riot, in any degree, affect the grand and funda- CENT: mental principles of true religion [d]. XVI. SECT. III. The cere III. The form of public worship, and the rites PART II. and ceremonies that were proper to be admitted as a part of it, gave rise to disputes in several monies and places, during the infancy of the Lutheran church. public wor ship of the Some were inclined to retain a greater number of Lutheran the ceremonies and customs that had been so ex-church. cessively multiplied in the church of Rome, than seemed either lawful or expedient to others. The latter, after the example of the Helvetic reformers, had their views entirely turned towards that simplicity and gravity that characterised the Christian worship in the primitive times; while the former were of opinion, that some indulgence was to be shewn to the weakness of the multitude, and some regard paid to institutions that had acquired a certain degree of weight through long established custom. But as these contending parties were both persuaded that the ceremonial part of religion was, generally speaking, a matter of human institution, and that consequently a diversity of external rites might be admitted among different churches professing the same religion, without any prejudice to the bonds of charity and fraternal union, these disputes could not be of any long duration. In the mean time, all those, ceremonies and observances of the church of Rome, as Dr Mosheim seems to imagine. To maintain the ubiquity or omnipresence of Christ's body, together with its real and peculiar presence, in the eucharist, and to exclude from their communion the protestants, who denied these palpable absur dities, was the plan of the Lutheran doctors in composing and recommending the Form of Concord; and this plan can neither be looked upon as a matter of pure indifference, nor as a mark of Christian charity. But for a farther proof of this, see sect. xxxix. already referred to. [d] See, for an account of the Lutheran confessions of faith, Christ. Kocheri Bibliotheca Theologia Symbolice, p. 114. CENT. Rome, whether of a public or private nåture, that SECT. III. carried palpable marks of error and superstition; PART II were every where rejected without hesitation; and XVI Concerning head, and ment of the wise precautions were used to regulate the forms IV. The supreme civil rulers of every Lutheran the visible state are clothed also with the dignity, and perthe form form the functions of supremacy in the church. of govern: The very essence of civil government seems maLutheran nifestly to point out the necessity of investing the sovereign with this spiritual supremacy [f], and the tacit consent of the Lutheran churches has confirmed the dictates of wise policy in this respect. It must not, however, be imagined, that the an church. cient [e] See Balth. Meisnerus, Lib. de Legibus, lib. iv. art. iv. quæst. iv. p. 662-666.—Jo. Adam Scherzerus, Breviar: Hulsemann. Enucl. p. 1313-1321. [f] Since nothing is more inconsistent with that subor dination and concord, which are among the great ends of civil government, than imperium in imperio, i, e. two independent sovereignties in the same body politic: Hence the genius of government, as well as the spirit of genuine Christianity, proclaims the equity of that constitution, that makes the supreme head of the state, the supreme visible ruler of the church. XVI. cient rights and privileges of the people in eccle. CENT. siastical affairs have been totally abolished by thiss CT. III. constitution of things; since it is certain, that the PART 1 vestiges of the authority exercised by them in the primitive times, though more striking in one place than in another, are yet more or less visible every where. Besides, it must be carefully remembered, that all civil rulers of the Lutheran persuasion are effectually restrained, by the fundamental principles of the doctrine they profess, from any attempts to change or destroy the established rule of faith and manners, to make any alteration in the essential doctrines of their religion, or in any thing that is intimately connected with them, or to impose their particular opinions upon their subjects in a despotic and arbitrary manner. The councils, or societies, appointed by the sovereign to watch over the interests of the church, and to govern and direct its affairs, are composed of persons versed in the knowledge both of civil and ecclesiastical law, and, according to a very ancient denomination, are called Consistories. The internal government of the Lutheran church seems equally removed from episcopacy on the one hand, and from presbyterianism on the other, if we except the kingdoms of Sweden and Denmark, who retain the form of ecclesiastical government that preceded the reformation, purged, indeed, from the superstitions and abuses that rendered it so odious [8]. This constitution of the Lutheran hierarchy will not seem surpris n5, when the sen timents [] In these two kingdoms the church is ruled by bishops and superintendants, under the inspection and autho rity of the sovereign. The archbishop of Upsal is primate of Sweden, and the only archbishop among the Lutherans. The luxury and licentiousness that too commonly flow from the opulence of the Roman Catholic clergy, are unknown in these two northern states; since the revenues of the prelate now mentioned do not amount to more than 400 pounds yearly, while those of the bishops are proportionably small. XVI. CENT.timents of that people, with respect to ecclesiasti SECT. II. Cal polity, are duly considered. On the one hand; PART II they are persuaded that there is no law, of divine The Lurthe gies, their publie wor authority, which points out a distinction between the ministers of the gospel, with respect to rank, dignity, or prerogatives; and therefore they recede from episcopacy. But, on the other hand, they are of opinion, that a certain subordination, a diversity in point of rank and privileges among the clergy, are not only highly useful, but also necessary to the perfection of church communion, by connecting, in consequence of a mutual dependence, more closely together the members of the same body; and thus they avoid the uniformity of the presbyterian governments. They are not, however, agreed with respect to the extent of this subordination, and the degrees of superiority and precedence that ought to distinguish their doctors; for in some places this is regulated with much more regard to the ancient rules of churchgovernment, than is discovered in others. As the divine law is silent on this head, different forms of ecclesiastical polity adopted, without a breach of Christian charity and fraternal union. V. Every country has its own Liturgies, which an litur- are the rules of proceeding in every thing that relates to external worship and the public exercise ship, and of religion. These rules, however, are not of an their me immutable nature, like those institutions which structing bear the stamp of a divine authority, but may be thod of in augmented, corrected, or illustrated, by the order of the sovereign, when such charges appear evidently to be necessary or expedient. The liturgies used in the different countries that have embraced the system of Luther, agree perfectly in all the essential branches of religion, in all matters that can be looked upon as of real moment and importance; but they differ widely in many things of XVI. of an indifferent nature, concerning which the CENT. Holy Scriptures are silent, and which compose SECT. III. that part of the public religion that derives its PART II. authority from the wisdom and appointment of men. Assemblies for the celebration of divine worship meet every where at stated times. Here the Holy Scriptures are read publicly, prayers and hymns are addressed to the Deity, the sacraments are administered, and the people are instructed in the knowledge of religion, and excited to the practice of virtue by the discourses of their ministers. The wisest methods are used for the religious education of youth,, who are not only carefully instructed in the elements of Christianity in the public schools, but are also examined, by the pastors of the churches to which they belong, in a public manner, in order to the farther improvement of their knowledge, and the more vigorous exertion of their faculties in the study of divine truth. Hence, in almost every province, Catechisms which contain the essential truths of religion and the main precepts of morality, are published and recommended by the authority of the sovereign, as rules to be followed by the masters of schools, and by the ministers of the church, both in their private and public instructions. But as Luther left behind him an accurate and judicious production of this kind, in which the fundamental principles of religion and morality are explained and confirmed with the greatest perspicuity and force both of evidence and expression, this compendious Catechism of that eminent reformer is universally adopted as the first introduction to religious knowledge, and is one of the standard-books of the church which bears his name. And, indeed, all the provincial catechisms are no more than illustrations and enlargements on this excellent abridgment of faith and practice. VI. Among VOL. IV. U |