Church, the communion, or society, of saints, which, in the Apostles' Creed, the Church is declared to be. From this His Church, Christ is never absent; but by His spirit sanctifies it, that He may present it to Himself without spot or wrinkle. Although that which makes this community to be the Church, (that is, which constitutes its essence) viz. faith in Christ, is not visible, yet the community itself is not (absolutely) invisible, but can be known by its fruits;* of these fruits the principal are an undaunted confession of the truth, sincere and universal love, and a willingness to leave all things for Christ's sake; which, wherever the Gospel is preached, and the Sacraments administered, will, to a greater or less extent, be manifested."+

Of all the Protestant confessions, however, that of the Polish Churches is, as on other points, so on the subject of the Church, the most accurate and comprehensive. To any one wishing to gain, without the expenditure of much time or labour, a clear view of the differences between Romanists and Protestants, this Confession, which appears in the collections under the title of “Declaratio Thoruniensis," may be recommended as sufficient of itself for this purpose. "There are," it declares, "particular Churches, and the Church universal. The true universal Church is the community of all believers, dispersed throughout the world, who are, and remain, one Catholic Church, so long as they are united by subjection to one Head, Christ, by the indwelling of one spirit, and the profession of the same faith; and this, though they be not associated in one common external polity, but, as regards external fellowship, and ecclesiastical regimen, be not in communion with each other. Particular Churches are societies of Christians, who, besides being united by the internal bond of the spirit, are under the same external polity. With respect to these, it is to be observed, that, although they alone are true and living members of the Church who are united to Christ and to Christ's body, not only externally but internally, yet, since the spiritual fellowship of Christians is a thing invisible, all who remain in visible communion with the Church are, in the judgment of charity, to be

"Hæc, quanquam id, unde habet quod vere ecclesia Christi sit, nempe fides in Christum, videri nequeat, ipsa videri tamen, planeque ex fructibus cognosci potest." - Conf. Tetrap. c. 15.

† Conf. Tetrap. c. 15.

"Quamvis nullo communi externo in terris regimire socientur, aut etiam sociari possint, sed in regionibus et regnis, aut rebuspublicis disjunctissimis, vel etiam hostilibus dispersi, et quoad externain societatem, aut ecclesiasticum regimen, plane disjuncti sint." Declar, Thorun. s. 7.

esteemed members thereof, although many of them may, in the sight of God, be hypocrites. A true particular Church is distin guished from a false one by the profession of the true faith, the unmutilated administrations of the Sacraments, and the exercise of discipline; all other notes are accidental and subordinate. Among visible Churches, however, there may be different degrees of purity; and a Church is not at once to be deemed unworthy of that title, because it is affected with some errors. Provided always that these errors do not affect the foundations of saving faith, and that the society maintains a brotherly communion with other Churches should, however, any community teach doctrines subversive of the faith, and pertinaciously separate itself from other Churches holding the foundation, it can no longer lay claim to the title of a true Church.

"While we hold that it is impossible for the universal Church to fall away from the faith, or from the worship of Christ, we, deny that to any particular Church the privilege has been granted by Christ never to err in matters of faith, or in the ordering of points connected with divine worship.

"As regards ecclesiastical polity, we hold that it is strictly monarchical as far as the relation between Christ and the universal Church is concerned: of particular Churches we believe the regimen, as established by Christ, to be aristocratical; yet so as that we refuse not to the bishops, or superintendents, a certain superiority as compared with the rest of the presbyters. But we deny that there exists any jure divino visible Head of the whole Church, to whom all, both Churches and individuals, must render obe dience, on pain of being excluded from the covenant of grace.' Our own formularies, aiming as they do at brevity of statement, leave the Nineteenth Article, already alluded to, unexplained. Under these circumstances, it may be proper to adduce, as a fit conclusion to the foregoing extracts, the following passage from Nowell's Catechism, which, like Jewell's Apology, may be considered as of semi-symbolical authority.

"M. Let me hear what thou hast to say concerning the holy Catholic Church.

"A. Before the foundation of the world, God decreed to establish for himself a holy Society, which the Apostles called 'ecclesia,' or a congregation. Into this society, God has collected a vast multitude of persons, who all obey Christ as their king, and con

Declar. Thorun. s. 7.

fide themselves to his care and protection. To it they properly belong who truly fear God, walk in holiness, and have a sure hope of eternal life. As many as remain steadfast in this faith were predestinated thereto before the foundation of the world; whereof the earnest of the Spirit in their hearts is a sure pledge.

"M. Give me then a definition of the Church.

A. The Church is the universal society of all the faithful whom God predestinated from eternity to everlasting life, through Christ. "M. Why dost thou call the Church holy?

"A. In order to distinguish it from the congregation of the wicked. For those whom God hath chosen he renews to holiness of life.

"M. Is faith the only way of apprehending the Church? (In other words, Is it absolutely invisible?)

"A. Here, indeed, in the Creed, the Article relates properly to that community which God, by his secret election, has brought into a state of adoption towards himself: which Church can neither be seen with the eyes, nor always discerned by visible signs. There is, however, also a visible Church of God, the notes of which he has ever declared to us. A visible Church is nothing but a certain society of persons, wherever they may be, who profess the pure doctrine of Christ, and celebrate the Sacraments as the Word of God directs. These are the indispensable notes of a Church: but, if the Church be in a healthy condition, it will also exhibit the exercise of discipline.

"M. Are not, then, all the members of this visible Church elected to life eternal?

"A. Many belong to it who are anything but true members of the Church. Nevertheless, because, wherever the Word of God is purely preached, and the Sacraments rightly administered, there will in that place be found some destined to salvation through Christ, on this account we call the whole of the society a Church of God; for Christ has promised that where even two or three are gathered together in his name, he will be in the midst of them."+

It will be observed that this Catechism, like the Scotch Confession, strongly insists upon the divine election as the ultimate

* This question and answer are taken nearly word for word from the Genevan Catechism, composed by Calvin. "M. Potestne autem hæc ecclesia aliter cognosci quam cum fide creditur? P. Est quidem et visibiliz Dei ecclesia, quam nobis certis indiciis notisque descripsit; sed hic proprie de eorum congregatione agitur, quos arcana sua electione adoptavit in salutem. Ea autem nec cernitur perpetuo oculis, nec signis dignoscitur."- Cat. Gen. in Eccl. † Quarta Pars. Symb. de Eccles.

ground of the Church, while most of the other formularies content themselves with declaring what it is (in its idea), when actually in existence, without entering into the question of the divine decrees. This latter course seems, on every account, to be the most advisable. The essential point of difference between the Protestant and the Romish view of the Church has no necessary connexion with what are commonly called Calvinistic views; and, as these doctrines have been a fruitful source of controversy among Protestants themselves, it seems better to avoid the topic altogether.

Whatever be the merits or defects of Protestantism, it is evident, from the foregoing extracts, that it is not, as Bossuet would have us believe,* a system of chaotic inconsistencies: the unanimity of sentiment, and even similarity of expression, proving that, however they may have occasionally clothed their ideas in illchosen language, the Reformers had a consistent view of their own, and were well aware at what points it diverged from that of their opponents. If the reader compares together the statements of the several formularies, he will perhaps deem the following a sufficiently accurate representation of the distinctive teaching of Protestantism on the subject of the idea of the Church.

The one true Church, the holy Catholic Church of the Creed, is not a body of mixed composition, comprehending within its pale both the evil and the good: it is the community of those who, wherever they may be, are in living union with Christ by faith, and partake of the sanctifying influences of His Spirit. Properly, it comprises, besides its members now upon earth, all who shall ultimately be saved. In its more confined acceptation, the phrase denotes the body of true believers existing at any given time in the world.

The true Church is so far invisible as that it is not yet manifested in its corporate capacity; or, in other words, there is no one society, or visible corporation upon earth, of which it can be said. that it is the mystical body of Christ. Hence, of course, the Head of this body is not visible.

Particular churches, otherwise unconnected societies, are one by reason of their common relation to, and connexion with, the one true Church or mystical body of Christ. The outward notes of this connexion, and therefore of a true visible Church, are, the pure preaching of the Word (in fundamentals at least), and the administration of the Sacraments "according to Christ's ordinance in all

Histoire des Variations, &c. liv. xv.

those things that of necessity are requisite to the same" These are the two indispensable notes of a true Church: to them may be added, though it stands not in the same order of necessity, the exercise of discipline.

Although visible churches are, according to the idea, “congregations of saints," i. e. of really sanctified persons, and must be regarded as such if they are to have the name of Churches, yet they are never really so: in point of fact, they are always mixed communities, comprising hypocrites and nominal Christians, as well as true believers, a perfect separation between whom is, in the present life, impossible, and is reserved to the second coming of Christ to judgment. Hence the aggregate of visible Christian Churches throughout the world is not exactly identical with the true Church, which, as has been said, consists only of the living members of Christ.

Such notes as, "the succession of Bishops," "antiquity," "amplitude,' ," "the name of Catholic," &c., are, taken alone, not sufficient to prove a society to be a true Church of Christ.

To the one true Church, the body of Christ, properly belong the promises of perpetuity, of the continued presence of Christ, and of preservation from fundamental error. The same may be said of the attributes of the Church, Unity, Sanctity, &c.; these, in their full and proper sense, can be predicated only of that body of Christ which is not yet fully manifested.

The explanations which are necessary to clear up the meaning of several of these positions are reserved for a more fitting place. In what sense Protestants speak of an invisible Church, or call the true Church invisible; what the connexion is between the Church in its truth and the Church as visible; in what light we are to regard local Christian societies;-upon these points some remarks, intended to obviate misconceptions of the Protestant view, will hereafter be offered. The question now more immediately before us is, What is the essential point of distinction between the Romish and the Protestant idea of the Church, as it is to be gathered from a comparison of the statements above given? In the following chapter an attempt will be made to determine this important point.