questions of doctrine and discipline; therefore the Reformation, as emanating from an usurped and intrusive authority, was schismatical.

Answer. The magistrates were obliged, in several instances, to take some measures in religion; because the public peace was endangered by the contending parties. This was the case at Basle, Geneva, and elsewhere. In other places, as at Zurich, the magistrates were obliged to examine the question, in consequence of the applications of the Romish party to put down by force the doctrines of the Reformation. In many cases simple protection was afforded by the civil magistrate, as in Friesland, Goslar, Holstein, Dithmar, &c. At Strasburg the senate would not give up the married clergy to be punished by the bishop, until he had first punished those who were guilty of more scandalous crimes; and when they finally suspended mass according to the Roman rite, it was only conditionally, until its supporters should prove it conformable to the word of God.1

I do not deny, however, that the civil magistrates did overstep occasionally their legitimate office; but those regulations, which they made by the desire and advice of the Lutherans and Calvinists, for their societies, are not to be reckoned among intrusions on the office of the church. Zuinglius himself, who has been accused of attributing too much to the civil magistrates, says, that "the civil power (which is placed in supreme authority, in order to correct and regulate externals,) when it is Christian, may, with the consent of the church, (for I do not wish to be understood without that consent,) make laws concerning those externals, which are either to be observed or neglected."m Such was the principle on which the regulations of the civil magistrates in religion were generally made. And besides this, they were, as I have already observed, only of a temporary, provisional nature. It must be remembered too, that the Em

'Gerdes. tom. ii. p. 120. 206.

m Gerdes. tom. i. supplement. ad p. 286 and 287.

peror Charles V. in 1548, published, by his own authority, the Interim," which contains numerous regulations concerning doctrine and discipline, and which he forced on his subjects. The Diet of Ratisbon, in 1540, took cognizance of religious questions; and even Erasmus gave it as his opinion to the magistrates of Basle, that the diet of the empire might permit the clergy to marry, and the religious to leave their convents." Therefore the Lutherans, &c. were not the only persons who allowed the authority of the civil magistrates.

III. The Arians, Apollinarians, and other heretics might have alleged also that they were unjustly condemned by the church; and if the merits of the church's judgments are to be inquired into, there can be no use in them, for controversy will be perpetual.

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

n

Fleury, liv. 145. s. 19.

• Gerdes. tom. ii. p. 296.,

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

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 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, dissenting communities 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 a 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.

Part II. Chapter II. IX.

b Chapter VII.