CHAP. V..

THE REFORMED EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN ENGLAND, IRELAND, AND SCOTLAND, A SOUND AND ORTHODOX PORTION OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH; AND THE NECESSITY OF A STRICT ADHERENCE TO ITS COMMUNION.

HAV

AVING now explained at large the nature of the Catholic Church, and the necessity of living in her communion, I proceed next to prove, that the Society of Christians in England, Ireland, and Scotland, which adheres to the communion of the Reformed Bishops in those respective countries, is a sound and orthodox portion of the Catholic Church.-In order to establish this point, I shall examine the terms of her communion, and prove that she retains the marks or notes of the Catholic Church (as laid down in the first chapter,) viz. the essentials of Apostolic Faith, Worship, and Government, and imposes no unlawful or sinful terms of communion upon her members; and consequently that it is the duty not only of her own members to hold constant communion with her, but also that of the members of other Protestant assemblies, to unite themselves to her, in order to partake of those spiritual blessings, which (as I have shewn,) are exclusively promised to the faithful and obedient members of Christ's Catholic Church.

I do not intend to speak of the terms, upon which persons are to be admitted to the exercise of the functions of the ministry, but only of the terms of lay-communion, that is, those which are necessary for all persons, to join in her prayers, and sacraments,

and other offices of divine worship. And this must be carefully attended to, for there has been a great deal of art used to confound these two,-and I dare say, a great occasion of all our separation, has arisen from the not understanding the difference of these two cases. For although subscriptions and declarations required of ministers, may, in some instances, operate so powerfully on the mind, as to discourage a man from entering into holy orders; yet it ought not to be inferred from thence, that the people cannot join in our public worship with a good conscience.

I. With respect to FAITH, the Reformed Episcopal Church in England, Ireland, and Scotland, maintains, that man is a fallen, depraved, and ruined creature ; that he is involved in guilt, pollution, and misery, in a state of spiritual bondage, from which he has neither power nor will to extricate himself. But she exhibits the great deliverer in all his glorious excellence and sufficiency to save. She lays the foundation of our hope and confidence in his incarnation, obedience, sacrifice, and intercession. She requires us to worship him as our Lord and our God, to renounce every other plea, and to make mention of his name, his blood, and his righteousness alone, both for our present and final acceptance. She teaches, that we are justified only by the merits of Christ's death and sacrifice, as the only expiation and atonement for our sins. That no works of righteousness which we can do, can make satisfaction to God for our sins, nor merit eternal life, which is the gift of God. That no impenitent unreformed sinner, though he profess to believe in Christ, and be baptised into his church, shall be saved by him; and therefore, though repentance and a holy life do not merit the pardon of sin, nor eternal re

wards, yet they are necessarily required in all those who shall be forgiven and saved by Christ. She therefore warns the professed believer, that the sincerity of his faith must be evinced by good works, (Art. xii.) and therefore calls upon him to abound in all the fruits of righteousness, as the only sure way to ascertain and prove his dependence upon Christ, and his spiritual union with him. To this end she introduces to our view the gracious interposition and almighty aid of another divine agent, the Holy Ghost; and exhorts us that prayer be ever made unto him, that by his influences, all her children may be renovated, sanctified, and preserved,—and that by increasing measures of his grace, they may daily be growing in a meetness for the heavenly kingdom.

The excellency of the church with respect to her doctrines, appears in this, that she looks upon "the holy scriptures as containing all things necessary to salvation, (2 Tim. i. 13. iii. 16. 17.-Jude iii.) So that whatever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation," (Art. vii.) And therefore (says Bishop Beveridge,) in order to your "continuing stedfastly," as the first christians did, "in the apostles' doctrine," the surest way is to keep close to the doctrine of our church, which is plainly the same with that of the apostles in all points; by which means, as our minds may be enlightened, and our hearts purified by that faith which was once delivered to the saints, so we are secured from falling into any damnable heresy, and from being corrupted or perplexed with any of those new and dangerous opinions, which the ignorance and superstition of after

H

ages have brought into the church. And let it be recollected, that the grand doctrines of the church are not to be gathered from any private sentiments and interpretations of individuals,-not from this or that preacher or commentator,-but from her own authorised forms, her catechism, her creeds, her articles, and her homilies.

It is alleged by some, that " although the church professes in her articles the doctrines of the gospel, yet the clergy do not preach them," and on this pretence many have separated from the church. When we hear such barefaced assertions, as that the gospel is not preached in our congregations, who would not suppose that the name of Christ was never mentioned among us, and that our clergy were all heathens or deists? But it is urged that "they preach on moral subjects." This I admit, and they are right in doing so, whenever they think necessary; and in this they have the example of our Saviour and his apostles, who enjoined to the first christians the observance of moral duties. It is again replied, "that they place man's hope of salvation on his moral performances." To this I answer, that the discourses of the present clergy do not justify, generally speaking, this serious charge. They preach, I trust, "Christ crucified," (1 Cor. i. 23.) as the foundation of the christian building, and "other foundation can no man lay," (1 Cor.iii. 11.) They look, generally speaking, to the Cross, as to fallen man's only hope and only title to salvation.But, it being the office of the christian ministry rightly to divide the word of truth, they are not always haranguing on one or two points of the gospel, to the neglect of others, which they think of no importance to their hearers: they give to every part the portion

of attention, which its relative importance, and the opinions and circumstances of their hearers demand, blending faith with practice, and the doctrinal with the practical part of christianity. Indeed, should any minister of the church be so presumptuous, as to rest man's hopes of salvation on his moral performances, I allow that he does not preach the gospel, that he is in reality a wolf in sheep's clothing, and that all lawful methods should be used, to procure his deposition from the ministerial office *.

Should this remedy fail in any instance, yet still the parishioners may take great care of their souls, and live in the apostles' doctrine, without separating from the church; and in such a case may be more secure in the church's communion, than they can be out of it. -It is melancholy to admit the possibility, that any thing but the truth, and the whole truth of the doctrine of God our Saviour should be delivered by those who have subscribed their hands thereto; but if the fact cannot be denied, it is a consolatory reflection, that the people in such a case necessarily hear the word of truth. They are sure to have the genuine doctrines of the gospel, in the daily appointed service

*Salvation by grace, in its proper and scriptural sense, will always, I trust, be preached in the church. It is the doctrine of the church, and woe be to those ministers who preach it not! Daubeny's Guide, II. p. 510.-We have, in fact, lost many of our people to sectaries, by not preaching in a manner sufficiently evangelical. Archbishop Secker's Charges, p. 299.—To preach practical sermons, i. e. sermons upon virtues and vices (says the late Bishop Horne,) without inculcating those great scripture truths of redemption, grace, &c. which alone can incite and enable us to forsake sin, and follow after righteousness, what is it but to put together the wheels, and set the hands of a watch, forgetting the spring which is to make them all go. Life of Bishop Horne by the Rev. W. Jones, p. 376. 1799.