V

CONTENTS.

BOOK IV.

CHAP. I. The true Church, and the Necessity of oor Union

with her, being the Mother of all the Pious.

CHAP. II. The True and False Church compared.

CHAP. III. The Teachers and Ministers of the Church, their

Election and Office.

CHAP. IV. The State of the ancient Church and the Mode

of Government practised before the Papacy.

CHAP. V. The ancient Form of Government entirely subs

verted by the Papal Tyranny.

CHAP. VI. The Primacy of the Roman See.

CHAP. VII. The Rise and Progress of the Papal Power to

its present Eminence attended with the Loss of Liberty to

the Church and the Ruin of all Moderation.

CHAP. VIII. The Power of the Church respecting Articles

of Faith, and its licentious Perversion under the Papacy, to

the Corruption of all Purity of Doctrine.

CHAP. IX. Councils; their authority.

CHAP. X. The Power of Legislation, in which the Pope and

his Adherents have most cruelly tyrannized over the Minds

and tortured the Bodies of Men.

CHAP. XI. The Jurisdiction of the Church, and its Abuse

under the Papacy.

CHAP. XII. The Discipline of the Church; its principal

Use in Censures and Excommunication.

CHAP. XIII. Vows; the Misery of rashly making them.

CHAP. XIV. The Sacraments.

VOL. III.

А

CHAP. XV. Baptism.

CHAP. XVI. Pædobaptism perfectly consistent with the In-

stitution of Christ, and the Nature of the Sign.

CHAP. XVII. The Lord's Supper, and its Advantages.

CHAP. XVIII. The Papal Mass not only a sacrilegious

Profanation of the Lord's Supper, but a total Annihilation

of it.

CHAP. XIX. The Five other Ceremonies, falsely called Sa-

On the external Means or Aids by which God calls us into

Communion with Christ, and retains us in it.

ARGUMENT. THREE parts of the Apostles' Creed, respecting God the Creator,

Redeemer, and Sanctifier, have been explained in the former books. This last book is an exposition of what remains, relating

to the Holy Catholic Church, and the Communion of Saints. The chapters contained in it may be conveniently arranged in three grand divisions:

I. The Church.
II. The Sacraments.

III. Civil Government.
The First Division, extending to the end of the thirteenth chapter,

contains many particulars, which, however, may all be referred to

four principal heads. 1. The marks of the Church, or the criteria by which it may

be distinguished, in order to our cultivation of union with it

Chap. I. II.
II. The government of the church-Chap. III.-VII.

1. The order of government in the church-Chap. III.
2. The form practised by the ancient Christians-Chap. IV.
3. The nature of the present ecclesiastical government under

the Papacy-Chap. V. The primacy of the Pope-Chap.
VI. And the degrees of his advancement to this tyrannical

power-Chap. VII. II. The power of the church-Chap. VIII-XI.

1. Relating to articles of faith, which resides either in the

respective bishops—Chap. VIII.-or in the church at large,

represented in councils—Chap. IX.
2. In making laws-Chap. X.
3. In ecclesiastical jurisdiction-Chap. XI.

IV. The discipline of the church-Chap. XII. XIII.

1. The principal use of it-Chap. XII.

3. The abuse of it-Chap. XIII. The Second Division, relating to the Sacraments, contains three

parts. 1. The sacraments in general-Chap. XIV. II. Each sacrament in particular-Chap. XV.-XVIII. 1. Baptism-Chap. XV. Distinct discussion of Pædobaptism

Chap. XVI. 2. The Lord's Supper-Chap. XVII.-and its profanation

Chap. XVIII.
III. The five other ceremonies, falsely called sacraments-Chap.

XIX.
The Third Division regards civil government
I. This government in general.
II. Its respective branches.

1. The magistrates.
2. The laws.
3. The people.

INSTITUTES

OF THE

CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

BOOK IV.

CHAPTER I.

The true Church, and the Necessity of our Union with her,

being the Mother of all the Pious. THAT by the faith of the Gospel Christ becomes ours, and we become partakers of the salvation procured by him, and of eternal happiness, has been explained in the preceding Book. But as our ignorance and slothfulness, and, I

I may add, the vanity of our minds, require external aids, in order to the production of faith in our hearts, and its increase and progressive advance even to its completion, God hath provided such aids in compassion to our infirmity: and that the preaching of the Gospel might be maintained, he hath deposited this treasure with the Church. He hath appointed pastors and teachers, that his people might be taught by their lips; he hath invested them with authority; in short, he hath omitted nothing that could contribute to a holy unity of faith, and to the establishment of good order. (a) First of all, he hath instituted Sacraments, which we know by experience to be means of the greatest utility for the nourishment and support of our faith. For as during our confinement in the prison of our flesh, we have not yet attained to the state of angels, God hath in his wonderful providence accommodated himself to our capacity, by prescribing a way in which we might approach him notwithstanding our im

(a) Epbęs. iv. 11 16.