active, indignant, and sometimes violent resistance. The whole Church, in the West, had become so bound in the chains of a tyrannous papal rule, and so held captive by a powerful, well-organized, and minutely-divided ecclesiasticism, that when the inevitable reaction came, and the indestructible dignity of personal man-made in GoD's image, and responsible directly to Himwas reasserted and defended, the rebound, like its occasion, became extreme.

Not only were the rights of man as man, free by nature and godlike, an impelling force under the Reformation, but the supremacy of Truth, as the Word of GOD, was naturally set forth as the only sure test of His will and ways. A general intellectual renaissance had prepared the way for a theological, as well as moral and religious revival. The theological revival led, of course, to doctrinal controversies. These disturbed the quiet of both Church and State. The rulers, in both Church and State, endeavored to check disorder. The Reformers were in earnest, and began to show something more than a mere spirit of endurance. They were not all ecclesiastics. Princes favored the Reformation. Pope and Emperor tried in vain to stamp out the movement. Huss and Jerome had been silenced, but Luther, Zwingle, Calvin, and the English Convocation were, both jointly and severally, too strong to be repressed, and too numerous to be confined.

Both

Open controversy was, therefore, the only resort, and out of this controversy grew the invention of " Articles of Religion." Generally, though not always, especially at first, Articles of Religion were distinguished from the Articles of the Faith. The latter were contained in the Creed. The former, while claimed to be accordant with and based upon the Creed, treated largely the contemporary questions in dispute.

A body of Articles of Religion was presented by Luther, Melancthon, and their associates to the Germanic Diet at Augsburg, June 23, 1530 A.D., and is called "the Augsburg Confession." On October 3, 1529 A.D., a body of seventeen articles, known as the "Schwabach Articles," had been presented to a joint meeting of the followers of Luther and of Zwingle at Marburg, but were not accepted by the latter. Indeed, this conference seems to have settled the fact that Luther and Zwingle could agree. The latter insisted that every point should be settled solely upon the express words of Holy Scripture, while the former claimed that the Church had at least some weight of authority as interpreter of Holy Scripture. Luther, therefore, wished to retain all existing doctrines and practices which were not against the express words of Holy Scripture. On this point they separated, and the German Reformers proceeded alone.

not

The first part of "The Augsburg Confession" consisted of XXII. Articles; the last

of which "concludes... by declaring that there is nothing in the doctrine of the Lutheran body which differs either from the Scriptures or the ancient Church." (Hardwicke.)

The English Church 1534 A.D., by distinct convocational enactment, rejected the supremacy of the Pope. This was the first decisive act which involved the English Church in the flood of the Reformation. Naturally the Continental Reformers were conferred with; and a strong effort was made, in which both Henry VIII. and Cranmer joined, to induce Lutherans, and especially Melancthon, to meet and confer with the English Convocation. 1536 A.D. a series of English "Articles of Religion" were drawn up, but not actually authorized and set forth. The hands of both Gardiner and Cranmer appear in them, with not a little of the dash of Henry VIII. Meanwhile, the Smalcaldic League had organized in Germany a political as well as religious resistance to papal usurpations; and efforts were made to attach Henry VIII. to it. He and his Bishops were not, however, willing to adopt the Augsburg Confession. Embassies were interchanged, and conferences followed; until some time in the summer of 1538 A.D. a body of XIII. Articles were agreed upon. They were (1) of the Unity of GOD and Trinity of persons, (2) of Original Sin, (3) of the two natures of CHRIST, (4) of Justification, (5) of the Church, (6) of Baptism, (7) of the Eucharist, (8) of Penitence, (9) of use of Sacraments, (10) of Ministers of the Church, (11) of Ecclesiastical Rites, (12) of Things Civil, (13) of Resurrection of the Body and Last Judgment.

These Articles, though showing the influence of the Augsburg Confession, were full also of signs of those views which distinguished the English Reformation from that on the Continent.

The death of Henry VIII., 1547 A.D., placed the crown upon the head of the boy Edward VI. The Duke of Somerset-the Protector of King and realm-was a correspondent of Calvin. Both King and Protector were in close intimacy with Cranmer, who is regarded as the chief compiler and constructor of the XLII. Articles. These, though "agreed by the Bishops and other learned men in the Synod of London, 1552 A.D.," were set forth June 19, 1553 A.D., by "a mandate in the name of the King directed to the officials of the Archbishop of Canterbury, requiring them to see that the New Formulary should be subscribed;" i.e., by all the clergy, school-masters, and members of the university on admission to degrees. This was not, however, carried generally into effect.

The reign of Mary Tudor restored papal authority, and though nothing official was done with the XLII. Articles, they remained so in abeyance, that on the ascension to the throne of Elizabeth-November 17, 1558 A.D.,-they were not held to be of authority.

Indeed (1559 A.D.), “ Archbishop Parker, with the sanction of the other Metropolitan and the rest of the English prelates," set forth XI. Articles of Religion; "and the clergy were required to make a public profession of it;" and it was appointed to be taught and holden of all parsons, vicars, and curates, as well in testification of their common consent in the said doctrine, to the stopping of the mouths of them that go about to slander the ministers of the Church for diversity of judgment, as necessary for the instruction of their people.' (Hardwicke.) The XLII. Articles were, however, taken up and discussed by both houses of Convocation 1562 A.D. They were a remodeling of those set forth ten years before under Edward VI. Four were stricken out and several altered, but subscription to them was not at first required, although they were used sometimes as tests of orthodoxy. Now and then "men suspected of heterodoxy were called upon to subscribe as equivalent to recantation." The XXXIX. Articles were set forth by authority of Queen, Convocation, and Parliament 1571 A.D., and subscription to them was required by a Canon of the Convocation, assembled at that period, and by a contemporary enactment of the civil legislature. (Hardwicke.)

After the death of Luther, 1546 A.D., Calvin, who was then about thirty-seven years old, began to be felt as a power among the Continental Reformers. Geneva, in Switzerland, was his home, but his writings spread abroad. He was particularly noted for advocating, what is freely talked about though never clearly defined, viz., the "right of private judgment." This, at least, indicates the full evolution of one of the germinal forces of the Reformation, viz., the dignified position under GOD and before man of the free person. With a not unusual inconsistency Calvin added to this the theology of Predestination. These two incompatible propositions-human freedom and absolute decrees-worked strangely together, and exerted, indeed, still exert, a vast influence upon the Reformation and its development. English divines, and especially Whitgift, were captivated by Calvinism, and endeavored to get a series of Calvinistic articles established by authority. They put forth the Lambeth Articles, nine in number, which were "approved by John (Whitgift), Archbishop of Canterbury, Richard, Bishop of London, and other theologians, at Lambeth, November 20, 1595 A.D.' The first reads: "GOD from eternity has predestinated some to life, and reprobated others to death." The fourth: "They who are not predestined to salvation, necessarily on account of their own sins, are damned." The ninth: "It is not put in the will or power of every man to be saved."

XIX. Articles of Religion, containing one hundred and five paragraphs, "were agreed upon by the Archbishops and Bishops and the rest of the Cleargie of Ireland in the

Convocation holden at Dublin 1615 A.D., for the avoiding of diversities of opinion, and the establishing of consent touching true Religion." They were not Calvinistic, but were strongly anti-Romish; and closed with a severe denunciation and decree of silence and deprival of office against whoever, "after due admonition, doe not conforme himselfe and cease to disturbe the peace of the Church."

Calvinism was rampant in England under Elizabeth. Presbyterianism became, both in Church and State, an aggressive force soon to be exceeded by Puritanism. The later was equally Calvinistic with, and more violent than, the former.

The Calvinists in France and Switzerland had drawn up several bodies of articles of religion, called Confessions.

When James I., 1603 A.D., came to the English throne he disappointed the Presbyterians by siding with the Church of England. He dabbled in theology, and was well disposed towards a reconciliation, if possible, with Calvinism. He sent "a private deputation of divines to the national Synod of Dort," 1619 A.D., but without avail. This Synod drew up the final Calvinistic confession, and manifested the irrepressible antagonism of that doctrine to the Catholic faith, as set forth in the formulas of worship in the Church of England. The "XXXIX. Articles of Religion" still carried the firm rejection, by the Church of England, both of the dogmas of Calvin and the usurpations of Rome. Neither were the peculiar tenets of Arminius, who held the opposite pole to Calvinism, sanctioned by the Articles. Though drawn in the prevalent theological language of the times, they were an earnest effort to express the peculiarly catholic position of the Church of England. Necessarily, with dangers on every hand, they had to be more or less negative in spirit and form. In denying errors they may not have escaped, in every case, the inevitable tendency towards overstate

ment.

The ferment in Western Europe stirred even the Roman Church to her depths. She was compelled to respond to the Reformation. Pope Paul III. convened the Council of Trent, 1545 A.D. It continued through his reign and that of Julius III., and came to a close December 3-4, 1563 A.D., under Pius IV. It made no concessions, but rather the contrary. It petrified many of the Roman corruptions, added new articles to the Faith, and confirmed that principle of "Development" which has now at last culminated in setting forth, as "Articles of Faith," the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin, and the Infallibility of the Pope.

James I. died 1625 A.D., and was succeeded by his son Charles I., who was beheaded January 30, 1648 A.D. The preceding year the Assembly of Divines in Westminster set forth the well-known

"Westminster Confession," which is the authorized exponent of Presbyterian doctrine. The XXXIX. Articles, however, remained, and still continue with authority in the Church of England.

The Church in America did not at first adopt the XXXIX. Articles. They were not referred to even in the Preface to the American Prayer-Book, last paragraph but one, where it is stated that this Church is far from intending to depart from the Church of England in any essential point of doctrine, discipline, or worship." This declaration had direct reference, as the context shows, only "to those alterations in the Liturgy which became necessary . . . in consequence of the Revolution." That it did not refer specifically to the XXXIX. Articles will appear in the proceedings of Convention, 1792 A.D., 1799 a.D., as referred to below.

The first action taken in the American Church on Articles of Religion was in General Convention, 1789 A.D., as follows: The House of Bishops, consisting of Seabury and White, "originated and sent to the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies. . . a proposed ratification of the Thirty-nine Articles, with an exception in regard to the Thirtysixth and Thirty-seventh Articles." This was on the last day of the session. In the House of Deputies the "proposed ratification" was, with the concurrence of the House of Bishops, referred to a future Convention."

At the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of North America, 1792 A.D., the matter was considered in the House of Deputies, but postponed "because the Churches in some of the States are not represented in this Convention and others only partially." The General Convention held 1795 A.D. again postponed the matter. At the Special General Convention, held in Philadelphia 1799 A.D., on Thursday, June 13, the Rev. Ashbel Baldwin, from Connecticut, moved in the House of Deputies, that "the House resolve itself into a committee of the whole to take into consideration the propriety of framing articles of religion.' This was agreed to, and when the committee rose, "the chairman of the committee, Wm. Walter, D.D., of Massachusetts, reported the following resolution, viz. :

"Resolved, That the Articles of our faith and religion, as founded on the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, are sufficiently declared in our Creeds and Liturgy as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer established for the use of this Church, and that further articles do not appear necessary."

This resolution was disagreed to by the House."

On Saturday, June 15, "A resolution was proposed by Mr. Bisset,-Rev. John Bisset, of New York,-that the Convention now proceed to the framing of articles of religion for

this Church." "The question was taken by yeas and nays," and "carried in the affirmative. Clergy: yea, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, 5; nay, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, 3. Laity: yea, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 3; nay, Virginia, 1." The committee was "chosen," and consisted of seven members, one from each State except Rhode Island.

On Tuesday, June 18, "The chairman of the Committee on the Articles reported sev enteen articles of Religion, which were read. Whereupon, on motion of Mr. Bisset,

Resolved, unanimously, That on account of the advanced period of the present session, and the thinness of the Convention, the consideration of the Articles now reported and read be postponed, and that the Secretary transcribe the Articles into the journal of this Convention, to lie over for the consideration of the next General Convention."

The XVII. Articles are printed in full in an appendix.

The House of Bishops do not appear to have taken action upon the subject. Its members present were Bishops White, Provoost, and Bass. Bishop Provoost was absent first and last day. Bishop Bass was absent on the first day. Session continued from Tuesday, June 11, to Tuesday, June 18, inclusive, except Sunday.

The General Convention, 1801 A.D., was opened in St. Michael's Church, Trenton, N. J., September 9, a sufficient quorum not appearing on the 8th, the day of call. The House of Bishops, consisting of Bishops White, Pennsylvania, Claggett, Maryland, and Jarvis, Connecticut, on Wednesday, September 9, "agreed on a form and manner of setting forth the Articles of Religion, and agreed that the same be sent to the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies for their con

currence."

It will thus be seen that the Bishops ignored, of course, the XVII. Articles, which had only passed in a committee of the lower house, and took the initiative in action. The Articles sent by them were the XXXIX. of the English Church, with such alterations as adapted them to the American Church. It will be observed that they call them "The Articles of Religion."

Conference between the houses and several action resulted in setting forth the socalled XXXIX. Articles, as now printed in the Prayer-Book, entitled "Articles of Religion as established by the Bishops, the Clergy, and the Laity of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, in Convention, on the 12th day of September, in the year of our Lord 1801."

In Article VIII. all reference to the Athanasian Creed is left out. Article XXI. is omitted" because it is partly of local and civil nature, and is provided for as to the remaining parts of it in other Articles." Article XXXV. has a note modifying its recommendation of the Homilies. Article

XXXVI. "Of Consecration of Bishops and Ministers," is made to commend and defend "The book of Consecration of Bishops, and ordering of Priests and Deacons, as set forth by the General Convention of this Church in 1792." "Article XXXVII. to be omitted, and the following substituted in its place: Of the power of the Civil Magistrate.'

Thus the American Church has thirtyeight Articles of Religion "set forth" by the General Convention 1801 A.D., and since acquiesced in.

In the Church of England, the 36th Canon requires the candidate (for orders) after reference, first, to the royal supremacy; second, to the Book of Common Prayer with the Ordinal; and, third, to the XXXIX. Articles, to signify his assent as follows: I, N. N., do willingly and ex animo subscribe to those three Articles above mentioned, and to all things that are contained in them."

In the American Church, Article VII. of the Constitution requires, "Nor shall any person be ordained until he shall have subscribed the following declaration: "I do believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of GOD, and to contain all things necessary to salvation; and I do solemnly engage to conform to the doctrines and worship of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States." The authority of the "XXXIX. Articles" extends specifically to the clergy, and is set forth in the above forms of subscription. The laity, as such, even in England, are not bound to their terms, though some laymen -e.g., members of the universities-have to subscribe them. In America the laity are only bound by the Creeds. They profess belief in the Apostles' Creed at baptism, and usually recite the Nicene Creed in the Liturgy proper, or, as it is designated in the Prayer-Book, "The Order for the Administration of the LORD's Supper, or Holy Communion." Their profession of faith, in the Holy Catholic Church, subjects the American laity to such Canons of Discipline as are or may be established by the American Church.

Authorities: Bishop Burnet on XXXIX. Articles, Hardwicke's History of the Artieles, Bishop H. Browne on the XXXIX. Articles, Bishop Tomlines' Elements of Theology, etc. REV. B. FRANKLIN, D.D. Ascension. The article of the Creed declares that our LORD ascended into heaven. A creed properly states only facts to be believed. A Christian creed states the facts of the Christian religion. Therefore a fact linking the Resurrection with His continuous mediatorial acts and His gift of the HOLY GHOST could not be omitted. But this fact, so briefly stated in the Creed, must also be vouched for in the inspired record. Therefore we have recorded by St. John that CHRIST foretold his Ascension (ch. xvi. 5; xx. 17), that He did ascend openly before His Apostles, by St. Mark (ch. xvi. 19), by St. Luke (ch. xxiv. 51;

Acts i. 9-11). He was seen at His place in heaven by St. Stephen. His ascension was taught and inferences drawn from it by St. Paul (Eph. iv. 8-16; Col. ii. 15; 1 Tim. iii. 16), by St. Peter, who was also an eye-witness (1 Pet. iii. 22). Therefore it was in His very and true Body and Soul, now immortally conjoined to His Divinity, by which He hath entered into the Holiest. The Ascension was necessary for us, since He could not otherwise send to His Apostles, and therefore to His Church, and consequently to us, the gift of the HOLY GHOST, nor those gifts which he received for men that the LORD GOD might dwell among us. It was necessary that He might take up His mediatorial work. It was necessary that our affections might ascend to Him (Col. iii. 1-4). These main facts are thus grandly summed up by Bishop Pearson: "Upon these considerations we may easily conclude what every Christian is obliged to confess in these words of our Creed, He ascended into heaven; for thereby he is understood to express thus much. I am fully persuaded that the only begotten and eternal SON of GOD, after He rose from the dead, did, with the same soul and body with which He rose, by a true and local translation, convey Himself from the earth on which He lived, through all the regions of the air, through all the celestial orbs, until He came unto the heaven of heavens, the most glorious Presence of the majesty of GOD; and thus I believe in JESUS CHRIST WHO ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN." (Pearson on the Creed.)

The

Ascetics. (Vide HERMITS.) The name ascetic is derived from the Greek word " asketikos," which means "exercised." Asceticism has been said to be a temperament, rather than a law of Christian life. idea of the ancient ascetics was that solitude, extreme fasting, and self-denial, and hardening of the body and keeping it under, and bringing it into subjection (1 Cor. ix. 27), brought the spirit into better condition for constant contemplation of Divine things.

This style of life is first met with in the heathen world, and doubtless many good men among them have thus sought GoD according to their light. The East Indians, the Mohammedans, and the ancient Egyptian priests all practiced asceticism. The Therapeute (Worshipers) of Egypt, who endeavored to mingle the teachings of Moses and Plato, belonged to this school.

Among the Jews the Essenes were noted ascetics, and in the days of St. John the Baptist they were leading in their mountain valleys a life similar to his. Those who strive to trace the history of such communities see a forerunner of them in the prophet Elijah. Daniel the prophet, in his mourning, ate no pleasant bread (Dan. x. 3). In the Apocrypha, when Esdras prepares himself for his visions, he goes, according to commandment, into the field Ardath, "and did eat of the herbs of the field, and," he adds, "the meat of the same satisfied me"

(2 Esdras ix. 26). Anna, the prophetess, "served GOD with fastings and prayers night and day" (St. Luke ii. 36, 37).

The ascetic is older than the monk, and the term is a more general one. In the beginning he lived alone, or he could live in the busy city, distinguished by his zeal; the communities were an after-thought.

Egypt, "the mother of wonders," was the natural home of asceticism. The Eastern mind is naturally given to reflection. A warm climate allows men to live much in the open air, and the magnificent clear starlight nights of the East declare the glory of GOD" to the silent watcher. About the close of the fourth century the mountains and deserts of Egypt were full of Christian brethren, whose self-denying lives astonished the world. The dwellers in the Roman empire, which was then rotting in vice, were allured to these seats of piety, and St. Jerome and others visited them. Noble Roman women gave up their property, and, tired of the effeminate, faithless life of the capital, sought the Egyptian desert. The question which met all was whether pleasure or virtue was the aim of life. From the Thebaid asceticism has spread over the world, and for centuries it was a mighty power among men. The Essene by his mountain spring with his incessant washings was a type of all who have followed him. The Carthusians, with their rule to eat no flesh and keep perpetual silence and never go abroad, and the monks of La Trappe, who were to observe silence and dig their own graves, are lineal descendants of the ascetic Jew and the Egyptian Christian. The dark forests of Mount Athos contain the monasteries which gave Bishops to the Eastern Church, and thus its doctrine and worship were determined by men who knew not the education of public life.

Hallam, in the "Middle Ages," draws attention to the fact that the fasting and watching and hard lot of monks and hermits must lead men to conclude that they are living in hope of a better world in the future. The reality of heaven was a constant impulse in their life. "Jerusalem the Golden" is the composition of a monk. The worthlessness and uncertainty of earthly things led their minds above. The fasting, continued often for days, subdued the body to the spirit. If heaven was a reality, hell was also one. No wonder that the worn-out watcher heard the cries of devils in the night-birds' notes or in the yells of wild beasts among ruins. The sinfulness of sin on the one hand and the nearness of GOD on the other were constantly before the mind of the ascetic as he watched under the sky or tilled his little field.

A weariness of life, and a preparation for death, were the great stimulants to those who led so solitary and denying a life. Contemplation and prayer were the business of life. The Holy Scriptures were the guide, and those early ascetics who could not read committed them to memory.

In a busy age, when men must be in the world, and yet not of the world, it is well sometimes to look upon the lives of men who gave up all for CHRIST, and who, with all their imperfections, were the salt of the earth in a godless age.

Authorities: Bingham's Antiquities, Hase, Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, Farrar's Life of Christ, Geikie's Life of Christ, and Kingsley's Hermits. Kingsley refers to Gibbon, Montalembert's "Moines d'Occident," Dean Milman's "History of Christianity" and "Latin Christianity," and Ozanam's "Etudes Germaniques," and especially to Rosmeyde's "Lives of the Hermit Fathers."

REV. S. F. HOTCHKIN. Assurance of Faith. The word assurance, in the first verse of St. Luke's Gospel and in St. Paul's Epistles, is a metaphor taken from the onward sweep of a ship bcfore a favoring breeze. St. Luke means to say that outward historical facts have given us a full persuasion of the truth of what spiritual facts we teach in the Gospel. St. Paul means the same thing when writing to his converts (1 Thess. i. 5; Heb. vi. 11; x. 22; and Rom. iv. 21; xiv. 5). It is the conviction that comes from those proofs (as the gifts of sacramental life by the HOLY GHOST, cf. the texts cited), which He chooses to put before us as sufficient, and our action upon that conviction. It cannot refer to the inward conviction from emotion or excitement. The word assurance is used in connection either with historic proofs or with the power of the HOLY GHOST, shown by miracles or in connection with the sacraments, or with Abraham's faith (Rom. iv. 21), who had already outward demonstration of GOD'S power. Therefore Hooker was right when he taught that the proofs of faith were not so strong as the assurance of the senses, from the certainty of evidence depending upon the proofs adduced; but there arises from this a certainty of adherence, which, itself, causes the heart to "cleave and stick to that which it doth believe. The reason is this: the faith of a Christian doth apprehend the words of the law, the promises of GOD not only as true but as good; and therefore even then when the evidence which he hath of the truth is so small that it grieveth him to feel his weakness in assenting thereto, yet is there in him such a sure adherence unto that which he doth but faintly and fearfully believe, that his spirit having once truly tasted the heavenly sweetness thereof, all the world is not able quite and clean to remove him from it, but he striveth with himself to hope against all reason of believing, being settled with holy Job upon this immovable resolution, Though GoD kill me I will not give over trusting in Him.' For why? this lesson remaineth forever imprinted in him, It is good for me to cleave unto GOD.'" (Hooker, Serm. i., p. 585, Keble's ed.) This, however, is very different from the presumptuous assurance of pardon sometimes