II. CHAS. I. A.D. 1643. CHAPTER adoption by the general assembly of the church of Scotland. At the reformation, the reformed churches in general drew up a document of this kind, which in some instances formed a treatise of considerable bulk-a dissertation or body of divinity, in rather striking contrast with the studied brevity of our own confession contained in the thirty-nine articles: The assembly's confession was modelled after these examples, and is perhaps inferior to none of them, except in originality. It does not however detract from the real merit of these later divines, that they availed themselves of the labours of the reformation; or that Bullinger and Calvin, especially the latter, should have left them little to accomplish, except in the way of arrangement and compression. The Westminster confession should be read by those who cannot encounter the more ponderous volumes of the great masters from which it is derived. It is in many respects an admirable summary of christian faith and practice. None can lay it down with a mean opinion of the Westminster divinés. The style is pure and good, the proofs are selected with admirable skill, the arguments are always clear, the subjects well distributed, and sufficiently comprehensive to form at least the outline of a perfect system of divinity. On the other hand, one fault pervades the whole: it is cast in the most exact and rigid mould of ultra-calvinism; and treats the most difficult questions, those of God's eternal decrees and purposes, with an air of confidence which has always repelled the great majority of English christians. Our national dislike of extreme opinions has here, as well as on other abstruse speculations, II. A.D. 1643. social and religious, proved our safeguard. Preter- CHAPTER ition and reprobation, both of men and angels, lay before them as anatomical subjects prepared for CHAS. I. spiritual dissection,* and they seem to operate with a dexterous and untrembling hand. Had they but always written upon the divine decrees as in their concluding sentence, they would have done well; and their confession of faith would then have survived the odium in which the assembly itself, with whatever justice, has been overwhelmed. "The doctrine," they say, "of this high mystery of predestination is to be handled with especial prudence and care; that men attending the will of God revealed in his word, and yielding obedience thereunto, may, from the certainty of their effectual vocation, be assured of their eternal election. So shall this doctrine afford matter of praise, reverence, and admiration of God; and of humility, diligence, and abundant consolation to all that sincerely obey the gospel." The directory† prescribes the new form of public worship; for the prayer-book was now suppressed, and divine service was henceforth to be conducted in the manner which, for want of a better term, we designate extempore. But the directions for public prayer, both before and after the sermon, are copious and exact. The assembly meant to furnish presbyterian ministers not merely with instructions, but with materials for public prayer. Like the bidding prayer in our 55th canon, the directory * Chapter iii. of God's Eternal Decrees, sections iii. iv. v. vi. vii.; chapter x. of Effectual Calling, section iv. † Neal, vol. iii., appendix ii. II. CHAS. I. A.D. 1643. CHAPTER suggests, in methodical arrangement, a number of topics suitable for devotion; and this in language which scarcely needs the slightest alteration to give it the character of prayer. If a minister committed to memory the section "of public prayer before the sermon," he could offer memoriter before the congregation an act of intercession varied, solemn, and appropriate, though far inferior, we still think, to our sublime and simple litany. There is a chapter "on the preaching of the word," and every sentence is admirable. So much good sense and deep piety, the results of great and diversified experience, and of a knowledge so profound, have probably never been gathered into so small a space on the subject of ministerial teaching. It is one that has received attention in successive ages from teachers of different schools and of various tastes and habitudes of mind. Chrysostom among the fathers was a teacher of sacred rhetoric; and of the moderns, Claude and Porter, the abbé Maury and the venerable Simeon, have written what the student for the ministry will not venture to disregard. But a brief chapter of four pages here comprises an amount of wise instruction which will not readily be found elsewhere. The divines of Westminster were amongst the masters of this sacred art; whether we estimate their power by the enthusiasm of their crowded congregations, by the better test of their writings and printed sermons, or by the still higher touchstone of permanent success-success, not in laying the foundations of a strong party, or in reconstructing a national church, for in both they miserably failed, but in turning II. A.D. 1643. sinners from the error of their ways, in edifying the CHAPTER church, and fitting men for God. If the fiction so long believed were true, that the pulpit at this CHAS. I. period echoed only to the strains of rant and rhapsody, the Westminster divines at least were not in fault. After a variety of lessons, marked by great judgment and good sense, as to the choice of texts, the method in which they are to be analyzed and divided, the manner in which doctrines are to be deduced and objections answered, the subject brought home to the conscience of the hearer, (a work, they well remark, of great difficulty in itself, requiring much prudence, zeal, and meditation, and, to the natural and corrupt man, very unpleasant,) they proceed to considerations of a still more solemn kind, and conclude with a series of admonitions to the preacher to look to the condition of his own heart, and to keep alive the flame of love and holiness within. Of the catechisms it is unnecessary to speak at length. The confession was drawn up first, and the catechisms were afterwards constructed on its model it was determined that there should be no proposition in the latter that was not contained in the confession. The shorter catechism is now most known. It is generally used by the church of Scotland, and by almost every class of orthodox dissenters in England. In many respects it well deserves the celebrity it has obtained, though it is not entirely free from the ruggedness of ultra-calvinism; and several of the questions turn upon points in theology which scarcely pertain to the education of a christian child; and thus too much CHAPTER of a hard scholastic tone pervades it. II. A.D. 1643. On the other hand, many points of fundamental doctrine are CHAS. I. well explained; and, above all, the conditions of the gospel are expounded with force and clearness. On the doctrine of the sacraments we do not perceive a shade of difference from the teaching of the church of England.* It has been the hard fate of the Westminster * We make the following extracts from the shorter catechism :— "91. Q. How do the sacraments become effectual means af salvation? "A. The sacraments become effectual means of salvation, not from any virtue in them, or in him that doth administer them, but only by the blessing of Christ, and the working of his Spirit in them that by faith receive them. "92. Q. What is a sacrament? "A. A sacrament is an holy ordinance, instituted by Christ, wherein, by sensible signs, Christ, and the benefits of the new covenant, are represented, sealed, and applied to believers. "93. Q. What are the sacraments of the new testament? "A. The sacraments of the New Testament are, baptism and the Lord's supper. "94. Q. What is baptism? "A. Baptism is a sacrament, wherein the washing with water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, doth signify and seal our ingrafting into Christ, and partaking of the benefits of the covenant of grace, and our engagement to be the Lord's. “95. Q. To whom is baptism to be administered? "A. Baptism is not to be administered to any that are out of the visible church, till they profess their faith in Christ, and obedience to him; but the infants of such as are members of the visible church are to be baptized. "96. Q. What is the Lord's supper? "A. The Lord's supper is a sacrament, wherein, by giving and receiving bread and wine, according to Christ's appointment, his death is shewed forth, and the worthy receivers are, not after a corporeal and carnal manner, but by faith, made partakers of his body and blood, with all its benefits, to their spiritual nourishment and growth in grace. "97. Q. What is required to the worthy receiving of the Lord's supper? "A. It is required of them that would worthily partake of the Lord's supper, that they examine themselves of their knowledge to discern the Lord's body, of their faith to feed upon him, of their repentance, love, and new obedience, lest, coming unworthily, they eat and drink judgment to themselves." |