XX. Opinions of the Reformers upon the Church's Authority

This Supreme Authority of the Church, which is quite indispensable to settle differences that are ever liable to arise, in matters of faith, and upon the various readings of the Scriptures, that our adversaries themselves, after having denounced it, by the name of "insufferable Tyranny," have been obliged to admit it among themselves.

When those among them they call Independents, declared openly that each member was to follow the guiding of his own conscience, without submitting his opinion to the Authority of any Ecclesiastical assembly or body, and on these grounds refused to be subjected to any synods ; their own synod held at Charenton, in 1644, condemned this doctrine, for the very reasons and from the same fears which we anticipated.

This synod says, first, that the errors of the Independents consist in their teaching that " each Church ought to*govern itself by its own laws without any submission to individuals in spiritual affairs, and without being obliged to recognise the authority of conferences and synods, in matters of discipline and government." Afterwards, the same synod decides that this sect is, " as prejudicial to the State as to the Church ; for by these views it paves the way for all kinds of irregularities and extravagancies, and it takes care to put aside all means of repressing them, by rejecting proper authority, and only give it an opportunity, and it will form itself into as many religions as there are parishes or special meetings." These last words shew that this synod had principally in view the necessity of forcing these Independents to submission in matters of faith. It says, further, that one of the worst results arising from such independence " would be their constituting as many religions as there are parishes." It follows, then, according to this synod, that each Church, and more than this, each individual shall submit, in matters of faith, to a superior Authority, residing in some assembly or body , and to this Authority all the faithful must yield their opinion. For the Independents tell you, they do not object to submit themselves to the Word of God, as long as they may be allowed to form their own interpretation thereon, or even to the decisions of a synod, provided they may examine them and find them reasonable ; but what they refuse to do is, to submit their judgment to any body of men, because our adversaries have taught them that all assemblies, even that of the Universal Church, are composed merely of fallible men, to which consequently the Christian ought not to bind himself, because he owes this submission to God alone. From this perversion of the Independents we trace all the consequences the synod of Charenton so well defined. For never mind what profession soever is made of submission to the Word of God, if each individual has the right of interpreting it according to his views, and against the opinion of the Church declared by a final judgment, this assumption opens a road to " all kinds of extravagancies, and abolishes all lawful means of repressing the abuse," since the decisions of the Church are no rule to those who are not bound to submit to them. In fact, it gives them power to constitute as many religions " not only as there are parishes, but as there are heads."

To avoid these results and inconveniences, whence would originate a downfall of Christianity, the synod of Charenton is forced to " establish an absolute dependence in all ecclesiastical affairs," and also in matters of faith. But never will this dependence arrest the evil results it is intended to prevent, unless they hold, with us, this maxim : — that each particular Church, and more than this, each individual in particular, must believe that he is bound to submit his own judgment to the Church's Authority.

We see again, at chap. v. of " the Discipline" of these Reformers under the head "Consistories," art. 31, they attempt to silence "debates that might arise upon some point of Discipline or of doctrine ;" and they desire that the Consistory shall try " to settle the whole without much noise, and with all the loving mildness of the Word of God." And after having agreed to establish a Consistory, a Conference, and a Provincial Synod, as so many grades of jurisdiction, ending at last in a national

Synod, above which they allow of no higher appeal, they speak in these terms : " There shall be received the final and entire decision of the Word of God ; and if any shall refuse to submit to it precisely, or be unwilling to recant their errors, they shall be cut off from further communion" with the Church.

It is evident, then, that these so-called Reformers do not attribute the authority of this last judgment to the Word of God alone and independently of the interpretation of the Church, since this Word of God was their guide in the first judgments they had recourse to, and nevertheless they allow of this appeal to what they call higher authority.

It is, then, the Word of God as interpreted by the sovereign tribunal of the Church which makes, in truth, " this decision final and conclusive, and to which, if any refuse precise submission," though he profess to be authorised by the Word of God, he is to be looked upon as abusing and perverting it, and is to submit to the rigour of the law. But the form of the letters of advice which were drawn up at the synod of Vitre in 1617, to serve as a model to the provinces when they sent a deputation to the national synod is even stronger than this, it is couched in these terms, " We promise before God to submit to all that shall be concluded and resolved upon in the holy assembly, to obey it, and to carry out to the best of our ability all therein required, being convinced that God will preside over it, and will guide you with His Holy Spirit in all wisdom and truth by the power of His word." The question here is not whether they shall receive a resolution agreed to at a synod after they have found it to coincide with Scripture, but that they should submit before the assembly even meets ; and they do submit, because they are persuaded that the " Holy Spirit will preside." If this conviction is the mere result of human presumption, can they in conscience " promise before God to submit to all that shall be concluded or resolved upon, to obey it, and to do all in their power to execute what they may be required to do ? " But if the conviction be the consequence of a certain belief in the assistance that the Holy Spirit gives to His Church in her final judgments, the Catholics themselves require no other.

Now does not the conduct of our adversaries shew that they own as much as we do the necessity of this supreme authority without which they feel all the impossibility of settling any doubt or dispute in religious matters. And if at the time when they shdok off their yoke they denied that Christians had any need to submit their opinions to that of the Church, the necessity of establishing order among themselves has driven them in the end to recognize what their first principles refused to agree to.

They have gone much farther at the national synod held at St. Foi, 1578. There it was proposed to draw up a " formulary of the general articles of faith, that were held in common by all the Churches," by means of which an overture of reconciliation was made to the Lutherans. Those of this kingdom were invited to send, to an assembly held on purpose for this, " honest men, well approved of and authorized by all the forenamed Churches, with ample power to treat, agree, and decide, upon all points of doctrine, or other things relating to unity." To this proposition, the following are the terms in which was couched the resolution of the synod of St. Foi,-" The national synod of this kingdom, after giving thanks to God for such an opening, and praising the care, diligence, and good advice of the above named, and approving the remedies which they have advanced," i. e., principally that of drawing up a new confession of faith, and giving power to certain persons to assist at it, « has decreed that if the copy of the above named confession of faith be sent in time, it shall be examined in each provincial synod, or otherwise, according to the convenience of each province; and, moreover, has deputed four of the best informed and most able ministers, with express injunctions to be punctual at the day and hour there appointed, with letters, and full instructions from all the ministers and former deputies of the provinces of this realm, together with the Viscount de Turenne, to accomplish all that mentioned above. Even though they had not the means to examine throughout the provinces this above mentioned confession, it is left to their prudence, and sound judgment to agree or conclude all the point under deliberation, whether for doctrine or other matters touching the well-being, unity, and peace of all the Churches." This after all, is the point which the false scruples of the followers of this Reformed religion comes to. They who so often reproached as a weakness, this obedience we give to the decisions of the Church, which they say is only a society of men, subject to human frailties; they, assembled in a body, in a national synod, representing all the Churches of the " Reformers" of France, were not afraid to deliver their faith into the hands of four men, with such a complete surrender of their own right of judgment, that they gave free permission to them even to change this same