[Note 3] And that impartial and highly respectable historian
of our own country, Dr. Murdock, whose extended and valuable additions
to the classic church history of Dr. Moshiem, abundantly prove his
acquaintance with the subject; in giving a synopsis of the contents of
the Augsburg Confession, thus epitomises the 24th Article: "_The
Protestants are falsely taxed with abolishing the mass_. They only
purified it; and discarded the idea of its being a work of merit, or
offering for the sins of the living and the dead, which militates
against the scriptural doctrine, that Christ's sacrifice is the only
sin offering." [note 4]
In order that we may give this question an impartial and conscientious
investigation, let us first inquire into the meaning of the word mass
among the Papists, apart from the present dispute. "_Mass_ (missa,
Mess,) says _Fuhrmann_, in his Lexicon of Religious and Ecclesiastical
History, [Note 5] at first signified that worship of God, which
_preceded_ the celebration of the Lord's Supper. Subsequently, and
especially in the fifth century, ministers termed the public celebration
of the eucharist, _mass_ (or missa, dismissed); because this service
took place after the catechumens were dismissed. This word 'missa' was
gradually corrupted into _mass_. But how did that mode of celebrating
this ordinance arise in the Romish Church, _which consisted in the
priest's giving the sacrament to himself alone, connected with solemn
turnings around, and moving about from place to place, and changes of
attitude, resembling in some degree a theatrical exhibition, which is
termed mass?_" He then proceeds to explain the history of the Romish
mass here defined.
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