N05035:36
An humble inquiry into the rules of the Word of God, concerning the qualifications…
An humble inquiry into the rules of the Word of God, concerning the qualifications requisite to a complete standing and full communion in the visible Christian church. By Jonathan Edwards, A.M. Pastor of the First Church in Northampton. ; With an appendix by Mr. Foxcroft. ; [Ten lines of quotations]An humble inquiry into the rules of the Word of God, concerning the qualifications requisite to a compleat standing and full communion in the visible Christian church. By Jonathan Edwards, A.M. Pastor of the First Church in Northampton. ; With an appendix by Mr. Foxcroft. ; [Ten lines of quotations]
Boston: : Printed & sold by S. Kneeland in Queenstreet, 1749
Title page typeset from the transcription.
An Inquiry into the Qualifications for full Communion in the visibl… › Part 1
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
The Question is not, whether Christ has made converting Grace or Piety itself the Condition or Rule of his People's admitting any to the Privileges of Members in full Communion with them: There is no one Qualification of Mind, whatsoever, that Christ has properly made the Term of this; not so much as a common Belief that Jesus is the Messiah, or a Belief of the Being of a God. 'Tis the credible Profession and Visibility of these Things, that is the Church's Rule in this Case. Christian Piety or Godliness may be a Qualification requisite to Communion in the Christian Sacraments, just in the same Manner as a Belief that Jesus is the Messiah, and the Scriptures the Word of God, are requisite Qualifications, and in the same Manner as some Kind of Repentance is a Qualification requisite in one that has been suspended for being grossly Scandalous, in order to his coming again to the Lord's Supper; and yet Godliness itself not be properly the Rule of the Church's Proceeding, in like Manner as such a Belief and Repentance, as I have mentioned, are not their Rule. 'Tis a Visibility to the Eye of a Christian Judgment, that is the Rule of the Church's Proceeding in each of these Cases.
The Question is not, whether Christ has made converting Grace or Piety itself the Condition or Rule of his People's admitting any to the Privileges of Members in full Communion with them: There is no one Qualification of Mind, whatsoever, that Christ has properly made the Term of this; not so much as a common Belief that Jesus is the Messiah, or a Belief of the Being of a God. 'Tis the credible Profession and Visibility of these Things, that is the Church's Rule in this Case. Christian Piety or Godliness may be a Qualification requisite to Communion in the Christian Sacraments, just in the same Manner as a Belief that Jesus is the Messiah, and the Scriptures the Word of God, are requisite Qualifications, and in the same Manner as some Kind of Repentance is a Qualification requisite in one that has been suspended for being grosly Scandalous, in order to his coming again to the Lord's Supper; and yet Godliness itself not be properly the Rule of the Church's Proceeding, in like Manner as such a Belief and Repentance, as I have mention'd, are not their Rule. 'Tis a Visibility to the Eye of a Christian Judgment, that is the Rule of the Church's Proceeding in each of these Cases.