Members of her own Communion, for that Time and Circumftance; which, whether right o no, is no ways applicable to our Lay men and Diffenters, who are utterly deftitute of any fuch Plea, fince the Alteration of our Office of Private Baptifm, which now, do's not attempt to give that Power, which the Church at the beginning of our Reformation was fuppos'd to have granted; And this I take to be a full Anfwer to our Writer's five firft Pages.

S. V. Before I proceed any further with this Author, I think it neceffary to enquire from the present Articles, Canons and Rubricks of our Church, what we may learn concerning Baptisms perform'd without Authority; fuch as our Diffenters and other Lay-Baptifms with us, are; and what Her Opinion is about them?

§. VI. Our Church's XXXIX Articles then are Articles of Religion; and therefore are Matters of Doctrine relating to God and his Laws; and not meer Doctrines and Commandments of Men, to be chang'd and alter'd at Pleasure, as fome have reprefented them; for, they were made for the ftablishing of Confent touching True Religion, as their Title declares; and they were Ratify'd and Confirm'd, becaufe

"they

they do contain the True Doctrine of the "Church of England, agreeable to God's "Word," as the Declaration prefix'd to them do's affirm.-So that, what they pronounce to be Lawful, or Unlawful, muft neceffarily be acknowledged to be fo, with refpect to True Religion taught in the Word of God; which is the Standard by which thefe Articles were made; and therefore what they call Unlawful, is certainly in the Senfe of the Church, Unlawful by the Word of God himself.

S. VII. Her 23d Article affirms, that, "it is Not Lawful, [therefore 'tis contrary to the Law of God]" for any Man to take upon him the Office of miniftring the "Sacraments before he be Lawfully call'd and fent to execute the fame." The Law relating to the miniftring of Sacraments, is in our Saviour's Inftitution of them, therefore, 'tis by this Article, contrary to the very Inftitution of the Chriftian Sacraments, for any Man to take upon him the Office of miniftring them, before he be Lawfully call'd and fent, Confequently, a Man not call'd and fent, as our Lay-men and Diffenters are not, acts contrary to the Inftitution of the Sacraments, when he pretends to adminifter them; becaufe, he is not that Lawfully call'd and fent Administrator, which the Inftitution

ftitution of the Sacraments conftantly and unalterably do's require; and what will make fuch pretended Miniftrations Invalid, if contrariety to the very Effential Lawof the Inftitution will not? If the Church, in any of her Articles, had faid, It is not Lawful for any other Form to be used in Baptifm, than that, In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghoft; would not any reasonable Man, that made ufe of his Faculty of Thinking, prefently conclude, that the Church excluded all other Forms, because of their being contrary to the Inftituted Form of Baptifm? Would he not from thence infer, that, pretended Baptifm, with fuch an Un-inftituted Form, is not the Inftituted Baptifm? Would he not fay, that he learn'd this from the Church's Article and confequently, that the Church Null'd fuch a Baptifm? I don't doubt but he would; and why then fhould we not conftrue the Church's 23d Article, to Null Baptifms perform'd by fuch as were Never call'd or fent? Certainly the fame Reason will hold for her Nulling this, as for her voiding the other fuppofed Baptifm, fince the Authoriz'd Adminiftrator is as much, and as Durable a part of the Inftitution of Baptifm, as the Form it felf is. Our Church in this Article, is declaring her Doctrine concerning the Minifter of Sacraments this Doctrine of Her's relates to True Reli

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gion, as was before obferv'd, §. VI. Therefore, when She says, "'tis not Lawful, &c. She do's not refer to any human Law; The do's not appeal to any Arbitrary Injunction of Man, but to the Divine Law recorded in Holy Scripture; that Law is the Only Standard, whereby Articles of True Religion are to be try'd and examin'd, and 'tis from this Law that She takes Her True Doctrine concerning the Minister of Sacraments; and 'tis only to this Law that She appeals, when fhe fays, "It is not Law"ful for any Man to take upon him the Of"fice, &c. So that, If this Divine Law of the Inftitution of Chriftian Sacraments, makes the Authority of him who minifters them, to be an Effential part of their Inftitution; then the Church, by this Article appealing to the fame Law, do's alfo Determine, that the Authority of the Minifter is an Effential part of that Law, and confequently, that the whole Law is Vacated, when one of its Effential Parts is made Void, as it certainly is, in the Cafe of Unauthoriz'd and Anti-Epifcopal Baptism: And to gainsay this, our Author muft enter into the Merits of the Caufe, and endeavour to prove fuch Baptifm good and Valid, in the Sense of the Divine Law; tho' he is fo very loath to engage himself in this Matter! But further, the Church does not reft here; She fays more ftill; For,

S. VIII.

§. VIII. In Her 26th Article, she affirms, concerning the Minister of Baptism (which is one of the Sacraments She is there speaking of) That he do's "not minister the fame in his own Name, but in Chrift's, "and by his Commiffion and Authority." That the Sacraments be effectual,

because of Christ's Institution and P20"mile." This fhe afferts, to take off the Scruples of fome miftaken People, who think, that the Efficacy of the Word and Sacraments is deftroy'd, by the Wickedness of the Minifter who Officiates in them. Wherein we may observe, by what Means she would reduce their erroneous Judgments; for, by this Article, She informs them, that it is not the Worthiness or SanEtity of the Minifter's Perfon, but the Com million by which he Acts, that they ought chiefly to regard; the Sacraments are not his, but Chrift's, because miniftred by his Commiffion and Authority; and the Church gives this of Christ's Commiffion and Authority, for the Reason why we should use the Miniftry even of Bad en in

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ceiving the Sacraments; but this can never hold with refpect to the Ministry of any Man, how Good and Holy foever, that is not Authoriz'd; for he can upon No account whatsoever, be faid to have Christ's

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