sidered requisite, which the Lord Himself by His own word, or through His apostles, ordained.

XXI. Of the Authority of a
Church.

A CHURCH hath

Christ distinctly affirms, is to be judged by the Word. The only Rule of Faith is God's Word written,

XXIII, of the Apostate Church of Rome.

HE Church which

and Discipline; yet it is not lawful for any Church to ordain or decide anything that is contrary to God's Word written, or so to expound one place of Scripture, that it be repugnant to another. As a Church ought not to decree any. thing against Holy Scripture, so besides the same ought it not to enforce anything to be believed for necessity of Salvation, or to be done as essential to the due worship of God.

The Creeds, commonly called the Apostles' Creed, and the Nicene Creed-though they be not inspired-ought to be received and believed, for they may be proved by Holy Scripture. The Creed, commonly called the Athanasian Creed, with the exception of the Condemning Clauses, is retained for reference by this Church, as an ancient and valuable exposition of Doctrine respecting the Trinity in Unity, and as a safeguard against erroneous teaching with regard to the proper Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ; but is not intended to be publicly read in the services of the Church.

XXII. of the Authority of
Ecclesiastical Councils.
CCLESIASTICAL Councils

Erasmuch as they are as

The Pope, or Bishop of Rome, her head, is a usurper and an antichrist, assuming to himself universal dominion, denouncing as rebels and "Heretics" all baptized persons who reject his authority, and asserting that Heretics are to be punished with confiscation of goods, imprisonment, exile, and death.

Claiming to be the Vice-gerent of God upon earth, and to be infallible in matters of Faith and Morals (as defined by the Vatican Council of A.D. 1870), he has arrogated to himself the prerogatives of Deity, and is guilty of blasphemy against God Most High.

To the Twelve Articles of the Ancient Nicene Creed (A.D. 325), Rome added, in A.D. 1564, Twelve New Articles in the Modern Creed known as The Creed of Pope Pius IV. In A.D. 1854 she added the dogma of "The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary" and yet again, in A.D. 1870, the dogma of the personal "Infallibility of the Pope."

Against such false and fatal teaching, this Protestant Church of England emphatically maintains the witness of the faithful martyrs of the period of the Re

formation.

See the Homily of the Established Church of England "Against Peril of Idolatry," Part iii.

XXIV. Of Ministering in the Congregation.

HOSE who would undertake

TE

lic preaching, and of ministering the Ordinances of Christ in the Congregation, should be lawfully called thereunto, and sent to execute the same. And those are to be considered as lawfully called and sent, who, having given evidence of being moved to this work by the Holy Spirit, are duly appointed by men who have public authority given unto them in the Congregation to ordain and send forth Ministers into the Lord's Vineyard.

It is provable from Holy Scripture that Ministers who are sometimes called Bishops and sometimes Presbyters were to be ordained in every city. Among these there were some, as James, Timothy and Titus, who were called to special duties as overseers in certain Churches.

This Church, following these indications of Apostolic order, recognises the Pastors of Congre gations as Bishops or Presbyters, and approves the selection from among them of certain who, for temporary or permanent service, may be appointed to Preside and to Moderate, and under the title of Bishops to exercise authority

as Primi inter Pares.

This Church, following herein also the guidance of Holy Scripture, recognises the office of the Diaconate for the management of the Temporalities and Charities of the Churches, and for assisting the Presbyters, as occasion may serve, in the edifying of the Congregations of the Faithful. The appointment of Deacons may be temporary or permanent; and in the case of fit persons it may become a step to the order of Presbyter or Bishop.

Men of good report, and moved thereto by the Spirit of Christ, are at liberty to preach the Gos pel as Evangelists and Teachers, although they be not formally appointed to the office of Pastor.

XXV. Of Speaking in the Congregation in such a Tongue as the People Understand.

Tis a thing plainly repugnant custom of the Primitive Church,

XXVIII. Of the Lord's Supper.

THE Supper of the Lord is a THE menorial of our Redemption by Christ's death, for thereby we do proclaim the Lord's death till He come.

It is a symbol of the soul's feeding on Christ; and it is a sign of the communion that we should have with one another. "For we who are many are one loaf, one body; for we all partake of the one loaf" (1 Cor. x. 17).

Transubstantiation (or the change of the substance of bread and wine into the very Body and Blood of Christ, in the Supper of the Lord) cannot be proved by Holy Writ, is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, overthroweth the nature of a Symbolic Ordinance, and hath given occasion to many and idolatrous superstitions.

Consubstantiation (or the doctrine that Christ is veiled under the unchanged bread and wine, and that His very Body and Blood are present, in and with, though separate from, the bread and wine) is without warrant of Scripture. and, like transubstantiation, is productive of idolatrous errors and practices.

We feed on Christ in the heart,

and only after a heavenly and spiritual manner, by faith, faith, through His Word and by the operation of His Spirit; and so we feed on Him whether at our private devotions or in our meditations, or on any occasion of Public Worship, as well as in the memorial service of the Lord's Supper.

The elements of the Lord's Supper were not by Christ's ordinance, neither are they in this Church to be, reserved, taken out of the Church, borne in procession, lifted up, or worshipped.

XXIX. Of both Kinds.

HE cup of the Lord is not to be denied to any of His people, for both the bread and the wine, by Christ's ordinance and commandment, ought to be min

istered to all Christian people alike.

XXX. Of the One Oblation of Christ Finished Upon the Cross.

THE Offering of Christ is that

perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction for the sin of mankind, both original and actual, which was once-for-all made upon the cross; and there is none other satisfaction for sin, but that alone. And as there is only this one sacrifice once made, never to be repeated, so there is but one Priest, even Jesus Christ, the Apostle and High Priest of our profession. Wherefore any representation of the Lord's Supper as a sacrifice is to be rejected as false, and condemned as derogating from the Finished Sacrifice of Christ; and the Romish Mass, or any kindred Service, in the which it is professed that the Priest offers to God a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead, is a blasphenious fable and a pernicious imposture.

XXXI. Of Certain Erroneous Doctrines and Practices.

THE Romish Doctrines and

all teachings of a similar character, concerning purgatory, penance, and satisfaction, are without support from the Word of God, and are, besides, contradictory of the completeness and sufficiency of the Redemption in Christ Jesus, of Justification by Faith only, and of the effectual working of God the Holy Spirit.

The practice of praying for the dead rests on human tradition, and is in violation of the express warnings of Almighty God to the careless and unconverted.

The adoration of relics and images, and the invocation of angels, of the Virgin Mary, and of Saints, besides that they are grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, are idolatrous practices dishonouring to God, and subversive of the Mediatorial office of Christ.

upon public profession of repen tance they may be received back into the fellowship of the Church by those who have authority thereunto.

XXXV. Of the Reunion of Christian Churches.

W

WHILST the divisions of
Christians are to be de-

plored as evil in tendency and fact, as a hindrance to the success of the Gospel, and as dishonouring to the Great Head of the Church, yet the reunion of the Churches must be sought, and can only be successfully accomplished, in the return of all branches of the Christian Church to simplicity of faith and practice as determined by Holy Scripture, and by each believer drawing closer to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith and obedience, and so of necessity ap proaching nearer to all his fellowChristians.