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ARTICLE XXII

OF THE RITES AND CEREMONIES OF CHURCHES

It is not necessary that rites and ceremonies should in all places be the same, or exactly alike; for they have been always different, and may be changed according to the diversity of countries, times, and men's manners, so that nothing be ordained against God's Word. Whosoever, through his private judgment, willingly and purposely doth openly break the rites and ceremonies of the Church to which he belongs, which are not repugnant to the Word of God, and are ordained and approved by common authority, ought to be rebuked openly (that others may fear to do the like), as one that offendeth against the common order of the Church, and woundeth the consciences of weak brethren.

Every particular Church may ordain, change, or abolish rites and ceremonies, so that all things may be done to edification.

I. THE ORIGIN

This Article was composed by the English Reformers. The first paragraph was taken, with a few unimportant changes, from the fifth of the Thirteen Articles of 1538; and that and the paragraph following first appeared in 1553. The third paragraph was added in 1562, being borrowed from a Latin series of twenty-four "Heads of Religion" drawn up by Bishop Parker in 1559. It passed into the Thirty-nine Articles in 1571, and with some abridgment was adopted by Wesley.

II. THE AIM

The aim of the Article was the regulation of the internal discipline and usages of the Church, which had been

the subject of vehement disputation in the reign of Edward VI.

The Church, which had begun in apostolic times with simple observances, as time passed had adopted many laborious and useless ceremonies, some appearing in one age, some in another, without any just authority. One of these was the habit peculiar to Christians of "signing themselves with the sign of the cross in all their actions and conversation, concerning which and the like Tertullian writes, "There was no law in Scripture for them, but that tradition was their author and custom their confirmer.' "1

The early congregations possessed many different forms and usages; the unity of the Church did not consist in uniformity of rites and ceremonies, but in a unity of faith and truth. When the Roman Pontiff arrived at universal sovereignty, however, compulsory uniformity began. Many rites and ceremonies which had come down from purely traditional sources and were popularly employed became by ecclesiastical law incumbent upon the entire body of the Christian organization. These were objected to by the Reformers, who were intent upon ridding the Church of unscriptural superfluities. Many of them they abolished; some they retained, deeming them important or suited to the needs of religious worship.

In this Article the Anglican Church justified itself in breaking away from the rites and ceremonies of the Roman Church, and declared its own fitness to determine what it should use and what discard. The Article is at the same time a condemnation of any who would violate established customs at the mere impulse of private judg

ment.

1 King, Primitive Church, p. 270.

III. THE EXPOSITION

It is not necessary that rites and ceremonies should in all places be the same, or exactly alike; for they have been always different, and may be changed according to the diversity of countries, times, and men's manners, so that nothing be ordained against God's Word.

The rites and ceremonies of the early Church are defined by Lord King as follows:

"By rites and ceremonies I mean two different things. By rites I understand such actions as have an inseparable relation to the circumstances or manner of worship; as, for instance, the sacrament was to be received in one manner or other, but whether from the bishop or deacon, that was the rite. Lent was to be observed a certain space of time, but whether one day, or two days, or three days, that was the rite thereof. So that rites are the necessary concomitants of the circumstances of divine worship, appendages to them; or, if you rather please, you may call them circumstances themselves.

"By ceremonies I mean such actions as have no regard either to the manner or circumstances of divine worship, but the acts thereof may be performed without them; as, for instance, in some churches they gave to persons, 'when they were baptized, milk and honey.' And, 'before they prayed, they washed their hands.' Now, both these actions I call ceremonies, because they were not necessary to the discharge of those acts of divine worship unto which they were affixed."

In the New Testament no specific order of worship is provided; none was left on record by inspired men. As to the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper, the only sacred rites enjoined by our Lord, there are the

1 Primitive Church, p. 268.

words of institution given by Jesus, which are a sufficient guide to the Church in their administration.

The essentials of the two sacraments have always remained the same, but the rites connected with the administration of them have differed widely. In baptism water and the words used in its application are the essentials. The manner of its application differs, as sprinkling, pouring, or immersion. By some churches the sign of the cross is used, by others it is not. In the Eucharist bread and wine and the words of institution are the essentials; it may be received from the hands of the bishop, presbyter, or deacon. It may be received standing, sitting or kneeling. Diversities of times and men's manners have affected the ceremony somewhat. The kiss of peace is no longer given, being unsuited to the customs of the times and country.

As no form was prescribed in apostolic times, each Church was left to its own judgment, and its forms of worship were many or few according to the mind of the bishop in charge. There can easily be gathered, however, from the Acts of the Apostles, and from the epistles, some facts that indicate the parts of worship adopted in apostolic times.

1. Prayer was included. In the service that preceded the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost the disciples "continued with one accord in prayer and supplication" (Acts 1. 14). After the holy baptism and consequent revival the converts "continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2. 42).

2. It included also sacred song. So Paul wrote to the Ephesians, "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord" (Eph. 5. 19). "Voicing to each other.

There may be allusion here to the antiphonal or responsive music."1

3. Thanksgiving was a part. "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Eph. 5. 20).

4. Reading and expounding the Scriptures was a prominent and essential part, following the custom of the synagogue. Paul in Thessalonica, "as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures" (Acts 17. 2). In the Christian assemblies the prophesying was for "edification, and exhortation, and comfort."

All religious ceremonies to-day are developments along these four lines. Some Protestant Churches have many rites and ceremonies, some but a few. The Methodist Episcopal Church, relatively, has few. Some that were retained by the Anglican Church were discarded by Wesley, as the use of the sign of the cross in baptism.

It has been regarded by wise and good men as providential that no trace can be found in the apostolic Church of any prescribed mode of Church government, to the exclusion of all others; or of a creed, or catechism, or liturgy upon which superstition could seize as an invariable rule of faith and practice, and abuse to support a sanctimonious religion which should conform to the letter but disregard the spirit of the Word.2

Whosoever, through his private judgment, willingly and purposely doth openly break the rites and ceremonies of the Church to which he belongs, which are not repugnant to the Word of God, and are ordained and approved by common authority, ought to be rebuked openly (that others may fear to do the like), as one that offendeth against the common order of the Church, and woundeth the consciences of weak brethren.

1 Whedon, in loco.

2 See Coleman, Primitive Christianity, p. 417.

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