5. The real presence of the body and blood of the Saviour in the
Eucharist.
Here it is evident that the charge is, that the Confession advocates
the _ceremonies_ of the mass, but _not the mass itself_, as has been
alleged.
_b_. In the same connexion it is stated, "These are the _only_ errors
contained in the Augsburg Confession." But if these are the only errors
charged, then it follows that the error of inculcating the mass itself,
or doctrine of the mass, is at all events _not charged in the
Platform_, if it is in words even contained in the Confession.
_c_. The _caption_ in the list of errors on page 21 of the Platform, is
not headed the _Mass_, as is the article of the Confession to which it
refers; but what the Confession calls mass, the Platform, _with great
moderation_, styles _Ceremonies_ of the mass.
_d_. In the list of errors, the profession of which should exclude from
membership in Synods accepting the Platform, we find p. 15, the
following: "Whilst we will not admit into our Synod any one who
believes in Exorcism, Private Confession and Absolution, or the
_Ceremonies_ of the Mass." Here again _Ceremonies_ of the mass are
stated, but if the Platform taught that the Mass itself is inculcated
in the Confession, believers in the Mass would, _a fortiori_, have also
been mentioned as excluded.
What then is the meaning of the sentence on page 22 of the Platform,
"In refutation of the _tolerant views of the mass_ above expressed,
&c?" Why, of course we should suppose it meant those views of the mass
which the Platform charges against the Confession, as taught in these
passages, namely, retaining and approving the _ceremonial_ of the mass,
which constituted by far the greater part of the public mass, so
called, although its nature had been changed by denying the
_sacrificial_ character of the minister's act of self-communion, and
its being performed for the benefit of _others_, either living or dead.
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