CENT. heart. These look upon it as the duty of the PART I. of those who demand absolution and the use of the sacraments, before they grant their requests; since, in their sense of things, the real benefits of these institutions can extend to those only whose hearts are carefully purged from the corruptions of iniquity, and filled with that divine love that casteth out fear. Hence arose that famous dispute in the church of Rome, concerning a frequent approach to the holy communion, which was carried on with such warmth in the last century,. between the Jesuits and the Jansenists, with Arnauld [c] at the head of the latter, and has been renewed in our times by the Jesuit Pichon, who thereby incurred the indignation of the greatest part of the French bishops [d]. The frequent celebration of the Lord's supper is one of the main duties, which the Jesuits recommended with peculiar earnestness to those who are under their spiritual direction, representing it as the most certain and infallible method of appeasing the Deity, and obtaining from him the entire remission of their sins and trans gressions. This manner of proceeding the Jansenists censure with their usual severity; and it is also condemned by many other learned and pious doctors of the Romish communion, who reject that intrinsic virtue and efficient operation that is attributed to the sacraments, and wisely maintain, that the receiving the sacrament of the Lord's supper can be profitable to those only whose minds are prepared, by faith, repentance, and the love of God, for that solemn service, XXXVII. The [] Arnauld published, on this occasion, his famous book concerning the Practice of communicating frequently. The French title is, Traitê de la frequente Communion.' [d] See Journal Universel, tom, xiii. p. 148, tom. xv. p: 363, tom, xvi. p. 124. XVI. SECT. III. One part PART I. debate. XXXVII. The sixth and last controversy turns CENT. upon the proper method of instructing Christians in the truths and precepts of religion. of the Romish doctors, who have the progress of religion truly at heart, look upon it as expedient, The sixth and even necessary, to sow the seeds of divine subject of truth in the mind, in the tender and flexible state of infancy, when it is most susceptible of good impressions, and to give it by degrees, according to the measure of its capacity, a full and accurate knowledge of the doctrines and duties of religion. Others, who have a greater zeal for the interests of the church than the improvement of its members, recommend a devout ignorance to such as submit to their direction, and think a Christian sufficiently instructed when he has learned to yield a blind and unlimited obedience to the orders of the church. The former are of opinion, that nothing can be so profitable and instructive to Christians as the study of the Holy Scriptures, and consequently judge it highly expedient that they should be translated into the vulgar tongue of each country. The latter exclude the people from the satisfaction of consulting the sacred oracles of truth, and look upon all vernacular translations of the Bible as dangerous, and even of a pernicious tendency. They accordingly maintain, that it ought only to be published in a learned language, to prevent its instructions from becoming familiar to the multitude. The former compose pious and instructive books to nourish a spirit of devotion in the minds of Christians, to enlighten their ignorance, and dispel their errors; they illustrate and explain the public prayers and the solemn acts of religion in the language of the people, and exhort all, who attend to their instructions, to peruse constantly these pious productions, in order to improve their knowledge, purify their affections, and to learn the method of worshipping the Deity in PART I. CENT. in a rational and acceptable manner. All this, XVI. however, is highly displeasing to the latter kind SECT. III. of doctors, who are always apprehensive, that the blind obedience and implicit submission of the people will diminish in proportion as their views are enlarged, and their knowledge increased [e]. XXXVIII. All the controversies that have putes car- been here mentioned did not break out at the with Baius same time. The disputes concerning divine grace, &c, grace, the natural power of man to perform good actions, original sin, and predestination, which The dis ried on concerning have [e] The account here given of the more momentous controversies that divide the church of Rome, may be confirmed, illustrated, and enlarged, by consulting a multitude of books published in the last and present centuries, especially in France and Flanders, by Jansenists, Dominicans, Jesuits, and others, All the productions, in which the doctrine and precepts of the Jesuits, and the other creatures of the Roman pontiff, are opposed and refuted, are enumerated by Dominick Colonia, a French Jesuit, in a work published, in 1735, under the following title: " Bibliotheque Janseniste, ou Catologue Alphabetique des principaux livres Jansenistes, ou suspects de Jansenisme, avec des notes critiques." This writer is led into many absurdities by his extravagant attachment to the Roman pontiff, and to the cause and tenets of his order. His book, how. ever, is of use in pointing out the various controversies that perplex and divide the church of Rome. It was condemned by the late Pope Benedict XIV. but was, nevertheless, republished in a new form, with some change in the title, and additions, that swelled it from one octavo volume to four of the same size. This new edition appeared at Antwerp in the year 1752, under the following title: "Dictionaire des livres Jansenistes, ou qui favorisent le Jansenisme, à Anvres ches J. B. Verdussen." And it must be acknowledged, that it is extremely useful, in shewing the intestine divisions of the church, the particular contests that divide its doctors, the religious tenets of the Jesuits, and the numerous productions that relate to the six heads of controversy here mentioned. It must be observed, at the same time, that this work abounds .with the most malignant invectives against many persons of eminent learning and piety, and with the most notorious in stances of partiality and injustice*. See a particular account of this learned and scandalous work in the first and second volumes of the "Bibliotheque des Sciences et des Beaux Arts," printed at the Hague. XVI. SECT. III. PART I. have been ranged under the third class, were pub- CENT. licly carried on in the century of which we are now writing. The others were conducted with more secrecy and reserve, and did not come forth to public view before the following age. Nor will this appear at all surprising to those who consider that the controversies concerning grace and free-will, which had been set in motion by Luther, were neither accurately examined, nor peremptorily decided, in the church of Rome, but were rather artfully suspended and hushed into silence. The sentiments of Luther were indeed condemned; but no fixed and perspicuous rule of faith, with respect to these disputed points, was substituted in their place. The decisions of St. Augustin were solemnly approved; but the difference between these decisions and the sentiments of Luther were never clearly explained. The first rise of this fatal controversy was owing to the zeal of Michael Baius, a doctor in the university of Louvain, equally remarkable on account of the warmth of his piety and the extent of his learning. This eminent divine, like the other followers of Augustin, had an invincible aversion to that contentious, subtile, and intricate manner of teaching theology, that had long prevailed in the schools; and under the auspicious name of that famous prelate, who was his darling guide, he had the courage or temerity to condemn and censure, in an open and public manner, the tenets commonly received in the church of Rome, in relation to the natural powers of man, and the merit of good works. This bold step drew upon Baius the indignation of some of his academical colleagues, and the heavy censures of several Franciscan monks. Whether the Jesuits immediately joined in this opposition, and may be reckoned among the first accusers of Baius, is a matter unknown, or, at most, uncertain; but it is CENT. PART I. is unquestionably evident and certain, that, even XVI. at the rise of this controversy, they abhorred the SECT. III. principal tenets of Baius, which he had taken from Augustin, and adopted as his own. In the year 1567, this doctor was accused at the court of Rome, and seventy-six propositions, drawn from his writings, were condemned by Pope Pius V. in a circular letter expressly composed for that purpose. This condemnation, however, was issued out in an artful and insidious manner, without any mention being made of the name of the author; for the fatal consequences that had arisen from the rash and inconsiderate measures em. ployed by the court of Rome against Luther, were too fresh in the remembrance of the prudent pontiff to permit his falling into new blunders of the same nature. The thunder of excommunica tion was therefore suppressed by the dictates of prudence, and the person and functions of Baius were spared, while his tenets were censured, About thirteen years after this transaction, Gre. gory XIII. complied so far with the importunate solicitations of a Jesuit, named Tolet, as to re inforce the sentence of Pius V. by a new con demnation of the opinions of the Flemish doctor. Baius submitted to this new sentence, either from an apprehension that it would be followed by severer proceedings in case of resistance, or, which is more probable, on account of the ambiguity that reigned in the papal edict, and the vague and confused manner in which the obnoxious propositions were therein expressed. But his example, in this respect, was not followed by the other doctors who had formed their theological system upon that of Augustin [ƒ]; and, even [f] See, for an account of the disputes relating to Baius, the works of that author, published in 4to, at Cologn, in 1696, particularly the second part, or appendix, entitled, " Baiana, seu |