divine justice; and thus we may be said in some measure to bear each other's burdens. This, however, is not universally true in reference to all advantages to be derived from works of satisfaction of these works some are also medicinal, and are so many specific remedies prescribed to the penitent to heal the depraved affections of the heart; a fruit which, it is evident, they alone can derive from them who satisfy for themselves."* "The confessor, however, will be scrupulously careful, before he absolves the penitent whose confession he has heard, to insist that, if he has been really guilty of having injured his neighbor in property or character, he make reparation for the injury; no person is to be absolved until he has first faithfully promised to repair fully the injury done; and as there are many who, although free to make large promises to comply with their duty in this respect, are yet deliberately determined not to fulfill them, they should be obliged to make restitution; and the words of the apostle are to be strongly and frequently pressed upon their minds: "He that stole, let him now steal no more," &c.t "But, in imposing penance, the confessor will do nothing arbitrarily; he will be guided solely by justice, prudence, and piety; and in order to follow this rule, and also to impress more deeply on the mind of the penitent the enormity of sin, he will find it expedient to remind him of the severe punishments inflicted by the ancient penitential canons, as they are called, for certain sins. The nature of the sin, therefore, will regulate the extent of the satisfaction; but no satisfaction can be more salutary than to require * Catechism of the Council of Trent, first Am. ed., p. 272-3. of the penitent to devote, for a certain number of days, a certain portion of time to prayer, not omitting to supplicate the divine mercy in behalf of all mankind, and particularly for those who have departed this life in the Lord. But should it be deemed proper sometimes to visit public crimes with public penance, and should the penitent express great reluctance to submit to its performance, his importunity is not to be readily yielded to: he should be persuaded to embrace with cheerfulness that which is so salutary to himself and to others."* These extracts from the highest and most unimpeachable authority of the Roman Church, are amply sufficient to show their doctrine in its best and fairest guise. I have quoted them in their own connection, and omitted nothing which seemed to me important to their claims. It is my desire to exhibit the true position of the question, and to do all possible justice to its real character, being perfectly persuaded in my own conscience that no sin can be greater than the conducting of a religious controversy in a spirit of prejudice and insincerity. And if I can not prove that their doctrine, in all its peculiar and distinguishing tenets, involves many great and serious errors, and that it is utterly without support in Scripture and in the records of the primitive Church, I shall be content that my book and its author should submit to condemnation. My next chapter, according to the course laid down, shall be devoted to the doctrine of the Church of England, so as to show the points of difference between it and the Church of Rome. The ground will then be clear for an appeal to the Scriptures, the fathers, and the records of ecclesiastical history; and the * Catechism of the Council of Trent, first Am. ed., p. 273-4. whole will be concluded by a statement of the precise position in which our own communion, the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, has left this very serious and important matter. CIIAPTER III. THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. THE doctrine of the Church of England on the subject before us must be gathered from her standards of authority, the Homilies, the Liturgy, the Articles, and the Canons. The notions of a few individual writers, who adopted a different system from that of their Church, as it was understood and maintained by the great body of their brethren, deserve no consideration. I shall impute no doctrine to the Roman Church which can not be sustained by the writings which she has sanctioned, and I shall refuse to acknowledge any doctrine as fairly chargeable upon the Church of England, unless it be supported by a similar rule. To this course every candid mind will assent without hesitation. I commence with the "Homily of Repentance, and of true reconciliation unto God," where the subject is handled with great force and simplicity. But, for brevity's sake, I shall pass over those parts which are of a general nature, and confine myself to such extracts as may serve to show the difference between the Churches. "Repentance," saith the Homily (2d part), "is a true returning unto God, whereby men, forsaking ut terly their idolatry and wickedness, do with a lively faith embrace, love, and worship the true and living God only, and give themselves to all manner of good works, which by God's word they know to be acceptable unto him. Now there be four parts of repentance, which, being set together, may be likened to an easy and short ladder, whereby we may climb from the bottomless pit of perdition that we cast ourselves into by our daily offenses and grievous sins, up into the castle or tower of eternal salvation.” "The first is the contrition of the heart, for we must be earnestly sorry for our sins, and unfeignedly lament and bewail that we have by them so grievously offended our most bounteous and merciful God, who so tenderly loved us, that he gave his only-begotten Son to die a most bitter death, and to shed his dear heart-blood for our redemption and deliverance. And verily this inward sorrow and grief being conceived in the heart for the heinousness of sin, if it be earnest and unfeigned, is as a sacrifice to God, as the holy Prophet David doth testify, saying, A sacrifice to God is a troubled spirit; a contrite and broken heart, O Lord, thou wilt not despise."* "The second is, an unfeigned confession and acknowledging of our sins unto God whom by them we have so grievously offended, that, if he should deal with us according to his justice, we do deserve a thousand hells, if there could be so many. Yet if we will with a sorrowful and contrite heart make an unfeigned confession of them unto God, he will freely and frankly forgive them, and so put all of our wickedness out of remembrance before the sight of his Majesty, that they shall no more be thought upon. Hereunto doth pertain the golden saying of the holy * Oxford edition of 1802, p. 456. Prophet David, Then I acknowledged my sin unto thee, neither did I hide mine iniquity: I said, I will confess against myself my wickedness unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the ungodliness of my sin.' These are also the words of John the Evangelist: 'If we confess our sins, God is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to make us clean from all our wickedness." Which ought to be understood of the confession that is made unto God. For these are St. Augustine's words: That confession which is made unto God is required by God's law, whereof John the Apostle speaketh, saying, If we confess our sins, God is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to make us clean from all our wickedness; for without this confession sin is not forgiven. This is then the chiefest and most principal confession that in the Scriptures and Word of God we are bidden to make, and without the which we shall never obtain pardon and forgiveness of our sins. Indeed, besides this, there is another kind of confession, which is needful and necessary."* "And of the same doth St. James speak after this manner, saying, Acknowledge your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be saved.' And this is commanded both for him that complaineth and for him that heareth, that the one should show his grief to the other. The true meaning of it is, that the faithful ought to acknowledge their offenses, whereby come hatred, rancor, grudge, or malice, having risen or grown among them one to another, that a brotherly reconciliation may be had, without the which nothing that we do can be acceptable unto God, as our Saviour Jesus Christ doth witness himself, saying, When thou offerest thine offer * Oxford edition of 1802, p. 457. |