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whole foundation of our Belief in Christ. We have also declared that we hold in utter detestation all those old Heresies which the Holy Scriptures and Councils of old have condemned; considering them as hostile to the Salvation of our Souls and we have given our unqualified consent to all the Fundamental Doctrines of true Religion. We have exerted ourselves to the utmost to re-establish the Ancient Discipline of the Church, which our opponents have wholly disregarded; and have on no occasion failed to punish and restrain every species of Profligacy and Immorality, by putting in force the most severe enactments of our Predecessors. We have, without any diminution or change, maintained the State of Empires in the same condition and honour that we received them; and have as far as possible secured to our Monarchs their pristine Majesty and Prerogative. We confess that we have imitated the Examples of Lot and Abraham, who departed from Sodom and Chaldæa: not influenced by a Spirit of Contention, but by the warning voice of God Himself; and have forsaken. that Church which the Papists have made "a Den of Thieves;" in which we could discover nothing perfect, nothing like the Church of Christ;

and in which they themselves are compelled to allow the existence of many errors. We have sought to establish our Liturgy on the authority of that Sacred Volume which cannot mislead us; and have returned to the Primitive Church of the Ancient Fathers and Apostles: that is, to the very source and foundation, and as it were the pure fountain from which the Doctrines of Christianity flowed.

We have not, it is true, waited the Sanction and Approbation of the Council of Trent in this matter: for there we behold every thing conducted without regard to propriety or regularity; there all were sworn to maintain the authority of one man; there the Ambassadors of our Princes were treated with contempt; there none of our Divines were allowed to speak; there party spirit, and selfish ambition alone prevailed. We have restored our Church* in a Provincial Synod, according to the practice of our Predecessors,

We quickly saw, says Bishop Burnet on a similar occasion, that Popery was a restless thing, and was the standing Enemy of our Church; so soon as that shewed itself, then our Divines returned to those Controversies, in which no man bare a greater share, and succeeded in it with more honour, than Bishop Stillingfleet, both in his vindication of Archbishop Laud,

and the Holy Fathers. We have shaken off the Yoke, and abjured the Tyrannical Authority of the Roman Pontiff, who had no claim upon our allegiance, nor the slightest Resemblance in any respect to Christ, to St. Peter, to the Apostles, or even to a Bishop. In a word, we have agreed amongst ourselves upon all the points and Doctrines of the Christian Profession of Faith; and * with one Spirit, and one Mouth worship God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

and in the long continued dispute concerning the Idolatry of the Church of Rome.

When the dangers of Popery came nearer us, and became sensible to all persons, then a great number of our Divines engaged in these Controversies. They writ short and plain, and yet brought together, in a great variety of small Tracts, the substance of all that was contained in the large Volumes writ both by our Divines, and by Foreigners. There was in them a solidity of argument, mixed with an agreeableness in the way of writing, that both pleased and edified the nation; and did very much confound and at last silence, the few and weak writers that were of the Romish side.

Preface to the Exposition of the xxxix Articles, p. 9. Ed. Lond. 1819. 18o.

It is to be remembered that this Apology was written before the Puritan Schism in the Church of England broke out; for Fuller informs us that they first began to appear A. D. 1563, which was the year after this Apology was written, but an open Rupture did not take place till 1570.

Fuller's Church History.

Since then the causes and reasons of our withdrawing ourselves from Popery, and introducing the Reformation, have been thus clearly explained; no one surely ought to wonder that

*

be carried about with to mark them which contrary to the Doc

we have chosen to obey the Precepts of Christ, rather than those of man. St. Paul admonished us not to suffer ourselves to every wind of Doctrine; and cause divisions and dissensions, trine which we have learned, and avoid them; for they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by good words and fair. speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

The powerful influence which the Papists had acquired by their crafty impostures has long since begun to decay and vanish before the appearance and Light of the Gospel; even as the Bird of Night retires at the approach of the rising Sun and although the Fabric of their Idolatry has been exalted even up to heaven; yet in a moment of time, without any visible cause, it hasteneth to decay and becometh as nought.

*

Ephesians iv. 14.

Romans xvi, 17, 18,

These things ought not to be considered the mere effects of Chance. It has been God's will and pleasure that the Gospel of Jesus Christ should at this time be preached to all the world, notwithstanding the intrigues and opposition of the great body of mankind: and therefore, instructed by the Divine Will, we have readily applied ourselves to the Study of our Saviour's Doctrine. In taking this step we have not been influenced by Ambition, or the expectation of Pleasure, Wealth, or Ease. All these things our adversaries abundantly enjoy; and whilst we espoused. their interest, we participated also in their pleasures, and had many more worldly enjoyments than we now have: nevertheless we are not the Enemies of Unanimity and Concord; but dare not consent to be at war with our God, for the sake of establishing peace with man.

"The Name of Peace," saith St. Hilary, "“is sweet; but Peace" he adds " is one thing, Bondage another." Thus if we were to comply with their wishes, and command Christ to be silent, the Truth of the Gospel to be betrayed, the most flagrant errors to be countenanced, the minds of Christians to be misled, and suffer an open

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