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 PROTESTANTISM

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PROTESTANTISM

f rOry of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States; and, while it was undoubtedly influenced to a large extent by the Oxford Movement, it was existent and energetic long before 1833. Indeed, in the twenties Bishop Hobart was already present- ing that type of evangelical piety, united with high sacramental ideas, which has been the principal characteristic of the party ever since. The O.xford Movement, however, was not without its influence, and as early as 1843 the disputes between the ex- treme High Churchmen and the rest of the Episcopal Church had reached a condition of such acerbity that when the Rev. Arthur Gary, in his examination for orders, avowed the principles of "Tract 90", and in .spite of that fact was not refused ordination, the controversy broke out into an open war. The Bishop of Philadelphia, Dr. Onderdonk, was suspended from his office on a charge of drunkenness, the real reason being his sympathy with High Churchmen; and his dispossession was so unjust that it was declared by the famous legal authority, Horace Binney, to be absolutely illegal. He was not, however, restored to the exercise of his functions for more than ten years. His brother bishop of New York fared even worse. Charges of immorality were preferred against him, and he was suspended from his office for the rest of his life, despite the fact that the vast majority of his fellow-citizens, whether they belonged to his communion or not, firmly believed in his innocence. An attempt, however, to suspend a third bishop of High Church views, the father of the late Monsignor Doanc, failed after he had been presented four times. Bishop Doane, not only by his unrivalled diplomatic skill, but by the goodness and probity of his life, made an ecclesiastical trial impossible.

In 1852 the Bishop of North Carolina, Dr. Ives, re- signed his position in the Episcopal Church and sub- mitted to the Apostolic See, and he was followed into the Catholic Church by a considerable number, both of clergymen and laymen. His secession drew out of the Episcopal Church all those of distinctly Roman sympathies, but the High Church Party lived on, growing, and in some degree prospering, in spite of hostile legislation, while in course of time a pro- Roman party sprang up again. Since the passing of the open-pulpit canon in the General Convention of 1907, some twenty clergymen and a large number of the laity have sulamitted to the Catholic Church. On the other hand, the extreme Evangelical Party, disturbed by the growth of ritualism, and unable to drive out High Churchmen in any large numbers, themselves seceded from the Protestant Episcopal Church in 1873, and formed what is known as the Reformed Episcopal Church. Unlike many of the Protestant bodies, the Episcopal Church was not permanently disrupted by the Civil War, for with the collapse of the Confederacy the separate organiza- tion of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Con- federate States ceased. The Broad Church party, however, have remained in the Protestant Episcopal Church, and of late years have seriously affected its attitude towards such subjects as higher criticism and the necessity of episcopal ordination. The most outspoken advocates of this school, who in their conclusions differed little or not at all from the extreme modernists, have not been able seriously to .alter the teaching of the Episcopal Church upon such fundamental truths as the Trinity and Incarnation; and in a few cases the High Church Party and the Evangelical, by combining, have been strong enough to cxchnle them from the Episcopal Church. The party, however, is gaining strength; its clergymen are men of intellect and vigour, and the laity who support the party are in the main people of large means. To it the future of Anglicanism belongs more than to any other school of thought within the Anglican body.

The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America possesses a hierarchy of 5413 clergy, 438 candidates for orders, and 946,252 communicants. These communicants should be multiplied at least three times in order to give an idea of the adherents of the Protestant Episcopal Church. It possesses nine colleges and universities and fifteen theological seminaries.

Tiffany, Hist, of the Prot. Episc. Church in the U. S. of Amer- ica in American Church History Series, \U (New York, 1907); McCoNNELL, Hist, of the .4 m. Ep, Church from the Planting of the Colonies to the End of the Civil War (New York, ISOO) : White, Memoirs of the Prot. Ep. Church in the U. S. (New York, 18S0) ; Coleman. The Church in America (New York, 189.5).

SiGOURNBY W. Fay.

Protestantism. — The subject will be treated under the following heads, viz.: I. Origin of the Name. II. Characteristic Protestant Principles. III. Discussion of the Three Fundamental Prin- ciples of Protestantism: A. The Supremacy of the Bible; B. Justification by Faith Alone; C. The Universal Priesthood of Believers, IV. Private Judg- ment in Practice. V. "Justification by Faith Alone" in Practice. VI. Advent of a New Order: CsBsaropapism. VII. Rapidity of Protestant Prog- ress Explained. VIII. Present-day Protestantism. IX. Popular Protestantism. X. Protestantism and Progress: A. Prejudices; B. Progress in Church and Churches; C. Progress in Civil Society; D. Prog- ress in Religious Toleration; E. The Test of Vitality. XI. Conclusion.

I. Origin op the Name.— The Diet of the Holy Roman Empire, assembled at Speyer in April, 1529, resolved that, according to a decree promulgated at the Diet of Worms (1524), communities in which the new religion was so far established that it could not without great trouble be altered should be free to maintain it, but until the meeting of the council they should introduce no further innovations in re- ligion, and should not forbid the Mass, or hinder Catholics from assisting thereat. Against this decree, and especially against the last article, the adherents of the now Evangel, the Elector Frederick of Saxony, the Landgrave of Hesse, the Margrave Albert of Brandenburg, the Dukes of Luneburg, the Prince of Anhalt, together with the deputies of fourteen of the free and imperial cities, entered a solemn protest as unjust and impious. The meaning of the protest was that the dissentients did not in- tend to tolerate Catholicism within their borders. On that account they were called Protestants. In course of time the original connotation of "no tolera- tion for Catholics" was lost sight of, and the term is now applied to, and accepted by, members of those Western Churches and sects which, in the sixteenth century, were .set up by the Reformers in direct opposition to the Catholic Church. The same man may call himself Protestant or Reformed: the term Protestant lays more stress on antagonism to Rome; the term Reformed emphasizes adherence to any of the Reformers. Where religious indifference is prevalent, many will say they are Protestants, merely to signify that they are not Catholics. In some such vague, negative sense, the word stands in the new formula of the Declaration of Faith to be made by the King of England at his coronation; viz.: "I declare that I am a faithful Protestant". During the debates in Parliament it was observed that the proposed formula effectively debarred Catholics from the throne, whilst it committed the king to no particular creed, as no man knows what the creed of a faithful Protestant is or should be.

II. Chakactkhistic Protestant PRiNriPLE.s. — However vague and indefinite the creed of inilividual Protestants may be, it always rests on a few standard rules, or principles, bearing on the sources of faith, the means of justification, and the constitution of the Church. An acknowledged Protestant authority,