These endeavours on the part of man to attain to godliness were by the schoolmen said to deserve grace de congnio, of congruity.
CONSANGUINITY, see Kindred.
CONSECRATION of BISHOPS, see Ordinal.
CONSECRATION of CHURCHES, CHURCH YARDS, and CEMETERIES. A Christian custom dating, at latest, from the 4th century. Nor does the law of England recognise any place as a church until it has been consecrated by a Bishop. Nothing more, however, is implied, than that the building or place consecrated is set apart for holy uses.
CONSECRATION of ELEMENTS, see Communion, Holy.
CONSUBSTANTIATION. A doctrine of the Lutheran Church with regard to the Real Presence in Holy Communion. "It differs from Transubstantiation, in that it does not imply a change in the substance of the elements. Those who hold this doctrine, teach that the bread remains bread, and the wine remains wine; but that with, and by means of the consecrated elements, the true, natural Body and Blood of Christ are communicated to the recipients." (Bp. Harold Browne.)
CONSULTATION, HERMANN'S. A book frequently referred to in the articles on the different parts of the Prayer Book. Hermann was Archbishop of Cologne at the time of the Reformation, and adopted Protestantism. He employed Melanchthon and Bucer, two celebrated Reformers, to draw up a book of formularies, doctrine, and the like, which was called the Consultation. Much of our Prayer Book is derived from it.
CONTRITION, see Repentance.
CONVERSION. Literally, turning round. By this is generally meant a sudden and sensible action of the Blessed Spirit upon a newly-awakened sinner. A certain party in the Church, and nearly all dissenting bodies, declare the absolute necessity of conversion before a person can be saved. This view is based upon a mistaken interpretation of our Lord's intercourse with Nicodemus, S. John iii., and confuses conversion with regeneration (which see). To the heathen, and infidel, conversion—a change of heart and life—is absolutely and always necessary to salvation; but the baptized Christian may, by God's grace, so continue in that state of salvation (see Church Catechism) in which he was placed in baptism, that conversion, in the above sense, is not necessary to him; but inasmuch as all fall into sin day by day, he will need renewal, or renovation—the quiet and continuous work of the Holy Spirit upon his heart. There is not a single reference to sudden conversion in any of the formularies of the Church of England.
CONVOCATION. An assembly of Bishops and Clergy to consult on matters ecclesiastical. Each Province (Canterbury and York) has its own convocation, consisting of two Houses—an Upper, in which the Bishops of the Province sit, and a Lower, in which the Deans, Archdeacons, and chosen members of the clergy sit. These chosen clergy are called proctors, and are elected by the votes of the beneficed clergy. It was, and is, the custom of convocation to sit at the same time as parliament; but in the sixteenth century a great deal of the power and authority of convocation was lost, and it became no longer able to legislate for the Church without the consent of parliament.