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Answer. I do not examine whether the church judged justly or unjustly, but what I contend is, that the church did not judge at all in these controversies. I shall hereafter prove (Part IV.) that the papal decree and the Synod of Trent alone did not convey the judgment of the catholic church. The Arians and other ancient heretics were condemned by clear and undoubted decisions of the universal church, and their only resource was to deny its authority and assert that it was apostate.

IV. Many theologians of the reformed communities confess that they separated themselves from the Roman church. Luther said, that at the beginning he stood alone.

Answer. They separated from the errors commonly held, but not from the communion of the church; as archbishop Laud truly said: "The Protestants did not depart; for departure is voluntary, so was not theirs. I say not theirs, taking their whole body and cause together. For that some among them were peevish, and some ignorantly zealous, is neither to be doubted, nor is there danger in confessing it." When Luther said that he stood alone, he meant that he was almost the only person who conspicuously, and in the face of the world, maintained his doctrines; but he knew that many others, though less conspicuously, approved and defended them.

V. It is inconsistent with Christian charity to deny the Lutheran and reformed communities to be churches of Christ, because, according to the principles here laid down, salvation is only offered in the church, so that the Protestants must be excluded from salvation. And

Laud, Conference with Fisher, § 21. No. 3.

besides this, it is pronounced unlawful to separate from the Roman church, and thus men are encouraged to remain in the profession of superstition and error. On such principles the Reformation could never have taken place.

Answer. (1.) I have shown that the adherents of the Reformation were not in schism or heresy, therefore they were only separated from the external communion of the church, and were not out of the way of salvation. (2.) While it is maintained that it would have been unlawful to separate from the existing church, it is also affirmed that the truth should always be supported and advocated, without violence and uncharitable zeal; and if, in consequence, the rulers of the church, misled by a false authority, should excommunicate one who holds the truth, he is free from offence, and is not bound to retract, nor to cease his exertions to be of use to the brethren. Therefore the Reformation would not have been impeded by the principles here maintained, which in fact were those of the reformers themselves. And if they had been able to remain in the church, the Reformation would probably have been far more extensive, and would have better merited its name, for it would have been accomplished in a more orderly manner.

VI. Several theologians, even of the British churches, have acknowledged the Lutherans and reformed to be churches of Christ.

Answer. I admit that this opinion has been held by some writers, but they seem to have been influenced by the notion, that it was necessary for the justification of both the Protestants and the British churches. However, scarcely any theologian affirmed that these foreign

communities were perfect in all respects, according to the institution of Christ; and most of those who give them the title of churches do so in a general sense, not meaning that they are churches in the strict sense of the term.

CHAPTER XIII.

ON THE SEPARATISTS FROM THE BRITISH CHURCHES.

I AM now to speak of the societies which are separated from the communion of the British churches. As I consider elsewhere the character of the Roman and the Scottish Presbyterian communities, it only remains here to treat of the various sects of dissent. Of these communities, whether collectively or individually considered, I affirm, that they are no part of the church of Christ. This question has been recently so well treated by many able writers, that very little need be said on the subject.

SECTION I.

ON THE ORIGIN OF DISSENT.

The dissenting societies cannot be supposed to constitute the true church of Christ to the exclusion of the more ancient and infinitely greater churches of the East, and West, the Lutherans and Calvinists for it has been proved, that the church of Christ must always be morally universal". Now Now dissenting communities

Part II. Chapter II. IX.

b

Chapter VII.

only exist in Britain, in the United States, and in a few of the English colonies. They are unknown on the continent of Europe, in Asia, Africa, South America, that is, in nearly the whole world. It is impossible that a party so small, so unknown to the world at large, can be that "mountain filling the whole earth,” that " city set upon an hill which cannot be hid.” Even if we were to add the Lutherans and Calvinists to their number, their church would be still unknown in the greatest part of the world.

We

There is another proof that they cannot alone constitute the church of Christ. Whatever be their present state, it is certain that about two hundred and fifty years ago, they were entirely unknown, that they even did not exist. We know perfectly when these societies arose, and who were their founders. know that Robinson, the author of Independency, lived in the reign of Elizabeth and James, that Jacobs founded the first Congregational church about 1616, that Jesse established the first Baptist church in 1640. We can tell when the various existing denominations of Quakers, Presbyterians, Swedenborgians, Socinians, Moravians, Huntingdonians, Wesleyans, Whitfieldites, Kilhamites, Jumpers, Ranters, the followers of Johanna Southcote, Irvingites, &c. first arose their origin is comparatively recent. If these societies alone constitute the true visible church of Christ, we should be at a loss to discover where that church existed two hundred and fifty years ago.

It has been proved that there must always be a visible and a universal church of Christ on earth. It is therefore in vain to allege that some individuals may have held the truth in secret, in the midst of an apostate and antichristian church. This would not be any

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