battle with Satan, we shall not be able to gain the victory, till, being full of him, we shall have laid aside all the infirmity of our flesh. When we pray for deliverance from Satan and sin, therefore, we pray to be frequently enriched with new accessions of Divine grace ; till, being quite filled with them, we may be able to triumph over all evil. To some there appears a difficulty and harshness in our petition to God, that he will not lead us into temptation, whereas, according to James, it is contrary to his nature for him to tempt us. {a) But this objection has already been partly answered, because our own lust is properly the cause of all the temptations that overcome us, and therefore we are charged with the guilt. Nor does James intend any other than to assert the futility and injustice of transferring to God the vices which we are constrained to impute to ourselves, because we are conscious of our being guilty of them. But notwithstanding (z) Psalin Ix. 12. (a) James i. 13, 14. 136 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. this, God may, when he sees fit, deliver us to Satan, abandon us to a reprobate mind and sordid passions, and so leadens into temptations, by a righteous yet often secret judgment ; the cause being frequently concealed from man, but, at the same time, well known to him. Whence it is inferred, that there is no impropriety in this mode of expression, if we are persuaded that there is any meaning in his frequent threatenings, that he will manifest his vengeance on the reprobate, by smiting them with blindness and hardness of heart. XLVII. These three petitions, in which we particularly com- mend to God ourselves and all our concerns, evidently prove, what we have before asserted, that the prayers of Christians ought to be public, and to regard the public edification of the Church, and the advancement of the communion of be- lievers. For each individual does not supplicate the gift of any favour to himself in particular ; but we all in common pray for our bread, the remission of our sins, that we may not be led into temptation, that we may be delivered from evil. The cause is likewise subjoined, which gives us such great boldness in asking, and confidence of obtaining ; which, though not to be found in the Latin copies, yet appears too apposite to this place to be omitted — namely, His is the kingdom, and THE POWER, AND THE GLORY FOR EVER. This is SL SOlid and secure basis for our faith ; for if our prayers were to be recom- mended to God by our own merit, who could dare to utter a word in his presence ? Now, all miserable, unworthy, and destitute as we are of every recommendation, yet we shall never want an argument or plea for our prayers : our confi- dence can never forsake us ; for our Father can never be de- prived of his kingdom, power, and glory. The whole is con- cluded with Amen ; which expresses our ardent desire to obtain the blessings supplicated of God, and confirms our hope that all these things are already obtained, and will certainly be granted to us ; because they are promised by God, who is in- capable of deception. And this agrees with that form of peti- tion already quoted — " Do this, O Lord, for thy name's sake, not for our sake, or for our righteousness ; " in which the saints not only express the end of their prayers, but acknowledge that they are unworthy to obtain it, unless God derive the cause from himself, and that their confidence of success arises solely from his nature. XLVIII. Whatever we ought, or are even at liberty, to seek from God, is stated to us in this model and directory for prayer, given by that best of masters, Christ, whom the Father has set over us as our Teacher, and to whom alone he has en- joined us to listen, (b) For he was ahvays his eternal wisdom, (b) Matt. xvii. 5. CHAP. XX.] CHRISTIAN RliLIGION. 137 and being made man, was given to men as the Angel of great counsel, (c) And this prayer is so comprehensive and com- plete, that whatever addition is made of any thing extraneous or foreign, not capable of being referred to it, is impious and unworthy of the approbation of God. For in this summary he has prescribed what is worthy of him, what is acceptable to him, what is necessary for us, and, in a word, what he chooses to bestow. Wherefore those who presume to go beyond it. and to ask of God any thing else, in the first place, are deter- mined to make some addition of their own to the wisdom of God, which cannot be done without folly and blasphemy ; in the next place, despising the limits fixed by the will of God. they are led far astray by their own irregular desires ; and in the last place, they will never obtain any thing, since they pray without faith. And there is no doubt that all prayers of this kind are made without faith, because they are not sanc- tioned by the word of God, the only basis on which faith can stand. But they who neglect the Master's rale, and indulge their own desires, not only deviate from the word of God^ but make all possible opposition against it. With equal beauty and truth, therefore, Tertullian has called this a legitimate fraijer, tacitly implying, that all others are irregular and unlawful. XLIX. We would not here be understood, as if we were confined to this form of prayer, without the liberty of changing a word or syllable. For the Scriptures contain many prayers, expressed in words very different from this, yet written by the same Spirit, and very profitable for our use. Many, which have little verbal resemblance to it, are continually suggested to believers by the same Spirit. We only mean by these ob- servations, that no one should even seek, expect, or ask for any thing that is not summarily comprehended in this prayer, though there may be a diversity of expression, without any variation of sense. As it is certain that all the prayers con- tained in the Scriptures, or proceeding from pious hearts, are referred to this, so it is impossible to find one any where which can surpass or even equal the perfection of this. Here is nothing omitted which ought to be recollected for the praises of God, nothing that should occur to the mind of man for his own advantage ; and the whole is so complete, as justly to inspire universal despair of attempting any improvement. To con- clude ; let us remember, that this is the teaching of Divine wisdom, which taught what it willed, and willed what is needful. L. But though we have before said that we ought to be always aspiring towards God with our minds, and praying (c) Isaiah xi. 2. VOL. II. 18 138 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III, without intermission, yet as our weakness requires many as- sistances, and our indolence needs to be stimulated, we ought every one of us, for the sake of regularity, to appoint particular hours which should not elapse without prayer, and which should witness all the affections of the mind entirely engaged in this exercise ; as, when we rise in the morning, before we enter on the business of the day, when we sit down to meat, when we have been fed by the Divine blessing, when we re- tire to rest. This must not be a superstitious observance of hours, by which, as if discharging our debt to God, we may fancy ourselves discharged from all obligation for the remain- ing hours ; but a discipline for our weakness, which may thus, from time to time, be exercised and stimulated. It must es- pecially be the object of our solicitous care, whenever we are oppressed, or see others oppressed, with adversity, immediately to resort to him with celerity, not of body, but of mind ; second- ly, to suffer no prosperity of our own or others to pass with- out testifying our acknowledgment of his hand by praise and thanksgiving ; lastly, we must carefully observe this in every prayer, that we entertain not the thought of binding God to cer- tain circumstances, or prescribing to him the time, the place, or the manner of his proceedings. As we are taught by this prayer to fix no law, to impose no condition on him, but to leave it to his will to d* what he intends, in the manner, at the time, and in the place he pleases, therefore, before we form a peti- tion for ourselves, we first pray that his will may be done ; thereby submitting our will to his, that, being, as it were, bridled and restrained, it may not presume to regulate God, but may constitute him the arbiter and ruler of all its desires. LI. If, with minds composed to this obedience, we suffer ourselves to be governed by the laws of Divine Providence, we shall easily leaiii to persevere in prayer, and with suspended desires to wait patiently for the Lord ; assured, though he does not discover himself, yet that he is always near us, and in his own time will declare that his ears have not been deaf to those prayers which, to human apprehension, seemed to be neglected. Now, this, if God do not at any time answer our first prayers, will be an immediate consolation, to prevent our sinking into despair, like those who, actuated only by their own ardour, call upon God in such a manner, that if he do not attend to their first transports, and afl'ord them present aid, they at once imagine him to be displeased and angry with them, and, casting away all hope of succeeding in their prayers, cease to call upon him. But deferring om- hope with a well-tempered equanimity, let us rather practise the perseverance so highly recommended to us in the Scriptures. For in the Psalms we may frequently observe how David and other faithful men, when, almost CHAP. XX.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 139 wearied with praying, they seemed to beat the air, and God seemed deaf to their petitions, yet did not desist from praying ; because the authority of the Divine word is not maintained, unless it be fuUy credited, notwithstanding the appearance of any circumstances to the contrary. Nor let us tempt God, and provoke him against us by wearying him with our presump- tion ; which is the practice of many who merely bargain with God on a certain condition, and as though he were subservient to their passions, bind him with laws of their own stipulation ; with which unless he immediately complies, they give way to anger and fretfulness, to cavils, and murmurs, and rage. To such persons, therefore, he frequently grants in his wrath what he denies in mercy to others. This is exemplified in the children of Israel, for whom it had been better for the Lord not to have heard them, than for them to swallow his indignation with the meat that he sent them, {d) LII. But if, after long waiting, our sense neither understands what advance we have made by praying, nor experiences any advantage resulting from it, yet our faith will assure us, what cannot be perceived by sense, that we have obtained what was expedient for us, since the Lord so frequently and so certainly promises to take care of our troubles when they have been once deposited in his bosom. And thus he will cause us to pos- sess abundance in poverty, and consolation in affliction. For though all things fail us, yet God will never forsake us ; he cannot disappoint the expectation and patience of his people. He will amply compensate us for the loss of all others, for he comprehends in himself all blessings, which he will reveal to us at the day of judgment, when his kingdom will be fully mani- fested. Besides, though God grants our prayers, he does not always answer them according to the express form of the request ; but seeming to keep us in suspense, shows by un- known means that our prayers were not in vain. This is the meaning of these words of John : " If we know that he heareth us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." (e) This seems to be a feeble super- fluity of expression, but is in reality a very useful declaration, that God, even when he does not comply with our desires, is nevertheless favourable and propitious to our prayers, so that a hope depending upon his word can never disappoint us. Now, this patience is very necessary to support believers, who would not long stand unless they relied upon it. For the Lord proves his people with heavy trials, and exercises them with severity ; frequently driving them to various kinds of extremi- ties, and suffering them to remain in them a long time before he {(i) Num. xi. 18, 33. (c) 1 John v. 15. 140 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. grants them any enjoyment of his grace ; and as Hannah says, " The Lord killeth, and maketh alive ; he brmgeth down to the grave, and bringeth up." (/) In such distresses must they not inevitably faint in their minds, and fall into despair, unless, in the midst of their affliction and desolation, and almost death, they were revived by this reflection, that God regards them, and that the end of their present evils is approaching ? But though they rely on the certainty of this hope, they at the same time cease not to pray ; because, without constant perseverance in prayer, we pray to no purpose. CHAPTER XXI. ETERNAL ELECTION, OR GOD'S PREDESTINATION OF SOME TO SALVATION, AND OF OTHERS TO DESTRUCTION. The covenant of life not being equally preached to all, and among those to whom- it is preached not always finding the same reception, this diversity discovers the wonderful depth of the Divine judgment. Nor is it to be doubted that this variety also follows, subject to the decision of God's eternal election. If it be evidently the result of the Divine will, that salvation is freely offered to some, and others are prevented from attaining itj — this immediately gives rise to important and difficult ques- tions, which are incapable of any other explication, than by the establishment of pious minds in what ought to be received concerning election and predestination — a question, in the opinion of many, full of perplexity ; for they consider nothing more unreasonable, than that, of the common mass of mankind, some should be predestinated to salvation, and others to de- struction. But how unreasonably they perplex themselves will afterwards appear from the sequel of our discourse. Besides, the very obscurity which excites such dread, not only displays the utility of this doctrine, but shows it to be productive of the most delightful benefit. We shall never be clearly convinced as we ought to be, that our salvation flows from the fountain of God's free mercy, till we are acquainted Avith his eternal election, which illustrates the grace of God by this comparison, that he adopts not all promiscuously to the hope of salvation, but gives to some what he refuses to others. Ignorance of this principle evidently detracts from the Divine glory, and dimi- (/) 1 Sam. ii. 6. CHAP. XXI.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 141 nishes real humility. But according to Paul, what is so neces- sary to be known, never can be known, unless God, without any regard to works, chooses those whom he has decreed. " At this present time also, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then it is no more of works ; otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace ; otherwise, work is no more work." (g) If we need to be recalled to the origin of election, to prove that we obtain salvation from no other source than the mere goodness of God, they who desire to extinguish this principle, do all they can to obscure what ought to be magnificently and loudly celebrated, and to pluck up humility by the roots. In ascribing the salvation of the remnant of the people to the election of grace, Paul clearly testifies, that it is then only known that God saves whom he will of his mere good pleasure, and does not dispense a reward to which there can be no claim. They who shut the gates to prevent any one from presuming to approach and taste this doctrine, do no less injury to man than to God ; for nothing else will be sufficient to produce in us suitable humility, or to impress us with a due sense of our great obligations to God. Nor is there any other basis for solid confidence, even according to the authority of Christ, who, to deliver us from all fear, and render us invincible amidst so many dangers, snares, and deadly conflicts, promises to preserve in safety all whom the Father has committed to his care. Whence we infer, that they who know not themselves to be God's peculiar people will be tortured with continual anxiety ; and therefore, that the interest of all believers, as well as their own, is very badly consulted by those who, blind to the three advantages we have remarked, would wholly remove the foun- dation of our salvation. And hence the Church rises to our view, which otherwise, as Bernard justly observes, could neither be discovered nor recognized among creatures, being in two respects wonderfully concealed in the bosom of a blessed pre- destination, and in the mass of a miserable damnation. But before I enter on the subject itself, I must address some pre- liminary observations to two sorts of persons. The discussion of predestination — a subject of itself rather intricate — is made very perplexed, and therefore dangerous, by human curiosity, which no barriers can restrain from wandering into forbidden labyrinths, and soaring beyond its sphere, as if determined to leave none of the Divine secrets unscrutinized or unexplored. As we see multitudes every where guilty of this arrogance and presumption, and among them some who are not censurable in other respects, it is proper to admonish them of the bounds (g) Rom. xi. 5, 6. 142 INSTITUTES or THE [bOOK III. of their duty on this subject. First, then, let them remember that when they inquire into predestination, they penetrate the inmost recesses of Divine wisdom, where the careless and confident intruder will obtain no satisfaction to his curiosity, but will enter a labyrinth from which he will find no way to depart. For it is unreasonable that man should scrutinize with impunity those things which the Lord has determined to be hidden in himself; and investigate, even from eternity, that sublimity of wisdom which God would have us to adore and not comprehend, to promote our admiration of his glory. The secrets of his will which he determined to reveal to us, he discovers in his word ; and these are all that he foresaw would concern us or conduce to our advantage. II. " We are come into the way of faith," says Augustine ; " let us constantly pursue it. It conducts into the king's palace, in which are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. For the Lord Christ himself envied not his great and most select disciples when he said, ' I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.' We must walk, we must improve, we must grow, that our hearts may be able to understand those things of which we are at present incapa- ble. If the last day finds us improving, we shall then learn what we never could learn in the present state." If we only consider that the word of the Lord is the only way to lead us to an investigation of all that ought to be believed concerning him, and the only light to enlighten us to behold all that ought to be seen of him, this consideration will easily restrain and preserve us from all presumption. For we shall know that when we have exceeded the limits of the word, we shall get into a devious and darksome course, in which errors, slips, and falls, will often be inevitable. Let us, then, in the first place, bear in mind, that to desire any other knowledge of predestina- tion than what is unfolded in the word of God, indicates as great folly, as a wish to walk through unpassable roads, or to see in the dark. Nor let us be ashamed to be ignorant of some things relative to a subject in which there is a kind of learned ignorance. Rather let us abstain with cheerfulness from the pursuit of that knowledge, the aflectation of which is foolish, dangerous, and even fatal. But if we are stimulated by the wantonness of intellect, we must oppose it with a reflection calculated to repress it, that as " it is not good to eat much honey, so for men to search their own glory, is not glory." (A) For there is sufficient to deter us from that presumption, which can only precipitate us into ruin. III. Others, desirous of remedying this evil, will have all (A) ProT. XIV. 27. CHAP. XXI.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 143 mention of predestination to be as it were buried ; they teach men to avoid every question concerning it as they would a precipice. Though their moderation is to be commended, in judging that mysteries ought to be handled with such great sobriety, yet, as they descend too low, they have little influence on the mind of man, which refuses to submit to unreasonable restraints. To observe, therefore, the legitimate boundary on this side also, we must recur to the word of the Lord, which affords a certain rule for the understanding. For the Scripture is the school of the Holy Spirit, in which, as nothing necessary and useful to be known is omitted, so nothing is taught which it is not beneficial to know. Whatever, therefore, is declared in the Scripture concerning predestination, we must be cautious not to withhold from believers, lest we appear either to de- fraud them of the favor of their God, or to reprove and censure the Holy Spirit for publishing what it would be useful by any means to suppress. Let us, I say, permit the Christian man to open his heart and his ears to all the discourses addressed to him by God, only with this moderation, that as soon as the Lord closes his sacred mouth, he shall also desist from further inquiry. This will be the best barrier of sobriety, if in learn- ing we not only follow the leadings of God, but as soon as he ceases to teach, we give up our desire of learning. Nor is the danger they dread, sufficient to divert our attention from the oracles of God. It is a celebrated observation of Solomon, that "it is the glory of God to conceal a thing." (i) But, as both piety and common sense suggest that this is not to be under- stood generally of every thing, we must seek for the proper distinction, lest we content ourselves with brutish ignorance under the pretext of modesty and sobriety. Now, this distinc- tion is clearly expressed in a few words by Moses. " The secret things," he says, "belong unto the Lord our God; but those things which are revealed belong unto us, and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law." (k) For we see how he enforces on the people attention to the doctrine of the law only by the celestial decree, because it pleased God to promulgate it ; and restrains the same people within those limits with this single reason, that it is not lawful for mortals to intrude into the secrets of God, IV. Profane persons, I confess, suddenly lay hold of some- thing relating to the subject of predestination, to furnish occa- sion for objections, cavils, reproaches, and ridicule. But if we are frightened from it by their impudence, all the princi- pal articles of the faith must be concealed, for there is scarcely one of them which such persons as these leave unviolated by (t) Prov. XXV. 2. (k) Deut. xxix. 29. 144 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III, blasphemy. The refractory mind will discover as much inso- lence, on hearing that there are three persons in the Divine essence, as on being told, that when God created man, he fore- saw what would happen concerning him. Nor will they refrain from derision on being informed, that little more than five thousand years have elapsed since the creation of the world. They will ask why the power of God was so long idle and asleep. Nothing can be advanced which they will not endeavour to ridicule. Must we, in order to check these sacri- leges, say nothing of the Divinity of the Son and Spirit, or pass over in silence the creation of the world ? In this instance, and every other, the truth of God is too powerful to dread the detraction of impious men ; as is strenuously maintained by Augustine, in his treatise on the Perseverance of the Faithful. We see the false apostles, with all their defamation and accu- sation of the true doctrine of Paul, could never succeed to make him ashamed of it. Their assertion, that all this discus- sion is dangerous to pious minds, because it is inconsistent with exhortations, shakes their faith, and disturbs and discou- rages the heart itself, is without any foundation. Augustine admits, that he was frequently blamed, on these accounts, for preaching predestinahon too freely ; but he readily and am- ply refutes them. But as many and various absurdities are crowded upon us here, we prefer reserving every one to be refuted in its proper place. 1 only desire this general admis- sion, that we should neither scrutinize those things which the Lord has left concealed, nor neglect those which he has openly exhibited, lest we be condemned for excessive curiosity on the one hand, or for ingratitude on the other. For it is judiciously remarked by Augustine, that we may safely follow the Scrip- ture, which proceeds as with the pace of a mother stooping to the weakness of a child, that it may not leave our weak capa- cities behind. But persons who are so cautious or timid, as to wish predestination to be buried in silence, lest feeble minds should be disturbed, — with what pretext, I ask, will they gloss over their arrogance, which indirectly charges God with foolish inadvertency, as though he foresaw not the danger which they suppose they have had the penetration to discover. Whoever, therefore, endeavours to raise prejudices against the doctrine of predestination, openly reproaches God, as though something had inconsiderately escaped from him that is pernicious to the Church. V. Predestination, by which God adopts some to the hope of life, and adjudges others to eternal death, no one, desirous of the credit of piety, dares absolutely to deny. But it is in- volved in many cavils, especially by those who make fore- knowledge the cause of it. We maintain, that both belong to CHAP. XXI.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 145 God ; but it is preposterous to represent one as dependent on the other. When we attribute foreknowledge to God, we mean that all things have ever been, and perpetually remain, before his eyes, so that to his knowledge nothing is future or past, but all things are present ; and present in such a manner, that he does not merely conceive of them from ideas formed in his mind, as things remembered by us appear present to our minds, but really beholds and sees them as if actually placed before him. And this foreknowledge extends to the whole Avorld, and to all the creatures. Predestination we call the eternal decree of God, by which he has determined in himself, what he would have to become of every individual of mankind. For they are! not all created with a similar destiny ; but eternal life is fore-| ordained for some, and eternal damnation for others. Everyj man, therefore, being created for one or the other of theseeiids^f V^saj, he IS predestinated either~to life or to death. This God has not only testified in particular persons, but^ has given a specimen of it in the Avhole posterity of Abraham, which should evidently show the future condition of every nation to depend upon his decision. " When the Most High divided the nations, when he separated the sons of Adam, the Lord's portion was his people ; Jacob was the lot of his inheritance." (Z) The separation is before the eyes of all : in the person of Abraham, as in the dry trunk of a tree, one people is peculiarly chosen to the rejection of others : no reason for this appears, except that Moses, to deprive their posterity of all occasion of glorying, teaches them that their exaltation is wholly from God's gra- tuitous love. He assigns this reason for their deliverance, that "he loved their fathers, and chose their seed after them."(w) More fully in another chapter : " The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people ; but because the Lord loved you." (n) He frequently repeats the same admonition : " Behold, the heaven is the Lord's thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is. Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them." (o) In another place, sancti- fication is enjoined upon them, because they were chosen to be a peculiar people. ( p) And again, elsewhere, love is asserted to be the cause of their protection. It is declared by the united voice of the faithful, " He hath chosen our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob, whom he loved." (9) For the gifts conferred on them by God, they all ascribe to gratuitous love, not only from a consciousness that these were not obtained by any merit of theirs, but from a conviction, that the holy patri- (0 Deut. xxxii. 8, 9. (n) Deut. vii. 7, 8. (p) Deut. xxiii. (m) Deut. iy. 37. (o) Deut. x. 14, J5. (q) Psalm xlvii. 4. VOL. IL 19 146 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III, arch himself was not endued with such excellence as to acquire the privilege of so great an honour for himself and his pos- terity. And the more effectually to demolish all pride, he reproaches them with having deserved no favour, being " a stiff- necked and rebellious people." (r) The prophets also fre- quently reproach the Jews with the unwelcome mention of this election, because they had shamefully departed from it. Let them, however, now come forward, who wish to restrict the election of God to the desert of men, or the merit of works. When they see one nation preferred to all others, — when they hear that God had no inducement to be more favourable to a J few, and ignoble, and even disobedient and obstinate people, — . will they quarrel with him because he has chosen to give such . an example of mercy ? But their obstreperous clamours will » nofimpede his work, nor will the reproaches they hurl against Heaven, injure or "affect hrs"justice ; they will rather reciJiT upon their own" heads. To this principle of the graciour cove- nant, the Israelites are also recalled whenever thanks are to be rendered to God, or their hopes are to be raised for futurity. " He hath made us, and not we ourselves," says the Psalmist : " we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture." (s) It is not without reason that the negation is added, " not we ourselves," that they may know that of all the benefits they enjoy, God is not only the Author, but derived the cause from himself, there being nothmg in them deserving of such great honour. He also enjoins them to be content with the mere good pleasure of God, in these words : " O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen." And after having recounted the continued benefits bestowed by God as fruits of election, he at length concludes that he had acted with such liberality, " be- cause he remembered his covenant." (t) Consistent with this doctrine is the song of the whole Church : " Thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, gave our fa- thers the land, because thou hadst a favour unto them." (u) It must be observed that where mention is made of the land, it is a visible symbol of the secret separation, wliich compre- hends adoption. David, in another place, exhorts the people to the same gratitude : " Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord ; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance." (a;-) Samuel animates to a good hope: "The Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name's sake ; because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people." (y) David, when his faith is assailed, thus arms himself for the conflict : " Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest (r) Dcut. ix. 6, 7. (l) Psalm cv. G, 8. (r) Psalm xxxiii. 12. (s) Psalm c. 3. («) Psalm xliv. 3. (y) 1 Sam. xii. 22. XXI.] CHRISTIAN RELMJION. 147 to approach unto thee ; he shall dwell in thy courts." (z) But smce the election hidden in God has been confirmed by the first deliverance, as well as by the second and other niter- mediate blessings, the word choose is transferred to it m Isaiah : " The Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel ; " (a) because, contemplating a future period, he declares that the collection of the residue of the people, whom he had appeared to have forsaken, would be a sign of the stable and sure election, which had likewise seemed to fail. When he says also, in another place, " I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away," {b) he commends the continual course of his sig- nal liberality and paternal benevolence. The angel, in Zecha- riah, speaks more plainly : " The Lord shall choose Jerusalem again ; " (c) as though his severe chastisement had been a rejection, or their exile had been an interruption of election ; which, nevertheless, remains inviolable, though the tokens of it are not always visible. • VL We must now proceed to a second degree of election, still more restricted, or that in which the Divine grace was displayed in a more special manner, when of the same race of Abraham God rejected some, and by nourishing others in the Church, proved that he retained them among his children. Ishmael at first obtained the same station as his brother Isaac, for the spiritual covenant was equally sealed in him by the symbol of circumcision. He is cut off; afterwards Esau; lastly, an innumerable multitude, and almost all Israel. In Isaac the seed was called ; the same calling continued in Jacob. God exhibited a similar example in the rejection of Saul, which is magnificently celebrated by the Psalmist : ''He refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim, but chose the tribe of Judah; " (d) and this the sacred history fre- quently repeats, that the wonderful secret of Divine grace may be more manifest in that change. I grant, it was by their own crime and guilt that Ishmael, Esau, and persons of similar cha- racters, fell from the adoption ; because the condition annexed was, that they should faithfully keep the covenant of God, which they perfidiously violated. Yet it was a peculiar favour of God, that he deigned to prefer them to other nations ; as it is said in the Psalms : " He hath not dealt so with any nation : and as for his judgments, they have not known them." (e) But I have justly said that here are two degrees to be remarked ; for in the election of the whole nation, God has already shown that in his mere goodness he is bound by no laws, but is per- fectly free, so that none can require of him an equal distribu- (z) Psalm Ixv. 4. (b) Isaiah xli. 9. (d) Psalm Ixxviii. 67, 68. (a) Isaiah xiv. 1. (c) Zech. ii. 12. (e) Psalm cxlvii. 20. 148 INSTITUTES OF THE [ BOOK III. tion of grace, the inequality of which demonstrates it to be truly gratuitous. Therefore Malachi aggravates the ingratitude of Israel, because, though not only elected out of the whole race of mankind, but also separated from a sacred family to be a peculiar people, they perfidiously and impiously despised God their most beneficent Father. " Was not Esau Jacob's bro- ther ? saith the Lord : yet 1 loved Jacob, and I hated Esau." (/) For God takes it for granted, since both were sons of a holy father, successors of the covenant, and branches from a sacred root, that the children of Jacob were already laid under more than common obligations by their admission to that honour ; but Esau the first-born having been rejected, and their father, though inferior by birth, having been made the heir, he proves them guilty of double ingratitude, and complains of their vio- lating this twofold claim. VII. Though it is sufficiently clear, that God, in his secret . counsel, freely chooses whom he will, and rejects others, his I gratuitous election is but half displayed till we come to particu-i lar individuals, to whom God not only offers salvation, but as- signs it in such a manner, that the certainty of the effect is hable to no suspense or doubt. These are included in that one seed mentioned by' Paul ; for though the adoption was de- posited in the hand of Abraham, yet many of his posterity being cut off as putrid members, in order to maintain the effi- cacy and stability of election, it is necessary to ascend to the head, in whom their heavenly Father has bound his elect to each other, and united them to himself by an indissoluble bond. Thus the adoption of the family of Abraham displayed the favour of God, which he denied to others ; but in the members of Christ there is a conspicuous exhibition of the superior efficacy of grace ; because, being united to their head, they never fail of salvation. Paul, therefore, justly reasons from the passage of Malachi which I have just quoted, that where God, introducing the covenant of eternal life, invites any people to himself, there is a peculiar kind of election as to part of them, so that he does not efficaciously choose all with indis- criminate grace. The declaration, " Jacob have I loved," re- spects the whole posterity of the patriarch, whom the prophet there opposes to the descendants of Esau. Yet this is no ob- jection to our having in the person of one individual a specimen of the election, which can never fail of attaining its full effect. These, who truly belong to Christ, Paul correctly observes, are called "a remnant;" for experience proves, that of a great multitude the most part fall away and disappear, so that often only a small portion remains. That the general election of a (/) Mai. i. 2, 3. CHAP. XXI.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 149 people is not always effectual and permanent, a reason readily presents itself, because, when God covenants with them, he does not also give them the spirit of regeneration to enable them to persevere in the covenant to the end ; but the external call, without the internal efficacy of grace, which would be suffi- cient for their preservation, is a kind of medium between the rejection of all mankind and the election of the small number of believers. The whole nation of Israel was called " God's inheritance," though many of them were strangers ; but God, having firmly covenanted to be their Father and Redeemer, regards that gratuitous favour rather than the defection of mul- titudes ; by whom his truth was not violated, because his pre- servation of a certain remnant to himself, made it evident that his calling was without repentance. For God's collection of a Church for himself, from time to time, from the children of Abraham, rather than from the profane nations, was in con- sideration of his covenant, which, being violated by the multi- tude, he restricted to a few, to prevent its total failure. Lastly, the general adoption of the seed of Abraham was a visible re- presentation of a greater blessing, which God conferred on a few out of the multitude. This is the reason that Paul so carefully distinguishes the descendants of Abraham according to the flesh, from his spiritual children called after the example of Isaac. Not that the mere descent from Abraham was a vain and unprofitable thing, which could not be asserted without depreciating the covenant ; but because to the latter alone the immutable counsel of God, in which he predestinated whom he would, was of itself effectual to salvation. But I advise my readers to adopt no prejudice on either side, till it shall appear from adduced passages of Scripture what sentiments ought to be entertained. In conformity, therefore, to the clear doctrine of the Scripture, we assert, that by an eternal and immutable counsel, God has once for all determined, both whom he would admit to salvation, and whom he would condemn to destruc- tion. We affirm that this counsel, as far as concerns the elect, is founded on his gratuitous mercy, totally irrespective of human merit ; but that to those whom he devotes to condem- nation, the gate of life is closed by a just and irreprehensible, but incomprehensible, judgment. In the elect, we consider calling as an evidence of election, and justification as another token of its manifestation, till they arrive in glory, which con- stitutes its completion. As God seals his elect by vocation and justification, so by excluding the reprobate from the know- ledge of his name and the sanctification of his Spirit, he affords an indication of the judgment that awaits them. Here I shall pass over many fictions fabricated by foolish men to overthrow predestination. It is unnecessary to refute things which, as 150 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. soon as they are advanced, sufficiently prove their own false- hood. I shall dwell only on those things which are subjects of controversy among the learned, or which may occasion dif- ficulty to simple minds, or which impiety speciously pleads in order to stigmatize the Divine justice. CHAPTER XXII. TESTIMONIES OF SCRIPTURE IN CONFIRMATION OF THIS DOCTRINE. All the positions we have advanced are controverted by ma- ny, especially the gratuitous election of believers, which never- theless cannot be shaken. It is a notion commonly entertained, that God, foreseeing what would be the respective merits of every individual, makes a correspondent distinction between different persons ; that he adopts as his children such as he foreknows will be deserving of his grace, and devotes to the damnation of death others, whose dispositions he sees will be inclined to wickedness and impiety. Thus they not only obscure election by covering it with the veil of foreknow- ledge, but pretend that it originates in another cause. Nor is this commonly received notion the opinion of the vulgar only, for it has had great advocates in all ages ; which I candidly confess, that no one may cherish a confidence of injuring our cause by opposing us with their names. For the truth of God on this point is too certain to be shaken, too clear to be over- thrown by the authority of men. Others, neither acquainted with the Scripture, nor deserving of any attention, oppose the sound doctrine with extreme presumption and intolerable ef- frontery. God's sovereign election of some, and preterition of others, they make the subject of formal accusation against him. But if this is the known fact, what will they gain by quarrelling with God ? We teach nothing but what experience has proved, that God has always been at liberty to bestow his grace on whom he chooses. I will not inquire how the pos- terity of Abraham excelled other nations, unless it was by that favour, the cause of which can only be found in God. Let them answer why they are men, and not oxen or asses : when it was in God's power to create them dogs, he formed them after his own image. Will they allow the brute animals to expostulate with God respecting their condition, as though the distinction were unjust ? Their enjoyment of a privilege which they have acquired by no merits, is certainly no more reasonable than CHAP, XXII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 151 God's various distribution of his favours according to the mea- sure of his judgment. If they make a transition to persons where the inequaUty is more offensive to them, the example of Christ at least ought to deter them from carelessly prating concerning this sublime mystery. A mortal man is conceived of the seed of David : to the merit of what virtues will they ascribe his being made, even in the womb, the Head of angels, the only begotten Son of God, the Image and Glory of the Father, the Light, Righteousness, and Salvation of the world ? It is judiciously remarked by Augustine, that there is the brightest example of gratuitous election in the Head of the Church himself, that it may not perplex us in the members ; that he did not become the Son of God by leading a righteous life, but was gratuitously invested with this high honour, that he might afterwards render others partakers of the gifts be- stowed upon him. If any one inquire, why others are not all that he was, or why we are all at such a vast distance from him, — why we are all corrupt, and he purity itself, — he will betray both folly and impudence. But if they persist in the wish to deprive God of the uncontrollable right of choosing and rejecting, let them also take away what is given to Christ. Now, it is of importance to attend to what the Scripture de- clares respecting every individual. Paul's assertion, that we were "chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world," (g) certainly precludes any consideration of merit in us ; for it is as though he had said, our heavenly Father, finding nothing worthy of his choice in all the posterity of Adam, turned his views towards his Christ, to choose members from his body whom he would admit to the fellowship of life. Let be- lievers, then, be satisfied with this reason, that we were adopted in Christ to the heavenly inheritance, because in ourselves we were incapable of such high dignity. He has a similar remark in another place, where he exhorts the Colossians to " give thanks unto the Father, who had made them meet to be parta- kers of the inheritance of the saints." (h) If election precedes this grace of God, which makes us meet to obtain the glory of the life to come, what will God find in us to induce him to elect us ? Another passage from this apostle will still more clearly express my meaning. " He hath chosen us," he says, " before the foundation of the world, according to the good pleasure of his will, that we should be holy, and without blame before him ; " (i) where he opposes the good pleasure of God to all our merits whatsoever. II, To render the proof more complete, it will be useful to notice all the clauses of that passage, which, taken in connec- (g) Ephes. i. 4. (A) Col. i. 12. (i) Ephes. i. 4, 5. 152 IKSTITUTES OF THE [ BOOK III, tion, leave no room for doubt. By the appellation of the elect, or chosen, he certainly designates believers, as he soon after declares: wherefore it is corrupting the term by a shameful fiction to restrict it to the age in which the gospel was published. By saying that they were elected before the creation of the world, he precludes every consideration of merit. For what could be the reason for discrimination between those who yet had no existence, and whose condition was afterward to be the same in Adam ? Now, if they are chosen in Christ, it follows, not only that each individual is chosen out of himself, but also that some are separated from others ; for it is evident, that all are not members of Christ. The next clause, stating them to have been " chosen that they might be holy," fully refutes the error which derives election from foreknowledge ; since Paul, on the contrary, declares that all the virtue discovered in men is the effect of election. If any inquiry be made after a superior cause, Paul replies, that God thus " predestinated," and that it was "according to the good pleasure of his will." This overturns any means of election which men imagine in themselves ; for all the benefits conferred by God for the spiritual life, he repre- sents as flowing from this one source, that God elected whom he would, and, before they were born, laid up in reserve for them the grace with which he determined to favor them. III. Wherever this decree of God reigns, there can be no consideration of any works. The antithesis, indeed, is not pur- sued here ; but it must be understood, as it is amplified by the same writer in another place : " Who hath called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus, before the world began." {k) And we have already shown that the following clause, "that we should be holy," removes every difficulty. For say, Because he foresaw they would be holy, therefore he chose them, and you will invert the order of Paul. We may safely infer, then, If he chose us that we should be holy, his foresight of our futm-e holiness was not the cause of his choice. For these two propositions, That the holiness of believers is the fruit of election, and, That they attain it by means of works, are incompatible with each other. Nor is there any force in the cavil to which they frequently resort, that the grace of election was not God's reward of an- tecedent works, but his gift to future ones. For when it is said, that believers were elected that they should be holy, it is fully implied, that the holiness they were in future to possess had its origin in election. And what consistency would there be in asserting, that things derived from election were the (A) 2 Tim. i. 9. CHAP. XXII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 153 causes of election ? A subsequent clause seems further to con- firm what he had said — " according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in himself." (/) For the assertion, that God pur- posed in himself, is equivalent to saying, that he considered nothing out of himself, with any view to influence his deter- mination. Therefore he immediately subjoins, that the great and only object of our election is, "that we should be to the praise of" Divine "grace." Certainly the grace of God de- serves not the sole praise of our election, unless this election be gratuitous. Now, it could not be gratuitous, if, in choosing his people, God himself considered what would be the nature of their respective works. The declaration of Christ to his dis- ciples, therefore, is universally applicable to all believers : " Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you ; " (m) which not only excludes past merits, but signifies that they had nothing in themselves to cause their election, independently of his pre- venting mercy. This also is the meaning of that passage of Paul, " Who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?" [n) For his design is to show, that God's goodness altogether anticipates men, finding nothing in them, either past or future, to conciliate his favour towards them. IV. In the Epistle to the Romans, where he goes to the bottom of this argument, and pursues it more at length, he says, " They are not all Israel which are " born " of Israel ; " (o) be- cause though all were blessed by hereditary right, yet the suc- cession did not pass to all alike. This controversy originated in the pride and vain-glorying of the Jewish people, who, claim- ing for themselves the title of the Church, would make the faith of the gospel to depend on their decision; just as, in the present day, the Papists with this false pretext would sub- stitute themselves in the place of God. Paul, though he admits the posterity of Abraham to be holy in consequence of the covenant, yet contends that most of them are strangers to it ; and that not only because they degenerate, from legitimate children becoming spurious ones, but because the preeminence and sovereignty belong to God's special election, which is the sole foundation of the validity of their adoption. If some were established in the hope of salvation by their own piety, and the rejection of others were owing wholly to their own defection, Paul's reference of his readers to the secret election would indeed be weak and absurd. Now, if the will of God, of which no cause appears or must be sought out of himself, discriminates some from others, so that the children of Israel are not all true Israelites, it is in vain pretended that the condition of every individual originates with himself. He piu-sues the subject fur- (l) Ephes. i. 9. (wi) John xv. 16. (n) Rom. xi. a5. (o) Rom. ix. 6. VOL. II. 20 154 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. ther under the example of Jacob and Esau ; for being both child- ren of Abraham, and both enclosed in their mother's womb, the transfer of the honour of primogeniture to Jacob was by a pre- ternatural change, which Paul, however, contends indicated the election of the one and the reprobation of the other. The ori- gin and the cause are inquired, which the champions of fore- knowledge maintain to be exhibited in the virtues and the vices of men. For this is their short and easy doctrine — That God has showed in the person of Jacob, that he elects such as are worthy of his grace ; and in the person of Esau, that he rejects those whom he foresees to be unworthy. This, indeed, they assert with confidence ; but what is the testimony of Paul ? " The children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth, it was said, The elder shall serve the younger ; as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." {jp) If this distinction between the brothers was influenced by foreknowledge, the mention of the time must certainly be unnecessary. On the supposition that Jacob was elected, because that honour was acquired by his future virtues, to what purpose could Paul remark that he was not yet born ? It woiUd not have been so proper to add, that he had not yet done any good ; for it will be immediately replied, that nothing is concealed from God, and therefore the piety of Jacob must have been present before him. If grace be the reward of works, they ought to have had their just value attributed to them before Jacob was born, as much as if he were already grown to maturity. But the apostle proceeds in unravelling the difficulty, and teaches that the adoption of Ja- cob flowed not from works, but from the calling of God. In speaking of works, he introduces no time, future or past, but positively opposes them to the calling of God, intending the establishment of the one, and the absolute subversion of the other ; as though he had said. We must consider the good plea- sure of God, and not the productions of men. Lastly, the very terms, election and purpose^ certainly exclude from this subject all the causes frequently invented by men, independently of God's secret counsel. V. Now, what pretexts will be urged to obscm-e these argu- ments, by those who attribute to works, either past or future, any influence on election ? For this is nothing but an evasion of the apostle's argument, that the distinction between the two brothers depends not on any consideration of works, but on the mere calling of God, because it was fixed between them when they were not yet born. Nor would their subtilty have es- (p) Rom. ix. 11—13. I CHAP. XXII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 155 caped him, if there had been any solidity in it ; but well know- ing the impossibility of God's foreseeing any good in man, ex- cept what he had first determined to bestow by the benefit of his election, he resorts not to the preposterous order of placing good works before their cause. We have the apostle's author- ity that the salvation of believers is founded solely on the de- cision of Divine election, and that that favour is not procured by works, but proceeds from gratuitous calling. We have also a lively exhibitioji of this truth in a particular example. Jacob and Esau are brothers, begotten of the same parents, still en- closed in the same womb, not yet brought forth into light ; there is in all respects a perfect equality between them; yet the judgment of God concerning them is difierent. For he takes one, and rejects the other. The primogeniture was the only thing that gave one a right of priority to the other. But that also is passed by, and on the younger is bestowed what is refused to the elder. In other instances, also, God appears always to have treated primogeniture with designed and deci- ded contempt, to cut off from the flesh all occasion of boasting. He rejects Ishmael, and favours Isaac. He degrades Manasseh, and honours Ephraim. VI. If it be objected, that from these inferior and inconsider- able benefits, it must not be concluded respecting the life to come, that he who has been raised to the honour of primogeni- ture is therefore to be considered as adopted to the inheritance of heaven. — for there are many who spare not Paul, as though in his citation of Scripture testimonies he had perverted them from their genuine meaning, — I answer as before, that the apostle has neither erred through inadvertency, nor wilfully perverted testimonies of Scripture. But he saw, what they cannot bear to consider, that God intended by an earthly symbol to declare the spiritual election of Jacob, which other- wise lay concealed behind his inaccessible tribunal. For unless the primogeniture granted him had reference to the future world, it was a vain and ridiculous kind of blessing, which produced him nothing but various afflictions and ad- versities, grievous exile, numerous cares, and bitter sorrows. Discerning, beyond all doubt, that God's external blessing was an indication of the spiritual and permanent blessing he had prepared for his servant in his kingdom, Paul hesitated not to argue from the former in proof of the latter. It must also be remembered, that to the land of Canaan was annexed the pledge of the celestial residence ; so that it ought not to be doubted that Jacob was ingrafted with angels into the body of Christ, that he might be a partaker of the same life. While Esau is rejected, therefore, Jacob is elected, and distinguished from him by God's predestination, without any difference of 156 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. merit. If you inquire the cause, the apostle assigns the fol- lowing : " For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." {q) And what is this but a plain de- claration of the Lord, that he finds no cause in men to induce him to show favour to them, but derives it solely from his own mercy : and therefore that the salvation of his people is his work ? When God fixes your salvation in himself alone, why will you descend into yourself? When he assigns you his mere mercy, why will you have recourse to your own merits ? When he confines all your attention to his mercy, why will you divert part of it to the contemplation of your own works ? We must therefore come to that more select people, whom Paul in another place tells us " God fore- knew," (r) not using this word, according to the fancy of our opponents, to signify a prospect, from a place of idle observa- tion, of things which he has no part in transacting, but in the sense in which it is frequently used. For certainly, when Peter says that Christ was "delivered " to death "by the de- terminate counsel and foreknowledge of God," (s) he introduces God not as a mere spectator, but as the Author of our salvation. So the same apostle, -by calling believers, to whom he writes, "elect according to the foreknowledge of God," (^) properly expresses that secret predestination by which God has marked out whom he would as his children. And the word purpose, which is added as a synonymous term, and in common speech is always expressive of fixed determination, undoubtedly im- plies that God, as the Author of our salvation, does not go out of himself In this sense Christ is called, in the same chapter, the "Lamb foreknown before the foundation of the world." For what can be more absurd or uninteresting, than God's looking from on high to see from what quarter salvation would come to mankind ? The people, therefore, whom Paul describes as "foreknown," (a) are no other than a small num- ber scattered among the multitude, who falsely pretend to be the people of God. In another place also, to repress the boast- ing of hypocrites assuming before the world the preeminence among the godly, Paul declares, " The Lord knoweth them that are his." (x) Lastly, by this expression Paul designates two classes of people, one consisting of the whole race of Abraham, the other separated from it, reserved under the eyes of God, and concealed from the view of men. And this, with- out doubt, he gathered from Moses, who asserts that God will be merciful to whom he will be merciful ; though he is speak- (q) Rom. ix. 15. (s) Acts ii. 23. (k) Rom. xi. 2. (r) Rom. xi. 2. (t) 1 Pet. i. 2. (x) 2 Tim. ii. 19. CHAP, XXII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 157 ing of the chosen people, whose condition was^ to outward ap- pearance, all alike ; as though he had said, that the common adoption includes in it peculiar grace towards some, who re- semble a more sacred treasure • that the common covenant prevents not this small number being exempted from the com- mon lot ; and that, determined to represent himself as the un- controlled dispenser and arbiter in this affair, he positively denies that he will have mercy on one rather than another, from any other motive than his own pleasure ; because, when mercy meets a person who seeks it, though he suffers no re- pulse, yet he either anticipates or in some degree obtains for himself that favour, of which God claims to himself all the praise. VII. Now, let the supreme Master and Judge decide the whole matter. Beholding in his hearers such extreme obdu- racy, that his discourses were scattered among the multitude almost without any effect, to obviate this offence, he exclaims, *' All that the Father giveth me, shall come to me. And this is the Father's will, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing." {y) Observe, the origin is from the do- nation of the Father, that we are given into the custody and protection of Christ. Here, perhaps, some one may argue in a circle, and object, that none are considered as the Father's peculiar people, but those whose surrender has been voluntary, arising from faith. But Christ only insists on this point — that notwithstanding the defections of vast maltitudes, shaking the whole world, yet the counsel of God will be stable and firmer than the heavens, so that election can never fail. They are said to have been the elect of the Father, before he gave them to his only begotten Son. Is it inquired whether this was by nature ? No, he draws those who were strangers, and so makes them his children. The language of Christ is too clear to be perplexed by the quibbles of sophistry : "No man can come to me, except the Father draw him. Every man that hath heard and learned of the Father, cometh unto me." (a;) If all men promiscuously submitted to Christ, election would be common: now, the fewness of believers discovers a manifest distinction. Having asserted his disciples therefore, who were given to him, to be the peculiar portion of the Father, Christ a little after adds, " I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine ; " (a) which shows that the whole world does not belong to its Creator ; only that grace de- livers from the curse and wrath of God, and from eternal death, a few, who would otherwise perish, but leaves the world in its destruction, to which it has been destined. At the same time, iy) John vi. 37, 39. (z) John vi. 44, 4.5. (a) John xvii. 9 158 INSTITUTES OF THE [ BOOK III. though Christ introduces himself in his mediatorial capacity, yet he claims to himself the right of election, in common with the Father. " I speak not of all," he says ; " I know whom I have chosen." (6) If it be inquired whence he chose them, he elsewhere answers, "out of the world," (c) which he ex- cludes from his prayers, when he commends his disciples to the Father. It must be admitted, that when Christ asserts his knowledge of whom he has chosen, it refers to a particular class of mankind, and that they are distinguished, not by the nature of their virtues, but by the decree of Heaven. Whence it follows, that none attain any excellence by their own ability or industry, since Christ represents himself as the author of election. His enumeration of Judas among the elect, though he was a devil, only refers to the apostolical office, which, though an illustrious instance of the Divine favour, as Paul so frequently acknowledges in his own person, yet does not in- clude the hope of eternal salvation. Judas, therefore, in his unfaithful exercise of the apostleship, might be worse than a devil ; but of those whom Christ has once united to his body, he will never suffer one to perish ; for in securing their salva- tion, he will perform what he has promised, by exerting the power of God, who. is greater than all. What he says in another place, " Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition," is a mode of expression, called catachi-esis, but the sense is sufficiently plain. The conclusion is, that God creates whom he chooses to be his children by gratuitous adoption ; that the cause of this is wholly in himself; because he exclusively regai-ds his own secret determination. VIII. But, it will be said, Ambrose, Origen, and Jerome believed that God dispenses his grace among men, according to his foreknowledge of the good use which every individual will make of it. Augustine also was once of the same sentiment ; but when he had made a greater proficiency in scriptural know- ledge, he not only retracted, but powerfully confuted it. And after his retractation, rebuking the Pelagians for persisting in this error, he says, " Who but must wonder that this most ingenious sense should escape the apostle ? For after propo- sing what was calculated to excite astonishment respecting those children yet unborn, he started to himself, by way of objection, the following question : What, then, is there unright- eousness with God ? It was the place for him to answer, that God foresaw the merits of each of them ; yet he says nothing of this, but resorts to the decrees and mercy of God." And in another place, after having discarded all merits antecedent to (6) John xiii. 18. (c) John xv. 19 CHAP. XXII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 159 election, he says, " Here undoubtedly falls to the ground the vain reasoning of those who defend the foreknowledge of God in opposition to his grace, and affirm that we were elected be- fore the foundation of the world, because God foreknew that we would be good, not that he himself would make us good. This is not the language of him who says, ' Ye have not cho- sen me, but I have chosen you.' {d) For if he elected us because he foreknew our future good, he must also have fore- known our choice of him ; " and more to the like purpose. This testimony should have weight with those who readily ac- quiesce in the authority of the fathers. Though Augustine will not allow himself to be disunited from the rest, but shows by clear testimonies the falsehood of that discordance, with the odium of which he was loaded by the Pelagians, he makes the following quotations from Ambrose's book on predestination : " Whom Christ has mercy on, him he calls. Those who were indevout he could, ff he would, have made devout. But God calls whom he pleases, and makes whom he will religious." If I were inclined to compile a whole volume from Augustine, I could easily show my readers, that I need no words but his ; but I am unwilling to burden them with prolixity. But come, let us suppose them to be silent ; let us attend to the subject itself. A difficult question was raised — Whether it was a just procedure in God to favour with his grace certain particular persons. This Paul could have decided by a single word, if he had pleaded the consideration of works. Why, then, does he not do this, but rather continue his dis- course involved in the same difficulty ? Why, but from ne- cessity? for the Holy Spirit, who spoke by his mouth, never laboured under the malady of forgetfulness. Without any evasion or circumlocution, therefore, he answers, that God fa- vours his elect because he will, and has mercy because he will. For this oracle, " I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy," (e) is equivalent to a declaration, that God is excited to mercy by no other motive than his own will to be merciful. The observa- tion of Augustine therefore remains true, " that the grace of God does not find men fit to be elected, but makes them so." IX. We shall not dwell upon the sophistry of Thomas Aqui- nas, " that the foreknowledge of merits is not the cause of pre- destination in regard to the act of him who predestinates ; but that with regard to us, it may in some sense be so called, ac- cording to the particular consideration of predestination ; as when God is said to predestinate glory for man according to merits, because he decreed to give him grace by which glory is {d) John XV. 16. (e) Exod. xxxiii. 19. 160 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. merited." For since the Lord allows us to contemplate nothing in election but his mere goodness, the desire of any one to see any thing more is a preposterous disposition. But if we were inclined to a contention of subtilty, we should be at no loss to refute this petty sophism of Aquinas. He contends that glory is in a certain sense predestinated for the elect according to their merits, because God predestinates to them the grace by which glory is merited. What if I, on the contrary, reply, that predestination to grace is subordinate to election to life, and attendant upon it ? that grace is predestinated to those to whom the possession of glory has been already assigned ; be- cause it pleases the Lord to conduct his children from election to justification ? For hence it will follow, that predestination to glory is rather the cause of predestination to grace, than the contrary. But let us dismiss these controversies ; they are unnecessary with those who think they have wisdom enough in the word of God. For it was truly remarked by an ancient ecclesiastical writer, That they who ascribe God's election to merits, are wiser than they ought to be. X. It is objected by some, that God will be inconsistent with himself, if he invites all men universally to come to him, and receives only a few elect. Thus, according to them, the universality of the promises destroys the discrimination of special grace ; and this is the language of some moderate men, not so much for the sake of suppressing the truth, as to exclude thorny questions, and restrain the curiosity of many. The end is laudable, but the means cannot be approved ; for disingenuous evasion can never be excused ; but with those who use insult and invective, it is a foul cavil or a shameful error. How the Scripture reconciles these two facts, that by external preaching all are called to re- pentance and faith, and yet that the spirit of repentance and faith is not given to all, I have elsewhere stated, and shall soon have occasion partly to repeat. What they assume, I deny, as being false in two respects. For he who threatens drought to one city while it rains upon another, and who denounces to another place a famine of doctrine, (/) lays himself under no positive obliga- tion to call all men alike. And he who, forbidding Paul to preach the word in Asia, and suffering him not to go into Bithynia, calls him into Macedonia, ("•) demonstrates his right to distribute this treasure to whom he pleases. In Isaiah, he still more fully declares his destination of the promises of sal- vation exclusively for the elect ; for of them only, and not indiscriminately of all mankind, he declares that they shall be his disciples, (h) Wlience it appears, that when the doctrine of salvation is offered to all for their effectual benefit, it is a (/) Amos iv. 7; viii. 11. (g) Acts xvi. 6—10. (A) Isaiah viii. 16, &c. CHAP. XXII.J CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 161 corrupt prostitution of that which is declared to be reserved par- ticularly for the children of the church. At present let this suf- fice, that though the voice of the gospel addresses all men gene- rally, yet the gift of faith is bestowed on few. Isaiah assigns tlie cause, that " the arm of the Lord " is not '' revealed " to all. (i) If he had said, that the gospel is wickedly and perversely despised, because many obstinately refuse to hear it, perhaps there would be some colour for this notion of the universal call. The design of the prophet is not to extenuate the guilt of men, when he states that the source of blindness is God's not deigning to reveal his arm to them ; he only suggests that their ears are in vain assailed with external doctrine, because faith is a peculiar gift. I would wish to be informed by these teachers, whether men become children of God by mere preaching, or b,y faith. Surely, when John declares that all who believe in God's only begotten Son, are themselves made the children of God, (k) this is not said of all the hearers of the word in a confused mass, but a particular rank is assigned to believers, " which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man. but of God." (I) But they say, there is a mutual agreement between faith and the word. This is the case wherever there is any faith ; but it is no new thing for the seed to fall among thorns or in stony places ; not only because most men are evi- dently in actual rebellion against God, but because they are not all endued with eyes and ears. Where, then, will be the consis- tency of God's calling to himself such as he knows will never come ? Let Augustine answer for me : " Do you wish to dis- pute with me ? Rather unite with me in admiration, and ex- claim, O the depth ! Let us both agree in fear, lest we perish in error." Besides, if election is, as Paul represents it, the parent of faith, I retort that argument upon them, that faith cannot be general, because election is special. For from the connection of causes and effects, it is easily inferred, when Paul says, " God hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings, according as he hath chosen us before the foundation of the world ; " that therefore these treasures are not common to all, because God has chosen only such as he pleased. This is the reason why. in another place, he commends " the faith of God's elect ; " (tn) that none may be supposed to acquire faith by any exertion of their own, but that God may retain the glory of freely illumi- nating the objects of his previous election. For Bernard justly observes, " Friends hear each one for himself when he addresses them, ' Fear not, little flock, for to you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of heaven.' Who are these ? Certainly those whom he has foreknown and predestinated to be con- (i) Isaiah liii. 1. (k) John i. 12. (/) John i. 13. (m) Titus i. 1. VOL. II. 21 162 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. formed to the image of his Son. The great and secret coun- sel has been revealed. The Lord knows who are his, but what was known to God is manifested to men. Nor does he favour any others with the participation of so great a mystery, but those particular individuals whom he foreknew, and pre- destinated to be his own." A little after he concludes, " The mercy of God is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him ; from everlasting in predestination, to everlasting in beatification ; the one knowing no beginning ; the other, no end." But what necessity is there for citing the testimony of Bernard, since we hear from the Master's own mouth, that " no man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God," (71) which implies, that all who are not regenerated by God, are stupe- fied with the splendour of his countenance. Faith, indeed, is properly connected with election, provided it occupies the se- cond place. This order is clearly expressed in these words of Christ : " This is the Father's will, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which believeth on the Son, may have everlasting life." (0) If he willed the salvation of all, he would give them all into the custody of his Son, and unite them all to his body by the sacred bond of faith. Now, it is evident, that faith is the peculiar pledge of his paternal love, reserved for his adopted children. Therefore Christ says in another place, " The sheep follow the shepherd, for they know his voice ; and a stranger will they not follow, for they know not the voice of strangers." (jp) Whence arises this difl"erence, but because their ears are divinely penetrated? For no man makes himself a sheep, but is created such by heavenly grace. Hence also the Lord proves the perpetual certainty and security of our salvation, because it is kept by the invincible power of God. (q) There- fore he concludes that unbelievers are not his sheep, because they are not of the number of those whom God by Isaiah promised to him for his future disciples, (r) Moreover, the testi- monies I have cited, being expressive of perseverance, are so many declarations of the invariable perpetuity of election. XI. Now, with respect to the reprobate, whom the apostle introduces in the same place ; as Jacob, without any merit yet acquired by good works, is made an object of grace, so Esau, while yet unpolluted by any crime, is accounted an object of hatred, (s) If we turn our attention to works, we insult the apostle, as though he saw not that which is clear to us. Now, that he saw none, is evident, because he expressly asserts the one to have been elected and the other rejected while they had not (n) John vi. 46. (p) John x. 4, 5. (r) John x. 26. (0) John vi. 39, 40. {q) John x. 29. (s) Rom. ix. 13. CHAP. XXIII.] CHRISTIAN REl-IGION. 163 done any good or evil ; in order to prove the foundation of Divine predestination not to be in works, (t) Secondly, when he raises the objection whether God is unjust, he never urges, what would have been the most absolute and obvious defence of his justice, that God rewarded Esau according to his wickedness ; but con- tents himself with a different solution, that the reprobate are raised up for this purpose, that the glory of God may be dis- played by their means. Lastly, he subjoins a concluding obser- vation, that " God hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth." (u) You see how he attributes both to the mere will of God. If, therefore, we can assign no reason why he grants mercy to his people but because such is his pleasure, neither shall we find any other cause but his will for the reprobation of others. For when God is said to harden or show mercy to whom he pleases, men are taught by this declaration to seek no cause beside his will. CHAPTER XXIII. A REFUTATION OF THE CALUMNIES GENERALLY, BUT UNJUSTLY, URGED AGAINST THIS DOCTRINE. When the human mind hears these things, its petulance breaks all restraint, and it discovers as serious and violent agitation as if alarmed by, the sound of a martial trumpet. Many, indeed, as if they wished to avert odium from God, admit election in such a way as to deny that any one is repro- bated. But this is puerile and absurd, because election itself could not exist without being opposed to reprobation. God is said to separate those whom he adopts to salvation. To say that others obtain by chance, or acquire by their own efforts, that which election alone confers on a few, will be worse than absurd. Whom God passes by, therefore, he reprobates, and from no other cause than his determination to exclude them from the inheritance which he predestines for his children. And the petulance of men is intolerable, if it refuses to be re- strained by the word of God, which treats of his incomprehen- sible counsel, adored by angels themselves. But now we have heard that hardening proceeds from the Divine power and will, as much as mercy. Unlike the persons I have mentioned, Paul never strives to excuse God by false allegations : he only (0 Rom. ix. 11. (u) Rom. ix. 18. 164 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. declares that it is unlawful for a thing formed to quarrel Avith its maker, (x) Now, how will those, who admit not that any are reprobated by God, evade this declaration of Christ : " Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up ? " (y) Upon all whom our heavenly Father has not deigned to plant as sacred trees in his garden, they hear de- struction plainly denounced. If they deny this to be a sign of reprobation, there is nothing so clear as to be capable of proof to such persons. But if they cease not their clamour, let the sobriety of faith be satisfied with this admonition of Paul, that there is no cause for quarrelling with God, if, on the one hand, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, he endures, '' with much long-suffering, the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction ; " and on the other, makes " known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, whom he had afore prepared unto glory." (z) Let the reader observe that, to pre- clude every pretext for murmurs and censures, Paul ascribes supreme dominion to the wrath and power of God ; because it is unreasonable for those deep judgments, which absorb all our faculties, to be called in question by us. It is a frivolous reply of our adversaries, that God does not wholly reject the objects of his long-suffering, but remains in suspense towards them, awaiting the possibility of their repentance ; as though Paul attributed patience to God, in expectation of the conversion of those whom he asserts to be fitted to destruction. For Augustine, in expounding this passage, where power is con- nected with patience, justly observes, that God's power is not permissive, but influential. They observe, also, that it is not said without meaning, that the vessels of wrath are fitted to destruction, but that God prepared the vessels of mercy ; since by this mode of expression, he ascribes and challenges to God the praise of salvation, and throws the blame of perdition upon those who by their choice procure it to themselves. But though I concede to them, that Paul softens the asperity of the former clause by the difference of phraseology, yet it is not at all consistent to transfer the preparation for destruction to any other than the secret counsel of God ; which is also asserted just before in the context, that " God raised up Pharaoh, and whom he will he hardeneth." Whence it follows, that the cause of hardening is the secret counsel of God. This, however, I maintain, which is observed by Augustine that when God turns wolves into sheep, he renovates them by more powerful grace to conquer their obduracy ; and therefore the obstinate are not converted, because God exerts not that mightier grace, of which he is not destitute, if he chose to display it. (i) Rom. ix. 20. (y) Matt. xv. 13. (2) Rom. ix. 22, 23. CHAP. XXIII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 165 II. These things will amply suffice for persons of piety and modesty, who remember that they are men. But as these vir- ulent adversaries are not content with one species of opposition, we will reply to them all as occasion shall require. Foolish mortals enter into many contentions with God, as though they could arraign him to plead to their accusations. In the first place they inquire, by what right the Lord is angry with his creatures who had not provoked him by any previous offence ; for that to devote to destruction whom he pleases, is more like the caprice of a tyrant than the lawful sentence of a judge ; that men have reason, therefore, to expostulate with God, if they are predestinated to eternal death without any demerit of their own, merely by his sovereign will. If such thoughts ever enter the minds of pious men, they will be sufficiently enabled to break their violence by this one consideration, how exceedingly presumptuous it is only to inquire into the causes of the Divine will ; which is in fact, and is justly entitled to be, the cause of every thing that exists. For if it has any cause, then there must be something antecedent, on which it depends ; which it is impious to suppose. For the will of God is the highest rule of justice ; so that what he wills must be considered just, for this very reason, because he wills it. When it is inquired, therefore, why the Lord did so, the an- swer must be. Because he would. But if you go further, and ask why he so determined, you are in search of something greater and higher than the will of God, which can never be found. Let human temerity, therefore, desist from seeking that which is not, lest it should fail of finding that which is. This will be a sufficient restraint to any one disposed to reason with reverence concerning the secrets of his God. Against the audaciousness of the impious, who are not afraid openly to rail against God, the Lord will sufficiently defend himself by his own justice, without any vindication by us, when, depriv- ing their consciences of every subterfuge, he shall convict them and bind them with a sense of their guilt. Yet we espouse not the notion of the Romish theologians concerning the ab- solute and arbitrary power of God, which, on account of its profaueness, deserves our detestation. We represent not God as lawless, who is a law to himself ; because, as Plato says, laws are necessary to men, who are the subjects of evil desires ; but the will of God is not only pure from every fault, but the highest standard of perfection, even the law of all laws. But we deny that he is liable to be called to any account ; we deny also, that we are proper judges, to decide on this cause accord- ing to our own apprehension. Wherefore, if we attempt to go beyond what is lawful, let us be deterred by the Psalmist, 166 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. who tells us, that God will be clear when he is judged by- mortal man. (a) III. Thus God is able to check his enemies by silence. But that we may not suffer them to deride his holy name with impunity, he supplies us from his word with arms against them. Therefore, if any one attack us with such an inquiry as this, why God has from the beginning predestinated some men to death, who, not yet being brought into existence, could not yet deserve the sentence of death, — we will reply by ask- ing them, in return, what they suppose God owes to man, if he chooses to judge of him from his own nature. As we are all corrupted by sin, we must necessarily be odious to God, and that not from tyrannical cruelty, but in the most equitable estimation of justice. If all whom the Lord predestinates to death are in their natural condition liable to the sentence of death, what injustice do they complain of receiving from him ? Let all the sons of Adam come forward ; let them all contend and dispute with their Creator, because by his eternal providence they were previously to their birth adjudged to endless misery. What murmur will they be able to raise against this vindication, when God, on the other hand, shall call them to a review of themselves. If they have all been taken from a corrupt mass, it is no wonder that they are subject to condemnation. Let them not, therefore, accuse God of injustice, if his eternal decree has destined them to death, to which they feel them- selves, whatever be their desire or aversion, spontaneously led forward by their own nature. Hence appears the perverseness of their disposition to murmur, because they intentionally sup- press the cause of condemnation, which they are constrained to acknowledge in themselves, hoping to excuse themselves by charging it upon God. But though I ever so often admit God to be the author of it, which is perfectly correct, yet this does not abolish the guilt impressed upon their consciences, and from time to time recurring to their view. IV. They further object, Were they not, by the decree of God, antecedently predestinated to that corruption which is now stated as the cause of condemnation ? When they perish in their corruption, therefore, they only suffer the punishment of that misery into which, in consequence of his predesti- nation, Adam fell, and precipitated his posterity with him. Is he not unjust, therefore, in treating his creatures with such cruel mockery ? I confess, indeed, that all the descendants of Adam fell by the Divine will into that miserable condition in which they are now involved ; and this is what I asserted from the beginning, that we must always return at last to the sove- (a) Psalm li. 4. CHAP. XXIII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 167 reign determination of God's will, the cause of which is hidden in himself. But it follows not, therefore, that God is liable to this reproach. For we will answer them thus in the language of Paul : " O man, who art thou that repliest against God ? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus ? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump, to make one vessel unto honour and another unto dishonour ?" (6) They will deny this to be in reality any vindication of God's justice, and call it a subterfuge, such as is commonly resorted to by persons destitute of a suffi.- cient defence. For what appears to be the meaning of this, but that God possesses power, that cannot be resisted, of doing any thing whatsoever according to his pleasure ? But it is very different. For what stronger reason can be alleged, than when we are directed to consider who God is? How could any injustice be committed by him who is the Judge of the world ? If it is the peculiar property of the nature of God to do justice, then he naturally loves righteousness and hates iniquity. The apostle, therefore, has not resorted to sophistry, as if he were in danger of confutation, but has shown that the reason of the Divine justice is too high to be measured by a human standard, or comprehended by the littleness of the hu- man mind. The apostle, indeed, acknowledges that there is a depth in the Divine judgments sufficient to absorb the minds of all mankind, if they attempt to penetrate it. But he also teaches how criminal it is to reduce the works of God to such a law, that on failing to discover the reason of them, we pre- sume to censure them. It is a well known observation of Solo- mon, though few rightly understand it, that " the great God, that formed all things, both rewardeth the fool, and rewardeth transgressors." (c) For he is proclaiming the greatness of God, whose will it is to punish fools and transgressors, although he favours them not with his Spirit. And men betray astonish- ing madness in desiring to comprehend immensity within the limits of their reason. The angels who stood in their integrity, Paul calls " elect ; " (d) if their constancy rested on the Divine pleasure, the defection of the others argues their being for- saken— a fact for which no other cause can be assigned than the reprobation hidden in the secret counsel of God. V. Now, to any follower of Manes or Celestius, a calumni- ator of Divine Providence, I reply with Paul, that no account ought to be given of it, for its greatness far surpasses our un- derstanding. What wonder or absurdity is there in this ? Would he have the Divine power so limited, as to be unable to execute more than his little capacity can comprehend ? I (6) Rom. ix. 20, 21. (c) Prov. xxvi. 10. (d) 1 Tim. v. 21. 168 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. say, with Augustine, that the Lord created those who, he cer- tainly foreknew, would fall into destruction, and that this was actually so because he willed it ; but of his will it belongs not to us to demand the reason, which we are incapable of com- prehending ; nor is it reasonable that the Divine will should be made the subject of controversy with us, which, whenever it is discussed, is only another name for the highest rule of justice. Why, then, is any question started concerniug injus- tice, where justice is evidently conspicuous? Nor let us be ashamed to follow the example of Paul, and stop the mouths of unreasonable and wicked men in this manner, repeating the same answer as often as they shall dare to repeat their com- plaints. Who are you, miserable mortals, preferring an ac- cusation against God, because he accommodates not the great- ness of his works to your ignorance ? as though they were necessarily wrong, because they are concealed from carnal view. Of the iram.ensity of God's judgments you have the clearest evidences. You know they are called " a great deep." Now, examine your contracted intellects, whether they can comprehend God's secret decrees. What advantage or satis- faction do you gain from plunging yourselves, by your mad researches, into an abyss that reason itself pronounces will be fatal to you? Why are you not at least restrained by some fear of what is contained in the history of Job and the books of the prophets, concerning the inconceivable wisdom and terrible power of God? If your mind is disturbed, embrace without reluctance the advice of Augustine : " You, a man, expect an answer from me, who am also a man. Let us, there- fore, both hear him, who says, O man, who art thou ? Faith- ful ignorance is better than presumptuous knowledge. Seek merits ; you will find nothing but punishment. O the depth ! Peter denies ; the thief believes ; O the depth ! Do you seek a reason ? I will tremble at the depth. Do you reason ? I will wonder. Do you dispute ? I will believe. I see the depth, I reach not the bottom. Paul rested, because he found admira- tion. He calls the judgments of God unsearchable ; and are you come to scrutinize them ? He says, his ways are past finding out ; and are you come to investigate them ? " We shall do no good by proceeding any further; it will not satisfy their petulance ; and the Lord needs no other defence than what he has employed by his Spirit, speaking by the mouth of Paul ; and we forget to speak well when we cease to speak with God. VL Impiety produces also a second objection, which directly tends, not so much to the crimination of God, as to the vindi- cation of the sinner ; though the sinner whom God condemns cannot be justified without the disgrace of the Judge. For CHAP. XXIII.] CHRISTIAN REHGION. 169 this is their profane complaint, Why should God impute as a fault to man those things which were rendered necessary by his predestination ? What should they do ? Should they re- sist his decrees? This would be vain, for it would be impossi- ble. Therefore they are not justly punished for those things of which God's predestination is the principal cause. Here I shall refrain from the defence commonly resorted to by ecclesiastical writers, that the foreknowledge of God prevents not man from being considered as a sinner, since God foresees man's evils, not his own. For then the cavil would not stop here ; it would rather be urged, that still God might, if he would, have provided against the evils he foresaw, and that not having done this, he created man expressly to this end, that he might so conduct himself in the world ; but if, by the Divine Provi- dence, man was created in such a state as afterwards to do whatever he actually does, he ought not to be charged witli guilt for things which he cannot avoid, and to which the will of God constrains him. Let us see, then, how this difficulty should be solved. In the first place, the declaration of Solo- mon ought to be universally admitted, that " the Lord hath made all things for himself; yea, even the wicked for the day of evil." (e) Observe ; all things being at God's disposal, and the decision of salvation or death belonging to him, he orders all things by his counsel and decree in such a manner, that some men are born devoted from the womb to certain death, that his name may be glorified in their destruction. If any one pleads, that no necessity was imposed on them by the providence of God, but rather that they were created by him in such a state in consequence of his foresight of their future depravity, — it will amount to nothing. The old writers used, indeed, to adopt this solution, though not without some degree of hesitation. But the schoolmen satisfy themselves with it, as though it admitted of no opposition. I will readily grant, indeed, that mere foreknowledge lays no necessity on the creatures, though this is not universally admitted ; for there are some who maintain it to be the actual cause of what comes to pass. But Valla, a man otherwise not much versed in theology, appears to me to have discovered superior acuteness and judi- ciousness, by showing that this controversy is unnecessary, because both life and death are acts of God's will, rather than of his foreknowledge. If God simply foresaw the fates of men, and did not also dispose and fix them by his determination, there would be room to agitate the question, whether his pro- vidence or foresight rendered them at all necessary. But since he foresees future events only in consequence of his decree, (e) Prov. xvi. 4. VOL. II. 22 170 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK 111. that they shall happen, it is useless to contend about fore- knowledge, while it is evident that all things come to pass rather by ordination and decree. VII. They say it is nowhere declared in express terms, that God decreed Adam should perish by his defection ; as though the same God, whom the Scripture represents as doing whatever he pleases, created the noblest of his creatures without any determinate end. They maintain, that he was possessed of free choice, that he might be the author of his own fate, but that God decreed nothing more than to treat him according to his desert. If so weak a scheme as this be received, what will become of God's omnipotence, by which he governs all things according to his secret counsel, independently of every person or thing besides ? But whether they wish it or dread it, pre- destination exhibits itself in Adam's posterity. For the loss of salvation by the whole race through the guilt of one parent, was an event that did not happen by nature. What prevents their acknowledging concerning one man, what they reluc- tantly grant concerning the whole species ? Why should they lose their labour in sophistical evasions ? The Scripture pro- claims, that all men were, in the person of their father, sen- tenced to eternal d^ath. This, not being attributable to na- ture, it is evident must have proceeded from the wonderful counsel of God. The perplexity and hesitation discovered at trifles by these pious defenders of the justice of God, and their facility in overcoming great difficulties, are truly absurd. I inquire again, how it came to pass that the fall of Adam, in- dependent of any remedy, should involve so many nations with their infant children in eternal death, but because such was the will of God. Their tongues, so loquacious on every other point, must here be struck dumb. It is an awful decree, I confess; but no one can deny that God foreknew the future final fate of man before he created him, and that he did fore- know it because it was appointed by his own decree. If any one here attacks God's foreknowledge, he rashly and incon- siderately stumbles. For what ground of accusation is there against the heavenly Judge for not being ignorant of futurity? If there is any just or plausible complaint, it lies against pre- destination. Nor should it be thought absurd to affirm, that God not only foresaw the fall of the first man, and the ruin of his posterity in him, but also arranged all by the determination of his own will. For as it belongs to his wisdom to foreknow every thing future, so it belongs to his power to rule and govern all things by his hand. And this question also, as well as others, is judiciously discussed by Augustine. " We most wholesomely confess, what we most rightly believe, that the God and Lord of all things, who created every thing very CHAP. XXIII .] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 171 good, and foreknew that evil would arise out of good, and knew that it was more suitable to his almighty goodness to bring good out of evil than not to suffer evil to exist, ordained the life of angels and men in such a manner as to exhibit in it, first, what free-will was capable of doing, and afterwards, what could be effected by the blessings of his grace, and the sentence of his justice." VIII. Here they recur to the distinction between will and permission, and insist that God permits the destruction of the impious, but does not will it. But what reason shall we assign for his permitting it, but because it is his will ? It is not pro- bable, however, that man procured his own destruction by the mere permission, and without any appointment, of God ; as though God had not determined what he would choose to be the condition of the principal of his creatures. I shall not hesi- tate, therefore, to confess plainly with Augustine, " that the will of God is the necessity of things, and that what he has willed will necessarily come to pass ; as those things are really about to happen which he has foreseen." Now, if either Pela- gians, or Manichaeans, or Anabaptists, or Epicureans, (for we are concerned with these four sects on this argument,) in ex- cuse for themselves and the impious, plead the necessity with which they are bound by God's predestination, — they allege nothing applicable to the case. For if predestination is no other than a dispensation of Divine justice, — mysterious in- deed, but liable to no blame, — since it is certain they were not unworthy of being predestinated to that fate, it is equally certain, that the destruction they incur by predestination is consistent with the strictest justice. Besides, their perdition depends on the Divine predestination in such a manner, that the cause and matter of it are found in themselves. For the first man fell because the Lord had determined it was so expedient. The reason of this determination is itnknown to us. Yet it is certain that he determined thus, only because he foresaw it would tend to the just illustration of the glory of his name. Whenever you hear the glory of God mentioned, think of his justice. For what deserves praise must be just. Man falls, therefore, according to the appointment_jof Divine, Providence ; but he falls by his own fault. The Lord had a little before pronounced " every thing that he had made " to be " very good." Whence, then, comes the depravity of man to revolt from his God? Lest it should be thought to come from creation, God had approved and commended what had proceeded from himself. By his own wickedness, therefore, he corrupted the nature he had received pure from the Lord, and by his fall he drew all his posterity with him into destruc- tion. Wherefore let us rather contemplate the evident cause 172 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. of condemnation, which is nearer to us in the corrupt nature of mankind, than search after a hidden and altogether incom- prehensible one in the predestination of God. And we should feel no reluctance to submit our understanding to the infinite wisdom of God, so far as to acquiesce in its many mysteries. To be ignorant of things which it is neither possible nor law- ful to know, is to be learned : an eagerness to know them, is a species of madness. IX. Some one perhaps will say, that I have not yet adduced a sufficient answer to that sacrilegious excuse. I confess it is impossible ever wholly to prevent the petulance and murmurs of impiety ; yet I think I have said what should suffice to re- move not only all just ground, but every plausible pretext, for objection. The reprobate wish to be thought excusable in sinning, because they cannot avoid a necessity of sinning ; especially since this necessity is laid upon them by the ordina- tion of God. But we deny this to be a just excuse ; because the ordination of God, by which they complain that they are destined to destruction, is guided by equity, unknown indeed to us, but indubitably certain. Whence we conclude, that they sustain no misery that is not inflicted upon them by the most righteous judgment of God. In the next place, we maintain that they act preposterously, who, in seeking for the origin of their condemnation, direct their views to the secret recesses of the Divine counsel, and overlook the corruption of nature, which is its real source. The testimony God gives to his cre- ation prevents their imputing it to him. For though, by the eternal providence of God, man was created to that misery to which he is subject, yet the ground of it he has derived from himself, not from God ; since he is thus ruined solely in con- sequence of his having degenerated from the pure creation of God to vicious and impure depravity. X. The doctrine of God's predestination is calumniated by its adversaries, as involving a third absurdity. For when we attribute it solely to the determination of the Divine will, that those whom God admits to be heirs of his kingdom are exempt- ed from the universal destruction, from this they nifer, that he is a respecter of persons, which the Scripture uniformly denies ; that, therefore, either the Scripture is inconsistent whh itself, or in the election of God regard is had to merits. In the first place, the Scripture denies that God is a respecter of persons, in a ditferent sense from that in which they understand it ; for by the word person, it signifies not a man, but those things in a man, which, being conspicuous to the eyes, usually con- ciliate favour, honour, and dignity, or attract hatred, contempt, and disgrace. Such are riches, wealth, power, nobility, magis- tracy, country, elegance of form, on the one hand ; and on the CHAP. XXIII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 173 Other hand, poverty, necessity, ignoble birth, slovenhness, con- tempt, and the like. Tims Peter and Panl declare that God is not a respecter of persons, because he makes no difference between the Jew and Greek, to reject one and receive the other, merely on account of his nation. (/) So James uses the same language when he means to assert, that God in his judgment pays no regard to riches, (g) And Paul, in another place, declares, that in judging, God has no respect to hberty or bondage, (h) There will, therefore, be no contradiction in our affirming, that according to the good pleasure of his will, God chooses whom he will as his children, irrespective of all merit, while he rejects and reprobates others. Yet, for the sake of further satisfaction, the matter may be explained in the follow- ing manner: They ask how it happens, that of two persons distinguished from each other by no merit, God, in his election, leaves one and takes another. 1, on the other hand, ask them, whether they suppose him that is taken to possess any thing that can attract the favour of God. If they confess that he has not, as indeed they must, it will follow, that God looks not at man, but derives his motive to favour him from his own good- ness. God's election of one man, therefore, while he rejects another, proceeds not from any respect of man, but solely from his own mercy ; which may freely display and exert itself wherever and whenever it pleases. For we have elsewhere seen also that, from the beginning, not many noble, or wise, or honourable were called, (i) that God might humble the pride of flesh ; so far is his favour from being confined to persons. XL Wherefore some people falsely and wickedly charge God with a violation of equal justice, because, in his predes- tination, he observes not the same uniform course of proceeding towards all. If he finds all guilty, they say, let him punish all alike ; if innocent, let him withhold the rigour of justice from all. But they deal with him just as if either mercy were forbidden him, or, when he chooses to show mercy, he were constrained wholly to renounce justice. What is it that they require ? If all are guilty, that they shall all suffer the same punishment. We confess the guilt to be common, but we say, that some are relieved by Divine mercy. They say, Let it relieve all. But we reply. Justice requires that he should likewise show him- self to be a just judge in the infliction of punishment. When they object to this, what is it but attempting to deprive God of the opportunity to manifest his mercy, or to grant it to him, at least, on the condition that he wholly abandon his justice ? Wherefore there is the greatest propriety in these observations of Augustine : " The whole mass of mankind having fallen into (/) Acts X. 34. Rom. ii. 11. Gal. iii. 28. (A) Col. iii. 25. Eph. vi. 9. Q) James ii. 5. (i) 1 Cor. i. 26. 174 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. condemnation in the first man, the vessels that are formed from it to honour, are not vessels of personal righteousness, but of Divine mercy ; and the formation of others to dishonour, is to be attributed, not to iniquity, but to the Divine decree," &c. While God rewards those whom he rejects with deserved punish- ment, and to those whom he calls, freely gives undeserved grace, he is liable to no accusation, but may be compared to a creditor, who has power to release one, and enforce his demands on another. The Lord, therefore, may give grace to whom he will, because he is merciful, and yet not give it to all, because he is a just judge ; may manifest his free grace, by giving to some what they never deserve, while, by not giving to all. he declares the demerit of all. For when Paul says, that " God hath con- cluded all under sin, that he might have mercy upon all," (l) it must, at the same time, be added, that he is debtor to none ; for no man " hath first given to him," to entitle him to demand a recompense, {m) XII. Another ai-gument often urged to overthrow predes- tination is, that its establishment would destroy all solicitude and exertion for rectitude of conduct. For who can hear, they say, that either life or death is appointed for him by God's eternal and immutable decree, without immediately concluding that it is of no importance how he conducts himself; since no action of his can in any respect either impede or promote the predestination of God ? Thus all will abandon themselves to despair, and run into every excess to which their licentious propensities may lead them. And truly this objection is not altogether destitute of truth ; for there are many impure persons who bespatter the doctrine of predestination with these vile blas- phemies, and with this pretext elude all admonitions and re- proofs : God knows what he has determined to do with us : if he has decreed our salvation, he will bring us to it in his own time ; if he has destined us to death, it will be in vain for us to strive against it. But the Scripture, while it inculcates superior awe and reverence of mind in the consideration of so great a mystery, instructs the godly in a very different con- clusion, and fully refutes the wicked and unreasonable in- ferences of these persons. For the design of what it contains respecting predestination is, not that, being excited to presump- tion, we may attempt, with nefarious temerity, to scrutinize the inaccessible secrets of God, but rather that, being humbled and dejected, we may learn to tremble at his justice and admire his mercy. At this object believers will aim. But the impure cavils of the wicked are justly restrained by Paul. They profess to go on securely in their vices ; because if they are of the number of the elect, such conduct will not prevent their (I) Gal. iii. 22. Rom. xl. 32. (m) Rom. xi. 35. CHAP. XXIII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 175 being finally brought into life. But Paul declares the end of our election to be, that we may lead a holy and blameless life, (n) If the object of election be holiness of life, it should rather awa- ken and stimulate us to a cheerful practice of it, than be used as a pretext for slothfulness. But how inconsistent is it to cease from the practice of virtue because election is sufficient to sal- vation, while the end proposed in election is our diligent performance of virtuous actions ! Away, then, with such cor- rupt and sacrilegious perversions of the whole order of election. They carry their blasphemies much further, by asserting, that any one who is reprobated by God will labour to no purpose if he endeavour to approve himself to him by innocence and in- tegrity of life ; but here they are convicted of a most impudent falsehood. For whence could such exertion originate but from election ? Whoever are of the number of the reprobate, being vessels made to dishonour, cease not to provoke the Divine wrath against them by continual transgressions, and to confirm by evident proofs the judgment of God already denounced against them ; so that their striving with him in vain is what can never happen. XIII. This doctrine is maliciously and impudently calum- niated by others, as subversive of all exhortations to piety of life. This formerly brought great odium upon Augustine, which he removed by his Treatise on Correction and Grace, addressed to Valentine, the perusal of which will easily satisfy all pious and teachable persons. Yet I will touch on a few things, which I hope will convince such as are honest and not contentious. How openly and loudly gratuitous election was preached by Paul, we have already seen ; was he therefore cold in admoni- tions and exhortations ? Let these good zealots compare his vehe- mence with theirs ; theirs will be found ice itself in comparison with his incredible fervour. And certainly every scruple is re- moved by this principle, that " God hath not called us to unclean- ness, but that every one should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour ; " (o) and again, that " we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them."(j?) Indeed, a slight acquaintance with Paul will enable any one to understand, without tedious arguments, how easily he recon- ciles things which they pretend to be repugnant to each other. Christ commands men to believe in him. Yet his limitation is neither false nor contrary to his command, when he says, " No man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father." () Ephes. v. 8; iv. 18. 190 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. But perhaps they will plead, that these passages refer to that ignorance of the true God, in which they acknowledge the elect to be involved previously to their calling. Though this would be an impudent cavil, since the apostle's inferences from them are such as these : *' Put away lying ; and let him that stole, steal no more." {q) But what will they reply to other passages ? such as that where, after declaring to the Corinthi- ans, that " Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extor- tioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God ; " he immediately adds, " And such were some of you ; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the I.ord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." (r) And another pas- sage, addressed to the Romans: "As ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness, and to iniquity unto ini- quity ; even so now yield your members servants to right- eousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed ? " (s) XI. What kind of seed of election was springing up in them, who were all their lives contaminated with various pollutions, and with desperate wickedness wallowed in the most nefarious and execrable of all crimes ? If he had intend- ed to speak according to these teachers, he ought to have shown how much they were obliged to the goodness of God, which had preserved them from falling into such great pollutions. So likewise the persons whom Peter addressed, he ought to have exhorted to gratitude on account of the perpetual seed of election. But, on the contrary, he admonishes them, "that the time past may suffice to have wrought the will of the Gentiles." (^) What if we come to particular examples? What principle of righteousness was there in Rahab the harlot before faith ? («) in Manasseh, when Jerusalem was dyed, and almost drowned, with the blood of the prophets ? (.r) in the thief, who repented in his dying moments ? (y) Away, then, with these arguments, which men of presumptuous curi- osity raise to themselves without regarding the Scripture. Let us rather abide by the declaration of the Scripture, that "all we like sheep have gone astray ; we have turned every one to his own way," {z) that is, destruction. Those whom the Lord has determined to rescue from this gulf of perdition, he defers till his appointed season ; before which he only preserves them from falling into unpardonable blasphemy. XII. As the Lord, by his eflfectual calling of the elect, com- (9) Ephes. iv. 25, 28. (t) 1 Peter iv. 3. Cy) Luke xxiii. 40 (r) 1 Cor. vi. 9—11. (m) Josh. ii. 1, &c. —42. (5) Rom. vi. 19, 21. (2) 2 Kings xxi. 16. (z) Isaiah liii. 6. CHAP. XXIV.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 191 pletes the salvation to which he predestinated them in his eternal counsel, so he has his judgments against the reprobate, by which he executes his counsel respecting them. Those, therefore, whom he has created to a life of shame and a death of destruction, that they might be instruments of his wrath, and examples of his severity, he causes to reach their appointed end, sometimes depriving them of the opportunity of hearing the word, sometimes, by the preaching of it, increasing their blind- ness and stupidity. Of the former there are innumerable exam- ples : let us only select one that is more evident and remarkable than the rest. Before the advent of Christ, there passed about four thousand years, in which the Lord concealed the light of the doctrine of salvation from all the Gentiles. If it be replied, that he withheld from them the participation of so great a blessing because he esteemed them unworthy, their posterity will be found equally unworthy of it. The truth of this, to say nothing of experience, is sufficiently attested by Malachi, who follows his reproofs of unbelief and gross blasphemies by an immediate prediction of the coming of the Messiah. Why, then, is he given to the posterity rather than to their ancestors ? He will torment himself in vain, who seeks for any cause of this beyond the secret and inscrutable counsel of God. Nor need we be afraid lest any disciple of Porphyry should be im- boldened to calumniate the justice of God by our silence in its defence. For while we assert that all deserve to perish, and it is of God's free goodness that any are saved, enough is said for the illustration of his glory, so that every subterfuge of ours is altogether unnecessary. The supreme Lord, therefore, by depriving of the communication of his light, and leaving in darkness, those whom he has reprobated, makes way for the accomplishment of his predestination. Of the second class, the Scriptures contain many examples, and others present them- selves every day. The same sermon is addressed to a hundred persons ; twenty receive it with the obedience of faith ; the others despise, or ridicule, or reject, or condemn it. If it be replied, that the difference proceeds from their wickedness and perverseness, this will afford no satisfaction ; because the minds of others would have been influenced by the same wickedness, but for the correction of Divine goodness. And thus we shall always be perplexed, unless we recur to Paul's question — " Who maketh thee to differ? "(a) In which he signifies, that the excellence of some men beyond others, is not from their own virtue, but solely from Divine grace. XIII. Why, then, in bestowing grace upon some, does he pass over others ? Luke assigns a reason for the former, that (a) 1 Cor. iv. 7. 192 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. they "were ordained to eternal life." What conclusion, then, shall we draw respecting the latter, but that they are vessels of wrath to dishonour ? Wherefore let us not hesitate to say with Augustine, " God could convert to good the will of the wicked, because he is omnipotent. It is evident that he could. Why, then, does he not ? Because he would not. Why he would not, remains with himself." For we ought not to aim at more wisdom than becomes us. That will be much better than adopting the evasion of Chrysostom, " that he draws those who are willing, and who stretch out their hands for his aid ; " that the difference may not appear to consist in the decree of God, but wholly in the will of man. But an approach to him is so far from being a mere effort of man, that even pious per- sons, and such as fear God, still stand in need of the pecu- liar impulse of the Spirit. Lydia, the seller of purple, feared God, and yet it was necessary that her heart should be opened, to attend to, and profit by, the doctrine of Paul. This declara- tion is not made respecting a single female, but in order to teach us that every one's advancement in piety is the secret work of the Spirit. It is a fact not to be doubted, that God sends his word to niany whose blindness he determines shall be increased. For with what design does he direct so many commands to be delivered to Pharaoh? Was it from an ex- pectation that his heart would be softened by repeated and frequent messages ? Before he began, he knew and foretold the result. He commanded Moses to go and declare his will to Pharaoh, adding at the same time, " But I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go." (b) So, when he calls forth Ezekiel, he apprizes him that he is sending him to a rebellious and obstinate people, that he may not be alarmed if they refuse to hear him. (c) So Jeremiah foretells that his word will be like fire, to scatter and destroy the people like stubble, (d) But the prophecy of Isaiah furnishes a still stronger confirma- tion ; for this is his mission from the Lord : '* Go and tell this people. Hear ye, indeed, but understand not, and see ye, indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes ; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed." (e) Observe, he directs his voice to them, but it is that they may become more deaf; he kin- dles a light, but it is that they may be made more blind ; he publishes his doctrine, but it is that they may be more besotted : he applies a remedy, but it is that they may not be healed. John, citing this prophecy, declares that the Jews could not (i) Exod. iv. 21. (rf)Jer. V. 14. (c) Ezek. ii. 3 j xii. 2. (c) Isaiah vi. 9, 10. CHAP. XXIV. J CHRISTIAN RELreiON. 193 believe, because this curse of God was upon them. (/) Nor can it be disputed, that to such persons as God determines not to enhghten, he delivers his doctrine involved in enigmatical obscurity, that its only effect may be to increase their stupidity. For Christ testifies that he confined to his apostles the expla- nations of the parables in which he had addressed the multi- tude ; "because to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given." (^) What does the Lord mean, you will say, by teaching those by whom he takes care not to be understood ? Consider whence the fault ai-ises, and you will cease the inquiry ; for whatever obscurity there is in the word, yet there is always light enough to convince the consciences of the wicked. XIV. It remains now to be seen why the Lord does that which it is evident he does. If it be replied, that this is done because men have deserved it by their impiety, wickedness, and ingratitude, it will be a just and true observation ; but as we have not yet discovered the reason of this diversity, why some persist in obduracy while others are inclined to obedience, the discussion of it will necessarily lead us to the same remark that Paul has quoted from Moses concerning Pharaoh: " Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth." (A) That the reprobate obey not the word of God, when made known to them, is justly imputed to the wickedness and depravity of their hearts, provided it be at the same time stated, that they are abandoned to this depravity, because they have been raised up, by a just but inscrutable judgment of God, to display his glory in their condemnation. So, when it is related of the sons of Eli, that they listened not to his salutary admonitions, " because the Lord would slay them," (i) it is not denied that their obstinacy proceeded from their own wickedness, but it is plainly implied that though the Lord was able to soften their hearts, yet they were left in their obstinacy, because his immutable decree had pre- destinated them to destruction. To the same purpose is that passage of John, " Though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him ; that the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, ' Lord, who hath believed our report ? ' " (k) For though he does not acquit the obstinate from the charge of guilt, yet he satisfies himself with this reason, that the grace of God has no charms for men till the Holy Spirit gives them a taste for it. And Christ cites the prophecy of Isaiah, " They shall be all taught (/) John xii. 39, 40. (g) Matt. xiii. 11. (k) Rom. ix. 17. (t) 1 Sam. ii. 25. (k) John xii. 37, 38. VOL. II. 25 194 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III, of God," (l) with no other design than to show, that the Jews are reprobate and strangers to the Church, because they are destitute of docility ; and he adduces no other reason for it than that the promise of God does not belong to them ; which is confirmed by that passage of Paul, where " Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolish- ness," is said to be "unto them which are called, the power of God, and the wisdom of God." (m) For, after remarking what generally happens whenever the gospel is preached, that it exasperates some, and is despised by others, he represents it as duly appreciated only by " those who are called." A little before he had mentioned " them that believe ; " not that he had an intention to deny its proper place to the grace of God, which precedes faith, but he seems to add this second descrip- tion by way of correction, in order that those who had received the gospel might ascribe the praise of their faith to the Divine call. And so, likewise, in a subsequent sentence, he represents them as the objects of Divine election. When the impious hear these things, they loudly complain that God, by a wanton exercise of power, abuses his wretched creatures for the sport of his cruelty. But we, who know that all men are liable to so many charges at' the Divine tribunal, that of a thousand questions they would be unable to give a satisfactory answer to one, confess that the reprobate suffer nothing but what is consistent with the most righteous judgment of God. Though we cannot comprehend the reason of this, let us be content with some degree of ignorance where the wisdom of God soars into its own sublimity. XV. But as objections are frequently raised from some pas- sages of Scripture, in which God seems to deny that the de- struction of the wicked is caused by his decree, but that, in opposition to his remonstrances, they voluntarily bring ruin upon themselves, — let us show by a brief explication that they are not at all inconsistent with the foregoing doctrine. A pas- sage is produced from Ezekiel, where God says, " I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live." (n) If this is to be extended to all mankind, why does he not urge many to repentance, whose minds are more flexible to obedience than those of others, who grow more and more callous to his daily invitations? Among the inhabitants of Nineveh and Sodom, Christ himself declares that his evangelical preaching and miracles would have brought forth more fruit than in Judea. How is it, then, if God will have all men to be saved, that he opens not the gate of repent- ance to those miserable men who would be more ready to re- (/) John vi. 45. (w) 1 Cor. i. 23, 24. («) Ezek. xxxiii. 11. CHAP. XXIV.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 195 ceive the favour ? Hence we perceive it to be a violent per- version of the passage, if the will of God, mentioned by the prophet, be set in opposition to his eternal counsel, by which he has distinguished the elect from the reprobate. Now, if we inquire the genuine sense of the prophet, his only meaning is to inspire the penitent with hopes of pardon. And this is the sum, that it is beyond a doubt that God is ready to pardon sin- ners immediately on their conversion. Therefore he wills not their death, inasmuch as he wills their repentance. But expe- rience teaches, that he does not will the repentance of those whom he externally calls, in such a manner as to affect all their hearts. Nor should he on this account be charged with acting deceitfully ; for, though his external call only renders those who hear without obeying it inexcusable, yet it is justly es- teemed the testimony of God's grace, by which he reconciles men to himself. Let us observe, therefore, the design of the prophet in saying that God has no pleasure in the death of a sinner ; it is to assure the pious of God's readiness to pardon them immediately on their repentance, and to show the impious the aggravation of their sin in rejecting such great compassion and kindness of God. Repentance, therefore, will always be met by Divine mercy ; but on whom repentance is bestowed, we are clearly taught by Ezekiel himself, as well as by all the prophets and apostles. XVI. Another passage adduced is from Paul, where he states that "God will have all men to be saved ; " (o) which, though somewhat different from the passage just considered, yet is very similar to it. I reply, in the first place, that it is evident from the context, hoAV God wills the salvation of all ; for Paul con- nects these two things together, that he " will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." If it was fixed in the eternal counsel of God, that they should receive the doctrine of salvation, what is the meaning of that question of Moses, " What nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them as we have ? " {p) How is it that God has deprived many nations of the light of the gospel, which others enjoyed? How is it that the pure knowledge of the doctrine of piety has never reached some, and that others have but just heard some obscure rudiments of it ? Hence it will be easy to discover the design of Paul. He had enjouied Timothy to make solemn prayers in the Church for kings and princes ; biU as it might seem somewhat inconsistent to pray to God for a class of men almost past hope, — for they were not only strangers to the body of Christ, but striving with all their pow- er to ruin his kingdom, — he subjoins, that "this is good and (o) 1 Tim. ii. 4. (p) Deut. iv. 7. 196 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. acceptable in the sight of God, who will have all men to be saved ; " which only imports, that God has not closed the way of salvation against any order of men, but has diifused his mercy in snch a manner that he would have no rank to be des- titute of it. The other texts adduced are not declarative of the Lord's determination respecting all men in his secret counsel : they only proclaim that pardon is ready for all sinners who sincerely seek it. {q) For if they obstinately insist on its being said that God is merciful to all, I will oppose to them, Avhat is elsewhere asserted, that "our God is in the heavens; he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased." {r) This text, then, must be explained in a manner consistent with another, where God says, " I will be gracious to whom 1 will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy." {s) He who makes a selection of objects for the exercise of his mercy, does not impart that mercy to all. But as it clearly appears that Paul is there speaking, not of individuals, but orders of men, I shall forbear any further argument. It must be remarked, however, that Paul is not declaring the actual conduct of God at all times, in all places, and to all persons, but merely representing him as at liberty to make kings and magistrates at length partakers of the heavenly doctrine, notwithstanding their present rage against it in consequence of their blindness. There is more apparent plausibility in their objection, from the declaration of Peter, that " the Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." {t) But the second clause furnishes an immediate solution of this difficulty ; for the will- ingness that they should come to repentance must be understood in consistence with the general tenor of Scripture. Conversion is certainly in the power of God ; let him be asked, whether he wills the conversion of all, when he promises a few indi- viduals to give them " a heart of flesh," while he leaves others with "a heart of stone." {u) If he were not ready to receive those who implore his mercy, there would indeed be no propri- ety in this address, " Turn ye unto me, and I will turn unto you ; " {x) but I maintain that no mortal ever approaches God without being divinely drawn. But if repentance depended on the will of man, Paul would not have said, " If God peradven- ture will give them repentance." (y) And if God, whose voice exhorts all men to repentance, did not draw the elect to it by the secret operation of his Spirit, Jeremiah would not have said, " Turn thou me, and I shall be turned ; for thou art the Lord my God, Surely after that I was turned, 1 repented." {z) (q) Psalm cxlv. 9. (t) 2 Peter iii. 9. (y) 2 Tim. ii. 25. (r) Psalm cxv. 3. (m) Ezek. xxxvi. 26. (2) Jer. xxxi. 18, 19. (s) Exod. xxxiii. 19. (x) Zech. i. 3. CHAP. XXIV.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 197 XVII. If this be correct, it will be said there can be but little faith ill the promises of the gospel, which, in declaring the will of God, assert that he wills what is repugnant to his inviolable decree. But this is far from a just conclusion. For if we turn our attention to the elfect of the promises of salvation, we shall find that their universality is not at all inconsistent with the predestination of the reprobate. We know the promises to be effectual to us only when we receive them by faith ; on the contrary, the annihilation of faith is at once an abolition of the promises. If this is their nature, we may perceive that there is no discordance between these two things — God's having ap- pointed from eternity on whom he will bestow his favour and exercise his wrath, and his proclaiming salvation indiscriminately to all. Indeed, I maintain that there is the most perfect har- mony between them. For his sole design in thus promising, is to offer his mercy to all who desire and seek it, which none do but those whom he has enlightened, and he enlightens all whom he has predestinated to salvation. These persons experience the certain and unshaken truth of the promises ; so that it can- not be pretended that there is the least contrariety between God's eternal election and the testimony of his grace offered to believers. But why does he mention all ? It is in order that the consciences of the pious may enjoy the more secure satis- faction, seeiug that there is no dilference betweeu sinners, provided they have faith ; and, on the other hand, that the impious may not plead the want of an asylum to flee to from the bondage of sin, while they ungratefully reject that which is offered to them. When the mercy of God is offered to both by the gospel, it is faith, that is, the illumination of God, Avhich distinguishes between the pious and impious ; so that the former experience the efficacy of the gospel, but the latter derive no benefit from it. Now, this illumination is regulated by God's eternal election. The complaint and lamentation of Christ, " O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thy children together, and ye would not," (a) hoAvever they cite it, affords them no support. I confess, that Christ here speaks not merely in his human character, but that he is up- braiding the Jews for having in all ages rejected his grace. But we must define the will of God which is here intended. It is well known how sedulously God laboured to preserve that people to himself, and with what extreme obstinacy, from the first to the last, they refused to be gathered, being abandoned to their own wandering desires ; but this does not authorize the conclusion, that the counsel of God was frustrated by the wickedness of men. They object, that nothing is more incon- (a) Matt, xxiii. 37. 198 INSTITUTEo OF THE [bOOK III. sistent with the nature of God than to have two wills. This I grant them, provided it be rightly explained. But why do they not consider the numerous passages, where, by the assumption of human affections, God condescends beneath his own majesty ? He says, " I have spread out my hands all the day unto a re- bellious people ; " (6) early and late endeavouring to bring them to himself. If they are determined to accommodate all this to God, and disregard the figurative mode of expression, they will give rise to many needless contentions, which may be settled by this one solution, that what is peculiar to man is transferred to God. The solution, however, elsewhere stated by us, is fully sufficient — that though to our apprehension the will of God is manifold and various, yet he does not in himself will things at variance with each other, but astonishes our faculties with his various and " manifold wisdom," according to the expression of Paul, till we shall be enabled to understand, that he mysteri- ously wills what now seems contrary to his will. They im- pertinently object, that God being the Father of all, it is unjust for him to disinherit any but such as have previously deserved this punishment by their own guilt. As if the goodness of God did not extend even to dogs and swine. But if the question relates to the human race, let them answer why God allied himself to one people as their Father ; why he gathered even from them but a very small number, as the flower of them. But their rage for slander prevents these railers from consider- ing that God "maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good," (c) but that the inheritance is reserved for the few, to whom it shall one day be said, " Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." (d) They further object, that God hates nothing he has made ; which though I grant them, the doctrine I maintain still remains unshaken, that the reprobate are hated by God, and that most justly, because, being destitute of his Spirit, they can do nothing but what is deserving of his curse. They further al- lege, that there is no difference between the Jew and the Gentile, and therefore that the grace of God is offered indiscriminately to all : I grant it ; only let them admit, according to the declaration of Paul, that God calls whom he pleases, both of the Jews and of the Gentiles, (e) so that he is under no obligation to any. In this way also we answer their arguments from another text, which says, that " God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all ; " (/) which imports that he will have the salvation of all who are saved ascribed to his mercy, though this blessing is not common to all. Now, while (i) Isaiah Ixv. 2. (c) Matt. v. 48. (d) Matt. xxv. 34. (e) Rom. ix. 24. (/) Rom. xi. 32. CHAP. XXV.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 199 many arguments are advanced on both sides, let our conclusion be to stand astonished with Paul at so great a mystery, and amidst the clamour of petulant tongues let us not be ashamed of exclaiming with him, " O man, who art thou that repliest against God ? " For, as Augustine justly contends, it is acting a most perverse part, to set up the measure of human justice as the standard by which to measure the justice of God. CHAPTER XXV. THE FINAL RESURRECTION. Though Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, after having "abolished death," is declared by Paul to have "brought life and immortality to light," shining upon us " through the gos- pel," (g) whence also in believing we are said to have " passed from death unto life," (/i) being "no more strangers and fo- reigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the house- hold of God," (i) who "hath made us sit together in heavenly places " with his only begotten Son, (k) that nothing may be wanting to our complete felicity, — yet, lest we should find it grievous to be still exercised with a severe Avarfare, as though we derived no benefit from the victory gained by Christ, we must remember what is stated in another place concerning the nature of hope. For " since we hope for that we see not," (I) and, according to another text, " faith is the evidence of things not seen ; " {m) as long as we are confined in the prison of the flesh, "we are absent from the Lord." (m) Wherefore the same apostle says, " Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God ; " and " when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (o) This, then, is our condition, " that we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world, looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." (j9) Here we have need of more than common patience, lest, being wearied, we pursue a retrograde course, or desert the station assigned us. All that has hitherto been stated, therefore, concerning our salvation, requires minds ele- vated towards heaven, that, according to the suggestion of Peter, we may love Christ, whom we have not seen, and, be- (g) 2 Tim. i. 10. (h) Ephes. ii. 6. (7^ 2 Cor. v. 6. (A) John V. 24. (l) Rom. viii. 24. (o) Col. iii. 3, 4. (i) Ephes. ii. 19. (m) Heb. xi. 1. (p) Titus li. 12, 13. 200 INSTITUTES OF THE [ BOOK III. lieving in him, may " rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory," till we receive " the end of our faith." {q) For which reason, Paul represents the faith and hope of believers as having respect to " the hope that is laid up in heaven." (r) When we are thus looking towards heaven, with our eyes fixed upon Christ, and nothing detains them on earth from carrying us forward to the promised blessedness, we realize the fulfilment of that declaration, " Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (s) Hence it is, that faith is so scarce in the world ; because to our sluggishness nothing is more difficult than to ascend through innumerable obstacles, " pressing to- ward the mark, for the prize of the high calling." [t] To the accumulation of miseries which generally oppress us, are added the mockeries of the profane, with which our simplicity is as- sailed ; while voluntarily renouncing the allurements of present advantage or pleasure, we seem to pursue happiness, which is concealed from our view, like a shadow that continually eludes our grasp. In a word, above and below, before and behind, we are beset by violent temptations, which our minds would long ago have been incapable of sustaining, if they had not been detached from terrestrial things, and attached to the heaven- ly life, which is apparently at a remote distance. He alone, therefore, has made a solid proficiency in the gospel who has been accustomed to continual meditation on the blessed resur- rection. II. The supreme good was a subject of anxious dispute, and even contention, among the ancient philosophers ; yet none of them, except Plato, acknowledged the chief good of man to consist in his union with God. But of the nature of this union he had not even the smallest idea ; and no wonder, for he was totally uninfonned respecting the sacred bond of it. We know what is the only and perfect happiness even in this earthly pilgrimage ; but it daily inflames our hearts with in- creasing desires after it, till we shall be satisfied with its full fruition. Therefore I have observed that the advantage of Christ's benefits is solely enjoyed by those who elevate their minds to the resurrection. Thus Paul also sets before believers this object, towards which he tells us he directs all his own efforts, forgetting every thing else, "if by any means he may attain unto it." {u) And it behoves us to press forward to the same point with the greater alacrity, lest, if this world engross our attention, we should be grievously punished for our sloth. He therefore characterizes believers by this mark, •' Our con- versation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Sa- viour." {x) And that their minds may not flag in this course, (9) 1 Peter i. 8, 9. (a^ Matt. vi. 21. (m) Phil. iii. 8—11. (r) Col. i. 5. (0 Phil. iii. 14. (x) Phil. iii. 20. CHAP. XXV.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 201 he associates with them all creatures as their companions. For as ruin and deformity are visible on every side, he tells us that all things in heaven and earth are tending to renovation. For the fall of Adam having deranged the perfect order of nature, the bondage to which the creatures have been subject- ed by the sin of man is grievous and burdensome to them ; not that they are endued with any intelligence, but because they naturally aspire to the state of perfection from which they have fallen. Paul therefore attributes to them groaning and travail- ing pains, (y) that we who have received the first-fruits of the Spirit may be ashamed of remaining in our corruption, and not imitating at least the inanimate elements which bear the punish- ment of the sin of others. But as a still stronger stimulus to us, he calls the second advent of Christ "our redemption." It is true, indeed, that all the parts of our redemption are already completed ; but because " Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many, he shall appear the second time without sin unto salvation." (z) Whatever calamities oppress us, this redemption should support us even till its full consummation. III. Let the importance of the object sharpen our pursuit. Paul justly argues, that " if there be no resurrection of the dead," the whole gospel is vain and fallacious ; for we should be "of all men the most miserable," being exposed to the hatred and reproaches of mankind, " standing in jeopardy every hour," (a) and being even like sheep destined to the slaughter ; and therefore its authority would fall to the ground not in one point only, but in every thing it contains relating to adoption and the accomplishment of our salvation. To this subject, the most important of all, let us give an attention never to be wearied by length of time. With this view I have deferred what I shall briefly say of it to this place, that the reader, after receiving Christ as the Author of complete salva- tion, may learn to soar higher, and may know that he is in- vested with heavenly glory and immortality, in order that the whole body may be conformed to the Head ; as in his person the Holy Spirit frequently gives an example of the resurrection. It is a thing difficult to be believed, that bodies, after having been consumed by corruption, shall at length, at the appointed time, be raised again. Therefore, while many of the philoso- phers asserted the immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body was admitted by few. And though this fur- nishes no excuse, yet it admonishes us that this truth is too difficult to command the assent of the human mind. To en- able faith to surmount so great an obstacle, the Scripture sup- plies us with two assistances : one consists in the similitude of (?/) Rom. viii. 19—23. (:) Heb. ix. 28. (a) 1 Cor. xv. 13, &c. VOL. IL 26 202 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. Christ, the other in the omnipotence of God. Now, whenever the resurrection is mentioned, let us set before us the image of Christ, Avho, in our nature, which he assumed, finished his course in this mortal life in such a manner, that, having now obtained immortality, he is the pledge of future resurrection to us. For in the afflictions that befall us, " we bear about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body." (b) And to separate him from us, is not lawful, nor indeed possible, without rend- ing him asunder. Hence the reasoning of Paul : " If there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen ; " (c) for he assumes this as an acknowledged principle, that Christ neither fell under the power of death, nor triumphed over it in his resurrection, for himself as a private individual ; but that all this was a commencement in the Head of what must be fulfilled in all the members, according to every one's order and degree. For it would not be right, indeed, for them to be in all respects equal to him. It is said in the Psalms, " Thou wilt not suifer thine Holy One to see corruption." {d) Though a portion of this confidence belongs to us, according to the mea- sure bestowed upon us, yet the perfect accomplishment has been seen in Christ alone', who had his body restored to him entire, free from all corruption. Now that we may have no doubt of our fellowship with Christ in his blessed resurrection, and may be satisfied with this pledge, Paul expressly affirms that the design of his session in heaven, and his advent in the cha- racter of Judge at the last day, is to " change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body." (e) In an- other place also, he shows that God raised his Son from the dead, not in order to display a single specimen of his power, but to exert on believers the same energy of his Spirit, whom he therefore calls " our life " while he dwells in us, because he was given for this very purpose, " to quicken our mortal bodies." (/) I am but briefly glancing at things which would admit of a fuller discussion, and are deserving of more elegance of style ; but I trust the pious reader will find in a small com- pass sufficient matter for the edification of his faith. Christ, therefore, rose again, that we might be the companions of his future life. He was raised by the Father, inasmuch as he was the Head of the church, from which he does not sufl^er him to be separated. He was raised by the power of the Spirit, who is given to us also for the purpose of quickening us. In a word, he was raised that he might be " the resurrection and the life." But as Ave have observed that this mirror exhibits to us a lively image of our resurrection, so it will furnish a firm foundation (6) 2 Cor. iv. 10. (c) 1 Cor. xv. 13. (rf) Psalm xvi. 10. (e) Phil. iii. 21. (/) Col. iii. 4. Rom. viii. 11. CHAP. XXV.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 203 for our minds to rest upon, provided we are not wearied or dis- turbed by the long delay ; because it is not ours to measure the moments of time by our own inclination, but to wait pa- tiently for God's establishment of his kingdom in his own appointed time. To this purpose is the expression of Paul, "Christ the first-fruits, afterward they that are Christ's at his coming." («•) But that no doubt might be entertained of the resurrection of Christ, on which the resurrection of us all is founded, we see in how many and various ways he has caused it to be attested to us. Scorners will ridicule the history nar- rated by the evangelists, as a childish mockery. For what weight, they ask, is there in the message brought by some women in a fright, and afterwards confirmed by the disciples half dead with fear ? Why does not Christ rather set up the splendid trophies of his victory in the midst of the temple and the public places ? Why does he not make a formidable en- trance into the presence of Pilate ? Why does he not prove himself to be again alive, to the priests and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem ? Profane men will scarcely believe the persons selected by him to be competent witnesses. I reply, notwith- standing the contemptible weakness evident in these begin- nings, yet all this was conducted by the admirable providence of God, that they who were lately dispirited with fear, were hurried away to the sepulchre, partly by love to Christ and pious zeal, partly by their own unbelief, not only to be eye-witnesses of the fact, but to hear from the angels the same as they saw with their eyes. How can we suspect the authority of those who considered what they heard from the women "as idle tales," till they had the fact clearly before them ? (h) As to the peo- ple at large, and the governor himself, it is no wonder that after the ample conviction they had, they were denied a sight of Christ, or any other proofs. The sepulchre is sealed, a watch is set, the body is not found on the third day. The soldiers, corrupted by bribes, circulate a rumour that he was stolen away by his disciples ; (i) as if they had power to collect a strong force, or were furnished with arms, or were even ac- customed to such a daring exploit. But if the soldiers had not courage enough to repulse them, why did they not pursue them, that with the assistance of the people they might seize some of them ? The truth is, therefore, that Pilate by his zeal attested the resurrection of Christ ; and the guards who were placed at the sepulchre, either by their silence or by their false- hood, were in reality so many heralds to publish the same fact. In the mean time, the voice of the angels loudly proclaimed, "He is not here, but is risen." (A:) Their celestial splendour (e) 1 Cor. XV. 23. (i) Matt, xxvii. 66 ; xxriii. 11, &c. ^j) Luke xxiv. 11. (/<) Luke xxiv. 4 — 6. Matt, xxviii. 3 — 6. 204 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III, evidently showed them to be angels, and not men. After this, if there was any doubt still remaining, it was removed by Christ himself. More than once, his disciples saw, and even felt and handled him ; and their unbelief has eminently con- tributed to the confirmation of our faith. He discoursed among them concerning the mysteries of the kingdom of God, and at length they saw him ascend to heaven. (/) Nor was this spec- tacle exhibited only to the eleven apostles, but " he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once." (m) By the mission of the Holy Spirit he gave an undeniable proof, not only of his life, but also of his sovereign dominion : according to his prediction, " It is expedient for you that I go away ; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you ; but if I de- part, I will send him unto you." (n) Paul, in his way to Da- mascus, was not prostrated to the ground by the influence of a dead man, but felt that the person whom he was opposing was armed with supreme power. He appeared to Stephen for an- other reason — to overcome the fear of death by an assurance of life, (o) To refuse credit to testimonies so numerous and authentic, is not diffidence, but perverse and unreasonable ob- stinacy. IV. The remark we have made, that in proving the resurrec- tion, our minds should be directed to the infinite power of God, is briefly suggested in these words of Paul : " Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." (p) It would there- fore be extremely unreasonable here, to consider what could possibly happen in the ordinary course of nature, when the object proposed to us is an inestimable miracle, the magnitude of which absorbs all our faculties. Yet Paul adduces an ex- ample from nature to reprove the folly of those who deny the resurrection. " Thou fool," says he, " that which thou so west is not quickened, except it die." (q) He tells us that seed sown displays an image of the resurrection, because the corn is reproduced from putrefaction. Nor would it be a thing so diffi- cult to believe, if we paid proper attention to the miracles which present themselves to our view in all parts of the world. But let us remember, that no man will be truly persuaded of the future resurrection, but he who is filled with admiration, and ascribes to the power of God the glory that is due to it. Transported with this confidence, Isaiah exclaims, " Thy dead men shall live ; together with my dead body shall they arise; awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust." (r) Surrounded (l) Acts i. 3, 9. (m) 1 Cor. xv. 6. (n) John xvi. 7. (o) Acts vii. 55. (p) Phil. iii.21. (q) 1 Cor. xv. 36. (r) Isaiah xxvi. 19. CHAP. XXV.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 205 by desperate circumstances, he has recourse to God, the Author of life, unto whom, as the Psalmist says, " belong the issues from death." (s) Even reduced to a state resembling a dead carcass more than a living man, yet relying on the power of God, just as if he Avere in perfect health, Job looks forward without any doubts to that day. " I know," says he, " that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth," there to display his power; "and though after ray skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God ; whom I shall see for myself, and not another." {t) For though some persons employ great subtilty to pervert these texts, as if they ought not to be understood of the resurrection, they nevertheless confirm what they wish to destroy ; since holy men, in the midst of calamities, seek consolation from no other quarter than from the similitude of the resurrection ; which more fully appears fi'om a passage in Ezekiel. [u) For when the Jews rejected the promise of their restoration, and objected, that there was no more probability of a way being opened for their return, than of the dead coming forth from their sepulchres, a vision is presented to the prophet, of a field full of dry bones, and God commands them to receive flesh and nerves. Though this figure is intended to inspire the people with a hope of restoration, he borrows the argument for it from the resurrection ; as it is to us also the principal model of all the deliverances which believers experience in this world. So Christ, after having declared that the voice of the gospel communicates life, in consequence of its rejection by the Jews, immediately adds, " Marvel not at this ; for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth." {x) After the example of Paul, therefore, let us even now triumphantly exult in the midst of our conflicts, that he who has promised us a life to come " is able to keep that which we have committed to him ; " and thus let us glory that " there is laid up for us a crown of righteousness, which the righteous Judge shall give us." {y) The consequence of this will be, that all the troubles we suffer will point us to the life to come, " seeing it is a righteous thing with God," and agreeable to his nature, " to recompense tribu- lation to them that trouble us, and to us who are " unjustly "troubled, rest, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed, with his mighty angels, in flaming fire." {z) But we must remember what immediately follows, that " he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe," be- cause they believe the gospel. (5) Psalm Ixviii. 20. (m) Ezek. xxxvii. 1—14. (y) 2 Tim. i. 12 ; iv. 8. (0 Job x\x. 25, 27. (z) John v. 28, 29. (z) 2 Thess. i. 6—8, 10. 206 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. V. Now, though the minds of men ought to be continually occupied with the study of this subject, yet as if they expressly intended to abolish all remembrance of the resurrection, they have called death the end of all things, and the destruction of man. For Solomon certainly speaks according to a common nid received opinion, when he says, " A living dog is better than a dead lion." (a) And again : " Who knows whether the spirit of man goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast goeth downward ? '(b) This brutish stupidity has infected all ages of the world, and even forced its way into the Church ; for the Sadducees had the audacity publicly to profess, that there is no resurrection, and that souls are mortal. But that none might be excused by this gross ignorance, the very instinct of nature has always set before the eyes of unbelievers an image of the resurrection. For what is the sacred and inviolable cus- tom of interring the dead, but a pledge of another life ? Nor can it be objected that this originated in error ; for the rites of sepulture were always observed among the holy fathers ; and it pleased God that the same custom should be retained among the Gentiles, that their torpor might be roused by the image of the resurrection thereby set before them. Though this cere- mony produced no good effects upon them, yet it will be use- ful to us, if we wisely consider its tendency ; for it is no slight refutation of unbelief, that all united in professing a thing that none of them believed. But Satan has not only stupefied men's minds, to make them bury the memory of the resurrection together with the bodies of the dead, but has endeavoured to corrupt this point of doctrine by various fictions, with an ul- timate view to its total subversion. Not to mention that he began to oppose it in the days of Paul, not long after arose the Millenarians, who limited the reign of Christ to a thousand years. Their fiction is too puerile to require or deserve refu- tation. Nor does the Revelation, which they quote in favour of their error, afford them any support ; for the term of a thou- sand years, there mentioned, (c) refers not to the eternal bless- edness of the Church, but to the various agitations which awaited the Church in its militant state upon earth. But the whole Scripture proclaims that there will be no end of the happiness of the elect, or the punishment of the reprobate. Now, all those things which are invisible to our eyes, or far above the comprehension of our minds, must either be believed on the authority of the oracles of God, or entirely rejected. Those who assign the children of God a thousand years to en- joy the inheritance of the future life, little think what dis- honour they cast on Christ and his kingdom. For if they are (a) Eccl. ix. 4. (6) Eccl. iii. 21. (f) Rev. xx. 4. CHAP. XXV.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 207 not invested with immortality, neither is Christ himself, into the likeness of whose glory they will be transformed, received up into immortal glory. If their happiness will have any end, it follows that the kingdom of Christ, on the stability of which it rests, is temporary. Lastly, either these persons are ex- tremely ignorant of all Divine things, or they are striving, with malignant perverseness, to overturn all the grace of God and power of Christ ; and these can never be perfectly fulfilled till sin is abolished, and death swallowed up, and eternal life completely established. But the folly of being afraid that too much cruelty is attributed to God, if the reprobate are doomed to eternal punishment, is even evident to the blind. Will the Lord do any injury by refusing the enjoyment of his kingdom to persons whose ingratitude shall have rendered them unwor- thy of it ? But their sins are temporary. This I grant ; but the majesty of God, as well as his justice, which their sins have violated, is eternal. Their iniquity, therefore, is justly remembered. Then the punishment is alleged to be excessive, being disproportioned to the crime. But this is intolerable blasphemy, when the majesty of God is so little valued, when the contempt of it is considered of no more consequence than the destruction of one soul. But let us pass by these trifiers ; lest, contrary to what we have before said, we should appear to consider their reveries as worthy of refutation. VL Beside these wild notions, the perverse curiosity of man has introduced two others. Some have supposed that the whole man dies, and that souls are raised again together with bodies ; others, admitting the immortality of souls, suppose they will be clothed with new bodies, and thereby deny the resur- rection of the flesh. As I have touched on the former of these notions in the creation of man, it will be sufiicient again to apprize my readers, that it is a brutish error, to represent the spirit, formed after the image of God, as a fleeting breath which animates the body only during this perishable life, and to aiuii- hilate the temple of the Holy Spirit ; in short, to despoil that part of us in which Divinity is eminently displayed, and the characters of immortality are conspicuous, of this property ; so that the condition of the body must be better and more excel- lent than that of the soul. Very different is the doctrine of Scripture, which compares the body to a habitation, from which we depart at death ; because it estimates us by that part of our nature which constitutes the distinction between us and the brutes. Thus Peter, when near his death, says, " Shortly I must put off" this my tabernacle." (d) And Paul, speaking of believers, having said that " if our earthly house of this taber- (d) 2 Peter i. 14. 208 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. nacle were dissolved, we have a building in the heavens," adds that '' whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." (e) Unless our souls' survive our bodies, what is it that is present with God when separated from the body ? But the apostle removes all doubt when he says that we are "come to the spirits of just men made perfect." (/) By which expression he means, that we are associated with the holy fathers, who, though dead, still maintain the same piety with us, so that we cannot be members of Christ without being united with them. If souls separated from bodies did not retain their existence so as to be capable of glory and felicity, Christ would not have said to the thief, " To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." (g-) Supported by such undeniable testimo- nies, let us not hesitate, after the example of Christ, when we die, to commend our spirits to God ; or, like Stephen, to resign them to the care of Christ, who is justly called the faithful " Shepherd and Bishop of souls." Over-curious inquiry re- specting their intermediate slate is neither lawful nor useful. Many persons exceedingly perplex themselves by discussing what place they occupy, and whether they already enjoy the glory of heaven, or hot. But it is folly and presumption to push our inquiries on unknown things beyond what God per- mits us to know. The Scripture declares that Christ is present with them, and receives them into paradise, where they enjoy consolation, and that the souls of the reprobate endure the tor- ments which they have deserved ; but it proceeds no further. Now, what teacher or doctor shall discover to us that which God has concealed ? The question respecting place is equally senseless and futile ; because we know that the soul has no dimensions like the body. The blessed assemblage of holy spirits being called the bosom of Abraham, teaches us that it is enough for us, at the close of this pilgrimage, to be received by the common Father of believers, and to participate with him in the fruit of his faith. In the mean while, as the Scripture uniformly com- mands us to look forward with eager expectation to the coming of Christ, and defers the crown of glory which awaits us till that period, let us be content within these limits which God prescribes to us — that the souls of pious men, after finishing their laborious warfare, depart into a state of blessed rest, where they wait with joy and pleasure for the fruition of the promised glory ; and so, that all things remain in suspense till Christ appears as the Redeemer. And there is no doubt that the condition of the reprobate is the same as Jude assigns to the devils, who are confined and bound in chains till they are brought forth to the punishment to which they are doomed. (e) 2 Cor. v. 1, 8. (/) Heb. xii. 23. (g) Luke xxiii. 43. CHAP. XXV.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 209 VII. Equally monstrous is the error of those who imagine that souls will not resume the bodies which at present belong to them, but will be furnished with others altogether different. It was the very fntile reasoning of the Manichseans, that it is absurd to expect that the flesh which is so impure will ever rise again. As if there were no impurity attached to the soids, which they nevertheless encouraged to entertain hopes of a heavenly life. It was therefore just as if they had maintained, that any thing infected with the contagion of sin is incapable of being purified by the power of God ; for that reverie, that the flesh was cre- ated by the devil, and therefore naturally impure, I at present forbear to notice ; and only observe, that whatever we have in us now unworthy of heaven, will not hinder the resurrection. In the first place, when Paul exhorts believers to "cleanse'- themselves " from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit," (h) thence follows the judgment he elsewhere denounces, " that every one " shall " receive the things done in his body, accord- ing to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad ; " (i) with which agrees another passage, " that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body." (k) Wherefore in an- other place, he prays to God that the whole person may " be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ," even the "body," as well as the "soul and spirit." (l) And no wonder ; for that those bodies which God has dedicated as temples for himself, should sink into corruption, without any hope of resurrection, would be absurd in the extreme. What is to be concluded from their being members of Christ ? (ni) from God's enjoining every part of them to be sanctified to himself, requiring their tongues to celebrate his name, their hands to be lifted up with purity to him, (n) and their bodies altogether to be presented to him as "living sacrifices? " (o) This part of our nature therefore being dignified with such illus- trious honour by the heavenly Judge, what madness is betrayed by a mortal man, in asserting it to be reduced to ashes without any hope of restoration ! And Paul, when he gives us this exhortation, " Glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's," (p) certainly does not countenance consign- ing to eternal corruption that which he asserts to be consecrated to God. Nor is there any point more clearly established in Scripture, thau the resurrection of our present bodies. " This corruptible," says Paul, " must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." (q) If new bodies were to be formed by God, what would become of this change of quality ? If it had been said, that we must be renewed, the (A) 2 Cor. vii. 1. (/) 1 Thess. v. 23. (o) Rom. xii. 1. (i) 2 Cor. V. 10. (m) 1 Cor. vi. 15. (p) 1 Cor. vi. 20. (A) 2 Cor. iv. 10. (w) 1 Tim. ii. 8. (?) 1 Cor. xv. 54. VOL. II. 27 210 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. ambiguity of the expression might have given occasion for cavil : now, when he particularly designates the bodies that surround us, and promises that they shall be " raised in incor- ruption," it is a sufficient denial of the formation of new ones. " He could not indeed," says Tertullian, " have spoken more ex- pressly, unless he had held his own skin in his hand." Nor will any cavil evade the declaration of Isaiah, cited by the apostle, respecting Christ as the future Judge of the world : "As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me ; " (r) for he plainly declares to the persons addressed by him, that they shall be obliged to give an account of their lives ; which would not be reasonable, if new bodies were to be placed at the tribunal. There is no obscurity in the language of Daniel : " Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting con- tempt." (s) For God does not collect fresh materials from the four elements for the fabrication of men, but calls the dead out of their sepulchres. And this the plainest reason dictates. For if death, which originated in the fall of man, be adventi- tious, and not necessary to our nature, the restoration effected by Christ belongs to the same body which was thus rendered mortal. From the ri'dicule of the Athenians, when Paul assert- ed the resurrection, it is easy to infer the nature of his doc- trine ; and that ridicule is of no small weight for the confirmation of our faith. The injunction of Christ also is worthy of atten- tion : " Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul ; but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." (t) For there would be no reason for this fear, if the body which we now carry about were not liable to punishment. Another of Christ's declarations is equal- ly plain : " The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth, they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." (u) Shall we say that souls rest in graves, and will there hear the voice of Christ, and not rather that bodies at his command will return to the vigour they had lost ? Besides, if we are to receive new bodies, where will be the conformity between the Head and members ? Christ rose ; was it by making himself a new body ? No, but according to his prediction, " Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." (x) The mortal body which he before possessed, he again assumed. For it would have conduced but little to our benefit, if there had been a substitution of a new body, and an annihilation of (r) Rom. xiv. 11, 12. (s) Dan. xii. 2. (0 Matt. x. 28. (m) John V. 28, 29. (z) John ii. 19. CHAP. XXV.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 211 that which had been offered as an atoning sacrifice. We must, therefore, maintain the connection stated by the apostle — that we shall rise, because Christ has risen ; {y) for nothing is more improbable, than that our body, in which " we bear about the dying of the Lord Jesus," {z) should be deprived of a resurrec- tion similar to his. There was an illustrious example of this immediately on Christ's resurrection, when " the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose." [a) For it cannot be denied, that this was a prelude, or rather an earnest, of the final resurrection, which we expect ; such as was exhibited before in Enoch and Elias, whom Tertullian speaks of as "the candidates of the resurrection," because they were taken into the immediate care of God, with an entire ex- emption from corruption in body and soul. VIII. I am ashamed of consuming so many words on so clear a subject ; but my readers will cheerfully unite with me in submitting to this trouble, that no room may be left for men of perverse and presumptuous minds to deceive the unwary. The unsteady spirits I am now opposing, bring forward a figment of their own brains, that at the resurrection there will be a creation of new bodies. What reason can induce them to adopt this sentiment, but a seeming incredibility, in their apprehension, that a body long consumed by corruption can ever return to its pristine state ? Unbelief, therefore, is the only soiurce of this opinion. In the Scripture, on the contrary, we are uniformly exhorted by the Spirit of God to hope for the resurrection of our body. For this reason, baptism is spoken of by Paul as a seal of our future resurrection ; (6) and we are as clearly invited to this confidence by the sacred Supper, when we receive into our mouths the symbols of spiritual grace. And certainly the exhortation of Paul, to "yield our members as instruments of righteousness unto God," (c) would lose all its force, if unaccompanied by what he afterwards subjoins : " He that raised up Christ from the dead, shall also quicken your mortal bodies." {d) For what would it avail to devote our feet, hands, eyes, and tongues to the service of God, if they were not to participate the benefit and reward ? This is clearly confirmed by the following passage of Pavil : " The body is not for for- nication, but for the Lord ; and the Lord for the body. And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power." (e) The following passages are still plainer — that our bodies are the " temples of the Holy Ghost," and " members of Christ." (/) In the mean time, we see how he connects the resurrection with chastity and holiness ; and so {y) 1 Cor. XV. 12, &c. {b) Col. ii. 12. (e) 1 Cor. vi. 13, 14. (z) 2 Cor. iv. 10. (c) Rom. vi. 13. (/) 1 Cor. vi. 15, 19, 20. (a) Matt. xxvi. 52. . {d) Rom. viii. 11. 212 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. he just after extends the price of redemption to our bodies. Now, it would be extremely unreasonable that the body of Paul, in which he " bore the marks of the Lord Jesus," (g) and in which he eminently glorified Christ, should be deprived of the reward of the crown. Hence also that exultation : " We look for the Saviour from heaven, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body." (h) And if it be true, " that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God," (?) there can be no reason for pro- hibiting this entrance to the bodies, which God trains under the banner of the cross, and honours with the glory of victory. Therefore no doubt has ever been entertained by the saints, whether they should hope to be companions of Christ here- after ; who transfers to his own person all the afflictions with which we are tried, to teach us that they are conducting us to life. And God also established the holy fathers under the law in this faith by an external ceremony. For to what purpose was the rite of sepulture, as we have already seen, but to instruct them that another life was prepared for the interred bodies ? The same was suggested by the spices and other symbols of immor- tality, which, like the sacrifices under the law, assisted the obscurity of direct instruction. Nor did this custom arise from superstition ; for we find the Holy Spirit as diligent in mention- ing the sepultures, as in insisting on the principal mysteries of faith. And Christ commends this as no mean office ; (k) certainly for no other reason, but because it raises our eyes from the view of the grave, which corrupts and dissolves all things, to the spec- tacle of future renovation. Besides the very careful observance of this ceremony, which is commended in the fathers, suffi- ciently proves it to have been an excellent and valuable as- sistance to faith. Nor would Abraham have discovered such solicitous concern about the sepulchre of his wife, if he had not been actuated by motives of religion, and the prospect of more than worldly advantage ; that by adorning her dead body with the emblems of the resurrection, he might confirm his own faith, and that of his family, (l) There is yet a clearer proof of this in the example of Jacob ; who, to testify to his posterity that the hope of the promised land did not forsake his heart even in death, commands his bones to be reconveyed thither, (m) If he was to be furnished with a new body, would not this have been a ridiculous command concerning dust that was soon to be an- nihilated ? Wherefore, if the authority of the Scripture lias any weight with us, no clearer or stronger proof of any doctrine can possibly be desired. Even children understand this to be (g) Gal. vi. 17. (J) Acts xiv. 22. (?) Gen. xxiii. 3—19. (A) Phil. in. 20, 21. (/<) Matt. xxvi. 10, 12. ,("») Gen. xlvii. 30. CHAP. XXV.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 213 the meaning of the term " resurrection ; " for we never apply this term to any instance of original creation ; nor would it be consistent with that declaration of Christ, " Of all which the Fa- ther hath given me, I shall lose nothing, but will raise it up again at the last day." (n) The same is implied in the word " sleeping," which is only applicable to the body. Hence the appellation of cemetery, or sleeping-place, given to places of burial. It remains for me to touch a little on the manner of the resurrection. And 1 shall but just hint at it ; because Paul, by calling it a mystery, exhorts us to sobriety, and forbids all licentiousness of subtle and extravagant speculation. In the first place, let it be re- membered, as we have observed, that we shall rise again with the same bodies we have now, as to the substance, but that the quality will be different ; just as the very body of Christ which had been offered as a sacrifice was raised again, but with such new and superior qualities, as though it had been altogether different. Paul represents this by some familiar examples. For as the flesh of man and of brutes is the same in substance, but not in quality ; as the matter of all the stars is the same, but they differ in glory ; so, though we shall retain the substance of our body, he tells us there will be a change, which will render its condition far more excellent, (o) The " corruptible " body, therefore, will neither perish nor vanish, in order to our resur- rection ; but having laid aside corruption, will " put on incorrup- tion." {p) God, having all the elements subject to his control, will find no difficulty in commanding the earth, the water, and the fire, to restore whatever they appear to have consumed. This is declared in figurative language by Isaiah : " Behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity ; the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain." {q) But we must remark the difference between those who shall have been already dead, and those whom that day shall find alive. " We shall not all sleep," says Paul, "but we shall all be changed ;"(r) that is, there will be no necessity for any distance of time to intervene be- tween death and the commencement of the next life ; for " in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible," and the living transformed by a sudden change into the same glory. So in another Epistle he comforts believers who were to die, that those " which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep," but that " the dead in Christ shall rise first." (s) If it be objected that the apostle says, " It is appointed unto men once to die," [t] the answer is (w) John vi. 39, 40. (r/) Isaiah xxvi. 21. (s) 1 Thess. iv. 15, 16. (o) 1 Cor. XV. 39^11. (r) 1 Cor. xv. 51, 52. (t) Heb. ix. 27. (p) 1 Cor. XV. 53. 214 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. easy, — that where the state of the nature is changed, it is a species of death, and may without impropriety be so called ; and therefore there is a perfect consistence between these things, that all will be removed by death when they put off the mortal body, but that a separation of the body and soul will not be necessary, where there will be an instantaneous change. IX. But here arises a question of greater difficulty. How can the resurrection, which is a peculiar benefit of Christ, be common to the impious and the subjects of the Divine curse ? We know that in Adam all were sentenced to death ; (u) Christ comes as "the resurrection and the life ; " (.r) but was it to bestow life promiscuously on all mankind ? But what would be more improbable, than that they should attain, in their ob- stinate blindness, what the pious worshippers of God recover by faith alone ? Yet it remains certain, that one will be a re- surrection to judgment, the other to life ; and that Christ will come to "separate the sheep from the goats." (y) I reply, we ought not to think that so very strange, which we see exem- plified in our daily experience. We know that in Adam we lost the inheritance of the whole world, and have no more right to the enjoyment of common aliments, than to the fruit of the tree of life. How is it, then, that God not only " maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good," (z) but that, for the accommodations of the present life, his inestimable liberality is diffused in the most copious abundance ? Hence we see, that things which properly belong to Christ and his members, are also extended to the impious ; not to become their legiti- mate possession, but to render them more inexcusable. Thus impious men frequently experience God's beneficence in re- markable instances, which sometimes exceed all the blessings of the pious, but which, nevertheless, are the means of aggra- vating their condemnation. If it be objected, that the resur- rection is improperly compared with fleeting and terrestrial advantages, I reply again, that when men were first alienated from God, the Fountain of life, they deserved the ruin of the devil, to be altogether destroyed; yet the wonderful counsel of God devised a middle state, that without life they might live in death. It ought not to be thought more unreasonable, if the impious are raised from the dead, in order to be dragged to the tribunal of Christ, whom they now refuse to hear as their Mas- ter and Teacher. For it would be a slight punishment to be destroyed by death, if they were not to be brought before the Judge whose infinite and endless vengeance they have in- curred, to receive the punishments due to their rebellion. But (u) Rom. V. 12. (x) John xi. 25. (y) Matt. xxv. 32. (z) Matt. v. 45. CHAP. XXV.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 215 though we must maintain what we have asserted, and what is asserted by Paul in his celebrated confession before Felix, " that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust," (a) yet the Scripture more commonly exhibits the resurrection to the children of God alone, in connection with the glory of heaven ; because, strictly speaking, Christ will come, not for the destruction of the world, but for purposes of salva- tion. This is the reason that the Creed mentions only the life of blessedness. X. But, as the prophecy of " death being swallowed up in victory," shall then, and not till then, be fully accomplished, — let us always reflect on eternal felicity as the end of the resur- rection ; of the excellence of which, if every thing were said that could be expressed by all the tongues of men, yet the smallest part of it would scarcely be mentioned. For though we are plainly informed, that the kingdom of God is full of light, joy, felicity, and glory, yet all that is mentioned remains far above our comprehension, and enveloped, as it were, in enigmatical obscurity, till the arrival of that day, when he shall exhibit his glory to us face to face. " Now are we the sons of God, (says John,) and it doth not yet appear what we shall be ; but we know, that when he shall appear, we shall be like him ; for we shall see him as he is." (b) Wherefore the prophets, because they could not describe that spiritual bless- edness by any terms expressive of its sublime nature, generally represented it under corporeal images. Yet, as any intimation of that happiness must kindle in us a fervour of desire, let us chiefly dwell on this reflection — If God, as an inexhaustible fountain, contains within himself a plenitude of all blessings, nothing beyond him can ever be desired by those who aspire to the supreme good, and a perfection of happiness. This we are taught in various passages of Scripture. " Abraham," says God, "I am thy exceeding great reward." (c) With this David agrees : " The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance ; the lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places." (d) Again : " I will behold thy face ; I shall be satisfied." (e) Peter de- clares, that believers are called, •' that they might be partakers of the Divine nature." (/) How will this be ? Because " he shall be glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that believe." (g) If the Lord will make the elect partakers of his glory, strength, and righteousness, and will even bestow him- self upon them to be enjoyed, and, what is better than this, to be in some sense united to them, — let us remember, that in this favour every kind of felicity is comprised. And after we («) Acts xxiv. 15. (b) 1 John iii. 2. (c) Gen. xv. 1. (d) Psalm xvi. 5, 6. (e) Psalm xvii. 15. (/) 2 Peter i, 4. (g) 2 Thess. i. 10. 216 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK III. have made considerable progress in this meditation, we may still acknowledge the conceptions of our minds to be extremely low, in comparison with the sublimity of this mystery. So- briety, therefore, is the more necessary for us on this subject, lest, forgetful of our slender capacity, we presumptuously soar to too high an elevation, and are overwhelmed with the blaze of celestial glory. We perceive, likewise, how we are actua- ted by an inordinate desire of knowing more than is right ; which gives rise to a variety of questions, both frivolous and pernicious. I call those frivolous, from which no advantage can possibly be derived. But those of the second class are worse, involving persons, who indulge them, in injurious spe- culations, and therefore I call them pernicious. What is taught in the Scriptures, we ought to receive without any controversy ; that as God, in the various distribution of his gifts to the saints in this world, does not equally enlighten them all, so in heaven, where God will crown those gifts, there will be an inequality in the degrees of their glory. The language of Paul is not indis- criminately applicable to all — " Ye are our glory and joy at our Lord's coming ; " (h) nor Christ's address to his apostles — " Ye shall sit judging the twelve tribes of Israel." (i) But Paul, who knew that according 'as God enriches the saints with spiritual gifts on earth, so he adorns them with glory in heaven, doubts not that there is in reserve for him a peculiar crown in propor- tion to his labours. And Christ commends to his apostles the dignity of the office with which they were invested, by assur- ing them that the reward of it was laid up in heaven, (k) Thus also Daniel : " They that be wise, shall shine as the brightness of the firmament ; and they that turn many to right- eousness, as the stars, for ever and ever." (/) And an atten- tive consideration of the Scriptures will convince us, that they not only promise eternal life generally to believers, but also a special reward to each individual. Whence that expression of Paul — " The Lord rev/ard him according to his works." (m) It is also confirmed by the promise of Christ that his disciples should receive a hundred-fold more in eternal life, (n) In a word, as Christ begins the glory of his body by a manifold variety of gifts in this world, and enlarges it by degrees, in the same manner he will also perfect it. in heaven. XI. As all the pious will receive this with one consent, be- cause it is sufficiently attested in the word of God, so, on the other hand, dismissing abstruse questions, which they know to be obstructions to them, they will not transgress the limits prescribed to them. For myself, I not only refrain as an indi- (h) 1 These, ii. 19, 20. (k) Matt. v. 12. (m) 2 Tim. iv. 14. (i) Matt. xix. 29. (/) Dan. xii. 3. (n) Matt. xii. 29. CHAP. XXV.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 217 vidiial from the unnecessary investigation of useless questions, but think it my duty to be cautious, lest I encourage the vanity of others by answering them. Men, thirsting after useless know- ledge, inquire what will be the distance between the prophets and apostles, and between the apostles and martyrs ; and how many degrees of difference there will be between those who have married and those who have lived and died in celibacy ; in short, they leave not a corner of heaven unexplored. The next object of their inquiry is, what end will be answered by the restoration of the world ; since the children of God will want nothing of all its vast and incomparable abundance, but will be like the angels of God, whose freedom from all animal necessities is the symbol of eternal blessedness. I reply, there will be such great pleasantness in the very prospect, and such exquisite sweetness in the mere knowledge, without any use of it, that this felicity will far exceed all the accommodations afforded us in the present state. Let us suppose ourselves placed in some region the most opulent in the world, and furnished with every pleasure ; who would not sometimes be prevented by disease from making use of the bounties of God ? who would not often have his enjoyment of them interrupted by the consequences of intemperance ? Hence it follows, that calm and serene enjoyment, pure from every vice and free from all defect, although there should be no use of a corruptible life, is the per- fection of happiness. Others go further, and inquire, whether dross and all impurities in metals are not removed from that restoration, and incompatible with such a state. Though I in some measure grant this, I expect, with Paul, a reparation of all the evils caused by sin, for which he represents the creatures as groaning and travailing. They proceed further still, and inquire, what better state awaits the human race, when the blessing of posterity shall no longer be enjoyed. The solution of this question also is easy. The splendid commendations of it in the Scriptures relate to that progressive increase, by which God is continually carrying forward the system of nature to its con- summation. But as the unwary are easily caught by such temptations, and are afterwards drawn farther into the labyrinth, till, at length, every one being pleased with his own opinion, there is no end to disputes, — the best and shortest rule for our conduct, is to content ourselves with " seeing through a glass darkly," till we shall "see face to face." (o) For very few persons are concerned about the way that leads to heaven, but all are anxious to know, before the time, what passes there. Men in general are slow, and reluctant to engage in the conflict, and yet portray to themselves imaginary triumphs. (o) 1 Cor. xiii. 12. VOL. n. 28 218 INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [bOOK III. XII. Now, as no description can equal the severity of the Divine vengeance on the reprobate, their anguish and torment are figuratively represented to us under corporeal images : as, darkness, weeping, and gnashing of teeth, unextinguishable fire, a worm incessantly gnawing the heart, (j)) For there can be no doubt but that, by such modes of expression, the Holy Spirit intended to confound all our faculties with horror ; as when it is said, that " Tophet is ordained of old ; the pile thereof is fire and much wood : the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it." (q) As these representations should assist us in forming some conception of the wretched condition of the wicked, so they ought principally to fix our attention on the calamity of being alienated from the presence of God : and in addition to this, experiencing such hostility from the Divine majesty as to be unable to escape from its continual pursuit. For, in the first place, his indignation is like a most violent flame, which devours and consumes all that it touches. In the next place, all the creatures so subserve the execution of his judgment, that those to whom the Lord will thus manifest his wrath, will find the heaven, the earth, and the sea, the animals, and all that exists, inflamed, as it were, with dire indignation against them, and all armed for their destruction. It is no trivial threatening, therefore, denounced by the apostle, that unbelievers " shall be punished with ever- lasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." (r) And when the prophets excite terror by corporeal figures, though they advance nothing hyperbolical for our dull understandings, yet they mingle preludes of the future judgment with the sun, the moon, and the whole fabric of the world. Wherefore miserable consciences find no repose, but are harassed and agitated with a dreadful tempest, feel themselves torn asunder by an angry God, and, transfixed and penetrated by mortal stings, are terrified at the thunderbolts of God, and broken by the weight of his hand ; so that to sink into any gulfs and abysses would be more tolerable than to stand for a moment in these terrors. How great and severe, then, is the punishment, to endure the never ceasing efi"ects of his wrath ! On which subject there is a memorable passage in the ninetieth psalm ; that though by his countenance he scatters all mortals, and turns them to destruction, yet he en- courages his servants in proportion to their timidity in this world, to excite them, though under the burden of the cross, to press forward, till he shall be all in all. (p) Matt. iii. 12; viii. I'i; xxii. 13. Mark ix. 43, 44. Isaiah Ixvi. 24. (q) Isaiah XXX. 33. (r) 2 Thess. i. 9. INSTITUTES CHRISTIAN RELIGION BOOK IV. ON THE EXTERNAL MEANS OR AIDS BY WHICH GOD CALLS US INTO COMMUNION WITH CHRIST, AND RETAINS US IN IT. ARGUMENT. Three parts of the Apostles' Creed, respecting God the Creator, Re- deemer, and Sanctifier, have been explained in the former books. This last book is an exposition of what remains, relating to the Holy Catholic Church, and the Communion of Saints. The chapters contained in it may be conveniently arranged in three grand divisions : — I. The Church. II. The Sacraments. III. Civil Government. The First Division, extending to the end of the thirteenth chapter, contains many particulars, which, however, may all be referred to four principal heads : — I The marks of the Church, or the criteria by which it may be dis- tinguished ; since we must cultivate union with it — Chap. I. II. II. The government of the church — Chap. III. — VII. 1. The order of government in the church — Chap. III. 2. The form practised by the ancient Christians — Chap. IV. 3. The nature of the present ecclesiastical government under the 220 ARGUMENT. [bOOK IV. Papacy — Chap. V. The primacy of the Pope — Chap. VI. And the degrees of his advancement to this tyrannical power — Chap. VII. III. The power of the church— Chap. VIII.— XI. 1. Relating to articles of faith, — which resides either in the re- spective bishops — Chap. VIII. — or in the church at large, represented in councils — Cliap. IX. 2. In making laws — Chap. X. 3. In ecclesiastical jurisdiction — Chap. XI. IV. The discipline of the Church— Chap. XII. XIII. 1. The principal use of it — Chap. XII. 2. The abuse of it— Chap. XIII. The Second Division, relating to the sacraments, contains three parts. I. The sacraments in general — Chap. XIV. II. Each sacrament in particular — Chap. XV. — XVIII. 1. Baptism — Chap. XV. Distinct discussion of Paedobaptism — Chap. XVI. 2. The Lord's Supper — Chap. XVII. — and its profanation — Chap. XVIII. III. The five other ceremonies, falsely called sacraments — Chap. XIX. The Third Division regards civil government. I. This government in general. II. Its respective branches. 1. The magistrates. 2. The laws. 3. The people. CHAPTER 1. THE TRUE CHURCH, AND THE NECESSITY OF OUR UNION WITH HER, BEING THE MOTHER OF ALL THE PIOUS. That by the faith of the gospel Christ becomes ours, and we become partakers of the salvation procured by him, and of eternal happiness, has been explained in the preceding Book. But as our ignorance and slothful ness, and, I may add, the vanity of our minds, require external aids, in order to the pro- duction of faith in our hearts, and its increase and progressive advance even to its completion, God lias provided such aids in compassion to our infirmity ; and that the preaching of the CHAP. I.] INSTITUTES OF THE CHRTSflAN RELIGION. 221 gospel might be maintained, he has deposited this treasure with the Church. He has appointed pastors and teachers, that his people might be taught by their lips ; he has invested them with authority ; in short, he has omitted nothing that could contribute to a holy unity of faith, and to the establishment of good order, (a) First of all, he has instituted Sacraments, which we know by experience to be means of the greatest utiUty for the nourishment and support of our faith. For as, during our confinement in the prison of our flesh, we have not yet attained to the state of angels, God has, in his wonderful providence, accommodated himself to our capacity, by pre- scribing a way in which we might approach him, notwithstand- ing our immense distance from him. Wherefore the order of instruction requires us now to treat of the Church and its gov- ernment, orders, and power ; secondly, of the Sacraments ; and lastly, of Civil Government ; and at the same time to call oif tlie pious readers from the abuses of the Papacy, by which Satan has corrupted every thing that God had appointed to be instrumental to our salvation. I shall begin with the Church, in whose bosom it is God's will that all his children should be collected, not only to be nourished by her assistance and minis- try during their infancy and childhood, but also to be governed by her maternal care, till they attain a mature age, and at length reach the end of their faith. For it is not lawful to " put asun- der " those things " which God hath joined together ; " (i) that the Church is the mother of all those who have him for their Father ; and that not only under the law, but since the coming of Christ also, according to the testimony of the apostle, who declares the new and heavenly Jerusalem to be " the mother of us all." (c) II. That article of the Creed, in which we profess to believe THE Church, refers not only to the visible Church of which we are now speaking, but likewise to all the elect of God, inclu- ding the dead as well as the living. The word believe is used, because it is often impossible to discover any difference between the children of God and the ungodly ; between his peculiar flock and wild beasts. The particle in, interpolated by many, is not supported by any probable reason. I confess that it is generally adopted at present, and is not destitute of the suffrage of antiquity, being found in the Nicene Creed, as it is trans- mitted to us in ecclesiastical history. Yet it is evident from the writings of the fathers, that it was anciently admitted without controversy to say, " I believe the Church," not " in the Church." For not only is this word not used by Augustine and the ancient writer of the work " On the Exposition of the (a) Ephes. iv. 11—16. (A) Mark x. 9. (c) Gal. iv. 26. 222 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. Creed," which passes under the name of Cyprian, but they particularly remark that there would be an impropriety in the expression, if this preposition were inserted ; and they confirm their opinion by no trivial reason. For we declare that we be- lieve in God because our mind depends upon him as true, and our confidence rests in him. But this would not be applicable to the Church, any more than to " the remission of sins," or the "resurrection of the body." Therefore, though I am averse to contentions about words, yet I would rather adopt a proper phraseology adapted to express the subject than affect forms of expression by which the subject would be unnecessa- rily involved in obscurity. The design of this clause is to teach us, that though the devil moves every engine to destroy the grace of Christ, and all the enemies of God exert the most furious violence in the same attempt, yet his grace cannot possibly be extinguished, nor can his blood be rendered barren, so as not to produce some fruit. Here we must regard both the secret election of God, and his internal vocation ; because he alone " knoweth them that are his ; " and keeps them en- closed under his " seal," to use the expression of Paul ; {d) except that they bear his impression, by which they may be distinguished from irhe reprobate. But because a small and contemptible number is concealed among a vast multitude, and a few grains of wheat are covered with a heap of chaff, we must leave to God alone the knowledge of his Church whose foundation is his secret election. Nor is it sufficient to in- clude in our thoughts and minds the whole multitude of the elect, unless we conceive of such a unity of the Church, into which we know ourselves to be truly ingrafted. For unless we are united with all the other members under Christ our Head, we can have no hope of the future inheritance. There- fore the Church is called catholic, or universal ; because there could not be two or three churches, without Christ being di- vided, which is impossible. But all the elect of God are so connected with each other in Christ, that as they depend upon one head, so they grow up together as into one body, com- pacted together like members of the same body ; being made truly one, as living by one faith, hope, and charity, through the same Divine Spirit, being called not only to the same inherit- ance of eternal life, but also to a participation of one God and Christ. Therefore, though the melancholy desolation which surrounds us, seems to proclaim that there is nothing left of the Church, let us remember that the death of Christ is fruitful, and that God wonderfully preserves his Church as it were in hiding-places; according to what he said to Elijah: " I have (d) 2 Tim. ii. 19. CHAP. 1.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 223 reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal." (e) III. This article of the creed, however, relates in some measure to the external Church, that every one of us may maintain a brotherly agreement with all the children of God, may pay due deference to the authority of the Church, and, in a word, may conduct himself as one of the flock. Therefore we add the communion of saints — a clause which, though generally omitted by the ancients, ought not to be neglected, because it excellently expresses the character of the Church ; as though it had been said that the saints are united in the fel- lowship of Christ on this condition, that whatever benefits God confers upon them, they should mutually communicate to each other. This destroys not the diversity of grace, for we know that the gifts of the Spirit are variously distributed ; nor does it disturb the order of civil polity, which secures to every indi- vidual the exclusive enjoyment of his property, as it is neces- sary for the preservation of the peace of society that men should have peculiar and distinct possessions. But the commu- nity asserted is such as Luke describes, that ''the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul;"(/) and Paul, when he exhorts the Ephesians to be " one body, and one spirit, even as they were called in one hope." {g) Nor is it possible, if they are truly persuaded that God is a common Father to them all, and Christ their common Head, but that, being united in brotherly affection, they should mu- tually communicate their advantages to each other. Now, it highly concerns us to know what benefit we receive from this. For we believe the Church, in order to have a certain assur- ance that we are members of it. For thus our salvation rests on firm and solid foundations, so that it cannot fall into ruin, though the whole fabric of the world should be dissolved. First, it is founded on the election of God, and can be liable to no variation or failure, but with the subversion of his eternal providence. In the next place, it is united with the stability of Christ, who will no more suffer his faithful people to be severed from him, than his members to be torn in pieces. Besides, we are certain, as long as we continue in the bosom of the Church, that we shall remain in possession of the truth. I,astly, we understand these promises to belong to us : " In mount Zion shall be deliverance." (A) God is in the midst of her ; she shall not be moved." (i) Such is the effect of union with the Church, that it retains us in the fellowship of God. The very word communion likewise contains abundant conso- (e) Rom. xi. 4. 1 Kings xix. 18. (/) Acts iv. 32. (jg) Ephes. iv. 4. {h) Joel ii. 32. Obad. 17. (i) Psalm xlvi. 5. 224 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. lation ; for while it is certain that whatever the Lord confers upon his members and ours belong to us, our hope is confirmed by all the benefits which they enjoy. But in order to embrace the unity of the Church in this manner, it is unnecessary, as we have observed, to see the Church with our eyes, or feel it with our hands ; on the contrary, from its being an object of faith, we are taught that it is no less to be considered as exist- ing, when it escapes our observation, than if it were evident to our eyes. Nor is our faith the worse, because it acknow- ledges the Church which we do not fully comprehend ; for we are not commanded here to distinguish the reprobate from the elect, which is not our province, but that of God alone ; Ave ai-e only required to be assured in our minds, that all those who, by the mercy of God the Father, through the efficacious influence of the Holy Spirit, have attained to the participation of Christ, are separated as the peculiar possession and portion of God ; and that being numbered among them, we are parta- kers of such great grace. IV. But as our present design is to treat of the visible Church, we may learn even from the title of mother, how use- ful and even necessary it is for us to know her ; since there is no other way of entrance into life, unless we are conceived by her, born of her, nourished at her breast, and continually pre- served under her care and government till we are divested of this mortal flesh, and "become like the angels." (k) For our infirmity will not admit of our dismission from her school ; we must continue under her instruction and discipline to the end of our lives. It is also to be remarked, that out of her bosom there can be no hope of remission of sins, or any salvation, according to the testimony of Joel and Isaiah ; (l) which is con- firmed by Ezekiel, (m) when he denounces that those whom God excludes from the heavenly life, shall not be enrolled among his people. So, on the contrary, those who devote themselves to the service of God, are said to inscribe their names among the citizens of Jerusalem. For which reason the Psalmist says, " Remember me, O Lord, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people : O visit me with thy salvation ; that I may see the good of thy chosen ; that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation ; that I may glory with thine in- heritance." (n) In these words the paternal favour of God, and the peculiar testimony of the spiritual life, are restricted to his flock, to teach us that it is always fatally dangerous to be separated from the Church. V. But let us proceed to state what belongs to this subject. (A) Matt. xxii. 30. (m) Ezek. xiii. 9. (0 Isaiah xxxvii. 35. Joel ii. 32. (»») Psalm cvi. 4, 5. CHAP. I.] CHRISTIAN RELIGtON. 225 Paul writes, that Christ, " that he might fill all things, gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers ; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ : till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." (o) We see that though God could easily make his people perfect in a single moment, yet it was not his will that they should grow to mature age, but under the education of the Church. We see the means expressed ; the preaching of the heavenly doctrine is assigned to the pastors. We see that all arc placed under the same regulation, in order that they may submit themselves with gentleness and docility of mind to be governed by the pastors who are appointed for this purpose. Isaiah had long before described the kingdom of Christ by this character : " My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, from henceforth and for ever."(j3) Hence it follows, that all who reject the spiritual food for their souls, which is extended to them by the hands of the Church, deserve to perish with hun- ger and want. It is God who inspires us with faith, but it is through the instrumentality of the gospel, according to the declaration of Paul, " that faith cometh by hearing." [q) So also the power to save resides in God, but, as the same apostle testifies in another place, he displays it in the preaching of the gospel. With this design, in former ages he commanded so- lemn assemblies to be held in the sanctuary, that the doctrine taught by the mouth of the priest might maintain the unity of the faith ; and the design of those magnificent titles, where the temple is called God's "rest," his "sanctuary," and "dwelling- place," where he is said to " dwell between the cherubim," (r) was no other than to promote the esteem, love, reverence, and dignity of the heavenly doctrine ; which the view of a mortal and despised man would otherwise greatly diminish. That we may know, therefore, that we have an inestimable treasure communicated to us from earthen vessels, (s) God himself comes forward, and as he is the Author of this arrangement, so he will be acknowledged as present in his institution. There- fore, after having forbidden his people to devote themselves to auguries, divinations, magical arts, necromancy, and other su- perstitions, he adds, that he will give them what ought to be sufficient for every purpose, namely, that he will never leave (o) Ephes. iv. 10—13. {p) Isaiah lix. 21. (q) Rom. x. 17. (r) Psalm cxxxii. 14 ; Ixxx. 1. (s) 2 Cor. iv. 7. VOL. II. 29 226 INSTITUTES OF THE [] BOOK IV. them without prophets. Now, as he did not refer his ancient people to angels, but raised up earthly teachers, who truly discharged the office of angels, so, in the present day, he is pleased to teach us by the instrumentality of men. And as formerly he was not content with the written law, but appoint- ed the priests as interpreters, at whose lips the people might inquire its true meaning, so, in the present day, he not only requires us to be attentive to reading, but has appointed teach- ers for our assistance. This is attended with a twofold advantage. For on the one hand, it is a good proof of our obedience when we listen to his ministers, just as if he were addressing us himself; and on the other, he has provided for our infirmity, by choosing to address us through the medium of human interpreters, that he may sweetly allure us to him, rather than to drive us away from him by his thunders. And the propriety of this familiar manner of teaching, is evident to all the pious, from the terror with which the majesty of God justly alarms them. Those who consider the authority of the doctrine as weakened by the meanness of the men who are called to teach it, betray their ingratitude ; because among so many excellent gifts with which God has adorned mankind, it is a peculiar privilege, that he deigns to consecrate men's lips and tongues to his service, that his voice may be heard in them. Let us not therefore, on our part's, be reluctant to receive and obey the doctrine of salvation proposed to us at his express command ; for though the power of God is not confined to ex- ternal means, yet he has confined us to the ordinary manner of teaching, the fanatical rejecters of which necessarily involve themselves in many fatal snares. Many are urged by pride, or disdain, or envy, to persuade themselves that they can profit sufficiently by reading and meditating in private, and so to despise public assemblies, and consider preaching as unneces- sary. But since they do all in their power to dissolve and break asunder the bond of unity, which ought to be preserved inviolable, not one of them escapes the just punishment of this impious breach, but they all involve themselves in pestilent errors and pernicious reveries. Wherefore, in order that the pure simplicity of faith may flourish among us, let us not be reluctant to use this exercise of piety, which the Divine insti- tution has shown to be necessary, and which God so repeatedly commends to us. There has never been found, among the most extravagant of mortals, one insolent enough to say that we ought to shut our ears against God ; but the prophets and pious teachers, in all ages, have had a difficult contest with the wicked, whose arrogance can never submit to be taught by the lips and ministry of men. Now, this is no other than effacing the image of God, which is discovered to us in CHAP. I.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 227 the doctrine. For the faithful under the former dispensation were directed to seek the face of God in the sanctuary ; (f) and this is so frequently repeated in the law, for no other reason, but because the doctrine of the law and the exhortations of the prophets exhibited to them a lively image of God ; as Paul declares that his preaching displayed " the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (t?) And in so much the greater detesta- tion ought we to hold those apostates, who make it their study to cause divisions in churches, as if they would drive away the sheep from the fold, and throw them into the jaws of wolves. But let us remember what we have quoted from Paul — that the Church can only be edified by the preaching of this word, and that the saints have no common bond of union to hold them together, any longer than, while learning and profiting with one accord, they observe the order which God has pre- scribed for the Church. It was principally for this end, as I have already stated, that the faithful under the law were com- manded to resort to the sanctuary ; because Moses not only celebrates it as the residence of God, but likewise declares it to be the place where God has fixed the record of his name ; (to) which without the doctrine of piety, he plainly suggests, would be of no use. And it is undoubtedly for the same reason that David complains, with great bitterness of soul, of being pre- vented from access to the tabernacle by the tyrannical cruelty of his enemies, (.r) To many persons perhaps this appears to be a puerile lamentation, because it could be but a very trivial loss, and not a privation of much satisfaction to be absent from the court of the temple, provided he were in the possession of other pleasures. But by this one trouble, anxiety, and sorrow, he complains that he is grieved, tormented, and almost con- sumed ; because nothing is more valued l3y believers than this assistance, by which God gradually raises his people from one degree of elevation to another. For it is also to be re- marked, that God always manifested himself to the holy fa- thers, in the mirror of his doctrine, in such a manner that their knowledge of him was spiritual. Hence the temple was not only called his /ace, but in order to guard against all su- perstition, was also designated as his footstool, {y) And this is that happy conjunction in the unity of the faith spoken of by Paul, when all, from the highest to the lowest, are aspiring towards the head. All the temples which the Gentiles erected to God with any other design, were nothing but a profanation of his worship — a crime which, though not to an equal extent, was also frequently committed by the Jews. Stephen re- («) Psalm cv. 4. (p) 2 Cor. iv. 6. (lo) Exod. xx. 24. (t.) Paalm Ixxxiv. (y) Psalm cxxxii. 7. xcix. 5. 228 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. preaches them for it in the language of Isaiah : " The Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands ; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool," (z) because God alone sanctifies temples by his word, that they may be legitimately used for his worship. And if we pre- sumptuously attempt any thing without his command, the evil beginning is immediately succeeded by further inventions, which multiply the mischief without end. Xerxes, however, acted with great indiscretion, when, at the advice of the magi, he burned or demolished all the temples of Greece, from an opinion of the absurdity that gods, to whom all space ought to be left perfectly free, should be enclosed within walls and roofs. As if it were not in the power of God to descend in any way to us, and yet at the same time not to make any change of place, or to confine us to earthly means, but rather to use them as vehicles to elevate us towards his celestial glory, which fills all things with its immensity, as well as transcends the heavens in its sublimity. VI. Now, as the present age has witnessed a violent dispute respecting the eflicacy of the ministry, some exaggerating its dignity beyond measure, and others contending that it is a criminal transfer to mortal man of what properly belongs to the Holy Spirit, to suppose that ministers and teachers penetrate the mind and heart, so as to correct the blindness of the one, and the hardness of the other, — we must proceed to a decision of this controversy. The arguments advanced on both sides may be easily reconciled by a careful observation of the passages, in which God, the Author of preaching, connecting his Spirit with it, promises that it shall be followed with success ; or those in which, separating himself from all external aids, he attributes the commencement of faith, as well as its subsequent progress, entirely and exclusively to himself The office of the second Elias, according to Malachi, was to illuminate the minds and to "turn the hearts of the fathers to the children," and the disobe- dient to the wisdom of the just, (a) Christ declares that he sent his disciples, that they " should bring forth fruit " (b) from their labours. What that fruit was, is briefly defined by Peter, when he says that we are " born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible." (c) Therefore Paul glories that he had " begotten " the Corinthians " through the gospel," and that they were " the seal of his apostleship ; " (d) and even that he was " not a minister of the letter," merely striking the ear with a vocal sound, but that the energy of the Spirit had been given to him to render his doctrine efficacious, (e) In the same sense, (2) Acts vii. 48, 49. (b) John xv. 16. (d) 1 Cor. iv. 15. ix. 2. (a) Mai. iv. 6. (c) 1 Peter i. 23. (e) 2 Cor. iii. 6. CHAP. I.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 229 he affirms, in another Epistle, that his " gospel came not in word only, but also in power." (/) He declares also to the Galatians, that they " received the Spirit by the hearing of faith." (g-) In short, there are several places, in which he not only represents himself as a ''labourer together with God," (h) but even attri- butes to himself the office of communicating salvation. He certainly never advanced all these things, in order to arrogate to himself the least praise independent of God, as he briefly states in other passages : " Our entrance in unto you was not in vain."(e) " I labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily." (k) " He that wrought eftectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles." (l) Besides, it is evident, from other places, that he leaves ministers possessed of nothing, considered in themselves : " Neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth ; but God that giveth the increase." (m) Again : "I laboured more abundantly than they all ; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." (n) And it is cer- tainly necessary to bear in memory those passages, in which God ascribes to himself the illumination of the mind and reno- vation of the heart, and thereby declares it to be sacrilege for man to arrogate to himself any share in either. Yet every one who attends with docility of mind to the ministers whom God has appointed, will learn from the beneficial effect, that this mode of teaching has not in vain been pleasing to God, and that this yoke of modesty has not without reason been imposed upon believers. VH. From what has been said, I conceive it must now be evident what judgment we ought to form respecting the Church, which is visible to our eyes, and falls under our knowledge. For we have remarked that the word Church is used in the sa- cred Scriptures in,two„s§nses. Sometimes, when they mention the Church, they intend that which is really such in the sight of God, into which none are received but those who by adoption and grace are the children of God, and by the sanctification of the Spirit are the true members of Christ. And then it comprehends not only the saints at any one time resident on earth, but all the elect who have lived from the beginning of the world. But the word Church is frequently used in the Scriptures to designate the whole multitude, dispersed all over the world, who profess to worship one God and Jesus Christ, who are initiated into his faith by baptism, who testify their unity in true doctrine and charity by a participation of the sacred supper, who consent to (/) 1 Thess. i. 5. (k) Col. i. 29. (g) Gal. iii. 2. (l) Gal. ii. 8. (A) 1 Cor. iii. 9; xv. 10. 2 Cor. vi. 1. (m) 1 Cor. iii. 7. (i) 1 Thess. ii. 1. (n) 1 Cor. xv. 10. 230 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. tho word of the Lord, and preserve the ministry which Christ has instituted for the purpose of preaching it. In this Church are inchided many hypocrites, who have nothing of Christ but the name and appearance ; many persons ambitious, avaricious, envious, slanderous, and dissohite in their lives, who are tole- rated for a time, either because they cannot be convicted by a legitimate process, or because discipline is not always maintained Avith sufficient vigour. As it is necessary, therefore, to believe that Church, which is invisible to us, and known to God alone, so this Church, which is visible to men, we are commanded to honour, and to maintain communion with it. VIII. As far, therefore, as was important for us to know it, the Lord has described it by certain marks and characters. It is the peculiar prerogative of God himself to " know them that are his," (o) as we have already stated from Paul. And to guard against human presumption ever going to such an extreme, the experience of every day teaches us how very far his secret judg- ments transcend all our apprehensions. For those who seemed the most abandoned, and were generally considered past all hope, are recalled by his goodness into the right way ; while some, who seemed to stand better than others, fall into perdition. " According to the secret predestination of God," therefore, as Augustine observes, " there are many sheep without the pale of the Church, and many wolves within." For he knows and seals those who know not either him or themselves. Of those who externally bear his seal, his eyes alone can discern who are unfeignedly holy, and will persevere to the end ; which is the completion of salvation. On the other hand, as he saw it to be in some measure requisite that we should know who ought to be considered as his children, he has in this respect accommodated himself to our capacity. And as it was not necessary that on this point we should have an assurance of faith, he has substituted in its place a judgment of charity, according to which we ought to acknowledge as members of the Church all those who by a confession of faith, an exemplary life, and a participation of the sacraments, profess the same God and Christ with ourselves. But the knowledge of the body itself being more necessary to our salvation, he has distin- guished it by more clear and certain characters. IX. Hence the visible Church rises conspicuous to our view. For wherever we find the word of God purely preached and heard, and the sacraments administered according to the insti- tution of Chfrst, th6re, it is not to be doubted, is a Church of God ; for his promise can never deceive — " where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of (o) 2 Tim. ii. 19 CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 231 them." (p) But, that we may have a clear miderstanding of the whole of this subject, let us proceed by the following steps : That the universal Church is the whole multitude, collected from all nations, who, though dispersed in countries widely distant from each other, nevertheless consent to the same truth of Divine doctrine, and are united by the bond of the same religion ; that in this universal Church are comprehended particular churches, distributed according to human necessity in various towns and villages ; and that each of these respect- ively is justly distinguished by the name and authority of a church ; and that individuals, who, on a profession of piety, are enrolled among Churches of the same description, though they are really strangers to any particular Church, do nevertheless in some respect belong to it, till they are expelled from it by a public decision. There is some difference, however, in the mode of judging respecting private persons and churches. For it may happen, in the case of persons whom we think altogether unworthy of the society of the pious, that, on account of the common consent of the Church, by which they are tolerated in the body of Christ, we may be obliged to treat them as brethreUj and to class them in the number of believers. In our private opin- ion we approve not of such persons as members of the Church, but we leave them the station they hold among the people of God, till it be taken away from them by legitimate authority. But respecting the congregation itself, we must form a different judgment. If they possess and honour the ministry of the word, and the administration of the sacraments, they are, without all doubt, entitled to be considered as a Church ; because it is certain that the word and sacraments cannot be unattended with some good effects. In this manner, we preserve the unity of the universal Church, which diabolical spirits have always been endeavouring to destroy ; and at the same time without interfering with the authority of those legitimate assemblies, which local convenience has distributed in different places. * X. We have stated that the marks by which the Church is to be distinguished, are, the preachiiig of^ the word and the administration of the sacramen^r**'Por Uiese can iiowb'efe exi§T" \vtthoutbringiiig forth TruTt', and being prospered with the blessing of God. I assert not that wherever the word is preached, the good eflects of it immediately appear ; but that it is never received so as to obtain a permanent establishment, without displaying some efficacy. However this may be, where the word is heard with reverence, and the sacraments are not neglected, there we discover, while that is the case, an appearance of the Church, which is liable to no suspicion or (p) Matt, xviii. 20. 232 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. uncertainty, of which no one can safely despise the authority, or reject the admonitions, or resist the counsels, or slight the censures, much less separate from it and break up its unity. For so highly does the Lord esteem the communion of his Church, that he considers every one as a traitor and apostate from religion, who perversely withdraws himself from any Christian society which preserves the true ministry of the word and sacraments. He commends the authority of the Church, in such a manner as to account every violation of it an infringe- ment of his own. For it is not a trivial circumstance, that the Church is called " the house of God, the pillar and ground of truth." (q) For in these words Paul signifies that in order to keep the truth of God from being lost in the world, the Church is its faithful guardian ; because it has been the will of God, by the ministry of the Church, to preserve the pure preaching of his word, and to manifest himself as our affectionate Father, while he nourishes us with spiritual food, and provides all things conducive to our salvation. Nor is it small praise, that the Church is chosen and separated by Christ to be his spouse, "not having spot or wrinkle," (r) to be "his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all." (s) Hence it follows, that a departure from the 'Church is a renunciation of God and Christ. And such a criminal dissension is so much the more to be avoided, because, while we endeavour, as far as lies in our power, to destroy the truth of God, we deserve to be crushed with the most powerful thunders of his wrath. Nor is it possible to imagine a more atrocious crime, than that sacrile- gious perfidy, which violates the conjugal relation that the only begotten Son of God has condescended to form with us. XI. Let us, therefore, diligently retain those characters im- pressed upon our minds, and estimate them according to the judgment of God. For there is nothing that Satan labours more to accomplish, than to remove and destroy one or both of them ; at one time to eiface and obliterate these marks, and so to take away all true and genuine distinction of the Church ; at* another to inspire us with contempt of them, and so to drive us out of the Church by an open separation. By his subtlety it has happened, that in some ages the pure preaching of the word has altogether disappeared ; and in the present day he is labouring with the same malignity to overturn the ministry ; which, however, Christ has ordained in his Church, so that if it were taken away, the edification of the Church would be quite at an end. How dangerous, then, how fatal is the temptation, when it even enters into the heart of a man to withdraw him- self from that congregation, in which he discovers those signs (?) 1 Tim. iii. 15. (r) Eph. v. 27. (s) Eph. i. 23. CHAP. I.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 233 and characters which the Lord has deemed sufficiently descrip- tive of his Church ! We see, however, that great caution re- quires to be observed on both sides. For, to prevent imposture from deceiving us, under the name of the Church, every con- gregation assuming this name should be brought to that proof, like gold to the touchstone. If it have the order prescribed by the Lord in the word and sacraments, it will not deceive us : we may securely render to it the honour due to all churches. On the contrary, if it pretend to the name of a Church, with- out the word and sacraments, we ought to beware of such de- lusive pretensions, with as much caution as, in the other case, we should use in avoiding presumption and pride. XII. When we affirm the pure ministry of the word, and pure order in the celebration of the sacraments, to be a suffi- cient pledge and earnest, that we may safely embrace the soci- ety in which both these are found, as a true Church, we carry the observation to this point, that such a society should never be rejected as long as it continues in those things, although in other respects it may be chargeable with many faults. It is possible, moreover, that some fault may insinuate itself into the preaching of the doctrine, or the administration of the sacra- ments, which ought not to alienate us from its communion. For all the articles of true doctrine are not of the same de- scription. Some are so necessary to be known, that they ought to be universally received as fixed and indubitable prin- ciples, as the peculiar maxims of religion ; such as, that there is one God ; that Christ is God and the Son of God ; that our salvation depends on the mercy of God ; and the like. There are others, which are controverted among the churches, yet without destroying the unity of the faith. For why should there be a division on this point, if one church be of opinion, that souls, at their departure from their bodies, are immediately removed to heaven ; and another church venture to determine nothing respecting their local situation, but be nevertheless firmly convinced, that they live to the Lord ; and if this diversity of sentiment on both sides be free from all fondness for contention and obstinacy of assertion } The lan- guage of the apostle is, " Let us therefore, as many as be per- fect, be thus minded ; and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you." (t) Does not this suffi- ciently show, that a diversity _of opinion respecting these nqn- essential ^BQi.mi§„. Plight notto be a cause of discord among Christ m^^ It is of importance, indeed, fhat we should agree in every thing ; but as there is no person who is not enveloped with some cloud of ignorance, either we must allow of no (0 Phil. iii. 15. VOL. II. 30 234 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. church at all, or we must forgive mistakes in those things, of which persons may be ignorant, without violating the essence of religion, or incurring the loss of salvation. Here I would not be understood to plead for any errors, even the smallest, or to recommend their being encouraged by connivance or flat- tery. But I maintain, that we ought not, on account of every trivial difference of sentiment, to abandon the Church, which retains the saving and pure doctrine that insures the preserva- tion of piety, and supports the use of the sacraments instituted by our Lord. In the mean time, if we endeavour to correct what we disapprove, we are acting in this case according to our duty. And to this we are encouraged by the direction of Paul : " If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace." (v) From which it appears, that every member of the Church is required to exert himself for the general edification, according to the measure of his grace, pro- vided he do it decently and in order ; that is to say, that we should neither forsake the communion of the Church, nor, by continuing in it, disturb its peace and well regulated discipline. XIII. But in bearing with imperfections of life, we ought to carry our indulgence a great deal further. For this is a point in which we &,re very liable to err. and here Satan lies in wait to deceive us with no common devices. For there have always been persons, who, fi'om a false notion of perfect sanc- tity, as if they were already become disembodied spirits, de- spised the society of all men in whom they could discover any remains of human infirmity. Such, in ancient times, were the Cathari, and also the Donatists, who approached to the same folly. Such, in the present day, are some of the Anabaptists, who would be thought to have made advances in piety beyond all others. There are others who err, more from an incon- siderate zeal for righteousness, than from this unreasonable pride. For when they perceive, that among those to whom the gospel is preached, its doctrine is not followed by corre- spondent effects in the life, they immediately pronounce, that there no church exists. This is, indeed, a very just ground of offence, and one for which we furnish more than sufficient occasion in the present unhappy age ; nor is it possible to ex- cuse our abominable inactivity, which the Lord will not suffer to escape with impunity, and which he has already begun to chastise with heavy scourges. Woe to us, therefore, who, by the dissolute licentiousness of our crimes, cause weak con- sci.accs to be wounded on our account! But, on the other hand, the error of the persons of whom we now speak, consists in not knowing how to fix any limits to their offence. For (r) 1 Cor. xiv. 30. CHAP. 1.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 233 where our Lord requires the exercise of mercy, they entirely neglect it, and indulge themselves in immoderate severity. Supposing it impossible for the Church to exist, where there is not a perfect purity and integrity of life, through a hatred of crimes they depart from the true Church, while they imagine themselves to be only withdrawing from the factions of the wicked. They allege, that the Church of Christ is holy. Bat that they may also understand, that it is composed of good and bad men mingled together, let them hear that parable from the lips of Christ, where it is compared to a net, in which fishes of all kinds are collected, and no separation is made till they are exposed on the shore, {w) Let them hear another parable, comparing the Church to a field, which, after having been sown with good seed, is, by the craft of an enemy, cor- rupted with tares, from which it is never cleared till the har- vest is brought into the barn, (x) Lastly, let them hear an- other comparison of the Church to a threshing-floor, in which the wheat is collected in such a manner, that it lies concealed under the chaff, till, after being carefully purged, by winnow- ing and sifting, it is at length laid up in the garner, (y) But if our Lord declares, that the Church is to labour under this evil, and to be encumbered with a mixture of wicked men, even till the day of judgment, it is vain to seek for a Church free from every spot. XIV. But they exclaim, that it is an intolerable thing that the pestilence of crimes so generally prevails. I grant it would be happy if the fact were otherwise ; but in reply, I would present them with the judgment of the apostle. Among the Corinthians, more than a few had gone astray, and the infec- tion had seized almost the whole society ; there was not only one species of sin, but many ; and they were not trivial faults, but dreadful crimes ; and there was not only a corruption of morals, but also of doctrine. In this case, what is the conduct of the holy apostle, the organ of the heavenly Spirit, by whose testimony the Church stands or falls ? Does he seek to sepa- rate from them ? Does he reject them from the kingdom of Christ? Does he strike them with the thunderbolt of the severest anathema? He not only does none of these things, but, on the contrary, acknowledges and speaks of them as a Church of Christ and a society of saints. If there remained a church among the Corinthians, where contentions, factions, and emulations were raging ; where cupidity, disputes, and litigations were prevailing ; where a crime held in execration even among the Gentiles, was publicly sanctioned ; where the name of Paul, whom they ought to have revered as their fa- (w) Matt. xiii. 47. (z) Matt. xiii. 24. (y) Matt. iii. 12. 236 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. ther, was insolently defamed ; where some ridiculed the doc- trine of the resurrection, with the subversion of which the whole gospel would be annihilated ; where the graces of God were made subservient to ambition, instead of charity ; where many things were conducted without decency and order; (z) and if there still remained a Church, because the ministry of the word and sacraments was not rejected — who can refuse the name of a Church to those who cannot be charged with a tenth part of those crimes ? And those who display such vio- lence and severity against the Churches of the present age, I ask, how would they have conducted themselves towards the Galatians, who almost entirely deserted the gospel, but among whom, nevertheless, the same apostle found Churches ? (a) XV. They object that Paul bitterly reproves the Corinthians for admitting an atrocious offender into their company, and follows this reproof with a general declaration, that with a man of scandalous life it is not lawful even to eat. (b) Here they exclaim. If it be not lawful to eat common bread with him, how can it be lawful to unite with him in eating the bread of the Lord ? I confess it is a great disgrace, if persons of im- moral lives occupy places among the children of God ; and if the sacred body of Christ be prostituted to them, the disgrace is vastly increased. And, indeed, if Churches be well regulated, they will not suffer persons of abandoned characters among them, nor will they promiscuously admit the worthy and the unworthy to that sacred supper. But because the pastors are not always so diligent in watching over them, and sometimes exercise more indulgence than they ought, or are prevented from exerting the severity they would wish, it happens that even those who are openly wicked are not always expelled from the society of the saints. This I acknowledge to be a fault, nor have I any inclination to extenuate it, since Paul sharply reproves it in the Corinthians. But though the Church may be deficient in its duty, it does not therefore follow that it is the place of every individual to pass judgment of separation for himself. I admit that it is the duty of a pious man to with- draw himself from all private intimacy with the wicked, and not to involve himself in any voluntary connection with them. But it is one thing to avoid familiar intercourse with the wicked ; and another thing, from hatred of them, to renounce the communion of the Church. And persons who deem it sacrilege to participate with them the bread of the Lord, are in this respect far more rigid than Paul. For when he exhorts us to a piu"e and holy participation of it, he requires not one to (z) 1 Cor. i. 11 ; iii. 3 ; v. 1 ; vi. 7 ; ix. 1 ; xiv. 26, 40 ; xv. 12. (a) Gal. i. 6) iii. 1 ; iv. 11. (b) 1 Cor. v. 2, 11, 12. CHAP. I.] CHRISTIAN RELIGTON. 237 examine another, or every one to examine the whole Church, but each individual to prove himself. If it were unlawful to communicate with an unworthy person, Paul would certainly have enjoined us to look around us, to see whether there were not some one in the multitude by whose impurity we might be contaminated. But as he only requires every one to examine himself, he shows that it is not the least injury to us if some unworthy persons intrude themselves with us. And this is fully implied in what he afterwards subjoins : " He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself." (c) He says, not to others, but to himself, and with j sufficient reason. For it ought not to be left to the judgment j of every individual loho ought to be admitted into the Church, | and who ought to be expelled from it. This authority belongs | to the whole Church, and cannot be exercised without legitimate |\ order, as will be stated more at large hereafter. It would be *' unjust, therefore, that any individual should be contaminated with the unworthiness of another, whose approach it is neither in his power nor his duty to prevent. XVI. But though this temptation sornetimes arises even to good riien, from an inconsiderate zeal for righteousness, yet we shall generally find that excessive severity is more owing to gride and haughtiness, and a false opinion whicli persons enter- tain of their own superior sanctity, Jhan to true holiness, and a real concern for its interests. Those, therefore, who are most daring in promoting a separation from the Church, and act, as it were, as standard-bearers in the revolt, have in general no other motive than to make an ostentatious display of their own superior excellence, and their contempt of all others. Augustine correctly and judiciously observes — " Whereas the pious rule and method of ecclesiastical discipline ought principally to regard the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, which the apostle enjoined to be preserved by mutual forbearance, and which not ffeing preserved, the medicinal punishment is "evinced to be not only superfluous, but even pernicious, and therefore to be no* longer medicinal ; those wicked children, who, not from a hatred of the iniquities of others, but from a fondness for their own contentions, earnestly endeavour to draw the simple and uninformed multitude wholly after them, by entangling them with boasting of their own characters, or at least to divide them ; those persons, I say, inflated with pride, infuriated with obsti- nacy, insidious in the circulation of calumnies, and turbulent in raising seditions, conceal themselves under the mask of a rigid se- verity, lest they should be proved to be destitute of the truth ; (c) 1 Cor. xi. 28, 29. 238 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. and those things which in the Holy Scriptures are commanded to be done with great moderation, and without violating the sinceri- ty of love, or breaking the unity of peace, for the correction of the faults of our brethren, they pervert to the sacrilege of schism, and an occasion of separation from the Church." To pious and peaceable persons he gives this advice : that they should correct in mercy whatever they can ; that what they cannot, they should patiently bear, and affectionately lament, till God either reform and correct it, or, at the harvest, root up the tares and sift out the chaff. All pious persons should study to fortify themselves with these counsels, lest, while they consider themselves as valiant and strenuous defenders of righteousness, they depart from the kingdom of heaven, which is the only kingdom of righteousness. For since it is the will of God that the com- munion of his Church should be maintained in this external society, those who, from an aversion to wicked men, destroy the token of that society, enter on a course in which they are in great danger of falling from the communion of saints. Let them consider, in the first p],ace, that in a great multitude there are many who escape their observation, vvho, nevertheless, are truly holy and innocent in the sight of God, ^econdlv. let them consider, tjiat ^ those who npppRr subject to moral mnln- dies^ tliere are many who by no ^-iipp"^ pTpa^^P nr flatter them- selves in their vices, but are oftentimes aroused, with a serious fear of God, to aspire to greater integrity. jThirdly. let them consider that judgment ought not to be pronounced upon a man from a single ^ct^ since the holiest persons have sometimes most ^ievous^fg,lla. Fourthly, let them consider, that the ministry i 01 tiie word, and the participation of the sacraments, have I too much influence in preserving the unity of the Church, | to admit of its being destroyed by the guilt of a few impious men. Ijpstlyj let them consider, that in forming an estimate of the Church, the judgment of God is of more weight than tjiat of man. XVII. When they allege that there must be some reason why the Church is said to be holy, it is necessary to examine the holiness in which it excels ; lest by refusing to admit the existence of a Church without absolute and sinless perfection, we should leave no Church in the world. It is true, that, as Paul tells us, " Christ loved the Church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it, by the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." (d) It is nevertheless equally true, that the Lord works from day to day in smoothing its wrinkles, and purging away its spots ; (d) Ephes. V. 25—27. CHAP. I.] CHRISTIAN RELIGTON. 239 whence it follows, that its holiness is not yet perfect. The Church, therefore, is so far holy, that it is daily improving, but has not yet arrived at perfection ; that it is daily ad- vancing, but has not yet reached the mark of holiness ; as in another part of this work will be more fully explained. The predictions of the prophets, therefore, that "Jerusalem shall be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more," and that the way of God shall be a " way of holi- ness, over which " the unclean shall not pass," (e) are not to be understood as if there were no blemish remaining in any of the members of the Church ; but because they aspire with all their souls towards perfect holiness and purity, the goodness of God attributes to them that sanctity to which they have not yet fully attained. And though such evidences of sanctification are oftentimes rarely to be found among men, yet it must be maintained, that, from the foundation of the world, there has never been a period in which God had not his Church in it ; and that, to the consummation of all things, there never will be a time in which he will not have his Church. For although, in the very beginning of time, the whole human race was corrupted and defiled by the sin of Adam ; yet, from this polluted mass, God always sanctifies some vessels to honour, so that there is no age which has not experienced his mercy. This he has testified by certain promises, such as the following : "I have made a covenant with my chosen : I have sworn unto David, my servant. Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations." (/) Again: "The Lord hath chosen Zion ; he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest for ever." (g) Again : " Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night : If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever." (h) XVIII. Of this truth Christ himself, the apostles, and almost all the prophets, have given us an example. Dreadful are those descriptions in which Isaiah, Jeremiah, Joel, Habakkuk, and others, deplore the disorders of the Church of Jerusalem. There was such general and extreme corruption in the people, in the magistrates, and in the priests, that Isaiah does not hesitate to compare Jerusalem to Sodom and Gomorrah. Religion was partly despised, partly corrupted. Their manners were gene- rally disgraced by thefts, robberies, treacheries, murders, and similar crimes. Nevertheless, the prophets on this account neither raised themselves new churches, nor built new altars (e) Joel iii. 17. Isaiah xxxv. 8. (g) Psalm cxxxii. 13, 14. (/) Psalm Ixxxix. 3, 4. (A) Jer. xxxi. 35, 36. 240 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. for the oblation of separate sacrifices ; but whatever were the characters of the people, yet because they considered that God had deposited his word among that nation, and instituted the ceremonies in which he was there worshipped, they lifted up pure hands to him even in the congregation of the impious. If they had thought that they contracted any contagion from these services, surely they would have suffered a hundred deaths rather than have permitted themselves to be dragged to them. There was nothing therefore to prevent their departure from them, but the desire of preserving the unity of the Church. But if the holy prophets were restrained by a sense of duty from forsaking the Church on account of the numerous and enormous crimes which were practised, not by a few individuals, but almost by the whole nation, — it is extreme arrogance in us, if we presume immediately to withdraw from the communion of a Church where the conduct of all the members is not com- patible either with our judgment, or even with the Christian profession. XIX. Now, what kind of an age was that of Christ and his apostles ? Yet the desperate impiety of the Pharisees, and the dissolute lives every where led by the people, could not prevent them from using thfe same sacrifices, and assembling in the same temple with others, for the public exercises of religion. How did this happen, but from a knowledge that the society of the wicked could not contaminate those who with pure consciences united with them in the same solemnities ? If any one pay no deference to the prophets and apostles, let him at least acqui- esce in the authority of Christ. Cyprian has excellently remarked, " Although tares, or impure vessels, are found in the Church, yet this is not a reason why we should withdraw from it. It only behov^es us to labour that we may be the wheat, and to use our utmost endeavours and exertions, that we may be vessels of gold or of silver. But to break in pieces the vessels of earth belongs to the Lord alone, to whom a rod of iron is also given. Nor let any one arrogate to himself what is exclusively the province of the Son of God, by pretending to fan the floor, clear away the chaff, and separate all the tares by the judgment of man. This is proud obstinacy and sacrilegious presumption, originating in a corrupt frenzy." Let these two points, then, be considered as decided ; first, that he who voluntarily deserts the external communion of the Church where the word of God is preached, and the sacraments are administered, is without any excuse ; secondly, that the faults either of few persons or of many, form no obstacles to a due profession of our faith in the use of the ceremonies instituted by God ; because the pious conscience is not wounded by the unworthiness of any other individual, whether he be a pastor or a private person j nor are CHAP. 1.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 241 the mysteries less pure and salutary to a holy and upright man, because they are received at the same time by the impure. XX. Their severity and haughtiness go to still greater lengths. Acknowledging no church but such as is pure from the smallest blemishes, they are even angry with honest teachers, because, by exhorting believers to progressive improvements, they teach them to groan under the burden of sins, and to seek for pardon all their lifetime. For hereby, they pretend, the people are drawn away from perfection. I confess, that in urging men to perfection, we ought to labour with unremitting ardour and diligence ; but to inspire their minds with a per- suasion that they have already attained it, while they are yet in the pursuit of it, I maintain to be a diabolical invention. Therefore, in the Creed, the coimmmion of saints is imme- diately followed by the forgiveness of sins, which can only be obtained by the citizens and members of the Church, as we read in the prophet, {i) The heavenly Jerusalem, therefore, ought first to be built, in which this favour of God may be enjoyed, that whoever shall enter it, their iniquity shall be blotted out. Now, I affirm that this ought first to be built ; not that there can ever be any Church without remission of sins, but because God has not promised to impart his mercy, except in the communion of saints. Our first entrance, there- fore, into the Church and kingdom of God, is the remission of sins, without which we have no covenant or union with God. For thus he speaks by the prophet : " In that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground ; and I will break the bow and the sword, and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely. And I will betroth thee unto me for ever ; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies." {k) We see how God reconciles us to himself by his mercy. So in another place, where he foretells the restoration of the people whom he had scattered in his wrath, he says, " I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me." [1] Wherefore it is by the sign of ablution, that we are initiated into the society of his Church ; by which we are taught that there is no admittance for us into the fa- mily of God, unless our pollution be first taken away by his goodness. XXI. Nor does God only once receive and adopt us into his Church by the remission of sins ; he likewise preserves and keeps us in it by the same mercy. For to what purpose would (i) Isaiah xxxiii. 24. (A:) Hos. ii. 18, 19. (/) Jerem. xxxiii. 8. VOL. II. 31 242 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. it be, if we obtained a pardon which would afterwards be of no use ? And that the mercy of the Lord would be vain and dehisive, if it were only granted for once, all pious persons can testify to themselves ; for every one of them is all his life- time conscious of many infirmities, which need the Divine mercy. And surely it is not without reason, that God particu- larly promises this grace to the members of his family, and commands the same message of reconciliation to be daily ad- dressed to them. As we carry about with us the relics of sin, therefore, as long as we live, we shall scarcely continue in the Church for a single moment, unless we are sustained by the constant grace of the Lord in forgiving our sins. But the Lord has called his people to eternal salvation ; they ought, therefore, to believe that his grace is always ready to pardon their sins. Wherefore it ought to be held as a certain conclusion, that from the Divine liberality, by the intervention of the merit of Christ, through the sanctification of the Spirit, pardon of sins has been, and is daily, bestowed upon us, who have been ad- mitted and ingrafted into the body of the Church. XXn. It was to dispense this blessing to us, that the keys were given to the. Church, {m) For, when Christ gave com- mandment to his apostles, and conferred on them the power of remitting sins, (/i) it was not with an intention that they should merely absolve from their sins those who were converted from impiety to the Christian faith, but rather that they should continually exercise this office among the faithful. This is taught by Paul, when he says, that the message of reconcilia- tion was committed to the ministers of the Church, that in the name of Christ they might daily exhort the people to be recon- ciled to God. (o) In the communion of saints, therefore, sins are continually remitted to us by the ministry of the Church, when the presbyters or bishops, to whom this office is com- mitted, confirm pious consciences, by the promises of the gospel, in the hope of pardon and remission ; and that as well publicly as privately, according as necessity requires. For there are many persons who, on account of their infirmity, stand in need of separate and private consolation. And Paul tells us that he '* taught," not only publicly, but also " from house to house, testifying repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ ; " (js) and admonished every individual separately respecting the doctrine of salvation. Here are three things, therefore, worthy of our observation. First, that whatever holiness may distinguish the children of God, yet such is their condition as long as they inhabit a mortal (m) Matt. xvi. 19; xviii. 18. (o) 2 Cor. v. 18—20. (n) John x.\. 23. {}>) Acts xx. 20, 21. CHAP. I.J CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 243 body, that they cannot stand before God without remission of sins. Secondly, that this benefit belongs to the Church ; so that we cannot enjoy it unless we continue in its communion. Thirdly, that it is dispensed to us by the ministers and pastors of the Church, either in the preaching of the gospel, or in the administration of the sacraments ; and that this is the principal exercise of the power of the keys, which the Lord has con- ferred on the society of believers. Let every one of us, there- fore, consider it as his duty, not to seek remission of sins any where but where the Lord has placed it. Of public reconcilia- tion, which is a branch of discipline, we shall speak in its proper place. XXIII. But as those fanatic spirits, of whom I spoke, en- deavour to rob the Church of this sole anchor of salvation, our consciences ought to be still more strongly fortified against such a pestilent opinion. The Novatians disturbed the ancient Churches with this tenet ; but the present age also has wit- nessed some of the Anabaptists, who resemble the Novatians by falling into the same follies. For they imagine that by baptism the people of God are regenerated to a pure and an- gelic life, which cannot be contaminated by any impurities of the flesh. And if any one be guilty of sin after baptism, they leave him no prospect of escaping the inexorable judgment of God. In short, they encourage no hope of pardon in any one who sins after having received the grace of God ; because they acknowledge no other remission of sins than that by which we are first regenerated. Now, though there is no falsehood more clearly refuted in the Scripture than this, yet because its advo- cates find persons to submit to their impositions, as Novatus formerly had numerous followers, let us briefly show how very pernicious their error is both to themselves and to others. In the first place, when the saints obey the command of the Lord by a daily repetition of this prayer, " forgive us our debts," (q) they certainly confess themselves to be sinners. Nor do they pray in vain, for our Lord has not enjoined the use of any petitions, but such as he designed to grant. And after he had declared that the whole prayer would be heard by the Father, he confirmed this absolution by a special promise. What do we want more ? The Lord requires from the saints a confession of sins, and that daily as long as they live, and he promises them pardon. What presumption is it either to assert that they are exempt from sin, or, if they have fallen, to exclude them from all grace ! To whom does he enjoin us to grant for- giveness seventy times seven times ? Is it not to our brethren ? And what was the design of this injunction, but that we might (q) Matt. vi. 13. 244 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. imitate his clemency ? He pardons, therefore, not once or twice, but as often as the sinner is alarmed with a sense of his sins, and sighs for mercy. XXIV. But to begin from tlie infancy of the Church : the patriarchs had been circumcised, admitted to the privileges of the covenant, and without doubt instructed in justice and in- tegrity by the care of their father, when they conspired to murder their brother. This was a crime to be abomhiated even by the most desperate and abandoned robbers. At length, softened by the admonitions of Judah, they sold him for a slave. This also was an intolerable cruelty. Simon and Levi, in a spirit of nefarious revenge, condemned even by the judg- ment of their father, murdered the inhabitants of Sichem. Reuben was guilty of execrable incest with his father's concu- bine, Judah, with an intention of indulging a libidinous passion, violated the law of nature by a criminal connection with his son's wife. Yet they are so far from being expunged out of the number of the chosen people, that, on the contrary, they are constituted the heads of the nation, (r) What shall we say of David ? Though he was the official guardian of justice, how scandalously did he prepare the way for the grati- fication of a blind passion , by the effusion of innocent blood ! He had already been regenerated, and among the regenerate had been distinguished by the peculiar commendations of the Lord ; yet he perpetrated a crime even among heathens re- garded with horror, and yet he obtained mercy, (s) And not to dwell any longer on particular examples, the numerous promises which the law and the prophets contain, of Divine mercy towards the Israelites, are so many proofs of the mani- festation of God's placability to the offeiices of his people. For what does Moses promise to the people in case of their return to the Lord, after having fallen into idolatry ? " Then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee." (/) XXV. But I am unwilling to commence an enumeration which would have no end. For the prophets are full of such promises, which offer mercy to the people, though covered with innumerable crimes. What sin is worse than rebellion ? It is described as a divorce between God and the Church : yet this is overcome by the goodness of God. Hear his language by the mouth of Jeremiah : " If a man put away his wife, and (r) Gen. xxxvii. 18,28; xxxiv. 25; xxxv. 22; xxxviii. 16. (s) 2 Sam. xi. 4, 15 ; xii. 13. (t) Deut. xxx. 3, 4 CHAP. I.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 245 she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again ? Shall not that land be greatly polluted ? But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers, and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wicked- ness. Yet return again to me, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord, and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you ; for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and will not keep anger for ever." (v) And surely there cannot possibly be any other dis- position hi him who affirms, that he " hath no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live." (w) Therefore, when Solomon dedicated the temple, he appointed it also for this purpose, that prayers, offered to obtain pardon of sins, might there be heard and answered. His words are, " If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near ; yet if they shall be- think themselves, and repent in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent and make supplication unto thee in the land of those that carried them captives, saying. We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wicked- ness ; and pray unto thee toward the land which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name ; then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven, and forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee." (x) Nor Avas it without cause that in the law- the Lord ordained daily sacrifices for sins ; for unless he had foreseen that his people would be subject to the maladies of daily sins, he would never have ap- pointed these remedies, (y) XXVI. Now, I ask whether, by the advent of Christ, in whom the fulness of grace was displayed, believers have been deprived of this benefit, so that they can no longer presume to supplicate for the pardon of their sins ; so that if they offend against the Lord, they can obtain no mercy. What would this be but to affirm, that Christ came for the destruction of his people, and not for their salvation ; if the loving-kindness of God, in the pardon of sins, which was continually ready to be exercised to the saints under the Old Testament, be maintained to be now entirely withdrawn ? But if we give any credit to the Scriptures, which proclaim that in Christ the grace and philanthropy of God have at length been fully manifested, that his mercy has been abundantly diffused, and reconciliation (r) Jer. iii. 1, 2, 12. (z) 1 Kings viii. 46—50. (w) Ezek.xxxiii.il. (y) Numb, xxviii. 3. 246 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. between God and man accomplished, (z) we ought not to doubt that the clemency of oiu" heavenly Father is displayed to us in greater abundance, rather than restricted or diminished. Examples to prove this are not wanting. Peter, who had been warned that he who would not confess the name of Christ be- fore men would be denied by him before angels, denied him three times in one night, and accompanied the denial with execrations ; yet he was not refused pardon, (a) Those of the Thessalonians who led disorderly lives, are reprehended by the apostle, in order to be invited to repentance, (b) Nor does Peter drive Simon Magus himself to despair ; but rather directs him to cherish a favourable hope, when he persuades him to pray for forgiveness, (c) XXVII. What are we to say of cases in which the most enormous sins have sometimes seized whole Churches ? From this situation Paul rather mercifully reclaimed them, than aban- doned them to the curse. The defection of the Galatians was no trivial offence, (d) The Corinthians were still less excusable, their crimes being more numerous and equally enormous, (e) Yet neither are excluded from the mercy of the Lord : on the contrary, the very persons who had gone beyond all others in impurity, unchastity, and fornication, are expressly invited to repentance. For the covenant of the Lord will ever remain eternal and inviolable, which he has made with Christ, the antitype of Solomon, and with all his members, in these words : " If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments ; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments ; then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their ini- quity with stripes. Nevertheless my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him." (/) Finally, the order of the Creed i teaches us that pardon of sins ever continues in the Church of | Christ, because, after having mentioned the Church, it imme- '^ diately adds the forgiveness of sins. f XXVIII. Some persons, who are a little more judicious, perceiving the notion of Novatus to be so explicitly contradicted by the Scripture, do not represent every sin as unpardonable, but only voluntary transgression, into which a person may have fallen with the full exercise of his knowledge and will. These persons admit of no pardon for any sins, but such as may have been the mere errors of ignorance. But as the Lord, in the law, commanded some sacrifices to be otfered to expiate the voluntary sins of believers, and others to atone for sins of ignorance, what extreme presumption is it to deny that there (2) 2 Tim. i. 9, 10. Tit. ii. 11 ; iii. 4—7. (fl) Matt. X. 33. Mark viii. 38. Matt. xxvi. 69, &c. (6) 2 Thess. iii. 6, 11, 12. (c) Acts viii. 22. (rf) Gal. i. C ; iii. 1 ; iv. 9. (e) 1 Cor. i. 11, 12 ; v. 1. 2 Cor. xii. 21. (/) Psalm Ixxxix. 30—33. CHAP. I.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 247 is any pardon for voluntary transgression ! I maintain, that there is nothing more evident, than that the one sacrifice of Christ is available for the remission of the voluntary sins of the saints, since the Lord has testified the same by the legal vic- tims, as by so many types. Besides, who can plead ignorance as an excuse for David, who was evidently so well acquainted with the law ? Did not David know that adultery and murder were great crimes, which he daily punished in others ? Did the patriarchs consider fratricide as lawful ? Had the Corin- thians learned so little that they could imagine impurity, incon- tinence, fornication, animosities, and contentions, to be pleasing to God ? Could Peter, who had been so carefully warned, be ignorant how great a crime it was to abjure his Master? Let us not, therefore, by our cruelty; shut the gate of mercy which God has so liberally opened. XXIX. I am fully aware that the old writers have explained those sins, which are daily forgiven to believers, to be the smaller faults, which are inadvertently committed through the infirmity of the flesh ; but solemn repentance, which was then required for greater ofl!"ences, they thought, was no more to be repeated than baptism. This sentiment is not to be understood as indicating their design, either to drive into despair such per- sons as had relapsed after their first repentance, or to extenuate those errors, as if they were small in the sight of God. For they knew that the saints frequently stagger through unbelief; that they sometimes utter unnecessary oaths ; that they occasionally swell into anger, and even break out into open reproaches ; and that they are likewise chargeable with other faults, which the Lord holds in the greatest abomination. They expressed themselves in this manner, to distinguish between private of- fences and those public crimes which were attended with great scandal in the Church. But the difficulty, which they made, of forgiving those who had committed any thing deserving of ecclesiastical censure, did not arise from an opinion that it was difficult for them to obtain pardon from the Lord ; they only intended by this severity to deter others from rashly running into crimes, which would justly be followed by their exclusion from the communion of the Church. The word of the Lord, however, which ought to be our only rule in this case, certainly prescribes greater moderation. For it teaches, that the rigour of discipline ought not to be caji'ried to such an extent, as to overwhelm with sorrow the person whose benefit we are re- quired to regard as its principal object ; as we have before shown more at large. 248 INSTITUTES OF THE [BOOK IV. CHAPTER II. THE TRUE AND FALSE CHURCH COMPARED. We have already stated the importance which we ought to attach to the ministry of the word and sacraments, and the ex- tent to which our reverence for it ought to he carried, so as to account it a perpetual mark and characteristic of the Church. That is to say, that wherever that exists entire and uncorrupted, no errors and irregularities of conduct form a sufficient reason for refusing the name of a Church. In the next place, that the ministry itself is not so far vitiated by smaller errors, as to be considered on that account less legitimate. It has further been shown, that the errors which are entitled to this forgiveness are those by which the grand doctrine of religion is not injured, which do not suppress the points in which all believers ought to agree as articles of faith, and which, in regard to the sa- craments, neither abolish nor subvert the legitimate institution of their Author. But as soon as falsehood has made a breach in the fundamentals of religion, and the system of necessary doctrine is subverted, and the use of the sacraments fails, the certain consequence is the ruin of the Church, as there is an end of a man's life when his throat is cut, or his heart is mor- tally wounded. And this is evident from the language of Paul, when he declares the Church to be " built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone." (A) If the foundation of the Church be the doctrine of the prophets and apostles, which enjoins be- lievers to place their salvation in Christ alone, how can the edifice stand any longer, when that doctrine is taken away ? The Church, therefore, must of necessity fall, where that sys- tem of religion is subverted which alone is able to sustain it. Besides, if the true Church be " the pillar and ground of truth," (i) that certainly can be no Church where J^^^ falsehood have usurped the domiiiioii/ "' ■ 'tl."' As this is the state of things under the Papacy, it is easy to judge how much of the Church remains there. Instead of the ministry of the word, there reigns a corrupt government, composed of falsehoods, by which the pure light is suppressed or extinguished. An execrable sacrilege has been substituted for the supper of the Lord. The worship of God is deformed by a multifarious and intolerable mass of superstitions. The doctrine, without which Christianity cannot exist, has been (/<) Ephes. ii. 20 (0 1 Tim. iii. 15. CHAP. II.] CHRISTIAN KELIGION. 249 entirely forgotten or exploded. The public assemblies have become schools of idolatry and impiety. In withdrawing our- selves, therefore, from the pernicious participation of so many enormities, there is no danger of separating ourselves from the Church of Christ. The communion of the Church was not instituted as a bond to confine us in idolatry, impiety, ignorance of God, and other evils ; but rather as a mean to preserve us in the fear of God, and obedience of the truth. I know that the Papists give us the most magnificent commen- dations of their Church, to make us believe that there is no other in the world ; and then, as if they had gained their point, they conclude all who dare to withdraw themselves from that Church which they describe, to be schismatics, and pronounce all to be heretics who venture to open their mouths in opposi- tion to its doctrine. But by what reasons do they prove theirs to be the true Church ? They allege from ancient records what formerly occurred in Italy, in France, in Spain ; that they are descended from those holy men, who by sound doctrine founded and raised the Churches in these countries, and con- firmed their doctrine and the edification of the Church by their blood ; and that the Church, thus consecrated among them, both by spiritual gifts, and by the blood of martyrs, has been preserved by a perpetual succession of bishops, that it might never be lost. They allege the importance attached to this succession by Irenaius, Tertullian, Origen, Augustine, and others. To those who are willing to attend me in a brief examination of these allegations, I will clearly show that they are frivolous, and manifestly ridiculous. I would likewise ex- hort those who advance them, to pay a serious attention to the subject, if I thought my arguments could produce any effect upon them ; but as their sole object is to promote their own interest by every method in their power, without any regard to truth, I shall content myself with making a few observations, with which good men, and inquirers after truth, may be able to answer their cavils. In the first place, I ask them, why they allege nothing respecting Africa, and Egypt, and all Asia. It is because, in all those countries, there has been a failure of this sacred succession of bishops, by virtue of which they boast that the Church has been preserved among them. They come to this point, therefore, that they have the true Church, be- cause from its commencement it has never been destitute of bishops, for that some have been succeeded by others in an uninterrupted series. But what if I oppose them with the ex- ample of Greece ? I ask them again, therefore, why they assert that the Church has been lost among the Greeks, among whom there has never been any interruption of that succession of bishops, which they consider as the sole guard and preservative VOL. II. 32 250 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. of the Church ? They call the Greeks schismatics. For what reason? Because, it is pretended, they have lost their privi- lege by revolting from the Apostolical see. But do not they much more deserve to lose it, who have revolted from Christ himself? It follows, therefore, that their plea of uninterrupted succession is a vain pretence, unless the truth of Christ, which was transmitted from the fathers, be permanently retained pure and uncorrupted by their posterity. III. The pretensions of the Romanists^, therefore, in the present day, are no other than thdse'vvhich appear to have been formerly set up by the Jews, when they were reproved by the prophets of the Lord for blindness, impiety, and idolatry. For as the Jews boasted of" the temple, the' ceremonies^ and the priesthood, in which things they firmly believed the Church to consist ; so, instead of the Church, the Papists produce certain external forms, which are often at a great distance from the Church, and are not at all necessary to its existence. Wherefore we need no other argument to refute them, than that which was urged by Jeremiah against that foolish confidence of the Jews: " Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, are these." (k) For the Lord acknowledges no place as his temple, where his word is not heard and devoutly observed. So, though the glory of God resided between the cherubim in the sanctuary, and he had promised his people that he would make it his permanent seat, yet when the priests had corrupted his wor- ship by perverse superstitions, he departed, and left the place without any sanctity. If that temple which appeared to be consecrated to the perpetual residence of God, could be forsaken and desecrated by him, there can be no reason for their pre- tending that God is so attached to persons or places, or confined to external observances, as to be constrained to remain among those who have nothing but the name and appearance of the Church. And this is the argument which is maintained by Paul in the Epistle to the Romans, from the ninth chapter to the twelfth. For it had violently disturbed weak consciences, to observe that, while the Jews appeared to be the people of God, they not only rejected, but also persecuted, the doctrine of the gospel. Therefore, after having discussed that doctrine, he removes this difficulty ; and denies the claim of those Jews, who were enemies of the truth, to be considered as the Church, though in other respects they wanted nothing that could be requisite to its external form. And the only reason for this denial was, because they did not receive Christ. He speaks rather more explicitly in the Epistle to the Galatians, (I) where, (k) Jer. vii. 4. (/) Gal. iv. CHAP, II.J CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 251 in a comparison between Ishmael and Isaac, he represents many as occupying a place in the Churcli, who have no right to the inheritance, because they are not the children of a free mother. Hence he proceeds to a contrast of the two Jerusalems, because as the law was given on Mount Sinai, but the gospel came forth from Jerusalem, so many who have been born and edu- cated in bondage, confidently boast of being the children of God and of the Church, and though they are themselves a spurious offspring, look down with contempt on his genuine and legiti- mate children. But as for us, on the contrary, who have once heard it proclaimed from heaven, "Cast out the bondwoman and her son," let us confide in this inviolable decree, and reso- lutely despise their ridiculous pretensions. For if they pride themselves on an external profession, Ishmael also was circum- cised. If they depend on antiquity, he was the first born. Yet we see that he was rejected. If the cause of this be in- quired, Paul tells us that none are accounted children but those who are born of the pure and legitimate seed of the word, (w) According to this reason, the Lord declares that he is not con- fined to impious priests, because he had made a covenant with their father Levi to be his angel or messenger, {n) He even retorts on them their false boasting, with which they were accustomed to oppose the prophets, that the dignity of the priesthood ought to be held in peculiar estimation. This he readily admits, and argues with them on this ground, because he was prepared to observe the covenant, whereas they failed of discharging the correspondent obligations, and therefore de- served to be rejected. See, then, what such succession is worth, unless it he connected with a continual imitation and conformity. Without this, the descendants, who are convicted of a departure from their predecessors, must immediately be deprived of all honour ; unless, indeed, because Caiaphas was the successor of many pious priests, and there had been an uninterrupted series even from Aaron to him, that execrable assembly be deemed worthy to be called the Church. But it would not be tolerated even in earthly governments, that the tyranny of Caligula, Nero, Heliogabalus, and others, should be called the true state of the republic, because they succeeded the Bruti, the Scipios, and the Camilli. But in regard to the government of the Church, nothing can be more frivolous than to place the succession in the persons, to the neglect of the doctrine. And nothing was further from the intentions of the holy doctors, whose authority they falsely obtrude upon us, than to prove that Churches existed by a kind of hereditary right, wherever there has been a constant succession of bishops. (jn) Rom. ix. 6—8. (n) Mai. ii. 1—9. 252 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. But as it was beyond all doubt that, from the beginning even down to their times, no change had taken place in the doctrine, they assumed, what would suffice for the confutation of all new errors, that they were repugnant to the doctrine which had been constantly and unanimously maintained even from the days of the apostles. They will gain nothing, therefore, by persisting to disguise themselves under the name of the Church. The Church we regard with becoming reverence ; but when they come to the definition, they are miserably embarrassed, for they substitute an execrable harlot in the place of the holy spouse of Christ. That we may not be deceived by such a sub- stitution, beside other admonitions, let us remember this of Au- gustine ; for, speaking of the Church, he says, " It is sometimes obscured and beclouded by a multitude of scandals ; sometimes it appears quiet and unmolested in a season of tranquillity, and is sometimes disturbed and overwhelmed with the waves of tribulations and temptations.'' He produces examples, that those who were its firmest pillars, have either undauntedly suf- fered banishment on account of the faith, or secluded them- selves from all society. IV. In the same manner, the Romanists in the present day harass us, and terrify ignorant persons with the name of the Church, though there are no greater enemies to Christ than themselves. Although they may pretend therefore to the temple, the priesthood, and other similar forms, this vain glitter, which dazzles the eyes of the simple, ought by no means to induce us to admit the existence of a Church, where we cannot discover the word of God. For this is the perpetual mark by which our Lord has characterized his people : " Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice." (o) And, "I am the good Shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine." "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." He had just before said, " The sheep follow their shepherd ; for they know his voice : and a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers." (p) Why, then, do we wilfully run into error informing a judgment of the Church, since Christ has designated it by an unequivocal character, that wherever it is discovered, it infallibly assures us of the existence of a Church, and wherever it is wanting, there is no real evidence of a Church left. For Paul de- clares the Church to be founded, not upon the opinions of men, not upon the priesthood, but upon the "doctrine o( the apostles and prophets." (, 14, 27. (q) Ephes. ii. 20. CHAP. II.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 253 them from each other : " He that is of God, heareth God's words ; ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God." (r) In fine, as the Church is the kingdom of Christ, and he reigns only by his word, can any person doubt the falsehood of those pretensions, which represent the kingdom of Christ as destitute of his sceptre, that is, of his holy word ? V. With respect to the charge which they bring against us of heresy and schism, because we preach a different doctrine from theirs, and submit not to their laws, and hold separate as- semblies for prayers, for baptism, for the administration of the Lord's supper, and other sacred exercises, it is indeed a most heavy accusation, but such as by no means requires a long or la- borious defence. The appellations of heretics and schismatics are applied to persons who cause dissension, and destroy the com- munion of the Church. Now, this communion is preserved by two bonds — agreement in sound doctrine, and brotherly love. Between heretics and schismatics, therefore, Augustine makes the following distinction — that the former corrupt the purity of the faith by false doctrines, and that the latter break the bond of affection, sometimes even while they retain the same faith. But it is also to be remarked, that this miion of affection is dependent on the unity of faith, as its foundation, end, and rule. Let us remember, therefore, that, whenever the unity of the Church is enjoined upon us in the Scripture, it is required, that, while our minds hold the same doctrines in Christ, our wills should likewise be united in mutual benevolence in Christ. Therefore, Paul, when he exhorts us to it, assumes as a founda- tion, that there is "one Lord, one faith, and one baptism." (s) And when he inculcates our being " like-minded, and having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind," (t) he im- mediately adds, that this should be in Christ, or according to Christ ; signifying that all union which is formed without the word of the Lord, is a faction of the impious, and not an asso- ciation of believers. VI. Cyprian, also, after the example of Paul, deduces the origin of all ecclesiastical concord from the supreme bishopric of Christ. He afterwards subjoins, " There is bat one Church, which is widely extended into a multitude by the offspring of its fertility ; just as there are many rays of the sun, but the light is one ; and a tree has many branches, but only one trunk, fixed on a firm root. And when many rivers issue from one source, though by its exuberant abundance the stream is mul- tiplied into numerous currents, yet the unity of the fountain still remains. Separate a ray from the body of the sun, and its unity sustains no division. Break off a branch from a tree, and the broken branch can never bud. Cut off a river from the (r) John viii. 47. {s) Ephes. iv. 5. (f) Phil. ii. 2, 5. 254 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. source, and it immediately dries up. So the Church, overspread with the hght of tlie Lord, is extended over the whole world : yet it is one and the same light which is universally diffused." No representation could be more elegant to express that insepa- rable connection which subsists between all the members of Christ. We see how he continually recalls us to the fountain- head. Therefore he pronounces the origin of heresies and schisms to be, that men neither return to the source of truth, nor seek the Head, nor attend to the doctrine of the heavenly Master. Now, let the Romanists exclaim that we are heretics, because we have withdrawn from their church ; while tbe sole cause of our secession has been, that theirs cannot possibly be the pure profession of the tnith. I say nothing of their having expelled us with anathemas and execrations. But this reason is more than sufficient for our exculpation, unless they are determined to pronounce sentence of schism also against the apostles, with whom we have but one common cause. Christ, I say, foretold to his apostles, that for his name's sake they should be cast out of the synagogues, (v) Now, those syna- gogues, of which he spoke, were then accounted legitimate Churches. Since it is evident, then, that we have been cast out, and we are prep.ared to prove that this has been done for the name of Christ, it is necessary to inquire into the cause, before any thing be determined respecting us, either on one side or the other. But this point I readily relinquish to them. It is sufficient for me that it was necessary for us to withdraw from them, in order to approach to Christ. VII. But it will be still more evident, in what estimation we ought to hold all the Churches who have submitted to the tyranny of the Roman pontiff, if we compare them with the ancient Church of Israel, as delineated by the prophets. There was a true Church among the Jews and the Israelites, while they continued to observe the laws of the covenant ; because they then obtained from the favour of God those things which constitute a Church. They had the doctrine of truth in the law ; the ministry of it was committed to the priests and prophets ; they were initiated into the Church by the sign of circumcision ; and were exercised in other sacraments for the confirmation of their faith. There is no doubt that the com- mendations, with which the Lord has honoured his Church, truly belonged to their society. But after they deserted the law of the Lord, and fell into idolatry and superstition, they partly lost this privilege. For wlio would dare to refuse the title of a Church to those among whom God deposited the preaching of his word, and the observance of his mysteries ? (») John xvi. 2. CHAP. II.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 255 On the other hand, who would dare to give the appellation of a Church, without any exception, to that society, where the word of God is openly and fearlessly trampled under foot ; where its ministry, the principal sinew, and even the soul of the Church, is discontinued ? VIII. What, then, it will be said, was there no particle of a Church left among the Jews from the moment of their defection to idolatry ? The answer is easy. In the first place, I observe, that in this defection there were several degrees. Nor will we maintain the fall of Judah, and that of Israel, to have been ex- actly the same, at the time when they both began to depart from the pure worship of God. When Jeroboam made the calves, in opposition to the express prohibition of God, and dedicated a place which it was not lawful to use for the oblation of sacrifices, in this case religion was totally corrupted. The Jews polluted themselves with practical impieties and supersti- tions, before they made any unlawful changes in the external forms of religion. For though they generally adopted many corrupt ceremonies in the time of Rehoboam, yet as the doctrine of the law, and the priesthood, and the rites which God had instituted, were still preserved at Jerusalem, believers had in that kingdom a tolerable form of a Church. Among the Israelites, there was no reformation down to the reign of Ahab, and in his time there was an alteration for the worse. Of the succeeding kings, even to the subversion of the kingdom, some resembled Ahab, and others, who would be a little better, followed the example of Jeroboam ; but all, without exception, were impious idolaters. In Judah there were various changes; some kings corrupted the worship of God with false and groundless superstitions, and others restored religion from its abuses ; till, at length, the priests themselves polluted the temple of God with idolatrous and abominable rites. IX. Now, however the Papists may extenuate their vices, let them deny, if they can, that the state of religion is as corrupt and depraved among them, as it was in the kingdom of Israel, in the time of Jeroboam. But they practise a grosser idolatry, and their doctrine is equally, if not more, impure. God is my witness, and all men who are endued with moderate judgment, and the fact itself declares, that in this I am guilty of no exag- geration. Now, when they try to drive us into the communion of their Church, they require two things of us — first, that we should communicate in all their prayers, sacraments, and cere- monies ; secondly, that whatever honour, power, and jurisdic- tion, Christ has conferred upon his Church, we should attribute the same to theirs. With respect to the first point, I confess that the prophets who were at Jerusalem, when the state of affairs there was very corrupt, neither offered up sacrifices apait 256 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. from others, iior held separate assemhlies for prayer. For they had the express command of God, that they were to assemble in the temple of Solomon ; and they knew that the Levitical priests, because they had been ordained by the Lord as min- isters of the sacrifices, and had not been deposed, however unworthy they might be of such honour, still retained the lawful possession of that place. But, what is the principal point of the whole controversy, they were not constrained to join in any superstitious worship ; on the contrary, they en- gaged in no service that was not of Divine institution. But what resemblance is there to this among the Papists ? We can scarcely assemble with them on a single occasion, without polluting ourselves with open idolatry. The principal bond of their com- munion is certainly the mass, which we abominate as the greatest sacrilege. Whether we are right or wrong in this, will be seen in another place. It is sufficient, at present, to show that, in this respect, our case is different from that of the prophets, who, though they were present at the sacrifices of impious persons, were never compelled to use, or to witness, any ceremonies but those which God had instituted. And if we wish to have an example entirely similar, we must take it from the kingdom of Israel. According to the regulations of Jeroboam, circumcision continued, sacrifices were offered, the law was regarded as sacred, the people invoked the same God whom their fathers had worshipped ; yet, on account of novel cere- monies invented in opposition to the Divine prohibitions, God disapproved and condemned all that was done there. Show me a single prophet, or any pious man, wiio even once worshipped or offered sacrifice at Bethel. They knew that they could not do it without contaminating themselves with sacrilege. We have established this point, therefore, that the attachment of pious persons to the communion of the Church, ought not to be carried to such an extent, as to oblige them to remain in it, if it degenerated into profane and impure rites. X. But against their second requisition, we contend upon still stronger ground. For if the Church be held in such considera- tion that we are required to revere its judgment, to obey its au- thority, to receive its admonitions, to fall under its censures, and scrupulously and uniformly to adhere to its communion, we cannot allow their claim to the character of the Church, without necessarily obliging ourselves to subjection and obe- dience. Yet we readily concede to them what the prophets conceded to the Jews and Israelites of their time, when things among them were in a similar-, or even in a better state. But we see how they frequently exclaim, that their assemblies were iniquitous meetings, (w) a concurrence in which were as crimi- (?r) Isaiah i. 13, 14. CHAP. II.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 257 nal as a renunciation of God. And certainly, if those assemolies were Churches, it follows that Elijah, Micaiah, and others in Israel, were strangers to the Church of God ; and the same would be true of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, and others of that description in Judah, whom the false prophets, priests, and people of their day, hated and execrated as if they had been worse than any heathens. If such assemblies were Churches, then the Church is not the pillar of truth, but a foundation of falsehood, not the sanctuary of the living God, but a receptacle of idols. They found themselves under a necessity, therefore, of with- drawing from all connection with those assemblies, which were nothing but a conspiracy against God. For the same reason. if any one acknowledges the assemblies of the present day. which are contaminated with idolatry, superstition, and false doctrine, as true Churches, in fall communion with which a Christian man ought to continue, and in whose doctrine he ought to coincide, this will be a great error. For if they be Churches, they possess the power of the keys ; but the keys are insepa- rably connected with the word, which is exploded from among them. Again, if they be Churches, that promise of Christ must be applicable to them — " Wliatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (x) On the contrary, all who sincerely profess themselves to be the servants of Christ, they expel from their communion. Either, therefore, the promise of Christ must be vain, or in this respect they are not Churches. Lastly, instead of the ministry of the word, they have schools of impiety, and a gulf of every species of errors. Either, therefore, in this respect they are not Churches, or no mark will be left to distinguish the legitimate assemblies of believers from the conventions of Turks. XL Nevertheless, as in former times the Jews continued in possession of some peculiar privileges of the Church, so we refuse not to acknowledge, among the Papists of the present day, those vestiges of the Church which it has pleased the liOrd should remain among them after its removal. When God had once made his covenant with the Jews, it continued among them, rather because it was supported by its own stability in opposition to their impiety, than in consequence of their observance of it. Such, therefore, was the certainty and con- stancy of the Divine goodness, the covenant of the Ijord remained among them ; his faithfulness could not be obliterated by their perfidy ; nor could circumcision be so profaned by their impure hands, but that it was always the true sign and sacra- ment of his covenant. Hence the children that were born (x) Matt, xviii. 18. VOL. II. 33 258 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. to them, God calls his own, {y) though they could not have belonged to him but by a special benediction. So after he had deposited his covenant in France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and England, when those countries were oppressed by the tyranny of Antichrist, still, in order that the covenant might remain in- violable, as a testimony of that covenant, he preserved baptism among them, which, being consecrated by his lips, retains its virtue in opposition to all the impiety of men. He also, by his providence, caused other vestiges of the Church to remain, that it might not be entirely lost. And as buildings are frequently demolished in such a manner as to leave the foundations and ruins remaining, so the Lord has not suffered Antichrist either to subvert his Church from the foundation, or to level it with the ground ; though, to punish the ingratitude of men who despised his word, he has permitted a dreadful concussion and dilapidation to be made ; yet, amidst this devastation, he has been pleased to preserve the edifice from being entirely destroyed. XII. While we refuse, therefore, to allow to the Papists the title of the Church, without any qualification or restriction, we do not deny that there are Churches among them. We only con- tend for the true and legitimate constitution of the Church, which requires not only a communion in the sacraments, which are the signs of a Christia'n profession, but above all, an agreement in doctrine. Daniel and Paul had predicted that Antichrist would sit in the temple of God. {z) The head of that cursed and abominable kingdom, in the Western Church, we affirm to be the Pope. When his seat is placed in the temple of God, it suggests, that his kingdom will be such, that he will not abolish the name of Christ, or the Church. Hence it appears, that we by no means deny that Churches may exist, even under his tyranny ; but he has profaned them by sacrilegious impiety, afiiicted them by cruel despotism, corrupted and almost termi- nated their existence by false and pernicious doctrines, like poi- sonous potions ; in such Churches, Christ lies half buried, the gospel is suppressed, piety exterminated, and the \vorship of God almost abolished ; in a word, they are altogether in such a state of confusion, that they exhibit a picture of Babylon, rather than of the holy city of God. To conclude, I affirm that they are Churches, inasmuch as God has wonderfully preserved among them a remnant of his people, though miserably dispersed and dejected, and as there still remain some marks of the Church, especially those, the efficacy of which neither the craft of the devil nor the malice of men can ever destroy. But, on the other hand, because those marks, which we ought chiefly to regard in (y) Ezek. xiv. 20. (2) Dan. ix. 27. 2 Thess. ii. 3, 4. CHAP. Ill ] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 259 this controversy, are obliterated, I affirm, that the form of the legitimate Chm-ch is not to be found either in any one of their congregations, or in the body at large. CHAPTER III. THE TEACHERS AND MINISTERS OF THE CHURCH) THEIR ELEC- TION AND OFFICE. We must now treat of the order which it has been the Lord's will to appoint for the government of his Church. For although he alone ought to rule and reign in the Church, and to have all preeminence in it, and this government ought to be exercised and administered solely by his word, — yet, as he dwells not among us by a visible presence, so as to make an audible de- claration of his will to us, we have stated, that for this purpose he uses the ministry of men whom he employs as his delegates, not to transfer his right and honour to them, but only that he may himself do his work by their lips ; just as an artificer makes use of an instrument in the performance of his work. Some observations which I have made already, are necessary to be repeated here. It is true that he might do this either by himself, without any means or instruments, or even by angels ; but there are many reasons why he prefers making use of men. For, in the first place, by this method he declares his kindness towards us, since he chooses from among men those w:ho. are to be his ambassadors to^the, ,w^ be the interpreters of Ins secret will, and even to act as his personal representatives. And thus he affords an actual proof, that when he so fre- quently calls us his temples, it is not an unmeaning appel- lation, since he gives answers to men, even from the mouths of men, as from a sanctuary. In the second place, this is a most excellent and beneficial method to train us to humility, since he accustoms us to obey his word, though it is preached to us by men like ourselves, and sometimes even of inferior rank. If he were himself to speak from heaven, there would be no wonder if his sacred oracles were instantly received with reverence, by the ears and hearts of all mankind. For who would not be awed by his present power ? who would not fall prostrate at the first view of infinite Majesty ? who would not be confounded by that overpowering splendour ? But when a contemptibTe mortal, who had just emerged from the dust, addresses us in the name of God, we give the best 260 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. evidence of our piety and reverence towards God himself, if we readily submit.J:5^be instructed by his ixij.nister^.whp_possesses no personal superiorityTo"ouT:seTves. For this reason, also, he has deposited the treasure of liis heavenly wisdom in frail and earthen vessels, (a) in order to afford a better proof of the estimation in which we hold it. Besides, nothing was more adapted to promote brotherly love, than a mutual connection of men by this bond, while one is constituted the pastor to teach all the rest, and they who are commanded to be disci- ples, receive one common doctrine from the same mouth. For if each person were sufficient for himself, and had no need of the assistance of another, such is the pride of human nature, every one would despise others, and would also be despised by them. The Lord, therefore, has connected his Church together, by that which he foresaw would be the strongest bond for the preservation of their union, when he committed the doctrine of eternal life and salvation to men, that by their hands it might be communicated to others, Paul had this in view when he wrote to the Ephesians, " There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling ; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christy Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth ? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave some, apostles ; and some, prophets ; and some, evangelists ; and some, pastors and teachers ; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ ; till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the know- ledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the mea- sure of the stature of the fulness of Christ ; that we hence- forth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cun- ning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive ; but, speak- ing the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ ; from whom the whole body fitly joined together, and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the efiectual working in the measure of every ])art, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love." (b) II. In this passage he shows that the ministry of meiL which (fl) 2 Cor. iv. 7. {!>) Eph. iv. 4—16. CHAP. III.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 261 God employs in his government of the Church, is the principal bond which holds behevers together in one bod^j. He also indicates that the C^hnrch cannot be preserved in perfect safety, miless it be supported by these means which God has been pleased to appoint for its preservation. Christ, he says, " as- cended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things." (c) And this is the way in which he does it. By means of his ministers, to whom he has committed this office, and on whom he has bestowed grace to discharge it, he dispenses and distri- butes his gifts to the Church, and even affords some manifesta- tion of his own presence, by exerting the power of his Spirit in this his institution, that it may not be vain or ineffectual. Thus is the restoration of the saints effected ; thus is the body of Christ edified ; thus we grow up unto him who is our Head in all things, and are united with "each other ; thus we are all brought to the unity of Christ ; if prophecy flourishes among us, if we receive the apostles, if we despise not the doctrine which is delivered to us. Whoever, therefore, either aims to abolish or undervalue this order, of which we are treating, and this species of government, attempts to disorganize the Church, or rather to subvert and destroy it altogether. For neither the light and heat of the sun, nor any meat and drink, are so neces- sary to the nourishment and sustenance of the present life, as the apostolical and pastoral office is to the preservation of the Church in the world. in. Therefore I have already remarked, that God has fre- quently commended its dignity to us by every possible enco- mium, in order that we might hold it in the highest estimation and value, as more excellent than every thing else. That he confers a peculiar favour upon men by raising up teachers for them, he fully signifies, when he commands the prophet to exclaim, " How beautiful are the feet of him that publisheth peace ; " (d) and when he calls the apostles "the light of the world," and " the salt of the earth." (e) Nor could that office be more splendidly distinguished than when he said to them, " He that heareth you, heareth me." (/) But there is no passage more remarkable than that in Paul 's Second Epistle to the Corinthians, where he professedly discusses this question. He contends, that there is nothing more excellent or glorious than the ministry of the gospel in the Church, inasmuch as it is the ministration of the Spirit, and of righteousness, and of eternal life, (g-) The tendency of these and similar passages, is to preserve that mode of governing the Church by its ministers, which the Lord appointed to be of perpetual continuance, from (c) Eph. iv. 10. (d) Isaiah lii. 7. (e) Matt. v. 13, 14. (/) Luke X. 16. (g) 2 Cor. iii. 6, &c. INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. sinking into disesteem, and, at length, falling into disuse through mere contempt. And how exceedingly necessary it is, he has not only declared in words, but shown by examples. When he was pleased to illuminate Cornelius more fully with the light of his truth, he despatched an angel from heaven to send Peter to him. When he designs to call Paul to the knowledge of himself, and to introduce him into the Church, he does not address him with his own voice, but sends him to a man to re- ceive the doctrine of salvation, and the sanctification of baptism. If it was not without sufficient reason, that an angel, who is the messenger of God, refrains from announcing the Divine will himself, and directs a man to be sent for in order to declare it, and that Christ, the sole Teacher of believers, committed Paul to the instruction of a man, the same Paul whom he had deter- mhied to elevate into the third heaven, and to favour with a miraculous revelation of things unspeakable, — who can now dare to despise that ministry, or to neglect it as unnecessary, the utility and necessity of which God has been pleased to evince by such examples ? IV. Those who preside over the government of the Church, according to the institution of Christ, are named by Paul, first, " apostles ; " secondly. '' prophets ; " thirdly, "evangelists; " fourthly, " pastors ; " lastly, "teachers." (A) Of these, only the two last sustam an ordinary office in the Church : the others were such as the Lord raised up at the commencement of his king- dom, and such as he still raises up on particular occasions, when required by the necessity of the times. The nature of the apostolic office is manifest from this command: "Go preach the gospel to every creature." (?) No certain limits are pre- scribed, but the whole world is assigned to them, to be re- duced to obedience to Christ ; that by disseminating the gospel wherever they could, they might erect his kingdom in all nations. Therefore Paul, when he wished to prove his apostle- ship, declares, not merely that he had gained some one city for Christ, but that he had propagated the gospel far and wide, and that he had not built upon the foundation of others, but had planted Churches where the name of the Lord had never been heard before. The " apostles," therefore, were missionaries, who were to reduce the world from their revolt to true obedience to God, and to establish his kingdom universally by the preaching of the gospel. Or, if you please, they were the first architects of the Church, appointed to lay its foundations all over the world. Paul gives the appellation of " prophets," not to all interpreters of the Divine will, but only to those \v1id were honoured with some special revelation. , Of these, either there (A) Eph. iv. 11. (i) Mark xvi. 15. CHAP. III.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 263 are none in our day, or they are less conspicuous.. By " evan- gelists," I understand those who were inferior to the apostles in dignity, but next to them in office, and who performed sim- ilar functions. Such were Luke, Timothy, Titus, and others of that description ; and perhaps also the seventy disciples, whom Christ ordained to occupy the second station from the apostles, {k) According to this interpretation, which appears to me perfectly consistent with the language and meaning of the apostle, those three offices were not instituted to be of perpetual continuance in the Church, but only for that age when Churches were to be raised where none had existed be- fore, or were at least to be conducted from Moses to Christ. Though I do not deny, that, even since that period, God has sometimes raised up apostles or evangelists in their stead, as he has done in our own time. For there was a necessity for such persons to recover the Church from the defection of An- tichrist. Nevertheless, I call this an extraordinary office, because it has no place in well-constituted Churches. Next follow " pastors " and " teachers," who are always indispensable to the Church. The difference between them I apprehend to be this — that teachers have no official concern with the disci- pline, or the administration of the sacraments, or with admoni- tions and exhortations, but only with the interpretation of the Scripture, that pure and sound doctrine may be retained among believers ; whereas the pastoral office includes all these things. V. We have now ascertained what offices were appointed to continue for a time in the government of the Church, and what were instituted to be of perpetual duration. If we connect the evangelists with the apostles, as sustaining the same office, we shall then have two offices of each description, correspond- ing to each other. For our pastors bear the same resemblance to the apostles, as our teachers do to the ancient prophets. The office of the prophets was more excellent, on account of the special gift of revelation, by which they were distinguished : but the office of teachers is executed m a similar manner, and has precisely the same end. So those twelve individuals, whom the Lord chose to promulgate the first proclamation of his gospel to the world, preceded all others in order and dignity. For although, according to the meaning and etymology of the word, all the ministers of the Church may be called apostles, because they are all sent by the Lord, and are his messengers, yet, as it was of great importance to have a certain knowledge of the mission of persons who were to announce a thing new and unheard before, it was necessary that those twelve, together with Paul, who was afterwards added to their number, should be distinguished beyond all others by a peculiar title. Paul {k) Luke X. 1. 264 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. himself, indeed, gives this name to "Andronicus and Junia, who," he says, "are of note among the apostles ;" (/) but when he means to speak with strict propriety, he never applies that name except to those of the first order that we have men- tioned. And this is the common usage of the Scripture. But the province of pastors is the same as that of the apostles, ex- cept that they preside over particular Churches respectively committed to each of them. Of the nature of their functions let us now proceed to a more distinct statement. VI. Our Lord, when he sent forth his apostles, commissioned them, as we have just remarked, to preach the gospel, and to baptize all believers for the remission of sins, (//i) He had already commanded them to distribute the sacred symbols of his body and blood according to his own example, (n) Behold the sacred, inviolable, and perpetual law imposed upon those who call themselves successors of the apostles ; it commands them to preach the gospel, and to administer the sacraments. Hence we conclude, that those who neglect both these duties have no just pretensions to the character of apostles. But what shall we say of pastors ? Paul speaks not only of himself, but of all who bear that office, when he says, " Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God." (o) Again : " A bishop must hold fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers." (p) From these and similar passages, which frequently occur, we may infer that the preaching of the gospel, and the administration of the sacra- ments, constitute the two principal parts of the pastoral office. Now, the business of teaching is not confined to public discourses, but extends also to private admonitions. Thus Paul calls upon the Ephesians to witness the truth of his declaration, " I have kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." And a little after : " I ceased not to warn every one, night and day, Avith tears." (q) But it is no part of my present design, to enumerate all the excellences of a good pastor, but only t^o show what is implied in the profession of those who call themselves pastors ; namely, that they preside over the Church in that station, not that they may enjoy a respectable sinecure, but to instruct the people in true piety by the doctrine of Christ, to administer the holy mysteries, to maintain and exercise proper discipline. For the Lord denounces to all those who liave been stationed as (I) Rom. xvi. 7. (n) Luke xxii. 19. (p) Titus i. 7, 9. (m) Matt, xxviii. 19. (o) 1 Cor. iv. 1. (q) AcU x.x. 20, 21, 31. CHAP. III.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 265 watchmen in the Church, that if any one perish in ignorance through their neghgence, he will require the blood of such a person at their hands, (r) What Paul says of himself, belongs to them all : " Woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel," be- cause "a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me." (s) Lastly, what the apostles did for the \rhole world, that every individual pastor ought to do for his flock to which he is appointed. VII. While we assign to them all respectively their distinct Churches, yet we do not deny thatapastor, who is connected with one Church, may assist others, either when any disputes arise, which may require his presence, or when his advice is asked upon any difficult subject. But because, in order to preserve the peace of the Church, there is a necessity for such a regulation as shall clearly define to every one what duty he has to do, lest they should all fall into disorder, run hither and thither in un- certainty without any call, and all resort to one place ; and lest those who feel more solicitude for their personal accommodation than for the edification of the Church, should, without any cause but their own caprice, leave the Churches destitute, — this distribution ought as far as possible to be generally observed, that every one may be content with his own limits, and not invade the province of another. Nor is this an invention of men, but an institution of God himself. For we read that Paul and Barnabas " ordained elders in the respective Churches of Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch ; " (t) and Paul himself directed Titus to "ordain elders in every city." (v) So in other pas- sages he mentions " the bishops at Philippi," (tv) and Archippus, the bishop of the Colossians. (x) And a remarkable speech of his is preserved by Luke, addressed to " the elders of the Church of Ephesus." (y) Whoever, therefore, has undertaken the government and charge of one Church, let him know that he is bound to this law of the Divine call ; not that he is fixed to his station so as never to be permitted to leave it in a regular and orderly manner, if the public benefit should require it ; but he who has been called to one place, ought never to think either of departing from his situation, or relinquishing the office alto- gether, from any motive of personal convenience or advantage. But if it be expedient that he should remove to another station, he ought not to attempt this on his own private opinion, but to be guided by public authority. VIII. In calling those who preside over Churches by the appel- lations of bishops, elders, pastors, and ministers, without any dis- (r) Ezek. iii. 17, 18. (») Titus i. 5. (x) Col. iv. 17. (s) 1 Cor. ix. 16, 17. (to) Phil. i. 1. (y) Acts xx. 17, &c. (t) Acts xiv. 21, 23. VOL. II. 34 266 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. tinction, I have followed the usage of the Scripture, which applies, alt these terms to express tlic same meaning. For to all who discharge the ministry of the word, it gives the title of " bishops." So when Paul enjoins Titus to " ordain elders in every city," he immediately adds, "For a bishop must be blameless." (2;) So in another Epistle he salutes more bishops than one in one Church, (a) And in the Acts he is declared to have sent for the elders of the Church of Ephesus, whom, in his address to them, he calls " bishops." (i) Here it must be observed, that we have enumerated only those offices which consist in the ministry of the word ; nor does Paul mention any other in the fourth chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians, which we have quoted. But in the Epistle to the Romans, and the First Epis- tle to the Corinthians, he enumerates others, as " powers," " gifts of healing," "interpretation of tongues," "governments," "care of the poor." (c) Those functions which were merely temporary, I omit, as foreign to our present subject. But there are two which perpetually remain — " government," and "the care of the poor." "Governors" I apprehend to have been persons of advanced years, selected from the people, to luiite with the bishops in giving admonitions and exercising disci- pline. For no other interpretation can be given of that injunc- tion, " He that ruleth', let him do it with diligence." (d) There- fore, from the beginning, every Church has had its senate or coun- cil, composed of pious, grave, and holy men, who were invested with that jurisdiction in the correction of vices, of which we shall soon treat. Now, that this regulation was not of a single age, experience itself demonstrates. This office of government is necessary, therefore, in every age. IX. The care of the poor was committed to the "deacons." The Epistle to the Romans, however, mentions two functions of this kind. "He that giveth," says the apostle, "let him do it with simplicity : he that showeth mercy, with cheerful- ness." (e) Now, as it is certain that he there speaks of the public offices of the Church, it follows that there were two distinct orders of deacons. Urdess my judgment deceive me, the former clause refers to the deacons who administered the alms ; and the other to those who devoted themselves to the care of poor and sick persons ; such as the widows mentioned by Paul to Timothy. (/) For women could execute no other public office, than by devoting themselves to the service of the poor. If we admit this, — and it ought to be fully admitted, — there will be two classes of deacons, of whom one will serve (?) Titus i 5, 7. . (a) Phil. i. 1. {b) Acts xx. 17, 28, ^/rmxoTrov?. (f) 1 Cor. xii. 28, Sviautic, xaqiouara lauarwv, ytij; yAcufffTiu*', xvfit^rrjOtti. (d) Rom. xii. 8. (c) Rom. x\\. 8, fitraSidove. iv itnXortiTt, 6 tXtwv, ly iXa^oTtjn. (/) 1 Tim. V. 9, 10. CHAP. III.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 267 the Church in dispensing the property gi\ren to the poor, the other in taking care of the poor themselves. — Though the word itself (diaxovta) is of more extensive signification, yet the Scripture particularly gives the title of " deacons " to those whom the Church has appointed to dispense the alms and take care of the poor, and constituted stewards, as it were, of the common treasury of the poor ; and whose origin, institution, and oliicej are described in the Acts of the Apostles. For " when there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration," (g) the apostles pleaded their inability to dis- charge both offices, of the ministry of the word and the service of tables, and said to the multitude, " Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business." See what were the characters of the deacons in the apostolic Church, and what ought to be the characters of ours, in con- formity to the primitive example. X. Now, as " all things " in the Church are required to " be done decently and in order," (h) there is nothing in which this ought to be more diligently observed, than the constitution of its government ; because there would be more danger from disorder in this case than in any other. Therefore, that rest- less and turbulent persons may not presumptuously intrude themselves into the office of teaching or of governing, it is expressly provided, that no one shall assume a public office in the Church without a call. In order, therefore, that any one may be accounted a true minister of the Church, it is ne- cessary, in the first place, that he be regularly called to it, and, in the second place, that he answer his call ; that is, by underta- king and executing the office assigned to him. This may fre- quently be observed in Paul ; who, when he wishes to prove his apostleship, almost always alleges his call, together with his fidelity in the execution of the office. If so eminent a minister of Christ dare not arrogate to himself an authority to require his being heard in the Church, but in consequence of his appointment to it by a Divine commission, and his faithful discharge of the duty assigned him, — what extreme impudence must it be, if any man, destitute of both these characters; should claim such an honour for himself! But having already spoken of the necessity of discharging the oflice, let us now confine ourselves to the call. XI. Now, the discussion of this subject includes four branches : what are the qualifications of ministers ; in what manner they are to be chosen ; by whom they ought to be (g) Acts vi. 1—3. (h) 1 Cor. xiv. 40. 268 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. appointed : and with what rite or ceremony they are to be in-^ trodiiccd jQto -tl^etf-Q^Qlcc. I speak of the external and solemn call, which belongs to the public order of the Church ; passing over that secret call, of which every minister is conscious to himself before God, but which is not known to the Church. This secret call, however, is the honest testimony of our heart, that we accept the office offered to us, not from ambition or avarice, or any other unlawful motive, but from a sincere fear of God, and an ardent zeal for the edification of the Church. This, as I have hinted, is indispensable to every one of us, if we would approve our ministry in the sight of God. In the view of the Church, however, he who enters on his office with an evil conscience, is nevertheless duly called, provided his ini- quity be not discovered. It is even common to speak of pri- vate persons as called to the ministry, who appear to be adapted and qualified for the discharge of its duties ; because learning, connected with piety and other endowments of a good pastor, constitutes a kind of preparation for it. For those whom the Lord has destined to so important an office, he first furnishes with those talents which are requisite to its execution, that they may not enter upon it empty and unprepared. Hence Paul, in his Epistle to the Corinthians, when he intended to treat of the offices themselves, first enumerated the gifts which ought to be possessed by the persons who sustain those offices, (i) But as this is the first of the four points which I have proposed, let us now proceed to it. XII. The qualifications., of those who ought to be chosen bishops, are stated at large by Paul in two passages, (k) The sum of all he says is, that none are to be chosen but men of sound doctrine and a holy life, not chargeable with any fault that may destroy their authority, or disgrace their ministry. The same rule is laid down for the deacons and governors. Constant care is required, that they be not unequal to the bur- den imposed upon them, or, in other words, that they be en- dowed with those talents which are necessary to the discharge of their duty. So, when Christ was about to send forth his apostles, he furnished them with such means and powers as were indispensable to their success. (/) And Paul, after having delineated the character of a good and genuine bishop, admo- nishes Timothy not to contaminate himself by the appointment of any one of a different description, (w) The question rela- ting to the maimer in which they are to be chosen, I refer not to the form of election, but to the religious awe which ought to be observed in it. Hence the fasting and prayer, which (i) 1 (h) 1 Cor. xii. 7, &c. (l) Luke xxi. 15; xxW. 49. Tim. iii. 1, &c. Titus i. 7, &c. (m) 1 Tim. v. 22. CHAP. III.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 269 Luke states to have been practised by the faithful at the ordina- tion of elders, (n) For knowing themselves to be engaged in a business of the highest importance, they dared not attempt any thing but with the greatest reverence and solicitude. And above all things, they were earnest in prayers and supplications to God for the spirit of wisdom and discretion. XIII. The third inquiry we proposed was, hj \vhoin minis-, ters are to be chosen. Now, for this no certaui rule can Jbg gathered from the appointment of the apostles, which was a case somewhat different from the common call of other ministers. For as theirs was an extraordinary office, it was necessary, in order to render it conspicuous by some eminent character, that they who were to sustain it should be called and appointed by the mouth of the Lord himself The apostles, therefore, entered upon their work, not in consequence of any human election, but em- powered by the sole command of God and of Christ. Hence, when they wish to substitute another in the place of Judas, they refrain from a certain appointment of any one, but nomi- nate two, that the Lord may declare by lot which of them he wills to be his successor, (o) In the same sense must be understood the declaration of Paul, that he had been created " an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father." (j)) The first clause, not of men, was applicable to him in common with all pious ministers of the word ; for no man can lawfully exercise this ministry without having been called by God. The other clause was special and peculiar to himself When he glories in this, therefore, he not only claims what belongs to a true and lawful pastor. but likewise brings forward an evidence of his apostleship. For whereas there were, among the Galatians, some who, from an eagerness to diminish his authority, represented him as a common disciple deputed by the primary apostles, — in order to vindicate the dignity of his preaching, against which he knew these artifices were directed, he found it necessary to show that he was not inferior to the other apostles in any respect. Wherefore he affirms, that he had not been elected by the judg- ment of men, like some ordinary bishop, but by the mouth and clear revelation of the Lord himself XIV. But that the election and appointment of bishops b}' men is necessary to constitute a legitimate call to the office, no sober person will deny, while there are so many testimonies of Scripture to establish it. Nor is it contradicted by that declara- tion of Paul, that he was "an apostle, not of men, nor by man," {q) since he is not speaking in that passage of the ordinary election of ministers, but claiming to himself what was the special privilege {n) Acts xiv. 23. (o) Acts i. 23. (;;) Gal. i. 1. () Jer. xviii. 18. 358 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. shall wonder." (^) Again: "The law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients." (r) Again : " Night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision ; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine ; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them." (s) Now, if these priests and prophets had all been collected together, what spirit would have presided in their assembly ? This is remark- ably exemplified in the council convoked by Ahab. Four hundred prophets were present. But because they were as- sembled with no other intention than to flatter that impious monarch, Satan was sent by the Lord to be a lying spirit m all their mouths, (t) There the truth was rejected with one consent ; Micaiah was condemned as a heretic, beaten, and cast into prison. Jeremiah received the same treatment, and other prophets experienced similar injustice. VII. But one example, which is more memorable than the rest, may suffice as a specimen of all. In the council which the chief priests and Pharisees convened at Jerusalem against Christ, what was there wanting in point of external form ? For if there had then been no Church at Jerusalem, Christ would never have united in their sacrifices and other ceremonies. A solemn sum- mons was issued ; the Jiigh priest presided ; all the priests attend- ed ; yet there Christ was condemned, and his doctrine rejected. This act proves that the Church was not contained in that council. But, it will be said, there is no danger of such a circum- stance happening to us. Who has assured us of this ? For to be too confident in a matter of such great importance, is culpable stupidity. But while the Spirit has expressly predicted, by the mouth of Paul, that there shall come an apostasy, which cannot take place without the pastors being the first torevoltfrom God, (v) why do we wilfully shut our eyes to our own ruin ? Where- fore it is by no means to be conceded, that the Church consists in the assembly of the pastors, respecting whom God has nowhere promised that they should always be good, but, on the contrary, has denounced that they would sometimes be wicked. Now, when he warns us of a danger, his design is to make us more cautious. VIII. What, then, it will be said, shall the decisions of councils have no authority ? Yes, certainly ; for I am not contending that all councils ought to be condemned, or that all their acts ought to be rescinded and cancelled at once. Still I shall be told, that I degrade their authority, so as to leave it to the option of every individual to receive or reject whatever a council shall have determined. By no means ; but whenever a decree of any (o) Jer. iv. 9. (r) Ezek. vii. 26. (s) Micah iii. 6. (0 1 Kings xxii. 6, 22, 24, 27. (r) 2 Thess. ii. 3. 1 Tim. iv. 1. CHAP. IX.] CHRISTIAN RELTGION. 359 council is br/^'^g^^ fnrMmr^ T wnn^rl wishj first , that a diligent inqiiiry shonlH be mado. at what time, for what cause, and with ^ what design it was lield. and what kind of persons were present,; secondly, that the subject discussed in it should be examined by the standard ol the iScnpturc : and this in such a manner that the determniation should have its weight, and be considered as a precedent or case formerly decided, but that it should not pre- clude the examination which I have mentioned. I sincerely wish that every person would observe the method recommended by Augustine in his third book against Maximinus. For, with a view to silence the contentions of that heretic respecting the decrees of councils, he says, " I ought not to object to you the Council of Nice, nor ought you to object to me the Council of Ariminum, to preclude each other's judgment by a previous de- cision. I am not bound by the authority of the latter, nor you by that of the former. Let cause contend with cause, and argu- ment with argument, on the ground of scriptural authorities, 'which exclusively belong to neither party, but are common to both." The consequence of such a mode of proceeding would be, that councils would retain all the majesty which is due to them, while at the same time the Scripture would hold the preeminence, so that every thing would be subject to its stand- ard. Upon this principle, those ancient councils, such as the Council of Nice, of Constantinople, the first of Ephesus, that of Chalcedon, and others like them, which were held for the con- demnation of errors, we cheerfully receive and reverence as sacred, as far as respects the articles of faith which they have defended ; for they contain nothing but the pure and natural interpretation of the Scripture, which the holy fathers, with spiritual prudence, applied to the discomfiture of the enemies of religion who arose in those days. In some of the succeeding councils, likewise, we discover a true zeal for piety, and evident proofs of sense, learning, and prudence. But as the progress of the world is generally from worse to worse, it is easy to see, from the more recent councils, how much the Church has gradually de- generated from the purity of that golden age. Even in these more corrupt ages, I doubt not, the councils have been partly com- posed of some bishops of a better character ; but the same obser- vation may be applied to their acts, which was formerly made in a way of complaint against the decrees of the Roman senate, by the senators themselves. Where opinions prevail nf;.r.nrHinp; toitieir number, and ujit according to the weight of argument by , which tliey are supported, the betteTpart of the assciubly must , j^f necessity be frequeiUly overcome by the majority. And" "councils have certainly issued many impious decrees. It is unnecessary here to produce particular examples, as well be- cause this would carry us to too great a length, as because it has 360 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. already been done by others with a diUgence which scarcely admits of any addition. IX. Now, what need is there to enumerate the repugnances between councils and councils, and how decrees passed by one have been rescinded by another ? Here it must not be alleged, that where there is such variance between two councils, one or the other is not legitimate. For iiow shall we determine this ? The only way I know, is to ascertain from the Scriptures that its decrees are not orthodox ; for there is no other certain rule of decision. It is now about nine hundred years ago, that the Council of Constantinople, assembled under the emperor Leo, decreed that all images placed in churches should be thrown down and broken in pieces. Soon after, the Council of Nice, which the empress Irene convened in opposi- tion to the former, decreed that they should be restored. Which of these two shall we acknowledge as a legitimate council ? This character has generally been attributed to the . latter, which gave images a place in the Churches. But Au- i gustine declares that this cannot be done without imminent danger of idolatry. Epiphanius, a more ancient writer, ex- presses himself in terms of much greater severity ; he says that it is abominable wickedness for images to be seen in the tem- ples of Christians. Would the fathers who speak in this man- ner approve of that council, if they were now living? But if the accounts of historians be true, and credit be given to the acts themselves, that council not only admitted of images, but determined that they were to be worshipped. Now, it is evi- dent that such a decree must have originated from Satan. What shall we say to their perversions and mutilations of the Scripture, which demonstrate that they held it all in contempt, as I have already proved ? We shall never be able to discrimi- nate between the numerous councils, which dissent from and contradict each other, unless we examine them all by the word of God, which is the universal standard for men and angels. On this ground, we reject the second Council of Ephesus, and receive the Council of Chalcedon, because the latter council condemned the impiety of Eutyches, which the former had sanctioned. This judgment of the Council of Chalcedon was formed from the Scriptures by holy men, whom we imitate in forming our judgment, as the word of God which enlightened them continues to give light to us. Now, let the Romanists go and boast, as they are accustomed to do, that the Holy Spirit is inseparably attached to their councils. *^ "*"' X. Even in the earliest and purest councils, however, there is something to complain of — either that the bishojis who com- posed them, though men of learningand prudence, being perplexed with the subjects immediately before them, did not extend their CHAP. IX.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 361 views to many other things ; or that while they were occupied with more weighty and serious concerns, things of inferior moment escaped their notice ; or merely that, being men, they were liable to ignorance and error ; or that they were some- times hurried into precipitancy by the violence of their passions. Of the truth of the last observation, which seems the severest of all, there is a remarkable example in the Council of Nice ; the dignity of which has been universally and justly held in the highest veneration. For though the principal article of our faith was endangered, and they had to contend with Arius, the enemy of it, who was there in readiness for the contest, — though it was of the greatest importance that harmony should be maintained among those who came with a design to confute the error of Arius, — notwithstanding that, careless of such great dangers, forgetful of gravity, modesty, and every thing like good manners, dropping the controversy between them, as if they had assembled with an express view to the gratification of Arius, they began to counteract themselves with intestine dissensions, and to direct against each other the pen which ought to have been employed against Arius. The foulest ac- cusations were heard, defamatory libels were circulated, and there would have been no end of the contentions till they had murdered one another, if it had not been for the interference of the emperor Constantine, who protested that a scrutiny into their lives was a thing beyond his cognizance, and repressed this intemperate conduct with praise rather than with censure. In how many instances is it probable that errors were committed by other succeeding councils ? Nor does this require any long proof,- for whoever peruses their acts, will discover many in- firmities, not to mention any thing worse. XI. And Leo, the Roman pontiff, hesitates not to bring a charge of ambition and inconsiderate temerity against the Council of Chalcedon, which he at the same time acknowledges to have been orthodox in points of doctrine. He does not deny it to have been a legitimate council, but he unequivocally asserts that it was possible for it to err. It may be thought, perhaps, that I betray a want of judgment in taking pains to point out such errors ; since our adversaries confess that coun- cils might err in things not essential to salvation. This labour, however, is not unnecessary. For though they find them- selves obliged to confess this in words, yet when they obtrude upon us the decision of every council on every subject, without any discrimination, as an oracle of the Holy Spirit, they re- quire of us, in fact, more than they had first assumed. What is the language of such conduct, but that councils cannot err, or that, if they do err, it is unlawful for us to discover the truth, or to refuse assent to errors ? And I intend to draw no other VOL. II. 46 362 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. concaision from these facts, than that the Holy Spirit governed pious and Christian councils in such a manner, as at the same time to permit them to betray something of human infirmity, that we might not place too much confidence in men. This sentiment is far more favourable than that of Gregory of Nazi- anznm, " that he never saw a good end of any council." For he who affirms that all without exception terminated ill, leaves them but little authority. It is unnecessary here to take dis- tinct notice of provincial councils, since it is easy to judge from the general councils, what authority they ought to possess in framing articles of faith, and receiving whatever kind of doc- trine they pleased. XII. But our Romanists, when they find all the supports of reason fail them in the defence of their cause, have recourse to that last and wretched subterfuge — That although the per- sons themselves betray the greatest stupidity in their under- standings and pleas, and act from the most iniquitous motives and designs, still the word of God remains, which commands us to obey our governors, {v) But what if I deny that such persons are our governors ? For they ought not to arrogate to themselves more than belonged to Joshua, who was a prophet of the Lord and ai] excellent pastor. Now, let us hear with what language he was inaugurated into his office by the Lord : " This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth ; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night : turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whither- soever thou goest." (iv) We shall consider them as our spirit- ual governors, therefore, who deviate not from the word of God, either to the right hand or to the left. If the doctrine of all pas- tors ought to be received without any hesitation, why have we such frequent and earnest admonitions from the mouth of the Lord himself, not to listen to the speeches of false prophets ? " Hear- ken not," says he by Jeremiah, " unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you ; they make you vain ; they speak a vision of their own hearts, and not out of the mouth of the Lord." (.r) Again: "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." (y) The exhortation given us by John would also have been useless : " Try the spirits, whether they are of God ; " (z) though from this examination the very angels are not exempted, much less Satan with all his falsehoods. How are we to understand this caution of our Lord ? " If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." (a) Does it not sufficiently declare, that it is of the highest importance what (») Ileb. xiii. 17. (x) Jer. xxiii. 16. (z) 1 John iv. 1. (w) Joshua i. 7, 8. (y) Matt. vii. 15. (a) Matt. xv. 14. CHAP. IX.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 363 kind of pastors are heard, and that they are not all entitled to the same attention ? Wherefore there is no reason why they should overawe us with their titles, to make us partakers of their blindness, while we see, on the contrary, that the Lord has taken peculiar care to deter us from suflering ourselves to be seduced by the error of other men, under whatever mask or name it may be concealed. For if the answer of Christ be true, all blind guides, whether they are denominated priests, prelates, or pontifls, can do nothing but precipitate their fol- lowers into the same ruin with themselves. Impressed, there- fore, by these warnings, both of precepts and of examples, no names of pastors, bishops, or councils, which are as capable of being falsely claimed as rightly assumed, ought ever to prevent us from examining all the spirits by the rule of the Divine word, in order to "try whether they are of God." XIII. Having proved that the Chnrch has received no power to framf v^y i^ew Hortrinfij ]p.t. us now speak of the power which our opponents attribute to it in the interpretation of the Scripture. ~Vve have not the least objection to admit, that if a controversy arise respecting any doctrine, there is no better or more certain remedy than to assemble a council of true bishops, in which the controverted doctrine may be discussed. For such a decision, formed by the common consent of the pastors of the Churches, after an invocation of the Spirit of Christ, will have far greater weight, than if every one of them separately were to maintain it in preaching to his people, or if it were the result of a private conference between a few indivi- duals. Besides, when bishops are collected in one assembly, they deliberate together with greater advantage on what they ought to teach, and the manner in which their instructions should be conveyed, so as to guard against offence arising from diversity. In the third place, Paul prescribes this method of de- termining respecting doctrines. For while he attributes to every distinct Church a power "to judge," (b) he shows what ought to be the order of proceeding in more important cases ; namely, that the Churches should undertake the common cognizance of them. And so the dictate of piety itself teaches us, that if any one disturb the Church with a new doctrine, and the matter be carried so far as to cause danger of a more grievous dissension. the Churches should first assemble, should examine the question proposed to them, and after a sufficient discussion of it, should announce a decision taken from the Scriptures, which would put an end to all doubt among the people, and shut the mouths of refractory and ambitious persons, so as to check their further presumption. Thus, when Arius arose, the Council of Nice was assembled, and by its authority defeated the pernicious (b) 1 Cor. xiv. 29. 364 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. attempts of that impious man, restored peace to the Churches which he had disturbed, and asserted the eternal deity of Christ in opposition to his sacrilegious dogma. Some time after, when Eunomius and Macedonius raised new contentions, their frenzy- was opposed witli a similar remedy by the Council of Constanti- nople, The impiety of Nestorius was condemned in the tirst Council of Ephesus. In short, this has been the ordinary method of the Church from the beginning, for the preservation of unity, whenever Satan has begun to make any attempt against it. But let it be remembered, that neither every age, nor every place, can produce an Athanasius, a Basil, a Cyril, and other such champions of the true doctrine, as the Lord raised up at those periods. Let it also be recollected what happened at the second Council of Ephesus, in which the heresy of Eutyches prevailed. Flavianus, a bishop of irreproachable memory, was banished, together with other pious men, and many similar enormities were committed, because it was Dioscorus, a factious and ill-disposed man, and not the Spirit of the Lord, that presided in that council. But that council, it will be said, was not the Church. I admit it : for I am firmly persuaded of this, that the truth is not extinct in the Church, though it may be oppressed by one council, but that it is wonderfully preserved by the Lord, to arise and triumph again in his own time. But I deny it to be 1 an invariable rule, that every interpretation which may have / been approved by a council is the true and certain sense of | the Scripture. XIV. But the Romanists have a further design in maintain- ing that councils possess the power of interpreting the Scripture, and that without appeal. For it is a false pretence, when every thing that has been determined in councils is called an inter- pretation of the Scripture. Of purgatory, the intercession of saints, auricular confession, and similar fooleries, the Scriptures contain not a single syllable. But, because all these things have been sanctioned by the authority of councils, or, to speak more correctly, have been admitted into the general belief and practice, therefore every one of them is to be taken for an in- terpretation of Scripture. And not only so : but if a comicil determine in direct opposition to the Scripture, it will still be called an interpretation of it. Christ commands all to drink of the cup which he presents to them in the sacred supper, (c) The Council of Constance prohibited it to be given to the laity, and determined that none but the priest should drink of it. Yet this, which is so diametrically repugnant to the institu- tion of Christ, they wish us to receive as an interpretation of it. Paul calls "forbidding to marry " a "doctrine of devils;" (c?) (c) iMatt. xxvi. 27. (d) 1 Tim. iv. 1, 3. CHAP. X.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 365 and the Holy Spirit, in another place, pronounces that " marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled." (e) The prohibi- tion, which they have since denounced, of the marriage of priests, they wish us to consider as the true and natural inter- pretation of the Scriptures, though nothing can be imagined more repugnant to it. If any one dare to open his mouth to the contrary, he is condemned as a heretic, because the deter- mination of the Church is without appeal, and the truth of its interpretation cannot be doubted without impiety. What further requires to be urged against such consummate effrontery ? The mere exhibition of it is a sufficient refutation. Their pretensions to confirm the Scripture by the authority of the Church, I purposely pass over. To subject the oracles of God to the authority of men, so as to make their validity dependent on human approbation, is a blasphemy unworthy of being men- tioned ; beside which, I have touched on this subject already. I will only ask them one question : If the authority of the Scrip-" ture be founded on the approbation of the Church, what decree of any council can they allege to this point ? I believe, none at all. Why, then, did Arius suffer himself to be vanquished at Nice by testimonies adduced from the Gospel of John ? According to the argument of our opponents, he was at liberty to reject them,_ as not having yet received the approbation of any general council. They allege an ancient catalogue, which is called the Canon of Scripture, and which they say proceeded from the decision of the Church. I ask them again, in what council that canon was composed. To this they can make no reply. Yet I would wish to be further informed, what kind of a canon they suppose it to be. For I see that the ancient writers were not fully agreed respecting it. And if any weight be attached to the testimony of Jerome, the two books of the Maccabees, the history of Tobit, Ecclesiasticus, and other books, will be considered as apocryphal ; to which our opponents will by no means consent. CHAPTER X. THE POWER OF LEGISLATION, IN WHICH THE POPE AND HIS ADHERENTS HAVE MOST CRUELLY TYRANNIZED OVER THE MINDS, AND TORTURED THE BODIES, OF MEN. We now proceed to the second branch of the power of the Church, which the Romanists represent as consisting in legisla- (e) Heb. xiii. 4. 366 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. tion — a source from which have issued innumerable human traditions, the most pestilent and fatal to wretched souls. For they have made no more scruple than the scribes and Pharisees to " lay on other men's shoulders burdens which they themselves would not touch with one of their fingers." (/) I have shown in another place the extreme cruelty of their injunctions con- cerning auricular confession. None of their other laws discover such enormous violence ; but those which appear the most tole-| rable of them all, are tyrannically oppressive to the conscience J I forbear to remark how they adulterate the worship of God^ and despoil God himself, who is the sole Legislator, of the right which belongs to him. This power is now to be exa- mined — whether the Church has authority to make laws which shall bind the consciences of men. This question has nothing to do with political order; the only objects of our present attention are, that God may be rightly worshipped according to the rule he has prescribed, and that our spiritual liberty which relates to God may be preserved entire. Whatever edicts have been issued by men respecting the worship of God, independently of his word, it has been customary to call \hu7Jiaii traditions. Against such laws we contend, and not (against the holy and useful constitutions of the Church, which contribute to the preservation of discipline, or integrity, or peace. The object for which we contend, is, to restrain that overgrown and barbarous empire, which is usurped over men's souls by those who wish to be accounted the pastors of the Church, but who in reality are its most savage butchers. For they say that the laws which they make are spiritual, pertaining to the soul, and they affirm them to be necessary to eternal life. Thus, as I have lately hinted, the kingdom of Christ is invaded ; thus the liberty given by him to the consciences of believers is altogether subverted and destroyed. I forbear to remark at present with what great impiety they enforce the observance of their laws, while they teach men to seek the pardon of their sins and righteousness and salvation from it, and while they make the whole of religion and piety to consist in it. I only contend for this one point, that no necessity ought to be im- posed upon consciences in things in which they have been set at liberty by Christ ; and without this liberty, as I have before observed, they can have no peace with God. They must acknowledge Christ their Deliverer as their only King, and must be governed by one law of liberty, even the sacred word of the gospel, if they wish to retain the grace which they have once obtained in Christ ; they must submit to no slavery ; they must be fettered by no bonds, (/) Matt, xxiii. 4. Luke xi. 46. CHAP. X.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 367 TI. These sapient legislators, indeed, pretend that their con- stitutions are laws of liberty, an easy yoke, a light burden. But who does not see that these are gross falsehoods ? The hardship of their laws is not at all felt by themselves, who have rejected the fear of God, and securely and boldly disre- gard all laws, human and divine. But persons who are im- pressed with any concern for their salvation, are far from con- sidering themselves at liberty as long as they are entangled in these snares. We see what great caution Paul used in this respect, to avoid " casting a snare upon " men in a single in- stance ; (g) and that not without cause ; for he saw what a deep wound would be made in their consciences, by the im- position of any necessity upon them in those things in which the Lord had left them at liberty. On the contrary, it is scarcely possible to enumerate the constitutions, which these men have most rigorously enforced with the denunciation of eternal death, and which they require to be most minutely observed as necessary to salvation. Among these, there are many exceedingly difficult to be fulfilled ; but when they are all collected together in one body, so immense is the accumu- lation, the observance of the whole is utterly impracticable. How, then, can it be possible for those who are loaded with such a vast weight of difficulty, not to be perplexed and tor- tured with extreme anxiety and terror ? My design at present, then, is, to oppose constitutions of this kind, which tend to bind souls internally before God, and to fill them with scruples, as if they enjoined things necessary to salvation. III. The generality of men, therefore, are embarrassed with this question, for want of distinguishing with sufficient exact- ness between the outward judgment of men and the court of conscience. The difficulty is increased by the injunction of Paul, that the magistrate is to be obeyed, "not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake ; " (h) whence it follows, that consciences are bound by political laws. If this were the case, all that we said in the last chapter, and are about to say in this, on the subject of spiritual government, would fall to the ground. To solve this difficulty, it is first of all necessary to understand what is conscience. The definition may be derived from the etymology of the word. Science, or knoivledge, is the apprehension which men have of things in their mind and understanding. So, when they have an appre- hension of the judgment of God, as a witness that suffers them not to conceal their sins, but forces them as criminals before the tribunal of the judge, this apprehension is called conscience. For it is something between God and man, which permits not (^) 1 Cor. vii. 35. (h) Rom xiii. 5. 368 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. a man to suppress what he knows within himself, but pursues him till it brings him to a sense of his guilt. This is what Paul means, when he speaks of men's " conscience also bear- ing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing, or else excusing, one another " (^) before God. A simple know- ledge might remain in man, as it were, in a state of conceal- ment. Therefore this sentiment, which places men before the tribunal of God, is like a keeper appointed over man to watch and observe all his secrets, that nothing may remain buried in darkness. Hence that old proverb, that conscience is equal to a thousand witnesses. For the same reason, Peter speaks of " the answer of a good conscience towards God," (k) to denote our tranquillity of mind, when, persuaded of the grace of Christ, we present ourselves before God without fear. And the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews speaks of persons " having no more conscience of sins," (I) to signify their being liberated, or absolved, so as to feel no more remorse or compunction for sin. IV. Therefore, as works have respect to man, so the con- science is referred to God. A, good conscifjpcp js no other than an internal purity of heart. In this sense Paul says that " the end of the commandment is charity, out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned." (wi) In a subsequent part of the same chapter, he shows how widely it differs from simple knowledge, when he says, that " some having put away a good conscience, concerning faith have made shipwreck." (?^) For in these words he implies that it is a lively zeal for the worship of God, and a sincere desire and endeavour to live a pious and holy life. Sometimes, in- deed, it is likewise extended to men, as when Luke states Paul to have made this declaration — "I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God and toward men." (o) The apostle expressed himself in this manner, be- cause the benefits proceeding from a good conscience do reach even to man. But strictly speaking, the conscience has respect to God alone, as I have already observed. Hence it is, that a law is said to bind the conscience, which simply binds a man without any observation or consideration of other men. For example, God not only commands the heart to be preserved chaste and pure from every libidinous desire, but prohibits all obscenity of language and external lasciviousness. My con- science is bound to observe this law, even though not another man existed in the world. The person, therefore, who com- mits any breach of chastity, not only sins by setting a bad ex- <(2: Rom. ii. 15. (0 Heb. x. 2. (n) 1 Tim. i. 19. ) 1 Peter iii. 21. (m) 1 Tim. i. 5. (o) Acta xxiv. 16. CHAP. X.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 369 ample to his brethren, but brings his conscience into a state of guilt before God. The case of things, in themselves indiffer- ent, stands not on the same ground ; for we ought to abstain from whatever is likely to give offence, but with a free con- science. Thus Paul speaks of meat consecrated to idols : '• If any man say unto you. This is offered in sacrifice to idols, eat not for his sake, and for conscience' sake. Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other." {p) A faithful man, who, after previous admonition, should eat such meat, would be guilty of sin. But though such abstinence is enjoined on him by God as necessary on account of his brother, he still retains his liberty of conscience. We see how this law, while it binds the ex- ternal act, leaves the conscience free. V. Let us now return to human laws. If they are designed to introduce any scruple into our minds, as though the obser- vance of them were essentially necessary, we assert, that they are unreasonable impositions on the conscience. For our con- sciences have to do, not with men, but with God alone. And this is the meaning of the well known distinction, maintained in the schools, between a human tribunal and the court of con- science. When the whole world was enveloped in the thick- est shades of ignorance, this little spark of light still remained unextinguished, so that they acknowledged the conscience of man to be superior to all human judgments. It is true that what they confessed in one word, they afterwards overturned in fact ; yet it was the will of God that even at that time there should remain some testimony in favour of Christian liberty, to rescue the conscience from the tyranny of men. But we have not yet solved the difficulty which arises from the lan- guage of Paul. For if princes are to be obeyed, " not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake," {q) it seems to follow, that the laws of princes have dominion over the conscience. If this be true, the same must be affirmed of the laws of the Church. I reply, In the first place, it is necessary to distin- guish between the genus and the species. For the con- science is not affected by every particular law ; yet we are bound by the general command of God, which establishes the authority of magistrates. And this is the hinge upon which Paul's argument turns, that magistrates are to be honoured be- cause they are "ordained of God." (r) At the same time he is far from insinuating that the laws enacted by them have any thing to do with the internal government of the soul ; for he every where extols the service of God and the spiritual rule of a holy life, above all the statutes and decrees of men. A second consideration worthy of notice, which is a consequence of the (p) 1 Cor. X. 28, 29. {q) Rom. xiii. 5. (r) Rom. xiii. 1. VOL. II. 47 370 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. first, is, that human laws, — 1 mean such as are good and just, whether enacted by magistrates or by the Church, — though they are necessary to be observed, are not on this account binding on the conscience ; because, all the necessity of observing them has reference to the general object of laws, but does not consist in the particular things which are commanded. There is an immense distance between laws of this description, and those which prescribe any new form for the worship of God, and impose a necessity in things that were left free and in- diiferent. VI. Such are the Ecclesiastical Constitutions^ as they are now called, in the Papacy, which are obtruded as necessary to the true worship of God ; and as they are innumerable, they are so many bonds to entrap and insnare souls. Though we have touched on them a little in the exposition of the law, yet as this is a more suitable place to discuss them at large, I shall now endeavour to collect a summary of the whole, in the best order I can. And as we have already said what appeared suf- ficient respecting the tyrannical power, which the false bishops arrogate to themselves, of teaching whatever doctrines they please, I shall at present pass over all that subject, and confine myself to a discussion of the power which they say they have, to make laws. Our false bishops, therefore, burden men's con- sciences with new laws under this pretext — that the Lord has constituted them spiritual legislators, by committing to them the government of the Church. Wherefore they contend, that all the commands and ordinances ought of necessity to be observed by all Christian people, and that whoever violates them is guilty of double disobedience, because he is a rebel both against God and the Church. Certainly, if they were true bishops, I would allow them some authority of this kind ; not all that they demand, but all that is requisite to the maintenance of good order in the Church. But as they bear no resemblance of the character to which they pretend, the least they can possibly assume is more than their right. Yet as this has been already proved, let us admit the supposition at present, that whatever power true bishops are entitled to, belongs to them. Still I deny that they are therefore appointed as legislators over be- lievers, with power to prescribe a rule of life according to their own pleasure, or to constrain the people committed to them to submit to their decrees. By this observation I mean, that they have no authority to enjoin upon tlie observance of the Church any thing that they may have invented themselves, independ- ently of the word of God. As this power was unknown to the apostles, and was so frequently interdicted to the ministers of the Church by the mouth of the Lord, I wonder how they have dared to usurp it, and still dare to maintain it contrary to the CHAP. X.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 371 example of the apostles, and in defiance of the express pro- hibition of God. VII, Every thing pertaining to the perfect rule of a holy life, the Lord has comprehended in his law, so that there re- mains nothing for men to add to that summary. And he has done this, first, that, since all rectitude of life consists in the conformity of all our actions to his will, as their standard, we might consider him as the sole Master and Director of our conduct ; and secondly, to show that he requires of us nothing more than obedience. For this reason, James says, " He that judgeth his brother, judgeth the law ; but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy." (s) We hear that God asserts this as his peculiar and exclusive preroga- tive ; to govern us by the empire and laws of his word. And the same sentiment had before been expressed by Isaiah, though in terms not quite so explicit : " The Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King, he will save us." (t) Both passages imply, that he who has authority over the soul, is the Arbiter of. life and death ; and James even clearly expresses it. No man can assume this to himself. It follows therefore, that God ought to be acknowledged as the only King of souls, who alone has power to save and to destroy, or, in the language of Isaiah, as the King, Judge, Legislator, and Saviour. Wherefore Peter, when he admonishes pastors of their duty, exhorts them " to feed the flock, not as being lords over God's heritage," (v) or the company of believers. If we duly consider this point, that it is not lawful to transfer to man that which God appro- priates solely to himself, we shall miderstand that this cuts off all the power which is claimed by those who wish to exalt them- selves to command any thing in the Church, unsanctioned by the word of God. VIII. Now, as the whole argument rests here, that, if God is the sole legislator, it is not lawful for men to assume this Lonour to themselves, — we ought also to bear in mind the two reasons which we have stated, why God asserts this ex- clusively to himself. The first is, that his will may be re- ceived as the perfect rule of all righteousness and holiness, and so that an acquaintance with it may be all the knowledge necessary to a good life. The second is, that with respect to the mode of worshipping him aright, he may exercise the sole empire over our souls, to whom we are under the strongest obligation to obey his authority and await his commands. When these two reasons are kept in view, it will be easy to judge what constitutions of men are contrary to the word of (s) James iv. 11, 12. (<) Isaiah xxxiii. 22. (v) 1 Peter v. 2, 3. 372 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. God. Now, of this description are all those which are pre- tended to belong to the true worship of God, and to be obliga- tory on men's consciences as necessary to be observed. Let us remember, therefore, that all human laws are to be weighed in this balance, if we would have a certain and infallible test. .The first of these reasons is urged by Paul in his Epistle to the Colossians, in opposition to the false apostles, who endeavoured to oppress the Churches with fresh burdens. In a similar ar- gument, in the Epistle to the Galatians, he insists more on the second reason. In the Epistle to the Colossians, he con- tends that the doctrine of the true worship of God is not to be sought from men, because the Lord has faithfully and fully instructed us how we ought to worship him. To prove this, in the first chapter he states that all the wisdom by which the man of God is made perfect in Christ is contained in the gos- pel. In the beginning of the second chapter, he declares that " in Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge ; " from which he concludes that believers should " beware lest any man spoil them through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men." At the end of the chapter, he, still more confidently condemns all " will worship ; " (w) this includes all those fictitious services which men either invent for themselves or receive from others, together with all the precepts by which they presume to regulate the worship of God. Thus we have ascertained the impiety of all those constitutions, in the obser- vance of which the worship of God is pretended to consist. The passages in the Epistle to the Galatians, in which he argues that snares ought not to be imposed on consciences, which are subject to the government of God alone, are too plain to be mistaken ; especially in the fifth chapter, (x) It will there- fore be sufficient to have mentioned them. IX. But as the whole of this subject will be better eluci- dated by examples, before I proceed any further, it will be useful to apply this doctrine to our own times. We affirm that the Ecclesiastical Constitutions, with which the pope and his satellites oppress the Church, are pernicious and impious ; our adversaries assert them to be holy and useful. Now, they are of two classes : some regard rites and ceremonies, others have more relation to discipline. Is there just cause, then, to induce us to reject both ? There certainly is juster cause tlian we would desire. In the first place, do not the authors of them explicitly declare that the very essence of the worship of God consists in them ? To what end do they refer their ceremonies, but that God may be worshipped through them ? And this arises not from the mere error of the uninformed multitude, but from the appro- (w) Col. i. 27, 28'; ii. 3, 8, 23. (x) Gal. v, 1—18. CHAP. X.] CHRISTIAN REH.GION. 373 bation of those who sustain the office of teachers. I am not yet referring to the gross abominations by which they have at- tempted to overturn all piety ; but they would never pretend a failure in any one of the most insignificant traditions to be such an atrocious crime, unless they made the worship of God sub- ject to their inventions. Wherein are we guilty of any offence, then, if we cannot bear in our day what was declared to be intolerable by Paul : namely, that the legitimate mode of worshipping God should be regulated by the will of men ; especially when they enjoin a worship " after the rudiments of the world," which Paul asserts to be " not after Christ." {y) It is well known also, with what rigorous necessity they bind men's consciences to observe every thing that they command. In our opposition to this, we unite in a common cause with Paul, who would by no means allow the consciences of be- lievers to be subjected to the bondage of men. {z) X. Moreover, this worst of consequences ensues ; that when men have begun to place religion in such vain figments, that perversion is immediately followed by another execrable cor- ruption, with which Christ reproached the Pharisees. " Ye have made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition." (a) I will not combat our modern legislators with my own words ; I will grant them the victory, if they can vindicate themselves from this accusation of Christ. But how can they vindicate themselves, while they esteem it infinitely more criminal, to have omitted auricular confession at a stated time of the year, than to have lived a most iniquitous life for a whole year together ; to have infected the tongue with the least taste of animal food on a Friday, than to have polluted the whole body by committing fornication every day ; to have put a hand to any honest labour on a day consecrated to any pretended saint, than to have continually employed all the members in the most flagitious actions ; for a priest to be con- nected in one lawful marriage, than to be defiled with a thou- sand adulteries ; to have failed of performing one vow of pil- grimage, than to violate every other promise ; not to have lavished any thing on the enormous, superfluous, and useless magnificence of Churches, than to have failed of relieving the most pressing necessities of the poor; to have passed by an idol without some token of honour, than to have insulted all the men in the world ; not to have muttered over, at certain seasons, a multitude of words without any meaning, than to have never offered a genuine prayer from the heart ? What is it for men to make the commandment of God of none effect by their traditions, if this be not ? When coldly and carelessly (y) Col. ii. 8. (2) Gal. v. 1. (o) Matt. xv. 6. 374 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. recommending the observance of the commandments of God, they insist on an exact obedience to their own, with as mnch zeal and anxiety as if the whole essence of piety consisted in them ; when avenging the violation of the Divine law with slight penalties of satisfactions, they punish the smallest trans- gression of one of their decrees with nothing less than im- prisonment, banishment, fire, or sword ; when less severe and inexorable against the despisers of God, they persecute the despisers of themselves with implacable hatred even to death ; and when they instruct all those whom they hold in the chains of ignorance in such a manner, that they would feel less con- cern at seeing the subversion of the whole law of God, than the violation of the smallest tittle of the commands of the Church ? In the first place, here is a grievous error, that on account of things of no importance in themselves, and left free by God, one man despises, condemns, and rejects another. Now, as if this were not bad enough, " the beggarly elements of the world," (6) as Paul calls them, are esteemed of more force than the celestial oracles of God. He who is absolved in adultery, is condemned in meat ; he who is allowed a harlot, is interdicted from a wife. This is the fruit of that prevarica- ting obedience, which recedes from God in proportion as it inclines to men. XI. There are also two other faults, far from small ones, which we charge on these Constitutions. The first is, that they prescrij2£ for the most part useless, and sometimes even "loolish observances. The seconJ~Ts, that pious _conscience§ are oppressed witlTthe immense number ol them, and being carried back to a species of Judaism, are so occupied with shadows as to be prevented from coming to Christ. When I call these observances useless and foolish, I know this will not be admitted by the wisdom of the flesh, which is so pleased with them, as to consider the Church altogether deformed where they are abolished. But these are the things which Paul describes as '• having a show of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body ; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh." (c) This is certainly a most salutary admonition, which ought never to be forgotten by us. Human traditions, he says, deceive under a show of wisdom. Is it inquired whence they have this appearance ? I reply, that being contrived by man, the human mind recognizes them as its own, and recognizing them, embraces them with greater pleasure than it would any thing of the greatest excellence, but less agreeable to its vanity. A further recommendation of them is, that as they keep the minds of men depressed to the ground (b) Gal. iv. 0. Col. ii. 8. (c) Col. ii. 23. CHAP. X.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 375 under their yoke, they appear well adapted to promote humility. Lastly, they are regarded as the expedients of prudence, from their supposed tendency to restrain corporeal indulgence, and to subdue sensuality by the rigour of abstinence. But what does Paul say to these things ? Does he strip off such disguises, that the simple may not be deluded by false pretences ? Satis- fied that he had said enough to refute them, when he had called them " the commandments and doctrines of men," [d) he passes over all these things as undeserving of any particular refutation. And knowing that all services of human invention are condemned in the Church, and ought to excite the suspicion of believers in proportion to the pleasure they afford to the minds of men ; knowing that false appearance of external humility to be at such an immense distance from true humility, that it might be easily distinguished from it ; knowing that discipline to be entitled to no other consideration than as a mere exercise of the body, — he intended these very things, by which the traditions of men are recommended to the ignorant, to serve as their refutation with believers. XII. So, at the present day, not only the unlearned vulgar, but those who are most inflated with worldly wisdom, are universally and wonderfully captivated with the pomp of cere- monies. Hypocrites and silly women think it impossible to imagine any thing more beautiful or excellent. But those who examine more minutely, and judge with more accuracy, ac- cording to the rule of piety, respecting the real value of those numerous ceremonies, perceive, in the first place, that they are frivolous, because they have no utility ; and in the next place, that they are delusive, because they deceive the eyes of the spectators with empty pomp. I speak of those ceremonies under which, the Roman doctors contend, are concealed great myste- ries, but which, on examination, we find to be mere mockeries. And it is not to be wondered at, that the authors and advocates of them have fallen into such folly as to delude both themselves and others with contemptible absurdities ; because they have taken their model in some things from the reveries of the heathen, and in others, without any judgment, have imitated the ancient rites of the Mosaic law, which were no more appli- cable to us than the sacrifices of animals and other similar ceremonies. Indeed, if there were no argument besides, yet no man in his senses would expect any thing good from such a heterogeneous compound. And the fact itself plainly demon- strates, that numerous ceremonies have no other use than to stupefy the people, instead of instructing them. So hypocrites attach great importance to those novel canons, which overturn (d) Col. ii. 22. 376 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. discipline rather than preserve it ; for on a more accurate investigation, they will be found a mere shadow of discipline, without any reality. XIII. Now, to proceed to the other fault which I have mentioned, who does not see that traditio^g, by the continual accumulation of one upon anotherTliave grown to such_an immense number, that they are altogether nitoierable toThe Christian Churclil Hence it is, that the ceremonies discover a kind of Judaism, and other observances inflict grievous tortures on pious souls. Augustine complained that, in his time, the commands of God were neglected, and every thing was so full of presumption, that a person was more severely censured for having touched the ground with his bare feet within eight days of his baptism, than for having drowned his senses in intoxication. He complained that the Church, which the mercy of God intended to place in a state of liberty, was so grievously oppressed, that the condition of the Jews was more tolerable. If that holy man had lived in our day, with what lamentations would he have deplored the present state of bondage ? For the number of ordinances is ten times greater, and every tittle is enforced with a hundred times more rigour, than in his time. Such is the general consequence, when these corrupt legislators have seized the dominion, they make no end of commands and prohibitions, till they arrive at such an extreme that obedience is scarcely if at all practicable. This is finely expressed by Paul, when he says, " If ye be dead from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances ? Eat not, taste not, handle not." (e) The word (x4">], signifying both to eat and to handle, requires here to be understood in the former sense, to avoid an unneces- sary repetition. Here, then, he most beautifully describes the progress of the false apostles. They begin with superstition, forbidding to eat not only a large quantity, but even a little ; when they have carried this point, they next forbid to taste ; and after this is submitted to them, they pronounce it unlawful even to touch with a linger. XIV. In the present age, we justly censure this tyranny ui human constitutions, wliich astonishingly torments miserable consciences with innumerable edicts, and the extreme rigour with which they are enforced. The canons relating to disci- pline have been already considered. What shall I say of the ceremonies, which have half buried Christ, and caused us to return to Jewish figures? "Christ our Lord," says Augustine, "has connected together the society of the new people with sacra- ments, very few in number, most excellent in signification, (c) Col. ii. 20, 21. CHAP. X.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 377 and very easy to observe." The immense distance of this simplicity from the multitude and variety of rites in which we see the Church now involved, can hardly be stated in terms sufficiently strong. I know with what artifice some ingenious men apologize for this corruption. They say, that there are great numbers among us as ignorant as there were among the Israelites ; that for their sakes such discipline was instituted, which those who are stronger, though they do not find it necessary, ought not to neglect, when they perceive it to be useful to their weak brethren. I reply, that we are not ignorant of what is due from every Christian to the infirmity of his brethren ; but, on the other hand, we reply, that this is not the way to benefit the weak, by oppressing them with heavy loads of ceremonies. It was not without cause that the Lord has made this difi'erence between his ancient people and us ; that he chose to instruct them, like children, with emblems and figures, but has been pleased to teach us in a more simple manner, without such a large external apparatus. As " a child," says Paul, " is under tutors and governors until the time appoint- ed of the father," (/) so the Jews were under the instruction and government of the law. But we resemble adults, who, having left a state of tuition and guardianship, have no need of puerile discipline. Surely the Lord foresaw what sort of common people there Avould be in his Church, and in what manner they would require to be governed. Yet he made the difference we have mentioned between us and the Jews. It is a foolish way, there- fore, to pretend to benefit the ignorant by reviving Judaism, which has been abrogated by Christ. This diversity, between the people under the old dispensation and the new, was signified by Christ, when he said to the woman of Samaria, " The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth." (g) This, indeed, had always been the case ; but the new worshippers differ from the ancient in this respect, that under Moses the spiritual adoration of God was concealed, and in some degree embarrassed with many ceremonies, which being now abolished, he is worshipped with greater simplicity. Wherefore those who confound this difler- ence, subvert the order instituted and established by Christ. Shall no ceremonies, then, it will be asked, be given to the ignorant, to assist their weakness ? I say no such thing ; for I think some assistance of this kind very useful to them. I only contend that such means should be employed as would tend to make known Christ, not to conceal him. God has, therefore, given us few ceremonies, and those by no means laborious, to exhibit Christ to us as present ; the Jews had a (/) Gal. iv. 1,2. C?) John iv. 23. VOL. II. 48 378 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. greater number, to represent him as absent. He was then absent, I say, not as to his power, but with respect to the manner of representing him. Therefore, to observe proper bounds, it is necessary to retain that paucity in number, that facihty in observance, that dignity in signification, which consists in sim- pUcity. That this has not been done, it is scarcely necessary to mention. The fact is visible to all. XV. Here I forbear to remark the pernicious opinions with which the minds of men are impressed, that these ceremonies of human invention are sacrifices by which God is justly aj> peased, by which sins are expiated, by which righteousness and salvation are procured. It will be denied that things intrinsically good are corrupted by such adventitious errors, since equal guilt of this kind may be incurred in the performance of works commanded by God. But it is more intolerable to attribute so much honour to works presumptuously devised by the will of men, as to believe them to be meritorious of eternal life. For works commanded by God obtain a reward, because the Legislator himself accepts them as acts of obedience. They derive their value, therefore, not from their own dignity or intrinsic merit, but from God's estimation of our obedience to him. I speak here of that perfection of works which God commands, but which men never attain. For the works of the law which we perform, are only accepted through the gratuitous goodness of God, our obedience in them being weak and imperfect. But as we are not here discussing the value of works independent of Christ, let us drop this question. With regard to the present argument, I again repeat, that whatever value is attributed to works, they derive from the consideration of the obedience, which is alone regarded by God, as he declares by the prophet : " I commanded not concerning burnt-offerings or sacrifices, but this thing I commanded, saying, Obey my voice." (h) Of works of human device, he speaks in another place. " Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread ? " (i) Again : " In vain do they worship me by the precepts of men." (k) Our adversaries, therefore, can never excuse themselves for suffering the unhappy people to seek in those external fooleries a righteousness to present before God, and to support them at the heavenly tribunal. Besides, is it not a fault deserving of severe reprehension, that they exhibit cere- monies not understood, like the scenery of a stage or a magical incantation ? For it is certain that all ceremonies are corrupt and pernicious, unless they direct men to Christ. Now, the ceremonies practised in the Papacy have no connection Avith doctrine : they confine men to mere signs, destitute of all signification. Lastly, so ingenious is cupidity, it is evident (A) Jer. vii. 22, 23. (i) Isaiah Iv. 2. (k) Isaiah xxix. 13. Matt. xv. 7—9. CHAP. X.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 379 that many of them have been invented by avaricious priests, merely as contrivances for the extortion of money. But what- ever be their origin, they are all so prostituted to the acquisition of gain, that it is necessary to abolish the principal part of them, if we wish to prevent a profane and sacrilegious traffic from being carried on in the Church. XVI. Though I may be considered as not delivering a doctrine of perpetual application respecting human constitutions, because the jjreceding observations have been wholly directed to the present age, yet nothing has been advanced which would not be useful in all ages. For wherever this superstition intrudes, that men are determined to worship God with their own inven- tions, all the laws made for this purpose presently degenerate into such gross abuses as we have described. It is a curse which God denounces, not against any particular age, but against all ages, that he will strike with blindness and stupidity all those who wor- ship him with the doctrines of men. (I) The invariable effect of this blindness is, that no absurdity is too great to be embraced by persons who, in contempt of so many warnings from God, wilfully entangle themselves in such fatal snares. But if, irre- spective of peculiar circumstances, any one wish to have a simple statement, what are the human traditions of all ages, which ought to be rejected and reprobated by the Church and all pious persons, the direction we have already given is clear and certain — that they are all laws made by men without the word of God, for the purpose, either"of prescribing any method for the worship of God, or of laying the conscience under a religious obligation, as if they enjoined things necessary to salvation. If either or both of these be accompanied with other faults, such as, that the ceremonies, by their multitude, obscure the simplicity of the gospel ; that they tend to no edification, but are useless and ridiculous occupations rather than real exercises of piety ; that they are employed for the sordid purposes of dishonest gain ; that they are too difficult to be observed ; that they are pollu- ted with impious superstitions ; — these things will further assist us in discovering the vast evil which they contain. XVII. I hear the answer which they make — that their tradi- tions are not from themselves, but from God ; for that the Church is directed by the Holy Spirit, so that it cannot err ; and that they are in possession of his authority. When this point is gained, it immediately follows, that their traditions are the revelations of the Holy Spirit, which cannot be despised without impiety and contempt of God. That they may not appear to attempt any thing without high authorities, they wish it to be believed that the greatest part of their observances have (0 Isaiah xxiz. 13, 14. 380 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. descended from the apostles ; and they contend that one exam- ple sufficiently shows what was the conduct of the apostles in other cases ; when, being assembled together in a council, they determined and announced to all Gentiles, that they should " abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled." (m) We have already exposed the falsehood of their pretensions in arrogating to themselves the title of the Church. With regard to the present argument, if, stripping oft' all false disguises, we confine our attention to what ought to be our chief concern, and involves our highest interests, namely, what kind of a Church Christ requires, in order that we may conform ourselves to its standard, — it will be sufficiently evi- dent to us, that the name of the Church does not belong to those who overleap all the limits of the word of God, and exer- cise an unbounded license of enacting new laws. For does not that law, which was once given to the Church, remain for- ever in force ? " What thing soever T command you, observe to do it : thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it." (w) And again : " Add not thou unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar." (o) Since they cannot deny these things to have been spoken to the Church, do they not declare the rebellion 'of the Church, when they pretend that, notwithstanding such prohibitions, it has dared to mingle ad- ditions of its own with the doctrine of God ? Far be it from us, however, to countenance their falsehoods, by which they do so great an injury to the Church ; let us know that the as- sumption of the name of the Church is a false pretence in all who are so carried away by the violence of human presumption, as to disregard all the restraints of the word of God, and to in- troduce a torrent of their own inventions. There is nothing involved, nothing intricate, nothing ambiguous in these words, by which the whole Church is forbidden to add any thing to the word, or to diminish any thing from it, in any question re- lating to the worship of God and his salutary precepts. But it will be alleged, that this was spoken exclusively of the law, which has been succeeded by the prophecies and the whole dispensation of the gospel. This I certainly admit, and at the same time assert, that these were accomplishments of the law, rather than additions to it, or retrenchments of it. But if the Lord suft"ered no enlargement or diminution of the ministry of Moses, notwithstanding it was enveloped in such great ob- scurity, till he dispensed a clearer doctrine by his servants the prophets, and finally by his beloved Son, — why do not we con- sider ourselves far more severely prohibited from making any addition to the law, the prophets, the psalms, and the gospel ? (m) Acts XV. 28, 29. (?i) Deut. xii. 32. (o) Prov. xxx. CHAP. X.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 381 No change has taken place in the Lord, who long ago declared that nothing was so highly offensive to him, as to attempt to worship him with the inventions of men. Hence those stri- king declarations in the prophets, which ought to be contin- ually sounding in our ears : "I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt-offerings or sacrifices ; but this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people : and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you." (p) Again : " I earnestly protested unto your fathers, saying. Obey my voice." (^) There are many other similar passages, but the most remarkable of all is the following : " Hath the Lord," says Samuel, " as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord ? Behold, to obey is bet- ter than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." (r) Therefore, whatever human inven- tions relating to the worship of God, may be defended by the authority of the Church, since it is impossible to vindicate them from impiety, it is easy to infer that the imputation of them to the Church has no foundation in truth. XVni. For this reason we freely censure that tyranny of human traditions, which is imposed upon the world under the name of the Church. Nor do we hold the Church in contempt, as our adversaries, in order to render us obnoxious, falsely as- sert. We allow it the praise of obedience, than which no higher praise can be given. On the contrary, they are them- selves the most outrageous violators of the Church, which they represent as guilty of rebellion against the Lord, when they pretend that it has gone beyond what was permitted by the word of God ; to say nothing of the combination of impudence and wickedness discovered in their incessant vociferations re- specting the authority of the Church, while they take no notice of the command of the Lord, or of the obedience due from the Church to that command. But if we desire, as we ought, to agree with the Church, it will be best for us to observe and remember what commands are given by the Lord, equally to us and to the whole Church, that we may all obey him with one consent. For there is no doubt that we shall fully agree with the Church, if we show ourselves in all things obedient to the Lord. Now, to attribute to the apostles the origin of the traditions which have hitherto oppressed the Church, is a mere imposture ; for the whole tendency of the doctrine of the apostles was, that men's consciences should not be burdened (p) Jer. vii. 22, 23. (?) Jer. xi.' 7. (r) 1 Sam. xv. 22, 23. 382, INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. with new observances, or the worship of God contaminated with human inventions. Besides, if there be any credit due to ancient histories and records, the apostles not only never knew, but never even heard of that which is ascribed to them. Nor let it be pretended, that the greatest part of their Constitutions were received in use and commonly practised, which were never committed to writing ; namely, those things which, during the life of Christ, they were not able to under- stand, but which after his ascension, they learned from the revelation of the Holy Spirit. The meaning of that passage we have already examined. With respect to the present sub- ject, we may observe, they make themselves truly ridiculous by maintaining that those great mysteries, which were so long unknown to the apostles, consisted partly of Jewish or heathen ceremonies, of which the former had long before been promul- gated among the Jews, and the latter among the heathen, and partly of foolish gesticulations and unmeaning rites, which stupid priests, who scarcely know how to walk or speak, per- form with the greatest exactness, and which even infants and fools counterfeit so well, that it might be thought there were no more suitable ministers of such solemnities. If there were no histories, yet men ^f sound judgment would conclude from the thing itself, that such a vast multitude of rites and obser- vances did not break into the Church all on a sudden, but that they must have been introduced by degrees. For when those holy bishops, who were the immediate successors of the apos- tles, had made some appointments relating to order and disci- pline, they were followed by a series of others, who had too little consideration, and too much curiosity and cupidity, of whom every one in succession vied with his predecessors, from a foolish emulation to excel them in the invention of new observances. And because there was danger that their inven- tions, by which they desired to obtain the praises of posterity, might in a short time be disused, they were the more rigid in enforcing the observance of them. This foolish and perverse imitation has been the source of most of those rites which the Romanists urge upon us as apostolic. And this is also attested by various histories. XIX. To avoid too much prolixity in composing a catalogue of them all, we shall content ourselves with one example. In the administration of the Lord's supper, the apostles used great simplicity. Their immediate successors, to adorn the dignity of the mystery, added some forms which were not to be altogether condemned. Afterwards followed those foolish imitators, who, by adding various fragments from time to time, at length formed those vestments of the priests, those ornaments of the altar, those gesticulatiohs, and all that apparatus of use- i CHAP. X.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 383 less things, which we see in the mass. But they object that it was an ancient opinion, that whatever was done with tlie common consent of the universal Church, had originated from the apostles. In proof of this, they cite the testimony of Au- gustine. I shall give them no other answer than in the words of Augustine himself. " Those things which are observed throughout the world," says he, " we may understand to have been ordamed, either Ijy the apostles themselves, or by general councils, whose authority is very useful in the Church ; as that the sufferings, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord, and the descent of the Holy Spirit, are celebrated by solemn anni- versaries ; and if there be any thing else of a similar kind observed by the universal Church wherever it has extended itself." When he enumerates so few examples, who does not see that he intended to attribute to authors worthy of credit and reverence the observances which were then in use, and none but those simple, rare, and sober ones, which are useful in preserving the order of the Church ? But how distant is this passage from the conclusion the Roman doctors would extort from it, that there is not the most insignificant ceremony among them which ought not to be considered as resting on the authority of the apostles ! XX. Not to be too tedious, I will produce only one example. If any one inquire whence they have their holy water, they immediately answer. From the apostles. As if the histories did not attribute this invention to a bishop of Rome, who, if he had taken counsel of the apostles, would certainly never have contaminated baptism by a strange and unseasonable symbol. Though it does not appear to me probable that the origin of that consecration was so ancient as those histories state. For the observation of Augustine, that some Churches in his time rejected the custom of washing the feet as a solemn imitation of Christ, lest that ceremony might be supposed to have any reference to baptism, implies that there was no other kind of washing then practised which bore any resemblance to baptism. Be this as it may, I shall never admit it to have been a dictate of the spirit of the apostles, that baptism should be recalled to the memory by a daily ablution, which would be little else than a repetition of it. It is of no consequence that Augustine elsewhere ascribes other things also to the apostles ; for as he has nothing but conjectures, no conclusion ought to be drawn from them on such an important subject. Lastly, though we should even grant, that those things which he mentions had been transmitted from the time of the apostles, yet there is a wide difference between instituting some pious exercise which believers may use with a free conscience, or if they find not profitable, may abstain from the use of it, and 384 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. making laws to entangle their consciences with bondage. But whoever was their author, since we see that they have fallen into so great an abuse, nothing prevents our abolishing them without any disrespect to him ; because they were never insti- tuted in order to be perpetual and unalterable. XXI. Nor does the cause of our adversaries derive much advantage from their attempt to excuse their own tyranny, by alleging the example of the apostles. The apostles, they say, and elders of the primitive Church, passed a decree without the command of Christ, enjoining all the Gentiles to "abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled." (s) If this was lawful for them, why may it not be lawful for their successors, whenever circumstances require, to imitate their conduct ? I sincerely wish they would imitate them in other things as well as in this. For I deny that the apostles, on that occasion, instituted or decreed any thing new, as it is easy to prove by a sufficient reason. For when Peter had declared in that assembly, that to " put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples " would be to " tempt God," (t) he would have contradicted his own opinion, if he had afterwards con- sented to the imposition of any yoke. Yet there was a yoke imposed, if the apostles decreed, from their own authority, that the Gentiles should be prohibited "from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled." There still remains some difficulty, that nevertheless they seem to prohibit them. But this will be easily solved, if we more closely ex- amine the meaning of the decree itself; of which the first point in order and principal in importance is, that the Gentiles were to be left in possession of their liberty, and not to be dis- turbed or troubled about the observance of the law. So far it is completely in our favour. The exception which immediately follows is not a new law made by the apostles, but the Divine and eternal command for the preservation of charity inviolate ; nor does it diminish a tittle of that liberty: it only admonishes the Gentiles how they ought to accommodate themselves to their brethren, to avoid offending them by an abuse of their liberty. The second point, therefore, is, that the Gentiles were to use a harmless liberty, and without offence to their brethren. If it be still objected, that they prescribe a certain direction, I reply, that as far as was expedient for that period, they point out and specify the things in which the Gentiles were liable to give offence to their brethren, that they might refrain from them ; yet they add nothing new of their own to the eternal law of God, by which offences against our brethren arc pro- hibited, (s) Acts XV. 29. (<) Acts xv. 10. CHAP. X.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 385 XXII. As if any faithful pastors, who preside over churches not yet well regulated, were to recommend all their people not to eat meat openly on Fridays, or to labour publicly on festi- vals, or the like, till their weaker neighbours should be more estalslished. For though, setting aside superstition, these things are in themselves indifferent, yet when they are attended with offences to brethren, they cannot be performed without sin ; and the times are such that believers could not do these things in the presence of their weak brethren, without most grievously wounding their consciences. Who but a caviller would say that in this instance they made a new law, whereas it would evidently appear that their sole object was to guard against of- fences which are most expressly forbidden by the Lord ? No more can it be said of the apostles, who had no other design in removing the occasion of offences, than to urge the Divine law respecting the avoidance of offence : as though they had said, It is the command of the Lord that you hurt not your weak brother ; you cannot eat meats offered to idols, or blood, or things strangled, without your weak brethren being offended ; therefore, we command you by the word of the Lord not to eat with offence. And that such was the intention of the apostles, Paul himself is an unexceptionable witness, who, cer- tainly in consistence with their sentence, writes in the follow- ing manner: " As concerning the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing. Howbeit, there is not in every man that knowledge ; for some with conscience of the idol, eat it as a thing offered unto an idol ; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling-block to them that are weak." (v) He who shall have duly considered these things, will not afterwards be deceived by the fallacy of those who attempt to justify their tyranny by the example of the apostles, as if they had begun to infringe the liberty of the Church by their decree. But that they may not be able to avoid confirming this solution by their own confession, let them tell me by what right they have dared to abrogate that de- cree. They can only reply, Because there was no more danger from those offences and dissensions which the apostles intended to guard against, and they knew that a law was to be judged of by the end for which it was made. As this law, therefore, is admitted to have been made from a consideration of charity, there is nothing prescribed in it any further than charity is concerned. When they confess that the transgression of this law is no other than a violation of charity, do they not thereby acknowledge that it is not a novel addition to the law of God, (») 1 Cor. viii. 4, 7, 9. VOL. II. 49 386 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. but a genuine and simple application of it to the times and manners for which it was designed ? XXIII. But it is contended, that though the ecclesiastical laws should in a hundred instances be unjust and injurious to us, yet they ought all to be obeyed without any exception ; for that the point here is not that we should consent to errors, but that we, who are subjects, should fulfil ev^en the severe com- mands of our governors, which we are not at liberty to reject. But here likewise the Lord most happily interposes with the truth of his word, delivers us from such bondage, and estab- lishes us in the liberty which he has procured for us by his sacred blood, the benefit of which he has repeatedly confirmed by his word. For the question hero is not, as they fallaciously pretend, merely whether we shall endure some grievous op- pression in our bodies ; but whether our consciences shall be deprived of their liberty, that is, of the benefit of the blood of Christ, and shall be tormented with a wretched bondage. Let us, however, pass over this also, as if it were matter of little importance. But do we think it a matter of little importance to deprive the Lord of his kingdom, which he claims to him- self, in such a peremptory manner ? And it is taken away from him whenever he is- worshipped with laws of human invention, whereas he requires himself to be honored as the sole legislator of his own worship. And that no one may suppose it to be a thing of trivial importance, let us hear in what estimation it is held by the Lord. " Forasmuch," he says, " as this people draw near me with their mouth, but their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men ; therefore, behold, I will pro- ceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a mar- vellous work and a wonder ; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid." (w) Again: "In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. " (.r) When the children of Israel polluted themselves by various idolatries, the cause of all the evil is attributed to the impure mixture which they made by devising new modes of worship in violation of the commands of God. Therefore, the sacred history relates that the strangers who had been transplanted by the king of Assyria from Babylon to inhabit Samaria, were torn in pieces and de- voured by wild beasts, " because they knew not the statutes or ordinances of the God of the land." Though they had committed no fault in the ceremonies, yet vain pomp would not have been approved by God ; but he did not fail to punish the violation of liis worship, when men introduced new inven- tions inconsistent with his word. Hence it is afterwards (jr) Isaiah x.xix. 13, 14. (x) Matt. iv. 9. CHAP. X.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 387 Stated, that being terrified with that punishment, they adopted rites prescribed in the law ; yet because they did not yet wor- ship the true God aright, it is twice repeated that " they feared the Lord," and, at the same time, that '• they feared not the Lord." {y) Whence we conchide, that part of the reve- rence which is paid to him consists in our worshipping him in a simple adherence to his commands, without the admixture of any inventions of our own. Hence the frequent commenda- tions of pious kings, that they " walked in all his command- ments, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left." {z) I go still further : though in some services of human invention there appears no manifest impiety, yet as soon as ever men have departed from the command of God, it is severely con- demned by the Holy Spirit. The altar of Ahaz, the model of which was brought from Damascus, might seem to be an addition to the ornaments of the temple, because his design was to offer sacrifices upon it to God alone, with a view to per- form these services in a more splendid manner than upon the ancient and original altar ; yet we see how the Holy Spirit detests such audacity, for no other reason than because all the inventions of men in the worship of God are impure corrup- tions, (a) And the more clearly the will of God is revealed to us, the more inexcusable is our presumption in making any such attempt. Wherefore the guilt of Manasseh is justly aggravated by the circumstance of his having " built " new '' altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord said. In Jerusalem will I put my name ; " {b) because such conduct was like an avowed rejection of the authority of God. XXIV. Many persons wonder why the Lord so severely threatens that he would "do a marvellous work among the people," whose " fear toward him " was '' taught by the precepts of men," and pronounces that he is " worshipped in vain" by "the commandments of men." But if such persons would consider what it is to follow the word of God alone in matters of religion, that is, of heavenly wisdom, they would immediately perceive it to be for no trivial reason that the Lord abommates such corrupt services, which are rendered to him according to the caprice of the human mind. For, though persons who obey such laws for the worship of God, have a certain appearance of humility in this their obedience, yet they are very far from being humble before God, to whom they prescribe the same laws which they observe themselves. This is the reason why Paul requires us to be so particularly cautious against being deceived by the traditions of men, and will- {y) 2 Kings xvii. 24—34. (z) 2 Kings xxii. 2. 2 Chron. xvii. 4, et alibi (o) 2 Kings xvi. 10, &c. (6) 2 Kings xxi. 4. 388 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. worship, that is, vokmtary worship, invented by men, without the word of God. (c) And so indeed it is, that our own wisdom, and that of all other men, must become folly in our esteem, that we may allow God alone to be truly wise. This is very far from being the case with those who study to render them- selves acceptable to him by petty observances of human con- trivance, and obtrude upon him, in opposition to his commands, a hypocritical obedience, which in reality is rendered to men. This was the conduct of men in former ages ; the same has hap- pened within our own remembrance, and still happens in those places where the authority of the creature is more regarded than that of the Creator ; where religion, if religion it deserves to be called, is polluted with more numerous and senseless supersti- tions than ever disgraced the worship of paganism. For what could proceed from the minds of men but things carnal, foolish, and truly expressive of their authors ? XXV. When the advocates of superstition allege, that Samuel sacrificed in Ramah, that there this was done without the direction of the law, yet it was acceptable to God, (d) the answer is easy — that this was not the erection of a second altar, in opposition to one already erected, and appointed by the Divine command to'supersede every other ; but as there had yet been no fixed place assigned for the ark of the covenant, he ap- pointed the town which he inhabited for the oblation of sacrifices, as the most convenient place. It certainly was not the intention of the holy prophet to make any innovation in religious worship, in which God had so strictly forbidden any thing to be added or diminished. The example of Manoah I consider as an extra- ordinary and singular case. Though a private man, he offered a sacrifice to God, yet not without the Divine approbation ; be- cause he did it not from the hasty impulse of his own mind, but in consequence of the secret inspiration of Heaven, (e) But of the Lord's utter abomination of all the contrivances of mortals in his worship, we have a memorable example in another person, not inferior to Manoah — I mean Gideon, whose ephod produced fatal consequences, not only to himself and his family, but to all the people. (/) In short, every additional invention by which men pretend to serve God is nothing but a pollution of true holiness. XXVI. Why, then, it is inquired, was it the will of Christ that men should submit to those intolerable burdens which were imposed upon them by the scribes and Pharisees ? (g) I ask, on the other hand, Why did Christ, in another place, direct men to " beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Saddu- (c) Col. ii. 4, 8, 18, 23. (rf) 1 Sam. vii. 17. (e) Judges xiii. 19. (/) Judges viii. 27. ^ (£) Matt, xxiii. 3. i CHAP. X.j CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 389 cees ? " (A) by leaven, according to the interpretation given us by the evangelist, intending every doctrine of their own that they mixed with the pure word of God. What can we wish for plainer, than when he commands us to avoid and beware of all their doctrine ? Hence it is very evident to us, that in the other passage our Lord did not intend that the consciences of his disciples should be harassed with the traditions of the Pharisees ; and the words themselves, if they are not perverted, convey no such meaning. For, being about to deliver a severe invective against the conduct of the Pharisees, our Lord only prefaced it by instructing his hearers, that though they would see nothing in their lives worthy of imitation, yet they should continue to practise those things which were taught by them in their discourses, when they were sitting in the chair of Moses, that is to say, when they were expounding the law. His only design, therefore, was to guard the people against being induced to despise the doctrine by the bad examples of those who taught it. But, as some persons are never affected by arguments, but always require authority, I will subjoin the words of Augustine, who gives exactly the same interpretation : " The Lord's fold has pastors, some faithful, some hirelings. Those who are faithful are true shepherds ; yet hear how the hirelings also are necessary. For many in the Church, pursuing worldly advan- tages, preach Christ, and the voice of Christ is heard through them ; and the sheep follow not the hireling, but the Shepherd by means of the hireling. Hear how the hirelings are pointed out by the Lord himself. He says. The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' chair ; what they say, do ; but what they do. imitate not. Is not this equivalent to saying. Hear the voice of the Shepherd through the hirelings ; for, sitting in the chair of Moses, they teach the law of God ; therefore, God teaches by them ; but if they choose to teach any thing of their own, neither attend to it, nor practise it ? " XXVH. But, as many ignorant persons, when they hear that the consciences of men ought not to be bound by human traditions, and that it is in vain to worship God by such ser- vices, immediately conclude the same rule to be applicable to all the laws which regulate the order of the Church, we must also refute their error. It is easy, indeed, to be deceived in this point, because it does not immediately appear, at the first glance. what a difference there is between the one and the other; but I will place the whole subject in such a clear light, in a few words, that no one may be misled by the resemblance. In the first place, let us consider that if, in every society of men, we see the necessity of some polity in order to preserve the com- (A) Matt. xvi. 6. 390 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. mon peace, and to maintain concord ; if in the transaction of business there is always some order, which the interest of pub- lic virtue, and even of humanity itself, forbids to be rejected ; the same ought particularly to be observed in Churches, which are best supported by a well-ordered regulation of all their alfairs, and which without concord are no Churches at all. Wherefore, if we would make a proper provision for the safety of the Church, we ought to pay the strictest attention to the injunction of Paul, that '' all things be done decently and in order." (i) But as there is such great diversity in the manners of men, so great a variety in their minds, and so much con- trariety in their judgments and inclinations, no polity will be sufficiently steady unless it be established by certain laws ; nor can any order be preserved without some settled form. The laws, therefore, which promote this end, we are so far from con- demning, that, we contend, their abolition would be followed by a disruption of the bands of union, and the total disorgani- zation and dispersion of the Churches. For it is impossible to attain what Paul requires, that "all things be done decently and in order," unless order and decorum be supported by ad- ditional regulations. But in regard to such regulations, care must always be takeii, that they be not considered necessary to salvation, and so imposing a religious obligation on the con- science, or applied to the worship of God, and so represented as essential to piety. XXVIII. We have an excellent and most certain mark, therefore, which distinguishes those impious constitutions, by which it has been stated that true religion is obscured and men's consciences subverted, and the legitimate regulations of the Church, which are always directed to one of these two ends, or to both together ; that, in the holy assembly of believ- ers, all things may be conducted with suitable decorum and dignity, that the community may be kept in order by the firm bonds of courtesy and moderation. For when it is once understood that a law is made for the sake of public order, this removes the superstition embraced by them who place the worship of God in human inventions. Moreover, when it is known that it only refers to matters of common practice, this overturns all that false notion of obligation and necessity, which filled men's consciences with great terror, when traditions were thought necessary to salvation. For here nothing is required but the maintenance of charity among us by the common in- tercourse of friendly offices. But it is proper to describe more fully what is compreliended under the decorum and the order which Paul recommends. The end of decorum is, partly, that (0 1 Cor. xiv. 40. CHAP. X.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 391 while ceremonies are employed to conciliate veneration to sa- cred things, we may be excited to piety by such aids ; partly that the modesty and gravity, which ought to be discovered in all virtuous actions, may be most of all conspicuous in the Church. In order, the first point is, that those who preside should be acquainted with the rule and law of good govern- ment, and that the people who are governed should be accus- tomed to an obedience to God and to just discipline ; the second is, that when the Church is in a well regulated state, care should be taken to preserve its peace and tranquillity. XXIX. We shall not call that decorum^ therefore, which is merely a frivolous spectacle, yielding an unprofitable gratifica- tion ; such as we see exemplified in the theatrical apparatus employed by the Papists in their services, where nothing is to be seen but a useless appearance of elegance and splendour, without any advantage. But we shall esteem that as decorum, which shall be so adapted to inspire a reverence of holy myste- ries as to be calculated for an exercise of piety ; or which at least shall contribute an ornament corresponding to the act ; and that not without some beneficial tendency, but that be- lievers may be admonished with what modesty, fear, and rever- ence, they ought to engage in sacred services. Now, that cere- monies may be exercises of piety, it is necessary that they should lead us directly to Christ. In like manner, we do not place order in those nugatory pomps which have nothing but a vain appearance of splendour, but in that well regulated polity, which excludes all confusion, incivility, obstinacy, clamours, and dissensions. Of the first kind, examples are furnished by Paul ; as that profane banquets should not be connected with the sacred supper of the Lord ; that women should not appear in public without being veiled ; {k) and many others in common use among us ; such as, that we pray with bended knees and with our heads uncovered ; that we administer the sacraments of the Lord, not in a slovenly man- ner, but with due decorum ; that we observe some decent order in the burial of the dead ; and other things of a similar nature. Of the second sort are the hours appointed for public prayers, sermons, and sacraments ; quietness and silence un- der sermons ; the singing of hymns ; the places appointed for these services, and the days fixed for the celebration of the Lord's supper ;(/) the prohibition of Paul, that women should not teach in the Church, and the like ; but especially the regulations for the preservation of discipline, as catechizing, ecclesiastical censures, excommunication, fastings, and every thing else that can be referred to the same class. Thus all the {k) 1 Cor. xi. 5 ; xiv. 34. (?) 1 Cor. xi. 20—22. 392 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. constitutions of the Church which we receive as holy and use- ful, may be classed under two heads ; some refer to rites and ceremonies, others to discipline and peace. XXX. But, because there is danger here, on the one hand, that the false i)ishops may seize a pretext to excuse their im- pious arjd tyrannical laws, and, on the other, that there may be some persons who, from an excessive fear of falHng into the evils we have mentioned, will reject all ecclesiastical laws, however holy and useful they may be, — it is necessary to pro- test, that I approve of no human constitutions, except such as are founded on the authority of God, and deduced from the Scripture, so that they may be considered as altogether Divine. Let us take, as an example, the kneeling practised during solemn prayers. The question is, whether it be a human tra- dition, which every one is at liberty to reject or neglect. I answer that it is at once both human and Divine. It is of God, as it forms a branch of that decorum which is recommended to our attention and observance by the apostle ; it is of men, as it particularly designates that which had in general been rather hinted than clearly expressed. From this single example, it is easy to judge what opinion ought to be entertained of all the rest. Because the Lord, in his holy oracles, has faithfully com- prehended and plainly declared to us the whole nature of true righteousness, and all the parts of Divine worship, with what- ever is necessary to salvation, — in these things he is to be re- garded as our only Master. Because, in external discipline and ceremonies, he has not been pleased to give us minute directions what we ought to do in every particular case, foreseemg that this would depend on the different circumstances of different periods, and knowing that one form would not be adapted to all ages, — here we must have recourse to the general rules which he has given, that to them may be conformed all the regula- tions which shall be necessary to the decorum and order of the Church. Lastly, as he has delivered no express injunctions on this subject, because these things are not necessary to salva- tion, and ought to be applied to the edification of the Church, with a variety suitable to the manners of each age and nation, therefore, as the benefit of the Church shall require, it will be right to change and abolish former regulations, and to institute new ones. I grant, indeed, that we ought not to resort to in- novation rashly or frequently, or for trivial causes. But charity will best decide what will injure or edify, and if we submit to the dictates of charity, all will be well. XXXI. Now, such regulations as have been made upon this principle and for this end, it is the duty of Christian people to observe, with a free conscience, indeed, and without any super- stition, yet with a pious and ready inclination ; they must not CHRISTIAN RELIGION. treat them with contempt or carelessness, much less violate them, in an open manner, through pride and obstinacy. It will be asked. What kind of liberty of conscience can be retained amidst so much attention and caution ? I reply, It will very well be supported, when we consider, that these are not fixed and perpetual laws by which we are bound, but external aids for human infirmity, which though we do not need, yet we all use, because we are under obligations to each other to cherish mutual charity between us. This may be observed in the examples already mentioned. What ! does religion consist in a woman's veil, so that it would be criminal for her to walk out with her face uncovered ? Is the solemn decree respect- ing her silence such as cannot be violated without a capital offence ? Is there any mystery in kneeling, or in the interment of a dead body, which cannot be omitted without sin ? Certainly not ; for if a woman, in the assistance of a neighbour, finds a necessity for such haste as allows her no time to cover her head, she commits no offence in running to the place with her head vmcovered. And it is sometimes as proper for her to speak, as at other times to be silent. And he who from disease is unable to kneel, is quite at liberty to pray standing. Lastly, it is better to bury a dead body in proper season, even without a shroud, than, for want of persons to carry it to burial, to suffer it to putrefy without interment. Nevertheless, in these things, the customs and laws of the country we inhabit, the dictates of modesty, and even humanity itself, will direct us what to do, and what to avoid ; and if an error be incurred through inad- vertence or forgetfulness, no crime is committed ; but if through contempt, such perverseness deserves to be reprobated. So it is of little importance what days and hours are appointed, what is the form of the places, what psalms are sung on the respective days. But it is proper that there should be certain days and stated hours, and a place capable of receiving all the people, if any regard be paid to the preservation of peace. For what a source of contentions would be produced by the confusion of these things, if every man were permitted to change, at his pleasure, what relates to the general order, for it would never happen that the same thing would be agreeable to all, if things were undetermined and left to the choice of every individual. If any one object, and resolve to be wiser on this subject than is necessary, let him examine by what reason he can justify his obstinacy to the Lord. We ought, however, to be satisfied with the declaration of Paul, " If any man seem to be conten- tious, we have no such custom, nor the Churches of God." (in) XXXII. Now, it is necessary to exert the greatest diligence (to) 1 Cor. xi. 16. VOL. II. .50 394 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. to prevent the intrusion of any error which may corrupt or obscure this pure use of ecclesiastical regulations. This end will be secured, if all the forms, whatever they may be, carry the appearance of manifest utility, if very few are admitted, and principally if they are accompanied with the instructions of a faithful pastor, to shut the door against all corrupt opinions. The consequence of this knowledge is, that every person will re- tain his liberty in all these things, and yet will voluntarily impose some restraint upon his liberty, so far as the decorum we have mentioned, or the dictates of charity, shall require. In the next place, it will be necessary, that, without any superstition, we should attend to the observance of these things ourselves, and not too rigidly exact it from others ; that we should not esteem the worship of God to be improved by the multitude of ceremonies ; and that one Church should not despise an- other on account of a variety of external discipline. Lastly, establishing no perpetual law of this kind for ourselves, we ought to refer the use and end of all such observances to the edification of the Church, according to the exigence of which we should be content not only with the change of some particular observance, but with the abolition of any that have hitherto been in use 'among us. For that the abrogation of some ceremonies, not otherwise inconsistent with piety or decorum, may become expedient from the circumstances of particular periods, the present age exhibits an actual proof. For such has been the blindness and ignorance of former times, Churches have heretofore adhered to ceremonies with such corrupt sentiments and such obstinate zeal, that it is scarcely possible for them to be sufficiently purified from monstrous superstitions without the abolition of many ceremonies, for the original institution of Avhich, perhaps, there was some cause, and which are not in themselves remarkable for any impiety. CHAPTER XI. THE JURISDICTION OF THE CHURCH, AND ITS ABUSE UNDER THE PAPACY. We come now to the third branch of the power of the Church, and that which is the principal one in a well regulated state, which we have said consists in jurisdiction. The whole jurisdiction of the Church relates to the discipline of manners, of which we are about to treat. For as no city or town can CHAP. XI.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 395 exist without a magistracy and civil polity, so the Church of God, as I have already stated, but am now obliged to repeat, stands in need of a certain spiritual polity ; which, however, is entirely distinct from civil polity, and is so far from obstructing or weakening it, that, on the contrary, it highly conduces to its assistance and advancement. This power ofjurisdiction, there- f o re, will, in short, be no other than an order in sj itute_d for the preservation of the spiritual polity. For this end, there were from tTie beginning judiciaries appointed in the Churches, to take cognizance of manners, to pass censures on vices, and to preside over the use of the keys in excommunication. This order Paul designates in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, when he mentions "governments; " (n) and to the Romans, when he says, " He that ruleth," let him do it " with diligence." (o) He is not speaking of magistrates or civil governors, for there were at this time no Christian magistrates, but of those who were associated with the pastor in the spiritual government of the Church. In the First Epistle to Timothy, also, he mentions two kinds of presbyters or elders, some "who labour in the word and doctrine," others who have nothing to do with preaching the word, and yet "rule well." (p) By the latter class, there can be no doubt that he intends those who were appointed to the cognizance of manners, and to the whole exercise of the keys. For this power, of which we now speak, entirely depends on the keys, which Christ has conferred upon the Church in the eighteenth chapter of Matthew, where he commands that those who shall have despised private admoni- tions shall be severely admonished in the name of the whole Church ; and that if they persist in their obstinacy, they are to be excluded from the society of believers, (q) Now, these admo- nitions and corrections cannot take place without an examination of the cause ; hence the necessity of some judicature and order. Wherefore, unless we would nullify the promise of the keys, and entirely abolish excommunication, solemn admonitions, and every thing of a similar kind, it is necessary to allow the Church some jurisdiction. Let it be observed, that the passage to which we have referred, relates not to the general authority of the doctrine to be preached by the apostles, as in the sixteenth chapter of Mathew and the twentieth chapter of John ; but that the power of the sanhedrim is for the future transferred to the Church of Christ. Till that time, the Jews had their own method of government, which, as far as regards the pure insti- tution, Jesus Christ established in his Church, and that with a severe sanction. For this was absolutely necessary, because the (n) 1 Cor. xii. 28. (p) 1 Tim. v. 17. (o) Rom. xii. 8. {q) Matt, xviii. 15—18. 396 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. judgment of an ignoble and despised Church might otherwise be treated with contempt by presumptuous and proud men. And that the readers may not be embarrassed by the circumstance of Christ having used the same words to express different things, it will be useful to solve this difficulty. There are two places which speak of binding and loosing. One is in the sixteenth chapter of Matthew, where Christ, after having promised Peter that he would " give " him " the keys of the kingdom of heaven," (r) immediately adds, " Whatsoever thou shall bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven." In these words he means precisely the same as he intends in other language recorded by John, when, being about to send forth his disciples to preach, after having "breathed on them," he said, " Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them ; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained." (s) I shall oifer an interpretation of this passage, without any subtlety, violence, or perversion, but natural, suitable, and obvious. This command respecting the remission and retention of sins, and the promise made to Peter respecting binding and loosing, ought to be wholly referred to the ministry of the word, which when our Lord committed to' the apostles, he at the same time invested them with the power of binding and loosing. For what is the sum of the gospel, but that, being all slaves of sin and death, we are loosed and delivered by the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, and that those who never receive or acknowledge Christ as their Deliverer and Redeemer, are condemned and sentenced to eternal chains ? When the Lord delivered this embassy to his apostles, to be conveyed to all nations, in order to evince it to be his, and to have proceeded from him, he honoured it with this remarkable testimony, and that for the the particular confirmation both of the apostles themselves, and of all those to whom it was to be announced. It was of importance, that the apostles should have a strong and constant assurance of their preaching ; which they were not only to undertake and execute amidst immense labours, cares, troubles, and dangers, but were at length to seal with their blood. That they might know this ministry not to be vain or ineffectual, but full of power and energy, it was of importance for them, in circumstances of such great anxiety, difficulty, and danger, to be persuaded that they were employed in the work of God ; amidst all the hostility and opposition of the whole world, to know that God was on their side ; and though Christ, the Author of their doctrine, was not present to their view on earth, to be certain that he was in heaven to confirm the truth of the (r) Matt. xvi. 19. (s) John xx. 22, 23. CHAP. XI.] CHRISTIAN KELIG;0N. 397 doctrine which he had dehvered to them. On the other hand, also, it was necessary that the most mieqiiivocal testimony- should be given to their hearers, that the doctrine of the gospel was not the word of the apostles, but of God himself; not a voice issuing from the earth, but descended from heaven. For these things, the remission of sins, the promise of eternal life, and the message of salvation, cannot be in the power of man. Therefore Christ has testified that, in the preaching of the gospel, nothing belonged to the apostles, except the ministration of it ; that it was he himself who spoke and promised every thing by the instrumentality of their mouths ; and, consequently, that the remission of sins which they preached was the true promise of God, and that the condemnation which they denounced was the certain judgment of God. Now, this testification has been given to all ages, and remains unaltered, to certify and assure us all, that the word of the gospel, by whomsoever it may happen to be preached, is the very sentence of God himself, promulgated from his heavenly tribunal, recorded in the book of life, ratified, confirmed, and fixed in heaven. Thus we see, that the power of the keys, in these passages, is no other than the preaching of the gospel, and that, considered with regard to men, it is not so much authoritative as ministerial ; for, strictly speaking, Christ has not given this power to men, but to his word, of which he has appointed men to be the ministers. II. The other passage, which we have mentioned, relative 10 the power of binding and loosing, is in the eighteenth chapter of Matthew, where Christ says, " If any brother neglect to hear the Church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you. Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven ; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven." (t) This passage is not altogether similar to the first, but is to be understood in a manner somewhat different ; though I do not conceive the difierence to be so great, but that there is a considerable affinity between them. In the first place, they are both alike in this respect, that each contains a general declaration, the same power of always binding and loosing, — that is, by the word of God, — the same command, the same promise. But they differ in this, that the former passage peculiarly relates to the preaching of the gospel, which is performed by the ministers of the word ; the latter relates to the discipline, which is committed to the Church. The Church binds him whom it excommunicates ; not that it consigns him to perpetual ruin and despair, but be- cause it condemns his life and manners, and already warns him of his final condemnation, unless he repent. The Church (t) Matt xviii. 17, 18. 398 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. looses him whom it receives into its communion ; because it makes him, as it were, a partaker of the unity which it has in Christ Jesus. That no man, therefore, may contemn the judg- ment of the Church, or consider it as of httle consequence that he is condemned by the voice of believers, the Lord testifies that such judgment of believers is no other than the promulga- tion of his sentence, and that what they do on earth shall be ratified in heaven. For they have the word of God, by which they condemn the perverse ; they have the same word, by which they receive penitents into favour ; and they cannot err or dissent from the judgment of God, because they judge only by the Divine law, which is not an uncertain or earthly opinion, but the holy will and heavenly oracle of God. From these two passages, which I think 1 have familiarly and correctly, as well as concisely, explained, these unreasonable men, without any judgment, under the influence of misguided zeal, endeavour to establish, sometimes auricular confession, sometimes excommu- nication, sometimes jurisdiction, sometimes the right of legisla- tion, and sometimes indulgences. The former passage they allege to support the primacy of the Roman see. They are so expert in fitting their keys to any locks and doors they please, that it should seem as if they had followed the business of locksmiths all their lifetime, III. The opinion entertained by some persons, that these things were only temporary, while all civil magistrates were strangers to the profession of Christianity, is a mistake for want of considering the great distinction, and the nature of the diff"er- ence, between the ecclesiastical and civil power. For the Church has no power of the sword to punish or to coerce, no authority to compel, no prisons, fines, or other punishments,like those inflicted by the civil magistrate. Besides, the object of this power is, not that he who has transgressed may be punished against his will but that he may profess his repentance by a voluntary submis- sion to chastisement. The diff'erence therefore is very great ; because the Church does not assume to itself what belongs to the magistrate, nor can the magistrate execute that which is executed by the Church. This will be better understood by an example. Is any man intoxicated? In a well regulated city he will be punished by imprisonment. Has he committed fornication ? He will receive the same or a severer punishment. With this, the laws, the magistrate, and the civil judgment, will all be satisfied ; though it may happen that he will give no sign of repentance, but will rather murmur and repine against his punishment. Will the Church stop here ? Such persons cannot be admitted to the sacred snpper without doing an injury to Christ and to his holy institution. And reason requires, that he who has cfl'ended the Church with an evil example, should CHAP. XI.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 399 remove, by a solemn declaration of repentance, the offence which he has excited. The argument adduced by those who espouse a contrary opinion, is of no force. They say, that Christ assigned this office to the Church, when there was no magistrate to execute it. But it frequently happens that the magistrate is too negli- gent, and sometimes that he even deserves to be chastised himself; which was the case with the emperor Theodosius. Besides, the same argument might be extended to the whole ministry of the word. Now, then, according to them, pastors must no longer censure notorious crimes ; they must cease to chide, to reprove, to rebuke ; for there are Christian magistrates, whose duty it is to correct such offences by the civil sword. But as it is the dut)'' of the magistrate, by punishment and corporeal coercion, to purge the Church from offences, so it be- hoves the minister of the word, on his part, to relieve the ma- gistrate by preventing the multiplication of offenders. Their respective operations ought to be so connected as to be an as- sistance, and not an obstruction to each other. IV. And, indeed, whoever will closely examine the words of Christ, will easily perceive that they describe the stated and perpetual order, and not any temporary regulation, of the/ Church. For it is unreasonable for us to bring an accusation) before a magistrate, against those who refuse to submit to our , admonitions ; yet this would be necessary if the magistrate succeeded to this office of the Church. What shall we say of this promise, " Verily I say unto thee, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven ? " Was it only for one, or for a few years ? Besides, Christ here instituted nothing new, but followed the custom always observed in the ancient Church of his own nation ; thereby signifying, that the spiritual juris- diction, which had been exercised from the beginning, was indispensable to the Church. And this has been confirmed by the consent of all ages. For when emperors and magistrates began to assume the profession of Christianity, the spiritual jurisdiction was not in consequence abolished, but only regu- lated in such a manner as neither to derogate from the civil power, nor to be confounded with it. And that justly ; for a pious magistrate will not wish to exempt himself from the common subjection of the children of God, which in no small degree consists in submitting to the Church, when it judges by the word of God : so very far is it from being his duty to abolish such a judicature. " For what is more honourable," says Am- brose, " than for the emperor to be called the son of the Church ? For a good emperor is within the Church, not above the Church." Wherefore those who, to exalt the magistrate, clespoil the Church of this power, not only pervert the language of Christ by a false interpretation, but pass a most severe censure on all the holy 400 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. bishops who have h'ved since the time of the apostles, for having usurped to themselves, under a false pretext, the honour and dignity which belonged to the magistrate. V. But, on the other hand, it is also worth while to examine what was the true and ancient use of the jurisdiction of the Church, and what a great abuse of it has been introduced ; that we may know what ought to be abrogated, and what ought to be restored from antiquity, if we would overturn the reign of Antichrist, and reestablish the true kingdom of Christ. In the first place, the object to be secured is the prevention of offences, or the abolition of any that may have arisen. In the use of it, two things require to be considered ; first, that this spiritual power be entirely separated from the power of the sword ; secondly, that it be administered, not at the pleasure of one man, but by a legitimate assembly. Both these things were observed in the purer ages of the Church. For the holy bishops never exercised their authority by fines, imprisonments, or other civil punishments ; but, as became them, employed nothing but the word of the Lord. For the severest vengeance, the ultimate punishment of the Church, is excommunication, which is never resorted to without absolute necessity. Now, excommunication requires no external force, but is content with the power of the word of God. In short, the jurisdiction of the primitive Church was no other than a practical exposition of the description which Paul gives of the spiritual authority of pastors. This power he represents as conferred for the purpose of "casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ ; and having in readiness to revenge all disobedience." (u) As this is accomplished by the preaching of the doctrine of Christ, so to preserve that doctrine from falling into contempt, they who profess themselves of the household of faith ought to be judged by what that doctrine contains. That cannot be done, except the ministry be accom- panied with the power to take cognizance of those who are to be privately admonished, or more severely censured, and also to exclude from the communion of the Supper those who cannot be admitted without a profanation of sucli a solemn sacrament. AVherefore when he denies, in another place, that we have any right " to judge them that are without," (r) he makes the chil- dren of the church subject to the censures by which their faults are chastised, and implies the existence at that time of judicatures from which none of the believers were exempt. VI. This power, as we have stated, was not in the hands of one man, for him to act according to his own pleasure, but (u) 2 Cor. X. 5, 6. (») 1 Cor. v. 12. CHAP. XI.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 401 resided in the assembly of the elders^ which was in the Church what a senate is in a city. Cyprian, when he mentions by whom it was exercised in his time, generally unites all the clergy with the bishop ; but in other passages he also shows, that the clergy presided in such a manner, that the people were not excluded from this cognizance. For he expresses himself in these words : " From the commencement of my episcopate, I have determined to do nothing without the counsel of the clergy and the consent of the people." But the common and usual custom was for the jurisdiction of the Church to be exercised by the council of the presbyters; of whom, as 1 have observed, there were two classes ; for some were ordained to the office of teaching, others were only censors of manners. This institu- tion gradually degenerated from its original establishment ; so that, in the time of Ambrose, the judicial administration of the Church was wholly in the hands of the clergy ; of which he complains in the following language : " The ancient synagogue, and afterwards the Church, had elders, without whose advice nothing was done. I know not by what negligence this practice has been discontinued, except from the indolence of the doctors, or rather from their pride, while they wish none but themselves, to be seen." We perceive how indignant was that holy man, that there had been some declension from a better state of things, though they still retained an order that was at least tolerable. What would he say now, if he were to see the present deformed ruins, which exhibit scarcely a vestige of the ancient edifice ! What a complaint would he make ! First, in opposition to law and justice, that which had been given to the Church, the bishop usurped entirely to himself This resembles the conduct of a consul or president, expelling the senate, and seizing the sole administration of a government. But as the bishop is superior to other persons in honour, so the assembly or congre- gation possesses more authority than one individual. It was a gross outrage, therefore, for one man to transfer to himself all the power of the community, and thereby to open a door to licentious tyranny, to deprive the Church of its rights, and to suppress and abolish an assembly appointed by the Spirit of Christ. VII. But as one evil always produces another, bishops, dis- daining this charge as unworthy of their attention, have delega- ted it to others. Hence the creation of officials, to discharge that duty. I say nothing, at present, of the characters of the persons ; I only assert, that they differ in no respect from civil judges ; yet they still call it a spiritual jurisdiction, where all the contention is about secular affairs. Though there were no other evil, what effrontery must they have, to call a court full of litigation the judicature of the Church ! But, it is alleged, VOL. II. 51 402 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. it employs admonitions, and pronounces excommunication. Is it thus that they trifle with God ? Does a poor man owe a sum of money ? He is cited. If he appear, he is condemned ; after the condemnation, if he do not pay, he is admonished : after the second admonition, they proceed to excommunication. If he do not appear to the citation, he is admonished to be forthcoming: if he delay, he is admonished a second time, and soon after is excommunicated. I ask, What is there in this that bears any resemblance to the institution of Christ, the ancient usage, or the order of the Church ? It is further alleged, that this court also corrects vices. I reply, that acts of fornication, lasciviousness, and druiikenness, and similar enormities, they not only tolerate, but sanction and encourage, by a kind of tacit approbation, and that not only in the people, but even in the clergy themselves. Among multitudes of offenders, they only summon a few, either to avoid too flagrant an appearance of connivance, or for the purpose of extorting money. I say nothing of the robbery, the rapine, the peculation, the sacrilege, connected with this office. I say nothing of the characters of most of the persons selected to discharge it. It is more than sufficient for us, that while the Romanists boast of their spiritual jurisdiction, it is easy to show that nothing is more contrary to the order appointed by Christ, and that it has no more resem- blance to the ancient practice, than darkness has to light. VIII. Though we have not said all that might be adduced for this purpose, and what we have said has been condensed within a small compass, yet I trust we have so refuted our adversaries, as to leave no room for any one to doubt that the spiritual power arrogated by the pope and all his hierarchy, is a tyrannical usurpation, chargeable with impious opposition to the word of God, and injustice to his people. Under the term spiritual power, I include their audacity in fabricating new doctrines, by which they have seduced the unhappy people from the native purity of the word of God, the iniquitous traditions by which they have insnared them, and the pretended ecclesiastical jurisdiction which they exercise by their sulfragans, vicars, penitentiaries, and officials. For if we allow Christ any kingdom among us, all this kind of domination must immedi- ately fall to the ground. The power of the sword, which they also claim, as that is not exercised over consciences, but operates on property, is irrelevant to our present subject ; though in this also it is worth while to remark, that they are always consistent with themselves, and are at the greatest possible distance from the character they would be thought to sustain, as pastors of the Church. Here I am not censuring the particular vices of individuals, but the general wickedness and common pest of the whole order, which they would consider as degraded, if CHAP. XI.] CHRISTIAN RELWJION. 403 it were not distinguished by wealth and lofty titles. If we consult the authority of Christ on this subject, there is no doubt that he intended to exclude the ministers of his word from civil dominion and secular sovereignty, when he said, " The kings of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them ; but it shall not be so among you." (w) For by these words he signifies, not only that the office of a pastor is distinct from the office of a prince, but that they are so different, that they can never be properly united in one man. For though Moses held both these offices at once, it may be observed, first, that this was the result of a special miracle ; secondly, that it was only a temporary arrangement, till things should be better regulated. But, as soon as God prescribed a certain form of govenmient, Moses was left in possession of the civil administration, and was com- manded to resign the priesthood to his brother ; and that for a very sufficient reason; for it is beyond the ability of nature for one man to be capable of sustaining the burden of both. And this has been carefully observed in the Church in all ages. For as long as any real appearance of a Church remained, not one of the bishops ever thought of usurping the poAver of the sword ; so that it was a common proverb in the time of Ambrose, '' That emperors rather coveted the priesthood, than priests the empire;" for as he afterwards observes, it was the firm and universal opinion, " That palaces belonged to emperors, and churches to priests." IX. But since a method has been contrived for bishops to retain the title, honour, and emoluments of their office without any burden or solicitude, that they might not be left entirely without occupation, the power of the sword has been given to them, or rather they have usurped it to themselves. With what plea will they defend such impudence ? Was it for bishops to perplex themselves with judicial proceedings, to assume the government of cities and provinces, and to undertake various other occupations so incompatible with their office, which alone would furnish them so much labour and employment, that even if they were entirely and assiduously devoted to it, without the least distraction of other avocations, they would scarcely be able to discharge its functions ? But they have the hardihood to boast, that this causes the Church of Christ to flourish with a glory suitable to its dignity, and at the same time that they are not too much distracted from the duties of their vocation. With respect to the first point, if it be a becoming ornament of the sacred office, for those who sustain it to be elevated to a degree of power formidable to the greatest monarchs, they have reason to expostulate with Christ, by whom their honour has been so grievously wounded. For in their opinion, at least, (lo) Matt. XX. 25, 26. Luke xxii. 25, 26. 404 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. what could have been said more disgraceful than the following language ? " The kings of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them ; but it shall not be so among you." (.r) Nor has he prescribed a severer law to his servants than he first imposed upon himself. " Man," says he, " who made me a judge or a divider over you ? " (y) We see he plainly refuses to act the part of a judge, which he would not have done, had it been a thing consistent with his office. Will not his servants allow themselves to be reduced to that rank, to which their Lord voluntarily submitted himself? With respect to the second point, I wish they could as easily prove it by experience as make the assertion. But since the apostles thought it not right for them " to leave the word of God, and serve tables," (z) this must confound those who are reluctant to admit, that it is not in the power of the same man to be at the same time a good bishop and a good prince. For if they, who by the extent of the gifts with which they were endued, were enabled to sustain far more numerous andAveighty cares than any men who have lived since their time, after all confessed themselves incapable of attending to the word of God and the service of tables without fainting under the burden, how should it be possible for these men, who are by no means to be compared to the apostles, so vastly to surpass them in industry ? The very attempt has betrayed the most consummate effrontery and presumptuous confidence. Yet we see it has been done; with what success, , is obvious ; the unavoidable consequence has been the desertion of their own functions, and intrusion into those which belonged to others. X. It has, without doubt, been from small beginnings, that they have gradually risen to such eminence. For it was not pos- sible for them to make so great an advance at one step. But sometimes by fraudulent and secret artifices, they exalted them- selves in a clandestine manner, so that no one perceived the en- croachment till it had been effected : sometimes, when opportu- nity offered, by terrifying and menacing princes, they extorted from them some augmentation of their power ; sometimes, when they saw princes inclined to favour them, they abused their fool- isli and inconsiderate pliability. In early times, if any contro- versy arose, the believers, in order to avoid the necessity of liti- gation, used to refer it to the decision of their bishop, of whose integrity they were fully satisfied. The ancient bishops were frequently embarrassed with such arbitrations, which exceed- ingly displeased them, as Augustine somewhere declares ; but to save the parties from lawsuits, they reluctantly undertook this troublesome business. From voluntary arbitrations, which were (z) Matt. XX. 25, 26. Luke xxii. 25, 26. (»/) Luke xi\. 14. (z) Acts vi. 2. CHAP. XI.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 405 entirely different from the processes of civil courts, their succes- sors have erected an orduiary jurisdiction. In a subsequent pe- riod, when cities and countries were oppressed with various dis- tresses, they had recourse to the patronage of their bishops, that they might be protected by their influence ; succeeding bishops, by wonderful artifice, of protectors have made themselves lords. Nor can it be denied, that the principal acquisitions they have made, have been effected by faction and violence. The princes, who voluntarily invested the bishops with jurisdiction, were actuated to this by various motives. But though their indul- gence may have exhibited some appearance of piety, yet their preposterous liberality was by no means adapted to promote the benefit of the Church, the ancient and genuine discipline of which they thereby corrupted, or rather, to say the truth, utterly annihilated. But those bishojis who have abused such kindness of princes to their own j^rofit, have sufficiently evinced, by this one specimen, that they were in reality no bishops at all. For if they had possessed a particle of the apostolic spirit, they would unquestionably have answered, in the language of Paul, that " the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but " (a) spiritual. Instead of this, hurried away with a blind cupidity, they have ruined themselves, and their successors, and the Church. XL At length the Roman pontiff, not content with small pro- vinces, first laid his hand upon kingdoms, and then seized upon the empire. And to assign some plausible pretext for retaining a possession acquired by mere robbery, he sometimes boasts that he holds it by Divine right, sometimes pretends the donation from Constantino, and sometimes pleads some other title. In the first place, I answer with Bernard, that supposing he could vindicate his claim by any other reason, yet he cannot establish it by any apostolic right. " For Peter could not give what he never possessed ; but he left his successors, what he did pos- sess, the care of the churches. But as the Lord and Master said of himself, that he was not constituted a judge between two persons, the servant and disciple ought not to think it any disgrace not to be judge of all men." Bernard is speaking here of civil judgments, for he adds, addressing the pope, " There- fore your power is over sins, and not over possessions, since it is for the former, and not for the latter, that you have received the keys of the kingdom of heaven. For which appears to you the superior dignity, to remit sins, or to divide lands ? There is no comparison. These low and earthly things are subject to the judgment of kings and princes of the earth. Why do you invade the province of others ? " Again : " You are made («) 2 Cor. X. 4. 406 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV, a superior. For what purpose? Not to exercise dominion, I apprehend. However highly we think of ourselves, therefore, let us remember that we are appointed to a ministry not invest- ed with a sovereignty. Learn that you want no sceptre, but a pruning-knife, to cultivate the Lord's vineyard." Again : "It is plain that sovereignty is forbidden to the apostles. Go then, if you dare, and sustaining the office of a temporal sovereign, usurp the name of an apostle, or filling an apostolical office, usurp a temporal sovereignty." And immediately after : "This is the apostolic form : they are forbidden to exercise any dominion ; they are commanded to minister and serve." Though all these observations of Bernard are evidently consistent with the truth, and even though the true state of the case must be obvious to all without any thing being said, yet the Roman pontiff was not ashamed, at the Council of Aries, to decree, that the supreme power of both swords belonged to him by Divine right. XII. With respect to the donation of Constantine, persons who have only a moderate acquaintance with the histories of those times, need no information how fabulous, and even ri- diculous, this is. But to leave the histories, Gregory, who lived above four hundred years after, is alone a competent and very sufficient witness of, this fact. For, wherever he speaks of the emperor, he gives him the title of Most Serene Lord, and calls himself his unworthy servant. In one place he says, " Let not our lord, from his earthly power, be too ready to treat priests with disdain ; but with excellent consideration, for the sake of him whose servants they are, let him rule over them in such a manner, as at the same time to pay them due reverence." We see how, in the common subjection, he wished to be considered as one of the people : for he is there pleading, not another person's cause, but his own. In another place he says, " I trust in Almighty God, that he will grant a long life to our pious lords, and will govern us under your hand according to his mercy." I have not quoted these passages with any design to discuss at large this question of the donation of Constantine, but merely to show my readers, by the way, what a puerile falsehood it is of the Romanists, to attempt to claim a temporal sovereignty for their pontiff. And so much the more contempti- ble is the impudence of Augustine Steuchus, the pope's librarian, who has had the effrontery to prostitute his labours to serve his master in such a desperate cause. Laurentius Valla had amply refuted that fable, which was no difficulty to a man of learning and an acute reasoner ; yet, like a man little conversant in ecclesiastical affairs, he had not said all that would have corrobo- rated the argument. Steuchus sallies forth, and scatters the most disgusting trash to obscure the clear light. But, in fact, he pleads the cause of his master with no more force than if some CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 407 facetious wit, ironically professing the same object, were in reality supporting the opposite side of the question. But this cause is well worthy of such advocates as the pope hires to defend it ; and equally worthy are those mercenary scribblers of being disappointed in their hopes of gain, as was the case with Eugubinus. XIII. But if any one inquire the time when this ficti- tious empire began to arise, there have not yet elapsed five hundred years since the pontiffs were still in subjection to the emperors, and no pontiff was created without the authority of the emperor. The first occasion of innovation in this order was given to Gregory VII. by the emperor Henry, the fourth of that name, a man of rash and unsteady disposition, of no judgment, great audacity, and dissolute life. For when he had all the bishoprics of Germany in his court, either exposed to sale, or to be distributed as a booty, Hildebrand, who had been offended with him, seized a plausible pretext to avenge himself. Because he appeared to advocate a good and pious cause, he was assisted by the favour of many ; and Henry, on the other hand, had rendered himself odious to the generality of princes, by the insolence of his government. At length Hildebrand, who assumed the name of Gregory VII., being a man of no piety or integrity, betrayed the wickedness of his heart ; in consequence of which many, who had concurred with him, afterwards deserted him. He so far succeeded, however, as to enable his successors not only to cast off the imperial yoke with impunity, but even to oblige the emperors to submit to them. After that time there were many emperors, more like Henry than like Julius Cassar, whom there was no difficulty in over- coming while they were sitting at home in indolence and unconcern, when there was the greatest necessity for every vigorous and legitimate exertion to repress the cupidity of the pontiffs. Thus we see with what plausibility they have repre- sented this admirable donation of Constantine, by which the pope pretends himself to have been invested with the sove- reignty of the Western empire. XIV. From that period the pontiffs have never ceased en- croaching on the jurisdictions, and seizing on the territories, of others, sometimes employing fraud, sometimes treachery, and sometimes open war ; even the city of Rome itself, which till then was free, about a hundred and thirty years ago was com- pelled to submit to their dominion ; in short, they proceeded to make continual advances, till they attained the power which they at present possess, and for the retention or augmentation of which, they have now, for the space of two hundred years, (for they had begun before they usurped the goverimient of the city,) so disturbed and distracted the Christian world, that they 408 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV, have brought it to the brink of ruin. In the time of Gregory the Fh-st, when the guardians of the ecclesiastical property- seized for themselves the lands which belonged to the Church, and, according to the custom of princes, set up their titles and armorial bearings on them in token of their claim, Gregory assembled a provincial council of bishops, in which he severely inveighed against that profane custom, and asked whether they would not excommunicate any ecclesiastic who should attempt the seizure of property by the inscription of a title, or even any bishop who should direct such a thing to be done, or if done without his direction, should not pvmish it. They all pronoun- ced that every such oflender should be excommunicated. But if claiming a field by the inscription of a title, be a crime de- serving of excommunication in a priest, — when for two whole centuries the pontiffs have been meditating nothing but wars, ef- fusion of blood, slaughter of armies, storming and pillaging cities, the destruction of nations, the devastation of kingdoms, for the sole purpose of seizing the dominions of others, — what excommu- nications can be sufficient for the punishment of such examples ? It is clear beyond all doubt, that the glory of Christ is the object furthest from their pursuit. For if they voluntarily resign all the secular power which they possess, no danger will result to the glory of God, to sound doctrine, or to the safety of the Church ; but they are infatuated, and stimulated by the mere lust of dominion ; and consider nothing as safe, unless, as the prophet says, "they rule with force and with cruelty." (b) XV. With jurisdiction is connected the immunity which the Roman ecclesiastics arrogate to themselves. For they consider it a degradation for them to appear before a civil judge in personal causes, and they imagine the liberty and dignity of the Church to consist in their exemption from the common judicature and laws. But the ancient bishops, who in other respects were the most rigid assertors of the rights of the Church, esteemed it no injury to themselves, or to their order, to be subject to lay judges in civil causes. The pious empe- rors also, without any opposition, always summoned the clergy before their tribunals, whenever necessity required it. For this is the language of Constantine, in his epistle to the bishops of Nicomedia: "If any bishop excite any disturbance by his indiscretion, his presumption shall be restrained by the author- ity of the minister of God, that is, by mine." And Valentinian says, " Good bishops never traduce the power of the emperor, but sincerely observe the commands of God, the sovereign King, and obey our laws." At that time this principle was universally admitted, without any controversy. Ecclesiastical causes were (b) Ezek. xxx'iv. 4. CHAP. XI.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 409 referred to the judgment of the bishop. As for example, if any- ecclesiastic had committed no crime against the laws, but was only charged with offending against the canons, he was not summoned to the common tribunal, but was judged by the bishop. In like manner, if a question was agitated respecting an article of faith, or any other subject properly belonging to the Church, to the Church the cognizance of it was committed. In this sense is to be understood what Ambrose writes to the emperor Valentinian : " Your father, of august memory, not only- answered verbally, but also ordained by edicts, that, in a cause relating to faith, he ought to judge, who is not disqualified by- office or dignity." Again: "If we regard the Scriptiues or ancient examples, who will deny that in a cause of faith, — I say, in a cause of faith, — it is customary for bishops to judge of Christian emperors, and not emperors of bishops ? " Again : " I would have come to your consistory, sire, if either the bishops or the people would have suffered me to go ; but they say, that a cause of faith ought to be discussed in the Church, in the pre- sence of the people." He contended that a spiritual cause — that is, a cause affecting religion — ought not to be carried into a civil court, where secular controversies are agitated ; and his con- stancy in this respect has been universally and justly applauded. Yet, nowithstanding the goodness of his cause, he went no further than to declare, that if the emperor proceeded to employ force, he would submit. He says, " I will not voluntarily desert the station committed to me : in case of compulsion, I know not how to resist, for our arms are prayers and tears." Let us observe the singular combination of moderation and prudence with magnanimity and confidence in this holy man. Justina, the mother of the emperor, because she could not induce him to join the Arians, endeavoured to deprive him of his bishopric. And she would have succeeded in her attempts, if. in compliance with the summons, he had gone to the palace of the emperor to plead his cause. Therefore he denied the emperor to be a competent judge of so important a controversy ; and this was necessary both from the circumstances of that time, and from the invariable nature of the subject itself For he was of opinion, that it was his duty to suffer death rather than, by his consent, to permit such an example to be transmitted to posterity ; and yet in case of violence being employed, he cherished not a thought of resistance. For he denied it to be compatible with the character of a bishop to defend the faith and privileges of the Church by arms ; but in other cases he showed himself ready to do whatever the emperor would command. " If he demands tribute," says he, " we do not refuse it ; the lands of the Church pay tribute. If he demands the lands, he has power to take them ; none of us will oppose him." Gregory VOL. IL 52 410 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. also speaks in a similar manner. " I am not ignorant," he says, " of the mind of our most serene lord, that he is not in the habit of interfering in sacerdotal causes, lest he should in any respect- be burdened with our sins." He does not entirely exclude the emperor from judging priests, but observes that there are certain causes which he ought to leave to the decision of the Church. XVI. And even in this exception, the sole object of these holy men was to prevent the tyrannical violence and caprice of princes less favourable to religion from obstructing the Church in the discharge of its duty. For they did not disapprove of the occasional interposition of princes in ecclesiastical affairs, provided they would exert their authority for the preservation of the order of the Church, and not for the disturbance of it ; for the establishment of discipline, and not for its relaxation. For as the Church neither possesses, nor ought to desire, the power to constrain, — I speak of civil coercion, — it is the part of pious kings and princes to support religion by laws, edicts, and judicial sentences. For this reason, when the emperor Mauritius com- manded certain bishops to receive their neighbouring colleagues, who had been expelled from their sees by the barbarians, Gre- gory confirmed this command, and exhorted them to obey it. And when he himself was admonished by the same emperor to be reconciled to John, the bishop of Constantinople, he did, indeed, assign a reason why he ought not to be blamed, yet he boasted no immunity exempting him from the imperial authority, but on the contrary promised compliance as far as should be consistent with a good conscience ; and at the same time ac- knowledged that Mauritius acted in a manner becoming a reli- gious prince in giving such commands to the bishops. CHAPTER XH. THE DISCIPLINE OF THE CHURCH ; ITS PRINCIPAL USE IN CENSURES AND EXCOMJIUNICATION. The discipline of the Church, the discussion of which I have deferred to this place, must be despatched in a few Avords, that we may proceed to the remaining subjects. Now, the discipline depends chiefly on the power of the keys, and the spiritual iurisdiction. To make this more easily understood, let us di- vide the Church into two principal orders — the clergy and the people. I use the word clergy as the common, though improper, appellation of those who execute the public ministry in the CHAP. XII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 411 Church. We shall, first, speak of the common discipline to which all ought to be subject ; and in the next place we shall proceed to the clergy, who, beside this common discipline, have a discipline peculiar to themselves. But as some have such a hatred of discipline, as to abhor the very name, they should attend to the following consideration : That if no society, and even no house, though containing only a small family, can be preserved in a proper state without discipline, this is far more necessary in the Church, the state of which ought to be the most orderly of all. As the saving doctrine of Christ is the soul of the Church, so discipline forms the ligaments which connect the members together, and keep each in its proper place. Whoever, therefore, either desire the abolition of all discipline, or obstruct its restoration, whether they act from design or inadvertency, they certainly promote the entire dissolution of the Church. For what will be the consequence, if every man be at liberty to follow his own inclinations ? But such would be the case, unless the preaching of the doctrine were accom- panied with private admonitions, reproofs, and other means to enforce the doctrine, and prevent it from being altogether ineifectual. Discipline, therefore, serves as a bridle to curb and restrain the refractory, who resist the doctrine of Christ ; or as a spur to stimulate the inactive ; and sometimes as a father's rod, with which those who have grievously fallen may be chastised in mercy, and with the gentleness of the Spirit of Christ. Now, when we see the approach of certain beginnings of a dreadful desolation in the Church, since there is no solici- tude or means to keep the people in obedience to our Lord, ne- cessity itself proclaims the want of a remedy ; and this is the only remedy which has been commanded by Christ, or which has ever been adopted among believers. II. The first foundation of discipline consists in the use of private .admonitions : that is to say, that if any one be guilty of a voluntary omission of duty, or conduct himself in an insolent manner, or discover a want of virtue in his life, or commit any act deserving of reprehension, he should suffer himself to be admonished ; and that every one should study to admonish his brother, whenever occasion shall require ; but that pastors and presbyters, beyond all others, should be vigilant in the discharge of this duty, being called by their office, not only to preach to the congregation, but also to admonish and exhort in private houses, if in any instances their public in- structions may not have been sufficiently efficacious ; as Paul in- culcates, when he says, that he " taught publicly and from house to hou.se," and protests himself to be " pure from the blood of all men," having "ceased not to warn every one night and day 412 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. with tears." (c) For the doctrine then obtains its full authority, and produces its due efiect, when the minister not only declares to all the people together what is their duty to Christ, but has the right and means of enforcing it upon them whom he observes to be inattentive, or not obedient to the doctrine. If any one either obstinately reject such admonitions, or mani- fest his contempt of them by persisting in his misconduct ; after he shall have been admonished a second time in the presence of witnesses, Christ directs him to be summoned before the tribunal of the Church, that is, the assembly of the elders^^ and there to be more severely admonished by the public authority, that if he reverence the Church, he may submit and obey ; but if this do not overcome him, and he still persevere in his iniquity, our Lord then commands him, as a despiser of the Church, to be excluded from the society of believers, (d) III. But as Jesus Christ in this passage is speaking only of private faults, it is necessary to make this distinction — that some sins are private, and others public or notorious. With respect to the former, Christ says to every private individual, " Tell him his fault between thee and him alone." (e) With respect to those which are notorious, Paul says to Timothy, '•' Them that sin .rebuke before all, that others also may fear."(/) For Christ has before said, "If thy brother shall trespass against thee ;" which no person who is not contentious can understand in any other sense, than if our Lord had said, " If any one sin against thee, and thou alone know it, with- out any other persons being acquainted with it." But the direction given by the apostle to Timothy, to rebuke publicly those whose transgressions were public, he himself exemplified in his conduct to Peter. For when Peter committed a public offence, he did not admonish him in private, but brought him forward before all the Church, (g) The legitimate course, then, will be, — in correcting secret faults, to adopt the diiierent steps directed by Christ ; and in the case of those which are notorious, to proceed at once to the solemn correction of the Church, especially if they be attended with public otfence. IV. It is also necessary to make another distinction between different sins ; some are smaller delinquencies, others are flagi- tious or enormous crimes. For the correction of atrocious crimes, it is not sufficient to eniploy admonition or reproof; recourse must be had to a severer remedy ; as Paul sliow^, when he does not content himself with censuring the incestu- ous Corinthian, but pronounces sentence of excQinmunicatioii immediately on being certified of his crime. Now, then, we begin to have a clearer perception how the spiritual jurisdiction (c) Acts XX. 20, 26, 31. (rf) Matt, xviii. 15—17. (c) Matt, xviii. 15. (/) 1 Tim. V. 20. (g) Gal. ii. 11, 14. CHAP. XII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 413 of the Church, which corrects sins according to the word of the Lord, is a most excellent preservative of health, foundation of order, and bond of unity. Therefore when the Church excludes from its society all who are known to be guilty of adultery, fornication, theft, robbery, sedition, perjury, false witness, and other similar crimes, together with obstinate per- sons, who, after having been admonished even of smaller faults, contemn God and his judgment, — it usurps no unreasonable authority, but only exercises the jurisdiction which God has given it. And that no one may despise this judgment of the Church, or consider it as of little importance that he is con- demned by the voice of the faithful, God has testified that it is no other than a declaration of his sentence, and that what they do on earth shall be ratified in heaven. For they have the word of the Lord, to condemn the perverse ; they have the word, to receive the penitent into favour. Persons who believe that the Church could not subsist without this bond of disci- pline, are mistaken in their opinion, unless we could safely dispense with that remedy which the Lord foresaw Avould be necessary for us ; and how very necessary it is, will be better discovered from its various use. V. Now, there are three ends proposed by the Church in those corrections, and in excommunication. The first is, that) those who lead scandalous and flagitious lives, may not, to! the dishonour of God, be^iumbered among_Christians ; as if \ his holy Church were a conspiracy ol wicked and abandoned ' men. For as the Church is the body of Christ, it cannot be contaminated with such foul and putrid members without some ignominy being reflected upon the Head. That nothing may exist in the Church, therefore, from which any disgrace may be thrown upon his venerable name, it is necessary to expel from his family all those from whose turpitude infamy would redound to the profession of Christianity. Here it is also necessary to have particular regard to the Lord's supper, that it may not be profaned by a promiscuous administration. For it is certain that he who is intrusted Avith the dispensation of it, if he knowingly and intentionally admit an unworthy person, whom he might justly reject, is as guilty of sacrilege as if he were to give the Lord's body to dogs. Wherefore, Chrysostom severely inveighs against priests, who, from a fear of the great and the powerful, did not dare to reject any per- sons who presented themselves. " Hlood," says he, " shall be required at your hands. If you fear man, he will deride you ; if you fear God, you will also be honoured among men. Let us not be afraid of sceptres, or diadems, or imperial robes ; we have here a great power. As for myself, I will rather give up my body to death, and suff"er my blood to be shed, than I 414 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. will be partaker of this pollution." To guard this most sa- cred mystery, therefore, from being reproached, there is need of great discretion in the administration of it, and this requires the jurisdiction of the Church. The second end is, that the good may not be corrupted, as is often the case, by constant association with the wicked. For, such is our propensity to error, nothing is more easy than for evil examples to seduce us from rectitude of conduct. This use of discipline was re- marked by the apostle, when he directed the Corinthians to expel from their society a person who had been guilty of incest. "A little leaven," says he, " leaveneth the whole lump." (h) And the apostle perceived such great danger from this quarter, that he even interdicted believers from all social intercourse with the wicked. "I have written unto you, not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one, no, not to eat."(?) The third end is, that those who are censured or excommunicated, confounded with the shame of their turpitude, may be led to repentance. Thus it is even conducive to their own benefit for their iniquity to be punished, that the stroke of the rod may arouse to a confessipn of their guilt, those who would only be rendered more obstinate by indulgence. The apostle intends the same when he says, " If any man obey not our word, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed " (k) Again, when he says of the incestuous Corin- thian, " I have judged to deliver such a one unto Satan, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord ; " (/) that is, as I understand it, that he had consigned him to a temporal con- demnation, that the spirit might be eternally saved. He there- fore calls it delivering to Satan, because the devil is without the Church, as Christ is in the Church. For tiie opinion of some persons, that it relates to a certain torment of the body in the present life, inflicted by the agency of Satan, appears to me extremely doubtful. VI. Having stated these ends, it remains for us to examine how the Church exercises this branch of discipline, which consists in jurisdiction. In the first place, let us keep in view the distinction before mentioned, that some sins are public, and others private, or more concealed. Public sins are those which are not only known to one or two witnesses, but are committed openly, and to the scandal of the whole Church. By private sins, I mean, not such as are entirely unknown to men, like those of hypocrites, — for these never como under the cognizance of the Church, — but those of an intermediate class, (A) 1 Cor. V. 6. (i) 1 Cor. v. 11. (k) 2 Thess. iii. 14 (/) 1 Cor. v. 3, 5. CHAP. XII. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 415 which are not without the knowledge of some witnesses, and yet are not public. The first sort requires not the adoption of the gradual measures enumerated by Christ ; but it is the duty of the Church, on the occtn-rence of any notorious scandal, immediately to summon the oflender, and to punish him in proportion to his crime. Sins of the second class, accorclnig to the rule of Christ, are not to be brought before the Church, unless they are attended with contumacy, in rejecting private admonition. When they are submitted to the cognizance of the Church, then attention is to be paid to the other distinc- tion, between smaller delinquencies and more atrocious crimes. For slighter offences require not the exertion of extreme se- verity ; it is sufficient to administer verbal castigation, and that with paternal gentleness, not calculated to exasperate or confound the offender, but to bring him to himself, that his correction may be an occasion of joy rather than of sorrow. But it is proper that flagitious crimes should receive severer punishment ; for it is not enough for him who has grievously offended the Church by the bad example of an atrocious crime, merely to receive verbal castigation ; he ought to be deprived of the communion of the Lord's supper for a time, till he shall have given satisfactory evidence of repentance. For Paul not only employs verbal reproof against the Corinthian transgressor, but excludes him from the Church, and blames the Corin- thians for having tolerated him so long. This order was retained in the ancient and purer Church, while any legitimate government continued. For if any one had perpetrated a crime which was productive of offence, he was commanded, in the first place, to abstain from the Lord's supper, and, in the next place, to humble himself before God, and to testify his repentance before the Church. There were, likewise, certain solemn rites which it was customary to enjoin upon those who had fallen, as signs of their repentance. When the sinner had performed these for the satisfaction of the Church, he was then, by imposition of hands, readmitted to the communion. This readmission is frequently called 'peace by Cyprian, who briefly describes the ceremony. " They do penance," he says, " for a sufficient time ; then they come to confession, and by the imposition of the hands of the bishop and clergy, are re- stored to the privilege of communion." But though the bishop and clerg}'- presided in the reconciliation of oflenders, yet they required the consent of the people ; as Cyprian elsewhere states. VII. From this discipline none were exempted ; so that princes and plebeians yielded the same submission to it ; and that with the greatest propriety, since it is evidently the disci- pline of Christ, to whom it is reasonable that all the sceptres 416 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. and diadems of kings should be subject. Thus Theodosius, when Ambrose exckided him from the privilege of communion, on account of a massacre perpetrated at Thessalonica, laid aside the ensigns of royalty with which he was invested, publicly in the Church bewailed his sin, which the deceitful suggestions of others had tempted him to commit, and implored pardon with groans and tears. For great kings ought not to think it any dishonour to prostrate themselves as suppliants before Christ the King of kings, nor ought they to be displeased at being judged by the Church. As they hear scarcely any thing in their courts but mere flatteries, it is the more highly neces- sary for them to receive correction from the Lord by the mouth of his ministers ; they ought even to wish not to be spared by the pastojs, that they may be spared by the Lord. I forbear to mention here by whom this jurisdiction is to be exercised, having spoken of this in another jilace. I will only add, that the legitimate process in excommunicating an of- fender, which is pointed out by Paul, requires it to be done, not by the elders alone, but with the knowledge and approba- tion of the Church : in such a manner, however, that the multitude of the people may not direct the proceeding, but may watch over it^s witnesses and guardians, that nothing may be done by a few ; persons from any improper motive. Beside the invocation of the name of God, the whole of the proceeding ought to be conducted with a gravity declarative of the presence of Christ, that there may be no doubt of his presiding over the sentence. VIIL But it ought not to be forgotten, that the severity becoming the Church must be tempered with a spirit of gentle- ness. For there is constant need of the greatest caution, according to the injunction of Paul respecting a person who may have been censured, "lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow ; " (??^) for thus a remedy would become a poison. But the rule of moderation may be better deduced from the end intended to be accom- plished ; for as the design of excommunication is, that the sinner may be brought to repentance, and evil examples taken away, to prevent the name of Christ from being blasphemed and other persons being tempted to imitation, — if we keep these things in view, it will be easy to judge how far severity ought to proceed, and where it ought to stop. Therefore, when the sinner gives the Church a testimony of his repentance, and by this testimony, as far as in him lies, obliterates the offence, he is by no means to be pressed any further : and if he be pressed any further, the rigour is carried beyond its (to) 2 Cor. ii. 7. CHAP. XII.] CHRISTIAJSr RELIGION. 417 proper limits. In this respect, it is impossible to excuse the ex- cessive austerity of the ancients, which was utterly at variance with the directions of the Lord, and led to the most dangerous consequences. For when they sentenced an offender to solemn repentance, and exclusion from the holy communion, some- times for three, sometimes for four, sometimes for seven years, and sometimes for the remainder of life, — what other conse- quence could result from it, but either great hypocrisy or extreme despair ? In like manner, when any one had fallen a second time, the refusal to admit him to a second repentance, and his exclusion from the Church to the end of his life, was neither use- ful nor reasonable. Whoever considers the subject with sound judgment, therefore, will discover their want of prudence in this instance. But I would rather reprobate the general custom, than accuse all those who practised it ; among whom it is certain that some were not satisfied, but they complied with it because it was not in their power to effect a reformation. Cyprian declares that it was not from his own choice that he was so rigorous. " Our patience," he says, " and kindness and tenderness, is ready for all who come. I wish all to return into the Church : I wish all our fellow-soldiers to be assembled in the camp of Christ, and all our brethren to be received into the house of God our Father. I forgive every thing ; I conceal much ; from a zealous wish to collect all the brotherhood together, even the sins committed against God I examine not with rigid severity ; and am scarcely free from fault myself, in forgiving faults more easily than I ought. With ready and entire affection I embrace those who return with penitence, confessing their sin with humble and sincere satisfaction." Chrysostom is rather more severe ; yet he expresses himself thus : " If God is so kind, why is his priest determined to be so austere ? " We know, likewise, what kindness Augustine ex- ercised towards the Donatists, so that he hesitated not to receive into the bishoprics those who renounced their error ; and that immediately after their repentance. But because a contrary system had prevailed, they were obliged to relinquish their own judgment, in order to follow the established custom. IX. Now, as it is required of the whole body of the Church, in chastising any one who has fallen, to manifest such gentle- ness and clemency as not to proceed to the extremity of rigour, but rather, according to the injunction of Paul, to "confirm their love toward him," (v) so it is the duty of every indi- vidual to moderate himself to the like tenderness and clemency. Such as are expelled from the Church, therefore, it is not for us to expunge from the number of the elect, or to despair of (n) 2 Cor. ii. 8. VOL, II. 53 418 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. them as already lost. It is proper to consider them as strangers to the Church, and consequently from Christ, but this only as long as they remain in a state of exclusion. And even then, if they exhibit more appearance of obstinacy than of humility, still let us leave them to the judgment of God, hoping better things of them for the future than we discover at present, and not ceasing to pray to God on their behalf. And to compre- hend all in a word, let us not condemn to eternal death the person himself, who is in the hand and power of God alone, but let us content ourselves with judging of the nature of his works according to the law of the Lord. While we follow this rule, we rather adhere to the judgment of God than pronounce our own. Let us not arrogate to ourselves any greater latitude of judging, unless we would limit the power and prescribe laws to the mercy of God ; for, whenever it seems good to him, the worst of men are changed into the best, strangers are in- troduced, and foreigners are admitted into the Church. And this the Lord does, to frustrate the opinion and repress the presumption of men, which would usurp the most unwarrant- able liberty of judging, if it were left without any restraint. X. When Christ promises that what his ministers bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, he limits the power of binding to the censure of the Church ; by which those who are excom- municated are not cast into eternal ruin and condemnation, but, by hearing their life and conduct condemned, are also certified of their final condemnation, unless they repent. For excom- munication differs from anathema : the latter, which ought to be very rarely or never resorted to, precluding all pardon, execrates a person, and devotes him to eternal perdition ; whereas excommunication rather censures and punishes his conduct. And though it does, at the same time, punish the person, yet it is in such a manner, that, by warning him of his future condemnation, it recalls him to salvation. If he obey, the Church is ready to re-admit him to its friendship, and to restore him to its communion. Therefore, though the discipline of the Church admits not of our friendly association and familiar intercourse with excommunicated persons, yet we ought to exert all the means in our power to promote their reformation, and their return to the society and communion of the Church ; as we are taught by the apostle, who says, " Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother." (o) Unless this tenderness be observed by the individual members, as well as by the Church collectively, our discipline will be in danger of speedily degenerating into cruelty. XI. It is also particularly requisite to the moderation of dis- (o) 2 Thess. iii. 15. :;hap. XII.] christian religjon. 419 cipline, as Augustine observes in disputing with the Donatists, that private persons, if they see faults corrected with too little diligence by the council of elders, should not on that account immediately withdraw from the Church ; and that the pastors themselves, if they cannot succeed according to the wishes of their hearts in reforming every thing that needs correction, should not, in consequence of this, desert the ministry, or disturb the whole Church with unaccustomed asperity. For there is much truth in his observation, that " whoever either corrects what he can by reproof; or what he cannot correct, excludes, without breaking the bond of peace ; or what he cannot exclude, without breaking the bond of peace, censures with moderation and bears with firmness ; he is free from the curse, and chargeable with no blame." In another passage he assigns the reason ; because " all the pious order and method of ecclesiastical discipline ought constantly to regard the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace ; which the apostle commands to be kept by mutual forbearance ; and without the preservation of which, the medicine of chastisement is not only superfluous, but even becomes pernicious, and consequently is no longer a medicine." Again : " He who attentively considers these things neither neglects severity of discipline for the preservation of unity, nor breaks the bond of fellowship by an intemperance of correction." He acknowledges indeed that it is not only the duty of the pastors to endeavour to purify the Church from every fault, but that it is likewise incumbent on every indi- vidual to exert all his influence for the same purpose ; and he fully admits, that a person who neglects to admonish, reprove, and correct the wicked, though he neither favours them nor unites in their sins, is nevertheless culpable in the sight of the Lord ; but that he who sustains such an office as to have power to exclude them from a participation of the sacraments, and does it not, is chargeable, in that case, not with the guilt of another, but with a sin of his own ; he only recommends it to be done with the prudence required by our Lord, "lest while " they " gather up the tares," they " root up also the wheat with them."(p) Hence he concludes with Cyprian, "Let a man, therefore, in mercy correct what he can ; what he cannot, let him patiently bear and affectionately lament." XH. These remarks of Augustine were made in consequence of the rigour of the Donatists, who, seeing vices in the Church, which the bishops condemned by verbal reproofs, but did not punish with excommunication, which they thought not adapted to produce any good effects, inveighed in a most outrageous manner against the bishops, as betrayers of discipline, and by an impious schism separated themselves from the flock of {p) Matt. xiii. 29. 420 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. Christ. The same conduct is pursued in the present day by the Anabaptists, who, acknowledging no congregation to belong to Christ, unless it be, in all respects, conspicuous for angelic perfection, under the pretext of zeal, destroy all edification. " Such persons," says Augustine, " not actuated by hatred against the iniquity of others, but stimulated by fondness for their own disputes, desire either wholly to pervert, or at least to divide the weak multitude by insnaring them with their boastful pretensions ; inflated with pride, infuriated with obsti- nacy, insidious with calumnies, turbulent with seditions, that their destitution of the light of truth may not be detected, they conceal themselves under the covert of a rigorous severity : and those things which the Scripture commands to be done for the correction of the faults of our brethren, without viola- ting the sincerity of love, or disturbing the unity of peace, but with the moderation of a remedial process, they abuse, to an occasion of dissension and to the sacrilege of schism. Thus Satan transforms himself into an angel of light, when from just severity he takes occasion to persuade men to inhuman cruelty, with no other object than to corrupt and break the bond of peace and unity ; by the preservation of which among Christians, all his ^power to injure them is weakened, his insi- dious snares are broken, and his schemes for their ruin come to nothing." XIII. There is one thing which this father particularly recommends — that if the contag'Vtn gf any sin has-infected a whole people, there is a necessity for thf spvpi-ity au(] mprry which are combined in strict discipliufi. " For schemes of separation, ' he says, " are pernicious and sacrilegious, because they proceed from pride and impiety, and disturb the good who are weak, more than they correct the wicked who are bold." And what he here prescribes to others, he faithfully followed himself. For writing to Aurelius, bishop of Carthage, he com- plained that drunkenness, which is so severely condemned in the Scripture, prevailed with impunity in Africa, and persuaded him to endeavour to remedy it by calling a provincial council. He immediately adds, " I believe these things are suppressed not by harshness, severity, or imperiousness, but by teaching rather than commanding, by admonitions rather than by me- naces. For this is the conduct to be pursued with a multitude of offenders ; but severity is to be exercised against the sins of a few." Yet he does not mean that bishops should connive or be silent, because they cannot inflict severe punishments for public crimes, as he afterwards explains ; but he means that the correction should be tempered with such moderation, as to be salutary rather than injurious to the body. And therefore he at length concludes in the following manner : " Wherefore, also, CHAP. XII.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 421 that command of the apostle, to put away the wicked, {q) ought by no means to be neglected, when it can be done without danger of disturbing the peace ; for in this case alone did he intend that it should be enforced ; and we are also to observe his other injunction, to forbear one another in love, endeavour- ing to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." (/•} XIV. The remaining part of discipliiLe, which is not strictly included in the power of the keys, consists in this — that the j^astors, according to the necessity of the times, ^hould exhort the people either to fastings or solemn supplications, or to other exercises of humility, repentance, and faith, of which the word of God prescribes neither the time, the extent, nor the form, but leaves all this to the judgment of the Church. The ob- servation of these things, also, which are highly useful, was always practised by the ancient Church from the days of the apostles ; though the apostles themselves were not the first authors of them, but derived the example from the law and the prophets. For there we find, that whenever any important business occurred, the people were assembled, supplications commanded, and fasting enjoined. The apostles, therefore, fol- lowed what was not new to the people of God, and what they foresaw would be useful. The same reasoning is applicable to other exercises by which the people may be excited to duty, or preserved in obedience. Examples abound in the sacred history, which it is unnecessary to enumerate. The conclusion to be deduced from the whole is, that whenever a controversy arises respecting religion, which requires to be decided by a council or ecclesiastical judgment ; whenever a minister is to be chosen ; in short, whenever any thing of difficulty or great importance is transacting ; and also when any tokens of the Divine wrath are discovered, such as famine, pestilence, or war ; — it is a pious custom, and beneficial in all ages, for the pastors to exhort the people to public fasts and extraordinary prayers. If the testimo- nies which may be adduced from the Old Testament be reject- ed, as uiapplicable to the Christian church, it is evident that the apostles practised the same. Respecting prayers, however, I sup- pose scarcely a person will be found disposed to raise any dispute. Therefore let us say something of fasting ; because many, for want of knowing its usefulness, undervalue its necessity, and some reject it as altogether superfluous ; while, on (he other hand, where the use of it is not well understood, it easily de- generates into superstition. XV. Holy and legitimate fasting is directed to three ends. For we practise it, either as a restraint on the flesh, to preserve it from licentiousness, or eis a preparation for prayers and pious (y) 1 Cor. V. 13. (r) Eph. iv. 2, 3. ) 422 INSTITUTES OF THE [boOK IV. meditations, or as a testimony of our humiliation in the pre- sence of God, when we are desirous of confessing our guilt before him. The first is not often contemplated in public fasting, because all men have not the same constitution or health of body ; therefore it is rather more applicable to private fasting. The second end is common to both, such preparation for prayer being necessary to the .whole Church, as well as to every one of the faithful in particular. The same may be said of the third. For it will sometimes happen that God will afflict a whole nation with war, pestilence, or some other calamity ; under such a common scourge, it behoves all the people to make a confession of their guilt. When the hand of the Lord chastises an indi- vidual, he ought to make a similar confession, either alone or with his family. It is true that this acknowledgment lies prin- cipally in the disposition of the heart ; but when the heart is af- fected as it ought to be, it can scarcely avoid breaking out into the external expression, and most especially when it promotes the general edification ; in order that all, by a public confession of their sin, may unitedly acknowledge the justice of God, and may mutually animate each other by the influence of example, XVI. Wherefore fasting, as it is a sign of humiliation, is of more frequent use in public, than among individuals in private ; though it is common to both, as we have already observed. With regard to the discipline, therefore, of which we are now treating, whenever supplications are to be presented to God on any important occasion, it would be right to enjoin the union of fasting with prayer. Thus when the believers at Antioch "laid their hands on Paul and Barnabas," the better to recommend their very important ministry to God, they "fasted" as well as " prayed." (s) So also when Paul and Barnabas afterwards " ordained elders in every Church," they used to "pray with fasting." {t) In this kind of fasting, their only object was, that they might be more lively and un- embarrassed in prayer. And we find by experience, that after a full meal, the mind does not aspire towards God so as to be able to enter on prayer, and to continue in it with seriousness and ardour of aff'ection. So we are to understand what Luke says of Anna, that she "served God with fastings and prayers." {u) For he does not place the worship of God in fasting, but signifies that by such means that holy woman habituated her- self to a constancy in prayer. Such was the fasting of Nehe- miah, when he prayed to God with more than common fervour for the deliverance of his people, {v) For this cause Paul declares it to be expedient for believers to practise a temporary (, on our souls, as we see that our bodies are externally washed, | immersed, and enclosed in water. For this analogy or simili-| tude is a most certain rule of sacraments ; that in corporeal " things we contemplate spiritual things, just as if they were placed before our eyes, as it has pleased God to represent them to us by such figures : not that such blessings are bound or enclosed in the sacrament, or that it has the power to impart them to us ; but only because it is a sign by which the Lord testifies his will, that he is determined to give us all these things : nor does it merely feed our eyes with a bare prospect of the symbols, but conducts us at the same time to the thing sig- nified, and efficaciously accomplishes that which it represents. XV. We may see this exemplified in Cornelius the centu- rion, who, after having received the remission of his sins and the visible graces of the Holy Spirit, was baptized ; not with a view to obtain by baptism a more ample remission of sins, but a stronger exercise of faith, and an increase of confidence from that pledge, [q) Perhaps it may be objected, " Why, then, did Ananias say to Paul, ' Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins,' (r) if sins are not washed away by the efficacy of baptism itself?" I answer. We are said to receive or obtain that which our faith apprehends, as presented to us by the Lord, whether at the time that he first declares it to us, or when, by any subsequent testimony, he aflbrds us a more cer- tain confirmation of it. Ananias, therefore, only intended to say to Paul, " That thou mayest be assured that thy sins are (<7) Acta X. 44—48. (O Acts xxii. 16- CHAP. XV.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 487 forgiven, be baptized. For in baptism the Lord promises re- mission of sins; receive this and be secure." It is not my design, however, to diminish the efficacy of baptism ; but the substance and truth accompanies the sign, as God works by external means. Nevertheless, from this sacrament, as from all others, we obtain nothing except what we receive by faith. If faith be 'wuntmgTlt wiTf '^e^'X testimony of our ingratitu3e, to render us guilty before God, because we have not believed the promise given in the sacrament ; but as baptism is a sign of our confession, we ought to testify by it, that our confidence is in the mercy of God, and our purity in the remission of sins, which is obtained for us by Jesus Christ ; and that we enter into the Church of God in order to live in the same harmony of faith and charity, of one mind with all the faithful. This is what Paul meant when he said, that "by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body." (s) XVI. Now, if it be true, as we have stated, that a sacrament is to be considered as received, not so much from the hand of him by whom it is administered, as from the hand of God himself, from whom, without doubt, it proceeded, we may con- elude that it is not capable of any addition or diminution from the dignity of the person by whose hand it is delivered. And as, among men, if a letter be sent, provided the hand and seal of the writer be known, it is of very little importance who and what the carrier of it may be, so it ought to be sufficient for us to know the hand and seal of our Lord in his sacra- ments, by whatever messenger they may be conveyed. This fully refutes the error of the Donatists, who measured the virtue and value of the sacrament by the worthiness of the minister. Such, in the present day, are our Anabaptists, who positively deny that we are rightly baptized, because we were baptized by impious and idolatrous ministers in the kingdom of the pope, and therefore violently urge us to be baptized again ; against whose follies we shall be fortified with an argu- ment of sufficient strength, if we consider that we are baptized not in the name of any man, but in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and consequently that it is not the baptism of man, but of God, by whomsoever it is administered. Though those who baptized us were charge- able with the grossest ignorance or contempt of God and of all religion, yet they did not baptize us into the fellowship of their own ignorance or sacrilege, but into the faith of Jesus Christ ; because they invoked, not their own name, but the name of God, and baptized in no other name but his. Now, if it was the baptism of God, it certainly contained the promise (s) 1 Cor. xii. 13. 488 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. of remission of sins, mortification of the flesh, spiritual vivifi- cation, and participation of Christ. Thus it was no injury to the Jews to have been circumcised by impure and apostate priests ; nor was the sign on that account useless, so as to render it necessary to be repeated, but it was sufficient to recur to the genuine original. They object, that baptism ought to be celebrated in the congregation of the godly ; but this does not prove that it loses all its value in consequence of being partially wrong. For when we teach what ought to be done to preserve baptism pure and free from every blemish, we do not abolish the institution of God, however idolaters corrupt it. For when circnmcision was anciently corrupted with many superstitions, yet it ceased not to be considered as a sign of grace ; nor, when Hezekiah and Josiah assembled together out of all Israel those who had revolted from God, did they call any of them to a second circumcision. XVII. When they ask ns what faith we had for many years after our baptism, in order to show that our baptism was vain, since baptism is not sanctified to us except by the word of promise received in faith, — to this inquiry we answer, that being blind and unbelieving for a long time, we did not em- brace the promise which had been given us in baptism, yet that the promise itself, as it was from God, always remained steady, firm, and true. Though all men were false and per- fidious, yet God ceases not to be true ; though all men were lost, yet Christ remains a Saviour. We confess, therefore, that during that time we received no advantage whatever from baptism, because we totally neglected the promise offered to us in it, without which baptism is nothing. Now, since, by the grace of God, we have begun to repent, we accuse our blindness and hardness of heart for our long ingratitude to his great goodness ; yet we believe that the promise itself never expired, but, on the contrary, we reason in the following man- ner : — By baptism God promises remission of sins, and will certainly fulfil the promise to all believers : that promise was oflxired to us in baptism ; let us, therefore, embrace it by faith : it was long dormant by reason of our unbelief ; now, then, let us receive it by faith. Wherefore, when God exhorts the Jewish people to repentance, he does not command them, who had been circumcised, as we have remarked, by impious and sacrile- gious hands, and who had lived for some time immersed in the same impiety, to be circumcised again : he only urges conver- sion of heart. For however the covenant had been violated by them, yet the symbol of the covenant, according to the institu- tion of the Lord, always remained firm and inviolable. On the sole condition of repentance, therefore, they were restored to the covenant which God had once made with them in cir- CHAP. XV.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 489 cumcision ; even though they had received it by the hands of the unfaithful priests, and had themselves done all that was in their power to corrupt it and render it ineffectual. XVIII. But they conceive themselves to be armed with an invincible argument; when they allege that Paul rebaptized some who had previously been baptized with the baptism of John, (t) For if, by our own confession, the baptism of John was in all respects the same as ours is now, — as these persons who had first been erroneously instructed, after having been taught the right faith, were rebaptized into it, so that bap- tism, which was unaccompanied with the true doctrine, should be considered as nothing, and we ought to be baptized afresh into the true religion, which we have now first imbibed. It is supposed by some, that they had received their first baptism from a pretended and corrupt imitator of John, who had rather baptized them into a vain superstition than into the truth. This conjecture they seem to derive from the confession of those persons that they were entirely ignorant of the Holy Spirit — an ignorance in which it is concluded John would not have suffered his disciples to remain. But it is not probable that Jews, even though they had never been baptized at all, would have been destitute of all knowledge of the Holy Spirit, who is celebrated in so many testimonies of Scripture. The answer, therefore, which they gave, " We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost," is to be understood as equivalent to a declaration that they had never heard whether the graces of the Spirit, respecting which Paul in- quired, were given to the disciples of Christ. For myself, I grant that the baptism they had received was the true baptism of John, and the very same with the baptism of Christ ; but I deny that they were baptized again. What is the meaning of these words, " They were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus ? " Some explain it to be, that they were only instructed by Paul in the pure doctrine ; but I prefer understanding it, in a more simple manner, of the baptism of the Holy Spirit ; that is, of the visible graces of the Spirit given by imposition of hands. It is not uncommon in the Scripture to designate those graces by the appellation of baptism ; as on the day of Pentecost, the apostles are said to have remembered the words of the Lord respecting the baptism of the Spirit and of fire. And Peter declared that he remembered the same, when he saw those graces poured out on Cornelius and his family and relatives. Nor is this interpretation inconsistent with what is stated afterwards, that " When Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them." For Luke does not (0 Acta xix. 1—6. VOL. II. 62 490 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. relate two different things, but follows a mode of narration fa- miliar to the Hebrews, who first propose a subject generally, and then unfold it more in detail. This is obvious from the very connection of the words ; for he says, " When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Ghost came on them." The latter clause describes the kind of baptism intended in the former. If ignorance vitiate a first baptism, so that it requires to be corrected by a second, the first persons who ought to have been rebaptized were the apostles them- selves, who for three years after their baptism had scarcely any knowledge of the least particle of pure doctrine. And among us, what rivers would be sufficient for the repetition of ablu- tions as numerous as the errors which are daily corrected in us by the mercy of the Lord ! XIX. The virtue, dignity, utility, and end of this mystery, have now, if I mistake not, been sufficiently explained. With respect to the external symbol, I sincerely wish that the genuine institution of Christ had the influence it ought to have, to re- press the audacity of man. For, as though it were a contempt- ible thing to be baptized in water, according to the precept of Christ, men have iiwented a benediction, or rather incantation, to pollute the true consecration of the water. They afterwards added a wax taper with chrism ; exorcism seemed to open the gate to baptism. Now, though I am not ignorant of the an- cient origin of this adventitious medley, yet it is lawful for me and for all believers to reject every thing that men have pre- sumed to add to the institution of Christ. Now, Satan, seeing that from the very first introduction of the gospel, his impos- tures had been easily received by the foolish credulity of the world, proceeded to grosser illusions ; hence spittle, salt, and other fooleries, which were publicly introduced with an un- limited license, to the reproach of baptism. From these ex- periments we may learn that there is nothing holier, or better, or safer, than to content ourselves with the authority of Christ alone. How much better was it, therefore, omitting all the- atrical pomps which dazzle the eyes and stupefy the minds of the simple, whenever any one was to be baptized, that he should be presented to the congregation of believers, and be offered to God in the presence and with the prayers of the whole Church ; that the confession of faith, in which the cate- chumen was to be instructed, should be recited ; that the pro- mises which are included in baptism should be declared ; that the catechumen should be baptized in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; and lastly, that lie should be dismissed with prayers and thanksgivings ! Thus nothing material would be omitted; and that one ceremony, wliich was CHAP. XV. j CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 491 instituted by God, would shine with the greatest kistre, unen- cumbered with any extraneous corruptions. But whether thej person who is baptized be wholly nnmersed, and whether' thrice or once, or whether water be only poured or sprinkled^ upon him, is of no importance ; Churches ought to be left at liberty, in this respect, to act according to the difference of countries. The very word baptize, however, signifies to im- merse ; and it is certain that immersion was the practice of the ancient Church. XX. It is also necessary to state, that it is not right for private persons to take upon themselves the administration of baptism ; for this, as well as the administration of the Lord's supper, is a part of the public ministry of the Church. Christ never commanded women, or men in general, to baptize ; he gave this charge to those whom he had appointed to be apos- tles. And when he enjoined his disciples, in the celebration of the supper, to do as they had seen done by him when he executed the office of a legitimate dispenser, he intended, with- out doubt, that they should imitate his example. The custom, which has been received and practised for many ages past, and almost from the primitive times of the Church, for baptism to be performed by laymen, in cases where death was apprehend- ed, and no minister was present in time, it appears to me im- possible to defend by any good reason. Indeed, the ancients themselves, who either observed or tolerated this custom, were not certain whether it was right or not. Augustine betrays this uncertainty, when he says, " And if a layman, compelled by necessity, has given baptism, I know not whether any one may piously affirm that it ought to be repeated. For if it be done without the constraint of necessity, it is a usurpation of an office which belongs to another ; but if necessity obliges, it is either no offence, or a venial one." Respecting women, it was decreed without any exception, in the Council of Carthage, that they should not presume to baptize at all, on pain of ex- communication. But it is alleged, there is danger, lest a child, who is sick and dies without baptism, should be deprived of the grace of regeneration. This I can by no means admit. God pronounces that he adopts our infants as his children, before they are born, when he promises that he will be a God to us, and to our seed after us. This promise includes their salvation. Nor will any dare to offer such an insult to God as to deny the sufficiency of his promise to insure its own accom- plishment. The mischievous consequences of that ill-stated notion, that baptism is necessary to salvation, are overlooked by persons in general, and therefore they are less cautious ; for the reception of an opinion, that all who happen to die witliout baptism are lost, makes our condition worse than that of the 492 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. ancient people, as though the grace of God were more restrict- ed now than it was under the law ; it leads to the conclusion that Christ came not to fulfil the promises, but to abolish them ; since the promise, which at that time was of itself suf- ficiently efficacious to insure salvation before the eighth day, would have no validity now without the assistance of the sign. XXI. What was the custom of the Church before Augustine was born, may be collected from the ancient fathers. In the first place, Tertullian says, " That it is not permitted for a woman to speak in the Church, neither to teach, nor to bap- tize, nor to offer, that she may not claim to herself the func- tions of any office belonging to men, and especially to priests." The same thing is fully attested by Epiphanius, when he censures Marcion for having given women liberty to baptize. I am aware of the answer made to this by persons of opposite sentiments — that there is a great difference between a common usage, and an extraordinary remedy employed in cases of ur- gent necessity ; but when Epiphanius pronounces it to be a mockery, without making any exception, to give women liberty to baptize, it is sufficiently evident that he condemns this corruption, and considers it inexcusable by any pretext whatever; nor does 'he add any limitation, in his third book, where he observes that this liberty was not granted even to the holy mother of Christ. XXII. The example of Zipporah is alleged, but is not appli- cable to the case. Because the augel of God was appeased after she had taken a stone and circumcised her son, (v) it is unrea- sonable to infer that her action was approved by God. On the same principle it might be maintained, that God was pleased with the worship established by the nations who were trans- planted from Assyria to Samaria. But there are other power- ful reasons to prove the absurdity of setting up the conduct of that foolish woman as a pattern for imitation. If I should allege, that this was a single act, which ought not to be con- sidered as a general example, and especially as we nowhere find any special command that the rite of circumcision was to be performed by the priests, the case of circumcision is differ- ent from that of baptism ; and this would be sufficient to re- fute the advocates of its administration by women. For the words of Christ are plain : " Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them." (w) Since he constitutes the same persons preachers of the gospel and administrators of baptism, "and no man," according to the testimony of the apostle, " taketh this honour upon himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron," (x) whoever baptizes without a legitimate call, (») Exod. iv. 25. {id) Matt, xxviii. 19. (x) Heb. v. 4. CHAP. XV.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 493 intrudes into another person's office. Even in the minutest things, as in meat and drink, whatever we do with a doubtful conscience, Paul expressly declares to be sin. (y) Female bap- tism, therefore, being an open violation of the rule delivered by Christ, is a still greater sin ; for we know that it is impious to dissever things which God has united. But all this 1 pass over J and would only request my readers to consider that nothing was further from the design of Zipporah, than to per- form a service to God. For seeing her son to be in danger, she fretted and murmured, and indignantly cast the foreskin on the ground, reproaching her husband in such a manner as to betray anger against God. In short, it is plain that all this proceeded from violence of temper, because she was displeased with God and her husband that she was constrained to shed the blood of her son. Besides, if she had conducted herself with propriety in all other respects, yet it was an act of inex- cusable presumption for her to circumcise her son in the pre- sence of her husband, and that husband not a private man, but Moses, the principal prophet of God, who was never succeeded by a greater in Israel ; which was no more lawful for her to do, than it is for women now to baptize in the presence of a bishop. But this controversy will easily be decided by the establishment of this principle — that infants are not excluded from the kingdom of heaven, who happen to die before they have had the privilege of baptism. But we have seen that it is no small injustice to the covenant of God, if we do not rely upon it as sufficient of itself, since its fulfilment depends not on baptism, or on any thing adventitious. The sacrament is afterwards added as a seal, not to give efficacy to the promise of God, as if it wanted validity in itself, but only to confirm it to us. Whence it follows, that the children of believers are not baptized, that they may thereby be made the children of God, as if they had before been strangers to the Church ; but, on the contrary, they are received into the Church by a so- lemn sign, because they already belonged to the body of Christ by virtue of the promise. If the omission of the sign, there- fore, be not occasioned by indolence, or contempt, or negli- gence, we are safe from all danger. It is far more consistent with piety to show this reverence to the institution of God, not to receive the sacraments from any other hands than those to which the Lord has committed them. When it is impossible to receive them from the Church, the grace of God is not so attached to them, but that we may obtain it by faith from the word of the Lord. (y) Rom. xiv. 23. . j 494 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. CHAPTER XVI. PjEDOBAPTISM PERFECTLY CONSISTENT WITH THE INSTITUTION OF CHRIST AND THE NATURE OF THE SIGN. As some turbulent spirits in the present age have raised fierce disputes, which still continue to agitate the Church, on the subject of infant baptism, I cannot refrain from adding some observations with a view to repress their violence. If any one should think this chapter extended to an immoderate length, I would request him to consider, that purity of doctrine in a capital point, and the peace of the Church, ought to be of too much importance in our estimation for us to feel any thing tedious which may conduce to the restoration of both. I shall also study to make this discussion of as much use as possible to a further elucidation of the mystery of bap- tism. They attack infant baptism with an argument which carries with it an appearance of great plausibility, asserting that it is not founded on any institution of Christ, but was first introduced by the presumption and corrupt curiosity of man, and afterwards received with foolish and inconsiderate facility. For a sacrament rests on no authority, unless it stands on the certain foundation of the word of God. But what if, on a full examination of the subject, it shall appear that this is a false and groundless calumny on the holy ordinance of the Lord ? Let us, therefore, inquire into its first origin. And if it shall be found to have been a mere invention of human presump- tion, we ought to renounce it, and regulate the true observance of baptism solely by the will of God. But if it shall be proved to be sanctioned by his undoubted authority, it behoves us to beware lest, by opposing the holy institutions of God, we offer an insult to their Author himself II. In the first place, it is a principle sufficiently known, and acknowledged by all believers, that the right consideration of sacramental signs consists not merely in the external cere- monies, but that it chiefly depends on the promise and the spiritual mysteries which the Lord has appointed those cere- monies to represent. Whoever, therefore, wishes to be fully informed of the meaning of baptism, and what baptism is, must not fix his attention on the element and the outward spectacle, but must rather elevate his thoughts to the promises of God which are offered to us in it, and to those internal and spiritual things which it represents to us. He who discovers CHAP. XVI.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 495 of baptism, and thence he will also learn the reason and use of the external sprinkling. On the other hand, he who con- temptuously disregards these things, and confines his attention entirely to the visible ceremony, will understand neither the force nor propriety of baptism, nor even the meaning or use of the water. This sentiment is established by testimonies of Scripture too numerous and clear to leave the least necessity for pursuing it any further at present. It remains, therefore, that from the promises given in baptism, we endeavour to de- duce its nature and meaning. The Scripture shows, that the first thing represented in it, is the remission and purgation of sins, which we obtain in the blood of Christ ; and the second the mortification of the flesh, which consists in the participa- tion of his death, by which believers are regenerated to new- ness of life, and so into communion with him. This is the sum to which we may refer every thing delivered in the Scrip- tures concerning baptism, except that it is also a sign by which we testify our religion before men. III. As the people of God, before the institution of baptism, had circumcision instead of it, let us examine the similarity and difl'erence between these two signs, in order to discover how far we may argue from one to the other. When the Lord gave Abraham the command of circumcision, he prefaced it by saying, " I will be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee ; " at the same time declaring himself to be " Almighty," having an abundance of all things at his disposal, that Abraham might expect to find his hand the source of every blessing, (z) These words contain the promise of eternal life, according to the interpretation of Christ, who deduces from this declaration an argument to evince the immortality and resurrection of be- lievers. " For God," says he, " is not the God of the dead, but of the living." (a) Wherefore also. Paul, in showing the Ephesians from what misery the Lord had delivered them, concludes, from their not having been admitted to the cove- nant of circumcision, that "at that time" they " were without Christ, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God ; " (6) all these things being comprehended in that covenant. But the first access to God, the first entrance into immortal life, is the remission of sins. Whence it follows that this promise corresponds with the promise of baptism re- specting our purgation. The Lord afterwards stipulated with Abraham, that he should walk before him in sincerity and purity of heart : this belongs to mortification, or regeneration. And to preclude any doubt that circumcision is a sign of mor- (z) Gen. xvii. 1—14. (a) Matt. xxii. 32. Luke xx. 37, 38. (b) Ephes. ii. 12. 496 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. tification, Moses more expressly declares it in another place, when he exhorts the Israelites to circumcise their hearts, be- cause the Lord had chosen them for himself above all the nations of the earth. As God, when he adopts the posterity of Abraham to be his people, commands them to be circumcised, so Moses pronounces it to be necessary to circumcise the heart, thereby declaring the true signification of that carnal circum- cision, (c) Then, that no one might attempt this in his own strength, he teaches that it is the work of Divine grace, {d) All these things are so often inculcated by the prophets, that there is no need to collect here the numerous testimonies which every where present themselves. We have ascertained, there- fore, that a spiritual promise, the very same which is given to us in baptism, was given to the fathers in circumcision ; which represented to them the remission of sins and the morti- fication of the flesh. Moreover, as we have shown that Christ, in whom both these things are obtained, is the foundation of baptism, the same must be evident of circumcision. For he was promised to Abraham, and in him the blessing of all na- tions ; and the sign of circumcision was added in confirmation of this grace. IV. There is now no difficulty in discovering what similari- ty or what difierence there is between these two signs. The promise, in which we have stated the virtue of the signs to consist, is the same in both ; including the paternal favour of God. remission of sins, and eternal life. In the next place, the thing signified also is one and the same, namely, regeneration. The foundation, on which the accomplishment of these things rests, is the same in both. Wherefore there is no difference in the internal mystery, by which all the force and peculiar na- ture of sacraments must be determined. All the ditference lies in the external ceremony, which is the smallest portion of it ; whereas the principal part depends on the promise and the thing signified. We may conclude, therefore, that whatever belongs to circumcision, except the difierence of the visible ceremony, belongs also to baptism. To this inference and com- parison we are led by the apostle's rule, which directs us to examine every interpretation of Scripture by the proportion of faith, (e) And, indeed, the truth on this subject is obvious to the slightest observation. For as circumcision was a pledge to the Jews, by which they were assured of their adoption as the people and family of God, and on their parts professed their entire subjection to him, and therefore was their first entrance into the Church, so now we are initiated into the Church of God by baptism, are numbered among his people, and profess (c) Deut. X. 16. {d) Deut. xxx. 6. (e) Rom. xii. 3, 6. CHAP. XVI .] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 497 to devote ourselves to his service. Hence it is evident, beyond all controversy, that baptism has succeeded in the place of cir- cumcision. V. Now, if it be inquired, whether baptism may rightly be . administered to infants, shall we not pronounce it an excess of folly, and even madness, in any one who resolves to dwell entirely on the element of water and the external observance, and cannot bear to direct his thoughts to the spiritual mystery :' a due consideration of which will prove, beyond all doubt, that | baptism is justly administered to infants, as that to which they i are fully entitled ? For the Lord, in former ages, did not favour | them with circumcision without making them partakers of all I those things which were then signified by circumcision. Other- n wise, he must have deluded his people with mere impostures, '^ if he deceived them by fallacious symbols ; which it is dreadful | even to hear. For he expressly pronounces that the circum- ' cision of a little infant should serve as a seal for the confirma- tion of the covenant. But if the covenant^emains firm and unmoved, it belongs to the chiraTOT^^^^iTfstia^tr'iTOWj-a^^ as" it dliTTFlKe "iiiTants of the Jews u^der tKe Old Testament."" ^anr'tliey are partakers of the thing signified, why shall they " be excluded from the sign? If they obtain the truth, why shall they be debarred from the figure ? Though the external sign in the sacrament is so connected with the word, as not to be separated from it, yet if it be distinguished, which shall we esteem of the greater importance ? Certainly, when we see that the sign is subservient to the word, we shall pro- nounce it to be inferior to it, and assign it the subordinate place. While the word of baptism, then, is directed to infants, why shall the sign, which is an appendix to the word, be pro- hibited to them ? This one reason, if there were no others, would be abundantly sufficient for the refutation of all oppo- sers. The objection that there was a particular day fixed for circumcision, is a mere evasion. We admit that we are not now bound to certain days, like the Jews ; but when the Lord, though he prescribes no particular day, yet declares it to be his pleasure that infants shall be received into his covenant by a solemn rite, what do we want more ? VI. The Scripture, however, still affords a more certain knowledge of the truth. For it is most evident that the cove- nant which the Lord once made with Abraham continues as much in force with Christians in the present day, as it did formerly with the Jews ; and consequently that that word is no less applicable to Christians than it was to the Jews. Unless we suppose that Christ by his advent diminished or curtailed the grace of the Father ; which is execrable blasphemy. Wherefore the children of the Jews, because they were made VOL. II. 63 498 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. heirs of that covenant, and distinguished from the children of the impious, were called a holy seed ; and for the same reason, the children of Christians, even when only one of the parents is pious, are accounted holy, and according to the testimony of the apostle, differ from the impure seed of idolaters. Now, as the Lord, immediately after having made the covenant with Abraham, commanded it to be sealed in infants by an external sacrament, what cause will Christians assign why they should not also at this day testify and seal the same in their children ? Nor let it be objected, that the Lord commanded not his cove- nant to be confirmed by any other symbol than that of cir- cumcision, which has long ago been abolished. For it is easy to reply, that during the time of the Old Testament he ap- pointed circumcision for the confirmation of his covenant ; but that since the abrogation of circumcision, there always remains the same reason for confirming it, which we have in common with the Jews. It is necessary, therefore, to be careful in ob- serving what we have in common with them, and what they had different from us. The covenant is common, the reason for confirming it is common. Only the mode of confirmation is different ; for to them it was confirmed by circumcision, which among us has been succeeded by baptism. Otherwise, if the testimony by which the Jews were assured of the salva- tion of their seed be taken away from us, the effect of the ad- vent of Christ has been to render the grace of God more obscure and less attested to us than it was to the Jews. If this cannot be affirmed without great dishonour to Christ, by whom the infinite goodness of God has been diffused over the earth, and manifested to men in a more conspicuous and liberal manner than at any former period, we must be obliged to confess, that at least it ought not to be more concealed or less attested than mider the obscure shadows of the law. VII. Wherefore the X^ord Je§us,JP exhibit a specimen from which the world might understand that he was come to extend rather than to limit the mercy of the Father, kindly received the. iiifaiiUs that w(,n-e presented to him, and embraced them inhis arms, chiding his disciples who endeavoured to forbid their ap- proach to him, because they would keep those, of whom was the kingdom of heaven, at a distance from him who is the only way of entrance into it. But some will object. What resemblance does this embrace of Christ bear to baptism ? for he is not said to have baptized them, but to have received them, taken them in his arms, and blessed them ; therefore, if we desire to imitate his example, let us assist infants with our prayers, but let us not baptize them. But it is necessary to consider the conduct of Christ with more attention than it receives from persons of this class. For it is not to be passed over as a thing of little CHAP. XVI.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 499 importance, that Christ commanded infants to be brought to him, and added, as a reason for this command, " For of such is the kingdom of heaven ; " and afterwards gave a practical tes- timony of his will, when, embracing them in his arms, he commended them to his Father by his prayers and benedic- tions. If it be reasonable for infants to be brought to Christ, why is it not allowable to admit them to baptism, the symbol of our communion and fellowship with Christ ? If of them is the kingdom of heaven, why shall they be denied the sign, which opens, as it were, an entrance into the Church, that, being received into it, they may be enrolled among the heirs of the heavenly kingdom ? How unjust shall we be, if we drive away from Christ those whom he invites to him ; if we deprive them of the gifts with which he adorns them ; if we exclude those whom he freely admits ! But if we examine how far what Christ did on that occasion differs from baptism, how much greater importance shall we attach to baptism, by which we testify that infants are included in the covenant of God, than to the reception, the embrace, the imposition of hands, and the prayers by which Jesus Christ himself acknowledged them as his, and declared them to be sanctified by him ! The other cavils by which our opponents endeavour to elude the force of this passage, only betray their ignorance. For they argue that as Christ said, " Suffer little children to come^'' they must have been grown to such an age and stature as to be capable of walking. But they are called by the evangelists BpH(py] and 'TTai^ia, two words used by the Greeks to signify little infants hanging on the breast. The word '■'■ come,^'' therefore, is merely used to denote " access.'''' To such evasions are persons obliged to have recourse, who resist the truth. Nor is there any more solidity in the objection, that the kingdom of heaven is not said to belong to infants, but to those who resem- ble them, because the expression is, not of them., but -'of such is the kingdom of heaven." For if this be admitted, what kind of reason would it be that Christ assigns, with a view to show that infants in age ought not to be prevented from ap- proaching him, when he says, " Suffer little children to come unto me ? " Nothing can be plainer than that he intends those who are in a state of real infancy. And to prevent this from being thought unreasonable, he adds, " Of such is the kingdom of heaven." And if infants be necessarily comprehended, it is beyond all doubt that the word " such " designates both infants themselves and those who resemble them, (e) VIII. Now, every one must perceive, that the baptism of infants, which is so strongly supported by the authority of Scripture, is very far from being an invention of men. Nor (e) Matt. xis. 13—15. Mark x. 13—16. Luke xviii. 15—17. 500 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. is there much plausibility in the objection^ that it is nowhere stated that even a single infant was baptized by the hands of the apostles. For though no such circumstance is expressly mentioned by the evangelists, yet, on the other hand, as they are never excluded when mention happens to be made of the baptism of any family, who can rationally conclude from this, that they were not baptized ? If there were any force in such arguments, women might as well be interdicted from the Lord's supper, because we have no account of their having been admitted to it in the days of the apostles. But in this we are content with the rule of faith. For when we consider the design of the institution of the Lord's supper, the conclu- sion is easy respecting the persons who ought to be admitted to a participation of it. We observe the same rule also in the case of baptism. For when we consider the end of its insti- tution, we evidently perceive that it belongs to infants as well as to adults. Therefore they cannot be deprived of it without a manifest evasion of the will of the Divine Author. What they circulate among the uninformed multitude, that after the resurrection of Christ, a long series of years passed, in which infant baptism was unknown, is shamefully contrary to truth ; for there is no ancient writer who does not refer its origin, as a matter of certainty, to the age of the apostles. I IX. It remains for us briefly to show what advantage results [from this ceremony, both to believers who present their children |to the Church to be baptized, and to the infants themselves Iwho are Avashed in the holy water ; to guard it from being l^espised as useless or unimportant. But if any man takes it into his head to ridicule infant baptism on this pretext, he holds the command of circumcision, which was given by the Lord, in equal contempt. For what will they allege to impugn the bap- tism of infants, Avhich may not be retorted against circumci- sion Thus the Lord avenges the arrogance of those, who forthwith condemn what their carnal sense does not comprehend. But God furnishes us with other weapons to repel their folly ; nor does this sacred ordinance of his appointment, which we experience to be a source of peculiar support and consolation to our faith, deserve to be called unnecessary. For this sign of God, communicated to a child, like the impress of a seal, ratifies and confirms the promise given to the pious parent, declaring that the Lord will be a God, not only to him, but also to his seed, and that he is determined to exercise his goodness and grace, not only towards him, but towards his posterity even to a thousand generations. The manifestation here given of the mercy of God, in the first place, furnishes the most abundant matter for the celebration of his glory ; and in the second place, fills pious breasts with more than common joy, by which they are excited to a more ardent return of CHAP. XVI.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 501 affection to such an indulgent Father, in whom they discover such care of their posterity on their account. Nor shall I regard an objection, if it should be urged, that the mere promise of God ought to be sufficient to assure us of the salvation of our children ; since God, who knows our weakness, and has been pleased in this instance to indulge it, has decided otherwise. Let those, therefore, who embrace the promise of God that he will perpetuate his mercy to their offspring, consider it their duty to present them to the Church to be signed with the symbol of mercy, and thereby to animate their minds to stronger confidence, when they actually see the covenant of the Lord engraven on the bodies of their children. The children also receive some advantage from their baptism, their ingrafting into the body of the Church being a more peculiar recommendation of them to the other members ; and afterwards, when they grow to years of maturity, it operates upon them as a powerful stimulus to a serious attention to the worship of God, by whom they were accepted as his children by the solemn symbol of adoption, before they were capable of knowing him as their Father. Finally, we ought to be alarmed by the vengeance which God threatens to inflict, if any one disdains to mark his son with the symbol of the covenant ; for the contempt of that symbol involves the rejection and abjura- tion of the grace which it presents. X. Let us now discuss the arguments with which some violent disputants continue to impugn this holy institution of i., God. In the first place, finding themselves very hardly pressed f 1 and exceedingly embarrassed by the similarity of baptism and ' circumcision, they labour to establish a considerable difference between these two signs, that one may appear to have nothing \|1 in common with the other. For they affirm, first, that dif- f ferent things are signified ; secondly, that the covenant is en- tirely different ; and thirdly, that the children are mentioned in a different manner. But when they endeavour to prove the first point, they allege that circumcision was a figure of mor- tification, and not of baptism ; which we most readily grant, for it is an excellent argument in our favour. We urge no other proof of our sentiment, than that baptism and circum- cision are equally signs of mortification. Hence we conclude, that baptism was introduced in the place of circumcision, and represents to us the very same thing which that formerly did to the Jews. In asserting a difference of the covenant, with what presumption and absurdity do they corrupt the Scripture, and that not in a single passage, but without leaving any part of it secure from their perversions. For they represent the carnali- ty of the Jews to be such, as to give them a greater resem- blance to brutes than to rational beings ; contending that the 502 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. covenant made with them was limited to a temporary life, and that the promises given to them were all confined to present and corporeal enjoyments. If this notion be admitted, what remains but to consider the Jewish people as pampered for a season by the Divine bounty, (like a herd of swine, fattened in a sty,) to perish at length in eternal ruin ? For whenever we adduce circumcision and the promises annexed to it, they reply, that circumcision was a literal sign, and that the promises connected with it were all carnal. XI. Certainly, if circumcision was a literal sign, the same opinion must be formed of baptism; for the apostle makes one no more spiritual than the other. He says to the Colos- sians, "In Christ ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh ; " and this he calls " the circumcision of Christ." In explication of this sentiment, he adds, that they were " buried with Christ in baptism." (/) What is the meaning of this language, but that the accomplishment and truth of baptism is the same with the accomplishment and truth of circumcision, since they both represent the same thing ? For his design is to show that baptism was to Christians the same that circum- cision had before been to the Jews. But as we have now clearly evinced that the promises of these two signs, and the mysteries represented by them, are precisely the same, we shall insist no longer on this point at present. I will only re- commend believers to consider, whether that sign ought to be accounted earthly and literal, which contains nothing but what is spiritual and heavenly. But to guard the simple against their fallacies, Ave shall briefly reply by the way to one objec- tion, by which they endeavour to support this shameful mis- representation. It is very certain that the principal promises of the covenant, which God made with the Israelites under the Old Testament, were spiritual, and had reference to eternal life ; and that they were also understood by the fathers, as they ought to be, in a spiritual sense, and inspired them with confi- dent hopes of the life to come, towards which they aspired with all the powers of their souls. At the same time, we are far from denying that he testified his benevolence to them by terrestrial and carnal advantages, by which we also maintain that their hopes of spiritual promises were confirmed. Thus, when he promised eternal blessedness to his servant Abraham, he added, in order to set a manifest token of his favour before his eyes, another promise respecting the possession of the land of Canaan. In this manner we ought to understand all the terrestrial promises which were given to the Jewish nation ; so that the spiritual promise may always be considered as a source (/) Col. ii. 11, 12. CHAP. XVI.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION, 60S and foundation, to which the others may be referred. But having treated these points more at large in discussing the dif- ference of the Old and New Testaments, I touch the more slightly upon them here. XII. In the mention of the children they find this variety ; that under the Old Testament, those were called the children of Abraham, who derived their natural descent from him ; but that now this appellation is given to those who imitate his faith ; and that, therefore, that carnal infancy, which was ingrafted into the fellowship of the Church by circumcision, prefigured those spiritual infants of the New Testament, who by the word of God are regenerated to an immortal life. In this language we discover, indeed, a small spark of truth ; but it is a great error of these persons, that while they lay hold of whatever first comes to their hands, when they ought to pursue it much further, and to compare many things together, they pertinaciously insist on a single word ; hence it necessarily happens that they are often deceived, be- cause they acquire no solid knowledge of any thing. We confess that the natural seed of Abraham did for a time hold the place of those spiritual children which are incorporated with him by faith. For we are called his children, notwith- standing there is no natural relationship between him and us. But if they understand, as they certainly do, that no spiritual blessing was ever promised by God to the carnal seed of Abraham, they are greatly deceived. It behoves us to aim at a more correct sentiment, to which we are directed by the cer- tain guidance of the Scripture. The Lord, therefore, promised to Abraham, that he should have a Seed, in whom all the nations of the earth were to be blessed, and accompanied this promise with an assurance that he would be a God to him, and to his seed. All those, who by faith receive Christ, the Author of the blessing, are heirs of this promise, and are therefore de- nominated " children of Abraham." XIII. Though, after the resurrection of Christ, the bounda- ries of the kingdom of God began to be extended far and wide into all nations, without any distinction, that, according to the declaration of Christ, believers might be collected " from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south," to " sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob," (g) in the glory of heaven, yet he had embraced the Jews with this great mercy for many ages before ; and because he had passed by all others, and selected this one nation, to be for a season the exclusive ob- jects of his grace, he called them his '• peculiar treasure " and " special people." (h) In attestation of this beneficence, the Lord (^) Matt. viii. 11. Luke xiii. 29. (A) Exod. xix. 5. Deut. vii. 6. 504 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. gave them circumcision, which was a sign to teach the Jews that he would be their defence and salvation; and the knowledge of this inspired their hearts with the hope of eternal life. For what can be wanting to them whom God has taken into his charge ? Wherefore the apostle, with a view to prove that the Gentiles are children of Abraham as well as the Jews, expresses himself in the following manner : " Faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness in uncircumcision. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised ; that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised ; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also ; and the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised." (i) Do not we see that equal dignity is attributed to Jews and Gen- tiles ? For during the time fixed by the decree of God, Abra- ham was the father of circumcision. When the "middle wall of partition between " them was " broken down," (k) as the apostle says in another place, to give the Gentiles an entrance into the kingdom of God, he became also their father, and that without the sign of. circumcision ; for instead of circumcision, they have baptism. The express intimation, that Abraham was not a father to them who were of the circumcision only, was introduced by the apostle, to repress the vain confidence of some who neglected all concern about piety, and prided themselves in mere ceremonies. In the same manner, we may now refute the vanity of those who in baptism never carry their thoughts beyond the water. XIV. But in objection to this, another passage is adduced from the same apostle, in which he states, " that they which are the children of the flesh " are not " the children of Abraham, " but that only " the children of the promise are counted for the seed." (I) For this passage seems to imply, that carnal descent from Abraham is nothing, though we attribute some import- ance to it. But it is requisite to pay more particular attention to the subject which the apostle is here discussing. For in order to show to the Jews, that the goodness of God was not confined to the seed of Abraham, and even that carnal descent from him was of no value in itself, he alleges, in proof of it, the cases of Ishmael and Esau ; who, notwithstanding they were the true ofl'sprmg of Abraham according to the flesh, were rejected as if they had been strangers, and the blessing remained with Isaac and Jacob. Hence follows what he after- wards affirms — that salvation depends on the mercy of God, (t) Rom. iv. 9—12. (k) Eph. ii. 14. (0 Rom. ix. 7, 8. CHAP. XVI.] CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 506 which he imparts to whom he pleases; but that the Jews have no reason for satisfaction, or glorying in the name of the covenant, unless they observe the law of the covenant ; that is, obey the Divine word. Yet, after having demolished their vain confidence in their descent, knowing, on the other hand, that the covenant which God had once made with the posterity of Abraham could by no means be invalidated, he argues, that the natural descendants are not to be deprived of their dignity ; by virtue of which he shows that the Jews were the first and natural heirs of the gospel, only that they had been rejected as unworthy, on account of their ingratitude, yet that the heavenly benediction had not entirely departed from their nation. For which reason, though they were re- bels and violators of the covenant, yet he calls them holy ; such high honours does he give to the holy generation, which God honoured with his sacred covenant ; but he considers us, in comparison with them, as the posthumous, and even abor- tive children of Abraham, and that not by nature, but by adoption ; as if a branch broken off from its native tree were ingrafted on another stock. That they might not be defraud- ed of their prerogative, therefore, it was necessary for the gospel to be first announced to them ; for they are, as it were, the first-born in the family of God. Wherefore this honour was to be given to them, till they rejected the offer of it, and by their ingratitude caused it to be transferred to the Gentiles. Nor, whatever be the obstinacy with which they persist in opposing the gospel, ought they, on that account, to be de- spised by us, if we consider that, for the sake of the promise, the blessing of God still remains among them ; as the apostle clearly testifies that it will never entirely depart from them ; ''for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." (m) XV. See, now, the importance and the estimate to be formed of the promise given to the posterity of Abraham. Therefore, though we have no doubt that the distinction of the heirs of the kingdom from those who have no share in it, is the free act of the sovereign election of God, yet, at the same time, we perceive that he has been pleased to display his mercy in a peculiar manner on the seed of Abraham, and to testify and seal it by circumcision. The same reason is applicable to the Christian Church. For as Paul, in that passage, ar- gues that the children of the Jews were sanctified by their parents, so, in another place, (n) he teaches that the chil- dren of Christians derive the same sanctification from their parents ; whence it is inferred, that they who, on the contrary, are condemned as impure, are deservedly separated from others. (ro) Rom. xl 29. (n) 1 Cor. vii. 14. VOL. II. 64 506 INSTITUTES OF THE [bOOK IV. Now, who can doubt the falsehood of the consequence attempt- ed to be estabhshed, that the infants who were circumcised in former ages, only prefigured those who are infants in a spirit- ual sense, being regenerated by the word of God ? Paul does not reason in this manner, when he says, '• that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers ; "" (o) as if he had said, Since the covenant made with Abraham relates to his seed, Jesus Christ, in order to execute and discharge the promise once pledged by the Father, came to save the people of the Jews. We see how, even after the resurrection of Christ, Paul understands that the promise of the covenant is to be ful- fihed, not only in an allegorical sense, but, according to the literal import of the words, to the natural seed of Abraham. To the same effect is the declaration of Peter to the Jews, " The promise is unto you and to your children,'" (j)) and the appellation under which he addresses them, "Ye are the chil- dren of the covenant," (q) and if children, then heirs. A simi- lar sentiment is conveyed in another passage of the apostle, which we have already quoted, where he represents the cir- cumcision performed on infants as a testimony of the commu- nion which they liave with Christ. (;-) And, on the contrary principle, what will become of that promise, by which the Lord, in the second precept of his law, declares to his servants, that he will be merciful to their seed, even to a thousand generations? (5) Shall we here have recourse to allegories? That would be a frivolous evasion. Shall we say that this promise is cancelled ? That would be subversive of the law, which, on the contrary, Clu'ist came to establish, as a rule, for a holy life. It ought to be admitted, therefore, beyond all controversy, that God is so kind and liberal to his servants, as, for their sakes, to appoint even the children who shall descend from them to be enrolled among his people. XYI. The other ditierences which they endeavour to estab- lish between baptism and circumcision, are not only ridiculous, and destitute of every appearance of reason, but are even re- pugnant to each other. For after they have affirmed that bap- tism belongs to the first day of the spiritual conflict, but circumcision to the eighth, when the mortification is already completed, — immediately forgetting this, they change their story, and call circumcision a sign of the mortification of the flesh, and baptism a symbol of a biurial, to which none are to be consigned but those who are already dead. Where can we find another instance of such levity of self-contradiction ? For, ac- (o) Rom. XV. 8. (p) Acts ii. 39. (?) Acts iii. 25. (r) Eph. ii. 11, 12. {s) Exod. xx. 6. CHAP. XVI. j CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 507- cording to the first proposition, baptism ought to precede circum- cision; according to the second, it ought to follow it. Yet it is not a new thing for the minds of men to run into such incon- sistencies, when they prefer their own dreams to the unerring word of God. We say, therefore, that the first of these dif- ferences is a mere dream. If they wished to allegorize on the eighth day, yet there was no propriety in this manner of doing it. It would have been much better to follow the ancients, and refer the number of the day either to the resurrection of Christ, which took place on the eighth day, and on which we know that newness of life depends ; or to the whole course of the present life, which ought to be a course of progressive mor- tification, till, at the termination of life, the mortification also should be completed. It is probable, however, that God de- ferred circumcision to the eighth day on account of the tender- ness of young infants, whose lives might be endangered by the performance of that rite immediately on their birth. Nor is there much more solidity in the second position, that, after being dead, we are buried by baptism ; since the Scrip- ture expressly teaches, that " we are buried by baptism into death," (t) in order to our entrance on a course of mortifi- cation, and continuance in it from that time forward! Nor is there any more propriety in the objection, that, if it be neces- sary to conform baptism to circumcision, women ought not to be baptized. For if it be evident, that the sign of circumci- sion testified the sanctification of the seed of Israel, there can be no doubt that it was given equally for the sanctification of males and females. And though only the males were circum- cised, they alone being capable of it, the females were in a certain sense partakers of their circumcision. Dismissing such follies, therefore, let us never forget the similarity of baptism and circumcision, between which we discover a complete agreement in the internal mystery, the promises, the use, and the efficacy. XVII. They consider themselves as advancing a most pow- \ erful argument for excluding 4(Qiknt^ from baptism, when they % allege, that by reason of their age they are not yet capable . of | ^a(^[e|;g^J^jn^^theJnyJt^^^^^ spiritual re- | generation, which cannot tal^epfi«!«f4o be felt by the hand, bruised by the teeth, and swallowed by the throat. For this was the form of recantation which Pope Nicolas directed to Berengarius as a declaration of his repentance ; the language of which is so monstrous, that the scholiast exclaims, that there is danger, unless the readers be very prudent and cautious, of their imbibing from it a worse heresy than that of Berengarius ; and Peter Lombard, though he takes great pains to defend it from the charge of absurdity, yet rather inclines to a different opinion. For, as we have not the least doubt that Christ's body is finite, according to the : invariable condition of a human body, and is contained in[^ heaven, where it was once received, till it shall return to judg-| ment, so we esteem it utterly VJUiist5Kii