BY FRANCIS SIBSON, Α.Β. TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN. L. B. SEELEY AND SONS, FLEET-STREET. ! THERE is perhaps no period since the days of the apostles, which has a greater claim on the careful inquiry of the philosopher and the Christian than that of the reformers. It teaches us one very important truth, as if written with a sun-beam, that the Bible, and the Bible alone, was the only certain engine by which the long-formed, powerful bulwarks of the Roman Catholic church were first shaken, and a way opened for the glorious truths of the gospel to heal and convert the nations. Luther, Melancthon, Calvin, and the whole glorious army of reformers used no other successful weapons for establishing the kingdom of Christ, which flourished more extensively and triumphantly in exact proportion to the confidence that was placed in the all-conquering power of the word of the King of glory. The love-destroying horrors of persecution, which so completely marred the beauty of the reformation, derived all its strength, nay, its very existence, from the power of the civil magistrate, to which the punishment of blasphemy was intrusted, as it had been committed, under the Roman hierarchy, to the relentless arm of the pope and his minions. The glorious, never-ending conquest of faith, hope, and love, were achieved by the all-searching records of eternal truth. Every careful reader of the various catechisms and articles of faith, which were published in every part of Europe, where Protestantism commenced, must be struck with the uncommon harmony that pervades all these important and invaluable documents. |