CHAPTER VIL THE SECURITY, SAFETY, AND EFFICIENCY OF PRESBYTERY. THERE is perhaps no other argument, which has greater practical influence in favor of Romanists, than the allegation, that, even in the judgment of protestants, they must be on the safer side; and that, while they afford infallible certainty in matters of faith, the religion of protestants can afford no such certainty. These groundless assertions, from which there is no manner of support, have been most diligently repeated by prelatists, in application to the system of presbyterianism. Now the very reverse we believe to be the truth in the case. Protestants do not allow the prelacy of the church of Rome, or of England, to be the safer side, or a safe side at all; nor do they believe that it is able to give certainty in matters of faith. They believe, on the contrary, that the highest security and certainty are afforded by the presbyterian branch of the church catholic. That the Romish and the Anglican churches are both true, that is, real churches of Christ, and therefore integral portions of the catholic visible church, we cheerfully admit. In doing so, however, we stand upon the foundation laid in our Confession, and by which 'ALL who PROFESS the true religion, with their children,' constitute that church. But among the churches which compose this universal body, there is, manifestly, a great diversity of character, and of claims. Some are pure, some imperfect, some corrupt, and some false. By an imperfect church we understand, a church which continues steadfastly in the apostles' doctrines, teaching the pure word of God, and omitting no great and essential truth of the gospel; but in which the sacraments are not duly administered, or whose order, polity, and ministers, are not perfectly conformed to the scriptural model. By a corrupt church we understand one, which, while it preserves the great and essential truths of the gospel, at the same time adds other things to these truths, which are not found in God's word, but are rather repugnant to the same; and thus, by human traditions, or any other spurious authority, makes vain the preaching of the truth, and corrupts the administration of divine ordinances. By a false or apostate church we mean that church which lays any other foundation than Christ and his righteousness; which denies any of the great and essential doctrines of the word of God; or interprets the word of God according to its own vain imagination. Such a church, whatever else it may possess of order or discipline, and however it may claim the temple, the priesthood, antiquity, or succession, is a false church.t By a pure church, again, we understand, a society whose confession of faith agrees with the doctrine of Jesus Christ and his apostles; and which is governed solely by the laws laid down in the word of God, or drawn from it by plain and necessary inference. The signs of such a church are soundness of doctrine; a lawful and regular ministry; the prevalence of love among its members and towards all saints; and the due administration of gospel ordinances, including discipline.‡ We distinguish, therefore, between the being of a church, and its well-being; between its existence, and its integrity or perfection; between its essence, and its state or condition at any given period; in short, between that which is essential to its very existence, and those things which may be superadded by the pride, pomp, or circumstance, of vain-glorious man. Of all those things that do not absolutely belong to the essence of the church, but only to its state or condition, it may be wholly or in part deprived, without being destroyed, however grievously impaired. It is thus we are able to recognize those bodies as, in their essence, churches, which we must, nevertheless, pronounce imperfect, corrupt, or false, in their state, condition, and superadded doctrines. Thus also are we enabled to hope that within the bosom of such churches there may be many who are true christians, and therefore members of the invisible church; and who, with more or less publicity, bear testimony against their errors. There is, however, great danger in being associated with such bodies, since the human mind, through the influence of depravity, has a natural and powerful affinity to error, by which it is strongly attracted; and an aversion to spiritual truth, by which it is repelled. Such churches as are imperfect, may be improved; such as are corrupt, reformed; while such as are false, must be subverted and built anew upon the foundation of apostles and prophets. In the mean time, it is the duty of all to examine well the character and creed of the several churches claiming their adherence; to bring them to the law and the testimony; to search and try them, whether they speak and act according to the unerring word; to ascertain from the Scriptures, what is the orthodox faith, and thus to discover where that orthodoxy is maintained in greatest purity and power; and, if thus led to discover the corruption or apostacy of the church to which they †See the author's Eccl. Catechism, 2d ed., q. 30. #Ibid, q. 31. See Claude's Def. of the Ref. vol. ii. p. 209. belong, to come out from the midst of her, and be separate. And, as the essence of christianity consists in its doctrines, and not in its forms; as true apostolical succession is found in the succession of the truth; we are to estimate the character of any church by its doctrine, rather than by its polity. With a defective or unauthorized ministry, it may have pure doctrine, and thus be no more than imperfect. With the most legitimate and scriptural ministration, it may have corrupt doctrine, and thus be corrupt. Or it may have both false doctrines and unauthorized forms of polity, and in this case be openly apostate. The Romish church, we are constrained to regard as a false and apostate church. We consider the prelatic church, in its high-church phase, as corrupt; the episcopal, in its low-church form, and other churches, as imperfect; and the presbyterian, though not absolutely perfect, as a true and pure church of Jesus Christ. We can truly and justly glorify God for all that which makes up the essence of a true church; our faith is sound, our piety is pure, our charity is sincere; and God preserves and upholds, in the external communion of our church, those truly faithful and regenerated persons, who constitute the members of the true church.** Our church unites in its constitution three great elements, nowhere else to be found in such full combination, and is at once orthodox, apostolical, and protestant. It is orthodox, or catholic, by the full profession of those early creeds, which embody the testimony of the truly primitive church; by upholding the sufficiency of the Scriptures, as the only infallible rule of faith and practice; and by rejecting all other doctrines and commandments of men. It is apostolical, by holding fast the profession of the apostles' doctrine, fellowship, and prayers, and to that order of ministry, and form of discipline, which they establish. And it is protestant, by exhibiting most fully, in its confession and catechisms, the way in which truth must be applied unto the heart for salvation; bearing full witness to the righteousness of Christ, as the alone ground of pardon and acceptance with God; and to the influences of the Holy Spirit, as the only source of sanctification and holiness. Thus has God, of his singular goodness, combined in our church the three grand elements of purity and perfection; catholic orthodoxy, apostolical order, and protestant fidelity. She is not heretical, because she adheres to the faith once delivered to the saints. She is not schismatical, for she is not answerable for those corruptions, impositions, and anathemas, which separated her from the papacy and the prelacy. She is not a usurper; her faith has been professed for eighteen centuries; her polity was estab **That this was the opinion of the fathers, see proved by many quotations in Claude's Def. of the Ref. vol. ii, p. 213, &c. lished in Jerusalem, the mother of all churches, and at Antioch, the mother of all Gentile churches; and both have been maintained, throughout the world, by the earliest, the best, and the purest churches. She is not deficient in means of grace, since she possesses all the privileges of the church; enjoys all the spiritual gifts, promised by Christ to those who seek them; and inherits from Christ's divine charter all the functions of the christian ministry. She is not wanting in authority, for to her belong the authority of apostolical origin, succession, and mission; the ministerial administration of Christ's laws and institutions; and the delegated power of proclaiming the truth as it is in Jesus. She is not found wanting in the certainty with which she fulfils her high office as an ambassador for Christ, the pillar and ground of the truth, since in her rule of faith there is all the certainty which rational beings can require.†† We have the three creeds, which can derive no light from popes or councils, that we do not possess. We have our standards of faith, which were drawn up by the most learned men of a very learned age. And the right use of these means of faith, which a merciful Providence has given us, requires only the ordinary exercise of our rational faculties. We have, also, in those plain words of scripture, 'If thou wouldst enter into life, keep the commandments;' 'Do this, and thou shalt live;' 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved;' 'Forgive, and thou shalt be forgiven;' 'Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do unto them;' infallible directions, both for faith and conduct.' The presbyterian church is not more fallible than the church of Rome; but she is fallible, not because she is only a part of the church universal, but because it is the property of human nature to be fallible. The church of Rome has shown herself fallible in many things, and in nothing more than in that very pretence that she is infallible, and that she is not a part of the universal church, but the whole of it. The presbyterian church does not pretend to be infallible; but her children have a confident reliance on this instruction, that 'if any one lack wisdom, let him ask of God, in faith, and it shall be given him;' and in Christ's promise of the assistance of God's Holy Spirit to them that ask him. They are, moreover, sure, that by such assistance, and by the sober use of the faculties which God has given them, they cannot be deceived in such things as most pertain unto salvation.‡‡ Our church, therefore, has all the security which can be possibly enjoyed. She is built upon the rock. Her foundation was laid in the counsels of eternity, and completed by ++ Burgess's Tracts, p. 307. See ibid, ibid. apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone. Her walls are salvation. Her bulwarks are the sure testimonies of God. Her monuments and towers the everlasting promises. Her armory, the treasury of divine truth. Her provisions, the sure mercies of David-that covenant that shall never be broken. Her hope, the two immutable things which can never fail, the promise and the oath of God. Her anchor, therefore, is sure and steadfast, being entered within the vail. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so is the Lord round about her, to send peace within her walls and prosperity within her palaces; so that even the gates of hell shall not prevail against her. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion. God is known in her palaces for a refuge. As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish her for ever. Selah. 'Let Mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of thy judgments. Walk about Zion, and go round about her tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following. For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.' : We had intended to go fully into this subject, did our limits permit. We were prepared to show, that the system of the presbyterian church is safer than either the Romish or the prelatic, because it holds most purely to the doctrines of the Bible; because it more clearly and fully proclaims the truth; because it affords better protection to the truth; because, as a church, it can be more certainly distinguished; because it possesses a ministry authorized by the commission and charter of Christ; because it maintains, with most fidelity and purity, the form of church order, government, and discipline, established by the apostles, and preserved by the first christians; because it is most adapted to promote spirituality; because it best secures purity of discipline; because it is found to be most destructive to the principles of infidelity; because it most properly administers the sacraments; because it provides for greater unity; because it is most conducive to the promotion of morality, and the prevention of crime; because it is most efficient in its efforts for the extension of the church, and the evangelization of the world; and because it is the most liberal and charitable. We might also proceed to show how presbyterianism is favorable to the spread of light and knowledge, of civil and religious liberty-but we must forbear. Enough has been advanced to satisfy the most timid conscience, that, while we |