tion of popery, which has been brought against it in the following exhibition in parallel columns of the rituals of England and of Rome. "We have described the English marriage ceremony as a popish institution, and protestants should know, that the service is derived in great measure from the popish mass-book and ritual. . . . The catholics, it is true, hold marriage to be a sacrament, but the reformed Church appear to us, in substance and in fact, to avow the same sentiment: this will sufficiently appear by comparing the following extracts from the marriage service of the two Churches. Catholic. Matrimony is a holy state, originally instituted by Almighty God between our first parents, (Gen. ii.) ratified and confirmed by the Son of God in the New Testament, (Matt. xix. 4, 5, 6.) honoured by his first miracle, (John ii.) and raised by him to the dignity of a sacrament, as a most holy sign and mysterious representation of the indissoluble union of Christ and his Church." Protestant. Matrimony, which is an honourable estate instituted of God in the time of man's innocency, signifying unto us the mystical union that is betwixt Christ and his Church." And again: '0 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." It is obvious to remark, that in this exhibition the doctrine of the Church of Rome is substantiated by reference to the Scriptures, except in that part of it which treats of the sacramental nature of marriage, Freethinking Christians' Quarterly Register, No. III. p. 269. for which no authority is produced, and which is known to be founded in a misrepresentation of the meaning, and an ambiguous translation of the words, of the apostle. Let similar references be annexed to the words of the English ritual, and the scriptural authority of its doctrine will immediately be seen: or let a third column of scriptural authorities be inserted between the recited formularies; the Catholic, the Scriptural, and the English doctrine will appear in the following order. 1. Catholic. Matrimony is a holy state originally instituted by Almighty God between our first parents, (Gen. ii.) ratified and confirmed by the Son of God in the New Testament, (Matt. xix. 4, 5, 6.) honoured by his first miracle, (John ii.) and raised by him to the dignity of a sacrament, as a most holy sign and mysterious representation of the indissoluble union of Christ and his Church." 2. Scriptural. Marriage is honourable in all. Heb. xiii. 4. He who made them at the beginning, made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh: wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. Matt. xix. 4, 5, 6. Mark x. 6-9. Gen. ii. 22, 23, 24. We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery; but I speak concerning Christ and his Church. Ephes. v. 30, 31, 32. 3. Church of England. Matrimony is an honourable estate, (Heb. xiii. 4.) instituted by God (Matt. xix. 4, 5, 6, &c.) in the time of man's innocence, (Gen. ii. 20, 24.) signifying unto us the mystical union that is betwixt Christ and his Church; (Eph. v. 32.) which holy estate Christ adorned and beautified with his presence and first miracle that he wrought in Cana of Galilee, (John ii.) and is commended of Saint Paul to be honourable among all men. (Heb. xiii. 4.) God has 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." (Eph. v. 31, 32.) The result of this collation will be very different from the intention of the objector, proving, as far as the two Churches agree, that the Church of Rome is scriptural, not that the Church of England is popish. It is however further objected, that the two Churches agree "in attaching to marriage the mystical notions which were introduced in the darker ages; the Catholic ritual calling marriage a sacrament,' a great sacrament: the Protestant ritual denominating it an excellent mystery. A sacrament then being a mystery, the two Churches meet in perfect concord on this point, the one having its great, the other its excellent, mystery"." If accurate distinction was not incompatible with rapid ratiocination, it might have been observed, that the mystical notion of the sacramental nature of marriage was introduced in the darker ages, but the doctrine that marriage represents the union of Christ with his Church has the high sanction of St. Paul, and the continued and uninterrupted tradition of the Church from the apostolic age, and was known to the writers of the Latin Church under the name of Sacramentum', before the origin of the papal ascendancy, and many centuries before the invention of the seven sacraments. The Churches of England and Rome therefore do not agree in the mystical notions which they attach to marriage, the one affirming marriage itself to be a sacrament, the other, in her Articles, expressly denying that marriage is a sacrament, and in her ritual, declaring it to be the sign of a mystery of a different kind. In the Homily against Swearing mention is indeed made of the sacrament of matrimony: the old lan "Freethinking Christians' Quarterly Register, No. III. p. 269. 'So Paulinus, in the fourth century, says, Grande Sacramentum, quo nubit Eclesia Christo: Isidore, in the sixth century, uses the word for ordinary marriage, of which he infers the indissolubility from the union of Christ with his Church. Div. Off. 1. ii. c. 19. And still the proper sacrament of marriage was unknown. *The Apology for the confession of Wirtemberg, an unsuspected authority, uses the same language: "Quia conjugium est sanctum vitæ genus, divinitus institutum et commendatum, libenter ei tribuimus nomen sacramenti." Gerhard, sect. 14. guage was retained, while the doctrine was renounced in the Articles and in the Catechism. Again: as a Greek may be rendered by a Latin word, a sacrament may be equivalent to a mystery, but yet the notion of a sacrament in the Church of Rome is so entirely at variance with the notion of a mystery in the Church of England, that it is the most childish equivocation to affirm the perfect concord of the two Churches, because "the one has its great sacrament, the other its excellent mystery." Such is the magical influence of names upon weak and uninstructed minds, that to some men it is a sufficient disparagement of truth to call it popery, while others are disposed to embrace an error, if it bears but the name of catholic. The Christian who thinks, who thinks for himself freely, independently, and with all the energy of a pure and unsophisticated mind, will not be deluded by the jingle of a name: he will examine the authority and authenticity of the religious doctrine which he professes to receive; he will ascertain by its conformity with the Scriptures the distinction between truth and error; he will entertain a manly aversion from the apostacy of superstition and fanatical credulity, and a not less manly aversion from the apostacy of infidelity, of an unreasonable, ignorant, and presuming scepticism, which mistakes objections for arguments, and innovation for truth. The religious enquirer knows that the doctrine of the divine institution of marriage is not a doctrine of Rome, but, in the best and fullest sense of the word, a catholic doctrine, a doctrine of the universal Church. Founded in the scriptures of both the Testaments, it is held by Jews, and it is held by Christians; it |