SCRIPTURE.
Matt. xviii. 17.“ And if he will not hear the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen and the publican.”—Luke, x. 16. “ He that heareth you, heareth me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me.”—The Apostles, in the Council of Jerusalem, decreed, as follows, (Acts, xv, 28, 29.) “ For it hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us, to lay no further burden upon you than these necessary things: that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication ; from which things keeping yourselves, you shall do well.”-Ibid. xx. 28. “Take heed to yourselves, and to the whole flock, wherein the Holy Ghost hath placed you Bishops, to rule the Church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”. Heb. xii. 17. “ Obey your Prelates, and be subject to them. For they watch, as being to render an account for your souls.
FATHERS.
This power of making laws, and the consequent obligation of submitting to them, are too evident to require any proof from the Fathers : I shall, therefore, only observe, that when the Church enacted her laws, it was not so much her design to lay further burdens on the faithful, as to prescribe the means whereby the commands of God might be more exactly fulfilled. Thus God commands, that the seventh day be kept holy: the Church directs, that, on this day, the faithful shall assist at the Sacrifice of the altar, as being the act of religion most grateful to heaven.-God commands all sinners to repent, and he commands them, if they would have life in them, to eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood: the Church directs, that we confess our sins, at least once a year; and that, at Easter, we receive the holy
