Ecclesiastical History of England, Volume 4—The Church of the Restoration [part 2]Stoughton, John
History
Ecclesiastical History of England, Volume 4—The Church of the Restoration [part 2]
Stoughton, John
Great Britain -- Church history
he says resolves itself into an argument for the continued presence,
not merely of the material _accidents_, but of the material
_substance_. The bent of the author’s mind, and the necessary
conditions of the author’s argument, looked at from the Anglican point
of view, may be seen in his copious citations from the Fathers and
schoolmen; and the purpose of those citations is to show that the
_real_ presence, as he expresses it, is the ancient doctrine of
Christendom; and that the dogma of Transubstantiation is an invention
of the twelfth century. Theologians of the Puritan stamp, if disposed
to avail themselves of the distinctive reasoning of this distinguished
scholar against Rome, would not follow the patristic and scholastic
teaching on its positive side, to which he showed so much deference;
but would rather represent very much of it--by its incautious
phraseology, and its mystic sentiment--as preparing for the definite
error which Cosin so earnestly denounced. Some of them would say,
that the extreme doctrine of the spiritual presence of the body and
blood of Christ in the bread and wine is as mischievous, in respect to
superstition, as the doctrine of Transubstantiation itself. They would
also say that Anglicans attach an undue importance to the continued
existence and _presence_ of the material substance of bread and
wine, an importance which is scarcely perceptible to others who differ
from them; for if the bodily presence of Christ in the sacrament be
admitted, arguments in support of the continued substantial presence
of bread and wine as well, only issue in some consubstantial theory,
between which and the transubstantial one, there is little to choose,
in the estimation of most English Protestants. And further, they would
allege that whilst the Roman dogma is in itself incredible and absurd,
it is in its terms intelligible; but that the High Anglican dogma is
unintelligible in terms and incredible in itself, so far as its import
can be divined. To the Puritan mind, the distinction maintained by
Cosin and others between a real presence and a transubstantiation is
of little importance, and quite incomprehensible; but to the Anglican
mind, it is perfectly clear, and of the highest moment.[418] That I
distinctly perceive. Without entering into the controversy, I may be
allowed to add, that the belief of the spiritual presence of Christ’s
body in the elements is one thing, and the deep and devout belief of
a real and a special presence of Christ Himself with His people in
the Lord’s Supper, is another. There is nothing whatever to prevent
a modern disciple of the Puritans from consistently maintaining
the latter. For my own part, I would maintain it with the utmost
earnestness.
[Sidenote: ANGLICANS.--MORLEY.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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