Six PROPOSITIONS. I. The visible Church of CHRIST is a congregation of faithful men. II. In the visible Church of CHRIST the pure Word of GOD is preached and the Sacraments be duly ministred, according to CHRIST'S ordinance, in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same. III. The Church of Hierusalem has erred, not only in living and manner of ceremonies, but also in matters of faith. IV. The Church of Alexandria has erred, not only in living and manner of ceremonies, but also in matters of faith. V. The Church of Antioch has erred, not only in living and manner of ceremonies, but also in matters of faith. VI. The Church of Rome has erred, not only in living and manner of ceremonies, but also in matters of faith. PROP. I. The visible Church of CHRIST is a congregation of faithful men. 1. The Testimony of Reason. As GOD from the beginning would have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth, so it is necessary that there always should have been, and should be at this day, a visible Church, that is, a congregation of faithful men, among whom the pure Word of GOD is preached, and the sacraments be duly ministred. 2. Divine Testimony. A. Old Testament. 1 Kings xix. 18, "Yet I have left Me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him." B. New Testament. Acts ii. 41, "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls."-See also Matt. xiii. xxii. xxv. John xi. 52. Acts ii. 47. Rom. i. 7; xi. 4. 1 Cor. i. 2; xii. 12; xvi. 18, 19. Ephes. i. 4; v. 23-32. 2 Tim. ii. 20. Heb. xii. 22, 23. Rev. vii. 9. 3. Human Testimony. A. Fathers. Tertull. Apol. c. xxxiv. (Chevallier's Version), "We are a society united in the profession of religion, in the same rites of worship, in the bond of a common hope. We meet in one place, and form an assembly," &c.—See also De Præscript. Hæret. c. xx. B. Confessions. 1 Helvetic, Art. xiv. 2 Helvetic, c. xvii. Sueveland, PROP. II. In the visible Church of CHRIST the pure Word of GOD is preached, and the Sacraments be duly ministred, according to CHRIST'S ordinance, in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same. 1. Divine Testimony. A. Old Testament. Isa. lix. 21, "As for Me, this is My covenant with them, saith the LORD: My spirit that is upon Thee, and My words which I have put in Thy mouth, shall not depart out of Thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of Thy seed, nor out of the mouth of Thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever." B. New Testament. Acts ii. 41, 42, "Then they that gladly received His word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers."-See also Matt. xvi. 18; xviii. 19, 20; xxvi. 26, 27; xxviii. 19. Acts iii. vii. viii. xiii. xx. 17. Rom. x. 14, 17. 1 Cor. i. 2; vi. 1; xiv. 4, 13. 2 Cor. vi. 16. Gal. i. 2. 1 Pet. ii. 5. Ephes. ii. 19; iv. 15, 16. Preaching, John x. 5, 27, 28; xiv. 23, 35; xvii. 17. 2. Human Testimony. A. Fathers. Tertullian, Apol. c. xxxix. (Chevallier), "We meet in one place, and form an assembly, that we may, as it were, come before GOD in one united band, and so address Him in prayer.........We meet also for reading the Holy Scriptures.........Our supper sufficiently shews its meaning by its very name. It is called by a term which in Greek signifies love." B. Confessions. 1 Helvetic, Art. xiv. 2 Helvetic, c. xvii. PROP. III. The Church of Hierusalem' has erred, not only in living and manner of ceremonies, but also in matters of faith.3 A. The Church of Hierusalem has erred in living. "Licentiousness and impiety not only abound among the people, but also dishonor their leaders; and the calamities that arise from this corruption of manners, are deplorably augmented by their endless contentions and divisions." -Mosheim's Eccles. Hist. vol. iv. p. 238. B. The Church of Hierusalem has erred in manner of ceremonies. "The religion of the Greek Church is a motly collection of ceremonies, the greatest part of which are either ridiculously trifling, or shockingly absurd.”—Mosheim, vol. IV. p. 238. C. The Church of Hierusalem has erred in matters of faith. The proper Greek Church is that which acknowledges the supremacy of the Patriarch of Constantinople, whose jurisdiction extends over the four provinces of Constantinople, Jerusalem, Antioch, and Alexandria. The Article therefore, denies the infallibility of the Greek Church as well as of the Roman. It is worthy of notice, that the three Churches of Jerusalem, Antioch, and Alexandria are generally believed to have been founded by Apostles, and that for many centuries they possessed considerable power and authority. Moreover, it is an established opinion among the members of these Churches, that the decrees of the Patriarch of Constantinople are sacred and infallible. The doctrine of the Greek Church is set forth in "the Orthodox Confession of the Catholic and Apostolic Eastern Church." If the Confession be compared with our Articles, it will appear that the doctrine of these Churches is in many important particulars contrary to the teaching of the Church of England. The teaching of the Greek Church indirectly rejects or weakens the doctrines of Scripture concerning the offices of the LORD JESUS and the HOLY SPIRIT, maintains transubstantiation, prayers for the dead, a sacrificing priesthood, seven sacraments, invocation of saints, pilgrimages, services in ancient Greek, &c. 5 "Ecclesiastical fallibility may be inferred from the Epistles to the Seven Churches. Rev. ii. Tertullian admits, by implication, that particular Churches may fall into error." De Præscript. Hæret. c. xxvii. relics; prayers for the dead; addition of five to the number of the sacraments; transubstantiation. Holds justification by faith and works; Scripture and the decrees of the first seven general councils as the rule of faith. PROP. IV. The Church of Alexandria has erred, not only in living and manner of ceremonies, but also in matters of faith. A. The Church of Alexandria has erred in living. B. The Church of Alexandria has erred in manner of ceremonies. C. The Church of Alexandria has erred in matters of faith. Has favoured Arianism; Pelagianism, Mosh. vol. 11. 88. PROP. V. The Church of Antioch has erred, not only in living and manner of ceremonies, but also in matters of faith. A. The Church of Antioch has erred in living. B. The Church of Antioch has erred in manner of ceremonies. Has favoured Arianism. Council of Antioch, A.D. 341, PROP. VI. The Church of Rome has erred, not only in living and manner of ceremonies, but also in matters of faith. The proofs and testimonies under Prop. III. apply also to Props. IV. and V. 7 The state of the Eastern Church as described by Gregory of Nazianzum, A.D. 359, "For beyond all doubt, the pastors were affected with mental error, and, to use the language of Scripture, many pastors have wasted My vineyard, and trodden under foot My portion,' that is to say, the Church of God, which was collected by the manifold labours and deaths both of those who preceded, and of those who followed CHRIST, and especially by the punishment and sufferings of the great God Himself for our salvation. For if you except a few, who either were despised on account of their obscurity, or resisted through their virtue, and who were necessarily left as the seed and root of Israel, in order that it might flourish again and be recalled to life by the breathing upon it of the Spirit, all were carried away by the iniquity of the times." P A. The Church of Rome has erred in living. The complaint of Bernard against the Clergy of his day. B. The Church of Rome has erred in manner of ceremonies. a. in respect to the Rule of Faith; see under Arts. VI. and VIII. b. in respect to Doctrines which relate to Christians as individuals; see under Arts. IX.-XVI. c. in respect to Doctrines which relate to Christians as members of the Church; see under Arts. XX. XXI. XXII. XXIV.-XXXII. XXXIV. XXXVII. 2. The following facts sustain this charge. a. In regard to Bishops of Rome. Marcellianus was a backslider; Liberius an Arian, A.D. 358; Zosimus a Pelagian, A.D. 417; Anastasius a Nestorian ; Vigilius an Eutychian; Honorius a Monothelite; John XXIII. an infidel, who was condemned by the Council of Constance; Benedict XII. was deposed by the same council "as an incorrigible heretic"; Eugenius IV., condemned as a heretic and schismatic by the Council of Basil. b. In regard to Councils, see under Art. XXI. |