compared with the perilous consequences it must produce, if it were
possible that the mass of ignorant and unreflecting creatures, of
which society is composed, should really believe it true and act in
accordance with their belief. Instructed to regard their present
conduct and future allotment, as being already determined, the
notion of a state of _trial_, in which they were accountable to God,
would be cast off, with all its salutary restraints upon the
passions, and all its noble incentives to a virtuous life. Nor would
it be possible to enforce the laws of morality by mere temporal
sanctions, the fear of exile, the dungeon, or the gibbet, when
conscience no longer enforced the dictates of religious faith. The
great auxiliary and support of all human authority is to be found in
that most noble attribute of human nature--_the sense of duty_,
which ceases to operate the moment we lose the consciousness of
freedom, believing that our thoughts, our actions, _ourselves_, are
but necessary links in an eternal chain of causes and effects.
Such a theory of religion renders it absurd to admonish mankind of
their _duty_, whether to obey the law of God, or to believe the
Gospel of Christ.
To this reasoning the Calvinist replies: "I acknowledge that men are
morally, spiritually dead. But at the command of God I would preach
to the dead: at his word the dead shall hear and live." But this
reply is irrelevant to the great points of the argument. It remains
to be proved, that God would be just in punishing as a crime that
spiritual death, of which, on the Calvinistic theory, He is the
author;--that it is possible for infinite goodness to subject
created beings to an inevitable _necessity_ of breaking his laws,
and then hand them over to perdition. This is the point which cannot
be evaded; and it is fatal to the predestinarian theology. Doubtless
God can raise the dead, literally or spiritually; but that does not
touch the question.
III.--CALVINISM IS OPPOSED TO THE CONSTITUTION AND THE PURPOSES OF A
VISIBLE CHURCH.
By the visible Church is meant the great body of persons who are
baptized into the faith of Christ, and openly profess his religion;
and the term is used in contradistinction to the invisible Church,
which consists of real, sincere, and spiritual disciples of our
Lord. These may be said to be invisible, since to search the heart
and penetrate its secrets, is the prerogative of God alone. The
truly faithful, as distinguished from the mere professors of
Christianity, will not be _seen_ in their distinct character until
the hour when the final judgment shall separate the righteous from
the wicked. "_Then_ shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in
the kingdom of their Father."
The visible Church, with her apostolic ministry, her worship, her
sacraments, and her various provisions for the edification of the
body of Christ, is instituted and constructed on the manifest
principle that the present is a probationary state, and that those
who by her ministrations are brought under the obligations of the
Christian covenant, are not thereby absolutely but conditionally
sealed to eternal life, which is suspended on their faithful
adhesion to Christ, and final perseverance in his holy ways.
In exact accordance with this statement, our Lord describes the
kingdom of heaven, or the Christian Church, as a field in which the
_wheat_ and the _tares_ grow up together until the harvest; and as a
net cast into the sea and gathering of _all kinds_ of fishes, bad
and good, which are afterwards to be separated.
Not a syllable occurs in the New Testament, not a single fact
transpires in the history of the apostolical Churches, to justify
the persuasion, that such only as were decreed to eventual
salvation, were received as members of the Christian community. Such
an order of fellowship, had it really existed, would have amounted
to a pre-judgment of characters, anticipating and superseding the
judicial sentence of the last day. In that case, to obtain an
entrance into the communion of the Church was virtually to be
proclaimed a member, not only of the visible, but also of the
invisible society of the redeemed, rendering needless all
exhortations to perseverance, and impossible all danger of apostasy.
But such an exclusive and select and judicial order of fellowship
never did and never can exist under the present dispensation, which
is essentially a mixed state, and one of probation, supplying the
means of _working out our own salvation_, and of _making our calling
and election sure_, but not requiring evidence of our effectual
calling and of our certain election to life previous to our
introduction to the worship and sacraments of the Church.
From the earliest records we have of the administration of
ecclesiastical affairs, as well as from all later history, we may
learn that the Catholic Church never aimed at the senseless project
of a pure communion, which, by excluding all but the finally elect,
should rival in sanctity the fellowship of the saints above.
The _worship_ of the Christian Church has always been open,
unrestricted, unconfined by classical distinctions, such as those of
the elect and the reprobate. The gates of the temple are closed
against none who would join in the celebration of its holy rites.
God is the Father of all; Christ the Saviour of all; the
manifestation of the Spirit was given for the profit of all; the
Gospel is to be preached to all. "And the Spirit and the Bride say,
Come, and let him that heareth say, Come, and let him that is
athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life
freely."
The same free and charitable principle has directed the
administration of the _sacraments_, a circumstance the more
remarkable, since, in the judgment of the most eminent Fathers of
the Church, these are the channels by which spiritual grace is
actually communicated to all who are rightfully baptized, and
religiously partake of the Lord's supper. The formularies of our own
branch of Christ's Catholic Church are so clear and definite on this
point, that every effort of ingenious casuistry to give them another
meaning, or to reconcile their use with the Calvinistic theology,
has ended in discomfiture. The _sacraments_ are "outward and visible
signs of an inward and spiritual grace, given unto us, ordained by
Christ himself, as a _means_ whereby we receive the same, and a
_pledge_ to assure us thereof." This _grace_ is imparted, not as to
the elect and to them exclusively, but as to beings who are free and
responsible, who have to account for their use of this sacred and
inestimable gift, and who may forfeit its blessings by subsequent
guilt and final impenitence. The present state of our knowledge, or
rather ignorance of the philosophy of the human mind, may not supply
us with a satisfactory answer for those, who, in a cavilling or
sceptical spirit, ask, "How can these things be?" But it is the
doctrine of the Scriptures and of the Church, and it is perplexed
with fewer difficulties than will be found to press upon every other
hypothesis.
Supposing the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination to be founded
in truth, the very existence of the visible Church in its present
form is a mystery which requires to be solved. No part of its
constitution or order harmonises with a scheme based on fatalism,
and limiting the grace of Heaven to a narrow section of the human
family.
The Sabbath bell, joyously or solemnly, invites all who hear to come
to the house of God; and in the name of the "great congregation" the
minister of Christ addresses the Deity, saying, "_Our_ Father which
art in heaven!"
But Calvinism pronounces that God is _not_ "the lovely Father of all
mankind;" and, that while He has instituted the rites of religious
worship, and invites all to mingle in its sacred duties, He regards
the greater number as "_cursed children_," marked out for perdition,
"_before the morning stars sang together, or ever the sons of God
shouted for joy_."
The ministers of the Church administer to all adult converts from
paganism, Judaism, or Mahometanism, who make a credible profession,
and to all infants, whose sureties engage for their Christian
education, the rite of baptism, signifying the remission of past
sin, original or actual, and pledging the communication of whatever
grace is needful to remedy or assist the weakness of nature in the
moral warfare with temptation.
But Calvinism not only abjures this indiscriminate bestowment of
grace; but denies that even the elect are regenerated in baptism,
leaving it to the arbitrary determination of God's decree, at what
given period, and under what circumstances, they shall be,
instantaneously, and without regard to any foregoing state of mind
or habits of life, transformed into the beloved, and loving, and
lovely children of God[4]!
In a word, Calvinism supposes and requires an order of
administration totally distinct from that which actually exists in
the visible Church of God. And, accordingly, various Calvinistic
communions, which have separated from the Church since the
Reformation, have attempted a literal "fellowship of _saints_,"
presuming to discriminate from the mass of nominal Christians those
who have experienced the conclusive and saving change of Calvinistic
conversion, and admitting such only to the full enjoyment of Church
privileges and to the Lord's table. It seems not a little
surprising, that not only sagacious individuals but extensive
communities should persevere in an attempt which, in the nature of
things, can lead only to disappointment; for, the sincerity of that
species of conversion which is supposed to be final, of that grace
which is said to be irrevocable, can never be decided until the
Judge of all has pronounced his verdict. In the meantime, the terms
of communion _must_ agree in some measure with the actual state of
man; and when the matter is quietly examined, it appears that even
in Calvinistic communions the terms of membership are reduced to a
profession of the received "faith and order," and an assurance, on
the part of the initiated, that he believes himself to be a
converted person by God's special grace. This is all that is
required besides evidence of good moral character; more than this is
impracticable. The spirit of Calvinism can never be fully embodied
in a system of Ecclesiastical polity corresponding exactly with its
own nature, and marked by its own exclusiveness; for who shall
discern the elect?
This discovery appears to have been made by an eminent Calvinistic
clergyman of the present day, who, instead of coming to the
legitimate conclusion that Calvinism is therefore untenable, as
being an impracticable system, has recourse to a delusive theory of
ecclesiastical fellowship, which confounds the visible with the
invisible Church, or reduces the former to a mere nullity. According
to _his_ view of the subject, the Church of Christ consists, not of
the collective body of persons who may happen to be in fellowship
with any particular Christian communities, nor of the aggregate of
persons who throughout the world make an outward profession of our
holy faith, but of those, and those only, who "maintain the
doctrines of grace, and uphold the authority of Christ in the
world," with whatever denomination of Christians they are in
external fellowship. These, being the truly regenerate, are to
tolerate each other's differences on minor questions, to love each
other as being one in Christ, and to co-operate in every way for the
diffusion of their common principles throughout the world. Mr.
Noel's theory confirms the statement made in this section, that
Calvinism, which it is presumed he means by "the doctrines of
grace," denies the claim of any _mixed body_ of professing
Christians, such as the Anglican, or the Lutheran, or the Scottish,
or any other church, in its aggregate character, to be _a church_,
or a distinct branch of the Catholic Church. That is, Calvinism is
opposed to the constitution and the purposes of a visible church.
Mr. Noel's theory is fatal to its existence. For, when it is said of
those exclusively, who, in whatever denomination, "maintain the
doctrines of grace,"--"_and this one body is_ the church,"--it is
clearly proveable, that these persons have no intelligible grounds
on which to rest that high and exclusive pretension; _they are not_
the visible church.
These persons may, or may not, be members of the spiritual or
_invisible_ Church; _that_ is known only to the Searcher of the
heart. They may or may not be the most holy and sincere individuals
in the several churches or denominations with which they hold
external communion; _that_ also remains to be confirmed or refuted
by "the final sentence and unalterable doom." But they do not
constitute what is commonly understood by the visible Church of God.
They have no ministry, no worship, no administration of the
sacraments, visibly distinct from the mass of persons who are of the
same external fellowship with themselves; and the error of assigning
to them the distinction of being alone the true Church arises from
the ambiguity of the word _Church_, on which changes are rung,
producing a confusion of ideas--a double confusion of ideas,
"confusion worse confounded." What is the mental process by which
Mr. Noel arrives at this point? _First_, the invisible Church is
tacitly put and mistaken for the visible, the truly spiritual for
the nominal, it being assumed that we can know the hearts of others.
Then, _secondly_, this invisible Church is supposed to become
visible, and to be _alone_ visible, in the persons of those who
maintain the doctrines of grace; while the really external Church,
consisting of the entire body of professing Christians throughout
the world, vanishes out of sight, and is declared to have no
ecclesiastical existence! The truth is, that Calvinism and a visible
Church are incongruous ideas, and that no man, of whatever talent he
may be possessed, can make them harmonize. The Calvinist believes,
and is consistent in his belief, that the elect only are "the
Church," but since it is impossible to discriminate them from
others, it is impossible to unite them in an exclusive visible
fellowship. And, if it were possible, they would form such a Church
as never before existed. Calvinism is irreconcileable with the order
which has descended from the apostolic age, by the consent of the
Catholic Church, and with any visible constitution.
If Mr. Noel has succeeded in making converts to _his_ theory of a
visible Church, from the difficulty they find in detecting its
fallacies, it only proves, that
"Sheer no-meaning puzzles more than wit."
The dissenter who, on objecting to a Church rate, said, that "If all
Churchmen were like Mr. Noel, neither he nor his brethren would
object to join them," does not seem to have been aware that they
were already members of Mr. Noel's Church. Or, what is more
probable, it was designed significantly to hint to that reverend
gentleman, that he was no more attached than themselves to the
Church of which he is a pastor, and whose ordination vows are upon
him,--and that with Churchmen who are prepared so to betray or deny
their Church, under an erroneous sense of duty, dissenters may
without difficulty form an alliance[5].
IV.--CALVINISM IS PRODUCTIVE OF POSITIVELY INJURIOUS EFFECTS ON
INDIVIDUAL CHARACTER, AND ON SOCIAL HAPPINESS.
When Lord Chatham taunted the Church with having "a Calvinistic
creed, a popish liturgy, and an Arminian clergy," that illustrious
person was the author of a libel on this holy and apostolical
institution. Her creed is not Calvinistic, for it says nothing about
absolute predestination; her liturgy it not popish, for there is no
worship of saints or of the Virgin; her clergy are not Arminian, for
their moderation has preserved them, as a body, from all extremes in
doctrine, and _that_, as well as their unrivalled erudition and
intellectual power, has been the admiration of the most eminent
protestant divines and men of letters in Europe. And to her truly
scriptural character, especially her rejection of the Calvinistic
theology, with its gloomy, turbulent, and intolerant spirit, may be
traced the high tone of moral feeling and practical reverence of
religion which have honourably distinguished the people of England.
Happily, Calvinism in its palmy days was confined to the Puritanical
party, which made comparatively small progress within the pale of
the Church; while the most influential of her clergy, and the great
majority of her well educated laity, embraced the doctrines of a
more generous and scriptural theology. Without falling into
Pelagianism, a charge made by Calvinists on all who reject the
system improperly called "the doctrines of grace," they held the
great evangelic truth that Christ "_died for all_," and its
correspondent views of the benevolence of God, and the moral dignity
of human nature, impaired, but not destroyed, by the fall.
The principles of the remonstrants, without being servilely
embraced, influenced and modified the religious opinions of the
people of England, who were never generally favourable, either to
the dogmas or the discipline of the Genevan reformer, and to this
circumstance are we largely indebted for the manly and the moral
character of our country.
This statement, founded on the history of the Reformation and the
times which followed, is not intended as an indiscriminate attack on
the moral character of Calvinists. Many of them are to be classed
with the holiest of men; not because they are Calvinists, but
because their erroneous notions are rendered innoxious, by the
prevalence of a sincere piety, and by a secret and practical
disbelief of the principles which, in speculation or imagination,
they seem to hold.
It would be both unjust and uncharitable to judge any class of
persons simply by the creed they subscribe, or to impute to them the
consequences which might be supposed to follow from a rigid
adherence to its doctrines. There are antagonist principles at work;
there is the law written on the heart; there is grace to counteract
the tendency of false impressions; there is the love of God and of
man to render those who are truly good men superior to any bad
principles they have unhappily imbibed. Their Christianity is
dominant, and their Calvinism is made harmless.
But evil speculation has a tendency in all minds to lessen or
destroy the power of those dictates of conscience which are
honourable to us as moral agents; and it will counteract, so far as
it goes, the salutary influence of those scriptural truths which
still retain their hold upon the judgment or the feelings. In but
few instances, comparatively, can Calvinism be altogether harmless;
in the ordinary course of things, it is productive of results
positively injurious.
In persons of serious religion, it will produce opposite effects, as
they may be gentle and timid, or bold and presumptuous. In the
former, anxiety, fearful apprehension, deep distress, approaching to
despondency, lest the tremendous decree of reprobation should have
been recorded against them in the indelible page. In the latter, who
can bring a sanguine temperament of mind to the contemplation of the
subject, the effect may be, and often is, unbounded confidence,
leading to self-complacency and spiritual pride; the very natural
result of believing that they are special objects of the love of
God, and that their persuasion is a divine impulse, God speaking to
the heart. Spiritual pride may assume the aspect of profound
humility, and thus impose on its victim by the notion that he is
only magnifying the sovereign grace of Heaven in his election to
eternal life. But such is the weakness of human nature, that the
consciousness of this high distinction needs to be chastened by very
lofty views of the moral virtue required by Christianity, and by
very humbling conceptions of our own, to prevent a false and
dangerous elation of the heart.
And, in how many instances this consciousness is mere delusion, it
would seem almost needless to suggest. It is often professed under
suspicious circumstances by doubtful characters. Nothing can be more
groundless than the persuasion so commonly entertained by persons of
this creed, that to be fully convinced of the truth of the doctrine
is a sufficient ground of confidence that _they_ are therefore of
the number of the chosen people. The strongest conviction may be
deceptive. The firmest assurance may be the result of ignorant or
fanatical presumption. And whatever may be the readiness of this
class of persons to say, "My mountain standeth firm--I shall never
be moved," it cannot but be feared respecting many of them, that
they have yet to learn the very "first principles of the oracles of
God." The remarkable absence of humility and charity in these
"children of special grace" is alone enough to render their
Christianity questionable, exposes the dangerous nature of their
delusion, and proves the practical inutility of their scheme; since,
after all, without the evidence of a truly evangelical temper and
life, no inward assurance would satisfy a reflecting mind; and in
the possession of such evidence, no other assurance is needed.
The self-righteousness of the Pharisee is scarcely more to be
dreaded than the spiritual pride of the Calvinist, when it has
passed from under the control of holy wisdom. It assumes the
character of selfishness, bigotry, and the lust of intolerant
dominion.
The same spirit of exclusiveness and domination, which pervades in
general their ecclesiastical polity, affects their allegiance to the
state. Under cover of abolishing episcopacy, the doctrinal Puritans
were the principal authors of that revolution which introduced the
Commonwealth after the fall of the monarchy; and their aim was the
exclusive _dominion of the saints_, that by political power they
might establish their own forms of Church government. Religion was
really their object, and they were not hypocritical in professing
it; but to accomplish their spiritual projects, they considered
themselves entitled to secular dominion; and their tyranny in Church
and State was so overbearing, that the nation, after the death of
Cromwell, eagerly threw itself into the arms of the Stuarts, almost
without a compact, rather than endure the sanctimonious intolerance
of Calvinistic patriots and republican saints[6].
The same leaven is still at work. The doctrinal Puritans of the
present day have the same lordly consciousness of a right to
dominion. They have declared their resolution to "stagger senates,
and smash cabinets" until their points are carried. They have given
to the nation a significant announcement of their claims to power,
by their politico-religious synod of Manchester. The imperial
parliament of these realms is, in future, it seems, to make its
fiscal arrangements, and legislate on points of purely political
economy, under the dictation of the Calvinistic divines of the
nineteenth century[7]. Doubtless, our future Chancellors of the
Exchequer will be selected from this body of sacred financiers.