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demands of the arn ^ sador , f ® obey the king hi * nself ^ ¦ Thte is evidently th&flieaning , for our Skvioul ' isky ^ ift fembth ^ r |> lace , ^ Of mys ^ f I can do nothing , ' and < My Father is greater than L '" I here observed to M * Rostaing that I was quite astonished to hear him express these sentiments , as I had thought the Vaudois all believed in the Supreme Deity of Christ , and that the religious books of instruction which they used contained this doc *>
tritiei He replied " These questions are not agitated amongst us . * Nous tm&onsj we forbear from discussing the coequality of Christ with the Father ^ Original Sin j Predestination , " &c . " What ! just as they do at Geneva V replied I . " Yes . " " But you have no regulation to that effect ? " " No . " u Does the Synod , then , " I asked , " not interfere in any way in matters of faith , nor require the pastors to preach in any other manner than they may
judge agreeable to the gospel ? " " There is no interference at any time * on any matter of faith , either with the people or the pastors . Our creed is , as you must have observed , that of the apostles . But we require no oath to be taken to it . Our pastors come to us already ordained at their respective colleges , and they have only t © present certifieatesf of diis ordination , in order to receive cures as vacancies occur * ' u But surely / ' I said , " a great change in sentiments must have taken place among you within afew years ?" 6
* No , " he replied , " no change of doctrine has ever , taken place . The doctrines of our church at this day are those our ancestors received from the companions of the apostles . " " Do they not then , in some seme , regard Jesus Christ to be God himself P * I inquired . ^ The Waldenses ^ ' he replied , " have ever considered charity , and not the belief of a particular set of doctrines , to be Christianity . They obey Christ and they worship God . But with respect to mysterious dogmas , no one interferes wttfo the iaith of our people ; They go no further , however , than the pastors gfo in their cate *
ehetical instructions , such as you have heard this morning . We use Oster- * vald's Catechism , which comes to us from Switzerland * We cannot print any thing for ourselves . This Catechism says of Christ that he was * God and mam ^ This the pastor explains , de mani&re dene pas s * Scarier dePortka * ohxie , in such a way as not to depart from orthodoxy . But that Christ should bd equal to the Father never entered the head of a single Vaudois ^ n ' entrait jamais dans la tite d ' aucum Vaudois" pointing with his fore-finger fe his wrt head with strong gesticulation . " But they all believe that he was C&ttceived by the Holy Spirit , and that the Holy Spirit descended upon him
50 i bis baptism . ** I made particular inquiries of M . Rostaing respecting , the nature of his own office , and the constitution of the Waldensian Church . As some parts of this constitution display considerable ingenuity in providing against the inroads of spiritual usurpation , and at the same time securing to the pastors a reasonable degree of respect and influence , ( and as , I believe , no account of it has yet been laid before the public in England , ) I will now give the
result of my inquiries . This church resembles the Kirk of Scotland , in having a general assembly for managing the aftairs of the whole church , and a ^ particular one for each separate church * The church consists of all the individuals who , being sixteen years of age or upwards , have received the Lord ' s Supper * The young people are instructed * b y the pastor previously to their admission , but no confession of faith is required of them , nor is any ** experience" given in . Each parish is divided into a considerable number of sections or quarters , for each of which quarter * the whale body of the chutteh choose an elder ^ and either one or more deacon * . In the parish of La Toor there are ten elders , m that of Angrogna twelve * The eldem and
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Tht Wmenm . 81 i
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1827, page 811, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1802/page/27/
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