INTRODUCTION. So much is said and argued just at this time on the subject of the Church, by those who use the word in different senses, and those who attach to it little distinct sense at all, that I have thought it might be useful, by way of promoting sound and consistent views concerning it, to consider it attentively in several of its bearings, and principally in its relation to Romanism, which possesses the most systematic theory concerning it. Unhappy is it that we should be obliged to discuss and defend what a Christian people were intended to enjoy, to appeal to their intellects instead of "stirring up their pure minds by way of remembrance," to direct them towards articles of faith which should be their place of starting, and to treat as mere conclusions what in other ages have been assumed as first principles. Surely life is not long enough to prove every thing which may be made the subject of proof; and, though inquiry is left partly open in order to try our earnestness, yet it is in great measure, and B |