Excerpt from Discussions on Church Principles: Popish, Erastian, and Presbyterian The materials of this volume, selected partly from the published and partly from the unpublished writings of Dr Cunningham, - although prepared at different times and with different objects in view, - have little in them of the character of a miscellaneous collection. To no small extent they embody a connected view and thorough discussion of some of the leading peculiarities that mark the three great theories into which opinions, as to Church principles, both in former and recent times, fall to be classified. The general subject considered is the Church, not so much in its doctrinal aspects and creeds as in the character of a spiritual society, holding by necessity certain relations of one kind or other to the State, - professing to exercise separate and inherent powers, - and claiming peculiar rights and liberties for its members; and the discussion of this subject on the grounds of Scripture and reason, involves an examination of the chief features that distinguish the Popish, the Erastian, and the Presbyterian systems. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.