Supper. And these Sacraments are to be "duly used." Upon such as worthily receive them, they have a wholesome effect and operation; but they who receive them unworthily, will be liable to the condemnation, which St. Paul denounces against them. t

This Article is the twenty-sixth of 1552, in which the explication of the word "Sacrament' was the last clause. There was no mention of the other five Sacraments of the Church of Rome. The Article was as follows:

"Our Lord Jesus Christ gathered his people into a Society, by Sacraments very few in number, most easy to be kept, and of most excellent signification, that is to say, Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord.

"The Sacraments were not ordained of Christ to be gazed upon, or to be carried about, but that we should duly use them: and in such only as worthily receive the same, they have a wholesome effect or operation; not as some say, ex opere operato, which terms, as they are strange, and utterly unknown to the Holy Scripture, so do they yield a sense which savoureth of little piety, but of much superstition: but they that receive them unworthily, receive to themselves damnation.

t 1 Cor. xi. 29.

"The Sacraments ordained by the word of God, be not only badges or tokens of Christian men's profession, but rather they be certain sure Witnesses, effectual signs of Grace, and God's Will towards us, by the which he doth work invisibly in us; and doth not only quicken, but also strengthen and confirm our Faith in him."

ARTICLE XXVI.

OF THE UNWORTHINESS OF THE MINISTERS, WHICH HINDERS NOT THE EFFECT OF THE SACRAMENT.

X

THE unworthiness of the Ministers does not hinder the effect of the Sacraments. They do not minister in their own," but in the name of Christ, and by his commission and authority. Nor" is the effect of Christ's ordinance taken away by their wickedness, nor the grace of God's gifts diminished, from such as duly receive the

u 1 Cor. iii. 5.

August. con. lit. Pet. 1. 3. c. 55. x Matt. xxiii. 3. Phil. i. 15, 16. 18. Whitgift's Def. Tract. 9. c. 3. Nelson's Fest. c. 13. Fasts, c. 10.

y 1 Cor. iii. 7.

Sacraments ministered unto them." Because of "the Institution and Promise of Christ," although they be administered by wicked men, they are effectual. It is however necessary, that evil Mi

a

b

nisters be visited for their offences, by the just judgment of deposition. Such authority has, from the earliest times, been properly vested in the Church, as the conduct of its Ministers is of the greatest concern to the interests of Religion.

This Article is the twenty-seventh of those of 1552; and was thus intituled; "The wickedness of the Ministers takes not away the efficacy of Divine Institutions." The word "them," in that Article in last clause, was altered into "evil Ministers."

ARTICLE XXVII.

OF BAPTISM.

с

d

e

THE Sacrament of Baptism is the subject of the twenty-seventh Article. Baptism is a sign or token of the washing "of Regeneration;" by which, rightly administered, admission is given into the Church; and by which, forgiveness and f adoption are sealed, and faith and grace confirmed and "increased, by virtue of Prayer to God." The Baptism of young infants is "to be h retained," as it is "most agreeable to the Insti

80.

c Tit. iii. 5. Barnabas Ep. c. 11. Justin Martyr, Apol. I. c. 79,

Mark x. 44.

Matt. xix. 14.

h 1 Cor. vii. 14. p. 141. Hammond's Prac. Cat. 1. 6. § 2, 3. Baptism. Walker's Modest Plea. Jewel's Div. 3. Prideaux Fasc. Contr. c. 6. Q. 4. 1. 2. c. 80. Cyprian. ad Fid. Epist. 64.

Nowel's Cat.

Wall's Hist. of Infant
Def. Ap. p. 2. c. 11.

Irenæus Adv. Hær.

tution of Christ." The ancient practice of baptizing was by immersion, plunging the child three times under water. This was the custom in the reign of Henry VIII. It is so ordered in the Common Prayer Book of 2 Edward VI. The word "thrice" was afterwards omitted. In the reign of Elizabeth, immersion grew gradually into disuse; and for the last two centuries, children have been baptized by sprinkling them once with

water.

This Article was the twenty-eighth of those of 1552. The last sentence of the present Article was substituted instead of the following; "The custom of the Church for baptizing young children, is both to be commended, and by all means to be retained in the Church."