PART II. cieties [x]. It might not, perhaps, be amiss to CENT. enquire, whether all the tenets received among XVI. the Mennonites are faithfully exhibited and plain- SECT. III. ly expressed in these Confessions, or whether several points be not there omitted which relate to the internal constitution of this sect, and would give us a complete idea of its nature and tendency. One thing is certain, that whoever peruses these Confessions with an ordinary degree of attention, will easily perceive, that those tenets which appear detrimental to the interests of civil society, particularly those that relate to the prerogatives of magistracy, and the administration of oaths, are expressed with the utmost caution, and embellished with the greatest art, to prevent their bearing an alarming aspect. At the same time, the more discerning observer will see, that these embellishments are intended to disguise the truth, and that the doctrine of the Anabaptists, concerning the critical points above mentioned, are not represented, in their public Confessions, in their real colours. gion was XIII. The ancient Anabaptists, who trusted in Their relian extraordinary direction of the Holy Spirit, reduced were (under the pretended influence of so infalli-into a sys [] See an account of these Confessions in Schyn's Plenior Deduct. Hist. Mennon. cap. iv. p. 78. 115. where he maintains, that "these Confessions prove as great a uniformity among the Mennonites, in relation to the great and fundamental doctrines of religion, as can be pretended to by any other Christian community." But should the good man even succeed in persuading us of this boasted uniformity, he will yet never be able to make his assertion go down with many of his own brethren, who are, to this day, quarrelling about several points of religion, and who look upon matters, which appear to him of little consequence, as of high moment and importance to the cause of true piety. And, indeed, how could any of the Mennonites, before this present century, believe what Schyn here affirms, since it is well known, that they disputed about matters which he treats with contempt, as if they had been immediately connected with their eternal interests? Vol. IV. H h ble tem. CEN T. ble a guide) little solicitous about composing a SECT. III. System of religion, and never once thought of inPART II. Stilling into the minds of the people just senti XVI. ments of the Deity. Hence the warm dissensions that arose among them, concerning matters of the highest consequence, such as the Divinity of CHRIST, Polygamy, and Divorce. MENNO and his disciples made sore attempts to supply this defect. But nevertheless we find, after his time, that the Mennonites, more especially those of the rigid class, carried the freedom of their religious speculations to such an excessive height, as bordered upon extravagance. This circumstance alore, were there no other, proves that the heads of this sect employed the smallest part of their zeal to prevent the introduction and propagation of error; and that they looked upon sanctity of life and manners alone as the essence of true religion. The Waterlandians, indeed, and after them the other Anabaptists, were obliged, at length, to draw up a summary of their doctrine, and to lay it before the public, in order to remove the odium that was cast upon them, on account of their bold tenets, and their extravagant disputes, which were likely to involve them in the greatest calamities. But these Confessions of the Mennonites were, in reality, little more than a method of defence, to which they were reduced by the opposition they met with, and must therefore be rather considered as an expedient to avert the indignation of their enemies, than as articles of doctrine, which all of them, without exception, were oblig. ed to believe. For we do not find among the Mennonites (a part of the modern Waterlandians excepted) any injunction, which expressly prohibits individuals from entertaining or propagating religious opinions different from the public creed of the community. And, indeed, when we look attentively into the nature and constitution of this sect, XVI. sect, it will appear to have been, in some measure, CENT. founded upon this principle, that practical piety SECT. III. is the essence of religion, and that the surest and ART II. most infallible mark of the true church is the sanctity of its members; it is at least certain, that this principle was always universally adopted by the Anabaptists. on of the XIV. If we are to form our judgment of the The religi religion of the Mennonites from their public creeds Mennoand confessions, we shall find, that though it va- nites. ries widely from the doctrine of the Lutherans, yet in most things it differs but little from that of the Reformed church. They consider the sacraments in no other light, than as signs or symbols of the spiritual blessings administered in the Gospel; and their ecclesiastical discipline seems to be almost entirely the same with that of the Presbyterians. There are, however, peculiar tenets, by which they are distinguished from all other religious communities, and these may be reduced under three heads. For it is observable, that there are certain doctrines, which are held in common by all the various sects of the Mennonites; others, which are only received in some of the more emenent and numerous sects of that community (such were the sentiments of MENNO, which hindered him from being universally acceptable to the Anabaptists); and others, again, which are only to be found among the more obscure and inconsiderable societies of that denomination. These last, indeed, appear and vanish, alternately, with the transitory sects that adopt them, and therefore do not deserve to employ our attention any farther in this place. which the XV. The opinions that are held in common by The great the Mennonites seem to be all derived from this principle on leading and fundamental principle, that the king- general dom which CHRIST established upon earth is a visible church, or community, into which the holy and theites is just founded. Hh 2 doctrine of XVI CENT just are alone to be admitted, and which is conse SECT. III.quently exempt from all those institutions and rules PART II of discipline, that have been invented by human wisdom. for the correction and reformation of the wicked. This fanatical principle was frankly avowed by the ancient Mennonites: their more immediate descendants, however, began to be less igenuous; and in their public Confessions of Faith, they either disguised it under ambiguous phrases, or expressed themselves as if they meant to renounce it entirely. To renounce it entirely was impossible, without falling into the greatest inconsistency and undermining the very foundation of those doctrines that distinguished them from all other Christian societies [a]. And yet it is certain that the present Mennonites, as they have, in many other respects, departed from the principles and maxims of their ancestors; so have they given a striking [af That they did not renounce it entirely, is evident from their own Creeds and Confessions, even from those in which the greatest caution has been employed to conceal the principles that rendered their ancestors odious, and to disguise whatever might render themselves liable to suspicion. For example, they speak in the most pompous terms concerning the dignity excellence, utility, and divine origin, of civil magistrates; and I am willing to suppose that they speak their real sentiments in this matter. But when they proceed to give reasons that prevent their admitting magistrates into their communion, they discover unwarily the very principles which they are otherwise so studious to conceal. Thus in the thirtieth article of the Waterlandian Confession, they declare, that " Jesus Christ has not comprehended the institution of civil magistracy in his spiritual kingdom, in the Church of the New Testament, nor has he added it to the offices of his church :" The Latin words are: "Potestatem hanc politicam Dominus Jesus in regno suo spirituali, ecclesia Novi Testamenti, non instituit, neque hanc officiis ecclesiæ suæ adjunxit." Hence it appears, that the Mennonites look upon the church of the New Testament, as a holy republic, inaccessible to the wicked, and, consequently, exempt from those institutions and laws that are necessary to oppose the progress of iniquity. Why then do they not speak plainly, when they deliver their doctrine concerning the nature of the church, instead of affecting ambiguity and evasions? XVI. striking instance of defection in the case now be.C EN T. fore us, and have almost wholly renounced this SECT II. fundamental doctrine of their sect, relating to the PARTI nature of the Christian church. A dismal experience has convinced them of the absurdity of this chimerical principle, which the dictates of reason, and the declarations of scripture, had demonstrated sufficiently, but without effect. Now, that the Mennonites have opened their eyes, they seem to be pretty generally agreed about the following tenets: First, That there is an invisible church, which is universal in its extent, and is composed of members from all the sects and communities that bear the Christian name: Secondly, That the mark of the true church is not, as their former doctrine supposed, to be sought for in the unspotted sanctity of all its members (since they acknowledge that the visible church is promiscuously composed of the righteous and the wicked), but in the knowledge of the truth, as it was delivered by CHRIST, and in the agreement of all the members of the church in professing and defending it. or doc tries. XVI. Notwithstanding all this, it is manifest, Their pecubeyond all possibility of contradiction, that the liar tencts religious opinions which still distinguish the Mennonites from all othe: Christian communities, flow directly from the ancient doctrine of the Anabaptists concerning the nature of the church. It is in consequence of this doctrine, that they admit none to the sacrament of baptism but persons that are come to the full use of their reason; because infants are incapable of binding themselves by a solemn vow to a holy life, and it is altogether uncertain whether or no, in maturer years, they will be saints or sinners: It is in consequence of the sam doctrine, that they neither admit civil rulers into their communion, nor allow any of their members to perform the functions of magistracy; for where there Hh3 are |