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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 XL.

Q

. Who are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness? A. They, who, while they love to do good, yet count not themselves righteous, nor rest on their own good works, but acknowledge themselves sinners, and guilty before God; and who, by the wish and prayer of faith, hunger and thirst after the justification of grace though Jesus Christ, as after spiritual meat and drink.—Orthodox Catechism, p. 85.

I. See above, under Note I. at p. 14; where among other marks of a true faith, this also is said to he one, that there be "an earnest, serious, and constant desire, proceeding from a contrite heart, not so much of salvation, as of reconciliation, or to be at peace with God through Christ. They hunger after righteousness. Whence the act of the Patriarchs' faith is commended for this, aspasmenoi, they kissed, saluted, or embraced the promises. And the promise made to them was of the Woman’s Seed, which was Christ, Who was to reconcile all things in heaven and in earth."—Bishop Nicholson, On the Catechism of the Church of England, p. 17.

II. Bishop Bull on the same subject writes as follows:—"We must not expect to ‘reap in mercy,’ unless we ‘sow in righteousness;’ that is, we must not hope for the gracious reward which God hath promised, without the practice of those works of righteousness which God hath commanded. . . . When we have sown in righteousness, that is, done righteous works, we must not plead any merit of our own in having so done, but must look for the reward of our righteousness only from the free grace and mercy of God."—Works, ed. 1827. vol. i. p. 5.

NOTE XLI.

I. In the Book of Homilies we find the following passage:—"Here ye have heard the mind of St. Chrysostom; whereby you may perceive, that neither is faith without works, (having opportunity thereto), nor works can avail to everlasting life without faith." . . . And again, quoting Didymus Alexandrinus: "Forasmuch as faith without works is dead, it is not now faith; as a dead man is not a man."— Hom. i. v. p. 51. and iv. p. 37.

II. The Scottish Bishop Rattray of Dunkeld writes thus:—"The Christian virtues are necessary, to entitle us to the kingdom of heaven as the reward promised on account of our obedience to the commands of God enjoining them."—Bishop Keith's Scottish Bishops, App. p. 539.

III. But see above, under Note I; where the same subject is illustrated more at length. Compare also Notes XV, and XXXVIII.

NOTE XLII.

See above under Notes VII, XVIII, XIX, and XX.

NOTE XLIII.

I. See above, under Note VI. Also compare Note XX.

II. Of Images Bishop Montague writes thus:—

"Images have three uses assigned by the Schools. Stay there. So we will go no further, and we charge you not with idolatry. The Pictures of Christ, of the blessed Virgin, and of the Saints, may be had in houses, and set up in Churches: respect and honour may be given to them; the Protestants give it: you say they must not have Latria; so say we: you give them Dulia; I quarrel not with the term, though I could. There is a respect due to the Pictures of Christ and His Saints. If you call this Dulia, we give it too; let doctrine and practice go together; we agree."—Gagger gagged, p. 300.

III. Thorndike, on the same subject, has the following passage:—"Now granting that Epiphanius and the Council of Elvira did hold all Images in Churches dangerous for idolatry, (of which there is an appearance), it is manifest that they were afterwards admitted all over. And there might be jealousy of offence in having Images in the Church before Idolatry was quite rooted out, of which afterwards there might be no appearance. But no appearance (is there) that Images in history should occasion idolatry to those Images in them that hold them the Images of God's creatures, such as are those Images which represent histories of the Saints out of the Scriptures, or other relations of unquestionable credit. The second Council of Nice seems to have brought in or authorized addresses to solitary Images of Saints placed on pillars for that purpose, whereof there is much mention in the records of it. But to the Images of Saints there can be no idolatry, so long as men take them for Saints, that is God's creatures, much less to the Images of our Lord. For it is the honour of our Lord, and not of His Image.

"For indeed and in truth it is not the Image but the principal that is honoured by the honour that is said to be done to the Image, because it is done before the Image. The Fountain and utensils of the Church were honoured in the spotless times of the Church as consecrated to God's service; though the honour of them, being incapable of honour for themselves, was manifestly and without any scruple the honour of God. But Images, so long as they are used to no farther intent than the ornament of Churches, the remembrance of holy histories, and the. raising devotion thereby, (as at the first they were used by the Church), came in the number of things consecrated to God's service. And that Council was never of force in the West till the usurped power of the Pope brought it in by force." (But see above, under Note vi.) "Nor did the Western Church, when it refused the Council, discharge the having of Images in Churches upon those reasons and to those purposes which I have declared. So fai they remain still justifiable. For he that sees the whole Church on one side and only Calvin on the other side, hath he not cause to fear, that they who make them idolaters without cause will themselves appear Schismatics in the sight of God for it? For what are they else, who please themselves in a kind of negative superstition, that they cannot serve God if they serve Him with visible signs of reverence? Who hate the Images, because they hate the Saints themselves, and their Christianity? And therefore, that it be not thought that we are tied to those terms of distance which ignorant preachers drive their factions with, it is necessary to declare the grounds of truth, though it displease."—Just Weights and Measures, p. 127.

IV. And lastly, even Archbishop Tenison writes thus:—"The article of Trent is this: ‘I most firmly profess that the Images of Christ and of the Mother of God, ever a Virgin, as also those of other Saints, are to be had and retained, especially in Churches; and that due honour and veneration are to be given to them.’ ‘Due honour and veneration’ are in themselves modest words; and where we admit the Pictures and Images of Christ, we refuse not the honour that is due to them."

NOTE XLIV.

I. So the Scottish Catechism of Aberdeen:—

"Q. What means the Sabbath Day in the fourth Commandment? A. A day of rest. Q. Are we Christians bound to rest on the Seventh Day? A. No; the command to rest on that day belonged peculiarly to the Jews. Q. What then are we obliged to? A. To observe the Lord's Day, in memory of our Saviour's Resurrection. Q. What are the duties of that Day? A. To Offer and receive the holy Eucharist, and to attend all the public Offices of the Church."—P. 25. To the same effect are the Scottish Catechisms by Bishop Jolly; (p.45.) and by Bishop Moir; p.31.

II. Bishop Jolly, in his "Introduction to the Sunday Services" writes;—

"Thus, in the true spirit of it, we shall Christianly keep the fourth Commandment, religiously observing the Lord's Day, a most sacred day, although not the Sabbath Day." (p. 54.) And again: " Christ rested from His work of redemption on the seventh day, His blessed body lying the whole Sabbath Day in His grave, and thereby fulfilled the type of the Jewish Sabbath. The Sabbath Day therefore, as a prefiguring sign, came to its end; and was left dead and buried in His grave. Accordingly the Apostle (Col. ii.) writes, ‘Let no man, therefore, judge you in moat or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath Days, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ.' When the substance appeared, the shadow vanished; and with the Jewish Sabbath Day the name was antiquated, the new Day receiving a new name; ‘The Day following the Sabbath,’ ‘in the end of the Sabbath,’ ‘the First Day of the Week,’ ‘the Lord’s Day,’ the Day of ‘His triumphant Resurrection,’ early called ‘Sunday.’" Ib. p. 42. So also Bishop Nicholson, in his Exposition of the Catechism, p. 97. ed. 1844.

III. Besides the Lord's Day, the Rituals of the Scottish and Anglican Churches prescribe the observance of various other Days, which have been appointed either as Festivals to the glory of God, and the honour of the Blessed Virgin and other Saints, or as Days of Fasting.

The chief Festivals which are thus observed by the British Churches, and which have proper Lessons, Collects, Epistles and Gospels, &c. in the Vespers, Matins, and Liturgy are, in the order of events, the following: 1. The Day of the Annunciation; 2. The Day of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, commonly called Christmas Day; 3. The Octave of Christmas Day, being the Circumcision; 4. The Epiphany; 5. The Purification of the Blessed Virgin, or the Presentation of our Saviour Christ in the Temple; 6. Easter Day, the Day of our Lord's Resurrection; 7. Ascension Day; 8. Pentecost, or Whit-Sunday; and 9. The Octave of Pentecost, called Trinity Sunday. Besides the Chief Festivals, there are special Offices for all the ordinary Sundays throughout the year; for the Festivals of St. John the Baptist; of the Holy Innocents; of the First Martyr St. Stephen; of St. Peter and St. Paul; and of the other eleven Apostles: also of St. Barnabas; of the Evangelists St. Mark and St. Luke; of St. Michael and all Angels; and of All Saints. Many other Commemorations are to be found in the Calendar, but without having any special Office assigned. Such are those of the Transfiguration, August vi; of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin, Dec. viii; her Nativity, Sept. viii; her Visitation, July ii; of St. Anne, July xxvi; of St. Mary Magdalene, July xxii; of the Invention of the Holy Cross, May ii; of the Exaltation of the Cross, Sept. xiv; of St. Clement, St. Cyprian, St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, St. Augustine, St. Nicholas, St. George, St. Gregory the Great, and many more. Also those of the Translation of the Relics of King Edward, June xx; and of the Martyrdom of King Charles I. by the Calvinists, Jan. xxx.... In the Calendar of the University of Oxford, the Assumption or Rest of the Blessed Virgin is still marked Aug. xii; as are also Corpus Christ! Day, and the Day of St. Thomas a Becket; which are no longer to be found in the general Calendar of the Church.

The Days of Fasting, or of Abstinence, which are prescribed for observance in the Rituals of the British Churches are as follows: I. The Forty Days of Lent or Quadragesima: II. The Ember Days at the Four Seasons, when the Ordinations of Clergy are held in each Diocese, being the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, after the First Sunday in Lent; after the Feast of Pentecost; after September xiv; and after December xiii; III. The three Rogation Days, being the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, before Holy Thursday, or the Ascension of our Lord: IV. All the Fridays in the year, except Christmas Day, if that should fall on a Friday: (the same holding, doubtless, of other Days, according to their rank.)... Besides these, the Evens or Vigils before sixteen different Festivals in the course of the year. Lastly, it is to be noted that some traces are still preserved of the observance of Wednesday as well as Friday in every week, as being a Day of Abstinence, or at least as having, like Friday, somewhat of a Penitential Character. For a Penitential Litany is appointed to form part of the daily Morning Service on Wednesdays as well as on Fridays throughout the year: and in many places, where the people have ceased to frequent daily Service throughout the week, they still go to Prayers and to the Litany in the churches on Wednesdays and Fridays. Accordingly, in the Scottish Catechism of the Diocese of Brechin we find the following Question and Answer: "Q. Why are Wednesdays and Fridays distinguished from the other days of the week by more extended and solemn devotions? A. They have been so distinguished from the earliest times as the Days whereon our Blessed Saviour was Betrayed, and Crucified." p. 84.

It may further be noticed, that the Services of the Church mark a period of three weeks as a preparation for the Great Fast of Lent, beginning from the Sunday called Septuagesima. Also, some traces may be found both in books of devotion and in the practice of individuals of the ancient observance of the four weeks preceding Christmas, called the Season of Advent, as a time of special Fasting and mortification: But generally speaking, it must be confessed that even those Fasts which are most strictly enjoined by the Church are neglected.

THE END OF THE HARMONY.

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