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the gospel is John vi. 37-40. Receiving the holy Eucharist is not without precedent in the Primitive Church, as appears by Canon 44th of the Council of Carthage. . . . Upon this Canon the learned Bishop Beveridge cites a passage of St. Austin, to prove the custom of recommending the dead to God Almighty upon such occasions."

So much for King Edward's first Book; now let us pass to the transactions of 1551.

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"Much greater alterations," says Collier, were now coming forward. The Common Prayer Book was to be revised; Calvin, Bucer, and Peter Martyr, by making exceptions against the Service established, had their share in bringing on this change. Calvin, who thought himself wiser than the Ancient Church, and fit to dictate religion to all countries in Christendom, had taken no small pains in this matter," . . and, "being apprehensive he might not pass altogether for an oracle with the Council and Bishops, [he] tried his interest in other places, and pushed his design by his agents in the court, the country, and the Universities. Bucer was a strong second to Calvin, and what efforts he made has been seen already. Peter Martyr agreed to Bucer's amendments, as appears by his letter in which there are some remarkable passages. For the purpose, he gives God thanks, for making himself and Bucer instrumental in putting the Bishops in mind of the exceptionable places in the Common Prayer. The Archbishop Cranmer told him they had met about this business, and concluded on a great many alterations, but what those corrections were, Cranmer did not acquaint him, neither durst he take the freedom to inquire. But that which pleases me not a little,' continues Martyr, Sir John Cheek acquaints me, that if the Bishops refuse to consent to the altering what is necessary, the King is resolved to do it himself, and recommend that affair at the next Session of Parliament.' These foreign divines had gained the esteem of some of the English Bishops so far, that in last year's Convocation, there was a contest in the upper house concerning some controverted passages in the Common Prayer Book."

As to the subject before us, Collier observes; "The custom"

[of praying for the dead] "seems to have gone upon this principle, that supreme happiness is not to be expected till the resurrection; and that in the interval between death and the end of the world is a state of imperfect bliss. The Church might, therefore, believe her prayers for good people departed might improve their condition, and raise the satisfactions of this period." Bucer's objections to the usage were, according to Collier, as follows: "He urges this text of St. John, He that hears my word, and believes on Him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation.' He likewise cites a passage from the Romans, where it is said, 'Whatsoever is not of faith, is sin. . . . He argues from it thus, that nothing can be done in faith, without an express warrant from Scripture, or that stands upon a conclusion evidently inferred from some inspired text; but Prayer for the Dead stands upon neither of these grounds, and therefore ought to be waved.. There is another text urged in favour of Bucer's opinion, Blessed are the Dead which die in the Lord from henceforth; yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours, and their works do follow them.'

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"To proceed, the Common Prayer Book was brought to a review, and altered to the same form in which it stands at present, some little variations for clearing ambiguities excepted. . . The Prayers for persons deceased, in the Communion Service and the Office of Burial, are expunged."

Such is the history of the present state of opinion in the English Church touching Prayers for the Dead. The chief reason against the usage is given by implication, in the third part of the Homily on Prayer, which proceeds on the ground that such Prayers are essentially connected with belief in Purgatory. This argument is well commented on by a recent writer in the following passage :

"In primitive times," says Mr. Palmer, "these Commemorations" [in the Holy Communion] "were accompanied by Prayers for the departed. When the custom of praying for the dead began in the Christian Church, has never been ascertained. We find traces of the practice in the second century, and either then,

or shortly after, it appears to have been customary in all parts of the Church. The first person who objected to such prayers was Aerius, who lived in the fourth century, but his arguments were answered by various writers, and did not produce any effect in altering the immemorial practice of praying for those that rest. Accordingly, from that time all the Liturgies in the world contained such prayers. These facts being certain, it becomes a matter of some interest and importance to ascertain the reasons which justified the omission of these Prayers in the Liturgy of the English Church for the first time in the reign of King Edward VI. Some persons will perhaps say that this sort of prayer is unscriptural; that it infers either the Romish doctrine of Purgatory, or something else which is contrary to the revealed will of God, or the nature of things. Bnt when we reflect that the great divines of the English Church have not taken this ground, and that the Church of England herself has never formally condemned Prayers for the Dead, but only omitted them in her Liturgy, we may perhaps think that there are some other reasons to justify that omission.

"The true justification of the Church of England is to be found in her zeal for the purity of the Christian faith, and for the welfare of all her members. It is too well known that the erroneous doctrine of Purgatory had crept into the Western Church, and was held by many of the clergy and people. Prayers for the departed were represented as an absolute proof that the Church had always held the doctrine of Purgatory. The deceitfulness of this argument can only be estimated by the fact, that many persons at this day, who deny the doctrine of Purgatory, assert positively that the custom of praying for the departed infers a belief in Purgatory. If persons of education are deceived by this argument, which has been a hundred times refuted, how is it possible that the uneducated classes could ever have got rid of the persuasion that their Church held the doctrine of Purgatory, if prayers for the departed had been continued in the Liturgy? Would not this custom, in fact, have rooted the error of Purgatory in their minds? If then the Church of England omitted public Prayer for the departed Saints, it was

to remove the errors and superstitions of the people, and to preserve the purity of the Christian faith....

"It was therefore relinquished, and the happy consequence was, that all the people gradually became free from the error of Purgatory. Thenceforward the Catholic doctrine prevailed in England, that the righteous after death are immediately translated to a region of peace, refreshment, and joy; while the wicked are consigned to the place of torment from whence there is no escape. And, when the doctrine of Pugatory had been extirpated, the English Church restored the Commemoration of Saints departed in the Liturgy;" [viz. at the end of the Prayer for the Church Militant;] "which had been omitted for many years, from the same cautious and pious regard to the souls of her children 1."

1 Chap. iv. § 10.

OXFORD.

The Feast of the Epiphany.

(SECOND EDITION.)

These Tracts are published Quarterly, and sold at the price of 2d. for each sheet, or 7s. for 50 copies.

LONDON: PRINTED FOR J. G. & F. RIVINGTON,

ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD, AND WATERLOO PLACE.

1837.

GILBERT & RIVINGTON, Printers, St. John's Square, London.

TRACTS FOR THE TIMES.

ON THE INTRODUCTION OF RATIONALISTIC PRINCIPLES INTO RELIGION.

IT is not intended in the following pages to enter into any general view of so large a subject as Rationalism, nor to attempt any philosophical account of it; but, after defining it sufficiently for the purpose in hand, to direct attention to a very peculiar and subtle form of it existing covertly in the popular religion of this day. With this view two writers, not of our own Church, though of British origin, shall pass under review, Mr. Erskine and Mr. Jacob Abbott.

This is the first time that a discussion of (what may be called) a personal nature has appeared in these Tracts, which have been confined to the delineation and enforcement of principles and doctrines. However, in this case, while it was important to protest against certain views of the day, it was found that this could not be intelligibly done, without referring to the individuals who have inculcated them. Of these the two authors above mentioned seemed at once the most influential and the most original; and Mr. Abbott being a foreigner, and Mr. Erskine having written sixteen years since, there seemed a possibility of introducing their names without seriously encroaching on the province of a Review.

It will be my business first to explain what I mean by Rationalism, and then to illustrate the description given of it from the writings of the two authors in question.

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