Contents
Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content. Please, subscribe or login to access all content.
Contents
- Close section Front Matter
- Close sectionOf the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity
- To the Most Reverend Father in God my very good Lord, the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury his Grace, Primate and Metropolitan of all England.
- Close sectionTHE FIFTH BOOK
- Matter contained in this fifth Book.
- True Religion is the root of all true virtues and the stay of all well ordered commonwealths.
- The most extreme opposite to true Religion is affected Atheism.
- Of Superstition and the root thereof, either misguided zeal, or ignorant fear of divine glory.
- Of the redress of Superstition in God's Church, and concerning the question of this book.
- Four general propositions demanding that which may reasonably be granted concerning matters of outward form in the exercise of true religion. And fifthly of a rule not safe nor reasonable in these cases.
- The first proposition touching judgement what things are convenient in the outward public ordering of Church affairs.
- The second proposition.
- The third proposition.
- The fourth proposition.
- The rule of men's private spirits not safe in these cases to be followed.
- Places for the public service of God.
- The solemnity of erecting Churches condemned by Barrow, p. 130; the hallowing and dedicating of them scorned. p. 141.
- Of the names whereby we distinguish our Churches.
- Of the fashion of our Churches.
- The sumptuousness of Churches.
- What holiness and virtue we ascribe to the Church more than other places.
- Their pretence that would have Churches utterly razed.
- Of public teaching or preaching, and the first kind thereof, catechizing.
- Of preaching by reading publicly the books of holy Scripture; and concerning supposed untruths in those translations of Scripture which we allow to be read; as also of the choice which we make in reading.
- Of preaching by the public reading of other profitable instructions; and concerning books apocryphal.
- Of preaching by Sermons, and whether Sermons be the only ordinary way of teaching whereby men are brought to the saving knowledge of God's truth.
- What they attribute to Sermons only, and what we to reading also.
- Of Prayer.
- Of Public Prayer.
- Of the form of common prayer.
- Of them which like not to have any set form of common prayer.
- Of them who allowing a set form of prayer yet allow not ours.
- The form of our liturgy too near the Papists', too far different from that of other reformed Churches, as they pretend.
- Attire belonging to the service of God.
- Of Gesture in praying, and of different places chosen to that purpose.
- Easiness of praying after our form.
- The length of our Service.
- Instead of such prayers as the primitive Churches have used, and those that be reformed now use, We have (they say) divers shortcuts or shreddings, rather wishes than prayers.
- Lessons intermingled with our prayers.
- The number of our prayers for earthly things and our often rehearsing of the Lord's prayer.
- The people's saying after the minister.
- Our manner of reading the psalms otherwise than the rest of the scripture.
- Of music with psalms.
- Of singing or saying psalms and other parts of common prayer wherein the people and the minister answer one another by course.
- Of Magnificat, Benedictus, and Nunc dimittis.
- Of the Litany.
- Of Athanasius' Creed and Gloria patri.
- Our want of particular thanksgiving.
- In some things the matter of our prayer as they affirm, unsound.
- When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
- Touching prayer for deliverance from sudden death.
- Prayer that those things which we for our unworthiness dare not ask, God for the worthiness of his son would vouchsafe to grant.
- Prayer to be evermore delivered from all adversity.
- Prayer that all men may find mercy, and of the will of God that all men might be saved.
- Of the name, the author, and the force of Sacraments, which force consists in this, that God has ordained them as means to make us partakers of him in Christ, and of life through Christ.
- That God is in Christ by the personal incarnation of the Son who is very God.
- The misinterpretations which heresy has made of the manner how God and man are united in one Christ.
- That by the union of the one with the other nature in Christ there grows neither gain nor loss of essential properties to either.
- What Christ has obtained according to the flesh, by the union of his flesh with deity.
- Of the personal presence of Christ everywhere, and in what sense it may be granted he is everywhere present according to the flesh.
- The union or mutual participation which is between Christ and the Church of Christ in this present world.
- The necessity of Sacraments to the participation of Christ.
- The substance of baptism; the rites or solemnities thereto belonging; and that the substance thereof being kept, other things in baptism may give place to necessity.
- The ground in Scripture whereupon a necessity of outward baptism has been built.
- What kind of necessity in outward baptism has been gathered by the words of our saviour Christ, and what the true necessity thereof indeed is.
- What things in baptism have been dispensed with by the fathers respecting necessity.
- Whether baptism by women be true baptism, good and effectual to them that receive it.
- Interrogatories in baptism touching faith and the purpose of a Christian life.
- Interrogatories proposed to infants in baptism and answered as in their names by godfathers.
- Of the Cross in baptism.
- Of confirmation after Baptism.
- Of the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ.
- Of faults noted in the form of administering the holy communion.
- Of festival days and the natural causes of their convenient institution.
- The manner of celebrating festival days.
- Exceptions against our keeping of other festival days besides the Sabbath.
- Of days appointed as well for ordinary as for extraordinary fasts in the Church of God.
- The celebration of matrimony.
- Churching of women.
- Of the rites of Burial.
- Of the nature of that ministry which serves for performance of divine duties in the Church of God, and how happiness not eternal only but also temporal does depend upon it.
- Of power given to men to execute that heavenly office; of the gift of the holy Ghost in ordination; and whether conveniently the power of order may be sought or sued for.
- Of degrees whereby the power of order is distinguished and concerning the attire of ministers.
- Of oblations, foundations, endowments, tithes, all intended for perpetuity of religion, which purpose being chiefly fulfilled by the clergy's certain and sufficient maintenance must needs by alienation of Church livings be made frustrate.
- Of ordinations lawful without title, and without any popular election precedent, but in no case without regard of due information what their quality is that enter into holy orders.
- Of the learning that should be in ministers, their residence, and the number of their livings.
