RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Nestorius Neuchatel
which is a collection of documents for the history of Wyclif and the Lollards, was written to contravene Wyclifite tenets. Wyclif's appeal to Scripture is accepted by Netter with the proviso that the exegesis be that of the early Fathers, especially as individual interpretation is only too often used to afford a basis for heresy. If, moreover, as in Wyclif's case, only the authority of Christ be recognized, then Christ, the head, is severed from his body, the Church; and while the authority of a single Father may be doubted, the consensus of practically all must be respected. And, more than this, the usages of the Church, her " living faith," give light when written sources fail or disagree. Again, since canonical authority was first given the Bible by the Church, and since the law of Christ had in those books reached perfection, therefore neither doubtful books nor strange doctrines could be accepted or taught either by the Church or by individuals. The strange doctrines of Wyclif must accordingly be rejected.
Proceeding from strict Roman Catholic patristic exegesis, but relatively ignoring scholasticism, and in complete harmony with the theological position of his period, Netter refuted in detail the teachings of Wyclif, with whose writings he shows himself thoroughly acquainted, supporting his arguments by the Bible and citations from the Fathers and older theologians and schoolmen. His special objects of attack are Wyclif's predestination, which leads to determinism and pantheism, besides subverting freedom and service; and his anthropology and Christology. The first book of the Doctrinale is thus devoted primarily to theological doctrines; but Netter's main interests being practical, the second book treats of the Church, the third of the perfected in religion, the fourth of mendicancy, the fifth of the sacraments, and the sixth of the Sacramentals (q.v.). In the second book the primacy of Peter and of the pope is demonstrated; and Wyclif's doctrine that the Church is " the totality of the predestined " is rejected. In the third book the " religion of those made perfect " is defended by the examples of the Sethites, the Rechabites, and Samuel; and in the fourth mendicancy is based on the interview of Christ with the woman of Samaria and the teaching of the apostles. In the fifth book Wyclif is branded as despising the sacraments, and adoration of the host and transubstantiation are zealously defended. Utraquistic tendencies are condemned, for if the " all " of Matt. xxvi. 27 were rigidly interpreted, it would imply that even children and heinous sinners should receive the cup. The scholastic concept of " character," disposing the soul to fulfil the commandments of God and to receive sacramental grace, is maintained regarding baptism and declared to be found in Eph. iv. and the Fathers. The primitive nature of the hierarchy is defended, as are the usual doctrines of auricular confession and the " Power of the Keys " (q.v.). The distinction between mortal and venial sins is held to be implied in the Bible, as in the account of Cain; and venial sins are declared to be committed through ignorance and frailty, but mortal sins through contempt. The concluding book, treating in detail of sacramentals, discusses,
among other themes, prayer, rites, the mass, intercession, the veneration of saints, canonization, pilgrimages, and the adoration of the cross.
(R. Seeberg.) Bibliography : The most complete life is prefixed to Blanchiotti's ed. of the work noted in the text, i., ix.-xvii. Other material is found in: J. Leland, CommentaHi de scriptoribus Britannicis, ed. A. Hall, pp. 438-441, Oxford, 1709; Cosme de Villiers de Sainte-Etienne, Biblia Carmelitana, ii. 824-826, 833-842. Consult also DNB, xl. 231-234.
NETTLETON, ASAHEL: American Congregationalist and revivalist; b. at North Killingworth, Conn., Apr. 21, 1783; d. at East Windsor, Conn., May 16, 1844. He graduated at Yale in 1809; and, after studying theology, was licensed in 1811, and ordained as an evangelist in 1812. From 1812 to 1822 he was active as an evangelist in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York. In 1827 he went to Virginia for his health, returning in 1829. He held meetings in Connecticut and New York City in 1830-31, and visited Great Britain in 1831. In 1833 he was appointed professor of pastoral theology in the recently established theological institute of East Windsor (now Hartford Seminary), but though he declined, yet he settled there and occasionally lectured to the students. He was a powerful preacher, and large accessions to the church resulted from his efforts, which were strongly doctrinal and Calvinistic. He was regarded as the representative of the conservative tendency, in opposition to Charles G. Finney (q.v.), whose evangelistic labors aroused much criticism. He published Village Hymns (1824), regarded as one of the best of American collections of hymns. Bibliography: B. Tyler, Memoir of Rev. A. Nettleton, Hartford, 1844; W. B. Sprague, Annals of the American Pulpit, ii. 542-554, New York, 1859.
NEUBURG, RELIGIOUS COLLOQUY OF. See Candidus (Weiss), Pantaleon.
NEUCHATEL, nu"sha-tel', INDEPENDENT EVANGELICAL CHURCH OF: A free Evangelical church organized in 1873 in the canton of Neuchatel, the object being to create a church entirely independent of the State.
In origin the Independent Church of Neuchatel may be said to date back to the time of the Reformation. At that time the sovereigns of the country remained attached to Roman Catholicism; and the governor, their representative, opposed with all his might the powerful preaching of Farel, and the reformatory impulse aroused in the people by that preaching. But the Reformed Church was established in Neuchatel without, and even in spite of, the State; while in the other Swiss cantons the administration of the Church and that of the State were generally united in the hands of the political power, since the grand councils placed themselves at the head of the movement, and imposed the Reformation on the country, even against opposition.
The pastors of the new church, with Farel, the Knox of Switzerland, at their head, used to meet regularly in the city of Neuchatel to discuss the affairs of their churches. From these spontaneous reunions originated the body called the " Company of Pastors," which continued at the head of the
IJeuchatel Nevin