Its

exact, and so inoffensive a composure as ours, which is so judiciously contrived, that the wisest may exercise at once their knowledge and devotion, and yet so plain that the most ignorant may pray with understanding; so full that nothing is omitted which is fit to be asked in public, and so particular, that it compriseth most things which we would ask in private, and yet so short as not to tire any that hath true devotion. doctrine is pure and primitive; its ceremonies so few and innocent, that most of the christian world agree in them; its method is exact and natural; its language significant and perspicuous, most of the words and phrases being taken out of the holy Scriptures, and the rest are the expressions of the first and purest ages, so that whoever takes exception at these must quarrel with the language of the Holy Ghost, and fall out with the church in her greatest innocence; and in the opinion of the most impartial and excellent Grotius (who was no member of, nor had any obligation to, this church) the English liturgy comes so near to the primitive pattern, that none of the reformed churches can compare with it. Whoever desires to worship God with zeal and knowledge, spirit and truth, purity and sincerity, may do it by these devout forms. And to this end may the God of Peace give us all meek hearts, quiet

spirits, and devout affections; and free us from all sloth and prejudice, that we may have full churches, frequent prayers, and fervent charity; that, uniting in our prayers here, we may all join in his praises hereafter, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

PART III.

CHAPTER THE THIRD:

INTRODUCTION

TO THE

EXPOSITION OF THE THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES

OF THE

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

WE learn from the New Testament, that those who first embraced the Gospel declared their faith in Jesus as the promised Messiah, in simple and general terms (a); and there is no ground for supposing that the apostles required this declaration to be made in any one particular form of words. No such formulary is transmitted to us; and had any ever existed, it would probably have been cited or alluded to in the New Testament, or in the early Apologies for Christianity. Every bishop was authorized to prescribe a formulary for the use of his own church; and there

(a) Acts, c. 8. v. 37.

are

are still extant in writers, who lived near to the apostolic age, several abstracts of Christian faith, which, though they agree in substance, vary in expression. But when heresies gained ground," and destroyed uniformity of belief among Christians, it became necessary to have a public standard of faith; and to this cause we are to attribute the origin of Creeds. The design of these creeds was to establish the genuine doctrines of the Gospel in opposition to the errors which then prevailed, and to exclude from communion with the orthodox church of Christ all who held heretical opinions. New dissensions and controversies continually arose; and we have to lament, that, in process of time, "the faith which was once delivered unto the saints,". became cor

rupted in the highest degree; and that those very councils, which were convened, according to the practice of the apostolic age, for the purpose of declaring "the truth, as it is in Jesus," gave their sanction and authority to the grossest absurdities and most palpable errors. These corruptions, supported by secular power, and favoured by the darkness and ignorance of the times, were almost universally received through a succession of many ages, till at last the glorious light of the Reformation dispelled the clouds which had so long obscured the Christian world. VOL. II.

D

At

At that interesting period, the several churches which had separated themselves from the Roman communion, found it expedient to publish confessions of their faith and in conformity to this practice, Edward the Sixth (b), the first protestant king of England, caused to be published by his royal authority, forty-two "Articles agreed upon by the bishops, and other learned and good men, in the Convocation held at London in the year 1552, to root out the discord of opinions, and establish the agreement of true Religion." These articles were repealed by Queen Mary, soon after her accession to the throne. But Queen Elizabeth, in the beginning of her reign, gave her royal assent to "Thirty-nine articles agreed upon by the archbishops and bishops of both provinces, and the whole clergy, in the Convocation holden at London in the year 1562, for avoiding diversities of opinion, and for the establishing of consent touching true Religion." These articles were revised, and some small alterations made in them, in the year 1571, since which time they have continued to be the criterion of the faith of the members of the Church

(b) Henry the Eighth, in the year 1536, published Articles of Religion, in which some of the popish doctrines are disclaimed, but others are retained. Vide Burnet's Reformation, book 3d.