]nsowr. [Boo IT asthemmaer; smiaaN?cpris?fonnofwords, ustheform. Buti? mmrimony there is neither; therefore it is uo sacrament. (4.) Furermore, none but pious persons ought to be pmakers of the saeramems of the church; bu? piety is no? �aec?sasry condition of marriage, therefore marriage is not a sacrament. The oonditions Of confemion and absolution which are sometimes enjoined in the Church of l?mo, cannot be properly pleaded ss teaching ttmt piety is required of those who are to be married; for confession and absolution are no proper concomitants of true piety, seeing the gres?st p? of those who are confessed and absolved are no otherwise religious than as mere- bets of the Church of Rome, and membership there is rather & ])re- sumption against, than in fayour of true religion. Yet some even of diem are truly religious. Nor does it alter the matter to introduce the di?inctions made by their theologians, viz., titat marriage is oO, en a civil or na?n'al contract, and not a sacrament. But this distinction is founded on mere technical distinctions, and not on any Scriptural mtthority either direct or in- ferential. (5.) Many Roman Catholics deny the sacramental character of matrimony. 3. It is necessary, as they acknowledge, that a sacrament should be instituted by Christ. But matrimony was not instituted by him. Therefore, according to their own rule, it is no sacrament. It is in vain that they say, Christ did institute the sacrament of marriage, when they cannot produce the words of institution, or adduce any one ot' the circumstances or the occasions connected with the institution. It is true, the Council of Trent most positively, in their f?rst canon, a? quoted above, affirm that Christ did institute the sacrament of matri- mony. But then neither chapter nor verse is given to prove this. In- deed, so divided are they themselves respecting the time in which Christ converted matrimony into a sacrament, that the most discordant opinions e_x4_at among them on this point. Let the Roman Catholic Dens �speak on the subject. "Some," says he, "say that it was insti- tuted when Christ (John ii) was present at the marriage at Oana of Galilee, which he is said to honour with his presence and to bless it. According to others, when Christ, (Matt. xix,) revoking matrimony to its primeval unity and indissolublehesS, rejecting the bill of divorce, said, ' What God hath joined together, let not men put asunder.' But others refer its institution to the time of the forty days between the resurrection and ascension, during which Christ often taugh? his apesdes concern= ing the kingdom of God, or hi_n_ church. Others say the time is uncer= taln." Thus the institution of marriq?e, as a sacrament, cannot be found by their ablest divines. The Council of Trent cannot find the plaoe where Christ delivered the institution. The Roman Catechism adroitly evades this point, and leaves the matter in the same uncertainty as it found it. Though marriage was originally instituted by Almighty God, and recognised by Christ, and its duties explained and enforced by the apostles; yet its institution, ?s a #actamint, cannot be found in any part of the New Testament. 1. We have seen that the Council of Trent teaches, that the church �De Mat?., No. I o,g,t,ze by Goodie
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