Bishop Oxenden, in his "Pastoral Office," says to the Candidate for Holy Orders, "If, after looking well at your motive, you find it pure,--if you are entering the Ministry in a serious, thoughtful spirit,--if the love of souls, and an earnest desire to save them, impels you--if you feel the work is one in which your soul will find delight, and that you are heartily willing to labour in the service of your Heavenly Master,--then I hesitate not to say that you have chosen for yourself the best and most delightful of all professions." This consciousness of purity of motive is a true indication that a candidate is called of God. CALVINISTS. These form no particular sect, but are to be found among different bodies of Christians. They are the followers of the Reformer, John Calvin, who was born in 1509. The five _points_, or essential doctrines of Calvinism, are (1) particular election, (2) particular redemption, (3) moral inability in a fallen state, (4) irresistible grace, and (5) the final perseverance of the saints. In other words, a Calvinist holds that before the foundation of the world God _elected_ a certain number to salvation, and _reprobated_ the rest of mankind to damnation; that Christ Jesus died only for the elect; that mankind are totally depraved in consequence of the fall; that God, in His own good time, calls all those he has before predestinated to life by the _irresistible_ power of the Holy Spirit to grace and salvation; that those once called can never finally fall from a state of grace. It is true that the 17th Art. is so ambiguous in language that even such a doctrine as the above is not reproved by it; but the Church of England, in her Communion Office, says that "Christ, by the one oblation of Himself once offered, made a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the _whole_ world," and in the Church Catechism it is said that "God the Son hath redeemed _all_ mankind." These two passages alone are enough to show that the Church of England is not Calvinistic in her doctrine. (See _Antinomianism_ and _Arminians_.) CANDLES, _see_ Altar Lights. CANON. A Greek word, meaning a Rule or Measure. The laws of the Church are called _Canons_. The Canons made before the Reformation are binding on our Church now, and are acted upon in the Ecclesiastical Courts, except where they have been superseded by subsequent Canons, or by the provisions of an Act of Parliament. CANON. An ecclesiastic, having the right to a stall in a Cathedral, and of giving a vote in the Chapter. He differs from a Prebendary in that a Prebendary means one who enjoys a Prebend, or endowment, whereas a Canon does not necessarily do so. In England the Honorary Canons are all without capitular revenues.