Wesley Corpus

(4.) He puts exorcised salt into his mouth, saying, “Take the salt of wisdom.” (5.) He puts spittle in the palm of his left hand, puts the fore-finger of his right hand into it, and anoints the child’s nose and ears therewith, who is then brought to the water. After baptism, First, he anoints the top of the child's head with chrism, as a token of salvation: Secondly, he puts on him a white garment, in token of his innocence: And, Thirdly, he puts a lighted candle into his hand, in token of the light of faith. Now, what can any man of understanding say in defence of these idle ceremonies, utterly unknown in the primitive Church, as well as unsupported by Scripture? Do they add dignity to the ordinance of God? Do they not rather make it contemptible? 4. The matter of confirmation is the chrism; which is an ointment consecrated by the Bishop. The form is the words he uses in crossing the forehead with the chrism; namely, “I sign thee with the sign of the cross, and confirm thee with the chrism of salvation, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.” Then the person confirmed, setting his right foot on the right foot of his godfather, is to have his head bound with a clean head-band; which, after some days, is to be taken off, and reserved till the next Ash-Wednesday, to be then burnt to holy ashes. The Roman Catechism says, “Sacraments cannot be instituted by any beside God.” But it must be allowed, Christ did not institute confirmation; therefore it is no sacrament at all. 5. We come now to one of the grand doctrines of the Church of Rome,--that which regards the Lord’s supper. This, therefore, we would wish to consider with the deepest attention. They say, “In the Lord’s supper whole Christ is really, truly, and substantially contained; God-Man, body and blood, bones and nerves, under the appearance of bread and wine.” They attempt to prove it thus: “Our Lord himself says, ‘This is my body. Therefore, upon consecration there is a conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the whole substance of Christ's body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood; and this we term transubstantiation.