Church law

“ Is not this taking a latitude, in devising ways and means for accomplishing Divine and saving purposes, which the Divine law has nowhere prescribed, for which the Scriptures nowhere afford us either precept or precedent? Unless it can be shown that making human standards to determine the doctrine, worship, discipline, and government of the Church for the purpose of preserving her unity and purity, and requiring an approbation of them as a term of communion is a Scripture institution. ”

“ We have already found that regardless of church or creed each person stands before the law equal in our country. The older you grow, the more fully you realize what religion means to a great [pg 162] many people in this world, the more fully you will appreciate the blessing which came to humanity in these provisions of the Constitution. There are some of us who do not belong to any church organization, and yet we are intensely interested, because there was a time when every person was compelled by law to belong to a church organization, to the state church, the state religion. ”

“ In the Catholic Church the law-making power established by Christ will ever have the authority to make laws previous to, and independent of, the acceptance of the faithful. If bishops or other prelates should enact a law contrary to the canons, there is the remedy or an appeal to the highest authority of the Church for its annulment. ”

“ Ere long I believe a law will be passed, whereby not only will the church be purified from its taint of sin, but whereby none but those who belong to the episcopacy will be allowed to break the bread of life to the people, and a law compelling those same people to attend the church on the Sabbath days; ay, and not only that, but that they shall be forbidden to listen to any man who hath not been truly ordained a preacher of the Word. ”

“ It is true that the common law framed by our Catholic ancestors recognized the laws of the church, as far as public morality and the observance of Sundays and holidays were concerned, as part of the law of the land, but it was never intended that the state should be placed above the church in matters spiritual, much less to make it the teacher and expounder of her doctrines. ”

“ He also urged that at least three fourths of [548] the inhabitants were Presbyterians, Independents, Baptists, and Quakers, the members both of the Church of England and of the Church of Rome being the fewest, “so that it will be a most difficult task to draw such persons to consent unto a law which shall compel them to maintain ministers of a contrary persuasion to themselves, they having already assurance by an Act for Religion that they shall have all freedom in point of religion and divine worship, and no penalties imposed upon them in that particular.” ”

“ Not content with adopting the most pitiful evasions in order to introduce practices contrary to the whole spirit of the Church to which they belong, they have invented a convenient theory of their own as to the distinction between the law of the Church and the law of the State, refusing to obey the one when it comes into collision with the other. ”

“ The precedence of ecclesiastical over civil law does not mean that the Church has the right to interfere in matters that belong to the jurisdiction of the State, or that the Church should insist on settling every dispute by its own action alone. ”

“ Has our learned historian ever heard of such a thing as canon law, which secures to the inferior clergy a perfect immunity from arbitrary interference by their superiors, and which is in force all over the Christian world, except in new countries, where the church is yet too young to complete her organization? ”

“ These, however, will include far more than spiritual objects and spiritual penalties alone: for the Church requires certain material possessions, such, for example, as churches, schools, seminaries, together with the endowments necessary for their sustentation. The administration and the due protection of these goods will require legislation other than what is limited to the spiritual sphere. A large body of canon law must inevitably be formed to determine the conditions of their management. Indeed, there is a fallacy in the assertion that the Church is a spiritual society ”

“ Christ, as King, is Law-Giver in his own Church; the New Testament is our Rule of Conduct. As Ministers, we are not to send our hearers, nor go ourselves to Moses, for a Rule of Conduct; the preceptive parts of the New Testament are quite sufficient; and where their is faith in the soul, embracing the righteousness of Jesus, and the love of God shed abroad in the heart, such are no Antinomians; for the righteousness of the holy and righteous Law of God, is fulfilled in them who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit—this is the end of the Law, and the glory of the Gospel ”

“ Creed, Factions, Property, Management.—The supreme court exercises no ecclesiastical jurisdiction, but accepts what the highest ecclesiastical authority in each church promulgates as the faith and practice of that church, and will not determine for itself what that faith or creed is in order to establish the rights of respective factions in the church to the church property. ”

“ By the following law the exemption of the clergy from public burdens was made universal. As many availed themselves of the clerical immunities to escape their burdens as curiales, a law was soon afterward passed limiting access to the ministry to those in humbler social position. V. supra, § 58 f. Those who in divine worship perform the services of religion—that is, those who are called clergy—are altogether exempt from public obligations, so that they may not be called away from their sacred duties by the sacrilegious malice of certain persons. ”

“ We hold ourselves obliged, not only by the common duty of our ministerial calling, but also by the special bond of our solemn covenant with God, especially in Art. 1, to bend all our best endeavors to help forward a reformation of religion according to the word of God, which can never be effected without a due establishment of the scripture-government and discipline in the Church of God. And to make known what this government is from the law and testimony, by preaching or writing, comes properly and peculiarly within the sphere of our place and vocation. ”

“ It may be supposed, that, as a matter of conscience and subjection to ecclesiastical superiors, a Catholic population would in general conform to the usages of the Church. But such conformity would be no evidence of the change of the law by the civil power. ”

“ And so this author is correct in saying that the church with Catholics comes first, and not the Bible; for the church embraces the Bible, which is only the written document of the laws and ordinances of God to man, the letter of the law resting in the hands of the government which has charge of it, but that government itself subject to the law. ”

“ The court will construe the Articles of Religion and formularies according to the legal rules for the interpretation of statutes and written instruments. No rule of doctrine is to be ascribed to the church which is not distinctly and expressly stated or plainly involved in the written law of the Church, and where there is no rule, a clergyman may express his opinion without fear of penal consequences. ”

“ We will, that our power of making laws for the government of the Church, and executing them by delegated authority, forever cease; that the people may have free course to the Bible, and adopt the law of the spirit of life in Jesus Christ.
Item. We will, that candidates for the gospel ministry henceforth study the Holy Scriptures, with fervent prayer, and obtain license from God to preach the simple Gospel, with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven, without any mixture of philosophy, vain deceit, traditions of men, or the rudiments of the world. ”

“ The royal placet or right of permitting or refusing, is required for all clerical enactments which are not purely inter-ecclesiastical but refer to mixed matters; the theological endowments are subject to state control and joint administration; boys’ seminaries are not allowed; clergymen appointed to office must submit to state examination; according to consuetudinary rights, about two-thirds of the benefices are filled by the king, one-third by the bishops on reporting to the civil court, which has the right of protest; clergy who break the law are removable by the civil court, etc. ”

“ From the time of the Reformation no change has been made in the law of the Church which has not been made by the king and parliament, sometimes indirectly, as by confirming the resolutions of convocation, but for the most part by statute. The list of statutes cited in Sir R. Phillimore’s Ecclesiastical Law fills eleven pages. It is only by a kind of legal fiction akin to the “collegial” theory mentioned above, that the Church can be said to have deemed it expedient to adopt these laws. ”

“ Although there is not, and cannot be, any part or branch of the church established by law, there is assured liberty for every citizen to worship God by himself, or with others in congregations, as he or they may choose, in such forms of worship as may be preferred, with none to molest or make afraid. ”

“ In almost all Protestant cantons the re-election or new election to all spiritual offices every six years was ordained by law, in many the freeing of the clergy from any creed subscription with the setting aside of confessional writings as well as of the orthodox liturgy, hymnbooks and catechisms was also carried, and the withdrawing of the Apostles’ Creed from public worship and from the baptismal formula was enjoined. ”

“ Note 2.—But when a body ceases to acknowledge and submit to Christ as its Supreme Ruler, and to receive His Word as its supreme law, then it ceases to be a true church, and is simply a religious society, though it may still accept some of His doctrines and practice some of His precepts.
Note 3.—A church is not a legislative, but an executive body. It cannot make laws, but only obey and administer those which Christ has given in the New Testament. He is the only Lawmaker in Zion. ”

“ It presents the sources of the law, the Church’s organization and administration, the ordination and ranking of the clergy, the election and consecration of bishops, the authority of legates and primates. The second part treats of the procedure of ecclesiastical courts, also the law regulating the property of the Church, the law of monks and the contract of marriage. The third part is devoted to the Sacraments and the Liturgy.
Gratian’s usual method is as follows: He will open with an authoritative proposition. If he finds it universally accepted, it stands as valid. ”

“ To assist the Bishops in their endeavors to promote purity and virtue, holiness and righteousness among the people. That is their office, and if they do not fulfill that office they are not magnifying their calling. They have no right to condone the sins of men. The law of God is perfect converting the soul, and we must be governed by that law and carry it out, or be made amenable unto the Lord our God for the course we pursue, or for neglecting to perform our duties. ”

“ The common law of the church consists, however, not of any and all customs, but only of the customs of the apostolic church interpreted in the light of its principles, or the customs universally binding because sanctioned by inspired apostles. ”

“ Quitting the national church or returning from it to a church that had been left before, is visited by severe penalties, and children of mixed marriages, where one parent belongs to the national orthodox church, are claimed by law for that church. ”

“ Worship, Discipline, Innovations.—The denomination itself, according to its rules and regulations, determines what services shall form a part of its public worship. The inferior authority in the church has no right to violate the discipline by innovations. ”

“ To insure harmony and good order, every Church should obey the laws of the country; but if any law should impose upon the rights of the Church in any way, the ruling authorities, the cardinal and bishops, if the wrong is national, should unite in a petition to the United States Congress, clearly stating the grievance and asking for its redress.1 If the grievance should be within a State, the bishop or bishops of the State should present the matter to the Legislature of the State. ”

“ This whole society arrangement is a relic of the old New England parish system of the standing order, and is inconsistent with the freedom of church action, and antagonistic to Baptist Church independence. It is anti-Baptistic and anti-Scriptural. A church should be allowed to manage its own affairs, both temporal and spiritual: and should be protected by law in doing so. The society system has been abrogated in most of the States. ”

“ If, however, {354} in spite of all these efforts to preserve the church members in an active performance of their duties men will grow careless and transgress the law of the Lord, they are amenable to the church courts and may be tried for their fellowship. ”

“ It would be highly unwise in those who direct the counsels of the Church of England to accept a practical disadvantage for the gain of a greater simplicity and consistency of system. The true moral to be deduced from the anomalies of ecclesiastical appeals seems to be, to have as little to do with them as possible. The idea of seeking a remedy for the perplexities of theology in judicial rulings, and the rage for having recourse to law courts, are of recent date in our controversies. ”

“ Therefore Jesus Christ our Mediator hath not made the community of the faithful, or body of the people, the immediate receptacle or first subject of proper formal power for governing of his Church.
The major proposition is evident in itself: For, 1. The power of church government in this or that subject is not natural, but positive; and cast upon man, not by natural, but by positive law, positive grant: men are not bred, but made the first subject of such power ”