54 -L6^r i Oak Street UNCLASSIFIED PLAIN PROTESTANT EXPLANATIONS OF CERTAIN PRAYEU-BOOK DIFFICULTIES ; SUPPORTED AND ILLUSTRATED BY ACCREDITED NONCONFORMIST TESTIMONIES. BY THE REV. C. H. DAVIS, M.A., OF WADHAM COLLEGE, OXFORD; CHAPLAIN OF THE STROUD UNION, GLOUCESTERSHIRE. CONTENTS : APOCRYPHA. SAINTS’ DAYS. VESTMENTS. ATHANASI AN CREED. COMMUNION, AND BAPTISMAL SERVICES. CATECHISM, &C. BURIAL SERVICE. COM MI NAT I ON. ABSOLUTION. CHURCH GOVERNMENT. WITH APPENDICES ON THE CALENDAR and“ BAPTISMAL REGENERATION.” The Book of Common Prayer “ doth not contain in it anything contrary to the word of God, or to “ sound doctrine, or which a godly man may not with a good conscience use and submit unto, or “ which is not fairly defensible against any that shall oppose the same ; if it shall be allowed such just “and favourable construction as in common equity ought to be allowed to all human writings, “ especially such as are set forth by authority, and even to the very best translations of the Holy “Scripture itself .” — Preface to the Prayer-Book . LONDON: J. H. JACKSON. ISLINGTON GREEN, AND PATERNOSTER ROW; SEELEYS, FLEET STREET AND HANOVER STREET. 1852. Price One Shilling. PREFACE. The following remarks are designed to furnish a kind of Manual for the use of Protestant Churchmen, wherein they may be sup- plied with plain and concise explanations of those portions of the Book of Common Prayer, in which has been supposed to lie the chief strength of the Romanizing party within our Church, and against which the chief objections of Protestant Nonconformists always have been raised. The general excellence of the Book of Common Prayer has been thus candidly acknowledged by the eminent Baptist minister, the late Robert Hall : "Though a Protestant Dissenter, I am by no a means insensible to its merits : I believe that the Evangelical " purity of its sentiments, the chastened fervour of its devotion, “ and the majestic simplicity of its language, have combined to "place it in the very first rank of uninspired compositions.” If then, it should appear that the popular objections to parti- cular portions of its contents, have arisen from a mistaken view of their true meaning and character, and that these very por- tions are almost all in substantial, if not in verbal, harmony with divers statements which are to be met with in accredited Protestant Nonconformist documents, it is hoped that not only will the attempts of the Romanizers to palm off upon a Protest- ant people various Papal doctrines, on the pretended or supposed authority of the Prayer-Book itself, be in some measure coun- teracted, but also that many of the chief objections of honest and conscientious Protestant Nonconformists to the contents of the Prayer-Book will, in a great measure, if not entirely, be removed; and that the result will be a better understanding and a more cordial union among Protestants in resisting the aggressions of their common foe — the Papal power. The present remarks are intended to furnish an outline only of the subjects here treated of, the author having entered upon . : a full and detailed consideration of them, in a series of papers v entitled "Liturgical Remarks,” in the Church of England Ma- gazine, vols. xxxii. and xxxiii., for 1852, in the February, March, V April, May, June, July, and August parts, to which the reader is referred who may be desirous of a more full and detailed dis- cussion of the divers topics here briefly considered, together with the arguments and proofs by which the various assertions are IV PREFACE. supported. To facilitate this, references to the Magazine are appended to the various sections of the present work.* It may here be stated that by the “ Westminster Confession,” and “ Directory,” to which occasional reference is made in the following pages, are intended the celebrated Confession of Faith, and Directory for Public Worship, which were drawn up as authorized standards by the Westminster Assembly of Puritan Divines, during the Commonwealth, in the 17tli century, and which have been since the Revolution the authorized standard of the Established Presbyterian Kirk of Scotland. The writer would also take this opportunity of inviting attention to an ex- cellent little treatise entitled “ The Protestant Character of the Prayer-Book,” by the Rev. S. Jenner, ( Wertheim , No. 18 of Tracts for Churchmen) ; also to Rev. J. Spurgin's Volume of “ Tracts in Defence of the Church of England,” (Wertheim) ; also to Bishop Mantes “ Churches of Rome and England Com- pared,” (No. 109 on the Christian Knowledge List) ; and to the Rev. J. Baylee's “ Institutions of the Church of England,” ( Holdsworth , 1838;. * The writer, however, feels it right to state that the Editors of the Church of England Magazine are in no way responsible for, or committed to, the contents of the present publication, either directly or indirectly. There are many remarks in these pages which have no counterpart in the pages of that excellent and deservedly popular and widely circulated periodical. The Church of England Magazine is published in monthly parts, by J. Hughes, London, at the trifling cost of ninepence per month, for about 70 closely printed pages. PBOTESTANT EXPLANATIONS, fyc. THE APOCRYPHA. Certain books of the Apocrypha are appointed to be read as Lessons in our Churches. But it must be observed that while the Sixth of the 39 Articles expressly excludes the Apocryphal books from the table of the “ canonical books , ” which alone it in- cludes “ in the name of the Holy Scripture ,** the tables of lessons in the Prayer-book do not term them “ lessons of Holy Scrip- ture ** (as those of the American Prayer-book do) but simply “ Lessons.** They are read merely as useful uninspired, and therefore of course fallible , writings, — like the Homilies — and are sometimes bound up with the Bible for convenience* sake alone, just as the Metrical versions of the Psalms sometimes are with the Prayer-book, — of which, as is well known, they form no part. And so Hooker justly reminds us, that though “ we “ read in our Churches certain books besides the Scripture, yet “ as the Scripture we read them not/* ( b . v. c. 20, s. 10) ; while the learned Presbyterian, Dr. Gumming, bears testimony to the fact that our 6th Article “ is decisive ** as to “ the non-inspiration of the Apocrypha,** and that our Church “ does not receive it as sacred Scripture,** (Is Christianity from God ? viii. 157). It is also not unworthy of notice, that in the Rubric prefixed to the Offertory-sentences in the Communion Service, among which are two from Tobit, they are spoken of (not as “ sentences of holy Scripture** as they were termed in the Liturgy of 1549, but) simply as “ sentences.** The change was made in 1552, and is significant. [Keeling, p. 181). Some good remarks on the true character and legitimate use of the Apocryphal books, may be seen in Bishop Gray*s Key to the Old Testament, in the concluding pages to the Preface to the Apocryphal books ( pp.277 , 278). 6 It may, however, be just observed, that since Hooker well reminds us that “ it greatly behoveth the Church to have always “ most especial care, lest through confused mixture at any time “ human usurp the room and title of divine writings,” and that “ as often as those books are read, and need so requireth, the “ style of their difference may expressly be mentioned, to bar “ even all possibility of error,” ( b . v. c. 20, s. 10), so it would seem to be very desirable to supply our reading-desks with copies of the Bible without the Apocrypha y and the Apocrypha in separate volumes , in which form it is published in several sizes by the Christian Knowledge Society — the largest of which is the “ Pica, Boyal 8vo,” a size not unsuitable for the desk ;* also to announce the Apocryphal lessons thus, “ Here beginneth the — chapter of the Book of the Apocrypha , called — .”f For further remarks upon this subject, see the Church of England Magazine, for May, 1852, p. 331 ; and the Christian Observer, July, 1848, p. 458. THE SAINTS' DAYS, &c. The Church of England Saints’-days are simply annual commemorations of certain Scriptural facts — facts connected with the foundation of the Christian religion — which are calcu- lated to teach valuable lessons in sacred biography, and to con- vey instruction in the way either of example or of warning. As commemorations of the important fact that the early Apostles and Evangelists were inspired men, and that we are “ built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone,” (. Ephes . ii. 20), our Saints' - day services are most valuable. And such a commemoration is essentially and thoroughly Scriptural, see Hebrews vi. 12; xii. 1, 2 ; xiii. 7.J But of course as regards the attending the * Bibles in several sizes without the Apocrypha can be had of the Society. The “ English, Medium Quarto,” matches the “ Great Primer, Medium Quarto ” Prayer-Book, and the size is large enough for most desks, and very convenient for use. The cost of the whole set — Bible, Prayer-Book, and Apocrypha — is to subscribers only 30s.! f See Appendix A, p. 33, X It was only the superstitious observance of Jewish festivals in order to justification which is condemned in Galatians iv. 9, 10, 11. For St. Paul him- self observed them : see Acts xviii. 21 ; xxi. 21 ; &c. And in Romans xiv. 5, 6, he treats their observance or non-observance as a matter of minor importance, and as a subject of Christian liberty. 7 public services provided by our Church on these occasions, the laity are left in the full enjoyment of the Christian liberty granted by the Scripture in these matters, see Romans xiv. 5, 6. Still the instructive and edifying character of these Saints*-day ser- vices is practically illustrated in the Rev. J. B. Marsden*s excellent volume of “ Discourses for the Festivals,” (Hamilton Co. 1844), and in a Review of the same in “the Christian Ob- server,” for February, 1848, pp. 107 — 119. The Reviewer, while showing the desirableness of a more general observance of those festivals which relate to our blessed Lord (p. 119) and especially of Ascension-day (p. Ill), adds that even with “the lesser festivals,” as he had already shown, “ holy, pleasant, and profitable thoughts and feelings may be associated,” ( p . 119). For the Prayer-book in the Saints'-day services, by a simple “ addition to, or slight variation of, the common service, puts “ forward the idea to be presented, with distinctness, but with- “ out violation of the analogy of truth, and takes no step beyond “ the suggestions for thought and prayer which it borrows from “the Scripture,” (p. 110).* And with regard to the observance of these Saints*-days,f Mr. Marsden well observes that “ those “ religious communities which are the first to censure us, display “ the same tendencies themselves. Their anniversaries, centen- “ aries, funereal eulogies, and the like, are of the nature of “ Church festivals — with this singular disadvantage, that their “ number is unlimited ; their objects frequently indefinite ; and ce that they are far more open to objection on the ground of an “ undue exaltation of the dead, than those few and sober “ Festivals which the Church of England retains,” (pp. v. vi). As to the Michaelmas Festival, the ministry of angels is an important Scripture truth (see Heb. i. 14), and is treated as such in “ James* Anxious Inquirer,” (^.pp. 128 — 129) as plainly as in our Church service for this festival. With respect to the Romish, or “black-letter,” feasts and saints* days, the Bishops at the Savoy Conference, in 1661, * Many of the Saints’ day collects were composed anew by the Reformers, and nearly all the rest were altered and improved at the Revision in 1661-2. ( See Bishop Mant's Prayer-Bool c, p. 91 ). t It is, perhaps, to he regretted that churches are not generally opened for at least Morning Prayers on all those days for which services are provided in the Prayer-Book. 8 (when the Prayer-book was last revised) declared that they " are " left in the Calendar, not that they should be so kept as holy “ days, but ” as " being useful ” in some ways, " as for leases, “law-days/* &c. (Cardwell, p. 341). To the same effect speak Wheatly, (p. 54), and Bishop Mant (p. xxx). They are printed in a different type. And the Prayer- book, by excluding these days from its “ Table of all the Feasts that are to be observed in the Church of England,” expressly forbids their religious ob- servance, and proves them to be retained for civil purposes only.* As regards the Fasts, the Rev. J. B. Marsden, in his excellent little treatise on "the Law of Fasting,” well observes that they “ are rather recommended than enforced. The Church does not " undertake to decide with what degree of abstinence they shall “ be observed ; nor indeed, in the case of individuals, whether " whether they should be observed at all,” (p. 23). For further remarks upon this subject, see the Church of England Magazine, for June, 1852, p. 379. THE MINISTERIAL VESTMENTS, &c. The Surplice is a most suitable emblem of the need of Christ's righteousness for ministers no less than for the people, and a memento that no official sanctity can avail them in its stead. That it is no sacerdotal emblem is evident from the fact, that it is worn by lay-clerks in cathedrals. With respect to the Albs and Copes, which some suppose to be enjoined by the present rubric, the Rubric of 1604, required the ornaments of the second year of King Edward VI. to be worn by the minister "at the time of the communion, and at all other times in his ministration ;” but in 1661-2, this Rubric was altered to its present form, “ at all times of their ministration ;” which change — considering that the 58th Canon was before the reviewers — is not without its significance, and would seem to imply the use of one uniform dress “ at all times of their ministration,” and consequently the disuse of any special vestment, such as the Albe or Cope. As to candlesticks on the Lord's Table, Mr. * See some good remarks upon this subject in tlie Churchman’s Monthly Review, March, 1844, p. 218. 9 Lathbury shows that they are not required by this Rubric. See his History of Convocation, c. xv. pp. 391 — 394.* In the Morning Service the Canticle called “ Benedicite,** has been supposed to teach in v. 2, 30, and 32, the invocation of angels and departed saints. But it is only necessary to refer to Psalms ciii. 20, 21, and cxlviii. 2, for a Scriptural illustration of its true meaning. In calling upon all nature — animate and inanimate — to “ praise the Lord,” they are figuratively in- cluded, just as are the “ beasts ** and “ seas.” In the Apostles* Creed, the word “ hell/* means “ Hades,** the place of departed souls, as it does in Acts ii. 27, 31. In the Prayer for the Parliament, the word “ religious,** as applied to the reigning Sovereign, appears to mean, according to Archbishop Seeker, “ what it sometimes means in the lan- “ guage, from which it is derived, the object of most awful “ regard, sacred, a title frequently ascribed to kings,** (M ant’s Prayer-book, p. 83). Thus the Preface to the Liturgy, which was prefixed at the same time that this prayer was added to the Liturgy, speaks of “ His sacred Majesty /* and the phrases “religious observance,** and “sacred observance,** are con- vertible terms. St. Paul, in courtesy, addressed even the scoffing Festus as “most noble Festus,** ( Acts xxvi. 25). For further remarks upon these subjects, see the Church of England Magazine, for June, 1852, pp. 383, 384. THE ATHANASIAN CREED. The “damnatory clauses** of this Creed, to which objec- tions are often raised, — that is to say, verses 1, 2, 28, and 42 — refer exclusively to the doctrine affirmed respecting the true “ worship ** of the Triune God in verses 3, 4, and belief in the Incarnation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, in verse 29, and not to the arguments and proofs advanced in support and confirmation of that doctrine in the rest of the Creed — however valuable they may be in themselves. f We are, therefore, simply reminded by the Creed, that it is necessary in order to salvation * On the whole subject of “ornaments” the reader is referred to Rev. J. C. Robertson’s “How shall we conform to the Liturgy?” pp. 72 — 102, ( Pickering ). f This is the interpretation advocated by Wheatly, Simeon, and Rev. T. H. Horne. 10 to “ worship ** the true God, and that in a true manner, in spirit and in truth, through the one Mediator between God and men, and by one Holy Spirit (see John iv. 24 ; Heb. xi. 6 ; John xiv. 6 ; Ephes. ii. 18) ; and also to believe in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (see Acts iv. 12 ; John viii. 24, xx. 31 ; 1 John ii. 22, 23, iv. 2, 3; 2 John v. 7 ; 1 Cor. xv. 1 — 4, &c.) And the cele- brated Non-conformist, Rd. Baxter, acknowledged, “the dam- natory sentences excepted, or modestly expounded , I embrace the “ Creed, commonly called Athanasius*, as the best explication “of the Trinity/* {quoted by Rev . T . H. Horne). See also Dr. Waterland in Bp. Mant*s Prayer-book, p. 58, and a “Testimony to the three Creeds,** signed and published in 1678, by 54 Bap- tist ministers, in the Christian Observer, July, 1850, p. 460. For further remarks upon this subject, see the Church of England Magazine, for February, 1852, p.90. THE COMMUNION SERVICE. (See 1 Cor. x. 16). Objections have been raised, — (1) . To the word “oblations,** as implying a sacrificial offer- ing of the bread and wine ; but the word refers to pecuniary offerings only — to the “ other devotions of the people.** (2) . To the phrase “ eat and drink our own damnation; ** but the latter word is only the old word for “ condemnation,** ( Bishop Mant } p. 353). See 1 Cor. xi. 29. (3) . To the words “ mystery ** and “ mysteries ;** but they mean no more than “ sacrament ** or “ symbols.** The words “ mystical ** and “ symbolical ** are convertible terms ; thus in the baptismal services, “ the mystical washing away of sin,** means the emblematical or symbolical washing away of sin; and in the last Prayer of this Service, just after the word “ mysteries ,** the word “ mystical ** occurs, obviously meaning figurative or symbolical — “ the mystical body of thy Son.** And so Bishop J oily speaks of “ the bread and cup ** as “ made ** by consecration, “ authoritative representations or symbols of Christ*s** body and blood. (4) . To the expressions respecting the eating and drinking of the body and blood of Christ, which the Catechism teaches us are “ verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the 11 Lord's supper." But this service itself teaches us in one place, that we “ spiritually eat the flesh of Christ, and drink his blood," see 1 Cor. x. 16, 17. And the 28th Article teaches us that it is “ only after an heavenly and spiritual manner." And Dean Nowell in his Catechism of a. d. 1572, reminds us that it is “ only after a heavenly and spiritual manner, but yet verily, and indeed." So that the word spiritually is always to be un- derstood as implied, if not expressed. In the Presbyterian and Puritan Westminster Directory, ( see Hall’s Reliquiae, iii. 57), and in Jacob Abbott's Corner Stone, c. vii. pp. 216, 217, we find figurative language quite as strong as that employed in our Communion Service, if not stronger. (5). To the ceremonial of consecrating the elements. But this is merely for the purpose of designating the portion which is intended for the communicants' use. The bread and wine are afterwards called the “ consecrated elements’ ' which proves that the Church considers them still to be only “ creatures of bread and wine " after consecration. For further remarks on this subject see the Church of England Magazine, for March, 1852, p. 194. THE BAPTISMAL SERVICES. Objections have been raised to — 1. The Sponsorial ar- rangements of the Baptismal Service, and, 2. The doctrine respecting Regeneration. We will consider them under separate heads. 1. The Sponsorial arrangements.* The 27th Article states the retention of Infant Baptism in the Church to be “ most agreeable with the institution of Christ that is, the children of one or both professedly believing parents (1 Cor. vii. 14) may be baptized, when provision is made according to Christ's “ institution," as recorded in Matthew xxviii. 19, 20, to " train " them “up" ( Prov . xxii. 6) in the observance of His commandments — a provision which our own Church attempts to secure through the medium of the Sponsors, (see the Baptis- • The Rubric requires Baptism to be publicly administered. The Puritans’ Directory is even more strict than our Prayer-Book in requiring Baptism to be administered “in the face of the congregation.” LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 12 mal Addresses to the Sponsors).* * * § And so the Baptismal Ser- vice rightly describes the bringing of a child to Baptism in this way, as a “ charitable work,” which the Lord “ favourably alloweth,” that is, permits, or approves. f And the Sponsors merely bind the child hereafter to do that which alone can render the Sacrament of any saving benefit to it, when it comes to years of discretion, see Col. ii. 12 ; 1 Peter iii. 21. J For the questions are put (not to the child, but) to the Sponsors. In the Liturgy of 1549, the questions were indeed ordered to be put to the child ; but in 1552, the Rubric was altered, and it was distinctly said, that they should be put to the Sponsors, (see Keeling, pp. 244, 245). Indeed this is clear from the terms of our present service, “ Dost thou, in the name of this child , renounce, &c. ? ” while the Catechism teaches that “they” do “promise and vow ” the “ three things in ” its “ name” Hence the true meaning is this : “ Do each of you in the name of this child, [promise to] renounce &c. ?” “ Do each of you, [in the name of this child, promise to] believe, &c. ?”§ That is. Do you bind him by covenant, lay him under a covenant ob- * The Church “ requires the consent of the sureties for the infant recipient ; “not because she considers the avowal of that consent as necessary to the “ immediate operation of baptism ; hut because she thus secures, to the utmost “of her power, the instruction of the child in its duties and its privileges ; and “because she knows, that if he be so instructed and trained, he is ‘ bound to “ believe and to do as they have promised for him.’ That this is the real “ reason of her conduct ijs sufficiently evident from the omission of Sponsors “ in the practice of private Baptism, which she permits only to be adminis- “ tered in cases of extreme necessity/’ (Rev. C. Benson's Theological Inquiry , iii. p. 49). Mr. Benson afterwards reminds us, from the permission of Private Baptism without Sponsors, that the promise of the sureties is the reason only why infants “are” not why they may be baptized; why it is expedient not why it is lawful , (iv. p. 70). The baptized person incurs an obligation {Rom. vi. 3, 4) to observe Christ’s commandments, {Matt, xxviii. 20). And to remind him of this is the Sponsors’ duty. For post-baptismal teaching is an important feature in Christ’s “institution ” of this Sacrament. f The Nazarites were in some cases consecrated to God’s service in their infancy. See Numbers vi. 7, 8, 12; Judges xiii. 7 ; 1 Samuel i. 11. X “ Suppose we break the vows and promises we made at our Baptism ? We break our covenant, and of course forfeit the blessings assured to us therein,” (Rev. H. Crossman's “ Introduction ” p. 33/. § In the Baptismal version of the Creed, the word “ flesh ” is founded on Job xix. 26. St. Paul’s words in 1 Cor. xv. 50 refer only to corrupt and corruptible flesh. 13 ligation, so to do in order to receive the blessings promised, and visibly signed and sealed, to him in this Sacrament, or else to justly forfeit them all? (see Deut. xxix. 10, 11, 12; Gen. xvii. 14.) The question to the Sponsors, “ Wilt thou be baptized in this faith ?” seems to mean, “ Will each of you [in the name of this child, promise to] be willing to be baptized in this faith ? ” that is, to ratify and confirm this act of submission to Christian Baptism. Sponsions and promises to a similar effect as ours are required in the Scottish Presbyterian Form of Baptism, appended to Dr. Cumming’s “ Baptismal Font,” p. 75. Before proceeding to the next division of the subject, it may be well to briefly notice two other points objected to, — viz., (1). The Exhortation to “ doubt not” the child’s favourable reception by Christ and final salvation ; but this can refer only to a believing confidence in God’s promises (see Matt. xxi. 22 ; Mark xi. 24) to hear and answer faithful prayer — as the context proves. (2). The sign of the cross ; but the Prayer-book and 30th Canon teach that the Sacrament of Baptism is perfectly complete without this sign, which is merely “ expedient ” as a decent “ ceremony and honourable badge ” of Christ’s service. We come now to — 2. The doctrine respecting Regenera- tion, which these services may be supposed to teach. The rite of Baptism, is an act of Ecclesiastical Dedication by the sign of water to the service of the true God* — the Triune God, the blessed Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost — according to our Saviour’s appointment in Matt, xxviii. 18, 19, 20, by which the recipient of this sacrament is admitted as the pledged and pro- fessed disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Messiah. See Matthew xxviii. 18, in the margin. See also John i. 25, 28, 31 ; iii. 22, 23, 26 ; iv. 1, 2 ; Acts ii. 38 ; xix. 3,4, 5 ; Rom. vi. 3, 4 ; 1 Cor. i. 12 — 14 ; x. 2 ; Gal. iii. 27. See also Baylee’s Institu- tions, p. 75, and the Prophetic Herald, vol. i. pp. 316-17 ; vol. ii. pp. 253, 401, 404, 407). The 27th Article explains the Baptismal doctrine of the Church of England to be this, viz. that Baptism “is a signf of regeneration or new birth, J whereby§ * “ Here dedicated to thee by our office and ministry,” ( Baptismal Services , 7 th Collect ). t “ Sign or Sacrament of” (29 th Article ). X “ A new birth unto righteousness,” ( Catechism ). See 1 John ii. 29. § That is, by which sign ; “ signum . . . per quod.” 14 as by an instrument, they that receive* Baptism rightly [not invariably receive ‘ the inward part or thing signified/ but] are grafted into the Church, with (not the absolute convey- ance of, but) the visible signing and sealing of “ the promises of forgiveness ” and of “ adoption by the Holy Ghost.”;j; All the “ grace ” beyond this in Baptism, the Article declares to be an increase granted in answer to prayer unto God ; “ faith is con- firmed, and grace increased by virtue of prayer unto God.”§ The Baptismal Service appears to be founded upon our Lord’s language in John iii. 5, where “born of water” seems to refer to the open reception of that Baptism, which was the sign, seal, pledge and badge of discipleship (see John i. 25 ; iii. 22,, 23, 26 ; iv. 1, 2), and “ born of the Spirit,” to the inward renewal of the soul by the Holy Ghost. Hence these terms have in theological * “ Receive ” it “rightly,” — not to whom it is rightly administered. f That is, into the visible Church of Christ or the Christian Church, as Rev. J. W. J. Bennett proves from the Reformers’ writings, in his Catechism, pp. 44 — 50. X These are “the promises of God made to them in that Sacrament ” ( Ca- techism ), which “ are visibly signed and sealed ” to the recipients, so that the blessings are conditionally assured to them — “ conditionally made over to them,” as Bp. Bethell (ii. 15) says of unworthy adults — and will he granted to them on the fulfilment of the specified terms, viz., repentance and faith, “both ” of which infants “ promise by their sureties ; which promise, when they come to age, themselves are hound to perform,” ( Catechism ). So then solemn pro- mises and pledges being given on each side, a covenant state ensues ; the baptized are pledged to certain doctrines and duties, and admitted to certain conditional privileges; but they may “transgress” the covenant and “abide not in it.” ( See Hosea vi. 7 ; viii. 1 ; Heb. viii. 9). By “ one Baptism for the remission of sins,” is meant that by Baptism remission of sins is sealed and assured on the Gospel terms. § Bishop Beveridge, writing upon the 27th Article, says that “in baptism “ our faith is confirmed, and grace increased ; not by virtue of the water itself, “ but by virtue of prayer, whereby God is prevailed with to purify our souls by “ His Spirit, as our bodies are washed with the water,” (p. 456). Again, “So “ that it is not to the water itself, but to the Spirit in the water we are to as- “cribe these glorious effects; and therefore it is here said , that in baptism “ ‘faith is confirmed, and grace increased by prayer to God.' We must pray for “ God' s presence in the Sacrament ; for without that we can receive no blessing “from it; but with that there is no blessing but we may have in it,” (p. 459). In proof of this see the Exhortations and Collects in the Baptismal Service, and the arguments in the Christian Observer for November, 1848, pp. 721 — 728. Even in the special case of Private Baptism, the minister is not to baptize without first calling upon God in prayer. 15 language been technically distinguished as “ Ecclesiastical Regeneration/'* (that is Regeneration by water “in the eye of the Church/' Hooker , b . v. c , 60, s, 3, in the language of the Church, and “by the ministry of the Church/' Hooker, b , 5, c. 50, 5, 1), and “ Spiritual Regeneration," that is, Regeneration by the Holy Ghost operating upon the soul — the decisive change of heart de- scribed in the Church-Homily for Whit-Sunday, part 1 . And as the Jews termed their baptized proselytes “regenerate," so the bap- tized Christian may be said in Theological and Ecclesiastical lan- guage, wherein, by a metonomy the sign is often called by the name of the thing signified, to be by baptism “born again [of water] into a new state of ecclesiastical dedication to the true God, and of pledged and sacramentally professed Christian discipleship/'f as being made therein the pledged disciple and consecrated servant of the Lord J esus, and pledged to be trained up as His disciple, or in one word “ christened for the term disciple is not limited to established believers of any faith, (see John vi. 66 ; ix. 28) : besides which he may be said to have outwardly and visibly entered the Christian covenant as being the pledged dis- ciple of Christ, and the recipient of the visible sign and seal of * By some it is termed “ Sacramental,” by others “ Baptismal ” Regene- ration, as distinguished from “ Spiritual” Regeneration. “ Ecclesiastical Regeneration ” is a Theological term to express the Scriptural idea of “ born of water” {John iii. 5), just as the word Trinity is to express the “ three in one,” — “these three are one,” (1 John v. 7) ; that is, the three Persons are one Godhead, just as in speaking of the human soul, life, and body, — the “spirit and soul and body” (1 Thess. v. 23) — we may truly say, “and these three are one,” i, e ., are one man, and constitute one manhood. “ God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,” {Gen, i. 26), i. e , apparently, as a triune being. f See Whitby’s Commentary on Titus iii. 5, and John iii. 3, 5, and the Christian Guardian, December, 1850, p. 560. X “ Baptism doth represent unto us our profession ; which is, to follow the “ example of our Saviour Christ , and to he made like unto Him ; that, as He “ died, and rose again for us, so should we, who are baptized, die from sin, “and rise again unto righteousness; continually mortifying all our evil and “ corrupt affections, and daily proceeding in all virtue and godliness of living,” (Baptismal Service), And the person baptized has of course received the Sacrament of Baptism “ in token that hereafter he ” should “not be ashamed “ to confess the faith of Christ crucified, and manfully to fight under his “banner, against sin, the world, and the devil; and to continue Christ’s “faithful soldier and servant unto his life’s end,” (Baptismal Service), 16 Cf the promises of forgiveness ” and “ adoption,” (2 7th Article ). Of course this does not necessarily include the spiritual birth, or birth of the spirit.* Now in the opening address of the Baptismal Service, both are spoken of as needful for the child in order to his becoming a true subject of God's holy kingdom upon earth. And in the Collects following we hope and we pray, as the 27th Article reminds us, for all the highest blessings which the Lord can bestow, to be granted to the child, even for “ remission of his sins by spiritual regeneration” (that is such a change of heart as shall ensure hereafter true repentance and faith) and “ for eternal life ;” just as the Puritans' “ Directory ” enjoins prayer that the Lord “ would join the inward Baptism of his Spirit with the outward baptism of water” &c. &c. But the gifts and the benefits spoken of in the post-baptismal declaration and thanks- giving, as having been actually conferred by baptism, appear to refer not to the gift of “ Spiritual regeneration,” with its attend- ant blessings, which has previously been the subject of such earnest prayer, t but to that of “ Ecclesiastical Eegeneration ” * In the Church-Homily for Whit-Sunday, (which the 35th Article affirms to contain “ godly and wholesome doctrine ”) after an allusion to David, Matthew, Peter, and Paul, we read : “ Such is the power of the Holy Ghost “ to regenerate men, and as it were to bring them forth anew, so that they shall “ be nothing like the men that they were before. Neither doth He think it sufficient “ inwardly to work the Spiritual and new birth of man, unless He do also dwell “ and abide in him.” And then, after a call to self-examination on this subject, it adds that “ the Holy Ghost doth always declare Himself by His fruitful and gracious gifts,” (Part i.