scriptures as the supreme rule; and to set aside human authority and traditions: secondly, to retain whatever conformity to the supreme rule the church had attained in doctrine, worship, and government: and, lastly, to make farther progress in reformation.

Alex. This brings to my mind what I proposed at the close of our former conversation; which was to take a view of the principles and practice of the Protestant churches with regard to sacramental com

munion.

Ruf. I am persuaded, that the scheme of catholic communion pleaded for, is contrary to the principles and approved practice of the Protestant churches; for this persuasion, I shall offer several reasons.

§ 39. The first, that occurs to me, is the inconsistency of this scheme with the secession of these churches from the church of Rome. They separated from the church of Rome on account of her corruptions. Her making human tradition the rule of faith as well as the holy scriptures; her ascribing merit to men's works, and teaching them to trust in them as the ground of their justification before God; her transubstantiation and purgatory; her general faith; these and many other erroneous doctrines maintained in her public profession were considered by our reformers as sufficient to justify their departure from her communion.

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In this judgement, Protestants proceeded upon the authority of such passages of scripture as the following: 1 Tim. vi. 3, " If any man teach otherwise and consent not to wholesome words, even the words "of our Lord Jesus, and to the doctrine according to godliness-from "such withdraw thyself." 2 Thess. iii, 14, " If any man obey not our "word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, "that he may be ashamed." 1 Tim. iii. 15, "The house of God, "which is the church of the living God, is the pillar and ground of "truth" an expression intimating the duty of the church to exhibit and maintain in her profession the truths revealed in the word of God; as pillars in ancient times exhibited to public view the edicts of rulers that were affixed to them. 2 Tim. i. 13, " Hold fast the form of sound "words, which thou hast heard of me in faith and love which is in "Christ Jesus;" a command which as it binds every minister to hold fast the form of sound words in his official capacity; so it binds every particular church, as such, to hold it fast in her public profession.

Our Reformers considered corruptions in the worship of God obstinately persisted in as a sufficient reason of separation from the communion of the Popish church; while they believed such religious worship, as was according to the commandments of men, to be vain and false worship; according to Matth. xv. 9, " In vain do ye worship me. "teaching for doctrine the commandments of men." While they remembered, that God forbade his people to go up to Bethaven, to join with, or countenance, the superstitious worship there. Hos. iv. 15, "Go not up to Bethaven." The name of the place had been Bethel, the house of God; but now from the worship of idols, it was become Bethaven, the house of vanity, his people were not allowed to go up to it, nor to join with the worshippers there (even in what might be accounted lawful,) in swearing, "The Lord liveth." With regard to the government of the church of Rome, both its form and administration were such as could not be warrantably submitted to, as being con

trary to what is revealed in the word of God, concerning the officers he has appointed in his house; concerning the authority he hath given them; and concerning the exercise of that authority, for the edification, and not for the destruction of his people. The contrariety of her government to the scripture, in each of these respects, have been shewn abundantly by our divines, who have written defences of the Reformation. It is granted by these writers, that any one of the three evils now specified, as it prevailed in that church, would have been a sufficient ground for our secession from it. "These evils," says Turretine, "are so great and dangerous, that if any one of them be found "in any society, which glories in the name of a church, it would be 86 necessary for us to make secession from it, and to decline its com"munion."*

Now, supposing one of the Protestant churches to be involved in one or more of these evils, though in a much less degree than that, in which they have prevailed in the church of Rome; and supposing that the ordinary means, or such as the Protestants used with the church of Rome, had been tried for reclaiming such a particular church, without effect; and that, instead of reforming, she had become more obstinate in avowing and justifying her corruptions: the principles of the Reformers, would have led them to withdraw from such a church, and to decline her sacramental communion.t

This appears, from the passages of scripture already mentioned; and others, which they considered as applicable to their secession from the church of Rome.

"They, who put free will," says one of the first reformers, "for "free grace, reason for faith, their own opinions for the mind of the "Spirit; the doctrine of men for the sacred scriptures; who talk of "nothing but the primacy of Peter; do, by such means, delude and "draw away men from the simplicity of the word of God; and, there"fore, although the professors, who are chargeable with such things, "think themselves the holiest of men, and extirpators of heresy; yet, "we are to avoid them, as pernicious impostors." For whatever opinion is contrary to any article of the sound or scriptural profesion of any church, is contrary to the wholesome words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness. The scriptural principle, that christians ought to use no other forms or means of religious worship, than such as God hath appointed in his word, is as truly opposite to crossing in baptism, or any other form or

Hæc tria ita sunt gravida et periculosa, ut, si unum vel alterum duntaxat in cœtu aliquo, qui Ecclesiæ nomine gloriatur, obtineat, necessario ab illo nobis sit secedendum, nec ulla possit cum illo communio coli. De necessaria secessione ab Eccl. Rom. Disput. v. sect. 2.

Hence, a judicious divine expresses himself, concerning corruption in the worship of God, in the following decisive though guarded manner: "I humbly think," says he, " "it may be made evident, that wherever there is any corruption in worship, it is a suffidient ground of separation from communion with the worshippers in their worship, in case they refuse to reform." Mr. Wilson's Defence, &c. page 55, 56.

+ Qui liberum arbitrium habent pro gratia, rationem pro fide, opiniones pro judicio Spiritus, doctrinas hominum pro scriptura sacra, quibus nihil in ore est nisi primatus Petri. Quae omnia dementant homines et a verbi Dei simplicitate abducunt: Quare etsi talium rerum professores se omnium sanctissimos putent, et hæretica pravitatis_(ut loquuntur) extirpatores, cavendi tamen sunt et fugiendi tanquam noxii impostores. Marloratus in 1 Tim. vi. 4, 5.

means of religious worship, devised by men, as to the worship of images, or of the Virgin Mary. The office of lord Bishop, is as little to be found in scripture, as that of a Pope. Hence, the Nonconformists in England were sufficiently vindicated, in their withdrawing from the sacramental communion of the established church there, by the reasons which justified their secession from the Romish church.

The errors of the Romish church, Sir, are not peculiar to her: they are such as other churches may fall into. She bears the character of Spiritual Babylon, out of which God's people were called to come, especially on account of her incurable obstinacy in corruption; in which respect, the literal Babylon of old, was a type of her: Jerem. li. 9, "We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake "her." Papal Rome is set up, in the righteous judgement of God, as a tremendous example and warning to other churches, of the danger of apostacy, from any profession of Divine truth which they have attained.

However much less the evils of the Protestant churches may be, than those of the Popish church; yet, if any of them, like that church, apostatize from any part of the public scriptural profession that they had attained; and if they continue obstinate, after the ordinary scriptural means of reclaiming them have been used, it will become at last, the duty of the faithful, to withdraw from their sacramental communion, as well as it was their duty to withdraw from that of the church of Rome.

That our reformers would not have allowed us to have sacramental communion with a particular church, in the case now supposed, appears, from their representation of the evils implied in communicating with the church of Rome; such as, Dissembling the truth; the appearance of joining with others in the profession of falsehood; partaking of the errors and abominations of the Romish church; the denial of Christ ; tempting the patience of God; open rebellion against his commands; offending weak brethren.* Now supposing, that in the public profession of a Protestant church, only one or two of the truths of God's word are denied; and supposing, that Protestant church to be equally obstinate as the church of Rome, in the denial of these truths of God, and in holding some contrary error; the truth so denied being contained, not only in the scripture, but in the matter of her former public profession: it cannot be reasonably denied that, in this case, that church is gone into a course of defection; and that whosoever, after having come to the knowledge of the truth so denied, communicates with her, appears to join with her in her error; declining, in the very act of communicating, the public confession of the contrary truth; and, in such dissimulation, walks not uprightly, according to the truth of the gospel; grieves the Spirit of God; and causes the offence or stumbling of weak brethren.

§ 40. Alex. The Papists said, that, in separating from the church of Rome, the Protestants left the true church; and did not belong to

* Nemo, cognita semel veritate, vel in Papotu manere, vel ad illum deficere potest sine gravissimis peccatis, quæ cum salute asustata, puta, Dissimulatione veritatis, simulatione mendacii, participatione errorum et sordium ecclesiæ Romanæ, Christi abnegatione, tentatione patientiæ Dei, rebellione aperta contra ejus mandata, et Scandalo infirinorum. Turretinus De Necessaria secessione, &c. Disput. vi. sect. 35.

any true church. To repel this charge, it was necessary for our reformers, to determine from the word of God, what constitutes the true church; and to give its distinctive marks; and to shew, that they belonged to it themselves. In doing this, they fixed on such characteristics as are common, even at the present hour, to all the churche's of Reformed Christendom, which have not lost the faith of the Trinity and the atonement. These characteristics, are generally summed up in their confessions, under two heads: 1st, The pure doctrine of the gospel: 2dly, The right administration of the sacraments. It is sufficient for the true unity of the church, says the Augsburgh Confession, to agree in the doctrine of the gospel, and the right use of the sacraments. What is meant by the pure gospel, and the due administration of the sacraments, must be ascertained by the confessions of the Protestant churches. We conclude, then, that all the churches of Reformed Christendom, ought to have sacramental communion among themselves.*

Ruf. The Papists are, indeed, very unjust, in their inference, that because the Protestants left the communion of the particular church of Rome, therefore, they left the communion of the Catholic church. Against this opinion, the several confessions of the Protestant churches. harmoniously testify. They all agree, that the way in which we are to judge, whether any religious society be a part of the Catholic church, is not by its local situation, nor by its connexion with another religious society; but, by the characteristics which you have mentioned. Your scheme of catholic commmunion seems, in this respect, to agree with the Papists; while it implies, that though a particular church have these marks, yet, while that church refuses to have sacramental commmunion with another on account of its corruptions, these marks are not sufficient to prove the former to be a part of the Catholic church of Christ. For you still suppose, that to refuse sacramental communion with a corrupt particular church, for no other reason than because it is corrupt, is to refuse communion with the Catholic church: just as the Papists say, that to refuse the sacramental communion of the particular church of Rome, is to refuse the communion of the Catholic church.

You justly observe, that "what is meant by the pure gospel, and "the right administration of the sacraments, is to be ascertained by "the confessions of the Protestant churches." But if these marks are to be so understood; and if we are to regulate our sacramental communion by them; then, we ought to have no such communion with the avowed and obstinate opposers of any article of these confessions, though it be non-essential, especially, if it be an article in which they all harmonize. There are, however, doctrines, in which all these confessions harmonize, which you will hardly allow to be essential; since they are denied by many whom we, in charity, judge to be sincere christians such as, That Christ is the Son of God, not by his mediatory office, but by eternal generation; that there is a fiducial application of Christ to ourselves, on the single ground of the grant and promise of the gospel, in the nature of saving faith; that God is to be worshipped by no other ways or means, than those which he has appointed in his word; that the infants of regular members of the visible

* Plea, &c. pages 143, 144.

church, ought to be baptised; that ministers ought to be chosen by the suffrages of the church.

According to your catholic scheme, we are bound to have sacramental communion with the avowed and obstinate opposers of such nonessential articles; and, consequently, with some to whom it is manifest, that some of these marks, according to the description of them in their confessions, do not agree; and therefore, with whom, according to these marks, we ought not to have sacramental communion. These marks are more fully expressed in the old Scots' Confession of Faith. The first is, "The true preaching of the word of God, as he hath re"vealed himself unto us, in the writings of the apostles and prophets." The true preaching of the word, is here considered, not only as it is the instituted mean of gathering and constituting the visible church; but as it includes the profession and maintenance of the true doctrine and the true faith. This mark of a true church, includes the judicial assertion of the truth, and the judicial condemnation of the contrary errors by her office-bearers.*

The second note or mark of the church of God, according to that confession, is, "The right administration of the sacraments of Jesus "Christ, which must be annexed unto the word and promise of God, to "seal and confirm the same in our hearts." And, in order that the "sacraments may be rightly administered, we judge, that two things 66 are requisite: the one is, that they may be administered by lawful "ministers, whom we affirm to be only they that are appointed to the "preaching of the word, into whose mouth God has put some sermon "of exhortation; they being men lawfully chosen by some church: "the other, that they be administered in such elements, and in such "sort, as God hath appointed: otherwise, we affirm, that they cease "to be right sacraments of Jesus Christ."

The third note or mark of a true church, is, "Ecclesiastical disci"pline uprightly administered, as God's word prescribeth; whereby "vice is repressed, and virtue nourished."

It follows, from these marks, that we are not to have sacramental communion with a church, which is habitually, publicly and obstinately walking contrary to any of them: by consequence, we cannot warrantably have communion with a particular church or her members, who are habitually, publicly and obstinately opposing any one article of our public scriptural profession; who are displaying a banner against some doctrine or command of Christ, which it belongs to the character and duty of his true church to maintain; or who are exercising their ecclesiastical authority to the wounding and hurt, instead of the edifieation, of his body.

any

You say, that these characteristics are common at this hour to all the churches of Reformed Christendom; excepting such as have lost the faith of the Trinity or the atonement. I confess, that information I have attained on that subject, does not lead me to form so flattering an opinion of the present state of these churches. Above seventy years since, a pious and judicious writert shewed, that the

* See the Postscript to Mr. Wilson's Letter, concerning Secession, &c.

† See Mr. Wilson's Defence of the Reformation Principles of the church of Scotland; particularly in the Postscript to his Letter to a Member of the Prebytery of Dumfermline.