10. About two years ago the writer ventured to name a remedy for the evils and inconveniences arising out of the embarrassed state of the Subscription now required. His proposal was, that a clergyman should subscribe to the Three Creeds, instead of the Articles and Liturgy, retaining the other tests or pledges now in use. Within the last twelve months he has had the satisfaction of observing, that, on an occasion of great interest to Christians in this and other nations, a plan very closely resembling this, as he understands it, has been adopted under the sanction of the highest ecclesiastical authority. On the appointment of an English Bishop for Jerusalem, which was effected, as is well known, in conjunction with His Majesty the King of Prussia, it was determined to make such regulations that the subjects of that King, employed either as missionaries or ministers of congregations in Palestine, might receive the full benefit of episcopal sanction and superintendence. This was effected in the manner described by the following Letters, which appeared in the Prussian State Gazette of July 12th, 1842.
THE BISHOPRIC OF JERUSALEM.
Berlin, July 11.
His Majesty has been pleased to address to the minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs the following orders in respect to the relations of the Bishop of the United Church of England and Ireland in Jerusalem with the German congregation of the evangelical religion in Palestine:—
“I send you herewith a letter from his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of England, which contains the definitive proposals respecting the relations of the Bishop of the United Church of England and Ireland in Jerusalem with the German congregations of the evangelical religion in Palestine, which are inclined to place themselves under the jurisdiction of the latter. You will see from this letter that the Prelate secures to the congregations of the German Protestant faith in Palestine the protection and pastoral care of the English Bishop at Jerusalem, without any other conditions than such as the exercise of the protection itself requires. The publication of these proposals will be the best means to dispel the misunderstanding of some well-meaning persons, and to render the misrepresentations and calumnies of the evil-minded of no effect. Though there are at present no German Protestant congregations in Palestine, but the formation is still to be looked for under the influence of favourable circumstances, yet young divines of the German Protestant Church, whom the increasing interest in the labours of the missions for the conversion of the Jews induces to go to Palestine, will certainly think it desirable to avail themselves of the offers contained in the letter of the Archbishop of Canterbury, to obtain a greater freedom of action and a more successful result of their labours, by accepting the protection and care of the Bishop of the United Church of England and Ireland. I am very ready to support, in a suitable manner, young divines of this kind, when they have been examined and found duly qualified, and especially proved themselves to be thoroughly grounded in the doctrines of the Protestant faith, according to the Augsburg Confession, and I invite you to point out to me any such persons.
“Frederick William.
“To the Minister of State, Eichhorn.”
———
“Lambeth, June 18, 1842.
“Sire,—As it seems to me to be desirable that your Majesty should be thoroughly acquainted with the relations in which the German congregations in Palestine will stand with respect to the Bishop of the United Church of England and Ireland in Jerusalem, I take the liberty most respectfully to submit the following proposals, which I hope will be agreeable to your Majesty:—
“The Bishop will consider it as his duty to take under his pastoral care and protection all the congregations of the German Protestant faith which are within the limits of his diocese, and are inclined to place themselves under his jurisdiction, and will afford them all the support in his power. The German Liturgy, which has been carefully examined by me, which is taken from the liturgies received in the churches of your Majesty’s dominions, will be used in the celebration of divine service by the clergymen who are appointed, on the following principle:—Young divines, candidates for the pastoral office in the German Church, who have obtained your Majesty’s Royal permission to this end, will exhibit to the Bishop a certificate from some authority appointed by your Majesty, in which their good conduct as well as their qualification for the pastoral office is in every respect attested. The Bishop will, of course, take care, in the case of every candidate so presented to him, to convince himself of his qualifications for the especial duties of his office, of the purity of his faith, and of his desire to receive ordination from the hands of the Bishop. As soon as the Bishop has fully satisfied himself on these points, he will ordain the candidate on his subscribing the three Creeds, the Apostles’, the Nicene, and the Athanasian, and, on his taking the oath of obedience to the Bishop and his successor, will give him permission to exercise the functions of his office.
“With respect to the confirmation of young persons of such congregations in Palestine, the Clergyman of the congregation will prepare them for that purpose in the usual manner, will subject them to the requisite examination, and receive from them, in the presence of the congregation, the profession of their faith. They will then be presented to the Bishop, who will confirm them according to the form of the Liturgy of the United Church of England and Ireland.
“With the most profound respect,
“I have the honour to remain,
Sire,“Your Majesty’s most sincere and humble Servant,
“W. Canterbury.
“To his Majesty Frederick William IV.,
King of Prussia.”
It is of course impossible to suppose that such a step was taken without much deliberation: and here we see, first, that an English Bishop, regularly consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury and other Bishops at Lambeth, is authorised to confer Holy Orders, requiring from the persons ordained Subscription to the Three Creeds only.
When it is remembered how long the Christian Church has been divided and rent, and how the Protestant part of it is again subdivided into numerous sections, sometimes in the same nation, any approach towards the establishment of a sound and primitive catholic test, which may enable a larger number of Christians to enjoy communion with one another, ought to be viewed with thankfulness. More especially ought it to be so viewed by ourselves, if there be a hope that the example can be adopted as the means of promoting peace amongst the ministers and members of the same Church—namely, our own—now so unhappily disunited; and if the great Truths in which they agree could be thus prominently exhibited to the world. And, if the rule laid down with reference to our Christian brethren of the Prussian Church be sound and judicious; if it has been wisely and charitably selected as calculated to unite many who have hitherto been separated in communion, though not materially in doctrine; why should it not be applied to secure similar advantages amongst Englishmen, and to heal some of the wounds which are daily inflicted on the peace of the Church by its own ministers and members?
Let not such a proposal be hastily rejected from an unexamined apprehension that the doctrines of the Reformation are to be surrendered. Let it at least be calmly and candidly considered. The remarks hitherto offered may be disputed as incorrect; but no one can possibly deny that the state of the English Church is unsatisfactory, perhaps unsafe. The writer can in all sincerity declare himself, in the fullest sense of the word, a Protestant: yet he may, very consistently, with such a declaration, desire to see Protestants Catholics, and in fulfilment of the pledge given at ordination “to maintain and set forwards, as much as in him lieth, quietness, and peace, and love, among all Christian people.” These are what the Universal Church now requires for her prosperity and success.
While the above-named catholic test was adopted to meet the peculiar situation and duties of the new Bishop in Jerusalem, we see that it was at the same time provided that candidates for ordination, subjects of the King of Prussia, should be examined generally as to their qualifications for the ministry; and also as to their being thoroughly grounded in the Augsburg Confession, the foundation of our Articles; and further, that a certificate of their having satisfactorily passed such an examination should be laid before the Bishop of Jerusalem, who will also take care to convince himself of their fitness to receive ordination at his hands.
If we were to transfer this whole precedent, as the writer understands it, to our own Church, the change it would make would be simply this, namely, that it would be left to the Bishops, each exercising the discretionary power now vested in him, to judge, upon examination, of the doctrinal views of a candidate, instead of requiring him to subscribe to the Thirty-nine Articles. And if we draw this out into practice, the loss as to security for any particular doctrines would be none. Each Bishop would of course exercise the discretionary power as he now does, and the same candidates would be admitted; but the evils now attending upon Subscription would be remedied, or immeasurably diminished.
A candidate would be examined as to his general qualifications, and also by questions on the Thirty-nine Articles, according to the judgment of each Bishop, and might be received or rejected, as is now the case. Whatever point in the Articles might appear to each Bishop to require particular attention would be made a subject of examination, as is now the case. Any question relative to doctrinal views, deemed necessary, might be put, and the Bishop would have the actual view of the candidate in his own words; and, if his word will not bind a man, will his signature? If a candidate, for instance, professed that he considered the Reformation injurious or imperfect, the Bishop might reject him, or not; and if he did not profess this, but afterwards came to that opinion, the case would only be as it is sometimes now. Possibly Bishops might differ as to their mode of conducting such examination; and in one diocese a candidate might be received who might fear being rejected in another; for so it has been, and may be again; and thus persons of various shades of opinion are admitted to the ministry, probably to the benefit of the Church.