* The Doctrine * OF THE _ * Episcopal Church * 5~.ll 2.1s. If ram Xty Htbrary nf PrnfpaHor Ifttfamitt fimkinrftg? Harfirlfc Hpqueatheo bu, him to tlje iCtbraru, of prinrptoti ©Ijeologtral §>pmtttarg BX 5137 . P4 7 1892 Percival, Henry R. 1854- 1903 . The doctrine of the Episcopal church so far Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/doctrineofepiscoOOperc THE DOCTRINE OF W ■ THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH SO FAR AS IT IS SET FORTH IN THE PRAYER BOOK HENRY R. PERCIVAL, M.A. IONORARY S.T.D. OF NASHOTAH, RECTOR OF THE CHURCH G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS NEW YORK LONDON 37 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET 24 BEDFORD STREET, STRAND Sbe •Ctmchtrbocktt $ ttSI 1892 COPYRIGHT, 1891 HENRY R. PERCIVAL Electrotypcd. Printed, and Bound by TJbe IKnkkcrbocfccr press, IRcw Uorfe G. P. Putnam's Sons CONTENTS. PAGE To the Reader v Introduction 1 Prayer-Book Doctrine : I. God's Revelation ok Himself . 19 II. The Church Has this Revelation 20 III. Of the Triune God . . 23 IV. Of the Incarnation of the Word 25 V. Of the Holy Spirit 3 1 VI. Of Predestination 32 VII. Of Grace 34 VIII. Of Justification .... 37 IX. Of the Sacraments ... 39 X. Of Holy Baptism .... 40 XI. Of the Holy Eucharist . . 45 XII. Of Confirmation .... 51 XIII. Of Penance 53 XIV. Of Holy Orders 5 8 XV. Of Holy Matrimony ... 62 iii iv CONTENTS. XVI. Of the Soul after Death . . 63 XVII. Of the Last Judgment . . 65 Appendices : Of Holy Scripture .... 72 Of the Human Knowledge of Our Lord 77 Of Endless Punishment ... 83 The Atonement 90 TO THE READER. A " Prayer-Book Churchman " is con- sidered as the typical Episcopalian. It would seem, then, that, when so many are looking towards the Church with eyes of curiosity at least, if not of longing, a di- gest of what a " Prayer-Book Churchman " believes would be useful. The following pages are presented as such a digest. The reader will perceive, if he takes the trouble to verify the quotations (refer- ences to which are given at the foot of every page), that the ipsissima verba of the Prayer Book and Articles have been altered as little as possible, rarely more than to change the number or the person from the second to the third ; never, the compiler thinks, has an alteration been made in any degree adding to or other- wise changing the sense. It is hoped that TO THE READER. these sums may be useful to the clergy, to theological students, to Sunday-school teachers, and to all persons, whether Epis- copalians or not, who desire to know what the official teaching of the Episcopal Church is, for here they will find only that to which every bishop, priest, and deacon of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America is bound by his ordination promise " to conform." These pages, therefore, are not the views of an individual minister, but the teachings of the Episcopal Church, and as such they are offered to the public. The compiler would only add that in digesting the mat- ter he has followed the ordinary scholastic divisions, and has placed in the margin catch-words which he thinks will render the finding of any particular point more easy. With these few words of hope and explanation, he would wish his readers the blessing of peace. Henry R. Percival. St. Bartholomew's Day, 1891. INTRODUCTION. Of late there has sprung up on the part of those who wish to be free from all re- straints and to roam amid the pastures of " free enquiry " and "higher criticism " at their own pleasure, a disposition to make light of the authority of those very " Arti- cles of Religion " which their theological ancestors cherished as the " bulwark of our Protestant faith." The growth of " liberty " among us has been very curi- ous. First we were told that nothing was required of lay people but an acceptance of the Apostles' Creed, and that the Ar- ticles, etc., only bound the clergy. Of course this was a mistake, since the Apostles' Creed includes Ae faith in the Catholic Church, which involves the ac- ceptance of all the Church teaches. But even this opinion now is grown old-fash- 2 IN TROD UCTIOX. ioned, and the latest exponent of the " Broad - Church theory" plainly sets forth that even the creeds do not bind either clergy or laity in their plain gram- matical sense, the sense in which they have been understood by the Church and by her foe, the world, for centuries, but that as they are " poetry," their most un- equivocal statements are to be understood in a poetical manner, and that even should there be any difficulty about ac- cepting them after the application of this poetic principle, we must remember that after all they are not "infallible." Such is the contention of these leaders of " lib- eral thought " to-day, who appear also to have constructed for themselves a new system of morals as well as of doctrine, a system which allows them to exercise their ministry in a Church whose doctrinal statements they reject and whose canon law they openly violate. Such, however, is that " advance " which, having taught us that God is our Father and man our brother, goes on next to teach us to de- INTRODUCTION. 3 spise the Church which that Father pur- chased to himself by the precious Blood of his dear Son, and to lead our brother- men to the jaws of death by feeding them with the word of man instead of the Word of God. As the question has been raised of the force or obligation of the doctrinal state- ments of the Prayer Book (including the book called "Articles of Religion" and the Offices), it may not be amiss to treat the matter somewhat fully. And before doing so I hope I may be allowed to quote at some length the late Professor of Systematic Divinity in the Divinity School at Philadelphia. 1 " In the discussion of theological as well as philosophical questions it has become in these days very much the fashion to assume the non- existence of objective truth altogether, or at least quietly to ignore it. It seems to be held or implied that every man's subjective view is for him the 1 '* Some Thoughts on the Atonement." By the Rev. Daniel R. Goodwin, D.D., LL.D. Issued for free distribution by the Evangelical Education Society. For copies write to the secretary. 4 INTRODUCTIOA'. highest truth and has intrinsically as full authority as any other view can have ; or that everything must be considered doubtful as long as any man has chosen or yet chooses to doubt or dispute it. 1 hus men assume that nothing has been settled in the past, that no progress has been hitherto made, m fact that no such thing as progress is possible or conceivable, but, on the other hand, that traditional teaching is presumably wrong, or at least inherently subject to suspicion. Or, if anything in theology is allowed to be settled, it is reduced within the narrowest possible limits, it is held to be shut up in the formula of the Apostles' or the Nicene Creed, and all the rest is held to be subject to the freest speculation, to any wind of doctrine, without any further controul or guidance or counter-pre- sumption. Yet these very liberal thinkers regard and proclaim themselves as the apostles of pro- gress. They seem to forget that what they claim against the past, the future, on their own principles, will claim against themselves ; and thus the course of human thought, instead of being a perennial growth and development, expanding and rising to grander and grander proportions, as if some mighty millennia] oak, will dwindle into the ephemeral weeds and stunted shrubs of each passing genera- tion. What right have they to expect that the advanced thought 'of to-day' will attain even the honour of becoming ' traditional ' ? But, say they, ' we admit the creeds ; them we receive fully and INTRODUCTIOX. S believe" 1 ; as though the whole development of Christian doctrine, the whole teaching of the Church, the whole truth of the Gospel, were ex- pressly summed up in the creeds ; as though our own Church had not declared all Holy Scripture to be the Word of God, and had not solemnly set forth her ' Articles of Religion,' of which the Bishop of Winchester speaks as ' her Confession of Faith,' which Bishop Burnet styled ' the sum of our doctrine and the Confession of our Faith,' which Bishop White declared ' the acknowledged faith of the Church,' and which the highest eccle- siastical tribunal of England expressly calls our Church's ' code of faith.' " In the first place, it will not be dis- puted that since the Articles were "estab- lished" by the General Convention of the Church there has been no doubt enter- tained of their binding force until very lately. They are taught in our seminaries as the official doctrine of the Church. Our candidates for orders are examined upon them. Every one familiar with these examinations well knows that candi- dates are expected in their doctrine to 1 This was in 1888, since then "advanced thought" has advanced still further. 6 INTRODUCTION. agree (at least in their own understanding of the matter) with the wording of the Articles, and that any divergence there- from would involve their rejection. More- over, without any protest on the part of the Church, the Book of Articles has been considered by outsiders to hold among us the same position as the Ortho- dox Confession of the Russian Church, the Augsburg Confession, and the West- minster Confession do among their respec- tive adherents. When we look at the early history of the American Church we do find indeed that at first the Articles were not ratified, but the reason of this was not by any means that now urged, viz., that there might be a " larger liberty," and that the Church might be more " roomy," but because — so said the Lower House of the General Convention in committee of the whole in 1799— "the Articles of our Faith and Religion, as founded on the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Tes- taments, are sufficiently declared in our creeds and liturgies as set forth in the IN TROD UCTION. 7 Book of Common Prayer established for the use of this Church." Upon mature deliberation, however, the Church deter- mined that, besides the Prayer Book as a doctrinal standard, there was also needed the "XX^X Articles of Religion" and " established " them accordingly. Again and again has the General Convention, both explicitly and implicitly, declared that they were of "the same authority" as the rest of what is bound up with the Prayer Book, and to deny this in the face of history and of the present constitu- tional provision for their alteration would be simply absurd. While this is true, it cannot be denied that the fact that the Articles were not to be signed in this country was thought by those who secured this change to make some modification in their position. What this modification was is easily understood, if the old manner of subscription be remembered. Bishop White, in his " Memoirs" of the Church, draws clearly the great distinc- tion between " doctrine " and " discipline." s IN TROD UCTION. There are certain things which the Church teaches as infallibly true (viz. : the Holy Scriptures as interpreted by Divine Tra- ditions coming down from Christ and the Apostles, the Creeds, and the ruling of the undisputed General Councils), but besides these there is a vast field of the- ology where there have been held different views upon different subjects. Some of these questions are ruled one way or the other in the Articles. Now to all the doctrine, that is to say, to all that falls under the first class, the Church demands unquestioning faith ; it is all " sufficiently contained in Holy Scriptures/' and in these she requires a solemn declaration of " unfeigned belief." To statements of the second class she does not require any such internal assent ; all she requires is that, as a matter of " discipline," her clergy shall not " hold or teach, publicly or pri- vately, and advisedly, any doctrine contrary to that held by the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America" ("Digest of the Canons," Title II., Can. IN TROD UCTION. 9 2). In England an acceptance of the Articles was required ex ammo; it was this that was done away with among us, and whatever the force of the Articles on the conscience by the old arrangement may have been, no such obligation rests upon us in America to-day, our promise simply being " to conform (z. e., in our teaching) to the doctrines of the Protestant Episcopal Church." It need hardly be added that these two classes of doctrine are not always kept distinct, and that in the Articles many things are set forth which belong to the first class, and are therefore to be " unfeignedly believed " as infallibly true, but there are many of the other class as well. An example of this may make the matter clearer. Article XIII. declares of " works done before the grace of Christ and the inspiration of his Spirit": "we doubt not but they have the nature of sin." A priest might in his inner conscience consider this more than doubtful, and in so doing he would not be disloyal to the Church ; but were he to INTRODUCTION. contradict the article in his teaching, he would be justly liable to trial and punish- ment for failing " to conform to the doc- trine " of this Church. There is still another class of state- ments made in the Articles which needs consideration — viz., statements of sup- posed historical facts and the like. Now such statements would not bind, even if contained in the decree of an (Ecumenical Synod ; but some rigorists had supposed that the English form of subscription to the Articles bound the clergy to the ac- ceptance ex animo of all such statements. The following on this subject, in the words of Bishop White, will not be deemed superfluous 1 : " In the Sixth Article the books of Holy Scrip- ture are affirmed to be the rule of faith ; and the required subscription is evidently inconsistent with the rejection of any of the books specified. But when there are introduced the incidental expres- sions — 'of which there never was any doubt in the 1 It is curious that this very statement of Art. VI. is used by a recent writer to point a sneer at the Articles en masse. IN TROD UCTION. Church ' — it is apparently contradictory to what ecclesiastical history informs us in regard to the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Second Epistle of St. Peter, the Epistle of St. James, the Second and Third Epistles of St. John, and the Apocalypse ; concerning all of which there were doubts, although cleared up on full enquiry. It is within the mean- ing of the form of subscription in this Church that the prominent fact of the authenticity of these books maybe acknowledged, while the subordinate fact, couched under the recited expressions, is re- jected. It is not equally manifest that the same latitude of interpretation is allowable on the ground of the form of subscription in the Church of Eng- land-" — Bishop White's " Memoirs," Note to p. 33, p. 185 2d ed. As Bishop White considered the Eng- lish form of subscription probably to in- clude the acceptance exanimo of statements of fact as well as of doctrine, it cannot be wondered at that he wished the form of subscription changed. It needs but little consideration to see how untenable is the opinion that the Articles and the doctrinal statements of the Prayer Book are not of binding force, and to appreciate what absurdities it must INTRODUCTION. land those in who adopt it. What on this theory does the promise " to conform to the doctrine of the Protestant Episcopal Church " mean ? What does the ordina- tion vow " to minister the doctrine of Christ as this Church hath received the same" mean ? If there be no dogma but the Nicene Creed, and this understood not in the old fixed but in an ever varying fashion, what can all these promises and vows mean ? One man might be preach- ing the infallibility of the Pope of Rome, the infallible Pope all the time telling him that unless he becomes a Roman he will be damned ; and another might be teach- ing that the Christ-life is all that is needful, but that the Christian faith is only desira- ble, while the Christ himself says, " He that believeth not shall be damned." Thus the Episcopal Church would no doubt be- come, as it is sometimes, with but little propriety, now called, the "roomiest Church in the world," but the only point on which most of its ministers and people would agree would be their rejection of IN TROD UCTION. 3 the doctrines of the Episcopal Church— and in fact of Christianity— altogether. From such a reductio ad absurdum of the new theory, we return to the old well- tried one, and see no reason to desire any change. The Articles of Religion, as well as the Book of Common Prayer (like the synchronous decrees of the Council of Trent), were no doubt purposely drafted so as to include those who differed on minor points, and on such points they should certainly be given the greatest latitude of interpretation consistent with their word- ing, but on the great truths of Christianity they speak in tones not to be misunder- stood, and any priest or other minister of the Church questioning or denying the truth of these statements is clearly violat- ing his solemn promise of conformity, is breaking his ordination vow to minister the doctrine of Christ as this Church hath received it, and is liable to trial and punishment under the canons of the Church. The Articles were " established " for the 4 INTRODUCTION. American Church in i8or, and in 1805 Bishop Claggett, the first Bishop of Mary- land, and the first bishop consecrated in this country, thus charged his diocese in a pastoral letter : " My brethren of the clergy, let me further ex- hort you closely to adhere to the Articles of our Church, lately ratified by the highest ecclesiastical authority. . . . We cannot too often recur to first principles, if we would preserve purity in faith and practice— in this age especially, when many, alas ! even of professing Christians, have erred from the faith, when many books are thrown upon the world, and eagerly read by the thoughtless, in which the original depravity of man is carefully concealed and an apology made for the greatest crimes under the name of sensibility and refine- ment ... it becomes you, my reverend Brethren, to warn the rising generation especially of these insidious foes." And in 183 1 Bishop Stone in his " Pri- mary Charge " says : "To the Doctrines, Discipline, and Worship of the Protestant Episcopal Church, as they are set forth in our Articles, Book of Common Prayer, and the Constitutions and Canons of the General and State Conventions I am sacredly and exclusively IN TROD UCTION. 5 and irreversibly bound. I disclaim all right to set them aside, to modify them, or to adopt any other law in the fulfilment of the functions of my office." Such has been the consistent and un- broken tradition of this Church upon the subject from the time of the establish- ment of the Articles, and there is certainly no reason why she should deem the Arti- cles or the doctrinal statements of the Prayer Book less needed to-day than they were ninety years ago. PRAYER-BOOK DOCTRINE PRAYER-BOOK DOCTRINE. I. GOD'S REVELATION OF HIMSELF. We adore God's mercy in giving us the knowledge and sense of our duty towards him. 1 For in the knowledge of We know God standeth our eternal life.' our G U od y by And truly to know him is eternal Revelatlon - life. 3 There is none other Name under heaven given to man in whom and through whom we may receive health and salvation but only the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 They are therefore to be had accursed that presume to say that every man shall be saved by the Law or Sect which he professeth, so that he be diligent to frame his life according to that Law and the light of Nature. 5 1 Family Pr. Evg. : < Col. SS. Philip and James. 2 ist Col. at Matins. « Vis. of Sick. 5 Art. 18. 19 20 PRAYER-BOOK DOCTRINE. II. THE CHURCH HAS THIS REVELATION. Christ's Church is the Ark in which we pass the waves of this troublesome world and finally come to the land of everlasting life. 1 The whole body of the ca h nnot h cor- h Church is governed and sancti- re<fon fied by the Holy Spirit. 2 More- tohS! e over, God has promised through his Son Jesus Christ to be with his Church to the end of the world, 3 and thus this Church hath received the doctrine and sacraments and the discipline of Christ according to the commandment of God. 4 All Jews, Turks, Infidels, and Heretics must be fetched home to the Lord's flock that they may be saved. 5 We pray to be schism defended from the sins of heresy a sin - and schism, 6 and that from all false doctrine, heresy, and schism the good Lord would deliver us. 7 The Church is 1 Baptism S. 2 2d Col. for Good Friday. 6 3d Collect for Good Friday, 6 Pr. in Institution Office. ' Litany. a Pr. for Convention. 4 Question in Ord. of Priests. REVELATION. 21 One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. 1 In her is unity of spirit, the bond of peace, and righteousness of life. 2 We Notes of the ° . true Church, pray that God would inspire the ^v""'^' Universal Church with the spirit A p° stolic: of truth, unity, and concord. 3 For a good death, we must die in the communion of the Catholic Church, 4 for this Universal Church Almighty God purchased to him- self by the precious blood of his dear Son. 5 Moreover, Almighty God hath built his Church upon the foundation of the Apos- tles and Prophets, 6 and therefore we pray for the prosperity of the Holy Apostolic Church. 7 The Church hath authority in contro- versies of faith, 8 and is a witness No p rivate and a keeper of Holy Writ. 9 Judgment - In the name of Holy Scripture we do understand these canonical books of the ' The Creeds. 5 Pr. for all sorts and conditions of men. ' Pr. for Church Militant. 4 Pr. in Vis. of Sick. 5 1st Pr. Ember Days. ' Col. SS. Simon and Jude. 7 Last Pr. Inst. Office. 8 Art. 20. 22 PRAYER-BOOK DOCTRINE. Old and New Testament of whose author- ity was never any doubt in the Church. 1 A11 the The Blessed Lord hath caused s°h k ave f God all Holy Scripture to be written for their * r author. for our learning.- And the mer- ciful God has written his Holy Word for our learning that we, through patience and comfort of his Holy Scriptures, might have hope. 3 The Old Testament is not contrary to the New, for both in the Old and New Testament ever- Old Testa- . oTch^tsTand I astin g bfe is offered to man- ete°rna s i e re- kind by Christ, who is the only wards - Mediator between God and man, being both God and man. Wherefore they are not to be heard which feign that the old Fathers did look only for transitory „ * «= promises. 4 All the canonical H. S. sum- a te!Ssaii con ' Scriptures of the Old and New nec n elsary to Testament must be unfeignedly believed 5 ; they contain all doc- trine required as necessary for eternal sal- 1 Art. 6. 1 Col. for II. Advent. ' Pr. for Persons troubled in mind in Vis. of Sick. 4 Art. 7. ' Question at Ord. of Deacons. THE TRIUNE GOD. 23 vation through faith in Jesus Christ, 1 and all bishops and priests must banish and drive away from the Church all erroneous and strange doctrines contrary to God's Word.- The Nicene Creed and that which is com- monly called the Apostles' Creed, ought thoroughly to be received and be- The creeds lieved, for they may be proved by ueled" most certain warrants of Holy Scripture. 3 HI. OF THE TRIUNE GOD. There is but One living and true God, 4 everlasting, without body, parts or pas- sions, 5 Almighty, 6 most power- & ■" r God is One ful and glorious 7 ; of infinite andbut ° ne - power, wisdom, and goodness, 8 unto whom all hearts are open, all Aii- P0 wer- J • 1 1 r 1 Rilj all-wise, desires known, and from whom aii- g ood, in- comprehen- no secrets are hid 9 ; whom the J^i, \ht heaven of heavens cannot con- th C pr ruTe r r ve o r f tain.'° The Maker of heaven * ver2£ 1 Question in Ord. of Priests. * Ibid., and Q. in Ord. of Bishops. Art. 8. ' Prayers at Sea. 4 Art. I. » Art. I. 5 Jbid - "Col. for Purity C. Office. 6 The Creeds. >o Consec. of Church. 24 PR A YER-BOOK DOCTRINE. and earth and of all things visible and in- visible 1 and the Preserver of all things both visible and invisible, 2 whose never-failing Providence ordereth and governeth all things both in heaven and earth, 3 the Sovereign Commander of all the world," who maketh us both to will and to do those things which are good and accept- able to him. 5 In unity of this Godhead there be Three Persons, of one Substance, power, and eternity, the Father, the The Trinity, ^ ^ Qfo^e. ^ Holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity ; three Persons and One God. 7 One God, one Lord ; not one only Person but three Persons in one Substance. For that which we believe of the glory of the Father, the same we believe of the Son and of the Holy Ghost without any differ- ence or inequality. 8 The true faith is to 1 Nicene Creed. 5 Art. I. 3 Col. for VIII. Trinity ; Ex. in Vis. of Pris. 4 Prayers at Sea. 6 Art. i. s Pr. in Confirmation O. : The Litany. 8 Proper Preface for Feast of Trinity. INCARNATION OF THE WORD. 25 acknowledge the glory of the Eternal Trinity and in the power of the Divine Majesty to worship The Unity. 1 IV. OF THE INCARNATION OF THE WORD. THE CONCEPTION. The Son, which is the Word of the Father, begotten from everlasting of the Father, 2 before all worlds, 3 the The Son is only begotten Son of God/ f.one F b y h a e n r God Of God, Light Of Light, generation 1 ! very God of very God, begotten not made 5 ; the very and eternal God 6 ; being of one Substance with the Father; by whom all things were made 7 — took man's nature in the womb of the Blessed very man of the Substance Virgin - of the Virgin Mary his mother ; and that without spot of sin. 9 The one Lord Virgin, 8 by the operation of the Holy Ghost was made Mary is truly Deipara and Virgin. 1 Collect for Trinity Sunday. 0 Art. 2. ■ Art. 2. i Nicene Creed. 3 Nicene Creed. 8 Art. 2. 26 PR A YER-BOOK DOCTRINE. Jesus Christ came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary and was made man. 1 This incarnation of God's Son we have known by the message of an angel. 3 THE BIRTH. He took our nature upon him and was born of a pure Virgin, 3 so that two whole and perfect natures, that is to say, the Christ has Godhead and Manhood were Nances buT joined together in one Person, Person. never to be divided, whereof is one Christ, very God and very Man, 4 for Christ in the truth of our nature was made Christ with- like unto us in all things, sin only except, from which he was clearly void both in his flesh and in his spirit. 5 He came to visit us in great hu- mility, 6 was circumcised and obedient to the Law for man 7 ; was manifested by the 1 Nicene Creed. 2 Collect for Lady Day. 3 Collect for Christmas. Cf. the title given her 40 days after the birth of her Son — " The Purification of St. Mary the Virgin." * Art. 2. ' Collect for I. Adv. s Art. 15. ' Col. for Circum. INCARNATION OF THE WORD. 27 leading of a star to the Gentiles 1 ; was presented in the Temple in substance of our flesh 2 ; by his baptism in the river Jordan did sanctify the element of water to the mystical washing away of sin 3 ; for our sake did fast forty days and forty nights 4 ; was revealed to chosen witnesses, wonderfully transfigured, in raiment white and glistering 5 ; was contented to be be- trayed and given up into the hands of wicked men 6 ; in the night in which he was betrayed 7 instituted and ordained Holy Mysteries as pledges of his love and for a continual remembrance of his death 8 ; endured the agony and bloody sweat 9 ; truly suffered, 10 and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. 11 He died and was buried to reconcile his Father to us 12 and made upon the THE DEATH. 1 Col. for Epiph. ' Pr. of Consecration. 8 Ex. at Com. s Col. for Purif. B. V. M. 3 Bapt. of Riper Years. 9 Litany. 10 Art. 2. * Col. I. Lent. 6 Col. for Transfiguration. 8 1st Col. for Good Friday. 11 Nicene Creed. "Art. 2. 28 PR A YER-BOOK DOCTRINE. cross by his one oblation of himself once offered, a full, perfect, and suffi- The death of Lthe e faction for the sins of the whole only sacn- world, not only for original ficeforsin. } , • r guilt but also lor actual sins 01 men/ and there is none other Satisfaction for sin but that alone, 3 so that every Christian is taught to say : " I f 0 h r r aii rtied believe in God the Son, who hath redeemed me, and all man- kind." 4 He did humble himself even to Fruits of the the death upon the Cross that arRe°to : ra- he might make us the children ship- of God and exalt us to everlast- (2) Eyerlast- (3) g s'harein i n g life, 5 and to redeem us from merits 3 sin and eternal death 6 ; so that (4) Remis- . . sionofsin we nQ w can claim the merits ol infusion of grace. Christ, 7 the infinite merits of our Blessed Saviour, 8 and the innumera- ble benefits which by his precious blood- shedding he hath obtained for us. 9 By his 1 Pr. of Consecr. 6 Family Pr. Evg. 5 Art. 2. 1 1st Ex. to Prisoners. 3 Art. 31. 8 Pr. at Sea. 4 Catechism. 9 Ex. at Com. INCARNATION OF THE WORD. 29 meritorious Cross and Passion alone we obtain remission of our sins and are made partakers of the kingdom of heaven. 1 He is the very Paschal Lamb which was of- fered for us and hath taken away the sin of the world ; who by his death hath destroyed death and by his rising to life again hath restored to us everlasting life.' Almighty God of his infinite , , , The Son love and goodness towards us sent F a^h e h r e hath given to us his only and most dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ to be our Redeemer and the author of ever- lasting life, who made perfect our redemp- tion by his death. 3 God the Father sent God the Son to take upon him our flesh, and to suffer death upon the cross 4 that he might be unto us both a Sacrifice for sin and also an ensample of godly life. 5 THE RESURRECTION. As Christ died for us and was buried, so also is it to be believed that he went 1 Warning to H. C. 5 Preface for Easter Day. 3 Pr. at Ordination of Priests. 4 Col. for Palm Sund. s Col. for II. Easter. PR A YER-BOOK DOCTRINE. down into hell 1 — that is to say, he went Christ goes mto ^ e pl ace °f departed spirits, andhfrisea which are considered as words of the'dead." 1 the same meaning, 2 and when he had overcome the sharpness of death, he did open the kingdom of heaven to all believers. 3 The third day he rose again from the dead 4 and took again his body, with flesh, bones, and all things apper- taining to the perfection of man's nature, wherewith he ascended into heaven. 5 For he, after his most glorious resurrection, manifestly appeared to all his Apostles and in their sight ascended up He ascends . , Z ■% ■% i and°s h itso n n into heaven 6 ; and there sitteth 7 Handlft'he on the right hand of God the Father. Father Almighty 8 to prepare a place for us 9 ; and from thence he shall come to judge both the quick and the dead. 10 1 Art. 3. ' : Rubric before Apostles' Creed. 3 Te Deum. ' Art. 4. 4 Apostles' Creed. 6 Apostles' Creed. 6 Art. 4. ' Prop. Pref. Asc. 6 Prop. Pref. Ascension. 10 Apostles' Creed. THE HOLY SPIRIT. 31 V. OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. The Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, 1 proceedeth from the Father and the Son "and is of one Substance, 11 -11 The Holy majesty, and glory with the ^ds'flrom Father and the Son, very and io'^Yndu eternal God. 3 He spake by the con t!ai b w?th t them - Prophets, 4 is the very Comforter, the heavenly gift of God most High, 5 who according to our Lord's most true promise came down from heaven with a sudden great sound as it had been a mighty wind in the likeness of fiery tongues, lighting upon the Apostles to teach them and to lead them to all truth ; giving them both the gift of divers languages and also bold- ness with fervent zeal constantly to preach the Gospel. 6 By the same Spirit we have a right judgment in all things, 7 by the constant assistance of the Holy Spirit we are effectually restrained from sin and excited to our duty. 8 By him Almighty 1 Nicene Creed. 5 Hymn in Orel, of Prs. 2 Ibid. 6 Prop. Pref. for Pentecost. 3 Art. 5. 7 Collect for Pentecost. 4 Nicene Creed. 8 Family Pr. Morning. 32 PRAYER-BOOK DOCTRINE. God did preside in the council of the Bless- ed Apostles, 1 by him the Holy Church presides in Universal is guided and govern- council8. ,n ed 2 and the who ] e body of the Church is governed and sanctified. 3 He is the Sanctirier of the Faithful, 4 and every baptized person can say : " I believe in God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth me and all the people of God." 5 By him ,„ , . we are daily renewed. 6 Works Works done J ^dance h not done before the grace of Christ mentor.ous. Inspiration of his Spirit are not pleasant to God but they have the nature of sin. 7 VI. OF PREDESTINATION. Almighty God desireth not the death _ ., ... . of a sinner, 8 but rather that he God's will is ' shoufdbe should turn from his sin and be saved ' saved 9 ; therefore predestination to life is the everlasting purpose of God, 1 Pr. for Convention. 2 Pr. for all sorts and conditions of men. 3 2d Col. for Good Friday. 4 Pr. in Inst. Office. 1 Art. 13. 6 Catechism. 8 Dec. of Absolution at Matins. 6 Col. for Christmas. 9 Prs. for Ash Wednesday. P REDES TINA TION. 33 whereby (before the foundations of the world were laid) he hath constantly de- creed by his counsel secret to Electionis us to deliver from curse and offree g race - damnation those whom he hath chosen in Christ out of mankind, and to bring them by Christ to everlasting salvation, as ves- sels made to honour. Where- The elect fore, thev which be endued with because they do that so excellent a benefit of God, be which is pleasing to called according to God's purpose God ' by his Spirit working in due season : they through grace obey the calling: they be justified freely : they be made sons of God by adoption : they be made like the image of his only begotten Son Jesus Christ : they walk religiously in good works, and at length, by God's mercy, they attain to everlasting felicity. Furthermore, we must receive God's promises in such wise as they be generally 1 set forth to us in Holy Scripture, 2 for God the Son hath redeemed all mankind, 3 and every baptized person 1 ' ' Generally " here means, as elsewhere in the English of the period, " universally," " for all." ■ Art. 17. 3 Catechism. 34 PRAYER-BOOK DOCTRINE. can thank God for having called him into a state of salvation, and pray for grace that he may continue in the same unto his life's end. 1 Moreover, he can say : " The Holy Ghost sanctifieth me and all the people of God." 2 VII. OF GRACE. We are not able to do our duty towards God nor our duty towards our neighbour . , by ourselves, nor to walk in the The need of J 1 erace - Commandments of God nor to serve him without his special grace, 3 i. e., the direction and assistance of the Holy prevenient Spirit. 4 By his special grace Habitual preventing us he puts into our minds good desires, and by his continual help we bring the same to good effect. s We cannot do anything that is good without him, 6 he gives the will to do and grants also the strength and power to perform, that he may accomplish 1 Catechism. s Ibid. 3 Ibid. 4 Fam. Pr. Evg. 5 Col. for Easter. 6 Col. for IX. Trinity. GRACE. 35 his work which he hath begun in us. 1 The condition of man after the fall of Adam is such that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength and good works, to faith and calling upon God. Wherefore we have no power to do good works, Meritorious pleasant and acceptable to God, done through 1 i ' grace given without the grace of God by us - Christ preventing us that we may have a good will, and working with us when we have that good will. 3 All holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works do pro- ceed from Almighty God, 3 and not only so, but all our doings to be righteous in his sight are ordered by his governance. 4 After we have received the Holy Ghost we may depart from grace given and fall into sin, and by the grace of Grace may be ~ , , lost and re- God we may arise again and gained. amend our lives. And therefore they are to be condemned which say they can no more sin as long as they live here, or deny 1 Ord. of Priests. 3 Col. for Peace. Evg. Pr. * Art. io. 4 Col. for Grace. Morning Pr. 3* PR A YER-BOOK DOCTRINE. the place of forgiveness to such as truly repent. 1 All we the rest [/. e., beside Christ], although baptized and born again in Christ, yet offend in many things ; and if we say we have no sin, we deceive our- selves and the truth is not in us. 2 And be- cause God knoweth the weakness and corruption of our nature and the manifold temptations which we daily meet with, he has compassion on our infirmities and gives us the constant assistance of his Grace not only Holy Spirit that we may be Iff«tuaVto ut effectually restrained from sin the elect. excited to our duty. 3 It is by heavenly grace that we continue God's for ever, 4 and in the state of salvation unto our life's end. 5 We pray that the bap- tized may receive the fulness of God's grace and ever remain in the number of his faithful children, 6 so that we may be gathered to our fathers in favour with our God. 7 1 Art. 16. ' Catechism. 2 Art. 15. 6 Baptism of Infants. 3 Family Pr. Morn. ' Pr. in Vis. of Sick. 4 Conf. Office. JUSTIFICATION. 37 VIII. OF JUSTIFICATION. The redemption of the soul from eter- nal death, and the making it Final cause of partaker of everlasting life {that Justlficatlon - is to say, the justification of a 7nan\ is to God's unspeakable glory. 1 The bounteous mercy of Almighty God grants that which by nature Efficient we cannot have, 2 washing and sanctifying us with the Holy Ghost. 3 We are accounted righteous before God only for the merits of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 4 who did Meritorious humble himself even to the death upon the cross for us miserable sin- ners that he might make us the children of God and exalt us to everlasting life. 5 By baptism as by an instrument 6 we were made members of Christ, instrumental children of God, and inheritors of the kingdom of heaven. 7 The right- 1 Next to last Pr. in Vis. of Sick. ■ Baptism Office. 5 Ex. at Com. 8 Ibid. » Art. 27. * Art. 11. ' Catechism. 38 ERA YER-BOOK DOCTRINE. eousness of God unto which the person is made living, 1 having been washed and sanc- f f tified by the Holy Ghost, made God's child by adoption and grace, 3 having been endued with heavenly virtues, and having received the fulness of God's grace, 3 and being made like the image of God's only begotten Son Jesus Christ. 4 By faith 5 and by faith only, 6 and yet that faith doth not shut out repentance, By faith hope, love, dread, and the fear Tooi'oVjusu- of God to be joined with faith, 7 fication. our doings without char- ity are nothing worth, for without it we are accounted [not righteous but] dead before God. 8 We are justified freely, having through justification a grace obeyed the calling, 9 not for free g.ft. Qur works or deservings, 10 for works done before the grace of Christ 1 Baptism Office. 4 Art. 17. 2 Ibid. 6 Art. 11. 3 Ibid. * Ibid. ' The passage in the Homily made part of Art. II, 8 Collect for Quin. 9 Art. 17. 10 Art. il THE SACRAMENTS. 39 and the inspiration of his Spirit do not deserve grace of congruity. 1 IX. OF THE SACRAMENTS. Sacraments ordained of Christ [unlike those of the Law of Moses] Christian be certain sure witnesses and contained effectual signs of grace by confergrace - the which he doth work invisibly in us, 2 as by an instrument. 3 The Sacraments be effectual because of Christ's institution and promise, 4 neither is the effect of Christ's ordinance taken away by the wickedness of the minister nor the grace of God's gifts diminished. 5 In such only as worthily receive the same, they have a wholesome effect or operation. 6 A Sacrament is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us. 7 A Sacrament is ordained by Christ himself as a means J All Sacra- whereby we receive the inward Ja^edby grace and as a pledge to assure Chnst ' us thereof. 8 There are two parts in a 1 Art. 13. 3 Art. 27. 5 Ibid. 7 Cat. s Art. 25. 4 Art. 26. 6 Art. 25. 8 Ibid. 4 o PR A YER-BOOK DOCTRINE. Sacrament, the outward visible sign and the inward spiritual grace. 1 There are two Sacraments or- m^n°ts S gen-~ dained of Christ our Lord in the erallyneces- 101 1 "tfon° sal " Gospel, and only two, as gener- ally necessary to salvation, that is to say Baptism and the Supper of the Lord. 3 Confirmation, Penance, Orders, The other Matrimony, and Extreme Unc- dfffe r r a from ts tion have not like nature of Sac- theminhav- , ■ngnoout- raments with Baptism and the ward sign r mediately m " Lord's Supper, for that they by God. have not any visible sign or cere- mony ordained of God, 4 yet these five are commonly called Sacraments, but they are not to be counted for " Sacraments of the Gospel." 5 X. OF HOLY BAPTISM. STATE OF MAN BEFORE THE FALL. Adam had original righteousness 6 from original which, by the fall, man is very Righteous- J J thl S fl°L tby f ar ( quam longissimc ) gone. 7 1 Cat. 3 Cat. 5 Art. 25. ' Ibid. 2 Art. 25. 4 Art. 25. 6 Art. 9. HOLY BAPTISM. STATE OF MAN SINCE THE FALL. All men are conceived and born in sin, 1 and are by nature born in sin and AI1 born in the children of wrath, 2 for they ° riginalSin - are naturally engendered of the offspring of Adam, 3 and therefore in every person born into this world original sin deserveth God's wrath and damnation. 4 The un- baptized who are in the flesh cannot please God but live in sin, committing many ac- tual transgressions, 5 for the entrance to the kingdom of God no one can have by nature. 6 STATE OF MAN AFTER BAPTISM. Concupiscence and lust doth remain, yea, in them that are regenerated, and hath of itself the nature of piscence has only the na- sin, although there is no condem- tur 1 ° d f tlh. nation for them that believe and h 1ng S in C the 1 • 1 T> r 1 baptized. are baptized. 7 By reason ot the frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright, 8 and the frailty of man with- 1 1st Ex. Bapt. of Inf. E 1st Ex. Bap. R. Years. 3 Catechism. 6 1st Ex. Inf. Bapt. 8 Art. 9. T Art. 9. 4 Ibid. s Col. IV. Epiph. 42 PR A YER-BOOK DOCTRINE. out God cannot but fall, 1 for the flesh lust- eth always contrary to the spirit 2 ; we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves, 3 and through the weakness of our nature we can do no good thing without God. 4 THE NECESSITY OF BAPTISM. Baptism is a Sacrament generally neces- sary to salvation. 5 From the express _ words of our Saviour Christ we oaptism necllsl'ry perceive the great necessity of to salvation. - . , . , tnis sacrament where it may be had. 6 As this is so, the minister of every parish shall often admonish the people that they defer not the baptism of their children longer than the first or second Sunday next after their birth, unless upon a great and reasonable cause. 7 Need may compel baptism in the house, when the minister shall say the Lord's Prayer and so many of the collects as the time and present exigence will suffer. 3 1 Col. XV. Trinity. 4 Col. I. Trinity. 3 Art. 9. 5 Catechism. 3 Col. II. Lent. 6 2d Ex. Bap. R. Years. 7 1st Rubric Private Baptism. 6 2d and 3d Rubrics of Private Baptism. HOLY BAPTISM. 43 FORM AND MATTER OF BAPTISM. The outward and visible sign or form in Baptism is water wherein the person is baptized, " In the name of the Father," etc. 1 The minister shall dip the child in the water discreetly or else shall pour water upon it, saying : " N., I baptize thee in the Name," etc. 3 That the child be baptized with water, "In the Name of the Father," etc., are essential parts of Baptism. 3 GRACE OF BAPTISM. The person baptized is (a) washed and (b) sanctified, so that finally he The grace of may come (c) to the land of ever- threefold? lasting life 4 ; receives (a) remis- Jn a ™lm- sion of sins by (b) spiritual re- w SthGod° generation that he may come (c) an a S a a chi'id! i i i ■ i i • i (b > Sanctifi - to the eternal kingdom which cation, or o the infusion Christ has promised 5 ; is (a) LifetSth'ite embraced with the arms of God's ( C > ThTconi /i \ i ii ■ sequent mercy, is given (b) the blessing t ^ e °^ s °£ of eternal life, and (c) made b£aven - partaker of his everlasting kingdom 6 ; he ' Cat. s Rub. Inf. Bapt. 3 Last rub. but one of Priv. Bap. 4 1st Pr. Inf. Bap. 3 Ibid. 2d Prayer. 6 2d Ex. Ibid. ERA YER-BOOK DOCTRINE. is (a) released from sin, (b) sanctified with the Holy Ghost, and (c) given the king- dom of heaven. 1 The water is sanctified to (a) the mystical washing away of sin, that those baptized therein may receive (b) the fulness of grace. 2 The inward and spiritual grace of Holy Baptism therefore is a death unto sin and a new birth unto righteousness, for being by nature born in sin and the children of wrath, by Baptism we are made the children of grace. 3 So that even Baptism doth also now save us, 4 for in it God gives them that are baptized (a) remission of sins, (b) bestows upon them the Holy Ghost, and (c) makes them partakers of his everlasting king- dom. 5 Every Christian can say that in baptism he was made (a) a member of Christ, (b) the child of God, and (c) an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven. 6 The baptized are endued with heavenly vir- tues, so that they are are steadfast in ' 3d Ex. Ibid. 4 Ex. Bapt. of R. Years. ■ Prayer of blessing in Bapt. 5 Ex. Ibid. 3 Catechism. 6 Cat. THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 45 faith, joyful through hope, and rooted in charity. 1 They therefore must heartily thank Almighty God our heavenly Father for having called them into this state of salvation, 2 having regenerated them by water and the Holy Ghost, and having given unto them forgiveness of all their sins. 3 THE SUBJECT OF HOLY BAPTISM. The baptism of young children is in any wise to be retained in the Church, Christ insti- ... . . tuted infant as most agreeable with the insti- baptism, tution of Christ. 4 XI. OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST. WHAT IT IS. The Blessed Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ 5 was ordained r . . , , HolyEucha- ior the continual remembrance nst o rda med for a Me- of the Sacrifice of the death of Thiers Christ and of the benefits which death - we receive thereby. 6 It is a Sacrament 1 1st Pr. Bapt. Inf. ■ Catechism. 3 Pr. in Conf. Office. 4 Art. 27. 5 Consecration of a Church. 6 Catechism. 46 PRA YER-BOOK DOCTRINE. of our redemption by Christ's death, 1 and the Holy Communion of the Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ 2 whom Almighty God hath given not only to die for us but also to be our spiritual food and sustenance in that Holy Sacrament. 3 THE OUTWARD SIGN. (sACR AMENTUM.) The outward part or sign is bread and wine, which the Lord hath commanded to be received. 4 THE INWARD THING. (RES SACRAMENTI.) The inward part or thing signified is the Body and Blood of Christ, 5 being both God and Man. 6 The Body of Christ is given 7 to the people by the priest who says: "The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was given for thee preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life. Take and eat this in remembrance that 1 Art. 28. 5 Catechism. 2 Ex. at H. C. 6 Art. 7. 3 Warning to H. C. 7 Art. 28. 4 Catechism. THE HOLY EUCHARIST. Christ died for thee and feed on him in thy heart by faith with thanksgiving." 1 The Body of Christ is taken 2 by the peo- ple, but in such only as worthily receive the same it hath a wholesome effect or operation, but they that receive unworthily purchase to themselves damnation as St. Paul saith 3 ; for although they .... , The wicked do carnally press with their teeth \ a h k e e ,§^ y eat f (as St. Augustine saith) the Sac- £££X*S! rament of the Body and Blood partakers of of Christ yet in no wise are they partakers of Christ. 4 The danger is great if we presume to receive the Sacrament unworthily, 5 for then the receiving of the Holy Communion doth nothing else but increase our condemnation. 6 The most precious Body and Blood of our Saviour is spiritual food 7 and is given, taken, and eaten only after an heavenly and spiritual manner. 8 1 Com. Off. 2 Art. 28. 3 Art. 25. 4 Art. 29. 5 Exhort, at H. C. 6 Warning to II. C. ' Thanks, after H. C. 8 Art. 28. 4 8 PR A YER-BOOK DOCTRINE. THE VIRTUE OF THE SACRAMENT. (VIRTUS SACRAMENTI.) The benefits whereof we are partakers by receiving the Holy Communion are the strengthening and refreshing of our souls by the Body and Blood of Christ as our bodies are by the bread and wine. 1 It is our duty to receive the Communion in remembrance of the Sacrifice of Christ's death, as he himself hath commanded : which if we shall neglect to do great is our ingratitude to God, and sore punish- ment hangeth over our heads for the same, when we wilfully abstain from the Lord's Table and separate from our brethren who come to feed on the banquet of that most heavenly Food 2 — which is so Divine and comfortable a thing to them who receive it worthily and so dangerous to them who the Fiesh e o a f P resume to receive it unwor- Alflhil thi] y* that w e pray that God demnation. g rant us SQ [ Q ea( - f^g Y\&s\\ of his dear Son and to drink his Blood that 1 Catechism. 0 2d Warning to H. C. 3 Warning to H. C. THE HOL Y £ UCHARIS T. 49 our sinful bodies may be made clean by his Body and our souls washed through his most precious Blood, and that we may evermore dwell in him and he in us. 1 By re- ceiving the Holy Communion we are filled with God's grace and heavenly benediction and made one body with Christ that he may dwell in us and we in him. 2 PREPARATION FOR HOLY COMMUNION. As the means whereby the Body of Christ is received and eaten in Faith the the Supper is faith 3 we must re- Ch ^|J]^| ceive that Holy Sacrament with Sacrament - a true penitent heart and lively faith. 4 Those who come to the Lord's Supper are required to examine themselves whether they repent them truly of their former sins, steadfastly purposing to lead a new life, have a lively faith in God's mercy through Christ, with a thankful re- membrance of his death, and be in charity with all men. 5 1 Pr. Humble Access in Com. Off. 5 Ex. to H. C. 2 Pr. of Consc. Com. Off. 4 Catechism. 3 Art. 28. 5o PRAYER-BOOK DOCTRINE. OF THE MOST HOLY OBLATION. Our Lord Jesus Christ did institute and in his holy Gospel command us to con- Sacrifice of tinue a perpetual memory of his the Altar • , , » c r h d r ^t e a„ b d y P recious death an d sacrifice un- offerfele ti! his coming again 1 ; according ofcSs t0 nis institution we celebrate B^o y /tSthe and make before the Divine Ma- jesty with the Holy Gifts which we offer unto the Almighty Father the Memorial his Son has commanded us to make. 2 For Christ himself hath instituted and ordained Holy Mysteries as pledges of his love and for a continual remem- brance of his death, to our great and end- less comfort, 3 so that this is our Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving. 4 And although we are unworthy to offer any sacrifice yet we beseech Almighty God to accept this. 5 The priest 6 offers 7 the Oblation 8 upon 1 Pr. of Consc. Com. Office. ■ Ibid. 3 Ex. at H. C. 4 Pr. of Consc. 5 Ibid. " Rub. bef. Pr. of Consc. 7 Pr. of Consc. s Marginal Note Pr. of Consc. CONFIRMATION. 5 the Altar 1 for us and all God's whole church 3 as his bounden duty and service, 3 a Sacrifice of Praise and Thanks- Isa sacrifice . . - r r -mm of Praise, giving, 4 a sacrifice lor remission Thanks- & & giving, and of our sins, and all other benefits Propitiation, of Christ's passion. 5 XII. OF CONFIRMATION. WHAT IT IS. Confirmation is the laying on of hands upon those who are baptized. 6 Children are to be brought to the Bishop to be confirmed by him as soon as they can say the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments, and are sufficiently instructed in the other parts of the Church Catechism. 7 Persons baptized in riper years should be confirmed by the Bishop as soon after their baptism as conveniently may be. 8 1 Institution Office 5 Ibid. 2 Pr. of Consc. 0 Title of Confirmation Office. 3 Ibid. ' Bapt. of Infants. 4 Ibid. 8 Rubric in Bapt. Riper Years. 52 PRAYER-BOOK DOCTRINE. MINISTER AND OUTWARD PART. All those to be confirmed kneeling be- fore the Bishop, he shall lay his hand upon the head of every one severally. 1 INWARD SPIRITUAL GRACE. The strengthening them with the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, and the daily in- crease in them of his manifold gifts of grace, the spirit of wisdom and under- standing, counsel and ghostly strength, knowledge, and true godliness and holy fear. 2 Confirmation is administered after the example of the Holy Apostles. 3 To the end that it may be ministered r f to the more edifying of such as baptismal shall receive it, only they who vows a pre- 1 J J c e o q nfirml- i:> with their own mouth ratify and confirm Avhat their Godfathers and Godmothers promised for them are to be confirmed. 4 None shall be admitted to the Holy 1 Rub. in Conf. Off. 3 Pr. after Conf. in Office. 5 Pr. in Conf. Off. * Preface to Conf. Off. PENANCE. 53 Communion until such time as he be con- firmed or be ready and desirous to be confirmed. 1 XIII. OF PENANCE. The grant of repentance ( locus peni- tentice ) is not to be denied to such as fall into sin after baptism. After we Sin a?er have received the Holy Ghost r . repented of. we may depart from grace given and fall into sin, and by the grace of God we may arise again and amend our lives. 3 The way and means to lead to a sincere and hearty repentance is to examine one's life and conversation by the rule of God's com- mandments, and whereinsoever one shall find himself to have offended, either by (a) will, (b) word, or (c) deed, Threew , ays there to (j) bewail his own sinful- Three palfs ness and to (ij) confess himself J« t n «3' to Almighty God with full pur- ^i™?^ pose of amendment of life, being satisfaction - ready to (iij) make restitution and satisfac- tion according to the uttermost of his 1 Rub. at end of Conf. Off. ' Art. 16. 54 PRA YER-BOOK DOCTRINE. power. 1 The most Merciful God doth so put away the sins of those who truly repent that he remembereth them no more. 2 OF CONTRITION. God despiseth not the sighing of a con- trite heart nor the desire of such as are sorrowful, 3 but calleth us merci- acceptable fully to amendment and of his to God. ,1 . . i_ t endless pity promisetn us for- giveness of that which is past, if with a perfect and a true heart we return unto him. 4 And to this true repentance and change of mind there must be added a lively and steadfast faith and dependence upon the merits of the death of Christ, 5 for except one repents and believes we can give him no hope of salvation. 6 OF CONFESSION. We must confess ourselves to Almighty God with full purpose of amendment of 1 1st Ex. Vis. of Prisoners. 1 Pr. in Vis. of Sick. r> Litany. 4 2d Ex. to Prisoners. 5 1st Ex. to Prisoners. 6 Ibid. PENANCE. 55 life. 1 And if there be any who requireth further comfort or counsel let him come to some minister of God's Word •ci Ail Confession and open his grief. And let ma a d n y° 0 ^° d no worldly consideration hinder tT^l^X him from making a true and full pnest ' confession of his sins and giving all the satisfaction that is in his power. 3 The minister shall examine the person whether he repent him truly of his sins and be in charity with all the world, and exhort him if he have any scruples that he would declare the same and _ . . Confession a prepare himself for the Holy pre Kom° Communion, 4 that he may come holy and clean to such a heavenly feast in the marriage garment required by God in Holy Scripture. 3 And upon confession he shall instruct him what satisfaction ought to be made to those whom he has offended. 6 The sinner must not despair of God's mercy, though trouble is on 1 Warning to H. C. 2 Ibid. 3 2d Ex. to Prisoners. 4 Rub. in Visit, of Prisoners. 6 Warning to H. C. 6 Vis. of Prisoners. 56 PRAYER-BOOK DOCTRINE. every side ; for God shutteth not up his mercies for ever in displeasure, but if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 OF THE NECESSITY OF CONTRITION AND CON- FESSION. As one tenders his own salvation he must take good heed of these things. Now one may claim the merits of death helps Christ, but if one dies in his sins only those tTcodt Christ's sufferings will tend to his favour. greater condemnation, 2 for then he can neither fly to God's mercy to pro- tect him nor to the merits of Christ to cover him in that terrible day. 3 OF ABSOLUTION. Almighty God hath given power and commandment to his ministers to declare priests have and pronounce to his people be- Fo°rgiv r e sins. \ n g penitent the Absolution and Remission of their sins. 4 To the Priest the 1 2d Ex. to Prisoners. '-' 1st Ex. to Prisoners. 1 Ibid. 4 Morning Pr. PENANCE. 5 7 Bishop says at his ordination : " Whose sins thou dost forgive, they are forgiven ; and whose sins thou dost retain, they are retained." 1 OF SATISFACTION. The [temporal] pains and punishments which we endure tend to setting free our souls from the chains of sin 2 ; penance . . acceptable our afflictions may be so sancti- to God. fied as to work for us an eternal weight of glory. 3 God therefore preserves our lives that there may be place for repentance, 4 and sometimes stirs up in one such sorrow for sin and such fervent love as in a short time does the work of many days. 5 OF EXCOMMUNICATION. That person which by open denuncia- tion of the Church is rightly cut off from the unity of the Church and excommuni- cated, ought to be taken of the whole multitude of the faithful as an heathen 1 Ord. of Prs. * Vis. of Sick. ■ Pr. in Vis. of Prisoners. 5 Ibid. 3 Pr. for Imp. debtors. 58 PR A YER-BOOK DOCTRINE. and publican until he be openly reconciled by penance, and received into the Church by a judge that hath authority thereunto. 1 Any minister may repel from the Holy Communion those who by open and noto- rious evil-living offend the congregation ; also those betwixt whom he perceives malice and hatred to reign. Provided that every minister so repelling any shall be obliged to give an account of the same to the Ordinary within fourteen days after at the furthest. 2 XIV. OF HOLY ORDERS. Almighty God by his Holy Spirit has appointed divers orders of Ministers in his Church. 3 It is evident unto Different D[vi e n r li°n f sti- all men diligently reading Holy tution. Scriptures and Ancient Authors that from the Apostles' time there have been three Orders of Ministers in Christ's Church — Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. 4 1 Art. 33. s Rub. before Com. Office. 3 Ord. of Prs. and Consc. of Bps. 4 Preface to Ord. Services. HOLY ORDERS. 59 Almighty God did inspire his Apostles to choose into the Order of Deacons the First Martyr St. Stephen with others. 1 OUTWARD VISIBLE SIGN. The imposition of the Bishop's hands. 2 INWARD SPIRITUAL GRACE. The authority to execute the office of a Deacon. 3 The Holy Ghost for the office and work of a Priest or of a Bishop in the Church of God. 4 THE MINISTER THE BISHOP ALONE. No man shall be accounted or taken to be a lawful Bishop, Priest, or Deacon in this Church, or suffered to execute any of the said Functions except he be called, tried, examined, and admitted thereunto according to the Form set forth by this Church or hath had Episcopal Consecra- tion or Ordination, 5 for the grace of God 1 Ord. of Deacon. 5 Services of Ordination. 3 Ord. of Deacon. 4 Ord. of Prs. or Consc. of Bps. ■' Preface to Ord. Office. 60 PR A YER-BOOK DOCTRINE. is given by the imposition of the Bishop's hands. 1 The Lord Jesus has promised Apostolic to be with the ministers of fa u ught by" Apostolic Succession to the end rist ' of the world, 2 who minister the word and sacraments not in their own name, but in Christ's, and do minister by his commission and authority. 3 OF DEACONS. The office of a Deacon in the Church of God 4 is to assist the Priest in Divine Ser- vice, and specially when he ministereth the Holy Communion, to read Holy Scrip- tures and Homilies, and to instruct the youth in the Catechism ; in the absence of the Priest to baptize infants and to preach if he be admitted thereto by the Bishop. 5 OF PRIESTS. The Office and work of a Priest in the Church of God 6 is to be a Messenger, 1 Consc. of a Bp. - Institution Office. 3 Art. 26. 4 Ord. of Deacon. 3 Add. of Bp. in Ord. of Deacon. 6 Ord. of Pr. HOLY ORDERS. 61 Watchman, and Steward of the Lord ; to teach and to premonish, to feed and pro- vide for the Lord's family, 1 by standing in God's House and serving at his Holy Altar; 2 to say the Prayer of Consecration" and to offer the Holy Gifts 4 ; to declare and pronounce to God's people, being penitent, the Absolution and Remission of their sins 5 ; to bless in his Name 6 ; to be a faithful dispenser of the Word of God and of his Sacraments 7 ; to seek for Christ's sheep that are dispersed abroad, and for his children who are in the midst of this naughty world 8 ; and to perform every act of Sacerdotal function. 9 OF BISHOPS. The office and work of a Bishop in the Church of God IO is to teach and exhort with wholesome doctrine and to withstand 1 Add. of Bp. in Ord. of Pr. 2 Inst. Office. 3 Rub. before Pr. of Consc. in Com. Office. 4 Pr. of Consc. 5 Morning Pr. 6 1st Pr. in Consc. of a Church. ' Ord. of Prs. ' Letter in Inst. Office. 8 Add. in Ord. of Pr. 10 Consc. of Bp. 62 PRAYER-BOOK DOCTRINE. and convince the gainsayer 1 ; to be faith- ful in ordaining, sending, or laying hands upon others ' ; to confirm the children that are brought unto him, 3 and to exercise government in the Church of God. 4 XV. OF HOLY MATRIMONY. Every minister is left to the direction of the several States in everything that regards the Civil contract between the parties, 5 but at the day and time appointed for solemnization of Matrimony, the Min- ister shall say 6 : "I require and charge you both that if either of you know any impediment ye do now confess it. For if any persons are joined to- "nJ™ry e to pother otherwise than God's God's Word & holy estate and lasts so long as they both shall live. 8 It is God's holy ordinance 9 God's Word null and Matrimony indissoluble. Word doth allow, their marriage is not lawful." 7 Matrimony is a 1 Consc. of Bp. » Ibid. 3 Rub. at end of Catechism. 4 Consc. of Bps. '- Rub. bef. Marriage Serv. 7 Marriage Sen - . 8 Ibid. » Ibid. THE SOUL AFTER DEATH. 63 and endures till death them do part 1 for God hath joined them together. 2 THE OUTWARD SIGN. They have consented together in Holy wedlock and have witnessed the same and have given and pledged their troth, and have declared the same by giving and receiving a ring and by joining hands. 3 THE SPIRITUAL GRACE. Grace to surely perform and keep the vow and covenant betwixt them made, to remain in perfect love and peace together, and to live according to God's laws. 4 XVI. OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH. OF THE PARTICULAR JUDGMENT. When we depart this life, if we have been raised from the death of sin unto the life of righteousness, we rest in Atdeathwe Jesus Christ, 5 having passed into arejudged - an endless and unchangeable state. 6 Af- 1 Marriage Serv. 3 Ibid. 5 Col. Burial Office. ' Ibid. 4 Ibid. 6 2d Ex. to Prisoners. 0 4 PR A YER-BOOK DOCTRINE. ter we have finished the course of this life, we will appear before the Judge of all flesh 1 ; for whensoever the soul de- parts from the body it is presented into Almighty God. 2 OF THE SAINTS. The spirits of just men made perfect after they are delivered from their earthly prisons do live with Almighty Id h I a ?nts ect " God, 3 where they enjoy such and baptized } \ J heaven"' in S°°^ things as pass man s under- standing, obtain God's promises which exceed all that they can desire, 4 and receive the crown of everlasting life. 5 The souls of infants who sleep in the Lord The Beatific J esus enjoy perpetual rest and thl'joy of felicity in the heavenly habita- heaven. tions. 0 The reward of them that know God now by faith is after this life the fruition of his glorious Godhead. 7 1 2d Ex. to Prisoners. ! Col. for Com. of Sick. a Commend. Pr. Vis. of Sick. * Col. for VI. Trinity. 5 Col. for St. Peter. 6 Pr. for Sick Child. T Col. for Epiphany. THE LAST JUDGMENT. 65 XVII. OF THE LAST JUDGMENT. OF THE SECOND COMING. Our Lord Jesus Christ shall come again in the last day in his glorious Majesty to judge both the quick and the dead. 1 OF THE RESURRECTION. At the Second coming of our Lord the corruptible bodies of those who sleep in him shall be changed and made like unto his own glorious Body, according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself, 2 for when he shall appear again with power and great glory, we shall be made like unto him in his eternal and glorious kingdom ; :! for he is the Resurrection and the Life, 4 who by his rising to life again hath re- stored to us everlasting life s and we rise to the life immortal through him who liveth and reigneth with the Father and 1 Col. for I. Adv. < Burial Office. 2 Committal in Burial Office. 6 Pr. Pref. for Easter. 3 Col. for Epiphany. 5 60 PRA YEP -BOOK DOCTRINE. the Holy Ghost now and ever.' When asked, " Dost thou believe in the Resur- rection of the Flesh ? " the Christian must answer, "This I steadfastly believe." 2 OF THE JUDGMENT. At the great day we must give a strict account of our thoughts, words, and The Last actions ; and according to the accfrdfng to works done in the body be eter- our works. na ]jy rewarded or punished by him whom the Father hath appointed the Judge of quick and dead, 3 who shall then pronounce to all who love and fear him this blessing, saying : " Come ye blessed children of my Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world." 4 OF THE BLISS OF THE SAVED. Our perfect consummation and bliss is both in body and soul in God's eternal and everlasting glory, 5 and the Saints and 1 Col. for I. Adv. 1 Col. Burial Office. ■ Vis. of Sick. 5 Burial Office. 3 Family Pr. Morning. THE LAST JUDGMENT. 67 Holy Angels shall sing praises to the honour of God's mercy through eternal ages. 1 OF THE TORMENTS OF THE LOST. According to the works done in the body the lost are eternally punished 2 with Gods wrath and everlasting damnation, 3 and endure the un,s o7the damned end- bitter pains of eternal death. 4 les c s h a a n n ^^; This their state of misery is endless and unchangeable, 5 for their day of salvation no longer lasteth, but their night is come when no man can work. 6 They are the objects of God's justice and vengeance, and the sufferings of Christ but tend to their greater condemnation. 7 FINIS. From thy wrath and from everlasting- damnation, good Lord, deliver us. 1 Pr. in Vis. of Sick. ' Family Pr. Morning. 3 Litany. 4 Burial Office. s 1st Ex. to Prisoners. 6 Ibid. » Ibid. APPENDICES. APPENDICES. I HAVE thought it well to add brief Scripture defences of the Church's doctrine on a few- points which lie at the very foundation of our holy faith, and which now, alas ! are much denied, or at least questioned, even by those who, by every obligation human and divine, are bound to sustain and uphold them. The fact that such brief treatment of the subject may prove useful to some is sufficient excuse for their appearance at the end of a book which is didactic, not argumentative, in form, and which claims to possess a quasi-authoritative character, which of course does not in any de- gree belong to these appended essays which are valuable only so far as they set forth aright the revelation of Almighty God. 71 OF HOLY SCRIPTURE. While it is quite true that the whole Church of God has never set forth any theory of in- spiration, so that a man is at full liberty to say " I do not believe that the Holy Ghost chose the exact words used, nor settled the order of the words nor of the sentences," yet he cannot go one step farther. The Church, resting upon the most sure warrant of Holy Scripture, has always affirmed that " the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament," not only contain, but " are the Word of God," and this is the wording of the promise of Conformity made by every person before he can be ordained or suffered to minister in the American Church. Every priest coming from England must sign this declaration before he can officiate. The Holy Scriptures then are the Word of God, and are the Word of none other than of him that inhabiteth eternity. God (by the teaching of the whole Church) is the author of all the books in all their parts. Of course it is possi- ble that in some matters not affecting the faith, 72 OF HOL Y SCRIP TURE. 7 3 some errors may have crept into the sacred text ; it is possible (for example) and probable that some of the numbers have been wrongly copied, that some of the proper names have been altered, that here and there a verse or more has dropped out, that perhaps a chapter or more is misplaced, but this and other similar errors did not exist in the original autograph, in which the guidance of the Holy Ghost, whatever else it may have done, at least pre- vented the handing down of error. We are not bound to any particular theory as to how Moses prepared Genesis, etc. ; he may have seen a vision ; or he may have received what he wrote by direct revelation, the Holy Spirit dictating it to him word by word ; or he may have used already existing material from which to form his inspired record ; or he may have incorporated an already existent inspired record into his writings. On this, and on a multitude of other points the Church does not demand any particular view ; all she declares is — that however they may have been prepared, when- ever they may have been written, and by whomsoever they were written, all the Divine Scriptures were given by inspiration, and are therefore infallibly true. " All Scripture is given by inspiration of God " (2 Tim. iii. 16). 74 APPENDICES. " No prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation ; for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost " (2 Pet. i. 20). Well, then, does St. Augustine sum up the doctrine of the Church, and of the Scripture, when he says : " Let us believe and immovably affirm that in Scripture falsehood has no place." A few years ago it was thought by some that the " critical " study, so-called, of the New Testament would overthrow its historical au- thority. It was hoped by the Church's foes that the Gospels might be shewn to be of much later date than the times of those whose names they bore, and a most violent attack was made, and (as is always the case) the cry of victory was raised before the battle was fairly begun. But now the storm has exhausted itself, and with the exception of having shewn the lack of early MS. authority for a few verses, the attack has left us just where we were before. No doubt a similar result will follow from the attack now being made upon the Old Testa- ment. We have the promise of our Blessed Lord, referring to that very Old Testament, that " one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled " (Matt. v. 18). We must, however, be most careful not to OF HOLY SCRIPTURE. make the Church say more than she really does. She teaches clearly and unmistakably the truth and inspiration of the books of the Old Testa- ment, but she does not for the most part tell us anything with certainty of their authorship or date. We know little or nothing of the recension of the text made by Ezra the Scribe, nor can we do anything but surmise as to how much the present form of the earlier books may be due to his editorship ; all we know is that they were all " given by inspiration of God." It is curious to note how just those points upon which " critics," so-called, wish to throw doubts are exactly the points which our Lord has made certain by his own infallible authority. It is our Lord who says " Remem- ber Lot's wife " (Lk. xvii. 32). He also avouches the truth of the destruction of the cities of the Plain, " The same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all " (Lk. xvii. 29). So, too, it is from him that we know that Moses " lifted up the serpent in the wilder- ness " (Jno. iii. 14) ; also that Daniel was a " prophet," and not a poet narrating that which had already happened (Matt. xxiv. 15). We know also that David was the author of Psalm ex., for our Lord says: " David himself saith in the book of Psalms, ' The Lord said unto mv 7 6 APPENDICES. Lord,' etc. ; David therefore calleth him Lord, how is he then his son ? " (Lk. xx. 42). As St. Mark more fully reports Christ's words, we are told that " David himself said by the Holy Ghost " (Mk. xii. 36). Our Lord thus shews his acceptance of the Church's doctrine of the plenary inspiration of Holy Writ, that the Holy Ghost " spake by the Prophets " (Nicene Creed). He declares that Jonah "was three days and three nights in the whale's belly " (Matt. xii. 40), and makes it the only sign of his own resurrection. He speaks of the Jewish history, of the days of Noe (Matt. xxiv. 37) ; of the woman of Sarepta (Lk. iv. 26) ; of what David did when he was hungry (Matt. xii. 3); of the visit of the Queen of Sheba (Matt. xii. 42) ; of Abel (Matt, xxiii. 35) ; of God talking with Moses in the bush (Mk. xii. 26) ; of the manna in the wilderness (Jno. vi. 32) ; and, not to make the enumeration wearisome, of the greater part of the Old Testament. Why this should have been the case he is careful to tell us : " Search the Scriptures, for they are they which testify of me " (Jno. v. 39). To sum up then what we have been saying, the Church requires of all her children, and especially of her Ministers, that they receive Holy Writ " not as the word of men, but as it is in truth the Word of God " (1 Thess. ii. 13). OF THE HUMAN KNOWLEDGE OF OUR LORD. Our Lord is not only Man, but also God ; as God he is omniscient, and knows all things ; but lately a question has been raised as to our Lord's knowledge as man. In other words, what wisdom did the human soul of Christ pos- sess ? Now, in the first place, as the human soul of Christ was created (/'. c, a creature), it is finite, and therefore not omniscient, which is a quality pertaining only to the Infinite, i. c, to God. The Church teaches that our Lord as man is infallible, that is to say, he cannot ever be in the wrong on any matter. To be infalli- ble is not inconsistent, however, with not know- ing all things. If that difficult text, " Of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father " (Mk. xiii. 32), mean, as some, even of the Fathers, suppose, that the Son, in his sacred humanity, did not know the date of the day of Judgment, this would not be at all inconsistent with his being absolutely 77 78 APPENDICES. infallible. But for him to have assigned a false date, or to have sanctioned, by his adopting of it, a commonly received false date, would be fatal to such infallibility. So too with respect to that text, when speaking of the child Jesus, we are told that he " increased in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and man " (Lk. ii. 52). The best commentators teach that " wisdom " here means experimental wisdom, just as the favour of God means the external manifestation of that favour, so that he day by day set forth more and more in deeds and words that wisdom which he had always pos- sessed by virtue of the union of the two natures, the human and the divine, in his one Person. But if this explanation is not accepted, there is nothing in an increase of wisdom contrary to the idea of infallibility. We must then affirm that our Lord in all things was absolutely infal- lible. And to this he clearly lays claim. He says of himself that he is " a man that hath told you the truth " (John viii. 40). He ex- pressly calls himself " the Truth " (John xiv. 6). He says he came " to bear witness unto the truth " (John xviii. 37). And St. John, in the very beginning of his gospel, sets forth this great fact, that he " was the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world " CHRIST'S HUMAN KNOWLEDGE. 79 (John i. 9), and that when the Word was made flesh he was " full of grace and truth " (John i. 14). Theologians teach us that as our Lord had two wills, the one human and the other divine, but that these two wills always agreed, just so our Lord had two wisdoms and two understandings, the one human and the other divine, but that these two always agreed, and that as by the consonant action of the two wills sin is excluded, so by the consonant action of the two wisdoms and of the two understand- ings ignorance is excluded. For as the Divine Will was constantly guiding the human will, so the Divine Wisdom and the Divine Understand- ing were constantly guiding and illumining the human wisdom and the human understanding. When we come to look at Holy Scripture, nothing can be more evident than this, that our Blessed Lord constitutes himself as an authority not to be questioned on any matter. He teaches as " one having authority, and not as the Scribes " (Matt. vii. 29). He interprets Holy Scripture without the slightest hesitation, " This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears " (Lk. iv. 21). And again : " Beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself " (Lk. xxiv. 27). While " as yet the Apostles knew not 8o APPENDICES. the Scripture " (Jno. xx. 9), the Lord told them all that should come to pass. Nor was this only the case in his maturer life, but it was equally true of his infancy, for we read that when a child in the temple " all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and an- swers " (Lk. ii. 47). He could see at a distance — he saw Nathaniel " under the fig-tree before that Philip called " him (Jno. i. 48) ; he knew that Lazarus had died — " Lazarus is dead " (Jno. xi. 14); he knew the future — "This night before the cock crow," he said to Peter, " thou shalt deny me thrice " (Matt. xxvi. 34), even telling how the cock should crow between the denials ; he knew the past — he said to the Samaritan woman, " Thou hast had five husbands, and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband " (Jno. iv. 18). Not only did his knowledge extend to facts past, present, and future, but he read the heart — He " needed not that any should testify of man, for he knew what was in man " (John ii. 25). When the disciples were desirous to question him, he knew it (Jno. xvi. 19). He " knew from the beginning who they were thr-t believed not. and who should betray him " (Jno. vi. 64). No one reading the Gospels can doubt that the writers of those four books con- sidered Jesus not only as an infallible teacher, CHRIST'S HUMAN KNOWLEDGE. Si. but that they held that in him was no ignorance of any kind, and, moreover, that they under- stood him to make claim to such gifts for him- self. The very people who knew his family and friends and his lack of earthly scholarship cried out with astonishment when they heard him teach : " How knoweth this man letters, having never learned ? And Jesus answered them : My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me" (Jno. vii. 15). His very enemies, come to take him, were forced to the declara- tion, " Never man spake like this man " ( Jno. vii. 46), for as the Apostle St. Paul says : In Christ " are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," " for in him dwelleth all the ful- ness of the Godhead bodily " (Col. : ii. 3 and 9). Theologians teach that this wondrous knowl- edge came chiefly from our Lord's human soul's always enjoying the Beatific Vision of God, in which all truth was revealed by the Father, as our Lord says himself, " I speak that which I have seen with my Father" (Jno. viii. 38). On this point, however, we are not left to mere opinion, but we have the express words of Holy Scripture. St. John the Baptist, speaking of our Blessed Lord, says : " He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God ; for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him " (Jno. iii. 6 82 1 APPENDICES. 34) ; and we are told that the " spirit of wis- dom " and the " spirit of understanding " were given the Incarnate Son (Is. xi. 2), and that " without measure," so that " of his fulness have all we received and grace for grace, for the Law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ " (Jno. i. 16). In short, then, our Lord is infallible, and every word that he speaks is infallibly true ; and besides this in him dwells in all his fulness the spirit of wisdom and understanding, thus excluding all ignorance on matters which the finite intelligence can grasp. Such has been the unshaken faith of all Chris- tians throughout the ages, all having accepted these words of his as literally true : " Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away " (Matt. xxiv. 35) ; I am " a man that hath told you the truth " (Jno. viii. 40). OF ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. There seems to be the greatest misapprehen- sion of what the Church really dq.es require in point of belief on the subject of the endless pun- ishment of the lost. It is commonly asserted, or at least implied, by those who wish to incul- cate a new creed, that the " orthodox doctrine " is contrary to every human feeling of mercy or even of justice, and that anything more arbi- trary could not be conceived of. Now, as a matter of fact this is a complete misrepre- sentation of the Church's views. It is indeed of faith that there is a hell, and that it will be the endless abode of the devils and of such human souls as are lost. But as to individual souls the Church says nothing ; she breathes the expression of hope over many who to our eyes seem wholly estranged from good and de- voted to evil ; she is silent with regard to those whom she cannot bury because of their mani- fest lack of claim to her ministrations ; of the loss of but one soul she speaks with absolute certainty, and this certainty rests not upon the 83 8 4 APPENDICES. Church's theory but upon the word of the Lord himself, who, in speaking of Judas Iscariot, said : " Good were it for that man had he never been born " (Mk. xiv. 2l). What were myriad years of torment if at the end he were to enjoy throughout eternity the bliss of the Re- deemed and gaze in extasy on the face of God ! Happy and blessed would have been his birth if ever he could reign in glory. But Jesus says, in his prayer to his Father, speaking of the Apostles : " Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition " (Jno. xvii. 12). Judas was lost, lost with an endless loss, and of him the Church affirms, as does the divine Scripture : ' He went to his own place ' (Acts i. 25). What then the Church does teach is this. The time of this life is the limit of probation, and each soul will " be eternally rewarded or punished according to the works done in the body " (Family Prayer for Morning). In the grave there is no repent- ance nor any turning to God, and hence the salvation of those who die out of grace is im- possible. But it is also true that the Church does not by any means deny that between the hour of death and the last Judgment there will be ample opportunities for imperfect souls, unfit for heaven and the vision of God, to ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. 85 be perfected. At the hour of death they pass indeed " into an endless and unchangeable state " (Visitation of Prisoners) of either salva- tion or damnation, but of those who are then in a state of salvation many may need much preparation before they are fit to enjoy their final beatitude. For the attainment of salvation all the Church and all the Divine Scriptures re- quire is that the soul be in grace at the hour of death, that it still be in favour with God and not rejected of him. No matter how feeble may be the spark of divine life, provided the life of Christ is there at all, that soul will certainly be saved and at the last admitted to glory. And who can tell when a soul has lost all grace and is a corpse before God ? How often he may see life where we see none! How many ways he may have of still calling to the soul even after the eyes of the body no longer see, and the ears no longer hear! In those hours of what we call unconsciousness who can tell what wonders God in his love may be doing for souls! In the moment of sudden death who shall say that the voice of the Beloved does not often win the soul before it takes its flight from the body of clay! Not only is all this true, but the Church also insists upon the fact that every man will be judged according to the op- 86 APPENDICES. portunities which he has had. " To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin " (Jas. iv. 17). And in this sense we may also read that saying of St. Paul's: "For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath and not according to that he hath not" (2 Cor. viii. 12). All this is true, and yet there is the awful fact that some will be finally impenitent, that some will have wasted the whole time of their probation ; that some will have learned here to love iniquity and to hate righteousness ; that some will have quenched entirely the fire of the divine life of Christ ; that some will appear before the Lord without the wedding garment and be cast " into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matt. xxii. 13); that some will hear the awful words: " I know you not whence ye are. Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity " (Lk. xiii. 27). Our Blessed Lord, he that loved man with so tender a love, took upon himself to tell the awful details of the sinner's endless doom. It is from him that we learn of ' the worm that dieth not and of the fire that is not quenched ' (Mk. ix. 44) ; it is he that tells us how at the last he will say to the angel-reapers : " Gather ye together first the tares and bind them in bun- dles to burn them " (Matt. xiii. 30); it is he ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. 87 that says : " But those mine enemies which would not that I should reign over them bring hither and slay them before me " (Luke xix. 27). What could exceed the awfulness of that picture drawn by the mouth of the Son of God himself, when speaking of the Last Day, he represents himself as giving judgment : " Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. . . . And these shall go away into everlasting pun- ishment, but the righteous into life eternal " (Matt. xxv. 41). No amount of ingenuity can explain away the cumulative force of these words. The endlessness of the punishment of the lost is one of the very central doctrines of Christianity, and if the Holy Scriptures and the words of Jesus on such a point are so utterly misleading as to have deceived all mankind for these many centuries, how can we be sure of understanding aright anything that the Scrip- tures say or that the Lord taught ? Between Hell and Heaven there can be no passing; for says the blessed Abraham to the rich man in hell, " between us and you there is a great gulf fixed : so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot ; neither can they pass to us that would come from thence " (Luke xvi. 26). Our ingenious devisings can never remove that gulf, never slake that thirst, never cool 88 APPENDICES. those flames ; but our rationalizing may make us suffer those torments which we have disbe- lieved, for it is written : " The fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burnetii with fire and brimstone ; which is the second death " (Rev. xxi. 8). I close this appendix by quoting the follow- ing magnificent passage from Ruskin — a most powerful rejoinder to the arguments of both Universalists and of those who teach condi- tional immortality. 1 " I understand not the most dangerous, because most attractive form of modern infidelity, which, pretending to exalt the beneficence of the Deity, degrades it into a reckless infinitude of mercy and blind obliteration of the work of sin, and which does this chiefly by dwelling on the manifold ap- pearances of God's kindness on the face of crea- tion. Such kindness is indeed everywhere and always visible, but not alone. Wrath and threat- ening are invariably mingled with the love ; and in the utmost solitudes of nature, the existence of 1 It is interesting to note how the arguments of these two classes of unbelievers are mutually destructive. An example of this is found in their understanding of the words aicovioi and HoXadii in Matt. xxv. 43, where the latter class follow the orthodox interpretation. ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. 89 hell seems to me as legibly declared by a thousand spiritual utterances as that of heaven. It is well for us to dwell with thanksgiving on the unfolding of the flower, and the falling of the dew, and the songs of the green fields in the sunshine ; but the blasted trunk, the barren rock, the moaning of the bleak winds, the roar of the black, perilous, merci- less whirlpools of the mountain streams, the solemn solitudes of moors and seas, the continual fading of all beauty into darkness, and of all strength into dust — have these no language for us ? We may seek to escape their teaching by reasonings touching the good which is wrought out of all evil, but it is vain sophistry ! The good succeeds to the evil as day succeeds to night, but so also the evil to the good — Gerizim and Ebal, birth and death, light and darkness, heaven and hell, divide the existence of man and his futurity. . The love of God is, however, always shewn by the predominance or greater sum of good in the end, but never by the annihilation of evil. The mod- ern doubts of eternal punishment are not so much the consequence of benevolence as of feeble power of reasoning. Every one admits that God brings finite good out of finite evil, why not, therefore, infinite good out of infinite evil ? " 1 1 " Stones of Venice," vol. iii., pp. 138, 139. For this quotation I am indebted to the Very Rev. Dean Goulburn. I would advise all my readers to obtain his admirable lectures on " Everlasting Punishment," in my judgment the most convincing presentation of the subject which we possess. THE ATONEMENT. A few times in the pages of Holy W rit we are admitted into the councils of the Holy Trinity and hear the conversation between God the Father and God the Son in that awful conclave. One of these occasions was before the creation of man when we read God said " Let us make man in our image after our likeness " (Gen. i. 26). Another time we find recorded in Psalm ex., where God the Father said unto God the Son, " Sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool." Not to mention others I come to this, to us the most important of all, when the redemption of mankind from the curse is the subject. We see mankind the " enemies " of .God (Rom. v. 10), 'given over by him to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient ' (Rom. i. 28). The Eternal Son says to the Father, as he views in the divine foreknowledge the sacrifices of the Jews, " In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure " (Heb. x. 6). The silence of the Eternal Father shews the truth of the state- 90 THE ATONEMENT. 9 ment that ' the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sins ' (Heb. x. 4). Man is still under the curse pronounced at the fall, death temporal and eternal is still his portion. Then said the Divine Son, " Lo, I come to do thy will, O God." Such is the wondrous colloquy on which depended the redemption of the world. What was that will of the Eternal Father which the Son tells us he came to do, for he says, " I came not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me " (Jno. vi. 38) ? It was to die, and by his death to satisfy the divine justice, to reconcile man to God and God to man, for we have been " reconciled to God by the death of his Son " (Rom. v. 10), and we "joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have received the atonement " (Rom. v. 1 1). " God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son " (Jno. iii. 16), and sent him " to be a propitiation for our sins " (1 Jno. iv. 10). Our Blessed Lord was ever filled with a great desire to complete this work. He cries, " How am I straitened till it be accomplished " (Lk. xii. 50) ; his word on the cross, " It is finished " (Jno. xix. 30), is but the expression of his complete satisfaction that all is done. ' I came not to destroy the law or the prophets but to fulfil' (Matt. v. 17), so he tells the 92 APPENDICES. people, and adds, "One jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled " (Matt. v. 1 8). But now all is fulfilled: each prophecy has been proved true ; each type of the Mosaic sacrifices has found its anti-type ; the shadows of the Old Law have passed away, for here we have the very Paschal Lamb which was slain for us and hath taken away the sin of the world, — " the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world " in the Divine Predes- tination (Rev. xiii. 8). This is the glorious message that has touched men's hearts, as it did the heart of Paul. That God should have sent his Son out of the fulness of his love to save his enemies ! The spectacle of the innocent suffering in the stead of the guilty, that it is which is so divine ! It is the law of Christianity, — I had almost written that it is a law of nature. Some may say, " It is unjust — why should the innocent suffer for the guilty ? " " It is un- natural." " God should not have allowed it." " Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me so? " (Rom. ix. 20). " Yea, let God be true, but every man a liar " (Rom. iii. 4). He has given us clear warning not to judge him by our little measures, for he has said, " My thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways " (Is. THE ATONEMENT. 93 lv. 8). The critic may carp as he will, but the fact still remains that the innocent sufferer attracts the heart of man, as he said, " And I, if I be lifted up will draw all men unto me " (Jno. xii. 32). I cannot refrain from quoting the following from Dean Goulbum's admirable sermon upon the Atonement : " The unbeliever professes an inability to receive the doctrine of the Atonement as it is held by Christians, on the ground that it conflicts with his natural instincts. His sense of justice, he tells us, revolts from the notion of an innocent victim bear- ing the sins of a guilty world — to represent God as requiring such a sacrifice in order to the expiation of human guilt, is to paint him as a ruthless and relentless tyrant, determined to have his blow and to gratify his revenge somewhere, even should it fall upon the unoffending. That this view of what the Scripture says upon the subject is not simply ex- aggerated, but falsified, we shall presently see. What I am now concerned to remark is, that natural instincts, and even our so-called moral sense, are no safe guide upon a subject which soars so infinitely above our limited capacity. We are children ; and in considering the means by which our heavenly Father will save us, it is wisdom to accept simply his own instructions, desperate folly and presump- tion to criticise those instructions by our childish notions and puerile instincts. My meaning will be 94 APPENDICES. more vividly apprehended, if I draw out one illus- tration in detail. A father, inured to life upon the mountains and acquainted by experience with all the natural phenomena of an Alpine district, is under the necessity of crossing a very perilous glacier, with children of four or five years of age. His first counsel for their safety is the obvious and usual one — that each holding by a cord, one end of which is in his own hand, they shall keep at as great a distance from him, and from one another, as the length of the cord admits. The children are of such an age that the direction, ' Hold this, and keep at as great a distance from me as you possibly can,' can just be made intelligible to them, — the grounds of it (plain enough to an adult, that the weight of the party may be distributed along the ice, and not brought to bear on one particular spot, which might thus give way) are, it may be, out of the reach of a child's capacity. Let us suppose that the children, in fright and discomfort, begin to reason about this counsel, and to judge of it by their natural instincts ; conceive that one of them should think and say as follows : ' Can this direction come from our father, who is so affectionate a parent, who loves to have us close around him under ordinary circumstances, hanging round his neck and sitting on his knees ? Can he say upon this occasion, Come not near me, child, at the peril of thy life ? Say it he may, but I will not believe such to be his meaning, for it is an ungenial idea, conflicting with THE ATONEMENT. 95 all my natural instincts, which are to cling round him in the moment of danger, and moreover with confidence in his affection.' But shortly afterwards a further direction is given. Night falls upon the mountain summits, its blackness only relieved by the flickering snows. The wearied children are irresistibly impelled to lie down without any cover- ing, in which case death would overtake them before morning. The father discovers a corner, where the snowdrift lies deep. He burrows in it with all the energy of a man who knows that life depends upon his exertions, and purposes that in the cavities so made the children shall lie, the cold snow piled over them as if they were buried in it and only the smallest possible aperture allowed for the passage of the breath. Adults, of course, would be aware that this would be the only method under the circumstances (and a sure method) of preserv- ing and cherishing the vital heat of the body ; but not so the children. Snow, applied only to parts of the person, and not as a general wrapper, is intensely cold ; and the children, unable to understand how the great white mantle of winter really wards off the cold of the atmosphere from the seeds of plants and flowers, imagine cruelty in this direction of their father, and shudder at the sight of the bed which he has prepared for them. A little child, feeling thus and reasoning thus on such an occa- sion, presents a very just image of a man who rejects (or qualifies so as to meet his own notions) APPENDICES. the doctrine of the Vicarious Sacrifice of Christ, on the ground that it conflicts with his natural instincts, violates his moral sense, and presents to us (as it does undoubtedly under one aspect of it) the severity of God. The allowing these grounds to weigh with us against the simple statements of Scripture is not wisdom, is not independence of thought, is not a high reach of mind — it is simply folly." There are two points in the Atonement which I wish especially to dwell upon, first, that Christ died in our stead, that is his Vicarious Sacrifice ; and second, that the precious Blood is the means of our pardon, the purchase-money (so to speak) of our redemption. First. The Atonement was a sacrifice offered to God in our stead. It was a sacrifice offered to God. " Christ loved us and hath given him- self for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour " (Eph. v. 2) ; " Who through the Eternal Spirit offered himself with- out spot to God " (Heb. ix. 14). It was a sacri- fice offered in our stead. " I lay down my life for the sheep," says our Blessed Lord (John x. 15). " God made him to be sin [£. e., a sin-offer- ing] for us, who knew no sin" (2 Cor. v. 21). " Christ was made a curse for us — for it is writ- ten, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a THE A TO N EM EN T. tree" (Gal. iii. 13). "The Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all " (Is. liii. 6). " Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many " (Heb. ix. 28). " Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree" (1 Pet. ii. 24). Speaking to us St. Paul says, " Ye are not your own, ye are bought with a price" (1 Cor. vi. 19). And St. Peter adds: "Ye were not re- deemed with corruptible things . . . but with the precious Blood of Christ, as of a lamb with- out blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you " (1 Pet. i. 18). Nor will the unwilling prophecy of the High Priest be forgotten : " It is expe- dient for us that one man should die for the people and that the whole nation perish not. And this spake he not of himself but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation, and not for that nation only, but that also he should gather in one the children of God that were scattered abroad" (John xi. 50 et scq). Our Lord tells us himself that " The Son of man came to give his life a ransom for many " (Matt. xx. 28), and St. John says, " Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us " (1 Jno. iii. 16). And not to dwell longer on this 7 9 S APPENDICES. matter, I shall but quote the words of St. Peter: " Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God " (i Pet. iii. 18). The second great point I wish to remark upon is that the Precious Blood is the means of our redemption, and surely no great number of texts will be needed to prove to the reader that which one might suppose no Christian would deny. " The Blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin " (i Jno. i. 7). We have " redemption through his Blood " (Colos. i. 14). " Without shedding of Blood is no remission " (Heb. ix. 22) ; and the cry of praise of the redeemed is this, " Thou hast re- deemed us to God by thy Blood " (Rev. v. 9). I am sure that my readers will thank me for closing this appendix with a brilliant passage from a Good-Friday sermon by a famous Eng- lish preacher — on the text " I lay down my life for the Sheep " : " Brethren, we all have to die. Whatever else is uncertain, one thing is quite certain : you and I must die. How many deaths at this moment rise up before my own mind, as I make use of God's gift of memory ! I recollect deaths of mighty warriors ; I recollect deaths of emperors and kings ; THE ATONEMENT. 9 'J I recollect deaths of many beloved relatives and friends ; and, with a quick glance, my eye passes over vast cemeteries and silent mounds on battle- fields. Death ! He comes equally to the wise- man and the fool, equally to the potentate and the cotter. Death ! O brethren, what a Death is that which we are met to celebrate to-day ! What a Death is that Death which hundreds of millions have to-day been commemorating ! What a strange power this Death possesses ! Far as our thoughts can reach — world-embracing thoughts, stretching from pole to pole, — thoughts embra- cing the sunny southern climes of Africa, or the freezing regions of the North ; whichever way we turn, — whether it be to the ships on the rolling sea, or the lonely islets amid the mighty main, there is a sound to-day going out through all the world, — a memory-sound, a commemoration-sound of One Death. O brethren, Whose Death is this Death ? Whose is this Death which has such a strange mys- terious moral power over the hearts of men, that after eighteen hundred years still we find the story of this one Death swaying hearts, calling out the most powerful affections that the human family is able to prostrate before the throne, — affections — oh hearts ! oh floods of tears ! floods of sympathizing tears, cries of compassionate grief? The human race is weeping ; the human race is sorrowing ; the human race is meeting together in all parts of this TOO APPENDICES. globe of ours to commemorate, to rejoice, to tri- umph in one Death ; a Death that stands out with a unique, strange brilliancy ; a Death that stands out in luminous characters of appalling light in the centre of human history ; a Death which the most intelligent part of humanity agrees to proclaim as the one central fact of all human history — the greatest fact — the most powerful drama that ever was enacted upon an earthly stage. O brethren, what a Death is this Death ! Whose Death is it ? Why are the pavements of mighty temples washed with a mighty stream of tears ? Why do eighteen centuries fail to dry the tears of weeping human- ity ? Why the cries of love mingled with homage and praise ? Why cannot hell and earth with all their powers crush into silence the offering of grateful tearful praise which human hearts and voices send up — send up as a whole holocaust of devotion year by year in honour of this single Death ? Whose Death, brethren, is this Death ? ' Is it nothing to you all ye that pass by ? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto My sorrow.' These are the words that the priests of our religion are chanting to vast congregations throughout the world ; floating down the mysterious vistas of mag- nificent cathedrals, or chanting in whispering sad- ness in the little village churches nestling among silent vales, or crouching in rocks sheltered by embracing hills. This is the one story, ' Oh, is THE ATONEMENT. it nothing to all ye that pass by ? Behold, behold and see ! ' Yes, monarchs on their thrones, sena- tors in the senate-house, nobles in their palaces, cotters in their cots, beggars on the door-steps of our palaces ; to one and all, to each and every one, the invitation goes out to-day, 'Behold and see ! ' See what ? The Death of a Man ; the Death of the only Man that ever declared himself to be God ; the Death of that one mortal — for mortal he was, like ourselves — the Death of that one Man who stood out, who stands out to-day, the one solitary instance on the page of the annals of the human race as the One who proclaimed himself to be God. The witness that was given against him by his enemies was this, ' That thou, being a Man, makest thyself God. And this Man who made himself, who declared that he was God, to- day, to-day he dies. It is the Death, my brethren, of the Man that dared to say that he was God. That is the Death we are keeping to-day. The Death of God. Oh, we need not wait to cull arguments to prove this appalling statement. We need not search farther than into the unanimous voice of the human race to shew that this Death was a necessity ; that if this Death had not taken place, the expectations of the human race would have been void, futile, null. If this Death had not taken place, the world's religion would not be as it is now — a religion without a sacrifice. Before the IC2 APPENDICES. coming of this Man the chief act of religion was the pouring out of innocent blood. Whether among the Jews or among the Greeks, whether among the Romans or the savage nations, the one act of religion, the one act to which human nature clung, the one act which alone could satisfy the religious natural cravings of man's heart, was the sacrifice of the innocent, the pouring out of the blood of the guiltless. Humanity could not rest but in shedding the blood of the innocent. But at last when The Innocent One came ; at last when The One Guiltless One died, sacrifice ceased. The nations of the earth no longer plunged the murder- ous knife into the reeking breast of the innocent victim ; no more did herds of lambs and goats and bulls perish at the yearly feasts ; no more animals were led to the slaughter ; no more was the tide of in- nocent blood poured out on our guilty soil; and why ? Because all that those sacrifices yearned after, all that they pointed to, all the faith of the human race in expectation has been satisfied ; and even among nations that know not the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ, yet still among them as well the blessing of the One Sacrifice hath gone out. The world is redeemed ; the guilt, the rebellion of the human race is atoned for. The stain that reached the stars, the stain whose baneful blight stretched throughout the universe of God's crea- tion, the stain is wiped away. God's majesty is THE ATONEMENT. 103 restored. The blot that rebellion cast on the stain- less robe of the immaculate dominion has been taken away, blotted out, purged in the One Sacri- fice ; the prepared Sacrifice that God had prepared, and that the human race had believed in." * * For a full treatment of this doctrine the reader is referred to Abp. Magee's immortal book on "Atonement and Sacrifice," in which will be found every objection con- sidered and thoroughly answered ; and the anti-Christian character of Socinianism clearly demonstrated. FINIS. Date Due 1 '