"[210] They avow the
main doctrines of the Gospel, but in such a modified sense that, they
say, the same were held virtually by all Christians in every age; by
Loyola and Xavier, not less than by Latimer and Ridley. They conceive
the essence of Popery to consist, not in points of metaphysical
theology, but in the ascription of magic virtue to outward acts. All who
believe the Scriptures are, in their opinion, members of the household
of faith. Salvation does not depend upon the ritual but upon the life;
the fruits of the Spirit are the sole criteria of the Spirit's presence.
They give prominence to the idea of the visible Church when they hold
the Church to be a Society divinely instituted for the purpose of
manifesting God's presence, and bearing witness to his attributes, by
their reflection in its ordinances and in its members. If its ideal were
fully embodied in its actual constitution "it would remind us daily of
God, and work upon the habits of our life as insensibly as the air we
breathe."[211] For this end, it would revive "daily services, frequent
communions, memorials of our Christian calling, presented to our notice
in crosses and wayside oratories; commemorations to holy men of all
times and countries; religious orders, especially of women, of different
kinds and under different rules, delivered only from the snare and sin
of perpetual vows.
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