It will be seen that large quotations have been made from the Reformers and Martyrs, "not," to adapt the language of Bishop Hooper, "that our faith is grounded upon any man," "but that we would declare the judgment" of the Reformers "concerning this matter, because they make with the old truth against this new Papistry." The Writer, it is scarcely needful to say, holds that "Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation," and that "the Holy Spirit, speaking in Scripture, is the Supreme Judge, by Whom all Controversies of Religion are to be determined." Should the Notes prove to be not, altogether, unuseful, they may perhaps be taken as a small contribution to the Treasury of the one Church of God; that Church which has one Faith, one Baptism, one Hope, one Lord, one Spirit, one God; that Church which is one Body; of which the Lord Jesus is the Head and Foundation, Redemption and Righteousness, Life and Resurrection,-Prophet, and Priest, and Saviour, and King. At all events, the Writer ventures to hope that his friends will regard them as a proof of his desire to comply with their request, and that they will, also, kindly accepting the intention, pardon the imperfection of the execution. When the Lectures were given, the Writer, it must be observed, believed that the question of Ritualism in the Established Church, would ultimately come before the Legislature. Since that time Commissioners have been appointed by the Queen to inquire into the subject, and their first and preliminary Report has been presented to both Houses of Parliament, by command of Her Majesty. It is now, therefore, certain that the question will, in some form or other, come before the House of Commons. As Ritualism is a question of Doctrine, and the People of England must, in and by their Representatives, deal with it, it necessarily follows that they will have to determine whether the Doctrine be true or false. If it be true, they must neither condemn it, nor prevent the outward expression of it. If it be false, they dare not support it. In case it be false, they dare not be content with cutting off the twigs and branches of Vestments and Ceremonies and leaving the stem to send forth fresh and vigorous shoots after the lapse of a few short months, but must lay the axe to the Root of the Deadly Upas. No Nation, Kingdom, nor People dare, under pain of God's sore displeasure, give their sanction to the teaching of any doctrine, which cannot be read in, nor be proved by those Holy Scriptures which contain all things necessary to Salvation. God is no respecter of Persons. He will judge the World in Righteousness and the People thereof with Equity. Duties and Responsibilities are the inseparable attendants upon Power. The usages of society-the customs and example of men will have no weight at that bar where all men must appear that every man may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. When the Great White Throne is set up, the Omniscient Judge will take His seat thereon: the Statute Book-the Scriptures of Truth-containing the unchangeable Laws of the Unchanging God; the Book of God's Remembrance; and the Book of Man's Conscience; will each be opened, and the Assize of God begin. It will then be seen whether Christianity be a subtle device, contrived for the purpose of enabling men,-if they but do it in the Name of God,-to subscribe, with impunity, Religious Formularies which they neither believe, nor intend to conform to;-whether it be a dishonest system framed for the purpose of enabling men,-provided, only, that they do it in the name of Christ,—to palter with the most solemnly contracted engagements for the sake of name, position, party, or profit;-whether it be an unholy scheme devised for the purpose of freeing men from the obligations of duty, so that if they will but, as worshippers, say they believe in God; they may, as citizens, support or oppose the Gospel of His Son, as may best suit their personal convenience, or promote their temporal advantage. It has been said, that "Two Schemes of Doctrine are, probably for the last time, struggling within the Church," that "on the issue hangs the Destiny of the Church," that the Battle "must have a decisive issue;" if so, every one must take his side. Where Religious Truth is concerned, there can be no neutrals. The Prophet of old time said, "How long halt ye between two opinions? If the LORD be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him." A Greater than the Prophet has said, "No man can serve two Masters." "He that is not with ME is against ME." December, 1867. ¶Those who may not wish to read the earlier portion of the Notes, will find the last paragraph on page 64 a convenient starting point. ¶ Some observations on the Charge of the Bishop of Salisbury, will be found on the 95th and following pages; and on Absolution and Confession, together with some examples of the Questions supplied for the use of Penitents, from pages 142 to 157. Extracts shewing the Judgment of the Martyrs and Reformers upon certain points of Doctrine, are given as under: Word of God, Authority of..page 2, 12 n., 33 ff. Lord's Supper, Use of......do..123 ff. Real Presence..do..104 n., 105 n., 109 ff., 131 n., 132 n., 133 n., 158 n., 159 n. Partaking of ..do..105 n., 115, 122 ff., 130, 132 n. Sacrifice .....do..103 n., 106 n., 111, 113, 114 ff., 126, 127 n. NOTES OF LECTURES ON RITUALISM. It is proposed to set forth in the following pages what Ritualism really is whence it came and whither it tends. : In order that this may be fairly done, its doctrines will be stated and its practices described in the words of its advocates and friends. To assist the Reader in arriving at a correct judgment of the nature and character of Ritualism, the opinions of some of the early English Reformers about the same points of doctrine and practice will also be put before him. For the purpose of illustration, occasional reference will be made to some Authors of a later period, who lived and died in the Communion of the Established Church of England; and for the same purpose some quotations will be adduced from Roman Catholic Authorities. A careful comparison of the whole with the Word of God,—the only Standard of Doctrine,-the only Rule of Faith and Practice,— is earnestly and anxiously urged upon the Reader. Tyndale, (referring to that well-known incident in his life, when a reputed learned Divine said to him, "We were better to be without God's laws than the Pope's," to whom he replied, "I defy the Pope and all his laws: and if God spare my life, ere many years, I will cause a boy that driveth the plough, to know more of the Scriptures than you do :") says, in his preface to the Pentateuch: "A thousand books had the Priests rather be put forth against their abominable doings and doctrine, than that the Scripture should come to light. For as long as they may keep that down, they will se darken the right way with the mist of their sophistry, that, though thou feel in thine heart, and art sure, that all is false that they say, yet couldst thou not solve their subtle riddles." * * * "Which thing only moved me to translate the New Testament. Because I had perceived by experience, that it was impossible to establish the lay-people in any truth, except the Scripture were plainly laid before their eyes in their mother-tongue, that they might see the process, order, and meaning of the text: for else, whatsoever truth is taught them, these enemies of all truth quench it again." The judgment of the Reformers themselves may be seen in the following extracts from the Articles and Homilies of the Established Church of England. The extract from the Confession of the Established Church of Scotland, shews the perfect agreement of the two Churches upon this point. "Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to Salvation: so that whatsoever 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 the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to Salvation."-Article VI, of the Established Church of England. "The Supreme Judge, by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of Councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture."—Chapter I, section X, of the Confession of the Established Church of Scotland. "And shall we Christian men think to learn the knowledge of God and of ourselves in any earthly man's work or writing sooner or better than in the Holy Scriptures, written by inspiration of the Holy Ghost? The Scriptures were not brought unto us by the will of man: but holy men of God, as witnesseth the Apostle Peter, spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit of God. The Holy Ghost is the Schoolmaster of truth, which leadeth his scholars, as our Saviour Christ saith of Him, into all truth. And whoso is not led and taught by this Schoolmaster, cannot but fall into deep error, how godly soever his pretence is, what knowledge and learning soever he hath of all other works and writings, or how fair soever a show or face of truth he hath in the estimation and judgment of the world."-Homilies appointed to be read in Churches in the time of Queen Elizabeth. "To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them.”—Isa. viii, 20. |