A Preacher may be required (if he has not already qualified) to take the
Oaths, &c. after he has actually preached, but it is not necessary that
any person should take the Oaths and subscribe the Declarations
required, as an antecedent qualification to preach. The requisition must
be made by a Justice of the Peace in writing.
The following are copies of the Oaths, &c. referred to in the Section.
OATH OF ALLEGIANCE.
“I, _A. B._ do sincerely promise and swear, that I will be faithful
and bear true allegiance to his Majesty King George.
“_So help me God_,
“A. B.”
OF SUPREMACY.
“I, _A. B._ do swear, that I do from my heart, abhor, detest, and
abjure, as impious and heretical, that damnable doctrine and
position, that Princes, excommunicated, or deprived by the Pope, or
any authority of the See of Rome, may be deposed or murdered by
their subjects, or any other whatsoever. And I do declare, that no
foreign Prince, Person, Prelate, State, or Potentate, hath, or ought
to have, any jurisdiction, power, superiority, pre-eminence, or
authority, Ecclesiastical or Spiritual, within this Realm.
“_So help me God_,
“A. B.”
DECLARATION AGAINST POPERY.
“I, A. B. do solemnly and sincerely, in the presence of God,
profess, testify, and declare, that I do believe, that in the
Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, there is not any transubstantiation
of the elements of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ,
at or after the consecration thereof, by any person whatsoever, and
that the invocation or adoration of the Virgin Mary, or any other
saint, and the sacrifice of the Mass, as they are now used in the
Church of Rome, are superstitious and idolatrous; and I do solemnly,
in the presence of God, profess, testify, and declare, that I do
make this declaration, and every part thereof, in the plain and
ordinary sense of the words read unto me, as they are commonly
understood by Protestants, without any evasion, equivocation, or
mental reservation whatsoever; and without any dispensation already
granted me for this purpose by the Pope, or any other authority or
person whatsoever, or without any hope of dispensation from any
person or authority whatsoever, or without believing that I am or
can be acquitted before God or man, or absolved of this declaration,
or any part thereof, although the Pope, or any other person or
persons whatsoever, shall dispense with or annul the same, or
declare that it was null and void from the beginning.
“A. B.”
DECLARATION OF CHRISTIAN FAITH.
“I, _A. B._ do solemnly declare in the presence of Almighty God,
that I am a Christian and a Protestant, and as such that I believe
that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, as commonly
received among Protestant Churches, do contain the revealed will of
God; and that I do receive the same as the rule of my doctrine and
practice.
“A. B.”