In surveying the platform of the Christian Church,. it is necessary to separate every thing which is confessedly human, from that which claims a higher descent; that which has been varied and may be varied at the discretion of man, from that which cannot be changed but by the interposition of him who appointed it. A human origin is readily allowed to every thing not necessarily connected with the nature of the Christian ministry, and the regular exercise of its appointed functions. The rites and ceremonies of the Church, the dress of the Ministers, and the form of Churches, are human, and may be varied, without any other limitation than that all things be conducted decently and in order, and with a view to general edification ". Whatever affects the temporal interests of the Church, its revenues, its privileges and immunities, may be contracted or enlarged, superseded or confirmed, without any other provision, than that a hire be assigned to the labourer of which he is worthy. These advantages may be removed, and the true Church will survive the removal; or they may be added to corrupt institutions without being able to conceal the deformity, though where they are multiplied in a high degree, they will dazzle the eye of the weak, and obstruct his view of the fair proportions of the temple; they will inflame the jealousy of the envious, and lead him to question the character of the Architect, and to impute to the original plan the fault, which belongs only to the occupier. If we would observe the exact order and simplicity of the Christian Church, we must

a 1 Cor. xiv. 26, 40.

b

b Matt. x. 10. Luke x. 7. 1 Cor. ix. 14. 2 Thess. iii. 9. 1 Tim. v. 18.

remove the dust and rubbish, which the revolution of ages hath accumulated in the courts of the building; we must tear away the false ornaments, with which a vain taste hath disfigured its primitive simplicity; we must repair and strengthen the pillars which have been injured by the assaults of the enemy, or suffered by the weakness of its defenders to perish and decay. We must examine it when it had no other foundation than the Apostles and Prophets, and no other corner stone than Jesus Christ,

That the Holy Scriptures are in themselves perfect and complete, and sufficient to accomplish the end of their divine inspiration, that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works, and made wise unto salvation", is the received doctrine of every denomination of Christians, with the exception of the Romanist and the Quaker; and when the sense of the Scriptures has been ascertained, by a critical examination of the text, by the collation of other pas-: sages of an opposite or parallel meaning, and by the deductions of legitimate reasoning, there is an end of every controversy, which affects Christian truth or Christian virtue. It is not easy to assign any satisfactory reason, why the principles of a Christian's communion with his fellow members of the Christian Church, as a religious corporation, should not be comprehended in the same Scriptures, or why the origin and orders of its Ministry, and the authority to preach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments, should form no part of the wisdom unto salvation, of the perfection and thorough furniture of the Man of God. It is the d 2 Tim. iii. 15, 17.

C

Eph. iii. 20.

professed object of the following Survey, to examine the foundation of these things, whether they proceed from men or from God: and the investigation will be exclusively confined to scriptural evidence, to the examination of the conduct and opinions of inspired men, and to the dispassionate statement of the natural and obvious conclusions. A discourse of this nature is in a certain degree original; and persons whose minds are not familiar with such inquiries, and are prepossessed in favour of human authority and customary practices, may be apprehensive of the consequences to which it leads. The articles of Christian belief and the rules of Christian duty have been so frequently and perspicuously digested and detailed, and have been made so continually the subject of public instruction from the Pulpit, that there is hardly a stranger in Israel who is not acquainted with them, or who, when he reads his Bible, is incapable of perceiving the authenticity of the faith, or the force of the obligations to personal obedience in which he has been instructed. The constitution of the Church is a matter of more partial consideration; a question, which few have discussed, and in which but few feel any lively interest or concern. Custom and expedience, conformity with the example of their forefathers, and compliance with the national establishment, are the general motives of religious communion. Apostolical authority is seldom required, often discountenanced, and occasionally disputed and denied; partially and superficially illustrated, and recommended with hesitation and reserve, it hath fallen into general disrepute. In reviving its claims, and in elucidating and establishing them, many popular preju

dices must be violated, many private opinions must be overthrown. No incense will be offered to favourite prepossessions, nor will the commanding claims of a divine institution be compromised in favour of the delusive pretences of Christian liberty. The perverseness of the human will and the weakness of the human judgment are always entitled to favourable consideration; and truth, if it be not spoken in love, is more frequently opposed and injured, than defended and maintained. In recommending any form of religious service, it is hardly possible to avoid an indirect censure of those, whose practice has been formed by a different rule; but it becomes a writer, who is conscious of his own imperfections, and who desires no other liberality than that which he exercises, to beware of irritating those whom it is most desirable to conciliate, and to endeavour, while he confirms and establishes the principles of the sound members of the Church of England, not to insult the weakness of the unsettled and wavering religionist, who needs instruction not less than he deserves reproof, and not to provoke the opposition of the numerous multitude, whom the influence of education, the habits of their early years, or the various considerations, which operate in maturer life, have unhappily placed in a state of unqualified separation. The attention of the reader is invited to a discussion, which offers nothing to amuse his fancy or affect his passions, to a bare collection of Scriptural testimonies, to a concise comparison of things spiritual with spiritual. The uniform direction of the argument, and the consistency of the several conclusions, may be imputed by the uncandid and illiberal to the love of a

preconcerted system, rather than to a constant compliance with the evidence of the truth; and whatever of originality there is, or to the inexperienced may appear to be, in the course of the discussion, is liable to be rejected among the presumptions of a private and unauthorized interpretation of the Scriptures. Even if the model of ecclesiastical perfection contained in the Scriptures can be exhibited, if it be possible to present the Church" in her apostolical form and comeliness, such as she appeared in the days of old, and in the years that are past, before schism had mangled, and heresy disfigured the beauty of holiness," there remains the danger of exciting general offence, at the corruption and degeneracy of succeeding times. It is allowed that the outline is faint, that the groups, which are scattered in different parts of the canvas, have no visible connection with each other, and that the unity of the original design cannot be collected without the nicest attention; and these circumstances are alleged, not only in excuse of the imperfections of the present publication, but in extenuation of prevailing errors in the constitution of modern Churches, unless those errors are of vital importance, and plainly contradict the truth of the Scriptures, that heavenly depository of divine wisdom, which hath been committed to earthly vessels, ever liable to corruption and decay, and to contaminate the purity and excellence of the treasure which they contain..

By the law and by the testimony of these inspired writings must every question of Theology be decided; and if they can be shewn to warrant the belief, that the revelation of any doctrine, the injunction of any duty,