Tliiw chariU'teristic of Reformation tliouoht and of lleforniation piety, tliat Christ fills the whole sjjliere of God, apjiears everywhere in the writings of tlie Reformers and in the rites and worship of the Reformetl Churches, and may be illustrated, if not exhaustively described, in the following in- stances of its application.
1. The Reformers swept away every contempla- tion of intercessors who were supposed to share witii our Lord the jjrocuring of pardon and salva- tion, and they declared against all attempts to distinguish between various kinds of worship, which could only lead pious souls astray from the one worship due to God in Christ. The Romish Church said that saints did not receive actual worship, and that images were reverenced only in the same sense <as copies of the Scriptures. Calvin has no difticulty in showing that these distinctions were not popularly grasped.
' Such subtle distinctions,' he says, 'as latria, doulia, hijper- doulia, are neither known nor present to the minds of those who prostrate themselves before images until the world has become full of idolatry a,s crude and plain as that of the ancient Egyptians, which all the prophets continuously denounced ; they can only mislead, and ought to be discarded. They actually suggest to worshippers to pass by Jesus Christ the only Mediator, and betake themselves to some patron who has struck their fancy. They bring it about that the Divine offices are distri- buted among the saints as if they had been appointed colleagues to our Lord .Jesus Christ ; and they are made to do His work, while He Himself is kept in the background like some ordinary person in a crowd. The\ are responsible for the fact that hymns are sung in public worship in which the saints are lauded with every blessing just as if they were colleagues of God.' In this connexion he quotes the 'impious stanza heard in many churches ' : ' Ask the Father, command the Son,' addressed, of course, to the Virgin ; and the invocation of St. Claud as ' the life and resurrection of the dead.' *
In the same way he inveighs against the doctrine of works of supererogation as derogatory to the merits of Christ, and says that ' in making up the treasury of the Church, the merits of Christ and of the martyrs are thrown together in the slump,' ' mixing up the blood of Christ with the blood of martj'rs, and forming out of them a heterogeneous mass of merits or satis- factions.' t
In conformity with these thoughts, the Con- fessions of tlie Reformation all agree in repudiating prayers to the .saints. The Augsburg Confession say's :
' The Scripture teacheth not to invoke saints, nor to ask the help of saints, because it propoundeth to us one Christ : the Mediator, Propitiatory, High Priest, and Intercessor. This Christ is to be invocated, and He hath promised that He will hear our prayers, and liketh this worship, to wit, that He be invocated in all afflictions : " If any man sin, we have an advocate with God, .Jesus Christ the righteous " ' (1 .In '2'). The Second Helvetic Confession in its fifth cbaiiter lays down the rule that prayer is to be through Christ alone, and saints and relics are not to be worshipped. And all jirayer-books and liturgies in every branch of tlie Reformed Church, even wlien taking over, with little alteration, old forms of prayer, carefully exclude addresses to the Virgin or to any of the saints.
In any case, the theoretic distinctions between reverence and worsliip jiever applied to the adora- tion of the consecrated host. This even in theory was absolute worship, and was felt to be abhorrent and profane by the Reformers, who had experienced
* Calvin, Opera Omnia (.\msterdam, IfiOT), viii. 38, 39. t Calvin, Xcccnnity of lief or in I ikj the Chiirch.
spiritual communion with the living Christ. Calvin calls it a ' theatrical exhibition.'
2. The Reformers insist on the necessity of Christ, and Christ alone, for all believers. Their confessions abound in expressions which are meant to magnify the Person and work of Christ, and to show that He fills the whole field of believing thought and worship ; and, as Reformation theology was based on experience rather than on philosophy, and aimed at expounding the faith of the pious believer rather than at unfolding metaphysical mysteries, we find a constant reference to the various names and offices of Christ and to the manifold aspects of His work.
The brief Netherlands Confession of 1506 has no fewer than three separate sections : on ' Christ, the only Mediator and Reconciler,' on 'Christ, the only Teacher,' and on 'Christ, the only High Priest and Sacrifice.' The Heidelberg or Palatine Catechism, calls Christ 'my faithful Saviour,' and says that we can call ourselves Christians, ' because by faith we are members of Jesus Christ and partakers of His anointing, so that we both confess His Holy Name and present ourselves unto Him a lively offering of thanksgiving, and in this life may, with free con- science, fight against sin and Satan, and afterwards possess, with Christ, an everlasting kingdom over all creatures.' The Scots Confession abounds in phrases intended to honour our Lord Jesus Christ. It calls Him, ' Messiah,' ' Eternal Wisdom,' ' Emmanuel,' ' our Head,' ' our Brother,' ' our Pastor and great Bishop of our Souls,' ' Author of Life,' ' Lamb of God,' ' Advo- cate and Mediator,' 'the onlie Hie Priest.' The English Prayer- book, while for the most part reflecting the stereotyped con- clusion of the breviary per dominum, m the endings of the Collects introduces new forms, such as, ' for the honour of our Advocate and Mediator, Jesus Christ,' and ' through the merits of Jesus Christ our Saviour.' All the Confessions and Liturgies of the Churches of the Reformation abound in the same or similar expressions.