Section IV. — ^This catholic Church hath been sometimes more, sometimes less visible.® And particular churches, which

are members thereof, are more or less pure, according as the doctrine of the gospel is taught and embraced, ordinaroes administered, and public worship performed more or less purely in them.®

Section V. — The purest churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and error ;^" and some have so degenerated as to become no churches of Christ, but synagogues of Satan." Nevertheless, there shall be always a Church on earth, to worship God according to his will.^^

Section VI. — There is no other head of the Church but the •^^ord Jesus Christ :^' nor can the Pope of Rome in any sense be the head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin and son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the Church against Christ, and all that is called God.'*

8 Rom. xi. 3, 4; Rev. xii. 6, 14.— 9 Rev. ii., iii ; 1 Cor. v. 6, 7.— ^^ 1 Cor. xiii. 12; Rev. ii., iii: Matt. xiii. 24-30,47. — ^i Rev. xviii. 2; Rom. xi. 18-22.— 12 Matt. xvi. 18; Ps. Ixxii. 17; cii. 28: Matt, xxviii. 19, 20.— 13 Col. i. 18 ; Eph. i. 22.— i* Matt, xxiii. 8-10 ; 2 Thess. ii. 3, 4, 8, 9 ; Rer. xiii. 6.

All that is tauglit in these Sections necessarily follows from what we have above ascertained as to the nature of the visible Church :

1st. Since the catholic or universal visible Church consists of all the professors of the true religion in the world, and of all the particular ecclesiastical organizations which continue loyal to the Head, and maintain doctrines essentially sound, it must necessarily follow that the Church as a whole is in any age more or less visible, and any particular constituent church more or less pure in proportion — (a) to the purity of the doctrine they profess and the worship they maintain ; (6) tc their zeal and spiritual character and energy; and (c) to the purity of their membership maintained by discipline. In proportion as these are all advanced in perfection, and prevail generally throughout the whole

body, in the same degree will the entin? Church appear more visibly discriminated from the world and manifest in her entire outline. In the same measure also will every individual ecclesiastical organization be pure — that is, free from heterogeneous elements — and consecrated to the accomplishment of the ends for which it is designed.

2d. It follows, also, from the very nature of the visible Church and its condition in this world, that its purity is a matter of degree, varying at different times and in different sections. The teaching of Scripture as to the nature of the kingdom under the present dispensation (Matt, xiii.), the nature of man yet imperfectly sanctified, and the universal experience of the churches, lead us to the conclusion that the very purest churches are yet very imperfect, and will continue so to the end, and that some will become so corrupt as to lose their character as true churches of Christ altogether. This was the case witli the ancient Church under the reign of Ahab, when the children of Israel had apostatized from the service of the true God to such an extent that Elijah thought he was the only one left faithful. Even in that state of affairs the Lord declared, " Yet have I left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed unto Baal.'' 1 Kings xix. 18. Even more entire deterioration has happened to the ancient churches founded by the apostles in the East and by their successors in Northern Africa. The churches which acknowledge the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome have abandoned the faith and obscured the glory of their Lord in one direction, while many professedly Protestant churches — as the English and American Socinians and the German Rationalists — have made an equal apostasy in another.

The Church of Rome maintains that the promise of Christ secures the infallible orthodoxy and purity of the visible organization, in subjection to apostolical ly-ordained bishops, to the end of the world. But the Church whose infallible orthodoxy and purity is guaranteed by the divine promise is no outward visible organization or succession of bishops or priests ; it is the particular Church of no nation or generation, but it is the true invisible body of the elect or of true believers of all nations and ages. That it is so is proved — (1.) From the fact that for eighteen hundred years the promise has been fulfilled in the sense we have defined, but has never been fulfilled in the sense the Romish Church demands. They have themselves led the defection from the faith and practice of the apostolic Church. And among Romanists and Protestants alike, visible ecclesiastical organizations are continually changing their character and relations to the truth. (2.) The Epistles are addressed to " the Church," and the salutations explain that phrase by the equivalents " the called," " the saints," etc. See the salutations of First and Second Corinthians, Ephesians, Colossians, First and Second Peter, and Jude. The same attributes are. ascribed to the members of the true Church in the body of the Epistles. 1 Cor. i. 30; iii. 16; vi. 11 ; Eph. ii. 3-8, 19-22 ; Col. i. 21 ; ii. 10 ; 1 Pet. ii. 9. (3.) The attributes ascribed to the true Church prove it to be spiritual, and, in the sense explained, invisible, and not an outward organized succession. Eph. v. 27 ; 1 Pet. ii. 5; Johnx. V ; Col. i. 18,24.

3d. It follows, nevertheless, from the relation which the visible Church sustains to the invisible Church, that since, according to divine promise, the latter can never entirely fail from the earth (Matt. xvi. 18), so likewise^ however the former may be obscured by heresies or lessened by defection, it can never be entirely wanting. Wherever the true Church is, it will be more or less visible ; not in proportion, however, to the size or pretension of the organization wdth which it may be associated, but in proportion to the purity of its faith and the spiritual activity and fruitfulness of its membership.

4th. That the Lord Jesus Christ is the only absolute and supreme Head of the Church is self-evident, is abundantly asserted in Scripture (Col. i. 18, and Eph. i. 20-23), and has never been denied by any Christians.

Many have, however, maintained that, as the visible Church on earth has a government and laws, and since these must be administered by a visible authority, so the Church must have an earthly visible head, acting upon authority delegated by Christ and as his representative. The Church of E-ome claims this for the pope. " So has Christ — the Head and Spouse — placed over his Church, which he governs by his most inward Spirit, a man to be the vicar and minister of his power; for as a visible church requires a visible head, our Saviour appointed Peter head and pastor of all the faithful."*

The Erastian State churches of Germany and Great

Britain have acknowledged their respective sovereigns

as supreme heads of the Church as well as of the State.

Henry VIII. was recognized as "supreme head of the

♦ Cat. Bom., Part i., ch. x., Q. 11.

Church of England;" and it was enacted "that the king, his heirs, etc., shall be taken, accepted and reputed the only supreme head on earth of the Church of England, called Angllcana Ecclesia; and shall have and enjoy, annexed and united to the imperial crown of this realm, as well the style and title thereof, as all honours, dignities, immunities, profits and commodities to the said dignity of supreme head of the said Church belonging and appertaining." * This supremacy of the reigning sovereign over the Church is even made an article of faith, being incorporated into the Thirty-seventh Article of the Church of England : " The queen's majesty has the chief power in this realm of England, and other her dominions ; unto whom the chief government of all estates of this realm, whether they be ecelesiastical or civil, in all causes, doth appertain."

In both these cases, and in all cases of like claims to ecclesiastical supremacy, it is a mere question of fact and evidence. If, as a matter of fact, Christ delegated his authority either to the pope or to national sovereigns, and made them, as his vicars, visible heads of his Church, then we ought to obey them, and our disobedience is treason to Christ. On the contrary, if they have no such authority, and are unable to prove their claims by unquestionable credentials, then their assumption of such power is a blasphemous intrusion upon divine prerogatives and treason to the human race. It is obvious that neither party c^n show any plausible foundation for their claims, and that upon the slightest interrogation they fall of their own weight.

In the absence of any duly-accredited visible head of * Tk^ 26 Henry VIII., cap. i.

the Church, we are forced back to direct dependence for law and its administration, as well as for redemption, upon the great invisible Head. He presides over and governs his Church (1) through his inspired word, which is, as we have seen, an infallible, complete and perspicuous rule of faith and practice. (2.) Through the apostolical institutions transmitted to us, as the ministry, the sacraments, the ordinances, etc. Eph. iv. 11. And (3) through his own spiritual presence, which extends to all his members, and endures to the end of the world. Matt, xviii. 20; xxviii. 20.

The word Antichrist occurs in the New Testament in

1 John ii. 18, 22 ; iv. 3 ; 2 John 7. The coming of the "man of sin," the "son of perdition," is predicted m

2 Thess. ii. 3, 4. Interpreters have differed as to whether these phrases were intended to designate a personal opponent of the Lord, or principles and systems antagonistic to him and his cause. The authors of our Confession can hardly have intended to declare that each individual pope of the long succession is the personal Antichrist, and they probably meant that the papal system is in spirit, form and effect wholly antichristian, and that it marked a defection from apostolical Christianity foreseen and foretold -in Scripture. All of which was true in their day, and is true in ours. We have need, however, to remember that as the forms of evil change, and the complications of the kingdom of Christ with that of Satan vary with the progress of e'/ents, "even now are there many Antichrists." 1 John ii. 18.

434 CONFESSION OP FAITH.

1. The catholic Church has been sometimes more, sometim-es less visible. It has been already shown that the Church, as to its external state, is visible, and it will afterwards appear that the Church shall never perish. But though the visible Church always exists in some part of the world, it is not always equally flourishing and equally conspicuous. As the moon waxes and wanes, so the Church sometimes shines forth with splendour, and at other times is so obscured as to be scarcely discernible. It may be so reduced iu numbers, and the few that remain faithful may be so scattered, or compelled to hide themselves, through the violence of persecution, that the most discerning Christian shall scarcely perceive the form of a visible Church. This we maintain in opposition to the doctrine of the Church of Eome, that the Church has been, is, and shall be, most gloriously visible to the whole world. This doctrine is refuted by the history of the Church, both under the Old and the New Testament. Under the former dispensation, so general was the defection to idolatry, and so violent the rage of persecution, during the reign of Ahab, that Elijah supposed he was the only worshipper of the true God that survived. God had indeed reserved to himself seven thousand men who had not bowed the knee to the image of Baal — but they were '* hidden ones ;" and Elijah, having failed to discover them, came to this conclusion: "I, even I, only am left." — 1 Kings xix. 10. Under the latter dispensation, we read of a period when two wings of a great eagle were given to the woman (that is, to the Church), that she might fly into the wilderness, to hide herself. — Rev. xii. 14. The Church is always liable to be oppressed by persecutions, or corrupted by errors ; and both of these must obscure her brightness and glory.

2. The purest Churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and error. Papists strenuously maintain that the Church cannot err; but as they are not agreed among themselves where this infalUbility resides — whether in the Pope

or in a general council, or in both united — we may regard this as affording indubitable evidence that the claim is preposterous and unfoimded. If any individual or Church Avere really invested with a privilege so important and distinguished as infallibility, it would certainly have been clearly announced where it is lodged. We need only appeal to history for innumerable proofs that particular Churches have erred, and that no Church has erred so egregiously as the Church of Rome. "The faith once delivered to the saints" will be preserved by some society or other, greater or less, in all generations; but no particular Church is secured against error.

3. A true Church shall always be preserved upon earth. Often has the Church been greatly reduced as to numbers, and particular Churches have become so corrupt that they might rather be considered as synagogues of Satan; but never has the Church of Christ been annihilated. And as the Church has subsisted from its first erection in Paradise to the present hour, so it will continue throughout all subsequent ages, till the second coming of Christ. Earthly kingdoms may be overturned, and the mightiest empires laid in ruins ; but neither power nor policy can ever accomplish the utter destruction of the Church. There is, indeed, no security for the permanent continuance of the Church in any particular country where it has been once planted; but we have the most solid ground for assurance that, in one place or another, Christ shall have a seed to serve him and to perpetuate his name as long as sun and moon endure. Hitherto the Church has, for the most part, been subjected to persecution from the powers of this world; but, though like a bush burning, she has not been consumed. Power and stratagem may be combined to effect her ruin, but in vain; she is "built upon a rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against her."