Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

exertions, and go on in their course with unabated ardour and zeal.

At the opening of the Convention in 1815, Bishop Hobart delivered a Charge to his clergy on the Nature of the Christian Ministry, as set forth in the Offices of Ordination. The first part is a lucid exposition of the views of our Church on this subject, and an admirable epitome of the whole argument on Episcopacy. In the other parts there are some things deserving of a more particular notice.

In presenting this succinct account of the sentiments of our Church in regard to the Christian ministry, he states, that it is his principal design to impress upon his brethren the caution, that we do not rank these opinions among the non-essentials of Christianity.

"There is often an invidious distinction made between the doctrines and the institutions of the Gospel; and yet they have both a divine origin, and they are inseparably connected as means to the same end-the salvation of man. Justification by a living faith in the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and through the sanctification of the Divine Spirit, is a fundamental doctrine of the Gospel. It pervades all the articles, and animates all the offices of our Church; and her ministers should make it the basis of all their instructions and preaching.

"But it hath pleased God to constitute a visible Church, and to make its ministry and ordinances the means and pledges of this justification. The Lord the saved.'

[ocr errors]

added unto the Church,' we are told, Believers are always spoken of as members of Christ's mystical body; and it is the Church which

Christ hath purchased with his blood, and which he sanctifies by his spirit.

"But if you destroy the ministry, what become s of the visible Church? If you render an external commission unnecessary, what becomes of the ministry? And if you change the mode originally constituted for conveying this commission from the Divine Head of the Church, what assurance can we have that we enjoy it?

"Our Church, on these subjects, speaks unequivocal language. ***. Let us not go beyond her language, but let us not refrain from avowing it; let us not diminish its force through that most undignified and unworthy motive, a wish to obtain a transitory popularity with those who reject the claims of Episcopacy.

"But it is of the utmost importance that the duty of inculcating Episcopal principles should be discharged with prudence. They should not be urged at improper seasons or places, nor expressed in language harsh or violent, or admitting inferences not intended or warranted. Let these principles be inculcated in the spirit of liberality, rendering respect to the motives, the talents, and the piety of those who reject them. Let them be inculcated with humility, carefully avoiding all appearance of arrogance, and in the spirit of fervent affection for the Redeemer's kingdom.

"Let us not only inculcate these principles, but let us cherish in our own minds a sense of their importance. Let us avoid, as far as possible, all situations which may require us either to estimate as non-essential these principles, or to appear

inferior to others in Christian liberality, and which may place the benevolent and social feelings of our nature at variance with our fidelity to truths solemnly avowed by our Church, and considered by her essential to her polity; and which we are to guard as the rallying points which will finally bring into one fold the dispersed and discordant Israel of God."

In this Charge Bishop Hobart also sets another point in a clear and proper light, as he had done before in several of his works, which has been the occasion of much confusion in the dispute on Episcopacy.

"Let me detain you while I illustrate the great importance of distinguishing between the ministry and the government of the Church, properly so called.

"The ministry of the Church necessarily includes only the orders of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, with their subordinate and appropriate powers; and these are of divine institution.

"But the government of the Church, including these orders of the ministry, and thus far being of divine origin, extends to all those other offices which the Church may deem it expedient to organize; to the mode in which her ministers are elected and vested with jurisdiction; and to the particular organization by which her legislative, executive, and judiciary powers are exercised. Considered in reference to these latter objects, the government of the Church is of human origin.

"It is expedient, then, that we speak of the divine institution of the Episcopal ministry, or of Episco

pacy, and not of the divine institution of Episcopal government.

"In avowing the" latter, "there is danger of being misunderstood, and of being represented as maintaining the divine institution of that ecclesiastical establishment, in all its parts, which subsists in the country from which we are descended."

He then remarks, that the spiritual Church of England and the civil are entirely distinct; and shows, at length, in what respects we agree with her in the former character, as to all essential points of doctrine and discipline. In the remainder of the Charge he notices the care with which our Church guards the entrance to the ministry; the literal, the theological, the moral, and spiritual qualifications which she requires of those who are to be admitted to orders; the barriers which she opposes to the unworthy, and the nature of the priest's and deacon's office; and he concludes with a most lively and eloquent description of their duties, and a most earnest and affectionate persuasion to diligence, fidelity, and zeal in their solemn charge.

In a funeral sermon which was preached by Bishop Hobart on the death of his predecessor, Bishop Moore, some allusion having been made to Paradise, he was led by this circumstance to write a Dissertation on the State of Departed Spirits, and the Descent of Christ into Hell. The reasons which he states for the discussion of this subject are, "that the doctrine is not generally understood; that it is regarded by many as a doctrine of little importance, and of curious speculation only; and by others as a dangerous novelty, nearly allied to

the tenets concerning purgatory held by the Church of Rome."

It is therefore his object to show

"That it is a doctrine of the Protestant Episcopal Church;

"That it may be traced to the apostolic age; and,

"That it is clearly revealed in the sacred writings. "The doctrine is-that the souls of men do not go immediately to heaven, the place of final bliss, nor to hell, the place of final torment, but remain in a state of enjoyment or misery in the place of the departed, until the resurrection at the last day; when, their bodies being united to their souls, they are advanced to complete felicity or woe in heaven or hell."

The first point is proved by a reference to the Apostles' Creed, in which it is stated, that Christ "descended into hell," or, as it is explained in the rubrick, into the "place of departed spirits;" by the passage in the prayer for Christ's Church militant, where we are taught to beseech God "that we, with all those who are departed this life in his faith and fear, may be partakers of his heavenly kingdom;" and by an expression in the burial service, where we pray that "we, with all those who are departed in the true faith of his holy name, may have our perfect consummation and bliss, both in body and soul, in his eternal and everlasting glory."

In the second place, he shows that this doctrine. has been maintained not only by the divines of our own Church, but by many also of other denominations, who were eminent for their learning and piety. VOL. I.

24

« ZurückWeiter »