INTRODUCTION. "WHERE was the Protestant religion before Luther?" is a question that has often been asked with an air of confidence and triumph, by the advocates of a church which claims to be the only infallible expounder of the word of God. The object of the following essay is to answer this question, and to retort the charge of novelty in religion, on those who make such arrogant claims for the antiquity of their church. The importance of the question will be evident to every one who considers, that it relates not merely to some unessential doctrines, or external observances, but to the very foundation of a sinner's hope. If the Popish system be true, Protestants are left to the " uncovenanted mercies of God;" without a ministry, without sacraments, without hope! If it is false, how awful is the delusion, and how imminent the danger of those who rest all their hopes of salvation upon it! That the discussion is seasonable, must be apparent to all who are awake to the signs of the times. Zealous emissaries, backed by foreign influence, and aided by foreign gold, are coming in like a flood, to poison the fountains of education, and to bring the civil and reli JUN 25 1301 |