It is not to be believed, that the Bread and Wine, consecrated by the Priest, are changed into the real body and blood of Christ, nor that he is offered up to God at every celebration of the Eucharist. Nor is it to be believed, that this Sacrifice of Christ will tend to shorten the duration of pains in Purgatory, or reconcile God to those who shall be the instruments of procuring such Masses to be said, whether living or dead. Such Masses were unknown among the early Christians, and not generally used till the twelfth century, after the doctrine of Transubstantiation " was established. The Eucharist is, in the New Testament, no where called a Sacrifice, in the sense in which Christ is said to have been a Sacrifice. It is a Commemoration, not a propitiatory Sacrifice; not a sacrifice for sin, but a feast upon a sacrifice, at which we renew the covenant made at our Baptism; and its good effects are confined to those who worthily partake of it. 66 This is the thirtieth Article of 1552. The word Blasphemous" was added in 1562. u Transubstantiation was a doctrine never heard of till about the year 820, when it is said to have been set forth by Paschase Radbert, a wild enthusiast. ARTICLE XXXII. OF THE MARRIAGE OF PRIESTS. X HERE it is affirmed, that it is not unlawful, nor forbidden to the Clergy, to marry, as well as other men. The office of Priest, under the dispensation of Moses, was confined to the descendants of one family; which implied an obligation upon the Jewish Priests to marry. Under the Christian dispensation, it was not forbidden; nor is there any prohibition, in the New Testament, to marry. St. Peter was a married man. Philip, one of the seven Deacons, 2 was married. St. Paul exhorts, that a Bishop be "the husband of one wife;" and gives the same directions concerning Elders, or Priests and Deacons. The marriage b x 1 Tim. iii. 2. 11. 2, 3. Heb. xiii. 44. с a 1 Cor. ix. 5. Heb. xi. 4. 1 Tim. iv. 1, Jewel's Def. Apol. p. 2. c. 8. Div. 1. Patrick's Answer to the Touchstone, § 4. 1. 5. c. 57, 58. Tertul. ad Ux. c. 7. y Matt. viii. 14. a 1 Tim. iii. 2. c 1 Tim. iii. 12. Field, on the Church, of the Clergy was not fully prohibited, till the time of Pope Gregory the Seventh, towards the end of the eleventh century. It was allowed for several centuries after the time of the Apostles.d This Article was the thirty-first of 1552. It was then intituled, "A single life is imposed on none by the word of God." The latter part of the Article, beginning "therefore," was added in 1562. ARTICLE XXXIII. OF EXCOMMUNICATE PERSONS, HOW THEY ARE TO BE AVOIDED. THE reason of Excommunication appears, that the Church may not be the object of scandal, and the cause of Christianity wounded by corrupt and wicked persons, continued to be tolerated in it. They, who are thus excluded from the participation of the Eucharist, or altogether expelled from the Church, may, upon their re d Bingham's Antiq. 1. 4. c. 5. e pentance, be again admitted into all its privileges.f It is reasonable, that every Society be allowed to impose such regulations for its own government, as may prevent division and confusion, and contribute to its good order and preservation. This power has been exercised by the Christian Church from its earliest establishment; but in later times, has very rarely been exercised. 66 This Article was the thirty-second of 1552. Its title was, Excommunicated persons are to be avoided." e 1 Cor. v. 3, 4, 5. 1 Tim. i. 19, 20. 2 Thess. iii. 14. ad Smyrn. Cyprian. Ep. 43. 55. 1 Cor. v. 11. 13. 17. 2 Cor. ii. 6, 7, 8. f Potter, on Church Government, c. 5. § 8. Tract. 18. Field, on the Church, l. 1. c. 15. Ignatius Matt. xviii. Whitgift's Def. ARTICLE XXXIV. OF THE TRADITIONS OF THE CHURCH. h RITES and Ceremonies, and all things relating to the decency of divine worship, and the good government of the Church, are "to be done to edifying." i The word " Traditions" means here, not unwritten Articles of Faith, pretended to be derived from Christ, or his Apostles, but merely the traditional customs or usages, transmitted from former times, with relation to the external worship of God, and acknowledged to be of human institution. We are free to prescribe such external forms, as may, from time to time, be most suitable to the state of things, and to the circumstances of g Rom. xiv. 17. 1 Cor. ix. 20, 21, 22. Smyrnæ. Irenæus de Polycarp. Acts xv. h 2 Cor. xi. 16.-xiv. 40. Heb. xiii. 17. Rom. xiii. 1. 1 Cor. viii. 12. 1 Tim. v. 20. Rom. xvi. 17. 1 Cor. xiv. 26. Hooker's Eccl. Pol. l. 3. c. 4. § 13. Whitgift's Def. Tr. 2. Fasc. Cont. c. 4. § 3. Q. 5. i Rom, xiv, 19. Angust. ad Januar, Ep. 1. c. 2. Prideaux, |