Church of England is Protestant, Reformed, & Calvinistic: Toplady, Vol.5 (pp.133-152)

The Church of England is Protestant, Reformed, & Calvinistic: Toplady, Vol.5 (pp.133-152).. Of note, the Rev. Mr. Augustus Montague Toplady argues that England's national ignorance and widespread clerical denial of their subscriptionist oaths to the Anglican formularies had led to a rising sympathy with Romanism and Arminianism. He gives a brief hint here at Deism and "ethical" preaching without the Reformation doctrines, specifically the Calvinistic faith, that had been more largely presented in decades past--yes a Calvinistic faith. Years ago, I recollect reading a volume with its observation that the 18th century Bishops had ceased reading "Systematic Theologies" and that Deism was attributable to this. (I wish had could remember the source.) Today, we would call that "moral, therapeutic Deism." It was Joel Osteen-type "How to have a better life" stuff. Toplady is relevant to our times. As for Anglicanism, doctrinal ignorance, clerical incompetence, doctrinal indifferentism, smugness, and dismissal of Anglicanism's formularies prevail. What do we get? Everything from liberalism to all its wind-blown progeny. We hear of great divines from some, that hoary past, but where are the Cranmers, Rogers, Hoopers, Bilneys, and Ridleys of our time?

The Works of Augustus Montague Toplady, Vol. 5 at:
http://books.google.com/books?pg=PA11&dq=augustus%20toplady%20calvinism%20church%20of%20england&ei=CHbgTILcHIWglAeBiq2YAw&ct=result&id=ybYOAAAAIAAJ&output=text20england&ei=CHbgTILcHIWglAeBiq2YAw&ct=result&id=ybYOAAAAIAAJ&output=text

Toplady, 133-137, a brief summary on total depravity and the Augustinian view of works. One is reminded of the Second Collect at Evening Prayer: “O God, from whom all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works do proceed…”

Page 133:

"If any gift we have, wherewith we may work to the glory of God, and profit to our neighbor, all is wrought by his own and self-same spirit, which maketh his distributions peculiarly to every man as he will." Third Rogation Homily, p. 299.

“We have, of our own selves, nothing to present us to God." First Homily on Repentance, p. 326.

Such are the ideas inculcated by the Church of England, concerning man's free-will, and the powers of nature.

"Man, of his own nature, is fleshly and carnal, corrupt and naught, sinful and disobedient to God, without any spark of goodness in him, without any virtuous or godly motion, only given to evil thoughts and wicked deeds. As for the works of the Spirit, the fruits of faith, charitable and godly motions; if he has any at all in him, they proceed only of the Holy Ghost, who is the only worker of our sanctification, and maketh us new men in Christ Jesus. Such is the power of the Holy Ghost to regenerate men, and, as it were, to bring them forth anew, so that they shall be nothing like the men that they were before." First Homily for Whitsunday.

So far is the Church of England from making the grace of God strike to the free-will of his creatures!

Page 137: The Reformation (True Catholic) View of Justification. Aside from the two brief citations below, p.137ff is a Protestant, Reformed and Calvinistic treasure trove of statements on justification by faith apart from the works of the law and by the imputation of Christ’s righteousness.

“Let us know our own works, of what imperfection they be, and then we shall not stand foolishly and arrogantly in our own conceits, nor challenge any part of justification by our merits, or Works." Second Homily on Man's Misery

“All the good works that we can do, be imperfect; and therefore not able to deserve our justification: but our justification doth come freely, by the mere mercy of God." First Homily of Salvation.

Page 137: Justification the dagger to Popery, to wit, that great, fundamental doctrine of the gospel, free, unconditional justification by faith in the imputed righteousness of Christ. Cranmer prevails over Gardiner.

Mr. Strype has an observation, which deserves to be noticed here. In the first framing of this homily, says he, viz. the Homily of Salvation, "there was a great controversy between Archbishop Cranmer, the chief composer thereof, and Bishop Gardiner, concerning that branch of it, that asserted justification by faith: as may be seen in the memorials of that great archbishop, under the year 1547." (Annals of the Reformation under Queen Elizabeth, p. 296.) And well there might: since nothing plunges the dagger deeper into the very heart of Popery, than that great, fundamental doctrine of the gospel, free, unconditional justification by faith in the imputed righteousness of Christ. This admirable homily is, itself, a standing demonstration, that, not Gardiner, but Cranmer prevailed.

Page 138: Arminians are a “sect”

Some Arminians, of more subtlety and refinement than the rest of their sect…

Page 143-147, Assurance of Salvation (unlike the Arminians or Papists). Assurance, confidence, and trust in the merits of Christ alone are attributes of biblical faith (akin to the Heidelberg Catechism).

VII. To consider the sense of our Church, with relation to the doctrine of assurance. She tells us, that "The right and true Christian saith is, not only to believe, that Holy Scripture, and all the aforesaid articles of our saith are true; but also to have a sure trust and confidence in God's merciful promises, to be saved from everlasting damnation by Christ: whereof doth follow a loving heart to obey his commandments—For, how can a man have this true saith, this sure trust and confidence in God, that, by the merits of Christ, his sins be forgiven, and he reconciled to the savour of God, and to be partaker of the kingdom of heaven by Christ, when he liveth ungodly, and denieth Christ in his deeds?" Third Homily of Salvation.

"They" [the Old Testament saints]" did not only know God to be the Lord, Maker, and Governor of all men in the world; but also they had a special confidence and trust, that he was, and would be their God, their comforter, aider, helper, maintainer, and defender. This is the Christian saith which these holy men had, and we ought also to have." Second Homily on Faith.

“Finally he (St. John) concludeth and sheweth the cause why he wrote this epistle; saying, ‘For this cause have I written unto you, that you may know that you ha\e everlasting life, which do believe in the Son of God.’" Ibid.

"He that doth consider all these things, and believeth them assuredly, as they are to be believed, even from the bottom of his heart; being established in God in this true saith, having a quiet conscience in Christ, a sure hope, and assured trust in God's mercy, through the merits of Jesus Christ, to Hence it appears that, in the judgment of our Church, the assurance of faith looks forward to what shall be, as well as regards the present. The saints, even under the Jewish dispensation, had, according this homily, not only a special confidence and trust, that God was then their God; but likewise that he would be so still, and be their maintainer in the grace he had given them. But how inconsistent is the new, Arminian doctrine of finally falling from grace.

Page 147, the Church of England is Calvinistic in the Articles, Liturgy and Homilies. The loss of this awareness—doctrinal ignorance in the nation and clerical disobedience to subscriptionist vows—has resulted in rise of Arminianism and Popery. Toplady says, "Arminianism the very essence of Popery."

So speaks the Church of England: and so she will ever speak, while her liturgy, her articles, and homilies, stand as they do. These are the doctrines, which she holds: these truths, to which all her clergy have subscribed: truths these, which have no more to do with Methodism (properly so called), than they have with Mahometanism. To our departure from the above principles of the Reformation, are chiefly owing,

1.That the Church and churchmen are the scorn of infidels.

2. That so great a part of the common people of this land are sunk into such deplorable ignorance of divine things, as is unparalleled in any other Protestant country.

3. That our Churches are, in many places, so empty; empty; while dissenting meetings are generally as full as they can hold. The plain, but melancholy truth, is, that, in various parts of this kingdom, multitudes of persons, who are churchmen upon principle, are forced to go to meeting, in order to hear the doctrines of their own Church preached. And, as to the totally ignorant, and openly profane, they care not whether they attend on any public meeting or not. To the same deviation from our established doctrines, we may,

4. Impute, in great measure, the vast and still increasing spread of infidelity amongst us. Christianity, shorn of its peculiar and distinguishing principles, and reduced to little more than a dry system of Ethics, can take but small hold of men’s hearts, and is itself but a better species of Deism. Many graceless persons, are yet men of good sense: and, when such consider the present state of religion in this country, how is it possible for them not to reason in a manner similar to this? “There is a book, called the Bible, in which such and such doctrines are written as with a sunbeam. There is also an establishment, called the Church, which teaches the self same doctrines and is the very echo of that book. This Bible is said, by the clergy, to be of divine authority, and a revelation from God. And, for the Church, they tell us, it is the best and purest in the world; and indeed, unless they thought it so, nothing could justify their solemn subscription to its decisions. Yet, how many of them open their mouths and draw their pens against those very decisions to which they have set their hands? Can those of them, who do this, really believe the Scriptures to be divine and their Church to be in the right? Does it not rather look as if religion was no more than a state-engine on one hand and a genteel trade on the other? Such is the fear, unhappily inferred by thousands, from the conduct of some, who lift up their heel against the Church, while they eat her bread; or as Dr. Young expresses it, "Pluck down the vine and get drunk with the grapes." To the same source may be traced the rapid and alarming progress of Popery in this kingdom. Would we lay the axe to the root of this evil? Let us forsake our Arminianism and come back to the doctrines of the Reformation. That these are Calvinistic, has, I think, been fully proved: and, should these proofs be deemed insufficient, there are more in reserve. A man must draw up a prodigiously large index expurgatorial of our articles, homilies, and liturgy, before he can divest the Church of her Calvinism. As long as these, in their present form, remain the standards of her faith: so long will predestination be an eminent part of it. We might more plausibly, with the philosopher of old, deny that there is any such thing as motion, than deny this glaring, palpable, stare-face truth. Whilst the Calvinistic doctrines were the language of our pulpits, as well as of our articles, the Reformation made a swift and extensive progress. But, ever since our articles and our pulpits have been at variance, the Reformation has been at astand. At a stand, did I say? I said too little. Protestantism, has, ever since, been visibly on the decline. Look round England, look round London. Is not Popery gaining ground upon us every day? And no wonder. Arminianism is the basis of it. Figuratively speaking, the Arminian points are five of the seven hills, on which the mystic Babylon is built. It gives a true Papist less pain to hear of Pope Joan than of predestination. That I do not affirm things at random, in calling Arminianism the very essence of Popery, will appear from the following short antithesis, wherein the doctrines of our own Church, and those of Rome, respecting some, of the articles under debate, are contrasted together, in the very words of each Church.

For earlier articles, see:

Augustus Toplady, C of E, Calvinism, Reformation, Thirty-nine Articles
For pages 1-42 and comments, see:
http://reformationanglicanism.blogspot.com/2010/11/augustus-toplady-c-of-e-calvinism.html

Augustus Toplady, C of E, Calvinism, Reformation, Thirty-nine Articles
For pages 43-82 and comments, see:
http://reformationanglicanism.blogspot.com/2010/11/more-from-augustus-toplady-c-of-e.html


Augustus Toplady (Vol.5, 82-97), C of E, Calvinism, 39 Arts, Te Deum, Absolution
For pages 82-97
http://reformationanglicanism.blogspot.com/2010/11/augustus-toplady-vol5-pg82-97-c-of-e.html

Augustus Toplady (Vol.5, 98-118), C of E, Calvinism, 39 Arts, Election, Baptism, Justification by Faith Alone
http://reformationanglicanism.blogspot.com/2010/11/augustus-toplady-vol5-82-97-c-of-e.html


A.M Toplady (Vol.5, 118-132), C of E, Calvinism, Arminianism, Justification, Total Depravity
http://reformationanglicanism.blogspot.com/2010/11/augustus-toplady-vol5-pg1-83-c-of-e.html