SCRIPTURAL VINDICATION

OF

CHURCH ESTABLISHMENTS;

WITH A REVIEW OF THE

PRINCIPAL OBJECTIONS OF NON-CONFORMISTS.

LONDON:

GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS,

ST. JOHN'S SQUARE.

Hæc est domus fidelis, hoc immortale templum; in quo si quis non
sacrificaverit, immortalitatis præmium non habebit. Cujus templi et
magni et eterni, quoniam Christus fabricator fuit; idem necesse est habeat
in eo sacerdotium sempiternum.-LACTANTIUS, lib. iv. s. 14.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR J. G. & F. RIVINGTON,

ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD,

AND WATERLOO PLACE, PALL MALL.

1836.

PREFACE.

THE Constitution and Government of the Christian Church is a subject to which no wellinformed and religious mind can be indifferent. In this hour of peril to the Established Church, it acquires a peculiar interest; and it behoves its zealous friends, as they value its welfare, and even its existence, to examine seriously the ground upon which it stands, and whether its alliance with the State, and its three-fold ministry, are based upon the foundation of revealed truth. To assist them in this inquiry is the object of the following Work, which is designed to form an illustrative digest of all the Scriptural evidence bearing upon the question.

To the accomplishment of this design, it was essential to ascertain what Scriptural arguments