Penance The Aggregate of all these is the Matter and the Form are the words Ego te Absolvo Now besides what we have to say upon every one of these particulars the Matter of a Sacrament must be some visible Sign applied to him that receives it Innoc. 3. in 4. later Can. 21 22. Conc. Trid. Sess. 14. c. 5. It is therefore a very absurd thing to imagine that a Man 's own Thoughts Words or Actions can be the Matter of a Sacrament How can this be sanctified or applied to him It will be a thing no less absurd to make the Form of a Sacrament to be a practice not much elder than Four hundred Year since no Ritual can be produced nor Author cited for this Form for above a Thousand Years after Christ. All the ancient Forms of receiving Penitents having been by a Blessing in the Form of a Prayer or a Declaration but none of them in these positive words I Absolve thee We think this want of Matter and this new invented Form being without any Institution in Scripture and different from so long a practice of the whole Church are such reasons that we are fully justified in denying Penance to be a Sacrament But because the Doctrine of Repentance is a point of the highest importance there arise several things here that ought to be very carefully examined As to Confession we find in the Scriptures that such as desired St. Iohn's Baptism Matt. 3.6 came confessing their sins but that was previous to Baptism We find also that scandalous Persons were to be openly rebuked before all and so to be put to shame 1 Tim. 5.10 in which no doubt there was a Confession and a publication of the Sin but that was a matter of the Discipline and Order of the Church which made it necessary to note such persons as walked disorderly 2 Thess. 3.14 1 Cor. 5.11 and to have no fellowship with them sometimes not so much as to eat with them who being Christians and such as were called Brothers were a reproach to their Profession But besides the Power given to the Apostles of binding and loosing which as was said on another Head belonged to other matters we find that when our Saviour breathed on his Apostles and gave them the Holy Ghost he with that told them That whose soever sins they remitted John 20.23 they were remitted and whose soever sins they retained they were retained Since a Power of remitting or retaining sin was thus given to them they infer that it seems reasonable that in order to their dispensing it with a due caution the knowledge of all sins ought to be laid open to them Some have thought that this was a Personal thing given to the Apostles with that Miraculous effusion of the Holy Ghost with which such a discerning of Spirits was communicated to them that they could discern the sincerity or hypocrisy of those that came before them by this St. Peter discovered the sin of Ananias and Saphira Acts 5.3 9. and he also saw that Simon of Samaria was in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity So they conclude that this was a part of that extraordinary and miraculous Authority which was given to the Apostles and to them only Acts 8.23 But others who distinguish between the full extent of this Power and the Ministerial Authority that is still to be continued in the Church do believe that these Words may in a lower and more limited Sense belong to the Successors of the Apostles but they argue very strongly that if these Words are to be understood in their full extent as they lie a Priest has by them an absolute and unlimited Power in this Matter not restrained to Conditions or Rules so that if he does Pardon or retain sins whether in that he does right or wrong the sins must be pardoned or retained accordingly He may indeed sin in using it wrong for which he must answer to God but he seems by the literal meaning of these Words to be cloathed with such a Plenipotentiary Authority that his Act must be valid though he may be punished for imploying it amiss An Ambassador that has full Powers though limited by secret Instructions does bind him that so empowered him by every Act that he does pursuant to his Powers how much soever it may go beyond his Instructions for how obnoxious soever that may render him to his Master it does not at all lessen the Authority of what he has done nor the Obligation that arises out of it So these words of Christ's if applied to all Priests must belong to them in their full extent and if so the Salvation or the Damnation of Mankind is put absolutely in the Priest's Power Nor can it be answered That the Conditions of the Pardon of sin that are expressed in the other parts of the Gospel are here to be understood though they are not expressed As we are said to be saved if we believe which does not imply that a single Act of believing the Gospel without any thing else puts us in a state of Salvation In Opposition to this we Answer That the Gospel having so described Faith to us as the Root of all other Graces and Virtues as that which produces them and which is known by them all that is promised upon our Faith must be understood of a Faith so qualified as the Gospel represents it and therefore that cannot be applied to this Case where an unlimited Authority is so particularly exprest that no Condition seems to be implied in it If any Conditions are elsewhere laid upon us in order to our Salvation then according to their Doctrine we may say that of them which they say of Contrition upon this occasion That they are necessary when we cannot procure the Priest's Pardon but that by it the want of them all may be supplied and that the Obligation to them all is superseded by it And if any Conditions are to be understood as limits upon this Power why are not all the Conditions of the Gospel Faith Hope and Charity Contrition and New Obedience made necessary in order to the lawful dispensing of it as well as Confession Attrition and the doing the Penance enjoyned Therefore since no Condition is here named as a restraint upon this General Power that is pretended to be given to Priests by those words of our Saviour they must either be understood as simple and unconditional or they must be limited to all the Conditions that are expressed in the Gospel For there is not the colour of a reason to restrain them to some of them and to leave out the rest And thus we think we are fully justified by saying that by these Words our Saviour did indeed fully empower the Apostles to publish his Gospel to the World and to declare the Terms of Salvation and of obtaining the Pardon of Sin in which they were to be infallibly assisted so that they could
Magistratibus REgia Majesâ—as in hoc Angliae regno ac caeteris ejus dominiis summam habet potestatem ad quam omnium statuum hujus regni sive illi Ecclesiastici sint sive civiles in omnibus causis suprema gubernatio pertinet nulli externae jurisdictioni est subjecta nec esse debet Cum Regiae Majestati summam gubernationem tribuimus quibus titulis intelligimus animos quorundam calumniatorum offendi non damus Regibus nostris aut verbi Dei aut Sacramentorum administrationem quod etiam Injunctiones ab Elizabetha Regina nostra nuper editae apertissime testantur Sed eam tantum praerogativam quam in sacris Scripturis a Deo ipso omnibus piis Principibus videmus semper fuisse attributam hoc est ut omnes status atque ordines fidei suae a Deo commissos sive illi Ecclesiastici sint sive civiles in officio contineant conâ—umaces ac delinquentes gladio civili coerceant Romanus pontifex nullam habet jurisdictionem in hoc regno Angliae Leges Regni possunt Christianos propter capitalia gravia crimina morte punire Christianis licet ex mandato Magisâ—ratus arma portare justa bella administrare De illicita bonorum communicatione FAcultates bona Christianorum non sunt communia quoad jus possessionem ut quidam Anabaptisâ—ae falso jactant debet tamen quisque de his quae possidet pro facultatum ratione pauperibus eleemosynas benigne distribuere De jure jurando QUemadmodum juramentum vanum temerarium a Domino nostro Jesu Christo Apostolo ejus Jacobo Christianis hominibus interdictum esse faâ—emur 〈◊〉 â—hrisâ—ianorum Religionem minime prohibere censemus quin jubente magistratu in causa fidei charitatis jurare liceat modo id fiat juxta Prophetae doctrinam in justitia in judicio veritate Confirmatio Articulorum HIC liber antedictorum Articulorum jam denuo approbatus est per assensum consensum Serenissimae Reginae Elizabethae Dominae nostrae Dei gratia Angliae â—raâ—ciae Hiberniae Reginae defensoris fidel c. retinendus per totum Regnum Angliae exequendus Qui Articuli lecti sunt denuo confirmati subscriptione D. Archiepiscopi Episcoporum superioris domus totius Cleri inferioris domus in Convocatione Anno Domini 1571. THE TABLE of the Contents INâ—roduction Page 1 Hâ—resies gave the Rise to larger Articles Ibid. A Form of Doctrine settled by the Apostles 2 Bâ—shops sent râ—und them a Declaration of their Faith Ibid. These were afterwards enlarged 3 This dâ—ne at the Council of Nice Ibid. Mâ—ny wild Sects at the beginning of the Reformation 4 And many complying-Papists put them on framing this Collection Ibid. The Articles set out at first by the King's Authority 5 A Question whether they are only Articles of Peace or of Dâ—ctrine 6 They bind the Consciences of the Clergy Ibid. The Laity only bound to Peace by them 7 The Subscription to them imports an Assent to them and not only an acquiescing in them 8 But the Articles may have different Senses and if the Words will bear them there is no Prevâ—rication in subscribing them so Ibid. This illustrated in the Third Article 9 The various Readings of the Articles collated with the MSS. Ibid. An Account of those various Readings 16 ARTICLE I. 17 THat there is a God proved by the Consent of Mankind Ibid. Oâ—j 1. Some Nations do not believe a Deity This is answered 18 Obj. 2. It is not the same Belief among them alâ— This is answered Ibid. The Visible World proves a Deity 19 Time nor Number cannot be Eternal nor Infinite Ibid. Moral Arguments to prove that the World had a Beginning 20 Such a Regular Frame could not be fortuitâ—us Ibid. Objection from the Production of Insects answered 21 Argument from Miracles well attested 22 Argument from the Idea of God examined Ibid. God is Eternal and necâ—ssarily exists 23 The Vnity of the Deity Ibid. God is without Body 24 Outward Manifâ—stations only to declare his Presence and Authority 25 No successive Acts in God 26 Question concerning God's immanent Acts Ibid. God has no Pâ—ssions 27 Phrases in Scripture of these explained Ibid. Some Thoughts concerning the Power and Wisdom of God 28 True Ideas of the Goodness of God Ibid. Of Creation and Annihilation 30 Of the Providence of God 31 Objections against it answered 32 Whether God does immediately produce all things 33 Thought and Liberty not proper to Matter 34 Whether Beasts think or are only Machines Ibid. How Bodies and Spirits are united 35 The Doctrine of the Trinity 36 Whether revealed in the Old Testament or not 37 The Doctrine stated Ibid. Argument from the Form of Baptism 38 Other Arguments for it 39 This was received in the First Ages of Christianity 40 Some Attempt to the stating true Ideas of God 41 ARTICLE II. 43 CHrist how the Son of God Ibid. Argument from the Beginning of St. John's Gospel 44 Reflections on the state of the World at that time 45 Arguments from the Epistle to the Philippians Ibid. Other Arguments complicated 46 Argument from Adoration due to him 47 The Silence of the Jews proves this was not then thought to be Idolatry by them 49 Argument from the Epistle to the Hebrews 50 God and Man in Christ made one Person 51 An Account of Nestorius's Doctrine 52 The Truth of Christ's Resurrection Ibid. Christ was to us an Expiatory Sacrifice 53 An Account of Expiatory Sacrifiâ—eâ— 54 The Agonies of Christ explained 55 ARTICLE III. 56 RUffin first published this in the Creed Ibid. Several Senses put on this Article 57 A Local Descent into Hell Ibid. What may be the true sense of the Article 58 ARTICLE IV. 59 THE Proof of Christ's Resurrection Ibid. The Jews in that Time did not disprove it 60 Several Proofs of the Incredibility of a Forgery in this matter 61 The Nature and Proof of a Miracle 62 What must be ascribed to good or evil Spirits 63 The Apostles could not be imposed on Ibid. Nor could they have imposed on the World 64 Of Christ's Ascension 65 Curiosity in these matters taxed Ibid. The Authority with which Christ is now vested 66 ARTICLE V. 68 THE senses of the word Holy Ghost Ibid. It stands oft for a Person 69 Curiosities to be avoided about Procession Ibid. The Holy Ghost is truly God 70 ARTICLE VI. 71 THE Controversy about Oral Tradition 72 That was soon corrupted Ibid. Guarded against by Revelation 73 Tradition corrupted among the Jews 74 The Scripture appealed to by Christ and the Apostles 75 What is well proved from Scripture 76 Objections from the darkness of Scripture answered 77 No sure guard against Error nor against Sin 78 The Proof of the Canon of the Scripture 79 Particularly of the New Testament 80 These Books were early received 81 The Canon of the Old Testament proved 82 Concerning the Pentateuch 83 Objections against the Old
Testament answered 84 Concerning the various Readings 85 The nature and degrees of Inspiration 86 Concerning the Historical parts of Scripture 87 Concerning the Reasonings in Scripture 88 Of the Apocryphal Books 89 ARTICLE VII 91 NO difference between the Old and New Testament Ibid. Proofs in the Old Testament of the Messias 92 In the Prophets chiefly in Daniel 94 The Proofs all summed up 95 Objections of the Jews answered 96 The hopes of anotheâ— Life in the Old Testament 97 Our Saviour proved the Resurrection from the words to Moses 98 Expiation of Sin in the Old Dispensation 99 Sins then expiated by the Blood of Christ Ibid. Of the Rites and Ceremonies among the Jews 100 Of their Iudiciary Laws 101 Of the Moral Law Ibid. The Principles of Morality 102 Of Idolatry 103 Concerning the Sabbath Ibid. Of the Second Table 104 Of not coveting what is our Neighbours 105 ARTICLE VIII 106 COncerning the Creed of Athanasius Ibid. And the condemning Clauses in it Ibid. Of the Apostles Creed 107 ARTICLE IX 108 DIfferent Opinions concerning Original Sin Ibid. All men liable to Death by it 109 A Corruption spread through the whole Race of Adam Ibid. Of the state of Innocence 110 Of the effects of Adam's Fall 111 God's Iustice vindicated 112 Of the Imputation of Adam's Sin 113 St. Austin's Doctrine in this Point 114 This is opposed by many others Ibid. Both sides pretend their Doctrines agree with the Article 116 ARTICLE X. 117 THE true Notion of Liberty Ibid. The Feebleness of our present state 118 Inward Assistances promised in the New Covenant 119 The effect that these have on men 120 Concerning Preventing-Grace Ibid. Of its being efficacious or universal 121 ARTICLE XI 122 COncerning Iustification Ibid. Concerning Faith 123 The differences between the Church of England and the Church of Rome in this Point 124 The conditions upon which men are justified 126 The use to be made of this Doctrine 127 ARTICLE XII 128 THE necessity of Holiness Ibid. Concerning Merit 129 Of the defects of Good Works Ibid. ARTICLE XIII 131 ACTIONS in themselves good yet may be sins in him who does them Ibid. Of the Seventh Chapter to the Romans 132 This is not a total Incapacity Ibid. ARTICLE XIV 133 Oâ— the great extent of our Duty Ibid. No Counsels of Perfection 134 Many Duties which do not bind at all times Ibid. It is not possible for man to supererogate 135 Objections against this answered 136 The steps by which that Doctrine prevailed 137 ARTICLE XV. 138 CHrist's spotless Holiness Ibid. Of the Imperfections of the best men 139 ARTICLE XVI 140 COncerning Mortal and Venial Sin Ibid. Of the Sin against the Holy Ghost Ibid. Of the Pardon of Sin after Baptism 141 That as God forgives the Church ought also to forgive 142 Concerning Apostacy and sin unto Death 143 ARTICLE XVII 145 THE state of the Question 146 The Doctrine of the Supralapsarians and Sublapsarians Ibid. The Doctrine of the Remonstrants and the Socinians 147 This is a Controversy that arises out of Natural Religion Ibid. The History of this Controversy both in ancient and modern times 148 The Arguments of the Supralapsarians 152 The Arguments of the Sublapsarians 158 The Arguments of the Remonstrants 159 They affirm a certain Prescience 161 The Socinians Plea 164 General Reflections on the whole matter 165 The advantages and disadvantages of both sides and the faults of both 166 In what both do agree 167 The sense of the Article 168 The Cautions added to it Ibid. Passages in the Liturgy explained 169 ARTICLE XVIII 171 PHilosophers thought men might be saved in all Religions Ibid. So do the Mahometans Ibid. None are saved but by Christ 172 Whether some may not be saved by him who never heard of him Ibid. None are in Covenant with God but through the knowledge of Christ 173 But for others we cannot judge of the extent of the Mercies of God Ibid. Curiosity is to be restrained 174 ARTICLE XIX 175 WE ought not to believe that any are Infallible without good Authority Ibid. Iust prejudices against some who pretend to it 176 No Miracles brought to prove this Ibid. Proofs brought from Scripture 177 Things to be supposed previous to these Ibid. A Circle is not to be admitted Ibid. The Notes given of the true Church 178 These are examined Ibid. And whether they do agree to the Church of Rome 179 The Truth of Doctrine must be first settled Ibid. A Society that has a true Baptism is a true Church 180 Sacraments are not annulled by every Corruption Ibid. We own the Baptism and Orders given in the Church of Rome 181 And yet justify our separating from them Ibid. Objections against private judging 182 Our Reasons are given us for that end Ibid. Our Minds are free as our Wills are 183 The Church is still Visible but not Infallible Ibid. Of the Popes Infallibility 184 That was not pretended to in the first Ages Ibid. The Dignity of Sees rose from the Cities 185 Popes have fallen into Heresy Ibid. Their Ambition and Forgeries Ibid. Their Cruelty 186 The Power of deposing Princes claimed by them as given them by God Ibid. This was not a Corruption only of Discipline but of Doctrine 187 Arguments for the Popes Infallibility 188 No Foundation for it in the New Testament Ibid. St. Peter never clâ—imed it 189 Christ's words to him explained Ibid. Of the Kâ—ys of the Kingdâ—m of Hâ—â—vâ—n 190 Of binding and loosing Ibid. ARTICLE XX. 192 OF Church Power in Rituals Ibid. The Practice of the Jewish Church 193 Changes in these sometimes necâ—ssary Ibid. The Practice of the Ap stles 194 Sâ—bjâ—cts must obey in lawful things Ibid. But Superiâ—rs must not impose too much 195 The Church has Authority though not Infallible Ibid. Great Respâ—ct due to her Decisions 196 But no absâ—lute Submâ—ssion Ibid. The Church is the Depâ—sitary of the Scriptures 197 The Church of Rome run in a Circle Ibid. ARTICLE XXI 199 COuncils cannot be called but by the Consent of Princes Ibid. Tâ—e first were called by the Roman Emperors Ibid. Afterwards the Popes called them 200 Then some Councils thought on methods to fix their meeting Ibid. What makâ—s a Council to be General Ibid. What numbers are necessary 201 Hâ—w thâ—y must he cited Ibid. Nâ— Rules given in Scripture concerning their Constitution Ibid. Nazianzen's Complaints of Councils 202 Councils have been câ—ntrary to one another Ibid. Disâ—rders and Intriguâ—s in Councils Ibid. They judgâ— not by Inspiration Ibid. The Churches may examine their proceedings and judge of them 203 Concerning the Popes Bull confirming them Ibid. Thâ—y have an Authority but not absolute Ibid. Nâ—r do they need the Popes Bulls 204 The several Churches know their Traditions best Ibid. The Fathers do argue for the truth of the decisions but not from their authority Ibid. No prospect of another General Council 205 Popes are jealous of them Ibid. And the World expects little from them Ibid. Concerning the words
had certainly put the chief strength of their Cause on this That they adhered to the Apostles Creed in opposition to the Innovations of the Nicene Fathers There is therefore no reason to believe that this Creed was prepared by the Apostles or that it was of any great Antiquity since Ruffin was the first that published it It is true he published it as the Creed of the Church of Aquileia but that was so late that neither this nor the other Creeds have any Authority upon their own account Great Respect is indeed due to things of such Antiquity and that have been so long in the Church but after all we receive those Creeds not for their own sakes nor for the sake of those who prepared them but for the sake of the Doctrine that is contained in them because we believe that the Doctrine which they declare is contained in the Scriptures and chiefly that which is the main Intent of them which is to assert and profess the Trinity therefore we do receive them tho we must acknowledge that the Creed ascribed to Athanasius as it was none of his so it was never established by any General Council ARTICLE IX Of Original or Birth-Sin Original Sin standeth not in the following of Adam as the Pelagians do vainly talk but it is the fault or corruption of the nature of every man that naturally is engendred of the Offspring of Adam whereby man is very far gone from Original Righteousness and is of his own nature inclined to evil so that the Flesh lusteth always contrary to the Spirit and therefore in every Person born into the World it deserveth God's Wrath and Damnation And this Infection of Nature doth remain yea in them that are regenerated whereby the Lust of the Flesh called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which some do expound the Wisdom some Sensuality some the Affection some the Desire of the Flesh is not subject to the Law of God And though there is no Condemnation for them that believe and are baptized yet the Apostle doth confess That Concupiscence and Lust hath of it self the nature of Sin AFter the First Principles of the Christian Religion are stated and the Rule of Faith and Life was setled the next thing that was to be done was to declare the special Doctrines of this Religion and that first with relation to all Christians as they are single Individuals for the directing every one of them in order to the working out his own Salvation which is done from this to the Nineteenth Article And then with relation to them as they compose a Society called the Church which is carried on from the Nineteenth to the End In all that has been hitherto explained the whole Church of England has been all along of one mind In this and in some that follow there has been a greater diversity of Opinion but both sides have studied to prove their Tenets to be at least not contrary to the Articles of the Church These different Parties have disputed concerning the Decrees of God and those Assistances which pursuant to his Decrees are afforded to us But because the Foundation of those Decrees and the Necessity of those Assistances are laid in the Sin of Adam and in the Effects it had on Mankind therefore thâ—se Controversies begin on this Head The Pelagians and the Socinians agree in saying That Adam's Sin was Personal That by it as being the first Sin it is said that Sin entred into the World But that as Adam was made mortal â—om 5 1â— and had died whether he had sinned or not so they think the liberty of Human Nature is still entire and that every man is punished for his own sins and not for the sin of another to do otherwise they say seems contrary to Justice not to say Goodness In opposition to this Iudgment is said to have come upon many to condemnation through one either Man or Sin ver 1â— Death is said to have reigned by one and by one man's offence and many are said to be dead through the offence of one All these Passages do intimate that death is the consequence of Adam's Sin and that in him as well as in all others Death was the Wages of Sin so also that we dye upon the account of his Sin We are said to bear the Image of the first Adam as true Christians bear the Image of the second Now we are sure that there is both a derivation of Righteousness 1 Cor 15.49 and a Communication of Inward Holiness transferred to us through Christ So it seems to follow from thence that there is somewhat both transferred to us and conveyed down throughMankind by the first Adam and particularly that by it we are all made subject to Death from which we should have been freed if Adam had continued in his first state and that by virtue of the Tree of Life Gen. 3.22 in which some think there was a natural Virtue to cure all Diseases and relieve against all Accidents while others do ascribe it to a Divine Blessing of which that Tree was only the Symbol or Sacrament through the words said after Adam's sin as the reason of driving him out of Paradise lest he put forth his hand and take of the Tree of Life and eat and live for ever seem to import that there was a Physical Virtue in the Tree that could so fortify and restore Life as to give Immortality These do also think that the Threatning made to Adam That upon his eating the forbidden Fruit he should surely dye is to be taken literally and is to be carried no further than to a Natural Death This Subjection to Death and to the Fear of it brings men under a slavish Bondage many Terrors and other Passions and Miseries that arise out ofit which they think is a great Punishment and that it is a Condemnation and Sentence of Death passed upon the whole Race and by this they are made sinners that is treated as guilty Persons and severely punished This they think is easily enough reconciled with the Notions of Justice and Goodness in God since this is only a Temporary Punishment relating to mens Persons And we see in the common methods of Providence that Children are in this sort often punished for the sins of their Fathers most men that come under a very ill habit of Body transmit the Seeds of Diseases and Pains to their Children They do also think that the Communication of this liableness to death is easily accounted for and they imagine that as the Tree of Life might be a Plant that furnished men with an Universal Medicine so the forbidden Fruit might derive a slow Poyson into Adam's Body that might have exalted and inflamed his Blood very much and might though by a slower operation certainly brought on death at the last Our being thus adjudged to Death and to all the Miseries that accompany Mortality they think may be well called the wrath of
must be supplied by the Inventions of Men Which they oppose so much the more because they think that all the Corruptions of Popery began at some Rites which seemed at first not only Innocent but Pious but were afterwards abused to superstition and Idolatry and swelled up to that bulk as to oppress and stifle true Religion with their Number and Weight A great part of this is in some respect true yet that we may examine the matter methodically we shall first consider What Power the Church has in those matters and then What Rules she ought to govern her self by in the use of that Power It is very visible that in the Gospels and Epistles there are but few Rules laid down as to Ritual Matters In the Epistles there are some general Rules given that must take in a great many Cases such as Let all things be done to Edification to Order and to Peace And in the Epistles to Timothy and Titus Rom. 14 1â— 1 Cor. 14.40 many Rules are given in such general words as Lay hands suddenly on no Man that in order to the guiding of particular Cases by them many distinctions and specialties were to be interposed to the making them practicable and useful In matters that are merely Ritual the state of Mankind in different Climates and Ages is apt to vary and the same things that in one Scene of Human Nature may look grave and seâ—m fit for any Society may in another Age look light and dissipate mens thoughts It is also evident that there is not a System of Rules given in the New Testament about all these and yet a due method in them is necessary to maintain the Order and Decency that become Divine things This seems to be a part of the Gospel Liberty That it is not a Law of Ordinances these things being left to be varied according to the diversities of Mankind The Iewish Religion was delivered to one Nation Gal. 2.4 4.9 5. â— and the main parts of it were to be performed in one place they were also to be limited in Rituals lest they might have taken some Practices from their Neighbours round about them and so by the use of their Rites have rendred Idolatrous Practices more familiar and acceptable to them And yet they had many Rites among them in our Saviour's time which are not mentioned in any part of the Old Testament such was the whole Constitution of their Synagogues with all the Service and Officers that belonged to them They had a Baptism among them besides several Rites added to the Paschal Service Our Saviour reproved them for none of these he hallowed some of them to be the Foederal Rites of his New Dispensation he went to their Synagogues and though he reproved them for overvaluing their Rites for preferring them to the Laws of God and making these void by their Traditions yet he does not condemn them for the use of them And while of the greater Precepts he says These things ye ought to have done Matth. 23.23 he adds concerning their Rites and lesser matters and not to have left the other undone If then such a liberty was allowed in so limited a Religion it seems highly suitable to the sublimer state of the Christian Liberty that there should be room left for such Appointments or Alterations as the different state of times and places should require In hotter Countries for instance there is no danger in dipping but if it is otherwise in colder Câ—imates than since Mercy is better than even Sacrifice Hos. 6.6 Matth. 12.7 a more sparing use may be made of Water Aspersion may answer the true end of Baptism A stricter or gentler Discipline of Offenders must be also proportioned to what the Times will bear and what Men can be brought to submit to The dividing of Christians into such Districts that they may have the best Conveniences to assemble themselves together for Worship and for keeping up of Order the appointing the Times as well as the Places of Worship are certainly to be fixed with the best regard to present Circumstances that may be The bringing Christian Assemblies into Order and Method is necessary for their Solemnity and for preventing that dissipation of Thought that a diversity of Behaviour might occasion And though a Kiss of Peace and an Order of Deaconesses were the Practices of the Apostolical Time yet when the one gave occasion to Raillery and the other to Scandal all the World was and still is satisfied with the reasons of letting both fall Now if Churches may lay aside Apostolical Practices in Matters that are Ritual it is certainly much easier to justifie their making new Rules for such things since it is a higher Attempt to alter what was settled by the Apostles themselves than to set up new Rules in Matters which they left untouch'd Habits and Postures are the necessary Circumstances of all Publick Meetings The times of Fasting and of Prayer the Days of Thanksgiving and Communions are all of the same nature The Publick Confession of Sins by scandalous Persons the time and manner of doing it The previous steps that some Churches have made for the Trial of those who were to be received into Holy Orders that so by a longer Inspection into their Behaviour while in lower Orders they might discover how fit they were to be admitted into the Sacred Ones And chiefly the prescribing stated Forms for the several Acts of Religious Worship and not leaving that to the Capacities of Humours to the Inventions and often to the Extravagancies of those who are to officiate All these things I say fall within those general Rules given by the Apostles to the Churches in their time Where we find that the Apostles had their Customs 1 Cor. 12.16 ch 9.19 to 23. as well as the Churches of God which were then opposed to the innovating and the contentious humours of some factious Men. And such a Pattern have the Apostles set us of complying with those things that are regulary settled wheresoever we are that we find they became all things to all Men To the Iews they became Iews though that was a Religion then extinguished in its obligation by the Promulgation of the Gospel and was then fallen under great corruption Yet in order to the gaining of some of them such was the Spirit of Charity and Edification with which the Apostles were acted that while they were among them they complied in the Practice of those abrogated Rites though they asserted both the Liberty of the Gentiles and even their own in that matter It was only a Compliance and not a Submission to their Opinions that made them observe days and distinguish meats while among them If then such Rites and the Rites of such a Church were still complied with by Inspired Men this is an Infallible Pattern to us and let us see upon how much stronger Reasons we who are under those Obligations to Vnity and Charity with all Christians
not err in discharging their Commission and the Terms of the Covenant of Grace being thus settled by them all who were to succeed them were also empowered to go on with the Publication of this Pardon and of those glad Tidings to the World So that whatsoever they declared in the Name of God conform to the Tenor of that which the Apostles were to settle should be always made good We do also acknowledge that the Pastors of the Church have in the way of Censure and Government a Ministerial Authority to remit or to retain Sins as they are Matters of Scandal or Offence tho' that indeed does not seem to be the meaning of those Words of our Saviour and therefore we think that the power of pardoning and retaining is only declaratory so that all the exercises of it are are then only effectual when the Declarations of the Pardon are made conform to the Conditions of the Gospel This Doctrine of ours how much soever decried of late in the Roman Church as striking at the Root of the Priestly Authority yet has been maintained by some of their best Authors and some of the greatest of their School-men Thus we have seen upon what reason it is that we do not conclude from hence that Auricular Confession is necessary in which we think that we are fully confirmed by the Practice of many of the Ages of theChristian Church which did not understand these words as containing anObligation to Secret Confession It is certain that the Practice and Tradition of the Church must be relied on here if in any thing since there was nothing that both Clergy and Laity were more concerned both to know and to deliver down faithfully than this on which the Authority of the one and the Salvation of the other depended so much Such a Point as this could never have been forgot or mistaken many and clear Rules must have been given about it It is a thing to which Humane Nature has so much repugnancy that it must in the first forming of Churches have been infused into them as absolutely necessary in order to Pardon and Salvation A Church could not now be formed according to the Doctrine and Practice of the Church of Rome without very full and particular Instructions both to Priests and People concerning Confession and Absolution It is the most intricate Part of their Divinity and that which the Clergy must be most ready at In Opposition to all this let it be considered that though there is a great deal said in the New Testament concerning Sorrow for Sin Repentance and Remission of Sins yet there is not a Word said nor a Rule given concerning Confession to be made to a Priest and Absolution to be given by him There is indeed a Passage in St. Iames's Epistle relating to Confession but it is to one another not restrained to the Priest James 5.16 as the Word rendred Faults seems to signify those Offences by which others are wronged in which case Confession is a degree of Reparation and so is sometimes necessary but whatever may be in this it is certain that the Confession which is there appointed to be made is a thing that was to be mutual among Christians and it is not commanded in order to Absolution but in order to the procuring the Intercessions of other good Men and therefore it is added and Pray for one another By the words that follow that ye may be healed joyned with those that went before concerning the Sick it seems the Direction given by St. Iames belongs principally to Sick Persons and the conclusion of the whole Period shews That it relates only to the private Prayers of good Men for one another The effectual fervent Prayer of a righteous man availeth much So that this place does not at all belong to Auricular Confession or Absolution Nor does there any Prints appear before the Apostacies that happened in the Persecution of Decius of the Practice even of confessing such heinous Sins as had been publickly committed Then arose the famous contests with the Novatians concerning the receiving the lapsed into the Communion of the Church again It was concluded not to exclude them from the hopes of Mercy or of Reconciliation yet it was resolved not to do that till they had been kept at a distance for some time from the Holy Communion at last they were admitted to make their Confession and so they were received to the Communion of the Church This time was shortned and many things were past over to such as shewed a deep and sincere Repentance and one of the Characters of a true Repentance upon which they were always treated with a great distinction of Favour was if they came and first accused themselves This shewed that they were deeply affected with the Sense of their Sins when they would not bear the load of them but became their own Accusers and discovered their Sins There are several Canons that make a difference in the degrees and time of the Penance between those who had accused themselves and those against whom their Sins were proved A great deal of this strain occurs often in the Writings of the Fathers which plainly shews that they did not look on the necessity of an Enumeration of all their Sins as commanded by God Otherwise it would have been enforced with Considerations of another nature than that of shortning their Penance The first occasion that was given to the Church to exercise thisDiscipline was from the frequent Apostacies into which many had lapsed during the Persecutions and when these went off another sort of Disorders began to break in upon the Church and to defile it Great numbers followed the Example of their Princes and became Christians but a mixed Multitude came among them so that there were many Scandals amongst that Body which had been formerly remarkable for the purity of their Morals and the strictness of their Lives It was the chief business of all those Councils that met in the Fourth and Fifth Centuries to settle many Rules concerning the degrees and time of Penance the Censures both of the Clergy and Laity the Orders of the Penitents and the Methods of receiving them to the Communion of the Church In some of those Councils they denied Reconciliation after some sins even to the last though the general Practice was to receive all at their Death Dallaeus de Confessione Morinus de Poenitentia but while they were in a good state of Health they kept them long in Penance in a publick Separation from the Common Priviledges of Christians and chiefly from the Holy Sacrament and under severe Rules and that for several Years more or fewer according to the Nature of their Sins and the Characters of their Repentance of which a free and unextorted Confession being one of the chief this made many prevent that and come in of their own accord to confess their sins which was much encouraged and magnified Confession was at first made
publickly but the Inconveniences of that appearing and particularly many of those sins being Capital instead of a publick there was a private Confession practised The Bishops either attended upon these themselves or they appointed a Penitentiary Priest to receive them All was in order to the executing the Canons and for keeping up the Discipline of the Church Bishops were warranted by the Council of Nice to excuse the severity of the Canons as the occasion should require The Penitents went through the Penance imposed which was done publickly the Separation and Penance being visible even when the sin was kept secret and when the time of the Penance was finished they received the Penitents by Prayer and Imposition of Hands into the Communion of the Church and so they were received This was all the Absolution that was known during the first Six Centuries Penitents were enjoyned to publish such of their secret Sins as the Penitentiary Priest did prescribe This happened to give great Scandal at Constantinople Socr. Hist. l. 5. c. 19. when Nectarius was Bishop there for a Woman being in a Course of Penance confessed publickly that she had been guilty of Adultery committed with a Deacon in the Church It seems by the Relation that the Historian gives of this matter that she went beyond the Injunctions given her but whether the fault was in her or in the Penitentiary Priest this gave such offence Thirteen Passages out of him cited and explained by Daille de Conf. l. 4. c. 25. that Nectarius broke that Custom And Chrysostom who came soon after him to that See speaks very fully against secret Confession and advises Christians to confess only to God yet the practice of secret Confession was kept up elsewhere but it appears by a vast number of Citations from the Fathers both in different Ages and in the different Corners of the Church that though they pressed Confession much and magnified the value of it highly yet they never urged it as necessary to the Pardon of Sin or as a Sacrament they only prest it as a mean to compleat the Repentance and to give the Sinner an Interest in the Prayers of the Church This may be positively affirmed concerning all the Quotations that are brought in this matter to prove that Auricular Confession is necessary in order to the Priest's Pardon and that it is founded on those Words of Christ Whose sins ye remit c. that they prove quite the contrary that the Fathers had not the sense of it but considered it either as a mean to help to the compleating of Repentance or as a mean to maintain the Purity of the Christian Church and the Rigour of Discipline In the Fifth Century a Practice begun which was no small step to the ruin of the Order of the Church Penitents were suffered instead of the Publick Penance that had been formerly enjoyned to do it secretly in some Monastery or in any other private place in the presence of a few good Men and that at the discretion of the Bishop or the Confessor at the end of which Absolution was given in secret This was done to draw what Professions of Repentance they could from such Persons who would not submit to settled Rules This Temper was found neither to lose them quite nor to let their Sins pass without any Censure But in the Seventh Century all Publick Penance for secret Sins was taken quite away Theodore Archbishop of Canterbury is reckoned the first of all the Bishops of the Western Church that did quite take away all publick Penance for secret Sins Another piece of the ancient Severity was also slackned for they had never allowed Penance to Men that had relapsed into any sin tho' they did not cut them off from all hope of the Mercy of God yet they never gave a second Absolution to the Relapse This the Church of Rome has still kept up in one Point which is Heresy a Relapse being delivered to the Secular Arm without admitting him to Penance The Ancients did indeed admit such to Penance but they never reconciled them Yet in the decay of Discipline Absolution came to be granted to the Relapse as well as to him that had sinned but once About the end of the Eighth Century the Commutation of Penance began and instead of the ancient Severities Vocal Prayers came to be all that was enjoyned so many Paters stood for so many Days of fasting and the rich were admitted to buy off their Penance under the decenter Name of giving Alms. The getting many Masses to be said was thought a Devotion by which God was so much honoured that the Commuting Penance for Masses was much practised Pilgrimages and Wars came on afterwards and in the Twelfth Century the Trade was set up of selling Indulgences By this it appears that Confession came by several steps into the Church that in the first Ages it was not heard of that the Apostacies in time of Persecution gave the first rise to it all which demonstrates that the Primitive Church did not consider it as a thing appointed by Christ to be the Matter of a Sacrament It may be in the Power of the Church to propose Confession as a mean to direct Men in their Repentance to humble them deeper for their Sins and to oblige them to a greater strictness But to enjoyn it as necessary to obtain the Pardon of Sin and to make it an indispensable Condition and indeed the most indispensable of all the parts of Repentance is beyond the Power of the Church for since Christ is the Mediator of this New Covenant he alone must fix the necessary Conditions of it In this more than in any thing else we must conclude that the Gospel is express and clear and therefore so hard a Condition as this is cannot be imposed by any other Authority The Obligation to Auricular Confession is a thing to which Mankind is naturally so little disposed to submit and it may have such consequences on the Peace and Order of the World that we have reason to believe that if Christ had intended to have made it a necessary part of Repentance he would have declared it in express Words and not have left it so much in the dark that those who assert it must draw it by Inferences from those Words Whose Sins ye remit c. Some things are of such a nature that we may justly conclude that either they are not at all required or that they are commanded in plain terms As for the good or evil Effects that may follow on the obliging Men to a strictness in Confession that does not belong to this matter If it is acknowledged to be only a Law of the Church other considerations are to be examined about it but if it is pretended to be a Law of God and a part of a Sacrament we must have a Divine Institution for it otherwise all the advantages that can possibly be imagined in it without that are only so many
that imports the Designation of the Person so prayed over In the Greek Church there is indeed a different Form for though there are Prayers in their Office of Ordination Haberti pontif Graecum Morinus de Ordinat Sacâ—is yet the words that do accompany the Imposition of Hands are only Declaratory The Grace of God that perfects the feeble and heals the weak promotes this Man to be a Deacon a Priest or a Bishop let us therefore pray for him By which they pretend only to judge of a divine Vocation All the ancient Rituals and all those that treat of them for the first Seven Centuries speak of nothing as Essential to Orders but Prayer and Imposition of Hands It is true many Rites came to be added and many Prayers were used that went far beyond the first Simplicity But in the Tenth or Eleventh Century a new Form was brought in of delivering the Vessels in ordaining Priests and Words were joined with that giving them Power to offer Sacrifices to God and to celebrate Masses and then the Orders were believed to be given by this Rite The delivering of the Vessels look'd like a Matter and these Words were thought the Form of the Sacrament and the Prayer that was formerly used with the Imposition of Hands was indeed still used but only as a Part of the Office no Hands were laid on when it was used And tho' the Form of laying on of Hands was still continued the Bishop with other Priests laying their Hands on those they Ordained yet it is now a dumb Ceremony not a word of a Prayer being said while they lay on their Hands So that tho' both Prayer and Imposition of Hands are used in the Office yet they are not joined together In the conclusion of the Ofsice a new Benediction was added ever since the Twelfth Century The Bishop alone lays on his Hands saying Receive the Holy Ghost whose sins ye remit they are remitted and whose sins ye retain they are retained The number Seven was thought to sute the Sacraments best so Orders were made one of them and of these only Priesthood where the Vessels were declared to be the Matter and the Form was the delivering them with the words Take thou Authority to offer up Sacrifices to God and to Celebrate Masses both for the Living and the Dead In the Name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost The Schoolmen have taken a new way of explaining this whole matter borrowed from the Eucharist that is made up of Two parts the Consecration of the Bread and of the Wine both so necessary that without the one the other becomes void So they teach that a Priest has Two Powers of Consecrating and of Absolving and that he is Ordained to the one by the delivery of the Vessels and to the other by the Bishop's laying on of Hands with the words Receive the Holy Ghost and they make the Bishop and the Priest's laying on Hands jointly to be only their declaring as by a Suffrage that such a Person ought to be Ordained So totally have they departed from the Primitive Forms If this is a Sacrament and if the Sacrament consists in this Matter and Form by them assigned then since all the Rituals of the Latin Church for the sirst Ten Centuries had no such Form of Ordaining Priests this cannot be the Matter and Form of a Sacrament otherwise the Church had in a course of so many Ages no true Orders nor any Sacrament in them Nor will it serve in answer to this to say that Christ Instituted no special Matter nor Form here but has left the specifying those among the other Powers that he has given to his Church For a Sacrament being an Institution of applying a Matter designed by God by a particular Form likewise appointed to say that Christ appointed here neither Matter nor Form is plainly to confess that this is no Sacrament In the first Nine or Ten Ages there was no Matter at all used nothing but an Imposition of Hands with Prayer So that by this Doctrine the Church of God was all that while without true Orders since there was nothing used that can be called the Matter of a Sacrament Therefore though we continue this Institution of Christ as he â—nd his Apostles settled it in the Church yet we deny it to be a Sacrament we also deny all the inferior Orders to be Sacred below that of Deacon The other Orders we do not deny might be well and on good reasons appointed by the Church as steps through which Clerks might be made to pass in order to a stricter examination and trial of them like Degrees in Universities But the making them at least the Subdiaconate Sacred as it is reckoned by Pope Eugenius is we think beyond the Power of the Church for here a Degree of Orders is made a Sacrament and yet that Degree is not named in the Scripture nor in the first Ages It is true it came to be soon used with the other Inferior Orders but it cannot be pretended to be a Sacrament since no Divine Institution can be brought for it And we cannot but observe that in the definition that Eugenius has given of the Sacraments which is an Authentical piece in the Roman Church where he reckons Priests Deacons and Subdeacons as belonging to the Sacrament of Orders he does not Name Bishops though their being of Divine Institution is not questioned in that Church Perhaps the Spirit with which they acted at that time in Basil offended him so much that he was more set on depressing than on raising them In the Council of Trent in which so much Zeal appeared for recovering the Dignity of the Episcopal Order at that time so much eclipsed by the Papal Usurpations when the Sacrament of Orders was Treated of they reckoned Seven Degrees of them the highest of which is that of Priest So that though they Decreed that a Bishop was by the Divine Institution above a Priest yet they did not Decree that the Office was an Order or a Sacrament And the Schoolmen do generally explain Episcopate as being a higher Degree or Extension of Priesthood rather than a new Order or a Sacrament the main thing in their Thoughts being that which if true is the greatest of all Miracles the wonderful Conversion made in Transubstantion they seem to think that no Order can be above that which qualifies a Man for so great a Performance I say nothing in this place concerning the power of Offering Sacrifices pretended to be given in Orders for that belongs to another Article The Fourth Sacrament here rejected is Marriage which is reckoned the last by the Roman Account In the Point of Argument there is less to say here than in any of the other but there seems to be a very express warrant for calling it a Sacrament from the Translation of a passage in St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians Ephes. 5.32 in which he makes an allusion while he