Tomline on Article XXI: Of the Authority of General Councils

In the last Article, the power of an individual church was considered ; this relates to the autho- rity of General Councils, which are the aggregate of all particular churches, that is, of persons law- fully appointed to represent them.

It may be reasonably supposed that as Chris- tianity spread, circumstances would arise which would make consultation necessary among those who had embraced the Gospel, or at least among

those

ART. XXI.] Thirty-nine Articles. 345

those who were employed in its propagation. A memorable instance of this kind, which we no- ticed in the preceding article, occurred not long after the ascension of our Saviour. In conse- quence of a dispute which had arisen at Antioch concerning the necessity of circumcising Gentile converts, it was determined that ” Paul and Bar- nabas, and certain others of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this […] And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter (a).”^ — After a consultation, they decided the point in question ; and they sent their decree, which they declared to be made under the direction of the Holy Ghost, to all the churches, and com- manded that it should be the rule of their con- duct. This is generally considered as the first Council ; but it differed from all others in this circumstance, that its members were under the especial guidance of the Spirit of God. The Gospel was soon after conveyed into many parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa; but it does not appear that there was any public meeting of Christians for the purpose of discussing any con- tested point till the middle of the second cen- tiury. From that time councils becanpie fre- quent ; but as they consisted only of those who

belonged

(a) Acts, c. 15. y. 6.

^46 JRrpdsitim o/ihd [faht uu

belonged to particular districts or countries, ttey were called Provincial or National councils. TI16 first General Council was that of Nice, convened by the emperor Ck)nstantine, A. t). 325 ; the se* cond General Council was held at Constantinople in the year 381, by order of Theodosius the Great ; the third, at Ephesus, by order of Theo dosius Junior, a. d. 431 ; and the fourth, at Chalcedon, by order of the emperor Marciai A. D. 451. These, as they were the first fbuf General Councils, so they were by far the most eminent They were caused respectively by the Arian, ApoUinarian, Nestorian, and Eutychiail controversies (b), and their decrees are in high esteem both among Papists and orthodox Pro* ttants ; but the deliberations of most councSi were disgraced by violence, disorder, and in-* trigue, and their decisions were usually made imder the influence of some ruling party. Au- thors are not agreed about the number . of Gne ral Councils; Papists usually reckon eighteeui but Protestant writers will not allow that nearly

(b) The Arians denied the Divinity of Christ. Tht Apollinafians asserted that there was no intelligent oiil in Christ, tod that the Divine Nature supplied the place of a soul ; They denied the Humanity of Christ, and contended that his birth, sufferings, and resurrection, were only in appearance. The Nestorian wd EutychiaoL hresi&s hiav ben idready explained

■AET. xxil] Thirty-nine Articles. 347

so many had a right to that name. The last General Council was that held at Trent, for the purpose of checking the progress of the Reformation. It first met by the command of Pope Paul the Third, a. d. 1545 ; it was sus- pended during the latter part of the pontificate of his successor Julius the Third, and the whole of the pontificates of Marcellus the Second and Paul the Fourth, that is, from 1552 to 1562, in which year it met again by the authority of Pope Pius the Fourth, and it ended, while he was pope^ in the year 1 563. Provincial Councils were very numerous; Baxter enumerates 481, and Dufires^ noy many more (c).

General councils may not be gather- ed TOGETHER WITHOUT THE COMMANDMENT

AND WILL OF PRINCES. As the Clergy must be always subject to the civil power (d)j it cannot be lawful for them to assemble in General Councils without the consent of the government of the countries to which they respectively belong* If

tlie

(c) There is a History of Councils, published at Paris in 1 644, in 37 vols, folio. Care gives a concise account gf all the considerable Councils, both general and par* ticular, in his Historia lateraria ; and Broughton, in his dictionary, under the word Synod, states very^ briefly what passed at the principal General Councils,

(d) This will appear from the thirty-seventh article.

34^ Exposition of ike [part hi.

the clergy were in this respect bound to obey the command of any foreign bishop or potentate, it would be an infringement of the rights and pri- vileges which belong to every independent state, and must be productive of many inconveniencies. It has been already observed, that the first four General Councils were summoned by the emperors of the East, whose dominions included the whole, or nearly the whole, of Christendom ; and they continued to exercise the same power for several centuries afterwards ; but at length the popes of Rome, among other usurpations, assumed to themselves the right of summoning General Coun- cils, and tlie first which met by their authority was the first Lateran council, in the year 1132.

And when they be gathered together (forasmuch as they be an assembly of

MEN, whereof all BE NOT GOVERNED WITH THE SPIRIT AND WORD OF GOD) THEY MAY ERR,

PERTAINING UNTO GOD. A General Council being composed of men, every one of whom is fallible, they must also be liable to error when collected together ; and that they actually have erred is sufficiently evident from hence, that dif- ferent General Councils have made decrees di- rectly opposite to each other, particularly in the

Ariaii

ART* XXI.] Thirty-nine Articles, 349

Arian and Eutychian controversies, which were upon subjects immediately ” pertaining unto God.” Indeed, neither the first General Coun- cils themselves, nor those who defended their decisions, ever pretended to Infallibility; this was a claim of a much more recent date, suited to the dark ages in which it was asserted and maintained, but now considered equally groimdless and absurd, in the case of General Councils as in that of Popes. The observation which we made upon the pretended claim of Infallibility in the Roman Pontiffs, may be extended to General Councils. If God had been pleased to exempt them from a possibility of error, he woul4,have announced that important privilege in his written word ; but no such promise or assurance is men- tioned in the New Testament. If Infiallibility belonged to the whole church collectively, or to any individual part of it, it must be so prominent and conspicuous, that no mistake or doubt could exist upon the subject ; and above all, it must have prevented those dissensions, contests, here- sies, and schisms, which have abounded among Christians from the days of the Apostles to the present times ; and of which that very church, which is the assertor and patron of this doctrine has had its full share.

Tlie

35<> Exposition of tht [part in.

The Scriptures, as has been often mentioDed, being the only source from which we can leam the terms of salvation, it follows that things or-

TO SALVATION, HAVE NEITHER STRENGT« NOB

It is upon this ground we receive the decisions rf the first four General Councils, in which we find the truths (e) revealed in the Scriptures, and therefore we believe them. We reverence the Councils for the sake of tlve doctrines which they declared and maintained, but we do” not bcr lieve^the doctrines upon the authority of the Councils.

, (e) At Nice it was declared, that the Son is truly God, of the same substance with the Father; at Constantinople, that Ihe Holy Ghost is also truly God; at Ephesus, that the divine nature was truly united to the human in Christ, in one person : al Chalcedon, that both natures remained distinct, and that the human nature was not lost or absorbed in the divine.

ART. XXII,] Thirty-nine Articles. 351