church to the civil authority, in a Christian state, in all things relating to its government, which are not at variance with the divine word. Calvin separated the church wholly from the state, claimed for it the power of self-government, and left to secular rulers nothing more than the duty of protection and sustenance, as nursing fathers and nursing mothers.

Zwingli taught the doctrine of absolute predestination as well as Calvin and the other reformers; but he did not impose it as an article of faith upon his church. Opposite opinions were, therefore, freely entertained; and even his successor, Henry Bullinger, is claimed as an asserter of the universality of divine grace. In the canton of Bern, particularly, controversy on this subject ran high. "The preachers and professors at Lausanne, who were friends of Calvin," says Schröck," demanded a general synod, and authority to excommunicate, that they might suppress the opinions which they opposed; but the Senate of Bern rejected this ecclesiastical tyranny, as Haller called it."-(See Schröck's Kirch. Gesch. seit der Ref., vol. v. p. 179.) Calvin did not tolerate the theories on this subject to which his own was opposed.

Such, however, was the credit of Calvin, and such his perseverance, that he succeeded in 1549, notwithstanding the reluctance of the Swiss, to procure the formal reception of his doctrine on the Lord's Supper, in Switzerland, and a few years later, to obtain for his doctrine of predestination a recognition as an article of faith, in the same country. But, with all his credit, he could not persuade the Swiss to accept his form of church government. The rulers were not willing to relinquish to the church the power which they possessed; and the Reformed Cantons still retain that ecclesiastical polity which they received from the hands of Zwingli.

In Germany, as well as in Switzerland, the supreme authority in the church resides in the civil government. The immediate administration of church power is vested in a consistory or ecclesiastical council, (kirchenrath,) which is a mixed body of clergy and statesmen. The clergy of a given district constitute a chapter or classis, and at the head of each of these bodies is an inspector or superintendent, whose office is somewhat similar to that of a bishop in Episcopal churches. Several chapters or classes compose a synod, and two or more particular synods may form a general synod; which may

* Dr. Mosheim errs in asserting the contrary, as the reader will perceive who will take the pains to examine this reformer's writings. See the extracts from his works published by Vögelin and Usteri, vol. i. part i. chap. v. p. 187, &c.

+ In Switzerland the chapter has at its head the decanus or dean.

either consist of delegates from the lower judicatories, or embrace all the clergy of the Reformed Church in the same country, or in several contiguous countries. In Switzerland, the clergy of the two cantons of Zurich and Thurgau, and of the Rhinethal, now included in the canton of St. Gall, constitute one synod, at the head of which is the pastor primarius of the Great-Minster in Zurich, who bears the title of Antistes. The Reformed Churches of Germany have elders and deacons, who are chosen for limited periods. The elders constitute a presbytery, who, in conjunction with the pastor, administer the spiritual government of the congregation. The deacons are charged with the temporal affairs, particularly with the care of the poor; but where the number of elders is small, the deacons take part with them in the spiritual administration. The inspectors exercise a supervision over the clergy, the congregations and the schools of their respective districts, and report to the consistory, whose decision is final, if not arrested by the act of the supreme civil authority. In some countries, as in the principality of Nassau, whose ecclesiastical constitution was taken from that of Holland, classes and synods have legislative authority. In others, as in the county of Lippe, their meetings are held only for their own improvement in Christian knowledge and piety. In the Reformed German part of Switzerland, the congregations are without elders and deacons. What are there called deacons are preachers who assist the principal pastor in the larger churches. The absence of the presbytery or body of elders, is compensated for by the Kirchen-Stillstände, a sort of sub-consistories, whose duty it is to watch over the morals of the church members, and to correct abuses in the conduct of life. The ecclesiastical assemblies of this country are composed of the clergy only. The same is the case in Germany, except in those countries, as in the principality of Nassau, whose church polity is derived from Holland or Geneva.

Admission to the privilege of full communion in the church is obtained by the rite of confirmation, which is preceded by a course of instruction in Christian doctrine. The catechumens solemnly devote themselves to the service of God by a public profession in the presence of the congregation, and are thereupon received by the imposition of hands and prayer. In the case of unbaptized adults, baptism immediately precedes the imposition of hands. The use of this rite rests upon expediency, no divine authority is claimed for it; still less is it viewed by the Reformed Church, as it is by the Church of Rome, in the light of a sacrament.

The doctrinal system of the German Reformed Church is contained in the Heidelberg Catechism-so called from Heidelberg, the capital

of the Electoral Palatinate, where it was first published, in the reign of the Elector Frederick III., in the year 1563. It was adopted, as a symbolical book, soon after its publication, by almost all the Reformed Churches in Europe, and became particularly the symbolical book of the Reformed in Germany. This formulary observes a singular moderation on some points upon which the several parties in the Protestant churches differed, or respecting which good men might entertain different opinions. The wise elector selected for the composition of this work two men, of whom one, Zacharias Ursinus, was a disciple of Melancthon; and the other, Caspar Olevianus, a disciple of Calvin; and he being, himself, a Philipist, controlled their deliberations. The result was what all moderate men desired, a compromise. The catechism, in its general character, is Calvinistic; but the doctrine of election is placed in the background, and presented in a form which the Philipist as well as the Calvinist could easily receive. On the Lord's Supper it unites the theories of Zwingli and of Calvin, with the latter of whom Melancthon was essentially agreed. It is silent about the imputation of Adam's sin to his posterity, but leaves an open door for the introduction of that theory. The atonement is made general where it says that Christ bore the wrath of God against the sins of all mankind; but nothing is said to forbid a limitation of it to the elect in its actual effect. It asserts the total inability of the unregenerate to do any good until he is regenerated by the Spirit of God; but it leaves room for the Philipist to say, that when the Holy Spirit would regenerate us, the human will may resist or assent to his operation. If it were objected, that assenting before regeneration would be a good work, he might reply that it was not in the proper sense good; or that it was not completed before regeneration was complete; and this answer was sufficient for the object contemplated, if it satisfied himself.

Though the theory of Calvin on the Lord's Supper was generally received in the church, that of Zwingli always had many friends; it has been many years gaining ground, and, if we be not greatly mistaken, is now predominant, at least in the United States.

The doctrine of absolute predestination to eternal life has never been fully established as an article of faith in the German Reformed Church. In different sections of the church it has from time to time been variously modified, and in some wholly rejected. Though constituted an article of faith in Switzerland, by the consensus of 1554, recognised as such in the Helvetic Confession of 1566, and confirmed by the Synod of Dort in 1618-19: it was, nevertheless, so far supplanted by the opposing theories in 1675, that a necessity was deemed

to exist for a new Formula Consensus of the Swiss divines to sustain it. Nor did this new Confession maintain its authority very long; after many conflicts it fell before the influence of the French and the German schools about the year 1722, when subscription to it ceased to be required. (See Schröck's Kirch. Gesch. vol. viii. p. 661, &c.)

In Germany the decrees of the Synod of Dort were never received in some of the states, as Brandenburg, Anhalt, and Bremen; in others they have long since lost their binding authority; and the German Reformed Church is now, in relation to the doctrine of absolute election, where Zwingli left it. Calvinism is again reviving in the church, both in Europe and America; but the doctrine of Melancthon, or, what is essentially the same, the doctrine of Arminius, on this point, is predominant, and the theory of absolute predestination is generally regarded, by the laity at least, with horror.

The German Reformed Church in the United States was founded by emigrants from Germany and Switzerland. Her origin may be dated about the year 1740, or rather somewhat earlier. The principal seat of the church in her infancy was eastern Pennsylvania; though settlements were made also, and congregations formed, at an early period, in other states, particularly in the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York. Her doctrinal system is derived from Germany and Switzerland; but her ecclesiastical polity is formed after the model of the Reformed Dutch Church of Holland, by whom she was nurtured and protected in her infant state, and to whom she owes a large debt of gratitude.

The Heidelberg Catechism is the only symbolical book of the church in the United States, though both in Germany and Switzerland she has others besides; and, in the first named country, adopts also the Lutheran Confession of Augsburg, as altered by Melancthon, in the tenth article, relating to the Lord's Supper, in the later editions that were published under his direction.

Subscription to the catechism, by candidates for the ministry, is not required at their ordination; a verbal profession of the doctrine of the church being deemed sufficient. A professor of theology is required, at his ordination, to affirm to the following declaration:

"You, N. N., professor elect of the Theological Seminary of the German Reformed Church in the United States, acknowledge sincerely, before God and this assembly, that the holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament, which are called the canonical scriptures, are genuine, authentic, inspired, and therefore divine scriptures; that they contain all things that relate to the faith, the practice, and the hope of the righteous, and are the only rule of faith and practice in

the church of God; that, consequently, no traditions, as they are called, and no mere conclusions of reason, that are contrary to the clear testimony of these scriptures, can be received as rules of faith or of life. You acknowledge, farther, that the doctrine contained in the Heidelberg Catechism, as to its substance, is the doctrine of the holy scriptures, and must, therefore, be received as divinely revealed truth. You declare sincerely that, in the office you are about to assume, you will make the inviolable divine authority of the holy scriptures, and the truth of the doctrine contained in the Heidelberg Catechism, as to its substance, the basis of all your instructions. You declare, finally, that you will labour according to the ability which God may grant you, that, with the divine blessing, the students entrusted to your care may become enlightened, pious, faithful, and zealous ministers of the gospel, who shall be sound in the faith."

The government of the church is Presbyterian. All ordained ministers are equal in rank and authority. Licentiates are not pastors, or ministers, but candidates for the ministry; they cannot administer the sacraments, nor be delegates to synod, and have no vote in the classical assemblies.

Each congregation is governed by its consistory or vestry, which is usually composed of elders and deacons, and of which the pastor of the church may, or may not, be a member. In chartered congregations the consistory is a legal corporation, with which the charter often joins others, besides elders and deacons, as counsellors, or trustees; and all these usually vote by custom, and by authority of the charter, on every question that comes before the body.

The clergy residing within certain bounds constitute a classis, which must consist of at least three ministers. A classis meets statedly once a year, and may resolve, or be called by its president, to hold a special meeting, as often as urgent business may demand it. The president is elected annually, and presides in the meeting of classis, for the maintenance of order, as primus inter pares. Every pastoral charge is entitled to a lay delegate, who must be an elder, and has the same right to deliberate and vote in the classis as the clerical member. A majority of the whole number, of which at least one half must be ministers, constitute a quorum; and every question is decided by a majority of those actually assembled.

The synod is composed of the clerical and lay delegates appointed by the classes. It meets statedly once a year, and may assemble in special meetings by its own appointment, or by the call of its president. The president of synod is in like manner elected annually. A classis consisting of not more than six ministers, is entitled to one