Pela

has now been given,-was, before the Reformation, of a very gian cast,—that is, the work of saving sinners was practically taken almost entirely from the Creator and assigned to the creature ;not, indeed, that men in general were represented, according to the Socinian view, as able to save themselves, but, what is the special peculiarity of popery in regard to this subject, men were represented as on the one hand able to do a good deal for saving themselves, and then as dependent for the remainder, not merely upon the Saviour and the Spirit, but also upon fellow-men and fellow-creatures, upon saints and angels. And for this complicated system of anti-scriptural perversion of the way of salvation, the only effectual cure, the only radical remedy, was the great Calvinistic principle, which distinctly, consistently, and unequivocally ascribes the whole salvation of sinners, from first to last, to the grace and the power of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

This perversion of the way of salvation was most congenial to man's natural inclinations and tendencies. Everything had been done which human and Satanic skill could devise, to give it a commanding influence over the whole current of men's thoughts and feelings. It was firmly established over the whole of Christendom at the Reformation; and if it were to be dealt with at all, it would require the strongest appliances, the most powerful and thoroughgoing influences,-to counteract it, to drive it out and to keep it out. And this was what Calvinism, and Calvinism alone, -looking to the natural fitness of things, the ordinary operation of means, was adequate to effect. Calvin derived his system of doctrine from the study of the sacred Scriptures, accompanied by the teaching of the divine Spirit. But there is nothing in the fullest recognition of this that should prevent us,-especially when we are comparing Calvin with the other Reformers who enjoyed the same privileges, from noticing and admiring the grasp and reach of intellect, the discernment and sagacity, which God had given to Calvin in such large measure, and which fitted him so peculiarly for the station and the work that were assigned to him. And this view of the admirable suitableness of Calvinism, to go to the root of the evils that polluted the church and endangered the souls of men at the time of the Reformation, is confirmed by the consideration, that all subequent deviations from Calvinism in the Protestant churches,-whether leading in the direction of rational

ism or traditionalism,-whether pointing towards Socinianism or popery, have tended to bring back, in some form or degree, the great ante-Reformation heresy, the great heresy, indeed, of all times, that of taking the work of men's salvation from the Creator and assigning it to the creature.

With respect to Calvin's views in regard to the worship and government of the church, we had an opportunity, in discussing Principal Tulloch's "Leaders of the Reformation," to state briefly what they were, and to point out their magnitude and importance, as throwing a flood of light upon the whole subject to which they relate. His great principle of the unlawfulness of introducing anything into the worship and government of the church without positive scriptural sanction, evidently went to the root of the matter, and swept away at once the whole mass of sacramentalism and ceremonialism, of ritualism and hierarchism, which had grown up between the apostolic age and the Reformation, which polluted and degraded the worship of God, and which, in themselves and in their connection with unsound views on the subject of justification, were exerting so injurious an influence on men's spiritual welfare. Any other principle, or rule, or standard, that could have been applied to this whole subject, must have been defective and inadequate, and must have left at least the root of the evil still subsisting, to be a source of continued and growing mischief. The fair and full application of Calvin's great principle, would at once have swept away the whole mass of corruption and abuse which had been growing up for 1400 years; would have restored the purity and simplicity of the apostolic church; and have prevented the introduction of unauthorised and injurious innovations into the Protestant churches, and saved a fearful amount of mischief, occasioned by the efforts made to retain or reintroduce such things.

A fact or two will illustrate the elevation of Calvin's position in regard to this class of topics. Augustine bitterly deplored the prevalence of rites and ceremonies in his time, and declared that the condition of the Christian church in this respect, had become more intolerable than that of the old dispensation. But having, to some extent at least, abandoned the principle of the exclusive authority of the written word in regard to rites and ceremonies,— though he still held it fast in regard to matters of doctrine,—he had no means of grappling with this giant evil,-he did not venture

to attempt to do so; and matters continued, at least, without any improvement in this respect for 1000 years. Luther objected to the mass of rites and ceremonies with which he found the worship of the Christian church overspread, mainly upon two grounds. 1st, That they had, from their number, become burdensome and distracting, tending to supersede and exclude other things of more importance; and 2d, That the idea of meritoriousness, which was commonly attached to them, more or less definitely, tended to pervert and undermine the great doctrine of justification. But these principles, though undeniably true, still left the whole subject on a very vague and unsatisfactory footing. Calvin grappled with it in all its magnitude and difficulty, by maintaining, 1st, That they were in the mass unlawful, simply because of their want of any positive scriptural sanction; and 2d, That many of them, independently of mere tendencies, were positively idolatrous, and were therefore directly and immediately sinful, as being violations of the first and second commandments of the Decalogue.

So much for worship; and then in regard to government, Calvin took the best practicable means both for putting an end to all existing corruptions and abuses, and preventing their recurrence. 1st, By putting an end to anything like the exercise of monarchical authority in the church, or independent power vested officially in any one man, which was the origin and root of the papacy; 2d, By falling back upon the combination of aristocracy and democracy, which prevailed for at least the first two centuries of the Christian era, when the churches were governed by the common. council of presbyters, and these presbyters were chosen by the churches themselves, though tried and ordained by those who had been previously admitted to office; 3d, By providing against the formation of the spirit of a mere priestly caste, by associating with the ministers in the administration of ecclesiastical affairs, a class of men who, though ordained presbyters, were usually engaged in the ordinary occupations of society; and 4th, By trying to prevent a repetition of the history of the rise and growth of the prelacy and the papacy, through the perversion of the one-man power, by fastening the substance of these great principles upon the conscience of the church, as binding jure divino. These great principles, so well fitted to sweep away all the existing corruptions and abuses in the government of the church, and to prevent their recurrence, are evidently in accordance with the fundamental

ideas on which the modern theory of representative government is based, and with the leading features of the provision, which has commended itself to all our best and wisest men, for the management of those religious and philanthropic associations which form one of the great glories of our age.

In looking back upon the last three centuries, whether we survey the history of speculative discussion or of the practical influence of Christian churches, we have no reason to be ashamed of our Calvinism or our Presbyterianism; but, on the contrary, are just confirmed in our admiration and veneration for Calvin, or rather in our gratitude to the great Head of the church for all the gifts and graces which He bestowed upon that great man, and for all that He did through Calvin's instrumentality.

CALVIN AND BEZA.*

WE have given some account of the doctrine promulgated, and of the influence exerted upon important theological questions, by the leading Reformers,-Luther, Zwingle, and Calvin,—keeping in view chiefly the object of furnishing materials for the formation of correct opinions in regard to those aspects of their doctrines, character, and influence, which have been made subjects of controversial discussion in more modern times. We have also given a view of the character and theological position of Melancthon, chiefly because of the influence he seems to have exerted in leading the Lutheran churches to abandon the Calvinism of their master, and even contributing eventually to the spread of Arminianism among the Reformed churches, and because of the connection alleged to exist, historically and argumentatively, between his views and those of the Church of England. The only other man among the Reformers whom we propose to bring under the notice of our readers is Beza. Beza stood in a relation to Calvin very similar in some respects to that in which Melancthon stood to Luther; and there is this farther point of resemblance between him and the Preceptor of Germany, that they were the two great scholars of the Reformation, in the more limited sense in which that word is commonly employed, that is, they possessed a thorough and critical knowledge of the classical writers of Greece and Rome, they had a great talent and predilection for philological expositions and discussions, and they exhibited, in an eminent degree, that cultivation and refinement both of thought

* British and Foreign Evangelical Review. July 1861.