This same Jesus suffered death at the hands of the Jewish people, and was raised from the dead by the mighty power of God-the reward of his own perfect obedience, and the certain confirmation of the truth of every thing which he had taught.

After his resurrection from the dead, he was with his apostles many days, and fully instructed them in all things pertaining to his kingdom. He commanded them to preach the glad tidings of this kingdom to all nations of the earth, beginning at Jerusalem; for this great work they were endued with power from on high, and in obeying this command their lives were spent.

The labours of the apostles were realized in a two-fold result, the conversion of unbelievers; and the establishment of the Church of God under Jesus Christ, as the head and chief of a new dispensation. Neither of these objects was attained without the accomplishment of the other, and, therefore, in whatever city or place their testimony was received, all who believed were united together, and organized as assemblies, or parts of the Church of God, and these churches now became the depositaries of the truths of divine revelation, and occupied that place in the dispensations of Providence which had been previously occupied by the descendants of Abraham, and the Church under Moses.

The Church of God is thus a continuous institution, and one and the same Church in all ages. Unity is its distinguishing feature. All who complied with the conditions which the messengers of God required, were united with those of like faith; and, whatever assembly obeyed the laws of God, without any admixture of human authority, however separated by time or place, were parts of his Church.

Under this new dispensation, of which Jesus and the apostles were the agents, the distinction of Jew and Gentile, slave and freeman, man and woman, secures no peculiar or spiritual privileges in the sight of God, or in his Church; descent from Abraham, and national consanguinity, are overruled by the relationship and brotherhood of a common faith, and common obedience to one Lord and master. Equality, therefore, is the condition of members of the Church of God.*

In order to become a member of the Church of God, the apostles required those who believed in Jesus to repent of their past sins, and resolve in future to obey the revealed will of God. As the messengers of God, they proposed no other conditions; and those who complied with these conditions, are declared to have received justification, that is, forgiveness from God of all past sin; to be accepted by him, that is, received into his Church; and to be his elect, that is, chosen by him for a life of religion and holiness. These are the only scriptural doctrines of salvation, justification, and election.

To this Church, the apostles prescribed the form of Church government under which it should exist; the mode of religious improvement and instruction which it should adopt; and the nature and kind of religious worship which, as a Church, it should render to God.

THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT or CHURCH ESTABLISHMENT, instituted by the apostles, was as simple as it was perfect. It consisted of elders, that is, overscers; of deacons, that is, servants; and of messengers.

An elder was ordained in each assembly of the Church of God, not as a lord over God's heritage-not for the purpose of personal gain, or as a means of livelihood, or for worldly influence-neither as constrained to an irksome duty,-but as a brother among brethren, to preserve the order of the meetings, and, by example and precept, induce and secure a willing obedience to the laws of God. Deacons were appointed, either as aids to the elder, or when any affairs were to be transacted, to which the whole body could not attend; and messengers were chosen when it was necessary, to communicate, personally, with distant churches. Such is the Church Establishment of the New Testament. All that system of spiritual domination, which has exercised, and still exercises, so much influence in the Christian world, is wholly, and avowedly, without the authority of the apostles of Jesus: and though essential for the support and influence of a class, is utterly subversive of the rights of believers, and the constitution of the Church God.

THE METHOD OF RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION, and means of increase in the knowledge of religious truth, established by the apostles in the Church of God, consisted, mainly, in private converse, and mutual admonition and exhortation; but, when assembled in one place, as a Church, the speakers were to speak two or three, and the rest to judge. Paid or exclusive teachers, under any name or guise, were unheard of ;—the distinction of clergy and laity, priest and people, was unknown; no such orders or distinctions existed in the apostolic Churches, nor can they now exist in the Church without the entire destruction of those principles upon which it was founded.

THE RELIGIOUS WORSHIP Commanded by Jesus, and instituted by his apostles, in the Church of God, under the gospel dispensation, was equally consistent with the attributes of the divine Being, and the rational nature of his offspring. It consists in obedience to God, uninfluenced by temporary considerations; in faithfulness to the commands of Jesus, however tempted to swerve from them; in care and disinterested labour for the preservation of the principles and the purity of the Church, purchased by the sufferings and sacrifices of the holy servants of God; in benevolence, forbearance, meekness, integrity; in an open profession of the truth, and conduct emanating from faith in the promises of God;-such is the worship, and such are the spiritual sacrifices which the Church of God are continually to offer up. But public social prayers, Sabbaths, holy days, and all other forms and ceremonies, are devoid of sanction from the New Testament. All authorized rites and ceremonies ceased with the Jewish temple worship.

To the Church thus established, all the promises of God, and all the exhortations of the apostles to believers, are addressed, either to that Church as a whole, or to the assemblies or individuals who are part of that whole. To be united with this Church must have been the highest privilege, and the first duty of every one who believed in Jesus Christ as the Son of God; for the existence of an independent, or isolated believer, or of a class of persons accepting revealed religion, and yet not united with others of like faith, is, in no one case, contemplated. The religion of Jesus, as expounded by himself and his apostles, is not, as a

whole, either applicable or practicable under any other circumstance than that of Church fellowship.

Such is the religion of Jesus Christ, according to the New Testament, and such are the characteristic and essential principles of the Church of God, as established by divinely-appointed messengers. To become a Church of God, one only and obvious means exists, or ever did, or could exist,―acceptance of the conditions propounded by God through his messengers. These conditions can be learned nowhere but in the New Testament. He who prescribed these conditions alone can change or modify them,—no such power exists on earth; apostolical descent is a fiction, the spiritual authority claimed by hierarchies, priests, or their agents, mere assumption. If in the days of the apostles any Church, which set aside the commands of God, as inconvenient or inexpedient, or which adopted any invention of man as a religious duty, ceased to be of the Church of God, so must it be in the present time. The blessings of the gospel can be received only by complying with the conditions of the gospel, and the advantages of revelation realized only in the proportions in which its truths and principles are correctly understood and faithfully applied.

NOTICE.-The Public Meetings of this Church are held every Sunday morning, at Eleven o'clock, in their Meeting-house, St. John's Square, Clerkenwell.-The elder will be at all times happy to give further information to those who may desire it.

NEWINGTON-GREEN CHAPEL.

Another monument to departed worth, exciting feelings not less agreeable than that recently erected to Mrs. Barbauld, has been placed in this Chapel. It is to the late eminent Dr. Price, a man who occupied much attention in his day; and whose pulpit labours were of sterling value, though unsurpassed in modesty, both at Newington Green and at Hackney. Not many such men, perhaps, have toiled in our cause: but we could wish the practice more frequent in our chapels, of thus honouring by-gone ministers, even though they should not have acquired all the literary, scientific, and professional notoriety of Dr. Price. The monument in question is both chaste and handsome: consisting of a white marble tablet on a black ground, and surmounted by an elegantly draped vase. The inscription, from the pen of the Rev. Thomas Cromwell, F.S.A., the present minister, is as follows:

To the Memory of

RICHARD PRICE, D.D., F.R.S.,

Twenty-six years Minister of this Chapel :

Born at Tynton, Glamorganshire, February 23rd, 1723;
Died at Hackney, Middlesex, April 19th, 1791.
Theologian, Philosopher, Mathematician;
Friend to Freedom as to Virtue ;

Brother of Man;

Lover of Truth as of God;

His Eminent Talents were matched by his Integrity,
Simplicity, and Goodness of Heart;

His Moral Dignity by his Profound Humility.
Few have been more useful in their generation,
Or more valued by the wise and good;
None more pure and disinterested.
Honoured be his Name!
Imitated his Example!

ACADEMICAL HONOR.

(From a Correspondent.)

The University of Giessen in Germany has conferred the title of Doctor in Divinity on the Rev. J. R. Beard, of Manchester, on account of his theological writings. This seat of learning has about four hundred Students, is in the capital of the Grand Duchy of Hesse, and may be recognised by some of our readers as the place in which Kuinoel, the author of the commentary on the historical books of the New Testament (which many Unitarians are accustomed to use), is engaged in teaching Theology. Dr. Credner, the Dean of the Theological Faculty, is translating into German a publication of Mr. Beard's on Methodism, originally published anonymously by the Unitarian Association.

THE

CHRISTIAN TEACHER.

ART. I.—VIVIA PERPETUA; a Dramatic Poem. By SARAH FLOWER ADAMS. 12mo, pp. 200. London: Charles Fox.

In a late number of this Periodical we gave the historical account of the martyrdom of Vivia Perpetua, as it is related in Milman's History of Christianity. The tale itself is a poem of the deepest power and beauty, and we cannot say that even as poetry, the Drama supersedes the History. We say this in no spirit of depreciation of the volume before us, but because in the simple and unencumbered narrative of the Historian, there is a directness, a reality, an absence of unnecessary and confusing accessories,-and the Martyr is brought before us with a distinctness that leaves an image in the soul, which is itself the highest poetry, the purest ideal. We are not sure that the subject is at all fitted for dramatic poetry. It admits of no plot that would not spoil and dim the single interest of the holy faith and courage, the divine strength in woman's weakness, which is the soul and spiritual essence that shines through and glorifies the horrors of the martyr's death. The struggles indeed between the inward sentiment of faith and duty, and the conflicting affections which rend the bosom of the daughter and the mother, and, for a moment, counsel concealment and disloyalty to Christ, afford the genuine materials for dramatic effect,-but this, which is really the only dramatic feature in the poem, occupies but an inconsiderable portion of its contents, and by a great error, as we think, in the conception of the piece, we feel so little interest in the character of Perpetua's father, and indeed despise him so heartily, that we can scarcely sympathize with the struggle of affections in the daughter's bosom. Had Vivius been truly a "noble Roman," as he is outwardly styled VOL. III. No. 14.-New Series.

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