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A Harmony of Anglican Doctrine
with the doctrine of the catholic and apostolic church of the East:
being the longer Russian catechism:
with an appendix consisting of notes and extracts from Scottish and Anglican authorities.

Appendix: Consisting of Notes to the Foregoing Catechism, with Extracts from Public Documents of the Scottish and Anglican Churches, and from the Writings of Some of their Most Celebrated Divines;

Designed to shew that there is in the Anglican Communion Generally, and more Particularly and Pre-eminently in the Scottish Church, an Element of Orthodoxy, Capable, by a Synodical Act, of Declaring Unity and Identity with the Eastern Catholic Church.

by William Palmer [M]

Aberdeen: A Brown, 1846.

NOTE XXXI.

A

. Orders are a Mystery, in which the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the Bishop's hands ordains them that be rightly chosen to minister Sacraments, and to feed the flock of Christ.—Orthodox Catechism, p. 67.

I. On this subject see at length the Ordinal of the Church of England, in the Preface to which, among other things, it is said that;—

"It is evident unto all men diligently reading the holy Scripture and ancient Authors, that from the Apostles' time there have been these Orders of Ministers in Christ's Church, Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. . . And therefore, to the intent that these Orders may be continued . . no man shall be accounted or taken to be a lawful Bishop, Priest, or Deacon in the Church of England, or suffered to execute any of the said Functions, except he be called, tried, examined and admitted thereunto, according to the Form hereafter following, or hath had formerly Episcopal Ordination."

And in the Ordinal itself, the Bishop Ordains a Deacon (who must be over twenty-three years of age) by Imposition of hands and prayer "in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." And a Priest he ordains in like manner, saying these words; "Receive the Holy Ghost for the Office and work of a Priest in the Church of God .now committed to thee by the Imposition of our hands: Whose sins thou dost forgive, they are forgiven; and whose sins thou dost retain, they are retained. And be thou a faithful dispenser of the word of God, and of His holy Sacraments; &c." But a Bishop is ordained by three or more other Bishops, the Archbishop or chief Consecrator saying as follows; "Receive the Holy Ghost for the Office and work of a Bishop in the Church of God, now committed unto thee by the Imposition of our hands; In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. And remember that thou stir up the grace of God, which is given thee by this Imposition of our hands: For God hath not given us, &c."

II. In the Office of Institution of the Anglo-American Church there is a prayer or Collect beginning thus: "O holy Jesus, who hast purchased to Thyself an universal Church; and hast promised to be with the Ministers of Apostolic succession to the end of the world; &c."

III. Bishop Taylor, to give one such example only, writes thus:—

"Certainly he could upon no pretence have challenged the appellation of Christian, who had dared either himself to invade the holy rites within the cancels, entoV tou bhmatoV, or had denied the power of celebrating this dreadful Mystery (of the Eucharist) to belong only to Sacerdotal ministration. For either it is said to be but common bread and wine; and then, if that were true, indeed any body may minister it: but they that say so are blasphemous; they count the Body of the Lord and the ‘Blood of the Covenant or New Testament,’ a profane or common thing; they discern not the Lord's Body; they know not that the Bread which is broken is the communication of the Lord's Body: But if it be a holy, separate, divine, and mysterious thing, who can make it, (ministerially, I mean) and consecrate or sublime it from common or ordinary bread, but a consecrate, separate, and sublimed Person? ..... Certainly there is not in the world a greater degree of power, than to remit and retain sins, and to consecrate the Sacramental Symbols into the Mysteriousness of Christ's Body and Blood; nor a greater honour, than that God in heaven should ratify what the Priest does on earth, and should admit him to handle the Sacrifice of the world, and to present the same, which in heaven is presented by the Eternal Jesus."—Clerus Domini, The Divine Institution and Necessity of the Office Ministerial, written by command of King Charles I. Û v.

IV. Thorndike, in the place quoted above under Note XXII, shewing that Orders are truly a Mystery or Sacrament conferring grace, argues;—

"If the profession of Christianity infer the grace of Baptism, shall not the profession of that Christianity which the estate of the Clergy in general, or that particular degree to which every man is ordained, importeth, infer the grace, which the discharge of it requireth?"

V. From the Scottish Catechism of Aberdeen:—

"The Church is called in the Creed Apostolic, 1. Because it preserves the Doctrine of the Apostles; and 2. Because its Pastors are the successors of the Apostles. For they appointed the Bishops to succeed them in the government of the Church. Q. What is the Office of a Bishop? A. To govern the Clergy and people, to ordain the Clergy, to administer the Sacraments, and perform all holy offices. Q. Are there any other Orders of Clergy than the Bishops? A. Yes; under the Bishops there are Priests and Deacons? Q. What is the Priests' office? A. To govern the people committed to their charge, to administer Baptism and the holy Eucharist, and perform other holy Offices. Q. Can they do these things as well as the Bishops? A. Yes; but then it is in dependence upon, and subordination to their Bishops. Q. Can Priests ordain others? A. No; it is only the Bishops, who have power to ordain others. Q. What is the Office of a Deacon? A. To be a servant to the Bishops and Priests in their functions, and to take care of the poor. Q. Was not the Christian Priesthood typified or prefigured by the Jewish? A. Yes; the Bishop is the Christian High Priest, and the Presbyters and Deacons answer to the Priests and Levites. Q. Whom does the Christian High Priest represent? A. Jesus Christ, the invisible Bishop and Head of the whole Church. Q. Ought not then every Christian to be subject to his Bishop? A. Yes; as to the visible Head, or High Priest in his own Diocese." (p. 18.) And again: "Q. Who can consecrate the Eucharist? A. None but a Bishop or Priest."—P. 38. Passages to the same effect are to be found in the Scottish Catechism of Bishop Jolly, p. 32, 33, 34. 56, 67. And in the Catechism of the Diocese of Brechin, Û ii. p. 60, 67.

VI. On the subject of this Note see also Notes II, XVII, and XXI.

NOTE XXXII.

I. The Order for the solemnization of Matrimony in the English Bitual contains a Prayer, in which occur the following words:—

" O God, who hast consecrated the state of Matrimony to such an excellent Mystery, that in it is signified and represented the spiritual marriage and unity betwixt Christ and His Church; &c.:" In like manner the Book of Homilies also more than once speaks of "the Sacrament of Matrimony."

II. Thorndike, as quoted above under Note XXII, has the following:—"As for Marriage, the solemnity of the Blessing, the Ring, the Sacrament of the Eucharist, with which, according to the custom of the whole Church, it ought to be ministered, will easily make it a Sacrament."

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NOTE XXXIII.

A

. Virginity is better than wedlock, if any have the gift to keep it undefiled. (And again:) He that giveth his virgin in marriage doeth well; but he that giveth her not in marriage doeth better.—Orthodox Catechism, p. 68.

I. So in the Ritual of the Church of England, in the Order for the solemnization of Matrimony, one cause for the institution of that ordinance is said to have been "as a remedy against sin; that such persons as have not the gift of continency, might marry:" Where the word ‘gift’ plainly marks that Virginity is superior.

II. Accordingly, Bishop Andrewes in his Private Devotions, after the "Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Evangelists, and Martyrs," gives thanks to God for "the Ascetics," and for "the Beauty of Virgins." And in prayer he mentions first "those who are in Virginity, and purity, and Ascetic life;" and then "those also, who live in honourable marriage."

III. Bishop Montague has the following passage:—

"Touching Evangelical Counsels, I know no doctrine of our English Church against them. I do believe there are, and ever were, Evangelical Counsels, such as St. Paul mentioneth in his ‘Consilium autem do’ (concerning Virginity); such as our Saviour pointed at and directed unto in His ‘Qui potest capere capiat’ (on the same subject). If any man, not knowing or not considering the state of the question, hath otherwise written, or preached, or taught, what is that to me, or to the doctrine of the Church of England? His ignorance, or fancy, or misapplying, is not the doctrine of antiquity, which with universal consent held Evangelical Counsels; nor of our Church, in which our Gamaliel hath told us that ‘many vows may be freely made and performed to God, which are not commanded by God.’ ‘We allow,’ says Bishop Morton, ‘the distinction between precepts and counsels.’"—Montague's Appeal, p. 215.

IV. To the same effect Bishop Jeremy Taylor:—

"Virginity is a life of Angels, the enamel of the soul, the huge advantage of religion, the great opportunity for the retirement of devotion; and being empty of cares, it is full of prayers; being unmingled with the world, it is apt to converse with God; and by not feeling the warmth of a too forward and indulgent nature, flames out with holy fire, till it be burning like the Cherubim and the most extasied order of holy and unpolluted spirits."—Works, vol. iv. p. 71. Heber’s edition.

V. And Thorndike says, that notwithstanding "that horrible act of abolishing the Monasteries by King Henry VIII., ... no son of the Church of England is bound to disown the whole Church in maintaining, as she has, the Monastic life to be agreeable with Christianity, and expedient to the intent of it."—Epilogue, iii. p. 371.

And again: "It might seem that the ordinary state of those who are engaged in the world is of more perfection than monastic life, as furnishing greater opportunities for the exercise of that charity, wherein our Christianity chiefly consisteth. To which I answer, that though the occasions of the world minister more opportunities of exercising charity, yet the engagements, which a man that liveth in the world hath, make it more difficult for him. In the profession of monastic life there is ground for presuming, that those who live in it come nearer what our Baptism professeth, by the means thereof, than others can do."—Ibid p. 372. See also below, under Note XXXIX.

NOTE XXXIV.

I. In the present English Ritual there is an Order for the Visitation of the Sick with solemn Prayers to be made for him by the Priests of the Church. And in the First Eitual, of 1548, it is further directed that "if the sick person desire to be Anointed, the Priest shall then Anoint him, making the Sign of the Cross, saying thus;—

"As with this visible Oil thy body outwardly is Anointed, so our heavenly Father, Almighty God, grant of His infinite goodness that thy soul inwardly may be Anointed with the Holy Ghost, who is the Spirit of all strength, comfort, relief, and gladness: And vouchsafe, for His great mercy, if it be His blessed will, to restore unto thee thy bodily health and strength, to serve Him: And send thee release of all thy pains, troubles, and diseases, both in body and mind. And howsoever His goodness, by His Divine and unsearchable Providence, shall dispose of thee, we, His unworthy ministers and servants, humbly beseech the eternal Majesty to do with thee according to the multitude of His innumerable mercies, and to pardon thee all thy sins and offences committed by all thy bodily senses, passions, and carnal affections: Who also vouchsafe mercifully to grant unto thee ghostly strength, by His Holy Spirit, to withstand and overcome all temptations and assaults of thine adversary; that in no wise he prevail against thee; but that thou mayest have perfect victory and triumph against the devil, sin, and death; through Christ our Lord, Who by His death hath overcome the prince of death, and with the Father and the Holy Ghost evermore liveth and reigneth, God, world without end. Amen."

II. Thorndike, in the place quoted above under Section XXII, has the following passage, designed to shew that the Unction of the Sick with Oil is rightly taught to be a Mystery or Sacrament:—

"St. James ordaineth that the Presbyters of every Church pray for the sick, with a promise of pardon for their sins:... He requireth them also to anoint the sick with oil, promising recovery upon it. ... Neither is there any cause why the same benefit should not be expected, but the decay of Christianity in the Church. So the Unction of the Sick is to recover health, not to prepare for death, (as the Church of Rome now useth it.)"

III. Bishop Hickes on the same subject writes thus:—

"As for the . . Signs of the Cross used in religious worship, I very much approve of the use of them, as we do in Baptism, and as I would have done in Anointing the Sick with Oil, and persons Confirmed with Chrism, were we so happy as to have those primitive religious rites and usages restored."—Suppl. to the 3rd Ed. of Dr. Hickes’ Two Treatises, p. 46.

IV. Of Dr. Grabe, Jeremiah Collier, one of the British Bishops who corresponded with the Eastern Patriarchs, writes as follows:—

"The learned Dr. Hickes, his intimate acquaintance, reports that he did not think every thing in the then existing Ritual of the English Church to be in the best or most primitive situation, but while he commended several points, marked others in his MSS. as DESIDERATA. . . . Amongst these the same Dr. Hickes (with his own approbation) mentions the mixing of water with the wine in the Eucharistic cup; the abstinence from blood and things strangled; the ancient practice of Immersion in Baptism; the Oblation, and Prayer of Invocation to send down the Holy Spirit upon the Gifts when offered in the Eucharist; the use of Chrism in Confirmation; of Confession, and Judicial Absolution; of Prayer for the souls of the faithful deceased; of the ancient Commemoration of the Saints in the Holy Eucharist; of Anointing the sick with Oil. . . . On his death-bed he Communicated by the First English Liturgy; Dr. Hickes, who administered the Holy Eucharist, Anointed him with Oil; and he left legacies to be remembered in his friends' prayers."—Abridged from Collier's Appendix to Moreri, vol. iv. ‘Grabe.’ (The late Bishop Jolly held similar sentiments, and was always prepared to Anoint any sick person with Oil, that should desire it.)

V. Lastly Dr. Brett, another of the Bishops who corresponded with the Eastern Patriarchs, writes on the same subject as follows:—

"I know indeed it is said by some, that this Oil was used in the days of St. James to work miraculous cures; and therefore it is superstitious to use it now, when no such miraculous cures are to be expected. But all this is said without proof: and it does not appear from the holy Scriptures, that Oil was ever used after our Saviour's resurrection, by any of the Apostles or others, to work a miraculous cure. Neither does the Apostle here promise a miraculous cure, but only says, ‘the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up.’ Here is nothing so much as intimated, that a miraculous operation is to be expected; or any thing, which may not as reasonably be hoped for now miracles are ceased, (as the Bishop speaks), as then when miracles were frequent. ‘The prayer of faith shall save the sick:’ that is; when the Priests have prayed over the sick person, and Anointed him with Oil, according as is prescribed, he may then expect the blessing of a restoration to his health, if God sees it most expedient for him. But it is not said, ‘the Lord shall cure him miraculously,’ but ‘the Lord shall raise him up;’ which if it be done by God's blessing on the physician's skill and prescriptions, or by any natural means, (neither of which can operate without God's blessing), the promise is fulfilled.

"But then it is objected, that here is no promise made to the Anointing with Oil, but only to the prayer of faith; if therefore, prayer alone be the means to procure health to the sick, the Anointing is insignificant. But this objection makes Anointing the sick not only to be useless at this time, but also to have been always so, even at the very time when St. James required it, that is, in the age when miracles were wrought; for that Apostle plainly speaks of his own times as well as these, when he says, ‘the prayer of faith shall save the sick.’ This argument therefore is of no force, since it proves too much, and makes the Unction of the Sick as insignificant when it was confessedly required, as now, when they pretend it is not required. In the next place, we ought to consider, that the ‘prayer of faith’ is such a prayer as is offered according to the will and direction of the Holy Ghost, for which we have some word of promise to rely upon, that we shall be heard and answered: and therefore, the Holy Ghost having required by the pen of the Apostle, that Unction should accompany this prayer, it may be questioned, whether in this case that is to be called the ‘prayer of faith,’ which is not so accompanied. At least he that uses the Unction, may be more secure, that he does offer up the ‘prayer of faith,’ when he omits nothing that the Holy Ghost has enjoined on this occasion."

Again: "I plead that it should be used as the Apostle appointed, as it was used in the Primitive Church, and as it is still used in the Greek Church, and all other Churches, that were never subject to the Roman, for the recovery of the sick."—Vindication, &c. p. 41.

And again: "I shall endeavour, as far as in me lies, to persuade the governors of the Church of England to make good the Declaration of this Church in her 30th Canon of 1603, that ‘her purpose was not to forsake and reject the Churches of Italy, France, Germany, or any such like Churches, . . . except in those points, wherein they were fallen both from themselves in their ancient integrity, and from the Apostolical Churches which were their first founders.’ Now it is very certain, that these and all other Churches of that Communion have not ‘fallen either from themselves in their ancient integrity, or from the Apostolic Churches, which were their first founders,’ in the use of Chrism at Confirmation, in mixing water with the Sacramental wine, in the Eucharist as a proper Sacrifice, in the Unction of the Sick, and in Praying for the Faithful Departed. . . . This is a matter of fact obvious to all: and therefore the Church of England has indeed obliged herself to restore these and other primitive practices observed by those Churches, before they fell from their integrity: otherwise she stands self-condemned by her own declaration."—Necessity of Tradition.

NOTE XXXV.

I. Here it might be enough to quote the first words of one of the Prayers contained in the English Order for the Burial of the Dead:—

"Almighty God, with Whom do live the Spirits of them that depart hence in the Lord, and with Whom the Souls of the faithful, after they are delivered from the burden of the flesh, are in joy and felicity &c."

II. Bishop Bull on the same subject writes thus:—

"I affirm the consentient and constant doctrine of the primitive Church to be this: that the souls of all the faithful, immediately after death, enter into a place and state of bliss, far exceeding all the felicities of this world, though short of that most consummate perfect beatitude of the kingdom of heaven, with which they are to be crowned and rewarded in the resurrection: and so, on the contrary, that the souls of the wicked are presently after death in a state of very great misery, and yet dreading a far greater misery at the day of judgment." . . . And then he quotes St. Clement of Rome: " ‘All the generations from Adam to this day are passed and gone; but they that have finished their course in charity, according to the grace of Christ, possess the region of the godly, &c.’" And the Clementine Liturgy, in the Office for the Dead: " ‘The region of the godly released from their bodies; the bosom of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, and of all those that have pleased God and obeyed His will from the beginning of the world; where all sorrow and grief and mourning is banished.’ And again, 'the land of those that see the glory of Christ.’ Of the same region of godly souls Justin Martyr plainly speaks in his Dialogue with Trypho; ‘That the souls of the godly’ (after death till the resurrection) ‘remain in a certain better region; and unrighteous and wicked souls in an evil one.’"—Serm. iii. On the Middle State, p. 65, 66.

III. The Scottish Bishop Rattray, of Dunkeld, has left a MS. Dissertation in proof of the two following Propositions:—

"That the proper rewards and punishments proposed by the Christian religion are not to take place till after the resurrection and general judgment:" and "That in the interval betwixt death and the resurrection, the soul is not in a state of insensibility, but remains in certain invisible regions, expecting the resurrection and the judgment."—Keith's Scottish Bishops, ed. 1824, p. 539.

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