Upon the whole, the proofs in favour of the Apostolical authority of Episcopacy, appear to be as great as the nature of the subject admits of. When we add to this the fitness and excellence of this system itself in promoting order, uniformity and harmony, and all the great objects of its institution, we cannot but be sensible of the advantages we enjoy in belonging to the Episcopal Church; and, without intending any ill will or disrespect to others, we cannot but wish that they could view the subject in the same light." CHAPTER IV. Of the Doctrines of the Church in General. THE articles of the church were framed at a time when the reformed religion was struggling for existence with the power of Rome. It was, therefore, important, and proper as far as was consistent with essential principles, to construct them upon a plan which would unite all Protestants. The principal points of difference among these, at that time, related to the questions of Calvinism and Arminianism. It was necessary, then, to compromise these points, and to leave them, as, indeed, we must ever be content to leave them, on the ground of scripture. Accordingly the articles are composed with such singular wisdom and moderation, that all who hold the essential truths of the Bible, may conscientiously subscribe to them, however they may differ in their modes of speaking. The 17th article does, indeed, recognize the doctrine of predestination; and so do the scriptures. But the main question, in what sense it is to be received, the article does not undertake to decide. "That in which the knot of the whole difficulty lies (says Bishop Burnet) is not defined in the article; that is, whether God's eternal purpose or decree was made, according to what he foresaw his creatures would do, or purely upon absolute will, in order to his own glory." The question, in fact, is too mysterious for human apprehension, and too awful to be considered without the profoundest reverence. In order to apprehend, and to explain it aright, we must possess the spirit and language of angels. The latter we shall less need in proportion as we acquire the former, for the spirit of Angels is not a spirit of controversy, but a spirit of meekness, of love and obedience. That God is love; that he desireth not the death of a sin ner; that he wills all men to be saved; that man's salvation is wholly of grace, and his perdition of himself, are propositions clearly laid down in scripture. If there be a doctrine which seems to contravence these first princi ples of religion, we may conclude, either that we do not understand that doctrine, or that it is false. But in carrying this rule into action, it should be kept in mind, that we have no right to deny what is plainly revealed in scripture, merely because our conceptions cannot reconcile it with the known attributes of God; for his ways are not our ways, nor our thoughts his thoughts. We see and know only in part, and our faculties are not large enough in this imperfect state, to comprehend the great truths of the Bible in all their bearings. The profundities of the divine foreknowledge, especially, in which "one deep calleth unto another," baffle our most eager researches.-They can be explored only by the light of Heaven, which, in due time, will explain all. He who will, notwithstanding, rashly adventure in this voyage of speculation, will only meet the billowy fate of that great personage whose success is so well described by Milton in the following passage. -His sail broad vans He spreads for flight, and in the surging smoke, Audacious; but that seat soon failing, meets A vast vacuity; all unawares, Fluttering his pinnons vain, plump down he drops The wit and ingenuity, and painful labour, which, during many centuries, have been exhausted on this arduous question, have shed no new light upon it, nor brought us any nearer to a proper understanding of it. This consideration, while it serves to lower that tone of dogmatism and confidence, with which we are prone to pro nounce off hand upon a subject which has cost our ancestors many a folio, should serve also, by reason of the inherent difficulties of the case, to cherish in us, liberal and charitable sentiments towards those who differ from us, in the opinions that we have formed in relation to it. The writer of this book professes to be, not a Calvinist. Some of the tenets of that reformer he cannot embrace. But, at the same time, he believes that there is too much reason to regret, that Calvin and his followers have received a measure of severity not due them, especially, from christian opponents; and, what is worse in its consequences, that some of the fundamental doctrines of our common christianity are spurned by many merely because they were held by Calvin. The great Hooker, speaking of Calvin, says, I think him incomparably the wisest man that ever the French Church did enjoy, since it enjoyed him." Again he speaks of him as "a worthy vessel of God's glory." Bishop Andrews says of him, that he was "an illustrious person, and never to be mentioned but with a preface of the highest honour." Cramner, Hooper, Jewill, Nowell, Whitgift, Whitaker, Hall, Carleton, Davenant, Usher, Abbot, &c. bear testimony to his great piety and learning. "The Calvinists, indeed, (says Bishop Horsley) hold some opinions which the Church of England has not gone the length of asserting in her articles. But neither has she gone the length of explicitly contradicting those opinions." Speaking afterwards of supraiapsarian Calvinists, he says, "such was the great Usher, such was Whitgift! such were many more burning and shining lights of our church in her early days, long since gone to the resting place of the spirits of the just.' Again; "any one may hold all the theological opinions of Calvin, hard and extravagant as some of them may seem, and yet be a sound member of the Church of England, certainly a much sounder member than one, who loudly declaiming against these opinions (which if they be erroneous are not errors that affect the essence of our common faith) runs into all the nonsense, the impiety and the abominations of the Arian, the Unitarian and the Pelagian heresies, denying in effect the Lord that bought him. These are the things against which you should whet your zeal, rather than against opinions, which if erroneous are not sinful, Further; "If ever you should be provoked to take a part in these disputes, of all things I entreat you to avoid what is now become very common, acrimonious abuse of Calvinism and of Calvin. Remember, I beseech you, that some tenderness is due to the errors and extravagances of a man, eminent as he was in his day, for his piety, his wisdom and his learning, and to whom the reformation in its beginning was so much indebted. At least take especial care before you aim your shafts at Calvinism, that you know what Calvinism is, and what it is not, that in the mass of doctrine which it is of late become the fashion to abuse under the name of Calvinism, you can distinguish with certainty between that part of it which is nothing better than Calvinism and that part which belongs to common Christianity, and the general faith of the reformed churches, least when you mean to fall foul of Calvinism, you should unwarily attack something more sacred and of a higher origin. I must say that I have found a great want of this discrimination in some late controversial writings on the side of the church, the authors of which have acquired much applause and reputation, but with so little real knowledge of the subject, that give me the principles upon which these writers argue and I will undertake to convict, I will not say Arminians only, and the Archbishop Laud, but upon these principles I will undertake to convict the fathers of the council of Trent of Calvinism." "So closely is a great part of that which is now ignorantly called Calvinism, interwoven with the very rudiments of christianity. Better were it for the church if such apologists would withhold their services, non tali auxilio, nec de fensoribus istis." The above remarks are offered in the spirit of conciliation, and with the hope that they may tend to peace. The articles do not appear to have been intended so much to set forth a precise scheme of doctrine, as to embody in a short compass the very language of the Bi *Bishop Horsley's last charge to the diocess of St. Asaph. |