on eartn, consisting of all those who profess the true religion, to- gether with their children. But they are not all included in any- one external society. They also admit that it is the duty of Chris- tians to unite for the purpose of w^orship and mutual watch and care. They admit that to such associations and societies certain prerogatives and promises belong ; that they have, or ought to have the officers whose qualifications and duties are prescribed in the Scriptures ; that there always have been, and probably always will be, such Christian organizations, or visible churches. But they deny that any one of these societies, or all of them collectively, constitute the Church for which Christ died ; in which He dwells by his Spirit ; to wiiich He has promised perpetuity, catholicity, unity, and divine guidance into the knowledge of the truth. Any one of them, or all of them, one after another, may apostatize from the faith, and all the promises of God to his Church be fulfilled. The Church did not fail, when God reserved to himself only seven thou- sand in all Israel who had not bowed the knee unto Baal.
Almost all the points of difference between Protestants and Ro- manists defend on the decision of the question, " What is. .the Church?" If their^tlieory be correct; if the Church is the exter- nal society of professing Christians, subject to apostle-bishops (i. e., to bishops who are apostles), and to the Pope as Christ's vicar on earth ; then we are bound to submit to it; and then too beyond the pale of that communion there is no salvation. But if every true believer is, in virtue of his faith, a member of that Church to which Christ promises guidance and salvation, then Romanism falls to the ground.
Tlie Opposing Theories of the Church.
That the two opposing theories of the Church, the Romish and Protestant, are what has been stated above is so generally known and so unquestioned, that it is unnecessary to cite authorities on either side. It is enough, so far as the doctrine of Romanists is con- cerned, to quote the language of Bellarmin,^ that the marks of the Church are three : " Professio verse fidei, sacramentorum commu- nio, et subjectio ad legitimum pastorem, Romanum Pontificem. — Atque hoc interest inter sententiam nostram et alias omnes, quod omnes alias requirunt internas virtutes ad constituendum aliquem in Ecclesia, et propterea Ecclesiam veram invisibilem faciunt ; nos autem credimus in Ecclesia invenir- omnes virtutes, — tamen ut aliquis aliquo modo dici possit parsverae Ecclesiae, — npn putam.ua_ requiri ullam internam virtutem, sed tantum externam professionera /
1 De Ecclesia Militarae, II. Disputationes, edit. Paris, 1608, vol. ii. p. 108, d.
136 mTRODUCTION. [Ch. V. — R. C. R. of Faith.
fidei, et sacramentorum communionem, quas sensu ipso percipitur. Ecclesia enini est ccetus hominum ita visibilis et palpabilis, ut est coetus Populi Romani, vel regnum Gallite aut respublica Veneto- rum." The Lutheran Symbols define the Church as, " Congre- gatio sanctorum." ^ " Congregatio sanctorum et vere credentium." ^ " Societas fidel et Spiritus Sancti in cordibus." ^ " Congregatio sanctorum, qui habent inter se societatem ejusdem evangehi seu doctrinee, et ejusdem Spiritus Sancti, qui corda eorum renovat, sanctificat et gubernat ; " and * " Populus spiritualis, non civihbus ritibus distinctus a gentibus, sed verus populus Dei renatus per Spiritum Sanctum." ^
The Symbols of the Reformed Churches pi-esent the same doc- trine.'' The Confessio Helvetica says', " Oportet semper fuisse, nunc esse et. ad finem usque seculi futuram esse Ecclesiam, i. e., e mundo evocatum vel collectum coetum fidelium, sanctorum in- quam omnium communionem, eorum videlicet, qui Deum verum in Clirlsto servatore per verbum et Spiritum Sanctum vere cognoscunt et rite colunt, denique omnibus bonis per Christum gratuito oblatis fide particij)ant." '^ Confessio Gallicana: "Afiirmamus ex Dei verbo, Ecclesiam esse fidelium coetum, qui in verbo Dei sequendo et pura religione colenda consentiunt, in qua etiam quotidie profici- unt."^ Confessio Belgica: " Credimus et confitenmr unicam Ec- clesiam catholicara seu universalem, qnse est sancta congregatio seu ccetus omnium fidelium Christianorum, qui totam suam salutem ab uno Jesu Christo exspectant, abluti ipsius sanguine et per Spiritum ejus sanctificati atque obsignati. Haec Ecclesia sancta nullo est aut certo loco sita et circumscripta, aut ullis certis personis astricta aut alligata : sed per omnem orbem terrarum sparsa atque diffusa est."^ ,The same doctrine is found in the answer to the fifty-fourth ques- tion in the Heidelberg Catechism. In the Geneva Catechism to the question, " Quid est Ecclesia ? " the answer is, " Corpus ac societas fidelium, quos Deus ad vitam aeternam prasdestinavit." ^^
Winer in his " Comparative Darstellung," ^^ thus briefly states the two theories concerning the Church. Romanists, lie says, *' define the Church on earth, as the community of« those bap- tized in the name of Christ, united under his Vicar, the Pope, its visible head. Protestants, on the other hand, as the communion
1 iuffsburg Confession, art. 7. ^ Jl^id- art. 8.
8 Apol. A. a, art 4, pp. 144, 145, Ease, * Md. p. 146.
6 See Hase, Libri Synbulki. ^ See Niemeyer, Coll. Confe$$.
1 II. cap. 17, p. 499, Niem. 8 Art. 27, p. 336, ibid.
» Art. 27, p. 379, ibid. l" Page 135, ibid. " Page 165.