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'T^LIl»¥]MII¥IEI^SIIirY-

A PROTESTANT'S

THE DOUAY BIBLE,

ETC., ETC.

MOSTREAt ;
^....MXLLE^.BT.FKANmS^ATIE.sTaEKT.

CONTENTS.
Bbdication  7
Preface  9
The One Sodrce of Religious Truth  13
The One Head of the Catholic Church  49
The One Object of Religious Adoration  88
The One Sacrifice for Sin  129
The One Mediator between God and Men  ITt
The One Method of Justification  ; . 219
The One Agent of Regeneration  263
The Christian Sacraments  301
Fdrgatokt  345
Peoiestantism  38t

TO
JOHN HANNAH, D. D.,
TEACHER OF SACRED THEOLOGY,
DISTINGUISHED NO LESS
BY HIS CHRISTIAN VIRTUES,
THAN
BY HIS BIBLICAL LEARNING ;
DELIVERED
IN ILLUSTRATION AND DEFENCE
OF THE DOCTRINES OF
PROTESTANTISM,
ARE
GRATEFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY
INSCRIBED BT One of I)tii JTtrSt IBvjfilS.

PREFACE.

Protestants need instruction as to the
Scriptural ground upon which rest the doctrines
of the Reformation.
Protestants are too ready to receive the
unwarranted assertion made by the defenders
of Romanism, that antiquity is altogether on
the side of the Papacy.
Protestants are not sufficiently aware that it
is impossible to sustain the peculiar dogmas of
of the Roman Catholic Church, by an appeal
even to her own versions of the Bible.
Protestants, moreover, entertain a too lenient
view of the principles and practices of Roman
Catholicism. Impressed with these facts, the author, in the
course of the last Winter determined to present
to the members of his Congregation, in a series

PEEFACE. XI.
will not look for that precision of style which
would mark a simply didactic treatise.
The author wishes to record his indebtedness
to a valuable work on a portion of this
controversy, by the Right Reverend Bishop
Hopkins, for the assistance, both in argument
and in authorities, rendered him in discuss
ing the subject of the second lecture ; also
to the works of the Reverend Dr. Cumming of
London, and of the Reverend Dr. Elliott of
Cincinnati, for some of those illustrations of the
character of Roman Catholicism, which are
found in others of the Lectures.
Montreal, 15th August, 1853.

LECTURE I.
The ONE SOURCE OF RELIGIOUS TRUTa
It has been already announced to you that my object
in delivering the series of Lectures upon which we now
enter, is to expound ihe piinciples and doctrines of the
Protestant faith. I rather desire to inform the Pro
testant mind than to contend, much less cavil with my
Roman Catholic friends. It will, I need not say, be
impossible, in addressing myself to such a subject as
that whose discussion is now proposed, not to refer to
the Church whose errors gave rise to those Lutheran
remonsta-ances which resulted in the system denomi
nated " Protestantism :" but, in doing this it will be
my continual purpose to avoid the utterance of a single
word that will even offend the taste, much less wound
the feelings of any person who may hear me. It is
possible, so at least I believe, to deal with error without
descending to personal abuse ; it is possible to expose
the inconsistencies of a system, without infringing
towards its adherents, the law of love.
I ask for these Lectures the candid consideration of
every Eoman Catholic who may favour me with his
presence and attention. Whatever I shall say of the
doctrines and worship of the Church of Eome will be
derived from acknowledged standards or authorities of
B

14 LECTURE t^
that Church. What I shdl say of Protestantism, will
be, so far as I know it, in faithful accordance with
its universally acknowledged principles. And I will
farther say, that if any Roman Catholic who may hear
me, seek additional information on any subject which
shall be discussed, and will take the trouble of writing:
to me a note, I will do my best, in the course of the
series, to bring out the information which he needs. In
order to this, however, it will be necessary for the
writer to subscribe his name and address, as it has been
a rule with me for many years to commit to the flames,
without reading, every anonymous communication that
I receive. And now it only remains to invoke upon this under
taking the Divine blessing. Let us remember that no
exhibition of the truth of God can be uninfluential.-
Edification and sanetification are the fruits of a doeil&
and prayerful attention to the word of God. To exhibit
the truth, is to communicate light to the darkened
conscience of the guilty: To exhibit the truth, is ta
plant 3 guide-post in the way of the sinner who wanders
over the wilderness of error, seeking rest and finding-
none : To exhibit the truth, is to erect a light-house
within view of the tempest-tossed mariner, who seeks
in vain a harbour of repose for his troubled conscience.
The subject announced for exposition this evening is
" the t)NE SOURCE OP RELIGIOUS TRUTH.''
The words which I have selected as the foundation
of my remarks upon this vital question, are found in the

*HE ONE SOURCE OF RELIGIOUS TRUTH. IS
xvii. chapter of the Gospel according to St. John, at
the iTth verse. They occur in that sublime prayer
which our adorable Saviour last offered for his dis
ciples : " Thy word is truth."
This is the firet principle of Protestantism. The
word of God is the fountain of religious truth, — the
one only source from which is derived all that we
know of God which is not revealed to us by his works ;
and all that we know of man's relation to God, of man's
position in the sight of God, of God's disposition
towards man as a sinner, of man's duty to God, and of
man's future destiny. We do not, be it remembered,
assert that the word of God is the source of all truth,
for there are mathematical truths, which are derived
from sources independent of the Bible ; and there are
physical truths which have been ascertained by the
investigations of science ; and there are divine truths,
such as the eternal power and Godhead of the Creator,
which are revealed to us by the vast and glorious works
of creation. What we assert as a first principle of
Protestantism is this, — that of all revealed truth, the
Bible is the sole fountain. — " Thy word is truth."
We wish to remind you of a doctrine which is
too reasonable to be disputed, and to which we shall
frequently refer in the course of this discussion, viz.,
that truth is never inconsistent with itself ; that truth
never contradicts truth ; that physical truth and ma
thematical truth, and the truth of natural theology,
and the truth of revealed theology are all in perfect
harmony -with each other. Independent they are, but
contradictory they never can be. This evening we

13 LECTURE I.
ha-ve to do with the source of all revealed truth. Let
me then announce a doctrine kindred to that now
adduced, a doctrine which is no less philosophical, viz.,
that revealed truth can never contradict itself. If (e. g.)
I draw froiji the acknowledged fountain of revealed
truth any doctrine whatsoever, I am bound to reject as
false every dogma which does not accord with that
doctrine. Truth is as immutable as Divinity, truth is
as consistent as God. No change in society, no mea
sure of antiquity, no discovery of science, no variation
of climate or of language affects truth. What was truth
in Jerusalem when Christ was crucified, was truth in
Rome when Paul was crucified ; what was truth in
Eome 1800 years ago, is truth in America, in Montreal,
in 1853. It -will be acknowledged by all parties, that,
so f^r, -this is an advantage to us in our present inquiry.
Another thing favourable to our present investigation
is this, that between the Church of Rome and Protest
antism there is no dispute as to the plenary inspiration
of those Scriptures or writings which we call the Bible,
including the Old and New Testaments. The Old
Testament in Hebrew, as handed down to us by the
Jews, and the New Testament in Greek, which every
Protestant student of the original uses, and from which
our present English version is taken, are acknowledged
by the Church of Rome to be the inspired word of the
living God. We speak now of the Scriptures in the
original tongues, and we would remind every Catholic
and Protestant present, that all the versions of the
Scriptures which are of any account in either of the
two communities, acknowledge one and the same ori-

the one SOURCE OF RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 17
ginal. There is certainly a dispute as to the veracity
of the translations from that original ; but no Protestant
need question the -fidehty of the translators of King-
James's Bible, when he remembers the care which was
taken to secm-e a perfect rendering of God's own word,
or while he has the testimony of such scholars as Lowth,
Horsley, and Selden, in support of the integrity of the
English text. Indeed we desire no farther proof of the
accuracy of the Protestant Bible than that which is
afforded by the fact, that there is so general a corres
pondence between it and the Latin vulgate, a version
which the Council of Trent declared to be authoritative
and divine. In the com-se of these lectures we shall
advance no text, (without a distinct announcement to
the contrary,) in support of the principles of Protestant
ism, that is not found in the Roman Catholic versions
of the Scriptures ; — ^in the Vulgate, in Martini's Italian
translation, or in the Douay version.

Protestantism enters its protest against any
ADDITION whatever TO THE OlD AND NeW TESTA
MENT Scriptures, as binding upon the faith and
PRACTICE of the ChURCH, OR UPON THE CONSCIENCE
OF ITS MEMBERS.
First, — Protestantism rejects the Apocryphal books
or -writings ; not as historical and moral writings having
the same claim to our respect as the works of Xenophon,
or Plato, or any other ancient historian or moralist ; but
it rejects them as inspired writings.

18 LECTURE I.
Observe 1.— The Canon of both Jews and Protest
ants, as it'respects the Old Testament, is precisely one.
In support of this position, I shall merely transcribe
a few sentences from the celebrated Catholic historian,
Dupin, who in his history of the Canon, vol. i. page 7,
quotes Jerome on this subject :— " All the books of the
Old Testament among the Jews are twenty-two, of
which five belong to Moses, eight to the prophets, and
nine to the other holy penmen; and we are to take
notice, that whatever is not contained in the number of
those books which we have translated from the Hebrew,
is Apocryphal. From hence, it follows, that the Book
of Wisdom, commonly ascribed to Solomon, Ecclesias-
ticus, said to be composed by Jesus, the son of Sirach,
Judith, Tobit and Pastor, do not belong to the Canon,
no more than the two books of the Maccabees." Did
Jesus Christ, or his apostles, ever charge the Jews -with
the omission of any Canonical book ? No. And yet
if the writings which we call Apocryphal were inspired,
as the Church of Eome asserts, they would surely have
laid themselves open to that charge. Did Christ, or his
apostles, ever quote from, or refer to these disputed
writings ?
Observe 2. — ^The Apocryphal books were not admitted
into the Canon of scripture during the first four centuries
of the Christian Church. The first catalogues of the
Canonical books made by the ecclesiastical Greek and
Latin authors, comprehended no more than the Jewish
Canon in the Books of the Old Testament. In support
of this statement we again furnish the testimony
of our Catholic historian Dupin, whose statements no

THE ONE BOUKCB OF RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 19
•candid Eoman Catholirf will be disposed to question.
"" The fii-st and most ancient catalogue of the Canonical
books that we have, drawn up by a Christian author, is
that of Melito, Bishop of Sardis. This catalogue is
mentioned by Eusebius in the 26th chapter of the 4th
book of his history. In it he reckons only twenty-
two books of the Old Testament. Origen, in a passage
•extracted fi-om his commentary on the 1st Psalm,
reckons also twenty-two. The Council of Laodicea,
which is the first Synod wherein the number of
Canonical books was determined, assigns only twenty-
two books of the Old Testament, including the book
of Esther, and joining Baruch, the Lamentations
and the letters, with the prophecy of Jeremiah, This
catalogue is followed by St. Cyril of Jerusalem in his
fourth catechetical lecture, and by St. Athanasius in his
Festival epistle." The same historian says again that
" the first catalogue wherein the books of the Apocrypha
were admitted as canonical and as having the same
authority as the Bible, is that of the third Council of
Carthage, {Africa,) held in the year 8S7 ;" he further
intimates that they were " received on condition that the
Church beyond the sea (Europe) should be consulted
for its confiiTuation." Taking then, the authority of a
Eoman Catholic historian, it appeal's that during the
first four centuries the Jewish canon alone was received in
Christendom. The decision of the Council of Laodicea,
omitting the Apocrypha, was received by the universal
church. But the Council of Carthage in Africa decided
only for themselves, and besides they wished to consult
churches in other countries on this subject At a

2 Of LECTURE r.
second African council, held in 418, the Apociypha was"
taken into the Canonical catalogue, but they were so far
from determining absolutely on this subject that they
thought proper to confer -with the churches in Italy,
It remained for the Comicil of Trent in 1545,
, authoritatively and definitely to add the uninspired
Apocrypha to the Word of God, and to pronounce its
anathema upon all who do not hold it as sacred and
canonical. Yet we are often asked, and this too in the-
language of defiance, to show that the Christiani
church previously to Luther ever held a different Canon 1
Secondly, — Protestantism rejects an unwiitten word ;.
it rejects all oral tradition as a rule of faith : It denies
the necessity of an un-written word to supplement the
• deficiencies of the written word : It denies the existence
of an unwritten word, and it has in vain demanded the -
proof of its existence in the CathoHc Church. Where
lie these oral traditions ? where is the evidence of their-
inspiration? Do they teach any thing different front
the preaching and -wiitings of the Great Teacher and
His Apostles ? Then I reject them, and I say " ye make
the commandment of God of none effect by your
tradition." But Protestantism goes farther, it denies
the possibility, for any practical, authoritative purpose, of
an unwritten word. Take (e. g.) the history of the Old
World : Primitive rebgious truth had to pass through
few hands, and yet how soon did the world forget the
institution of the Sabbath, and the doctrine of God's,
Unity. What has oral tradition done for the descendants.
of Noah ? I need only refer to those nations which
in the present day are destitute of the Gospel. But st

tMK ONfi SOURCE OP llELIGlOUS TfeUTlt. ^L
Roman Catholic friend might be disposed to ask whethei'
we are not commanded to " hold the traditions which
have been taught, whether by word or epistle ?" Yes,
I grant that the Thessalonians were thus taught, and I
have no hesitation in declaring my -willingness to accept
these traditions or deliverances of the Apostle's mouth,
if the Church of Rome can produce them, and furnish
demonstrative endence that they are truly what they
profess to be. I caimot proceed to the next step in the
discussion, without inviting your attention to the opinion
of two of the Fathers on the comparative valite of the
written and un-wiitten word. Theophilus Alexandrinus,
who died in 412, says plainly, "It is part of a devilish •
spirit to think any thing to be Divine that is not in the
authority of the Holy Scriptures." Jerome, who died
eight years after Theophilus, writes thus in his controversy
-with Hehddius : " As we deny not those things which
are iNTitten, so we refuse those things which are not
written. That God was born of a virgin, we believe,
because we read it ; that Mary was married after, we
believe not, because we do not read it.'*
Thirdly, — Protestantism rejects the authority of the
Fathers as a rule of faith. They were but men, fallible
men ; they aspired not to inspiration ; they were in the
habit rather, as we have already seen, of appealing to
the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as their
rule of faith. Protestants esteem the Fathera, many of
them at least, as men of piety and learning, and reject
not their testimony when it agrees with the teaching of
the Scriptures ; but it is as necessary to establish the
Scriptural authority of the dootrinas of (he Fathers by
b2

S2 LECtUEfi 1.
an appeal to the Word of God, as it is to establish the
scripturahiess of the teaching of our own di-vines, by an
appeal to the same standard. We spoke just now of
immutability as an essential attribute of truth : does
the teaching of the Fathers, or their exposition of the
Bible possess this attribute ? Is there no contradiction
amongst them ? Is there even a general consistency of
opinion? By no means. Not only is one Father
opposed to another Father, but not unfrequently to
himself The creed of Pope Pius IV. contains the
following vow or oath, which every Minister of the
Church of Eome takes upon himself : " Nor will I ever
take or interpret the Scriptm-es otherwise than by the
unanimous consent of the Fathers." But who ever found
the Fathers unanimous in their interpretation of the
Word of God ? It would surprise if not amuse you.
Were I to quote their differences of opinion even on that
simple passage of Scripture, " the Lord's Prayer." But
I have only time to refer to their various interpretations
of a passage which is considered of some importance by
our Roman Catholic brethren : and lest it should be
surmised that my own representations of the views of
the Fathers might be swayed by previously formed
opinions, I shall give you an epitome of these -views
furnished by one of the most learned writers, and eminent
authorities in the entire Eoman Catholic community,
Cardinal Bellarmine. The passage occurs in the 3rd
chapter of 1st Corinthians, and is thus rendered in the
Douay version : " According to the grace of God that
is given to me as a -wise architect, I have laid the
foundation, and another buUdeth thereon. But let every

TfiE ONE BOUROE OP KELtGIOUS TRUTH. 23
man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other
foundation can no man lay but that which is laid, which
is Christ Jesus. Now if any man build upon this
foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay,
stubble, eveiy- man's work shall be manifest; for tho
day of the Lord shall declare it, becau'se it shall ba
revealed in fire, and the fire shall try every man's woi>k,
of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he
hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward ; if any
man's work burn, he shall suffer loss ; but he himself
shall be saved, yet so as by fire.''
The Cardinal first enumerates the difiiculties of the
passage, and then furnishes an epitome of the differences
of the Fathers : — :
" The diflSculties of this passage are five in number,
1. What is to be understood by the builders ? 2. What
is to be underetood by gold, silver, precious stones,
wood, hay, stubble 1 3. What is to be understood by
the day of the Lord. 4. What is to be understood by
the fire, of which it is said, that in the day of the Lord
it shall prove every one's work ? 5. W^hat is to be
imderstood by the fire, of which it is said, he shall ba
saved, yet so as by fire ? When tliese things cure explained,
the passage will be clear.
" The fij'st dilBcuity, therefore, is, who are the archi
tects who build upon the foundation ? The blessed
Augustine, in his book on faith and works, c. 16, and
in his ' Enchiridion,' c. 68, and elsewhere, thinks that
all Christians are here called by the apostle architects,
and that all build upon the foundation of the faith
either good or bad works. Chrysostom, Theodpret,

24 tfiCTUHE i.
TheopTiylact, and (Ecumenins, appear to me to feaeSt
the same upon this passage. Many others teach that
only the doctors and preachers of the gospel are here
called architects by the apostle. Jerome insinuates this-
ia his second book against Jovinianus. The blessed
Anselm and the blessed Thomas hold the same opinion
on this passage, although they do not reject the former
opinion. Many more modern think the same, as Dio-
nysius the Carthusian, Lyra, Cajetan, and others.
" The other diflBeulty is rather more serious, for there
are six opinions. Soine, by the name of foundation,
understand a true but an ill-digested faith ; by the name
of gold, silver, and precious stones, good works ; by
. the names of wood, hay, and stubble, mortal sins. Thus
Chrysostom upon this place, who is followed by Theo-
phylact. The second opinion is, that Christ, or the
preaching of the faith, is to be understood by the name
of foundation ; that by the names of gold, silver,
precious stones, are to be understood Catholic exposi
tions, as the commentary of Ambrose and even Jerome
seem to teach. The third opinion, by the name foun
dation, understands living faith ; and by the name of
gold, silver, and precious stones, understands works of
supererogation, &c. Thus the blessed Augustine, in his
book on faith and worts, lib. e. The fourth opinion is
that of those who explain by gold, silver, &c., to be
meant good works ; by hay, stubble, &o., venial sins.
Thus the blessed Gregory, in the fourth book of his
dialogues, c. 39, and others. The fifth is the opinion
of those who understand by gold, silver, &c., good
hearers ; and by stubble,. &g., bad hearers. Thu&

THE ONE SOURCE 01' RELIGIOUS TKUTri. 2S
Theodoret and (Ecumenius. The sixth opinion, which
¦we prefer to all, is, that by the name -of foundation is
to be understood Christ as preached- by the first
preachers ; by the name of gold, silver, &c., is to be
understood the useful doctrine of the other |)reaohers,
who teach those who now received the faith ; but by
the name of wood, hay, &c., is to be understood the
doctrine, not indeed heretical, or bad, but singular, of
those preachere who preach catholically to the Catholic
people, without the fruit and usefulness which God
requires. " The third difficulty regards the day of the Lord-
Some understand by the name of day, the present life
or the time of ti-ibulation. Thus Augustine, in his book
of faith and works, c. 16, and Gregory, in the fourth
book of his dialogue, c. 39  But all the ancients
seem to have understood by that day, the day of the
last judgment, as Theodoret, Theophylact, Anselm, and
others. " The fourth difficulty is, what is the fire, which in
the day of the Lord shall prove every one's work ?
Some understand the tribulations of this life, as Augus--
tine and Gregory, in the places noted ; but these we
have already rejected. Some understand eternal fire ;
but that cannot be, for fire shall not try the bnUding of
gold and silver. . . . Some imderstand it to be the
pains of purgatory; but that cannot be truly said.
First, because the fire of purgatory does not prove the
works of those who build gold and silver ; but the fire
of which we are speaking, shall prove every man's work
what it is. Secondly, the apostle clearly makes a dis-

26 LECTURSi I.
tinction between the works and the workmen, and says,
concerning that fire, that it shall burn the works, but
not the workers ; for he says, ' if any one's work shall
remain, and if any work shall burn ;' but the fire of
purgatory, which is a real fire, cannot burn works,
which are transitory actions, and have already passed.
Lastly, it would follow that all men, even the most holy,
would- pass through the fire of purgatory, and be saved
by fire, for all are to pass through the fire of which we
are speaking. But that all are to pass through the fire
of purgatory, and be saved by fire is clearly false ; for
the apostle here openly says, that only those who build
wood and hay are to be saved as if by fire : the Church,
also, has always been persuaded, that holy martyrs, and
infants dying after baptism, are presently received into
heaven without any passage through fire, as the Council
of Florence teaches in its last session. It remains,
therefore, that we should say, that the apostle here
speaks of the fire of the severe and just judgment of
God, which is not a purging or punishing fire, but one
that probes and examines. Thus Ambrose explains it
on Psalm 118, and also Sedulius.
" The fifth and last difficulty is, what is to be under
stood by the fire, when he says, ' But he shall be saved
yet so as by fire ?' Some understand the tribulations
of this life ; but this cannot be properly said, because
then even he who built gold and silver would be saved
by fire. Wherefore, Augustine and Gregory, who are
the authors of this opinion, when they were not satisfied
with it, proposed another, of which we shall speak by-
(uid-byei. Some understand it to be eternal fire, as

THE ONE SOURCE OF RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 27
Chrysostom and Theophylact. But this we have already
refuted. Others understand the fire of the conflagration
of the world. It is, therefore, the common opinion of
theologians, that by the name of this fii'e is to be under
stood some purgatorial and temporal fire, to which,
after death, those are adjudged, who are found in their
trial to have built wood, hay, and stubble."
I ask you, then, in -vdew of this illustration, to
consider the absurdity of that pledge which is so
solemnly given by every Eoman Catholic minister, not
to intei-pret the Holy Scriptures, otherwise than "by
the unanimous consent of "the Fathers,"
But I cannot refrain from directing your attention to
the opinions of the Fathers upon another text of Scrip-
tm'e. And, when I read it, you will not think it
presumption in me, to say that, of all the passages of
the New Testament, we have a right to expect, on this
one especially, that the consent of the Fathers should
be unanimous. I refer to Mat. xvi, 18: — "I say to
thee: that thou art Peter; and upon-~this rock I will
build my Church." 'S^,';- c^^/^0' ^'^^U^'j^'Si^A
Remember, I am not now discussing the meaning of
our Lord's language, I merely announce the views of
the Fathers. Some of them say that the rock is
Peter's faith ; as CyrU of Alexandria, (dial. 4, on Holy
Trin.) " He called nothing but the firm and immovable
faith of the disciple the rock upon which the Church
was founded, -without the possibility of falling :" and
thus Chrysostom (serm. de pent.) — " He did not say
upon P^fer, for he did not found his Church upon a
man, but upon faith. What, therefore, is meant by

SS tfiOTfJKi!; h
' upon this rock ?' Upon the confession contained ill
his words.'' Also (Chrys. serm. 54, on Matt) " and I
say unto thee, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I
will build my Church ; that is to say, upon the faith
of the confession." Augustine sometimes interprets the
rock to mean Peter, and sometimes to mean Christ;
and referring to his contradictions in his book of retract
ations, he leaves the reader to choose for himself
whichever of the interpretations he prefers. His words
are to the folio-wing: (Retrac. lib. 1.) "I have said,
in a certain passage respecting the Apostle Peter, that
the Church is founded upon him as upon a rock. ...»
But I know that I have frequently afterwards so
expressed myself that the phrase ' upon this rock' should
be understood to be the rock which Peter confessed.
For it was not said to him, thou art Petra, but thou art
Petrus ; for the rock was Christ. Let -the reader select
which of these two opinions he deems the most pro
bable." ;;^'- •-- /<'^' ¦'' '¦ '•• ¦• >¦¦¦''¦'¦•' '' ¦¦ •-'•
I might, almost -without end, multiply examples of
the ¦ differences which exist amongst the Fathers upon
passages of Scripture and doctrines of faith ; passages
and doctrines tliat are allowed, by even Roman Catholics,
to be of vital consequence in the system of Christianity.
Am I sui-prised at. this want of unanimity ? By no
means. It is to be expected that fallible men of
different degrees of learning, educated in' different
schools, born and trained in various countries and
climates, surrounded by dissimilar influences, should
variously interpret texts of Scripture. I do not wonder
at' these differences, but I do wonder that a church so

THE ONE SOURCE OF RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 29
prudential .as that of Rome, should have enjoined this
absurd exigetical law, and that any reasonable man
should consent to be governed by it.
Now, I think you will agree with me that we have
reached thus far in our investigation : — that the
introduction of the Apocrypha into the Biblical Scriptures
was not sanctioned by either Christ or His Apostles, or
even by the early church ; that, indeed, it was not
until nearly the commencement of the fifth century
that it was received by any portion of the church, and
then by only the Mrican portion ; and that, therefore,
the voice of antiquity is against its reception into the
inspired canon. I have also shown that oral traditions
are not only not authoritative, but are entirely fabulous ;
and have asserted, -without fear of successful contradiction,
that no saying or miracle of Christ or His Apostles not
found in the New Testament has ever been disclosed by
the Catholic Church on indubitable testimony. And
lastly, that the Fathers disagi-ee amongst themselves as
to some of the most important passages of Holy Writ,
and therefore give an uncertain sound, rather than a
sure word of testimony. We are driven back from these
shifting sources of doctrinal instruction to the pure
truth of God. They furnish no sure foundation upon
which we can build om- hopes, and in the midst of that
which is so changeful and uncertain, we feel that we are
only safe when we plant ourselves upon this rock — the
Holy Bible. "I profess plainly," said the immortal
ChUlingworth, " that I cannot find any rest for the sole
of my foot but on this rock only. I see plainly that
there are popes. against popes, councils against councils.

30 LECTURE I.
some Fathers against others, the same Fathers against
themselves ; a consent of the Fathers of one age against
a consent of the Fathers of another age, the church of
one age against the church of another age. ... In a
word, there is no suificient certainty, but of Scripture
only, for any considering man to build upon. This
therefore, and this only, I have reason to believe ; this
-will I profess, and according to this wiU I live. Propose
me any thing out of this book, and require whether I
beheve it or no ; and seem it ever so incomprehensible
to human reason, I will subscribe it with . hand and
heart, as knowing no demonstration can be ' stronger
than this ; ' God hath said so, therefore it is true.' In
other things I will take no man's liberty of judgment
from him, neither shall any man take mine fr.om me.
I will think no man the worse man nor the worse
Christian, I will love no man the less, for differing in
opinion from me. -And what measure I mete to others,
¦ I expect from them again. I am fully assured that
God does not, and therefore that men ought not to
require any more of any man than this, to believe the
Scripture to be the Word of God, to endeavor to find
the true sense of it, and to five according to it."
Protestantism asserts the absolute sufficiency
OF the Holy Scriptures for the guidance of
THE Church in all matters of doctrine and
PRACTICE. On this subject, the standards of the churches of
EnglaJid and Scotland, -with which all other Protestant
churches agree, are sufficiently explicit.

THE ONE SOURCE OF RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 31
The Sixth Article of the Church of England reads
thus: —
" Holy Scripture containeth all things necessai'y to
salvation : so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor
may be proved- thereby, is not to be required of any man,
that it should be bebeved as an article of Faith, or be
thought requisite or necessary to salvation. In the
name of the Holy Scripture we do understand those
Canonical Books of the Old and New Testament, of
whose authority was never any doubt in the Church."
Not less clear and peremptory are the ninth and
tenth sections of the first chapter of the Westminster
confession :
" The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the
Scripture itself ; and therefore, when there is a question
about the true and full sense of any Scripture, (which
is not manifold, but one,) it must be searched and'
known by other places that speak more clearly. ,
" The Supreme Judge, by whom all controversies of
religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils,
opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private
spirits are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are
to rest, can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in
the Scripture."
But why need I refer to ecclesiastical standards, since
the Word of God abundantly declares its own sufficiency.
I appeal to a few of the many texts which may be
adduced in support of this assertion. The first occurs
in the 8th chap, of Isaiah, ver. 20. "To the law and
to the testimony ; if they speak not according to this
Word it is because there is no light in them."

32 LECTURE I.
(Vulgate) "There will not be to them the mornitg
light" Here the people of Israel were commanded to
test even, a prophet's message. " They have Moses and
the prophets, let them hear them. ... If they hear not
Moses and the prophets neither -will they beUeve if one
rise again from the dead." . . . "But though we or an
angel from Heaven preach a Gospel to you besides that
which we have preached to you, let him be anathema."
.... "The Holy Scriptures are able to make thee
wise unto salvation," — " to instruct thee to salvation."
And if this could be said of the Old Testament, much
more may it be said of the New. What want I more
than to be instructed to salvation? What work of
supererogation is that which requires that I receive
as truth necessary to salvation, more than that which
is able to make me wise unto salvation ? For myself I
want no more than this — only give me the incorruptible
seed of the Word, which is able to save my soul, and I
want naught beside. No! I -will not wander away
from this sure word of prophecy, I will not put in its
place any word of man, no tradition shall have witb me
the same authority as the written word of the Living
God, and when I am in doubt of its meaning I will go
to no uninspired authority, but following the apostolic
maxim, I will compare Scripture -with Scripture ; no
private interpretation shall satisfy me, no interpretation
of Bishop, or Cardinal, or Priest; the Scripture is its
own, its best interpreter, and vrill make all things plain.
Our Roman Catholic friends sometimes say that the
Protestant rule of faith is the Bible explained by every
man's private judgment. This is not a fair representation ;

tHE ONE SOURCE OF RELIGIOUS TRUTH. S3
-r-our rule of faith is the Bible alone, without note OV
comment, or any thing indeed, extrinsic from itself
This is the only standard of appeal which the Protestant
can recognize. As long as he keeps within the
circumference of the Bible he is on impregnable ground ;
but the instant he goes be^J-ond the Bible, and allows
that the opinion of Henry, or Scott, or Wesley, or the
comments of the Anglican, or Scottish, or any other
church, are part and parcel of the rule of faith, he has
left the munition of rocks— he is unsafe, and is in
momentary danger of being carried away with every
wind of doctrine.
Protestantism asserts it to be the privilege of
E-VERY man to APPROACH THIS SoURCE OF TrUTH,
the Bible, and to draw freely from its streams.
There is presumptive evidence that the Divine
Author of the Holy Scriptures intended the Bible for
aU men. Moses promulged the law of God and the
-wiU of God to the Israelites generally : Joshua did the
same : Ezra, after the return from Babylon, followed in
this respect his great exemplar Joshua : The prophets
spoke to the people generally in the vulgar tongue, and
¦wrote in the vulgar tongue : Christ spoke to the
multitudes, addressing to them, (as, for instance, in his
sei-mon on the Mount,) some of the sublimest mysteries,
and some of the hardest sajdngs of the Christian
religion : Peter addressed the multitudes in Jerusalem
on the day of Pentecost, and Paul preached almost daily
to large assemblies of Jews and Greeks. They as well

.,'t84 LECTURE I.
as the other ¦wi'iters of the apostolic epistles wrote to the
brethren of the Churches— to " all the holy brethren."
Seeing then, that the Bible is made up of these several
parts, who can resist the conclusion that it was designed
without let or hindrance for the whole people? Yes,
my brethren, the Bible, like Christ, was given for the
World. But we have direct evidence from the Bible itself
that the Holy Scriptures were designed by God to be
read and investigated by all. " Search the Scriptures
for you think in them to have life everlasting, and the
same are they that give testimony of me.'' No^yv,
whether you regard this as a command, or as an
assertion, you are in either case bound to acknowledge
that it was both the duty and the privilege of the
Jews to " search the Scriptures." The Bereans were
applauded by the inspired historian in the following
language : " Now these were more noble than those in
Thessalonica, who received the word with all eagerness,
daily searching the Scriptures whether these things
were so." We have quoted from the Douay version,
and the words remain a standing reproof to every
Eoman CathoUc Minister who refuses to his fellow-man
the opportunity and privilege of emulating the nobleness
of the Berean Christians.
" They have Moses and the Prophets, let them hear
them.'' "From thy infancy," said Paul to Timothy,
"thou hast known the Holy Scriptures," a statement
which clearly shows what was the domestic practice of
the Jews as to scriptural instruction. The last passage
which we furnish in support of the Protestant principle

THE ONE SOURCE OF RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 35
that man's inalienable right is to read the Bible, is
from one of the Apostle Peter's letters, in which,
speaking of Paul and his writings, he says, " As also in
all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in
which are certain things hard to be understood, which
the unlearned and the unstable wrest as they do also
the other Scriptures to their own destruction." I
direct your special attention to this passage, because
it proves that St. Paul's episties were read by the
unlearned members of the Christian Church ; and
because also, though these unlearned Christians wrested
the Scriptures of Paul to their own destruction, the
Apostie Peter does not command other unlearned
Christians to desist from reading them lest they also
should similarly ¦wrest them.
But we have the testimony of the ancient Fathers
also in favour of the general reading of the Holy
Scriptures. " Search the Scriptures," says Clement of Alexandria,
in his celebrated epistle to the Corinthians. " Who is
there," observes Chrysostom, " to whom all is not
manifest which is written in the Gospel ? Who that
shall hear, 'Blessed are the meek, blessed are the
merciful, blessed are the pure in heart,' and the rest,
would require a teacher to learn any of these things
which are here spoken ? As also the signs, miracles,
histories, are they not known and manifest to every
man ? This pretence and excuse is but the cloak of
our slothfulness. Thou understandest not those things
which are ¦written : how shouldst thou understand them
who ¦wilt not so much as slightly look into them?

§e LECTURE t.
Take the book into thy hand; read all thy history;
and what thou knowest, remember; and what ia
obscure, go often over it." This Father yet more
pkinly corroborates the antiquity of the Protestant
doctrine and practice, for he says, " The Philosophers
speak obscurely, but the Apostles and Prophets make
all things delivered by theln clear and manifest ; and,
as the common teachers of the world, have so expounded
all things, that every man may, of himself, by bare
reading, learn those things which are spoken." The
same author, in his Homily on Lazarus, says, " I do
always exhort, and will never cease to exhort you, that
you will not here only attend to those things which are
Spoken; but, wheti you are at home, you continually
busy yourselves in reading the Holy Soriptm'es, which
practice also, I have not ceased to urge upon them
who come privately to me. For, let no man say, ' Alas,
I am taken up -with lavrful causes, I am employed in
public affflirs, I follow my trade, I maintain a ¦wife and
children, and have a great charge to look to ; it is not
for me to read the Scripture, but for them which have
cast off the world, which have taken up the solitary
tops of mountai'ds for their dwellings, which live this
contemplative kind of life continually.' What sayest
thou, O man? Is it not for thee to tm-n over the
Scriptures, because thou art distracted with many
cares ? Nay, then it is for thee more than for them ;•
for they do not so much need the help of the Scriptures
as thou who art tossed in the midst of the waves of
worldly business." He says again, " Wherefore hath
the spirit of God so dispensed this word that pubKcans,

THE ONE SOURCE OF RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 37
fishei-s, tent-makers, goat-herds, and shepherds, plain
unlettered men may be saved by these books : lest any
of the simple sort should pretend this excuse, that all
things which are said should be easy to discern ; and
that the workman, the servant, the poor ¦widow, and the
most unlearned of all other, by hearing of the word
read might get some gain and profit" The same
Father says elsewhere, " I beseech you that you come
speedily hither, and hearken diligently to the reading of
the Holy Scripture ; and not only when you come
hither, but also at home take the Bible into your hands,
- and by your diligent care reap the profit contained in
it" Once more, in his Homilies on the Colossians, he
exclaims, " Hear I beseech you, ye secular men, provide
you Bibles which are the medicines for the soul : at
least get the New Testament."
I ask, is this accordant with the present teaching of
the Church of Rome ? Is it the common practice of
the Ministers of that Church, thus to exhort the laity ?
Who ever heard a Roman Catholic Priest or Bishop
beseech his flock to provide themselves Bibles, especially
the unlettered and the poor of his flock ? Yet, this
celebrated Father, as we have seen, did this ; and others
of the Fathers are not less expUcit, not less " Protestant"
in the enunciation of their ¦views on the general reading
of the Scriptures. Jerome says, " It is for the whole
people that the Apostles ¦wrote. The laity ought to
abound in the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures."
Isidorus affirms, " That the heavenly oracles have been
written for the whole human race ; even husbandmen,"
he continues, " are in a condition to learn there what
c

38 LECTtJBB *¦
it is- fitting for them to know. The learned and the
ignbrant, children and women may equally instruct
theirtselves there." I might multiply quotations, but I
forbear. I have furnished these for the purpose of
demonstrating to both Protestants and Catholics that
the boasted reverence of the Church of Rome for the
Fathers is not so supreme as it is sometimes assumed
to be, and that aUtiquity is against her in her present
practice of restraining the laity from a free examination
of the word of God.
^ Abundant testimony, therefore, is at hand in favour of
the reading of the Sacred Scriptures by the peoples-
Prominent members of the Roman Catholic Church
frequently assert that the Bible is not ¦withheld from
them, or from the laity generally. We acknowledge
that there may be found in the decrees of the Council
of Trent one or two clauses favouring such a permission,
but then these permissory clauses are so fenced around
by restrictions, that they become tantamount to a dfrect
refusal. And here, let me observe, that the authorities
of the Roman Catholic Chm'ch are not at one on this
subject of Bible reading. A conclave of Bishops
meeting at Bononia gave the following counsel or
advice to Pope Julius HI. : " By all means, as Uttle of
the Gospel as might be, especially in the vulgar tongue,
should be read to the people ; and that little which is
in the Mass ought to be sufficient ; neither should it be
•permitted to any mortal to read more, for so long as
men were contented with that littie, all went well with
them." Pope Pius VII. published in 1816, a Bull against

THE ONE SOURCE OP RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 39
Bible Societies, in which he represents the circulation
of the Scriptures by Bible Societies " as a crafty device,
by which the very foundations of religion are under
mined ; a pestilence which must be remedied and
abolished ; a defilement of the faith, eminently
dangerous to souls ; impious machinations of innova
tors ; ¦vriickedness of a nefarious scheme ; snares prepared
for men's everlasting ruin ; a new species of tares, which
an adversary has abundantly sown." In the same Bull
the Pontiff says, " It is evident from experience that
the Holy Scriptures, when circulated in the vulgar
tongue, have through the temerity of men, produced
more harm than benefit."*
But I must not longer detain you ¦with extracts
corroborative' of a fact which, despite the occasional
denials of her members, is stamped upon almost every
page of the history of the Roman Catholic Church.
That the ecclesiastics of that community generally,
are opposed to the circulation of the Bible, is too patent
to the world to demand accumulated proof. The Word
of God is not read by the great body of Roman
CathoUcs ; it is not even circulated amongst thgm ; it
is not permitted to a Eoman Catiohc to buy or sell a copy
of even the Douay Bible, without an order in writing.
Should a Eoman Catholic bookseller infringe this law,
he would subject himself to heavy ecclesiastical
penalties. Yet we are told the Bible is not -withheld
from the members of the Church !
Lastly, I ask you not, " Are you a Eoman Catholic ?"
" Are you a Protestant ?" ~I ask you not, " Are you an
* See note at the end of this Lecture.

40, LECTURE I.
EpiscopaHan? a Presbyterian? a Methodist?" But I
ask you, " Are you a man ?" Then has your Divine
Creator vested in you the right, which it were unjust to
withhold, of reading, for yourself, the Holy Bible. Do
you feel that you are in darkness ? This Divine Word
will be a light unto your feet, and a lamp unto your
path. Would you become acquainted with the cha
racter of the Great God ¦with whom you have to do ?
With his attributes, with his will, ¦with his law? All
the information which you require may be found and
obtained in this Blessed Volume of truth. Are you a
sinner ? In this Bible and in it alone, is disclosed the
method of pardoning mercy through the atonement of
Jesus. Are you in sorrow and affliction ? The Bible
reveals to you the only fountain of consolation. Ai-e
you an immortal spirit rapidly journeying to the eternal
world ? In this Bible, this book of books, you have
opened up to you the path that leads to immortality
and eternal life. ,By whatever motives men may
attempt to draw you off from the -study of this Bible,
heed them not, for it is God's great gift to every man,
and therefore to you. It is your, light in the dai-kness
of the wilderness ; it is your chart in the voyage of
life ; it is your anchor in the stoi'm of distress ; it is
your armour in your conflicts with your enemies ; it is
your bridge of safety over the river of death. Love
your Bible — ^bind it to your heart — cleave to its
truths — ^follow its instructions — obey its laws — ^trust its
promises. "Search the Scriptures," — for they are
they which testify of Christ: "Let the word of
Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom" : " The word

THE ONE SOURCE OF RELIGIOUS TRUTH. 41
of the Lord endureth for ever, and this is the word
which by the Gospel is preached unto you."
" Here may the wretched song of want
Exhaustless riches find ;
Riches, above what earth can grant,
And lasting as the mind.
" Here the fair tree of knowledge grows,
And yields a free repast ;
Sublimer sweets than nature knows,
Invite the longing taste.
" Here the Redeemer's welcome voice
Spreads heavenly peace around ;
And life and everlasting joys
Attend the blissful sound.'

NOTE TO LECTURE I.
ILLDSTEATIONS OF THE DOOTRtNE OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC OHUEOH
KESPEOTINQ THE EEAm^Q OF THE SOEIPTUBES BY THE LAITY.
1. The fourth rule of the congregation of the Index contains
the folio-wing provision : " It is, on this point, referred to the
judgment of the Bishops or inquisitors, who may, by the advice
of the Priest or Confessor, permit the reading of the Bible,
translated into the vulgar tongue by Catholic authors, to tho-sa
persons whose faith and piety, they apprehend will be
augmented and not injured by it ; and this permission they
must have in -writing. But if any one shall have the presump
tion to read or possess it, -without such -written permission, he
shall not receive absolution until he have first delivered up such
Bible to the ordinary."
2. Propositions of Father Quesnell expressly condemned in
the Bull TTnigenitus. Translated from Dens Theology. (Vol,
viii. pp. 315, 316.)
" The reading of the Sacred Scripture is for all.
" The obscurity of the sacred word of God is no reason for
laymen to dispense themselves fi'om reading it.
" The Lord's day ought to be sanctified by Christians for
reading works of piety, and, above all, of the Sacred Scripture.
It is damnable to wish to withdraw a Christian from this
reading. (Acts xv. 21.)
" It is an illusion to persuade oneself that a knowledge of tJSe
mysteries of religion is not to be communicated to women by
the reading of the sacred book. Not from the simplicity of
women, but from the proud science of men, has tlie abuse of
the Scriptures arisen, and heresies have been produced.
(John i% 26.)
"To take away the New Testament from the hands of
Christians, or to shut it up from them, by taking from them the

44 LECTURE I.
means of understanding it, is to close the mouth of Christ to
them. (Matt v. 2.)
"To interdict from Christiana the reading of the sacred
Scriptures, particularly of the Gospel, is to interdict the use of
the light from the sons of light, and to cause that they should
suffer some species of excommunication. (Luke xi. 33.)
" To take away from the simple people this solace of joining
their voice to the voice of the whole church, is a custom contrary
to the apostolical practice and the intention of God. (1 Cor.
xiv. 16.)
The lollcwing are amongst the closing . denunciations of this
well-known Bull .- —
" 'We declare, condemn, and reprobate respectively, by this
our Constitution, perpetually in force for ever, all and singular,
the propositions before inserted, as false, captious, ill-sounding.
offensive to pious ears, scandalous, pernicious, rash, injurious^ to
the Church and its practice, neither against the Church alone,
but also against the secular power, contumacious, seditious,
impious, blasphemous, suspected of heresy, and savouring of
heresy itself, also favouring heretics and heresies,andeveff schism,
erroneous, approaching to heresy, often condemned, and again
even heretical, and manifestly renewing various heresies, and
chiefly those which are contained in the famotis propositions of
Jansenius, and indeed being received in that sense in which
they were condemned. Commanding all the faithful in Christ,
of either sex, not to presume to think, teach, or preax:h concern
ing the said propositions, otherwise than contained in this the
same our Constitution, so that whosoever shall teach, defend,
publish, or treat even in dispntationpublicly or privately, unless
it may be to impugn them, or any of them, conjointly or
separately, shall be subject ipso facto, and without any other
declaration, to ecclesiastical censures, and the other punishments
decreed by law against the perpetrators of similar things.
" ¦We command also the venerable brothers, the Patriarchs,
Archbishops, and Bishops, and other ordinaries of places, also
the Inquisitors of heretical pravity, that they may by all means

NOTE. 49
Coerte and compel gainsayers, and rebels, whatsoever, by
censures, and the aforesaid punishments, and the oth er remedies
of law and fact ; the aid even of the secular arm being called in
for this purpose, if necessary."
S. Translation of the Bull against Bible Societies, issued June
29tli, 1816, by Pope Pius VII, to the Archbishop of Gnesen,
Primate of Poland.
" Pius P. VII.
" Vemeeable Beothee, — Health and apo.itolic benediction.
In our last letter to you we promised, very soon, to return an
answer to yours, in which you have appealed to this holy see,
in the name of the other Bishops of Poland, respecting what are
called Bible Societies, and have earnestly inquired of us what
you ought to do in this affair. We long since, indeed, wished
to comply with your request; but an incredible variety of
weighty concerns has so pressed upon us on every side, that, till
this day, we could not yield to your solicitations.
" "We have been truly shocked at this most crafty device, by
which the very foundations of religion are undermined ; &nd
having, because of the great importance of the subject, conferred
in Council with our venerable brethren, the Cardinals of the
holy Roman Church, we have, with the utmost care and
attention, deliberated uoon the measures proper to be adopted
by our pontifical authority, in order to remedy and abolish this
pestilence as far as possible. In the mean time we heartily
congratulate you, venerable brother, and we commend you
again and again in the Lord, as it is fit we should, upon the
singular zeal you have displayed xmder circumstances so
dangerous to Christianity, in having denounced to the apostolic
see this defilement of the faith so eminently dangerous to souls.
And although we perceive that it is not at all necessary to
excite him to activity who is making haste, since, of your own
accord, you have already shown an ardent desire to detect and
overthrow the impious machinations of these innovators ; yet,
in conformity with our ofiice, we a:;ain and again exhort you
that whatever you can achieve by power, provide for by counsel,
c2

46 LECTURE 1.
or effect by authorifv, you will daily execute with the utmost
earoestnesa, placing yourself as a Wall for the house of Israel.
"With this view, we issue the present brief; namely,
that we may convey to you a signal lestimony of our appro
bation of your excellent conduct, and also may endeavour
therein still more and more to excite your pastoral solicitude
and diligence ; for the general good imperiously requires you
to combine all your means and energies to frustrate the plans
which are prepared by its enemies for the destruction of our
most holy religion ; whence it becomes an episcopal duty that
you, first of all, expose the wickedness of this nefarious scheme,
as you have already done so admirably, to the view of the
faithful, and openly publish the same, according to the i-uleg
prescribed by the Church, with all the erucjition and wisdom
which you possess ; namely, ' that the Bible printed by heretics
is to be numbered among other prohibited books, conformably
to the rules of the Index ; (sect. 2, 3 ;) for it is evident from ex
perience that the holy Scriptures, when circulated in the vulgar
tongue, have, through the temerity of men, produced more
harm than benefit.' (Rule iv.) And this is the more to be
dreaded in times so (}epraved, when our holy religion is assailed
from every quarter with great cunning and effort, and the most
grievous wounds are inflicted on the Church. It is therefore
necessary to adhere tq the salutary Decree of the Congregation
of the Index, (June 13th, 1767,) th^t no Version of the Bible ip
the vulgar tongue be permitted, except such as are approved
by the ^.postolic see, or published with annotations extracted
from the writings of hply Fathers of the Church.
" We confidently hope that, in these turbulent circumstances,
the Poles will give the clearest proofs of their attachment to
the religion of their ancestors ; and, by your care, as well a;
that of the other Prelates of this kingdo n, whom, on account of
the stand they have wonderfully made for the depository of the
faith, we congratulate in the Lord ; trusting that they all may
very abundantly justify the opinion we have entertained of
them.

NOTS. 47 ¦
" It is, moreover, necessary that you should transmit to ua as
Boon as possible the Bible which Jacob Wulek published in the
Polish language, with a commentary, as well as a copy of the
edition of it lately put fortli without those annotations taken
from the writings of the holy Fathers of our Church, or other
learned Catholics, with your opinion upon it ; that thus, from
collating them together, it may be ascertained, after mature
investigation, that certain errors lie insidiously concealed
therein, and that we may pronounce our judgment on this
afifeir, for the preservation of the true faith.
" Continue, therefore, venerable brother, to pursue this truly
pious course, upon which you have entered ; namely, diUgently
to fight the battles of the Lord for the sound doctrine, and warn
the people intrusted to your care, that they fall not into the
snares which are prepared for their everlasting ruin. The
Church demands this from you, as well as from the other
Bishops, whom our rescript equally concerns ; and we most
anxiously expect it, that the deep sorrow we feel on account of
this new species of tares, which an adversary has so abundantly
sown, may by this cheering hope be somewhat alleviated ; and
we always very heartily invoke the choicest blessings upon
yourself and your fellow-Bishops for the good of the Lord's
flock, which we impart to you and them by our apostolic
benediction. " Given at Borne, at St. Mary the Greater, June 29th, 1816,
the seventeenth year of our pontificate. "Pins, P. VII."
4. Extract from the BuU of Pope Leo XII., to the Irish
Clergy, dated May 3, 1824.
"It is no secret to you, venerable brethren, that a certain
Society, vulgarly called The Bible Society, is audaciously
dispreading itself through the whole world. After despising
the traditions of the holy Fathers, and'in opposition to the well-
kno-wn -Decree of the Council of Trent, this Society has collected
all its forces, and directs every means to one object, — the
translation, or rather the perversion, of the Bible into the

48 LECTURE I.
vernacular languages of all nations. From this fact there is
strong ground of fear, lest, as in some instances already known,
BO likewise in the rest, through a perverse interpretation, there
be framed out of the Gospel of Christ a gospel of man, or, what
is worse, a gospel of the devil."

LECTURE II.
THE ONE HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
I CANNOT proceed to the subject of this evening's
discoui-se, -without erpressing the gratitude -which I
felt last Sahbath, at the interest which was taten
in the subject of the opening Lecture of this series, —
"The one source of religious truth." — And for the sake
of those who were not present on that occasion, as well
also -with a -view of refreshing the memories of those
who were, I -will repeat, in few words, the conclusions
to which we came ; which, I am bold to say, must
have been nndeniable in the -view of every candid
Catholic or Protestant who was present.
Our time was chiefly occupied in defending three
Protestant principles:
First, we entered onr protest against any addition
whatever to the Holy Scriptures as binding upon the
faith and practice of the Church.
We showed (1) that Protestants reject the Apocrypha,
on the authority of the Universal Church of Christ for
the fii'st four centuries of its existence, and on the dis
tinct authority of the earliest fathers; in support of
which statement we adduced the testimony ' of the
celebrated Catholic historian Dupin.
We showed (2) that Protestants reject all oral
traditions as a rule of faith, because there is no satisfac

60 LECTURE 11.
tory e-vidence that such traditions exist ; and we farther
quoted the opinion of Theophilus Alexander and Jerome,
that no truth or doctrine can be established but by the
authority of the written word of God.
We showed (3) that Protestantism rejects the autho
rity of the fathers as a rule of faith; we pointed out
their inconsistencies -with themselves and their disagree
ments with each other ; and we gave you an Ulustratioii
from the works of Cardinal Bellarmine, of the manifold
difference of their views on texts of importance in the
Protestant controversy ; thus demonstrating the positive
inconsistency of the oath taken by every minister of the*
Roman Catholic Church, — "I will never take nor
interpret the Scriptures, but by the unanimous consent
of the Fathers."
The SECOND principle of Protestantism which we
defended, was the absolute sufSciency of the Holy
Scriptures for the guidance of the Church in all matters
of doctrine and practice. This was supported prin
cipally by an appeal to the Scriptures themselves as
rendered in Roman Catholic versions of the Bible.
The THIRD principle of Protestantism, for which we
contended, was thus enunciated : " It is the privilege
of every man to approach the fountain of truth, the
Bible, and to draw freely from its streams." This
principle was maintained on three grounds; on the
presumptive evidence derived from the facts that the
Scriptures were -written iu the vulgar tongue, and that;
they were delivered either by mouth or epistle to the
people generally; on the direct evidence which the
Scriptures furnish by both precept and example, that it-

THE ONE HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. 61
bekoveth every Christian to search the Scriptures ; and
on the authority of the ancient Fathers, who, as we
demonstrated from their o'wn writings, enjoined upon
the members of the Church in their day the general
reading of the Word of God.
From these several considerations, arguments and
testimonies, we reached the conclusion that "thb
Bible is the one onlt source of religious truth,"
I most cordially repeat, this evening, the twofold
profession which I volunteered a week ago, namely,
that it -will be my continual purpose to avoid the utter
ance of a single word that shall even offend the taste,
and much less grieve the mind of any of my hearers ;
and that unless there be a distinct announcement to the
contrary, every passage of Scripture quoted in support of
the principles of Protestantism -wiU be taken verbatim
from one of the Roman Catholic versions of the Sacred
Scriptures. And now I invite you to a serious and prayerful
contemplation of the subject to be brought before you
this evening, —
" The Que Head of the Catholic Church."
This is a subject which wiU afford an opportunity of
educing some of the leading peculiarities of the Pro
testant system, those I mean which especially distinguish
it from Roman Catholicism. I have chosen as my text,
a passage which occurs in the epistle of St. Paul to the
Colossians, and which you will find in the first chapter,

52 LECTURE II.
at the 18th and 19th verses. It is thus rendered in the
Douay Bible : —
" And He is .the Head of the Body, the Church,
who is the beginning, the first-born from the
dead ; THAT IN ALL THINGS, Hb MAT HOLD THE PRIMACY ;
Because, in Him, it hath well-pleased the Father,
that all fulness should dwell."
Our investigation this evening wUl comprehend two
general enquiries : — '¦
First, What is the Church, the Catholic Church 3
Second, Who is the Head of this Church ?
What is the Church? And it may be well to
announce at once, that the principle upon which I shall
pursue this inquiry is that which is laid down by St.
Augustine in his controversy ¦with the Donatists : " Let
them," says he, " show me their Church ; not in the
councils of their Bishops, not in the ¦writings of dis-
puters, not in the miracles and prodigies of which they
boast ; but let them show it me in the ordinances of
the law, in the predictions of the prophets, in the songs
of the Psalms, in the preaching of the Evangelists, and
in the canonical authorities of the sacred books. This
is our foundation, to which we in^violably attach our
selves, reposing only upon this Scripture which is come
from the Prophets and Apostles."
As my special object in these Lectures is to expound
the principles of Protestantism, it will be necessary here
to state what Protestants mean by " the Church," as
well as by the epithet " Catholic," which they not unfre-
quently prefix to it. We mostly adopt that member

the one head OF the catholic church. 63
of the Apostle's creed, " I beheve in the Holy Catholic
Church." But then what meaning do we attach to the
expression? As an answer to this demand I shall
transcribe the definition of the Westminster Assembly
of Divines, who met about the year 1645, and agreed
upon that celebrated " Confession of Faith," which was
afterwards ratified by both ecclesiastical and parlia
mentary authority, as "part of the covenanted uniformity
in religion betwixt the Churches of Christ in the
kingdoms of Scotland, England, and Ireland :" —
"The Catholic or Universal Church," say they,
" which is in^visible, consists in the whole number of the
elect that have been, are, or shall be gathered into
one, nnder Christ, the head thereof; and is the spouse,
the body, the fulness of him that fiUeth all in all."
" The visible Chui-ch," say they again, " which is also
CathoUc or tmiversal under the gospel (not confined
(i. e.) to one nation as before under the law,) consists
of all those throughout the world that profess the true
religion, together with their children ; and is the
Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the house and
family of God, out of which there is no ordinary
possibiUty of salvation."
The article of the Church of England on this subject
is as follows : —
" The visible Church of Christ is a congregation of
faithful men, in the which the pure Word of God is
preached, and the Sacraments be duly ministered
according to Christ's ordinance in all those things that
of necessity are requisite to the same.'"
The literal meaning of the Greek word kKXritrla

54 LECTURE n.
which is rendered "Church" in both Protestant and
Catholic versions of the Scriptures, is assembly, and was
indifferently employed, even by the inspired -writers, to
assemblies in general. I need only refer in illustration,
to verses 32 and 39 of the nineteenth Chapter of the
Acts of the Apostles : —
"No-rt- some cried one thing, some another. For
the assembly {ij eK/cXtjirla) was confused, and the
greater part knew not for what cause they were come
together." " And if you enquire after any other matter, it may
be decided in a lawful assembly {eKKKriiTig^)
The word is derived from the verb eKKccKkui to call
out. The English word. Church, is most probably
derived from a contraction of two Greek words, laiplov
and oiKoe, signifying the house of the Lord.
Having given the Protestant definition of the word
" Church," I shall now transcribe from the writings of
Cardinal Bellarmine that definition which is most
generally adopted by our Roman Cathoho brethren.
" The church is an assembly of men, united in the
profession of one and the same Christian faith ; and in
the communion of the same sacraments, under the
government of their la-wful Pastors, but especially of
the Roman Pontiff." This is the Cardinal's exposition
of what the Church is. The Douay Catechism, (page
20,) declares in somewhat similar terms, that "the
Church is the congregation of all the faithful under
Jesus Christ, their invisible head, and His -vicar upon
earth, the Pope" ; the same catechism goes on to say
thai tte church consists of " a Pope or supreme head.

. THE ONE HEAD OF THB CATHOLIC CHURCH. 55
Bishops, Pastors, and Laity;" and, on the next page,
we have the following sentence, to which I invite your
special attention ; " He who is not in due connexion
and subordination to the Pope and general Councils,
must needs be dead, and cannot be accounted a member
of the Church, since from the Pope and general
Councils under Christ, we have our spiritual life and
motion as Christians." In the Canon law of the Roman
Catholic Church, we find the following : " The Roman
Church, by the appointment of our Lord, is the mother
and mistress of all the faithful."
And now yon wiU be prepared for this general
statement or declaration.
That the Reformed Churches of Christendom protest
against the assumption, by any particular church, and
therefore by the Church of Eome, of the right to apply
to itself alone, the tide of Cathdic or Universal.
First, — ^They deny this right on the authority of the
Holy Scriptures. Let any Roman Catholic produce,
even from his own admired versions of the New
Testament, a single passage which in the smallest
degree favours the doctrine that the Church of Rome
was ordained by Christ and His Apostles, to be the one
only true Church on earth, the mother and mistress of
all Churches, and I wiU at once lay aside this Protestant
robe, and present myself to the Roman Catholic Bishop
of Montreal as a candidate for admission into his
eommunion. But is it so ? I open the Dquay Bible
on the eighth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, and
I read in the first verse, that at the time of Stephen's
martyrdom, "there was raised a great perseeutioa

56 LECTURE II.
against the Church which was at Jerusalem.^ Now
Peter founded this Church on the day of Pentecost ; it
was therefore the first Christian Church ever established ;
in the midst of it was held the first Christian Council
that ever assembled ; and at this Council, though Peter
was present, and addressed its members, you do not
find either in the Acts of the Apostles, or in any
authenticated copy of the Fathers, even the shadow of
an intimation that he assumed authority over the other
Apostles. So far from this, we learn from the nineteenth
verse of the fifteenth chapter, that James pronounced
the deeretoi'y sentence — " For which cause I judge
that they who from among the Gentiles are converted
to God, are not to be disquieted ;" — which, as says
Chrysostom, whose authority my Roman Catholic
friends at least will not question, means, " I with
authority say this," for as he immediately explains " he,
(i. e. James) had the authority of the Church at
Jerusalem committed to him." I pass on to the forty-
first verse of this same chapter, and I read of Paul's
going through Syria and Cilicia " confii-ming the
Churches.'" ¦ In the fifth verse of the folio-wing chapter,
I find the same expression, "And the Churches were
confirmed in the faith." Such language would not be
tolerated by the Church of Rome in the present day ;
she rejects the notion of several chm-ches ; but you
have seen from her own version of the New Testament
that the Apostles spoke of various churches. I go on to
consult the epistle to the Romans. There was but one
Apostolic letter wi'itten to the Church at Rome, and
this not by Peter but by Paul ; our Roman Catholic

THE ONE HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. 5l
friends seem to hold it in high veneration on account,
as they say, " of the sublimity of the matter contained
in it," Now I think you will all agree with me, that
we have a right, a priori, to expect in this epistle some
reference to the position of eminence which the Church
of Rome now declares itself to have held from the days
of Peter and Paul. If Rome was, as is maintained, the
mistress of Churches, if Peter, as is also maintained,
was the founder of the Chm'ch there, and was withal
the Prince of the Apostles, might we not fairly look
out for some expression of deference to the apostolic
chief, and might we not anticipate that Paul, would
say a word,or two of Rome's exalted destiny ? I search
the Vulgate and the Douay version in vain for any
such expression ; there is not a syllable which, by even
the most refined torture, could be brought to support
this sti'ange opinion. I rather meet with expressions
that overthrow the doctrine of the Universal dominion
of the Church of Rome, for in the sixteenth chapter,
the Apostle speaks " of the chui'ch that is in Cenohre."
He speaks also of " the Chm-ches of. the Gentiles,." and
of " the Church which is in the house of Prisca and
Aquila," and as he draws towards the closing sentences
of his epistle, he says, " All the Chm'ches of Christ
salute you." There were, then, other Chm'ohes besides
that at Rome, and they sent their ordinary salutations
to the Church at Rome ; ordinary I say, for a precisely
similar salutation was addressed by the same Apostle to
the Corinthian Church, — " The Churches of Asia salute
you." The Apostle does not call the Roman Chui-ch
" our Holy Mother," but addresses it in the same terms

68 LECTURE 11.
in which he addressed every other Church to which he
wrote. The Roman Cathohc Church, in common with
ourselves, believes that Paul was martyred at Rome,
and that immediately before his martyrdom he wrote
his second letter to Timothy, Bishop of Ephesus. I
-will turn then, to this epistle, for surely I ought to find
something about the supreme exaltation of the Church
at Rome, something aboiit Peter its asserted founder,
and something about the necessity of Timothy and all
other Bishops submitting themselves to the authority
of the Holy See. Now, I wish every Roman Catholic
present, to read out of his o-wn Bible this epistle, for he
-win, I am sure, be completely baflSied when I tell him
that in this, Paul's dying testimony for the truth of
Jesus, addressed to the Ephesian Bishop, there exists
not a single reference either to the pre-eminence of
Eome, or to the chiefship of Peter ; he issues no
command requiring subordination to the decrees of the
Church there ; he speaks of several persons by name,
but he says not one word of Peter or of his work.
Secondly, — The right of the Church of Rome to
assume for herself only, the title of Cathohc or
Universal, is denied by Protestants on the authority of
the Ancient Fathers.
I feel sure that if you will only give me yom- attention
on this important point in the Protestant controversy, I
shall convince you that, appealing only to the best
authenticated Catholic standards, this assumption was
not by any means coeval with the establishment of the
Church at Rome.

THE ONE HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. 59
(1.) The first proof that I shall adduce will be taken
from the Eoman Catholic version of the epistle of
Clement Bishop of Rome, to the Corinthians, -written
about A. D. 90. In this epistle he expostulates with
them on their ha-ving deposed then- ministers, and
having permitted contentions amongst themselves. It
will be observed that Clement here affects no superiority
over the Corinthian Church, but addresses it as having
equality with the Chm'ch at Rome. The commencement
of the epistie runs thus : " The Church of God which
worships at Rome, to the Chm'ch of God which
worships at Corinth, c^ed and sanctified by the -will
of God, &c.," a very different style of addi'ess from
that which is now employed by the Bishop of Rome,
when he -writes an ecclesiastical epistle.
" ' The Apostles,' preached to us from Jesus Christ,
Jesus Christ from God. Christ, therefore, was sent by
God, and the Apostles by Christ ; each mission was
performed in its o-wn order, by the -wiU of God.
Therefore, having received their command from him,
and being certainly assured by the resurrection of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and confirmed in faith by the word
of God, -with the plenitude of the Holy Ghost, they
went forth announcing the approach of the kingdom of
God. Preaching, therefore, through regions and citiesj
they appointed the first fruits of those whom they
approved in the spirit as Bishops and Deacons, over
' those who believed.'
" Our Apostles also, knew through our Lord Jesus
Christ, that there would be contention about the name
of Bishop. Therefore, on this account, being filled ¦with

60 LECTURE II.
perfect foreknowledge, they constituted those of whom
we have spoken before, and delivered a rule thenceforward
for the future succession, that when they departed,
other approved men should take their office and
ministry. Those, therefore, who were constituted by
them, or after their time, by other approved men, with
the consent of the whole Church, and who fulfilled
then- ministry to the sheepfold of Christ, humbly,
quietly, and liberally, and through a long period,
obtained a distinguished report from all men, those we
think it unjust to depose from their ofiice. For it -will
not be accounted a light sin, if those who offer gifts
without ' strife and -with holiness, should be removed
from their episcopate."
(2.) The second patristic testimony which I shall
adduce is from the -writings of L-enseus ; and here I
shall have to tax your patience for a little, because it is
to the authority of this Father that our Roman Catholic
friends so frequently refer in proof of the supremacy
and catholicity of the Church of Rome. Listen then,
to the following sentence from his work against '
Heresies : " We have not known the system of our
salvation, except by those through whom the Gospel
came to us; which then, ti-uly, they preached, but
afterwards, by the will of God, they dehvered to us in
the Scriptures, to be the pillar and ground of our faith."
Here at least, there is no reference . to the Church
having been built upon Peter, but upon the Gospel
Faith — this is the pillar, this the ground of saving
truth. But in the third chapter of this same book against

the one HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. 61
Heresies, there occurs the following passage, to which I
invite your candid attention, because it is the strongest
evidence fi-om antiquity which the Roman Catholic
Church can adduce in favour of her claims. Irenseus,
then, contending against the Gnostics of his day, says,
" The tradition of the Apostles being manifested through
the whole world, it remains to be seen throughout the
whole Church by all who wish to behold the truth.
And we are able to enumerate those who were
instituted Bishops by the Apostles in the Churches,
and their successors to our o^m time, who taught and
knew nothing like what these men rave about : — But
since it would be tijdious," he continues, " in such a
volume to reckon the successions of all the Churches,
we confound all those who in any manner infer what
is unseemly, by the successions of the Bishops of that
greatest, very ancient, and universally known Church,
founded and constituted at Rome, by the two most
glorious Apostles Peter and Paul, which shows the
tradition which it has from the Apostles, and the faith
announced to men, and descending even to us. For to
this Church, on account of the more powerftil
principality, it must needs be that the whole Church
should resort, that is, those who are faithful, from all
places round about ; in which Church, the tradition
which Is from the Apostles, has always been preserved
by those round about it." This I grant is a strong
passage ; but letus fairly examine it, and see whether,
as Roman Catholics say, it proves Irenjeus to be a
witness that the Bishop of Rome then possessed supreme
authority over the Christian World, and that the

62 LECTURE II.
Church of Rome was acknowledged of right to be tie
mother and mistress of all Churches. Observe then,
First, — That this Father speaks of all the Apostles
indifferently, and expressly declares that the tradition of
the Apostles was given to us in the Scriptm'es to be the
pillar and ground of our faith.
Secondly, — That he speaks of " the successions of
all the Churches," and expressly tells us that to avoid
tediousness merely, he selected one, and that one,"in his
estimation, the most illustrious in the world.
Thirdly, — That he ascribes the establishment of the
Roman Church to the joint labours of Peter and Paul,
uttering not a syllable respecting the primacy of Peter.
Fourthly, — That with respect to " the more powerful
principality" of which he speaks, Irenseus does not use
one word which connects this principality with the
Church, or with its Bishops. He simply says, " to this
Church on account of the more powerful principality,"
not on account of its or her, but the more powerful
principality : — " Ad hanc enim ecclesiam propter po-
tiorem principalitatem necesse est omnem convenire
ecclesiam." I think the candid hearer will agree with
me that the fair interpretation to be put upon these
words is this : " That on account of the more powerful
principality of Eome, where was held the seat of the
imperial government, where was the Capitol from which
the decrees of the Eoman Senate went forth throughout
the globe; in which were concentrated all the wealth,
the learning, the ambition, the pleasures, and the
interests of milUons, and which was at once the head
and the heart of that most mighty of empires, it must

THE ONE HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH 63
needs have been that the Church founded there, and
flourishing there, was regarded -with peculiar interest by
the minor Churches around it — that it was the richest,
the most numerous, the most influential, and the most
important Church in the general esteem of Christians,
by reason of its peculiar location." Nothing could be
more natural than that it should be so regarded.
We meet daily -with similar cases amongst every
denomination of Christians. We see, even amongst
ourselves, that it does not require a prelatical form
of government to impart to a Church influence and
power. Let a church, Presbyterian, Congi'egational,
Baptist, or Methodist, be established in any metropolis ;
let it rise to the position of a wealthy, a numerous, a
benevolent church ; let it be served by ministers of talent
and experience, and by ofiicers of repute in the state as
well as in the church ; — I ask you what would be
the influence of such a church upon the sm-rounding
country chui'ches ? Precisely that which Irenseus ascribes
to the Church at Eome in the passage now under con
sideration. It is a satisfaction to know that this
view of the language of Irenseus is taken by a cele
brated Eoman CathoUc, -author, the learned Touttee,
the translator of Cyril.
But we have the testimony of Irenseus himself that
this, and no other must have been his view. In the
second century there was a controversy between Victor,
the Bishop of Eome and the Churches of Asia, about
the time of keeping Easter : and the eastern churches,
refusing to change their custom for the sake of con
forming to the practice of Eome, Victor undertook to

64 LECTURE II.
excommunicate them. For this high-handed stretch of
power he was generally censured, and amongst the rest;
Irenaeus wrote him a letter of expostulation, of which
the foUbwing is a part : —
" But those elders, who, before Soter, governed the
Church over which you now preside, (i. e., the Church
of Eome,) namely Anicetus, and Pius, and Hyginus,
-with Telesphorus and Sixtus, neither observed this
custom themselves, nor aUowed those who were witb
them to observe it. Nevertheless, although they did
not observe it, yet they preserved peace with those who
came to them from these Churches in which it was
obseived.  And when the most blessed Poly-
carp came to Eome, in the time of Anicetus, and there
was a little controversy betvveen them about other
things, they embraced each other presently with the
kiss of peace, not greatly contending about this question.
For neither could Anicetus ever persuade Polycarp to
cease this thing, because he had lived familiarly with
John, the disciple of our Lord, and with the other
apostles, and observed then' custom continually. Nor,
on the other hand, could Polycarp persuade Anicetus
to observe it, since Anicetus said that he retained the
custom of those elders who were before him. When
matters were thus situated, they communed together ;
and Anicetus yielded to Polycarp, as a token of respect,
the office of consecrating the offering in the Church ;
and at length they departed from each other in peace,
as weU those who observed this custom, as those who
observed it not, keeping the peace of the whole
Church."

THE ONE HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. 65
Now I put it to my Roman Catholic hearers whether
this letter, or its sentiments rather, is not utterly at
variance with the interpretation which their Chm-ch
seeks to put on the before mentioned passage. If
L-eufeus had intended to teach that it was necessary
for the whole Church to agree with the Church of
Rome, how could he justify Polycarp in differing from
that chm'ch ? How could Anicetus be held out as a
worthy example for Victor, in giving the kiss of peace
to the Bishop of Smyrna, at the very time that he was
obstinately refusing to conform to the supremacy of
Rome ? K, according to yom- doctrine, Rome was even
then the acknowledged mother and mistress of all
churches, if the Bishop of Rome, as your canon teUs us,
held by divine institution the place of God and of
Christ upon the earth, tell me, how Polycarp, the
disciple of St. John, and the companion of the apostles,
could be so ignorant of these mighty prerogatives as to
hold a controversy with the then Pope ? Tell me how
it was that Victor, Christ's vicar upon earth, as you call
him, gave the kiss of peace to one who resisted his
authority? And teU me, lastly, how it was that the
Bishop of Smyrna, was permitted to take precedence
of the Bishop of Rome in the consecration of the Holy
Sacrament. Having thus produced the testimouy of both Scriptr
ure and the Fathers against the assumption of the
Church of Rome, in applying to herself alone the title
of Universal, and in asserting her right to govern,
ecelesiasticaUy, entire Christendom, — I produce
Thirdly, — The testimony of acknowledged history in

66 LECTURE II.
support of the Protestant -view. Eusebius, in his invalu
able history, has preserved several epistles of the
Emperor Constantine, through whose zeal and devotion
the Church obtained so signal a victory over Heathen
ism. Two of these epistles throw considerable light on
this subject : —
" Copy of the Emperor's epistle, in which he orders
a Council of Bishops to be held at Rome, for the unity
and peace of the Church.
' Constantine Augustus, to Miltiades, Bishop of Rome,
and to Marcus. As many communications of this kind
have been sent to me from Anulinus, the most illustrious
proconsul of Africa, in which it is contained that
Csecilianus, the bishop of Carthage, is accused, in many
respects, by his colleagues in Africa ; and as this appears
to be grievous, that in those provinces which divine
Providence has freely entrusted to my fidelity, and in
which there is a vast population, the multitude are
found inclining to deteriorate, and in a manner divided
into two parties, and among others, that the bishops
are at variance ; I have resolved that the same Cseci-
lianus, together with ten bishops, who appear to accuse
him, and ten others, whom he himself may consider
necessary for his cause, shall sail to Eome ; that before
you, as also Reticius, Maternus, and Marinus, your
colleagues, whom I have commanded to hasten to
Rome for this purpose, he may be heard, as you may
understand most consistent with the most sacred law.' "
" Copy of the epistle in which he commanded another
council to be held, for the purpose of removing all the
dissension of the bishops.

the one head of the catholic church. 67
' Constantine Augustus, to Chrestus, bishop of Syra
cuse. As certain persons, some time ago, perversely
and wickedly began to dissent from the holy religion
of celestial virtue, and to abandon the doctrine of the
Catholic Church, desirous, therefore, of preventing such
disputes among them, I had given orders, that this
subject, which appeared to be agitated among them,
should be rectified, by delegating certain bishops from
Gaul, and summoning others of the opposite parties
from Africa, who are pertinaciously and incessantly
contending ¦with one another, the bishop of Rome being
also present, that by a careful examination in their
presence, that which seems to be in contest might be
thus decided. But since, as it happens, some forgetful
of their own salvation, and the reverence due to our
most holy religion, even now do not cease to protract
their own enmity, being unwilling to conform' to the
decision already promulgated,  it has appeared
necessary to me to provide that this matter, which
ought to have ceased after the decision was issued, by
their own voluntary agreement, now at length, should
be fully terminated by the intervention of many.
" Since, therefore, we have commanded many bishops
to meet together from different and remote places, in
the city of Aries, towards the Calends of August, we
have also thought proper to ¦write to thee, that taking
a public vehicle from the most illustrious Latronianus,
corrector of Sicily, and taking ¦with thee two others of
the second rank which thou mayest select, also three
servants to afford you services on the way, you may
meet them within the same day at the aforesaid place :

68 lecture re.
that by thy fii'mness and the prudence and unanimity
of the rest that assemble, this dispute, which has con
tinued incessantly until the present time, in the midst
of most disgraceful contentions, may be discussed, by
hearing all that shall be alleged by those who are now
at variance, whom we have also copamanded to be
present ; and thus the controversy be reduced, aflength,
to that observance of faith and fraternal concord, which
ought to prevail.' "
I appeal to you, could these epistles have been
consistently written, if the doctrine which is •now con
tended for by the Church of Eome, had been then
understood and prevalent ? How, if the Church and
Bishop of Eome were then pre-eminent, could Constant
ine have committed the charge of a Council of Bishops,,
meeting in Italy, to the Bishop of Syi'acuse? How
could Constantine have transferred to this council th»
decision of a question which another council, at which
the Pope was present, Jailed to settle ? Tell me, how
it is, if the Eoman CathoUc doctrine is true, that Con
stantine ¦writes to the Bishop of Eome conjointly ¦vrit^
Marcus, and merely as an equal and a colleague with
Reticius, Maternus, and Marinus ? Tell me why it was
that the Bishop of Rome did not convoke these councils ?
for, according to the Roman Catholic doctrine this was .
his prerogative. And tell me, lastly, if the Roman
Church, by the appointment of our Lord, is the mother
and mistress of all the faithful, how it is that the cele
brated Eusebius, one of the most learned men of his
day, from whom we have just quoted, -writing a book on
the History of the Church for the first three hundred

the one head of the catholic church. 69
and twenty years of the Christian era, honoured by a
place ui the Canon law of the Catholic Church, placed
on her list of saints, and called by her the father of
ecclesiastical history, — tell me, I repeat, how it is that
that celebrated man knew nothing of this vast preroga
tive which the Church assumes, that he records nothing
which at all resembles it, but on the contrary records
so much which is utterly opposed to it ?
Fourthly, — The assumption for her sole dignity of
the designation Catholic, is inconsistent -with the doc
trine of the Church of Rome herself You all know
how commonly the advocates of Roman Catholicism
insist upon unity as essential to Catholicity ; so much
so, that the want of visible unity in Protestantism is
the argument which they ply against us -with greatest
frequency and power. Now we affirm, without fear of
contradiction, because we shaU prove it from Roman
Catholic writers of authority, that the Church of Eome
is absolutely destitute of this mark of Catholicity ; out
of her own mouth, therefore, and not ours, are we pre
pared to disprove her asserted right.
The Chm-ch of Eome is not united on the doctrine of
infallibiUty. Some place it in the Church -virtual, or the
Roman Pontiff. This maybe designated the Italian
opinion, and it has been beUeved and propagated by
Popes, Cardinals, Councils, and Doctors of the Church ;
amongst whom I might mention Popes Pius, Leo,
Boniface, Cardinals and Doctors Bellarmine, Pole, Baro-
nius, Turrecremata, and the Councils of Florence,
Lateran, and Trent. The majority of those who adopt
this- view, refer the infallibility to questions- of faith,
d2

10 lecture II.
and admit the Pope's liability to error in fact. But the
Jesuit portion of the Church, which is rapidly extending
its doctrine and influence, acknowledge the Pope to be
unerring in both these respects. " The Pope," say they,
(I quote on the authority of Caron in his Eemon-
strantio,) " is not less infallible, in questions of fact or
right, than was Jesus Christ." But the infallibility of
the Eoman Pontiff, as maintained by the Italian School,
and supported by the Popes, Cardinals and Councils
already mentioned, has also been rejected by similar
authority. " It is certain,'' says Pope Adrian, " that
the Pontiff may err in those things which relate to
faith." " It is not to be doubted, that both I and my .
successors may err," says Patft " The French and other
moderns," says Dens, " impugn the infallibility of the
Pope." The Councils of Pisa, Constance, and Basil,-
have also rejected these superhuman pretensions, and
place infallibility in a general council. An assembly of
this kind, in their estimation, is superior to the Pope,
who, in case of disobedience, is subject to deposition by
the same authority. There is a third opinion on this
subject, sustained by eminent names, which reposes
infallibility not in any general council, but in a general
council convoked, presided over, and confirmed, by the
Bishop of Eome. There is even a fourth opinion which
spreads the infallible power over the universal church.
To this opinion, however, there are not many adherents.
Now, brethren and hearers, I ask you whether, if
Unity is an infallible test of Catholicity, the Chm'ch of
Eome can lay claim to be entitied the Catholic Church
of Christ ? Here is a doctrine of great moment in their

the one head or the catholic church. 71
ecclesiastical scheme, respecting which there is a com
plete disunion of opinion : and I put it to my Eoman
Catholic friends this evening, whether it is kind or just
to taunt their Protestant neighbours with want of unity,
while there is so great a division in their own commu
nion on this, to them at least, vital question.
Again, there ai-e diversities between the doctrines of
the Chm-ch of Eome as now held, and those which
were held in earlier periods of her history, that are
completely subversive of her claim to unity. I have
only time for one or two instances : —
The Council of Trent declares that the Pope of Eome
is Christ's -vicar, and hath the supreme jjBwer over the
whole church ; and that without subjection to him, as
snch, there is no salvation. Is there any unanimity
between this doctrine and that propounded by Gregory
the Great in his fii-st Epistle, in which he says " For one
Bishop to set himself over the rest, and to have them
in subjection to him, is the pride of Lucifer and the
forerunner of Antichrist ? " I mjght multiply quotations
illustrative of such diversity, but the time fails.
What then is the Catholic Church ? I reply, — It is
the whole body of Christ's redeemed ones in earth and
in heaven. With Cardinal Bellarmine, I acknowledge
that the CathoUc Church of Chiist is divided into two
portions, — ^the Chm'oh triumphant, which is before the
throne of God and the Lamb, and the Church militant,
which is now on earth fighting its way through the
wilderness, towards the heavenly Canaan. And so we
often sing those simple but sublime stanzas : —

72 LECTURE II.
" The Church triumphant in thy love
Their mighty joys we know.
They sing the Lamb in hymns above.
And we in hymns below.
"Thee in thy glorious realm they praise,
And bow before thy throne ;
We in the kingdoms of thy grace,
The kingdoms are but one,"
What is the Catholic Church on earth ? It is the,
whole body of Christ's believing disciples throughout
the world : — It embraces aU the branches of the living
vine united in our divine stock : — aU the living stones
of that spiritu^ temple which is built upon the founda
tion of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief corner stone : — aU the members of
that spiritual body, of which Christ is the head and the
divine Spirit, the soul : — all those who, by faith in
Christ, are washed and sanctified, and justified in th^
name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God : —
all those scattered throughout the world who are
new creatures in Christ Jesus, and who live a life of
faith in the Son of God who hath loved them, and given
himself for them. Call them what you wiU, bring them
from where you ¦will ; find them in any one of the mani
fold ecclesiastical divisions of which Christendom is
composed ; bring them out of the Eoman CathoHc
Chm'ch, or out of the Protestant Episcopal CommunioiLj,
or out of the Presbyterian Churches ; I care not : let the^p
but be found trusting only in the merits of a crucified
Saviour, let them but be found bringing forth the fmits
of faith and love, let them but be found with an indwell-

THE ONE HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. 73
ing Jesus, as the hope of glory in thefr hearts, — on
the authority of the word of God, I call them members
of " the body of the Church." I believe with Chrysos
tom, that " where pm-e faith is, there the church is ;
but where pure faith is not, there the church is not."
There is a church on earth, not always visible to men,
but like the seven thousand in the days of Elijah, known
only to God. There is a church on earth in which
Jehovah delights, and upon which he sheds an
illustrious glory. Come ¦with me this evening round
about her, and mark her foundations : see your
Diviue Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the chief
corner stone ; — look at Peter and Paul, and James and
John, making up with him the glorious foundation ; — •
see Stephen and his brother martyrs, see Timothy
and Titus, Polycarp and Clement, ¦with their brother
elders in the church, imparting strength and height and
beauty to the walls ; — contemplate the myriads of
unknown spiritual stones that have been inserted by the
Di^vine Architect, to give compactness and symmetry to
the whole. Walk about her, and see ho^w century after
century has contributed its stratum of spiritual masonry,
see how each is bound to each, and aU to Christ by
that love which is the bond of perfectness. And still the
structure rises ! one beUever and another and yet others
are built upon it day after day ; its towers point towards
heaven ; already can we anticipate what it wiU be ;
its beautiful proportions, its simple grandeur, its pure
and graceful ornaments stand out to view ; and oh !
when, lea^ving the spot from which we look upon its
exterior, we enter the vestibule and pass within,-: —

54 LECTURE II.
what scenes of beauty and purity, of majesty and
glory, burst upon our astonished gaze ! The altar is
there, the cross in which we glory; the sacrifice is
there, the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin
of the world ; the Priest is there, the Great High
Priest, Jesus, the Son of God ; the incense is there,
the prayers of the saints ; the holy water is there
in the laver of regeneration ; the spirits of the de
parted saints are there, ministering with angels
for the heirs of salvation; the Holy Spirit is there, like
a dove, hovering over the whole scene, and sending
forth his gentle and sanctifying influences upon the
assembled worshippers " HoUness unto the Lord" is
¦written over the altar ; and on one side we read the
inscription — " Glory to God in the highest," and 'on the
other side — " Peace on earth, good-will towards men.''
And now we are to inquu-e " Who is the Head of
THIS Catholic Church ?"
The way to the solution of this question has been
so completely paved by our previous investigations,
that a few plain steps will lead us immediately to
It. " Who is the Head of the CathoUc Church ? The
text answers the question, and I read it again : — " And
He is the Head of the body, the Church, who is the
beginning, the fii'stborn from the dead; that in all
things he may hold the primacy."
Protestants assert that Christ is the One Head of the
Catholic Church ; Eoman Catholics, as we have already
seen, assert that there are two Heads ; 1st, Christ in
Heaven ; 2d, His Vicar, the Pope, on earth.
I wish to read to you an extract from a well known

THE ONE HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. 75
Roman Catholic work, " Ferraris Bibliotheca Prompta,"
which is an authorised standard of Roman Catholic
divinity. The extract may be found in the Frankfort
edition, printed in 1783, under the word '' Papa."
" The Pope is of such dignity and highness, that
he is not simply man, but, as it were, God, and
the Vicar of God. Hence the Pope is of such supreme
and sovereign dignity that, properly speaking, he is not
merely constituted in dignity, but is rather placed on
the very summit of dignities. Hence also the Pope is
' Father of Fathei-s ;' and he alone can use this name,
because he only can be called ' Father of Fathers,' since
he possesses the primacy over all, is truly greater than
aU, and the greatest of all. He is called ' most holy,'
because he is presumed to be such. On account of the
excellency of his supreme dignity, he is called ' Bishop
of Bishops, Ordinary of Ordinaries, universal Bishop of
the Church, Bishop or Diocesan of the whole world,
divine Monarch, supreme Emperor and King of Kings.'
Hence the Pope is cro^wned with a triple crown, as King
of heaven, of earth, and of hell. Nay, the Pope's
excellence and power is not only about heavenly, teiTes-
trial and infernal things, but he is also above angels,
and is their superior ; so that if it were possible that
angels could err from the faith, or entertain sentiments
contrary thereto, they could- be judged and excom
municated by the Pope. He is of such great dignity
and power, that he occupies one and the same tribunal
with Christ ; so that whatsoever the Pope does, seems
to proceed from the mouth of God, as is proved from
many Doctors. The Pope is, as it were, God on earth,

76 LECTURE 11.
the only Prince of the faithful of Christ, the greatest
King of all Kings, possessing the plenitude of power,
to whom the government of the earthly and heavenly
kingdom is intrusted. Hence the common doctrine
teacheth, that the Pope hath the power of the two
swords; namely, the spiritual and temporal, which
jurisdiction and power Christ himself committed to
Peter and his successors : ' To thee -will I give the keys
of the kingdom of heaven,' &c. : (Matt. xvi. :) where
Doctors note that he did not say 'key,' but 'keys,' and
by this comprehending the temporal and spiritual
power : which opinion is abundantly confirmed by the
authority of the holy Fathers, the decision of the canon
and civil law, and by the apostolic constitutions."
Protestants deny that there is any authority in the
Word of God for these assumptions. The passage upon
which rests the whole claim of the Pope and Church
of Eome to so pre-eminent a dignity is found in the
sixteenth chapter of the Gospel by St. Matthew, at the
eighteenth and following verses : — " I say to thee that
thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my
church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it. And I -will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of
heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth,
it shall be bound also in heaven ; and whatsoever thou,
shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven."
Upon this passage I desire to make two or three
brief observations.
(1.) It is conceded on aU hands that the Uteral
meaning of the text is, " Thou art a stone, and upon
this roc^," &p. The two words are different — one is

THE Olft HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. 77
TTgrpos which means a small stone or pebble — ^^the
other is jrtrpa which signifies a rock. The vulgate so
far as the Latin language enables it to do so, main
tains this distinction. " Tu es Petrus, et super hanc
Petram" If our Lord had said thou art a rock, and
upon this rocTc, or, thou art a stone, and upon.this stone,
we might be ready to allow that the literal interpreta
tion of the words would favour the meaning that Jefeus
Christ intended to affirm that he would build his
church upon Peter.
(2.) Observe, that this is withal a figurative expres
sion, and one, therefore, upon which alone a vital
doctrine ought not to be made to rest.
(3.) Observe, again, that the Lord Jesus renewed
this commission of Peter to all the apostles after hi^.
resurrection. — (St. John, ch. xx. 22.)
(4.) Observe lastly, that neither our Lord nor Peter's
apostolic brethren, by their conduct at least, put such a
construction upon the woids, as is sought to be applied
to them. When the mother of Zebedee's children made
a request on behalf of her t-\vo sons, you remember how
that the other apostles were filled -with indignation
against the two brethren. And what said their Divine
Master ? — " You know that the princes of the Gentiles
lord it over them, and they that are the greater exercise
power upon them. It shall not be so among you." This
was spoken after the declaration concerning Peter, and
I ask, was it possible for the Great Teacher so to express
himself if it had been his intention to make Peter the
chief and prince of the apostles? We have already
seen that in the first apostoUc council that was held,

78 LECTURE II.
Petel' exercised even less power and authority than
James. Surely the apostles would, have conceded all
authority to Peter, had they understood, that he was
constituted by Christ their prince and leader, and if
they had understood him to be placed in the stead of
Christ, would have paid him that deference which they
owed to Christ. And now I must beg you to look -with
me into the epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians, and to
read from the Douay Bible a few verses in the second
chapter. " 9 And when they had known the gi-ace that was
given to me, James and Cephas aud John, who seemed
to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hands
of feUowship : that we should go unto the gentiles, and
they unto the circumcision :
"10 Only that we should be mindful of the poor:
which same thing also I was careful to do.
"11 But when Cephas was come to Antioch, I with
stood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.
"12 For before that some came from James, he did
eat -with the gentiles : but when they were come, he
withdrew and separated himself, fearing them who
were of the circumcision.
"13 And to his dissimulation the rest of the Jews
consented, so that Barnabas also was led by them into
that dissimulation,
"14 But when I saw that they walked not uprightly
unto the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before
them all : If thou, being a Jew, Uvest after the manner
of the gentiles, and not as the Jews do, how dost thou
oompel the gentiles to live as do the Jews 3"

the one head of the catholic CHURCH. 79
I ask you then, seriously to examine this passage.
Do you find in it a syllable which could lead you to
imagine that Peter was the prince and ruler of the
apostles ? If it were so, how comes it to pass that Paul
entered upon his ministi-y and continued in it for three
years, -without securing the authority and pei-mission
of Peter for that act? (Gal. 18, &o.) What becomes
of Peter's headship in view of the fact that Paul with
stood him to the face ? What becomes of Peter's
infallibility -in -view of the declaration of the blessed and
inspired Paul that he was to be blamed ? How could
Paul, the youngest in office of all the apostles, dare to
charge this chief of chiefs, this ruler of rulers, this
prince of princes, this foundation of the church, this
first infallible Pope of Eome, as he is called by our
Eoman Catholic friends — how, I repeat, could he dare
to charge him -with dissimulation? Brethren, the
whole theory which has been built upon this and one
or two other texts, is completely exploded by the conduct
of the apostles towards Peter.
But let us take -another view of this passage. Much
as it may surprise you, I am prepared to show that no
minister of the Roman Catholic Church can give this
interpretation of the passage without a direct -violation
of his oath. I showed you, last week, that every
Catholic Priest has solemnly sworn "not to take or
interpret the Holy Scripture, otherwise than according
to the unanimous consent of the Fathers.'' Now, I hold
my Roman Catholic brethren to this oath, and say,
that forasmuch as the fathers are very far from unani
mous on the meaning of Christ in these words, they

80 lecture II.
have no right to intei-pret it at all, and much less to
build upon it an essential doctiine of their faith.
Tertullian was of opinion that our Lord conferred
this authority upon Peter individually, for he says,
speaking of the powers and claims of the church : —
" I would know from whence you derive this right
which you claim for the church ? If, from our Lord's
saying, or observing to Peter, do you therefore presume
this power of loosing and binding to have descended
to thee, that is to the whole church which is related to
Peter ? K so, you are overturning and changing the
rtianifest intention of our Lord who confen-ed this upon
Peter individually. Upon thee, he says, I will build
my church : To thee will 1 give the keys, not to the
fchurch." Qrigen, in his commentary on Matthew, vol. i., says :
" If you suppose that the church is built by God upon
pne single rock, Peter, what do you say of John, the
son of thunder, and every one of the other apostles V
St. Hilary, who also wrote a commentary on St.
Matthew's Gospel, speaks of this passage as follows : —
"The confession of Peter obtained a worthy reward,
for that he saw the Son of God in man. O happy
foundation of the church, in the declaration of this new
name ! O happy door-keeper of heaven, to whose will
the keys of the eternal porch are delivered !"
-Ambrose says expressly: "Faith, therefore, is the '
foundation of the church, for it was not said of the
fle,sh of Peter, but of his faith, that the gates of deatli
should not prevail."
Jerome is the last feither, whose opinion I shall quote

the one HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. 81
respecting this passage : — " You say, says he, that the
church is founded on Peter, although the same thing
is elsewhere done upon all the apostles, and all received
the keys of the kingdom of heaven, so that the strength
of the church is consolidated upon all alike." Need
I ask if it be possible to interpret this passage according
to the unanimous consent of the Fathers ?
But supposing we were to admit all that Roman
Catholics say in relation to Peter, they would stiU have
to show us from the testimony of Scripture and the
unanimous consent of the Fathei-s, 1st, That he had
authority to confer the same powei-s upon others ; and,
2d, That he actually did confer them upon the Bishop
of Rome. Have they done this ? No ! Can they dO
this ? Echo answers " NO !"
Who then is the primate of the Catholic Church ?
Jesus Christ, and he shares not this dignity ¦with any
creature. He needeth no vicar upon earth, for " where
soever two or three are gathered together in my name
there am I in the midst." He needeth no coadjutor,
for " in him dweUeth aU the fulness of the Godhead
bodily," and " to him all power is given in heaven and
in earth." Yes, Jesus is our glorious Head — our ¦wis
dom, our guide, our life, our beauty, our all;
"He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead,
that in all things he may hold the primacy." He
alone is that spiritual king to whose authority
we yield : We take - upon us his yoke and reject
every other: We sit at his feet, and refuse to
listen to any words which are not according to his
gospel. He -is our primate, our chief shepherd, the

82 LECTURE II.
bishop of our souls. We cast ourselves before this our
Divine Head, and were he present with us in body we
would kiss his feet in token of our subjection. To be
members of his body, to be branches in his vine, to be
stones in his temple, to be members of the spiritual
apostolic Catholic Church of Christ — this is the highest
honom- and the greatest happiness that we crave. From
Him, as the giver of life, the church derives aU her
being ; from Him, as the Sun of Righteousness, the
church derives all her gloiy ; from Him as the King of
kings the church derives aU her authority. We know
no other ecclesiastical crown but that which adorns the
brow of our blessed Emanuel ; we recognize no other
ecclesiastical throne but that upon which the Son of
God is exalted a Prince and a Saviour; we submit to
no ecclesiastical sceptre, but that which is swayed by
Him whose right it is to reign, even Jesus Christ. And,
believing, as the Douay Bible reads, that " he holds the
PRiMAC'r IN ALL THINGS," WO rcjoioe to sing —
" All hail the power of Jesus' name.
Let angels prostrate fall ;
Bring forth the royal diadem,
Ajtd oeown him Loed of all.'*

LECTURE III.
THE ONE OBJECT OF EELIGlOUS ADORATIOIT.
That the Bible is the One Source of ReUgious Truth,
and that Jesus Christ is the sole Head of the Universal
Chm-ch, are propositions whose truth has been proved,
I venture to think satisfactorily, in the two preceding
lectures. The ground, then, on which -w6 stand has been dis- '
closed, the foundation has been made bare. The Holy
Scripture is the standard of appeal in aU matters of
doctrine and practice ; and in this Protestants only
foUow the example of the Fathers and the Church in
the first four centuries of the Christian era : — The one
only Head of the Catholic Church which comprises all
the'spiritual members of Christ's body, is He to whom
all power is given in heaven and on earth, — our glorious
Lord, our Di-vine King, our Almighty Redeemer ; and
here also, Protestants are supported not only by the
Bible, but also by the most illustrious names in the
early church, and, I may say also, in the Eoman
CathoUc calendar of saints.
It is not necessary that I should farther recapitulate,
but proceed at once to the subject of my present
Lecture, " The One object of religious Adoration,"
a subject which occupies a prominent place in the

84 lecture III.
controversy between ourselves and our Eoman Oftholio
brethren. The' Soriptm-e, which I am about to read
to you as a text, is found in the twenty-second chapter
of the Apocalypse, at the eight and ninth verses. It
reads in the Douay Bible thus : —
" And after I had heard and seen, I fell down
TO ADORE BEFORE THB FEET OF THE AnGBL, WHO
SHEWED ME THESE THINGS.
" And hb said to me : See thou do it not : foe I
AM THY FELLOW-SERVANT, AND OF THY BRETHREN THE
PROPHETS, AND OF THEM THAT KEEP THE WORDS OF THE
PROPHECY OF THIS BOOK, AdORE GoD."
In addressing myself to this deUcate and confessedly
difficult task, I distinctly avow my intention of advanc
ing no statement in reference to the Eoman Catholic
¦view of the subject, except upon the testimony of au
thorized Catholic expositors or liturgies. It is scarcely
needful to remind you that the discussion will embrace
one of the strongest grounds upon which the Eeformed
Churches have protested, and still protest against the
Church of Eome. If the charge which Protestants
seek to bring home to her, in connexion with religious
adoration, can be sustained, then ¦will she stand con-
¦victed of a most fearful ¦violation of the law of God.
Protestants think that the principles and practices of
Roman Catholicism are idolatrous in their nature and
tendency. My desire is, that it may be fonnd impos
sible to make good the charge : great would be my
I delight if the argument should fail, and" if Protestants
should, after aU, be convicted of injustice to their
" CathoUc" friends. Let then Pi-otestants and CathoUcS,

THE ONE OBJECT OF RELIGIOUS ADORATION. 85
in investigating this subject, consider, at the very outset,
those particulars in which they agree.
1. We aU acknowledge the existence of one Supreme
God, in whom we live, move, and have our being, who
created aU things by the word of his power, and who
upholds aU things by the same almighty word. I take
up any of the numerous prayer books which are
in use amongst the members of the Church of Rome,
and I read in one of the acknowledged creeds of that
Church, the Nicene : " I beUeve in one God, the Father
Almighiy, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things
visible and invisible." I open the prayer book of the
Protestant Episcopal Church, and I read the same
words in one of their Confessions of Faith. I look into
the Westminster Shorter Catechism, and I find that
form of faith usually designated the apostles creed, in
which occm- the words, " I beUeve in God the Father
Almighty Maker of heaven and earth." " Hear, O
Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord," saith the Catholic,
and the Protestant, taking up the same orthodox note,
responds, " The Lord our God is one Lord."
2. Protestants and CathoUcs equally acknowledge
the mysterious, but, as they think, Scriptural doctrine
of the Triune character of Jehovah. This doctrine I
do not feel it necessary to defend this evening, because
between Protestantism and Roman CathoUcism, it is
not a disputed point. It may be well, however, and it
will be only fair, to acknowledge that, in the Protestant
community, there are some few, I use the expression
comparatively, who adhere to the tenets of Arius, and
stiU fe'ff'er who follow the more extreme opinions of
E

86 LECTURE III.
Sociniis ; but it will be conceded, I think, that between
Roman Catholics and the great mass of Protestants,
there is a perfect agreement in respect of this sublime
mystery of our common Christianity. I have more
than once read, and with delight too, upon the altarg
of Roman CathoUc Churches in Spain, Malta, Sicily,
and elsewhere, " Ft in unum Dominum Jesum Chris
tum, filium Pe^unigenitum" &c. ; and I have rejoiced to
see it rendered into the ¦vulgar tongue in the devotional
books of the CathoUc Church ;— ^" And in one Lord
Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, and bom
of the Father before all ages ; God of God ; Light of
Light ; true God of ti-ue God ; begotten, not made
consubstantial to the Father ; who for us men and for
our salvation came down fi-om heaven, and was incar
nate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, aud was
made man," &c. I go into a Protestant Episcopal
Chm-ch, and in the course of the morning service, I
hear, repeated by the minister and people, with a Uttle
verbal alteration, the same beautiful passages. I go
into a Presbyterian Church during the ordination of a
ininister, and I find him subscribing to a confession of
faith, in which the following passage is found : " In
the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one
substance, power, and eternity; God the Father, God
the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. The Father is of
none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is
eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Ghost
eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son."
On this second subject, therefore, there exists a general
unanimity, The Eoman CathoUc Church chaunts

THE ONE OBJECT OF RELIGIOUS ADORATION. 87
forth the praises of the Triune God, in the words,
" Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the
Holy Ghost" ; and the Reformed Chm-ches rejoice to
respond, " As it was in the beginning, is now and ever
shaU be, world ¦without end. Amen."
3. Pi'otestants and Catholics acknowledge also the
obUgation of every man to worship, adore, serve, and
love this exalted Three-One Jehovah.
Indeed, each of the two systems is based upon this
elementary truth : " Thou shalt worship the Lord thy
God." This is tacitiy acknowledged in all those prayers
and anthems of praise which are offered to the Di-vine
BeingHby members of both communities. For instance,
I find in a Eoman Catholic book of devotion, entitled,
" The Key of Heaven," and which received the impri
matur of the late Eoman Catholic Archbishop, Dr.
Murray, the following devotional exercises : —
" 0 God, to whom every heart is open, every will
declares itself, and from whom no secret lies concealed,
pm'ify by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, the
thoughts of our hearts ; that we may perfectly love
thee, and worthily serve thee : through," &c.
" Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace to
men^jf good ¦wUl. We praise thee, we bless thee, we
adore thee, we glorify thee. We give thanks to thee
for thy great glory, 0 Lord God, heavenly King, God
the Father Almighty."
Now I am free to acknowledge that more orthodox
evangelical or fervent prayers and thanksgivings, could
not be put into the mouth of any Christian, and I rejoice

88 LECTURE ni.
to state that many such are to be found in the devotiona,!
books of OUT Roman Catholic Friends.
There is, then, no question of dispute here : We.
aU acknowledge that God is a Spirit, and that they
who worship him must worship him in spirit and
in truth ; that indeed we ought to love him with. aU
our heart, and soul, and mind, and strength.
4. Protestants and CathoUcs are generally agreed'
as to the fearfully evil character of idojlatiy in the sight
of God.
I open the Douay Bible, on the second command-
ment, and I read :
"Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thingr
nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above,
or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in
the waters under the earth.
" Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them ; |I
am the Lord thy God, mighty, jealous, visiting the
iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third
and fourth generation of them that hate me."
To which I find appended the foUo'wing note:
" All such images or likenesses, are forbidden by this
commandment, as are made to be adored and served ;
according to that which immediately follows, thou shalt
not adore them, nor serve them. That is, all such as are
designed for idols or image-gods, or are worshipped with
divine honour. But otherwise images, pictures, or
representations, even in the house of God, and in the
very sanctuaiy, so far from being forbidden, are expressly
authorised by the word of God."
I take up Dr. Butler's Catechism, recommended by

THE ONE OBJECT OF RELIGIOUS ADORATION. 89
the four Roman Catholic Archbishops of Ireland, and
find the following : " What is commanded by the firet
commandment? Answer, To adore one God, and to
adore but him alone." I lead again : " What else is
forbidden by the first commandment? Answer, To
give to any creature the honour due to God alone." In
another catechism, I find this abhorrence of idolatry
expressed yet more forcibly ; and, though the copy of
the work now in my hand does not appear to be sanc
tioned by ecclesiastical authority, I willingly quote from
it, forasmuch as it is pubUshed in this city by a Eoman
CathoUc bookseUer, and, as I suppose, freely circulated
and used by the members of that communion. I
beUeve it indeed to be a reprint of an ecclesiastically
authorised catechism, bearing the same title, and pub
lished and circulated in Ireland, On page thirty-seven
I read : " Do you then worship the angels and saints
as God, or give them the honor that belongs to God
alone?" Answer, "No; God forbid. For this woidd
be high treason against -his di^vine majesty." In all
this, I need scarcely say, Protestants ai-e at one with
their Roman CathoUc brethren.
At this stage of the discussian, it -wiU be desirable
to determine, What is idolatry ? Its existence we ail
acknowledge. We acknowledge also the tendency of
the human mind, or we would rather say heart, in its
fallen state, to seek after ¦visible objects of worship.
This, indeed, is proved by all history. First, the more
glorious created objects — ^the sun, the moon, the stars,
were deified, were woishipped as gods: then, heroes,
men of renown in various pursuits, after their departm-e

90 LECTURE III.
into the spirit-world were deified, the localities of their
birth, of their exploits, of their death, were venerated,
rude Ukenesses of them were constructed in various
substances, and multiplied, until they came to be reve
renced and adored, not in one place merely, but in
many places at the same time. Subsequently to this
the doctrine of the metempsychosis led to the deification
of the inferior animals, and thus to employ the language
of St. Paul, the world " changed the glory of the incor
ruptible God into the likeness of the image of corrup
tible man, and of birds and of fom'-footed beasts and
of creeping thing-s." Thus originated the terrible, the
God-dishonouring sin of idolatry, which has been the
parent of so much cruelty and bloodshed, and moral
degradation, and which, like a pestilence, has swept
over the most august nations and the fairest spots of
our earth, leaving upon them and upon their people,
the impress of moral corruption and of spiritual death.
I have -witnessed idolatry in various forms and sur
rounded ¦with different circumstances, but wherever I
have seen it it has been attended with the same demo
ralizing influences — a thorough prostration of mental
¦vigour, and an extinction of the moral perception, the
influence of which extends over every grade of society
and to every social relation.
In what, then, does idolatry consist ?
First. — It does not necessarily consist in a denial
of the existence of the true God. Such a denial is no
part of the system of Paganism. In Pagan nations, as
also in those which are Christian, you may now and
then meet a professed Atheist, but scarcely any man,

the one OBJECT OF RELIGIOUS ADORATION. 91
however ignorant, who worships an idol, doubts the
being of an infinitely supreme and glorious Spirit. I
grant that, in some of the ruder Heathen nations, the
prevailing notions respecting the natm-e of God, are
very crude and imperfect, but it is not to be forgotten,
that in those countries in which Paganism has reached
the magnitude and the refinement of a religious system ;
the people hold doctrines concerning the divine nature
not very dissimilar fi-om those which are entertained by,
ourselves. For example, the eternity, the omnipotence,
the omnipresence, the omniscience, the holiness, the
¦wisdom, the benevolence of the Supreme Being are
held in their integrity by the Brahminical sects of
Hindostan; but not less, on this account, are they
idolaters, worshippers of images. Almost every form
of man, of beast, of bird, of reptile, is worshipped as
God by the inteUigent, as well as by the ignorant
Hindoo. In the course of my missionary labours
amongst them, I do not remember meeting with more
than two who denied or even doubted the being of a
God. Secondly. — ^Idolatry does not necessarily consist in
¦witholding from the Divine Being supreme adoration.
That such an adoration of the true God is compatible
¦with the commission of the sin of idolatry, may be
gathered from the history of the children of Israel.
I turn, in the Douay Bible, to the Fourth Book of
Kings, and I read in the seventeenth chapter, at the
twenty-ninth and following verses : —
"And every nation made gods of their o^wn, and
put them in the temples of the high places, which the

92 lecture iir.
Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities
where they dwelt.
" And nevertheless they worshipped the Lord. And
they made to themselves, of the lowest of the people,
priests of the high places, and they placed them in the
temples of the high places.
"And when they worshipped the Lord, they served
also their own gods according to the custom of the
^nations out of which they were brought to Samaria :"
Thirdly. — Idolatry consists in the transfer of any
religious adoration to other than God. "I am the
Lord thy God, a jealous God." " The Lord thy God
shalt thou adore, and him only shalt thou serve," is
the language which our ever blessed Redeemer em
ployed to resist the temptation of Satan, who had asked
Him to "fall down and worship him." More par
ticularly, —
(1.) You an acknowledge that to ascribe Divine
names, titles, attributes, and works to any creatui-e is
idolatry. Now, the Reformed Churches protest against
the Church of Eome, because she ascribes to the Virgin
Mary such names, titles, attributes and works.
In ""the litany of our Blessed Lady of Loretto," I find
the title " Eefuge of sinners," appUed to the Mother of
our Lord. But David, in the forty-sixth Psalm says :
" Our God is our refuge." I find in the same Htany
the title "Gate or door of heaven," appUed to the
Virgin. Chiist says " I am the door. By me if any
man enter in he shall be saved." " / am the way," he
again saith ; — expressions which intimate most clearly
that he regarded the titie as solely appUcable to him-

the one object of RELIGIOUb ADORATION. 93
self. Other tities are ascribed to the Virgin which
certainly partake of a divine character, such as " Most
holy Mary," " Queen of Angels," " Queen of Heaven,"
" Seat of Wisdom," " Mirror of Justice." These may
be found over and over again in the devotional books
of the Eoman Catholic Chm'ch ; and I ask, do they not
savour too much of divinity to be appUed to any crea
ture, more than which I am not aware that any CathoUc
ever contended the Virgin to be. It is possible, how
ever, that yon may not consider the ground of our
protest to have been made, as yet at least, sufficiently
clear. You may imagine that it is necessary to adduce
stronger proof of the ascription of divine titles and works
to the Virgin Mary. Let me then refer you to another
Eoman CathoUc publication, and as I wish to make
sure the gi-onnd on which I stand, I will mention the
name of the author, his reputation in the Church of
Rome, the name of the work, the place in which it was
printed, the date of its pubUcation, and the authority
upon which it is circulated amongst the adherents of
the Church. The author then of the work from which
I quote is St. Bonaventure ; his position as a saint,
should invest him with some authority ; he was more
over a Cardinal Bishop. There is a special service to
his honour in the Liturgical bo.oks of the Roman
Church, from which service the following sentence is
extracted : " he, St. Bonaventure, -wrote many things ;
in which, combining the greatest learning -with ardent
piety, he affects the reader while he insta-ucts him." In
the same service there is the following prayer : " O
Lord, who didst give blessed Bonaventure to thy people
e2

94 lecture HI.
for a minister of eternal salvation, grant, that he who
was the instructor of our life here on earth, may become
our intercessor in heaven." The work to which I allude
is the Psalter of the Blessed Virgin, pubUshed in Rome
as late as the year 1840, called the eleventh edition,
and having the imprimatur and re-imprimatur of the
ecclesiastical authorities in the Vatican. The plan of
the work is to introduce the name of Mary into each
of the Psalms, where now the name of God appears.
The work contains other pieces of devotion, from which
I give you the foUo-wing specimen. It is printed in
Italian, -which I wiU first read,* and then translate
literally :
" We prefer our praises to thee, O Mother of God.
We praise thee, O Mary, Virgin.
" All the earth shall reverence thee, the spouse of the
Eternal Father.
" To thee. Angels and Archangels, To thee Thrones
and Principalities humbly bow themselves.
" To thee all Choirs, to thee Cherubim and Seraphim,
exulting worship around [thee.]
" To thee aU angelic creatures sing praises -with in
cessant voice.
" Holy, holy, holy Mary, Mother of God, both Mother
and Virgin."
You agree that creation is a work of God, and that
to ascribe it to a creature is idolatry ; what then will be
thought of the following extract from the same book :
' 'The heavens declare the glory of the Virgin, and the
firmament showeth forth her handiwork?" I know
* See note at the end of this Lecture.

the one object of RELIGIOUS ADORATION. 95
that these extracts must be offensive to the mind of
many a Roman Catholic in the congi-egation. I feel
persuaded that they are regai'ded by you as not only
idolatrous, but even blasphemous ; I am aware too that
some defenders of the Chm-ch of Eome have sought to
remove the responsibiUty of this work from Bonaven
ture, the celebrated Dr. Doyle especially; but if he
remove it from the Saint, he throws it upon the Chm-ch,
which, from 1834 to 1840, permitted eleven editions to
be published at Eome, the heart and centre of the
Church, -with the imprimatur of her authorities. In
the face of this. Manning has asserted, -without proof,
that this Psalter is found in the index of Prohibited
Books ; which we deny ; and, therefore, throw upon
him, and upon any one else who makes the same asser
tion, the burden of proof. You must see the index
youi-selves before you believe that there is to be found
in it, a book passing through two editions a-year for
six successive years, bearing the imprimatur of the
Vatican, and printed at Eome. But the evidence is
irresistible that this is an authorised Eoman CathoUc
work. Give me your attention, and I will convince
you that this is the case. The first formal and entire
coUection of the works of Bonaventure was published
iu 1587, under the patronage of Sixtus the Fifth, Pope
of Eome. The Psalter is included in this edition ; and
what is rather remarkable, there is prefixed to it a life
of the Saint, by Peter Galesinius,. who, on page 19,
particularly specifies the Psalter as the production of
Bonaventure. If these are not the present sentiments
of the Church of Rome, she has changed since the days

96 .LECTURE III.
of Sixtus v., and even since the date of the last edition
of this work, the last that we have heard of, that of
1840. We have a right to hold the Church of Rome
to these sentiments, or to oblige her to confess that her
teaching is not uniform, and therefore that her boasted
unity is fabulous.
(2.) To offer sacrifice, prayer, or praise to any creature
is idolatry. This is admitted by several authorities of
the Catholic Church. For instance, I find on page 40,
of the grounds of Catholic doctrine, a work from which
I have already quoted the following question and answer :
" Q. Do Catholics pray to saints ?
" A. If by praying to saints, you mean addressing
om-selves to them, as to the authors or disposers of
grace and glory, or in such a manner as to suppose
they have any power to help us independentiy of God's
good -will and pleasure, we do not pray to them."
From this it is clear, that the Church of Eome re
gards positive prayer, and dependance upon any creature
as idolatrous and sinful. We accept this exposition,
and state that the Eeformed Chm-ches protest against
the Church of Eome, because its members are taught
in their devotional works to present absolute prayer
and praise to the Virgin, and to place absolute dependr
ence upon her.
I find in the litany of our Blessed Lady of Loretto,
the following prayer : " We fly to thy patronage, 0
sacred Mother of God ; despise not our prayers in our
necessities, but deliver us fi-om aU dangers, 0 glorious
and blessed ever Virgin." Is not this addressing
absolute prayer to a creature ?

THE ONE OBJECT OF RELIGIOUS ADORATION. 97
My next proof is taken from the Encyclical letter of
Pope Gregory the XVI., dated August 15, 1832 :
" We select for the date of our letter this most joyful
day, on which we celebrate the solemn festival of the
most blessed Virgin's triumphant assumption into heaven,
that she who has been, through every great calamity,
our patroness and protectress, may watch over us writing
to you, and lead our mind, by her heavenly influence, ,
to those counsels which may prove most salutary to
Christ's flock.
" But that all may have a successful and happy issue,
let us raise our eyes to the most blessed Virgin Mary,
who alone destroys heresies, who is om- greatest hope,
yea, the entire ground of om- hope. (St. Bernard. Serm.
de Nativ. B. V. M., sect, vii.) May she exert her patron
age to draw down an efficacious blessing on our desires,
our plans, and proceedings, in the present straitened
condition of the Lord's flock. We will also implore, in
humble prayer, from Peter, the Prince of the Apostles,
and from his fellow-Apostle Paul, that you may all
stand as a waU to prevent any other foundation than
what hath been laid."
I adduce, as another proof some petitions which
occm- in a small devotional work, entituled, " II Tesoro
dell'Anima," The treasure of the soul. It was
printed in Naples in 1842, and is in general
use throughout the kingdom of the two Sicilies.
On page 70, we have the foUowing specimens of
absolute prayer:
" O most afflicted soul of the Virgin give me conso
lation.

98 LECTURE HI.
" 0 most adorable body of my dear Mother, comfort
me. "0 most loving tears of the Queen of Paradise
purify me.
" Receive for thy servant me, who love and trust
thee. In the hour of my death aid me, to the end,
that with all the elect I may glorify thee for ever and
ever. Amen."
I now hold in my hand a work by Saint Alphonso
de Liguori, entituled Le Pouvoir de Marie, published
" with the approbation and under the patronage of the
Archbishops and Bishops of Paris, Tours, Nevers,
Lugon, etc." From this volume, which is weU known
and much read by the French Canadian portion of our
community, I shall read two extracts illustrative of
the teaching on this subject of eminent members of the
Roman CathoUc Church.
The first is an absolute prayer to the Virgin :
" O Mary, my refuge, how often have I not felt
myself to be, through my sins, the slave of HeU ! You
have broken my bonds, you have snatched me from the
hands of my fierce enemies ; but I tremble; from fear of
again falling into their power, for I know that their
rage has no repose, and that they expect me yet to
become their prey. Holy Virgin ! be my buckler and
my defence ; with your aid I am sure to conquer ; but
grant' that I may never forget to invoke you in my
conflicts, and especially in this last, the most terrible of
all, when the demon expejcts to betray me at the last
hour. Put you your name upon my lips and in my
heart, and may I expire while pronouncing this name

THE ONE OBJECT OF RELIGIOUS ADORATION. 99
to the end, that I may find myself at your feet in
heaven. Amen.''
The second is an account of a vision, whose teaching
is neither more nor less than an exaltation of the power
and mercy of Mary beyond those of our Divine Lord : —
" We read in the Chronicles of the Franciscans, that
Brother Leo, once had the following vision : ' He saw
two laddei-s, one red, at the top of which was Jesus
Christ, the other white, at the top of which the Vu-gin
Mary had placed herself Several attempted to ascend
by the first ladder, they mounted a few. steps then fell,
they again attempted it with no greater success. No
one arrived at the summit. At this crisis a voice cried
to them to turn to the white ladder, and having done
so, they happily ascended, for the benevolent Virgin
held out her hand to aid them.' "
I know that^my Roman CathoUc friends will say,
" Such expressions as those do not escape our lips."
Some of them, I grant you, do not, others of them,
however, are taken from devotional books which are
in common use in this city. But, in respect of those
petitions that occur in books, which, though you have
never seen them, are sanctioned by the proper eccles-
tical authorities, you surely wiU not venture to protest
against these, you surely -wUl not reject the prescriptions
of your own Catholic Church, you wiU not surely
disavow the sentiments which I have now read from
the Pope's encyclical letter, you are bound by your
o-wn vo-ws, bound by every principle of your church, to
pay the same deference to these sentiments as you are
intending to pay to the Pastoral letter which has lately

100 LECTURE III.
reached this country from the sacred congregation, res
pecting subjects that relate to the government of your
church. We hold you, my dear friends, and your
church, to the doctrines which we have gathered from
these works, freely circulated as they are in Catholic
Countries, until their authors shall have been denounced,
and the books themselves introduced into the Index
expurgatorum et prohibiiorum.
We have then proved, satisfactorily, as I think, that
Divine titles and works, are ascribed to the Virgin
Mary by authority of the Church of Rome, and that
the members of that church present absolute worship) to
her, and place an absolute trust in her. Against this,
the Reformed Churches raise their solemn protest.
First, — On the authority of the Word of God.
And here I -vrill read at once from the Douay Bible
that passage upon which the Roman CathoUc- Church
chiefly relies for the honor and reverence, as she calls it,
for the adoration, as we call it, which she pays to the
blessed mother of Jesus Christ. It is found in the fii-st
chapter of the Gospel according to St. Luke, at the
twenty-eighth verse.
The chief stress is laid upon the 48th verse ; " Be
hold, fi-om henceforth, all generations shaU call me
blessed." Now I ask what does this prove ? Is it
intended to be urged that this is a sufficient warrant
for those honours which ai-e paid to the Virgin ? The
argument proves too much. " Blessed are the meek for
they shaU inherit the earth. Blessed are the poor in
spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." But let us
turn to the Book of Judges. In the fifth chapter, I find

THE ONE OBJECT OF RELIGIOUS ADORATION. 101
the canticle of Debora and Barac, and I read the fol
lowing passage in the .twenty-fourth verse : " Blessed
among women, be Jahel, the wife of Haber." Am I
then on the ground of this passage to regard Jael as
worthy of religious reverence and homage ? And yet,
so far as the text is concerned, we have as much autho
rity for the one as for the other. But let us see how
Jesus, the Son of Mary, understood this passage. He,
the founder of Christianity, knew what position his
Mother should assume in the church which he estab
lished. He knew whether she was or was not the
Queen of Angels, the Queen of Heaven, the Gate of
Heaven, the Most Holy, the Seat of Wisdom, the Re
fuge of Sinners ; and if the Eoman Catholic doctrine
be true, I have a right to expect that, by both words
and actions, Jesus Christ would intimate, to his disciples
at least, the exalted reverence which was due to her who
bare him. Let us then search the Scriptures whether
these things are so. I turn to the Douay Bible, and
open it at the second chapter of St. John's Gospel. I
read in the first few verees :
" And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of
Galilee : and the mother of Jesus was there.
" 2. And Jesus also was invited, and his disciples, to
the marriage.
" S. And the -wine faiUng, the mother of Jssus saith
to him : They have no wine.
" 4. And Jesus saith to her : Woman, what is it to
nae and to thee ? my hour is not yet come."
I will give my hearers the benefit of the note which
is subscribed : —

102 LECTURE III.
" What is to me, <&c. These words of our Saviour
spoken to his mother have been understood by some
commentators as harsh, they not considering the next
following verse : Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye
which plainly shews that his mother knew of the miracles
that he was to perform, and that it was at her request
he wrought it; besides the manner of speaking the
words as to the tone, and the countenance shc'wn at
the same time, which could only be kno^wn to those
who were present, or fi-om what had followed : for
words indicating anger in one tone of voice, would be
understood quite the reverse in another."
But look again : what a comment on the words " blessed
art thou amongst women," does our Lord Jesus Christ
furnish in the eleventh chapter of the Gospel by Luke
(ver. 27) ?
" And it came to pass : as he spoke these things
a certain woman from the crowd lifting up her voice
said to him : Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and
the paps that gave thee suck."
Not less forcible is the comment which he pronounced
on another occasion, and which is recorded in the eighth
chapter (ver. 19, 20, 21).
" And his mother and brethren came unto him ;
and they could not come at him for the crowd."
" And it was told him : Thy mother and thy brethren
stand without, desiring to see thee.
" Who answering said to them : My mother and my
brethren, are they who hear the word of God, and do
it" And now let me conduct you to a scene upon which

THE ONE, OBJECT OF RELIGIOUS ADORATION. 103
angels gazed with holy reverence, and upon which many
in this Church have often gazed in imagination 'vrith
sacred joy and grief I take you to the heights of Calvary
on the day of the Saviour's crucifiixion ; see your Jesus
hanging upon the cross ; see there the blood streaming
from his temples, from his outstretched hands, from his
nailed feet; contemplate his fearful agony ;
See &om his head, his hands, his feet.
Sorrow and love flow mingled down ;
Did ere such love and sorrow meet.
Or thorns compose so rich a crown ?
See at the foot of the cross looking on with mournful
anxiety, the mother of Jesus, and the wife of Cleophas,
and Mary Magdelene, and -with them the beloved John.
Now mark the affection of the man Christ Jesus !
"When Jesus therefore had seen his mother, and
the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to
his mother, woman, behold thy son. After that he
saith to his disciple, behold thy mother." What
tenderness is here displayed ! what pity ! what kind
ness ! Who can but admire the filial care of the Son
of Man, so strikingly exhibited at the very moment that
he was bearing the sin of the whole world ! But is there
any reference to the high dignity with which the
Church of Rome seeks to invest her ? Does it not
seem to you impossible that such an address should
have been presented by the Lord Jesus Christ to Mary
and John, were the Roman CathoUc theoi-y scriptural
and evangelical ?
Again, in what light did the Aposties regard Mary
after the ascension of our Lord ? Did the Apostle John

104 LECTURE I'll.
even, to whose icare she was committed, and in whose
house she dwelt, mention even her name, in any one of
the three epistles .which he -wrote ? No. Did Peter or
Paul refer to her in any way during any of their sermons,
or in any of their prayers or epistles ? No. I put it to
you, then, whether such an omission is at all compatible
with that prominent place in the Christian ritual which
she has received from the Church of Rome. We are
, commanded to pray, we are taught to pray, we have
examples of apostolic praying, but always to God
through Christ. This subject, however, of the invocation.
of saints will be discussed in the lecture on " The One
Mediator between God and men."
Second, — We raise our solemn protest against the
Church of Rome for the worship which she pays to the
Vii-gin Mary, on the authority, not only of the Word of
God, but also of the Ancient Church and Fathers.
It was about the middle of the fourth century that
the opinion arose that in the days of Christ, and before
his birth, there were in the temple of Jerusalem, -virgins
consecrated to God, among whom Mary grew up in
vows'of perpetual chastity. Her marriage -with Joseph
was declared to be formal, and he was regarded as an
ascetic fi'om his youth. This was Jerome's opinion.
At this time a sect sprang up whose peculiar tenet was,
that the Virgin Mary should be worshipped, and that
religious honours should be paid her. The members of
this- sect were caUed Collyridians from CoUyridse, the
cakes which they offered to the Virgin. Whethw it
were possible for these Collyi-idians to exceed the Saints
Bonaventure and, Liguori in the homage which they paid

THE ONE OBJECT OF RELIGIOUS ADORATION. 105
to the Virgin Mary, I leave you to judge : it is at least
evident that Epiphanius, and othera of the Nicene
Fathers condemned them as heretics ; for in his work
against Heresies, Book ui., he says : " Some persons are
mad enough to honour the Virgin as a sort of goddess."
Might he not have said the same if he had lived in the
days of Liguori ? " Certain women, he continues, have;
transplanted this vanity from Thrace into Arabia, foi*
they sacrifice a bread cake in honour of the Virgin, and
in her name they blasphemoiLsly celebrate sacred
mysteries. But the whole matter is a tissue of impiety,
abhorrent from the teaching of the Holy Ghost, so that
we may call it a diaboUcal business. In them is
fulfilled this prophecy of Saint Paul — ' Certain persona
shaU apostatize fi-om the faith, attending to fables and
doctrines concerning demon gods.' " After speaking of
idolatry in NeapoliSj the- natives of which sacrificed to a
gul whom he took to be Jephthah's daughter ; and of
idolatry in Egypt,, whose inhabitants honoured Pharaoh's
daughter as a goddess, he fm-ther remarks : " We
Christians most indecorously honour the Saints. Rather
ought we to honour Him who is their Sovereign Lord.
Let, then, the error of seducers cease. The Virgin
Mary is no goddess. To the peril therefore of his own
soul, let no one make oblations in her name." Surely
the Father who penned these sentiments, would, were
he now amongst us, Uft up his voice against the incense
and the prayers, and the gifts, and the homage which
are daily presented by the Roman Catholic Church —
not to Mary merely, but e-ven to statues and images of
Mary !

106 LECTURE III.
Protestants are charged by their Roman Catholic friends
with dishonouring and despising the blessed Mother
of our Lord Jesus, and with disregarding her memory.
A note in the Douay Bible, appended to the forfy-
eighth verse of the first chapter of Luke, reads thus :
" These words are a prediction of that honour which the
Church in all ages should pay to the blessed Virgin.-
Let Protestants examine whether they are any way
concerned in this prophecy." I reply, that Pro
testants are concerned in this prophecy. We do
caU her blessed among women. We cherish her-
memory in high estimation, as one of the most
humble and obedient of all the Saints of the Most
High God, and to Christians of every name we
commend her example of meekness, and patience, and
purity. Would, that we all possessed the graces which
were exhibited by the Virgin Mary ! How privileged
was the beloved disciple to have been pei-mitted to
receive her into his own home ! Who would not with
him have rejoiced to hear her speak, as she doubtless often
did, of the Saviom-'s infancy, of His youth, of His man
hood. We go thus far -with our Roman CathoUc neigh- '
hours, but we cannot, we dare not, on so slender authority
as that which they adduce, pay her Divine honours. No,
my hearers ! we should imagine that we heard a voice
from heaven interrupting every prayer, every bow, every
curtesy, every prostration, interrupting the ascent of every
cloud of incense, -with the words of the text " See thou do
it not, for I am thy feUow servant." We do not forget
him who hath said : " I the Lord thy God am a jealous

THE ONE OBJECT OF RELIGIOUS ADORATION. 107
God." Amongst ourselves we see that jealousy is ex
cited by the surrender to others of a small part only of
that love and service which we owe to one alone. What
would avail the professions of attachment, ^the smiles,
the attentions of a husband to a faithful" ¦wife, should
she -witness smiles and attentions conferred upon
another ? What would avail in the presence of a King
aU the titles -with which we should addi-ess him, and
all the homage with which we should present ourselves
to him, and all the obsequiousness which should mark
our conduct towards him, were we to select a favorite
com-tier, and in the presence of the King himself
address to that courtier the same titles, and approach
him with the same obsequious bearing 1 " The Lord
thy God is a jealous God;" — think of this, and
remember that he hath also declared, " my glory will
I not give to another.''
And now I appeal to you, have we not clearly con-
¦victed the authorities of the Roman Catholic Church of
permitting the issue and the use of pubUcations in
which the glory of the Most High God is transferred
to the Virgin ? convicted them too in the very face of
a passage from their own version of the Scriptures.
" I the Lord, that is my name, I will not give my glory-
to another?" Have we not proved beyond the
possibility of a question, that eminent Saints of the
Roman CathoUc Church whose days are kept, whose
works are admired, and to whom invocation is pres
cribed, have given to a creature the titles, the service,
the prayers, the praises, which belong only to the
Creator? "The Lord thy God is a jealous God:"

108 LECTURE III.
See it manifested towards Israel when the golden calf
was set up to represent the Lord, and worshipped ¦with
incense and offerings. See how the jealousy of the
Most H^gh was stirred, " Let me alone, that my -wrath
may be kindled against them, and that I may destroy
them :" " The Lord thy God, is a jealous God :" See it
manifested when Israel, in the days of Elijah, sought
to mingle the worship of Baal -with the -worship of
Jehovah ! " The Lord thy God is a jealous God."' See
it manifested in the history of Herod, who, when he had
made an oration to the people, permitted himself to be
called a god ; and who because he did not give the
honour to God was forthwith struck by an angel of the
Lord, and being eaten up of worms, gave up the ghost.
And because the Lord our God is a jealous God we
protest against the presentation of prayer or any other
worship to a creature. Rather would we follow the
command of Jesus, who taught us to pray not to his
beloved Mother, but to " Our Father which art in
heaven." Rather would we imitate those apostolic prayers-
in which the Father was addressed through the Son.
The Trinity which we adore is not that of Jesus, Mary
and Joseph, as some Roman Catholics have taught, but
that of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The
refuge of sinners to which we fly is not Mary, but Jesus
Christ the Son of God, who alone "saves his people
from their sins." The ladder by which we hope to
ascend from earth to heaven, is Jesus ; the door through
which we hope to enter into the heavenly city, is Jesus ;
¦with us Jesus and not Mary is the fountain of wisdom ;
with us the Eternal Word and not Mary is the min-or of

THE ONE OBJECT OF RELIGIOUS ADORATION. 109
justice ; ¦with us God and not Mary is the Comforter of
the afflicted ; and we wiU content ourselves with the
exclamation of David, " Unto thee will I cry, O Lord,
my rock — unto thee" 0 God do we give thanks, unto
Thee do we give thanks, for that Thy name is near Thy
wondrous works declare." " Truly my soul waiteth upon
God, fi-om Him cometh my salvation. He only is my
Rock and my salvation, he is my defence."
It will not avail for any Eoman Catholic present to
say, " I do not subscribe to those sentiments which you
have this evening read respecting the Virgin Mary." I
hold you to every sentiment that I can find in these or
any other books which are sent forth by the authorities
of your Church. You belong to a Catholic Chm-ch,
your profession is that your doctrines, youi- ritual, your
liturgies, your' practice, are one ; this is the boast of
your great writer. Dr. Milner ; if then, they are one,
they cannot be diverse ; if you are a CathoUc, how
dare you refuse to employ any authorized liturgy which
I can produce ? WUl you resist the authority of your
Saints, your Cardinals, your Bishops, your Pastors ?
If sq, you are not obedient sons of the Church,
and there rests upon you her bitterest anathema.
Before I proceed to the next step in the discussion, I
would explain that I have confined your attention to the
adoration of the Virgin because she is the most emi
nent Saint of the Eoman CathoUc Church. From other
devotional pubUcations, ecelesiasticaUy authorized, I
could liave adduced passages to show that. divine titles
and works are ascribed to other saints. This subject,
however, ¦will be more fully expounded in a subsequent

110 LECTCRE lir.
lecture. I therefore resume the discussion, reminding
you that we have shown, that to ascribe divine tities,
attributes, and works, to any creature is idolatry; and
that the Roman Catholic Church has done and is doing
this to the Virgin Mary. We have sho-wn that to offer
sacrifice, prayer or praise to any creature is idolatry, and
that the Roman CathoUc Church has done and is domg
this also to the Virgin Mary. And now we take another
position. That to bow do^wn reUgiously, i. e. for religious pur
poses before images, pictures, or other representations, is
idolatry.. And here I wish to refer to those refined distinctions
of adoration or worship which Roman Catholic Divines
have promulged. The following extract from the work
Ferraris Bibliotheca Prompta, wiU convey to you the
Roman Catholic exposition of this- graduated worship:
(ElUott p. 756).
" That it may be fully understood what worship or
adoration is due to them, it is to be observed, that
adoration is an act by which any one submits himself to
another, in the recognition of his excellence. This' is
the common opinion. And this adoration or worship is
-ci-vil or political, sacred or religious. Adoration merely
civil or political, is that which may be offered to Kings
and supreme Princes on account of the excellence of
their station, or the excellency of human power which
they possess beyond others ; as is mentioned in Scrip
ture, where some are said to have adored Kings. So
Da-vid, faUing on his face, adored three times. (1 Sam.
XX 41.) ' All the assembly blessed the Lord God of

THE ONE OBJECT OF RELIGIOUS ADORATION. Ill
their fathers, and bowed themselves, and adored God,
and then the King ;' (1 Chron. xxix, 20 ;) where, as
you see, the same word adoration refers to God and the
King ; although, to God the worship is latria, to the .
King it is only civil respect. Sacred or religious
adoration is that which is ofiered to any one on account
of sacred or supernatural excellence, as the adoration
which is rendered to God, the blessed 'Virgin Mary, and
aU the saints. Of sacred or religious adoration there
are three kinds ; namely, latria, hyperdulia, and dulia.
The adoration or worship of latria, is that which is due
to God alone, and is given on account of His uncreated
supremacy and infinite exceUency. The adoration or
worship of hyperdulia is that which is due and rendered
to the blessed Virgin on account of the maternity of
God, and other exceUent gifts, and her special super-
eminent sanctity beyond others. The adoration or
worship of dulia is that which is due and given to the
saints on account of the supernatural excellence of their
sanctity and glory. These are common opinions."
I think we have a right to ask for the authority upon
which these refinements have been introduced into the
Christian ritual. We deny theii- Scriptural character,
and require proof from our Catholic friends of the
existence in the age of the Apostles of such distinctions
and gradations. But we return to our position, viz. :
that " to bow down reUgiously, i. e. for religious
purposes, before images, pictures, or other representa
tions, is idolatry."
In support of this position we adduce —

112 LECTURE III.
First. The teaching of the word of God in the second
commandment. We have already read in the Douay
Bible the following words : —
" Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing,
nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or
in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the
waters under the earth. Thou shalt not adore them,
nor serve them : I am the Lord thy God, mighty,
jealous, -vifiiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the
chUdren, unto the third and fourth generation of them
that hate me." (Exodus xx.)
And here I must enter my solemn pi-otest against
those mutilations of this sacred decalogue which have
been allowed, by some authorities at least, in the Roman
Catholic Church. Several authorized Roman Catholic
Cateohisms omit the second commandment altogether,
others I admit present it entire ; but one instance of
mutilation which came under my own notice whUe
residing in the Mediteranean, is worthy of more particulai-
mention. On the lectern in the Cathedral of St. John's
at Valetta there are two brazen tables, representing the
two tables of stone upon which the law w'as written in
the Mount; on these tables are engraved ten (X) distinct
paragraphs, professing of course to be the ten command
ments which God gave to Moses. I will read them to
you as I transcribed them into my memorandum book
in the Cathedral.

Piliges Dominum Deum ex toto corde tuo, ex tota
anima tua, et ex tota fortitudine tua.

THB ONE OBJECT OF REUGIOUS ADORATION. 113
IL
Non assumes nomen Domini Dei tut in vanum.
m.
Memento ut diem sabbathi sanctifices.
[From the fourth to the eighth, inclusive, there is no
variation from our commonly received version of the
decalogue.] ES.
Non concupissBs doTtvum proximi tui.
X.
Nee desiderdbis uxoi'em ejus.
Here then is a direct mutilation of the ten command
ments. It avails not to say, that instead of the fii-st
commandment we are furnished with an inspired epitome
of the first table — those laws, namely, which relate to
God : " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with aU thy
heart, and with aU thy soul, and with aU thy strength."
This is no part of the record which the Di-vine Being
incribed with his ©¦wn finger upon the tables that were
deUvered to Moses on the Mount. That record contained
a distinct and elaborate proscription against idolatry,
and this proscription, the Church of Rome has not kept
prominently before the eyes of her members. Where
images and pictures abound as they do in Roman
Catholic Churches and dweUings, there is the greater
need of writing upon every waU of church, college,
convent, and school, the distinct commandment against

114 . LECTURE III.
idolatry, (call it first or second, I care not,) :jvhich I noty
quote from the Douay Bible.
"THOU SHALT NOT MAKE TO THYSELF
A GRAVEN THING, NOE THE LIKENESS
OF ANY THING.
'" THOU SHALT NOT ADORE THEM, NOE
SEEVE them:'
I protest also against the note in the Douay Bible
appended to the second commandment :
" All such images or likenesses, are forbidden by this
commandment, as are made to be adored and served ;
according .to that which immediately follows, thou
shalt not adore them, nor 'serve them. That is, all such
as are designed for idols or image-gods, or are worship
ped with divine honour. But otherwise images, pictures,
or representations, even in the house of God, and in the
very sanctuary, so far from being forbidden, are expressly
authorised by the word of God."
We are referred in proof of this to the erection in the
tabernacle and temple, of the Cherubim. But were these
figures of saints ? No, they were not even figures of angels.
Besides, were they erected to be bowed down to by the
people ? No, they were hidden fi-om the public gaze —
only the High Priest saw them, and that but once a
year. Is this circumstance then of sufficient importance
to authorize the multiplication of images, and pictures
of saints, in every Eoman Catholic Church and family,
for the purpose, to say the least, of presenting hyperdulia
or dulia to them ? That must be a weak and insecure

THE ONE OBJECT OF RELIGIOUS ADORATION. 115
system which rests upon so narrow a basis ! This note
refers also to the erection by the command of God of the
brazen serpent, and argues from this that worship may
be paid to images. We deny that the serpent of brass
was bowed down to ; it was looked at, and thus the
Israelites were taught the simpUcity of faith, but it was
not worshipped, at least until some centuries afterwards,
and then, so indeed I read in the Douay Bible, on this
accoimt it was destroyed ; 4 Kings, xviii. " He destroyed
the high places, and broke the statues in pieces, and cut
do-wn the groves, and broke the brazen serpent, which
Moses had made : for tiU that time the children of
Israel burnt incense to it-: and he caUed its name
Nohestan." But let me direct you yet farther to the teaching of
the Word of God on this subject. In Dent, xxvu 15,
I read the foUowing fearful commination : — " Cursed
be the man that maketh a graven and molten
thing, the abomination of the Lord, the work of
the hands of artificers, and shaU put it in a secret place ;
and all the people shall answer, and say : Amen."
In Psalm xcvi, 7, it is said : — " Let them be all
confounded that adore graven things, and that glory
in their idols." And in Psalm kxvii, 58, I read
again : — " They provoked him to anger on their
hills : and moved him to jealousy with their graven
things." In Numbers chapter xxui, 21, it is said ap
provingly of Israel : — " There is no idol in Jacob, _
neither is their an image-god to be seen in Israel." And
in Ezekiel vi. 4, &c., we have the following terrible
denunciation against idol or image worship : — " And^

116 LECTURE III,
I -will throw down your altai-s, and your idols
shall be broken in pieces : and I -wiU cast down your
slain before your idols.
" And I will lay the dead carcasses of the children of
Israel before your idols ': and I will scatter youif boiies
round about your altars.
" In all yom- dwelling-places. The cities shaU be
laid waste; and the high places shaU be thrown down,
and destroyed, and your altars shaU be abolished, and
shall be broken in pieces t and your idols shall be no-
more, and your temples shall be destroyed, and your
works shall be defaced."
I know you will reply, " we do not make idols of these
images." Now literally an idol is an image, and an
imsfg-6 an idol. The latter is derived froiH the Greek
word etSoiXov, the former from the Latin word imago,
each however being a literal ta-ansMion of the other;
you say that you do not make idds of these, bUt I ask
is not the obeisance which you present to them, as
profound as that which you pay to Jesus Christ Himself?
Do you not cross yourselves, and prostrate yourselves,
and bum incense before these images f Do you not
crown them, and make processions in their honoui-, as
though they had a being? But you ease yonr con
science by sajring we do not ^present latria to these
images. Ah, this refitnement ! How difficult it is, with
views so varied, to understand what Roman Catholics
mean ' by the honour which they pay to images.
Bellarmine himself distinguishes the Eoman Catholic
systems of image-worship into three classes. ' One
class he tells us in the second volume of his works

THE ONE OBJECT OF REUGIOUS ADORATION. 117
recommends the use of images, but rejects their wor
ship. They honour, they esteem, they respect, they
venerate, &c. Amongst the supporters of this tenet,
are the following enlinent names, Thomassin, Bossuet,
Dupin, Gothei-j- and Lauciano. Another class, amongst
whom is Bellarmine himself, honours images -with an
inferior or imperfect worship, but offei-s no latria or
supreme adoration to the sculptured or pencilled
resemblance. This class maintains the same opinion as
the second Nicene council, which represented images as
holy, as communicating holiness, and as entitled to the
same veneration as the Gospel. This infallible council
condemned those who used pictures only for the
assistance of the memory, and not for adoration. The
council of Trent professed to foUow the Nicene in this
view, but it is dear that they departed from it, for they
expressly declare that these foi-ms are to be regarded as
altogether void of virtue. Tlie names of Spondanus,
Baronius, Estuis, and Godeau may be added to that of
BeUarmine. The third class support the doctrine that
thesame adoration is to be presented to the image which
is presented to the original. The likeness of God or
His Son in mental conjunction -with the original, is the
object of latria, or supreme worship. This is the
system of Aquinas, Cajetan, Bonaventure, Turrecrema,
and others. "Which of these systems are we to receive? '
That of the council of Trent, or of Nice? "Whose
opinion are we to follow ? That of Bossuet, or Bellarmine,
'or Aquinas ? "Where is the boasted unity of doctrine
of which we so often hear ? — But -will Roman Catholics
deny that supreme worship is paid to the cross ? Listen
f2

118 LECTURE HI.
to the teaching of the angelic doctor, Aquinas, which
you win find in the third volume of his works, page 25.
" The cross is to be worshipped ¦with Idtria, which is
also to be addi-essed to Jesus and his image." The
Pontifical expressly declares that " latria is due to the
cross." Hence the prayers, absolute prayers, which in
the Roman missal are presented to the cross, — " Hail,
O cross our only hope, increase righteousness to the pious,
and bestow pardon on the guUty. Save the present-
asseinbly met this day for thy praise." — Roman Cate
chism, page 32.
You will not be surprised if I ask, where, in the New
Testament, or in even the Old, do you find correspond
ing practices ? "Which of the apostles fell down before
an image? Who of the New Testament Saints invoked
the cross 1 "Where in the whole apostoUc writings do
you find a religious veneration for relics ? "Where is
the authority for aU this in the early Church ? It is
wanting. TertulUan, in his book '¦'¦contra coronandi
morem" most severely inveighs against images, and
adds these words, " St. John deeply considering the
matter saith, ' My little children keep yourselves from
images or idols.' " Origen says, " It is not only a mad
and frantic part to worship images, but also one to
dissemble or wink at it." Epiphanius, Bishop of
Salamine, in Cyprus, who lived in A.D. 390, thus -writes
to John, Patriarch of Jerusalem, " I entered into a
certain Church to pray : I found there a linen cloth
hanging in the Church door painted, and having in it
the image of Christ as it were, or some other Saint.
Therefore, when I did see the image of a man hanging

THE ONE OBJECT OF REUGIOUS ADORATION. 119
in the Church of Chi-ist contrary to the authorities of
Scripture, I did tear it." Lastly, the worship of images
was in the seventh century, forbidden by Pontifical
authority. Gregory the great, wi-iting to Serenus, the
Massilian Bishop who had demolished images which
his flock had adored, blamed the Bishop for breaking
these images, but praised him in unqualified language
for preventing theu- adoration. These similitudes, said
he, are erected " not for the worship of any, but only
for the insti-uction of the ignorant. AUow images to
be made, but forbid them to be worshipped m any
manner" But why should I tire you with authorities
and proofs ? We have seen for ourselves the evils of
image and Saint worship. Go into any Eoman Catholic
country, enter a village, converse with its peasantry,
and what do you find ? That Saints, and especially the
Virgin, are set before Christ ; that tiie ti-ue spiiitual
worship of the Most High God is lost in the worship of
images. "What is the testimony of our most intelligent
traveUers ? "Why that Italy knows more of Mary than
of Christ. This is tiie natural effect of that system
against which we have this evening protested, and,
though we would do it with aU kindness, we must and
¦wUl faithfully declare our conviction, that the Church
of Rome has faUen into the fearful sin of idolatry. We
do not affirm ti.at every member of the Eoman Catholic
Church is an idolater ; but he cannot resist the
conclusion that so long as he remains -within a Church
that sanctions such practices as those which we have
revealed this eveniag, he is responsible to God and to
liis own soul for lending his countenance to a sin which

120 ' LECTURE III.
is abhorrent to the Most High God, and destructive of
the social, the moral, and the spiritual interests of
humanity. And we would say to every Eoman
CathoUc who has felt shocked at the fearful sentiments
which we have quoted from the devotional works of
his Church, " Come out from among them and be ye
separate and touch not the unclean thing."
And now my beloved hearers you -will be prepai'ed
to hear, that -with us. The one object of religi6us
ADORATION is thb Most High God. Evory modifica
tion and variety of religious adoration but that which
is supreme, and every object of religious adoration, but
God, -vre absolutely renounce. Forasmuch as He will
not give His glory to another, neither -will we : and
forasmuch as he -will not give his praise to graven
images, neither will we. Angels even, are finite, we
worship only the infinite: Saints are creatm-es Uke
ourselves, we worship only the Creator. We -will wor
ship the Lord our God, and him only will we serve.
His glorious majesty, his almighty power, his
infinite purity, his unbounded wisdom, his ovei-flowing
love, aU in-vite us to revere and magnify his name, and to
prostrate our hearts in humility before him. The works
of his hands, above, around, beneath, in aU their mag
nificent glories, invite us to adoration and praise : The
scheme of glorious redemption, the gift of his Son,
in-vite to adoration and love ; The offer of a free and
perfect pardon, of adopting mercy, of regenerating
grace, of a new nature, of -victory over death, of a
glorious and eternal heaven, invite us to seive and love
and glorify our God. How great is Jehovah of Hosts,

the one object of religious adoration. 121
how glorious and mighty in his works, how profound
in his providence, how rich and plenteous in grace !
" O come let us sing unto the Lord, let us make a joy
ful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come
before his presence with thanksgiving and make a
joyful noise unto him with Psalms. For the Lord is a
great God and a great King above all gods. 0 come,
let us worship and bow down let us kneel before the
Lord oiu- Maker. For he is the Lord our God, and we
are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his
hand." "What is adoration ? Is it faith ? Let us trust in the
name of the Lord our God ; let us beUeve his promises ;
let us confide in his character. What is adoration?
Is it praise ? Let us sing -with the Universal Church :
" We praise thee, O God, we acknowledge thee to be
the Lord." Let us adopt that beautiful paraplirase :• —
" I'll praise my Maker while I've breath.
And, when my voice is lost in death,
Praise shall employ my nobler powers;
My days of praise shall ne'er be past,
"While life, or thought, or being last,
Or immortality endures."
What is adoration ? Is it love ? O let us love the
Lord our God -with all our heart, and soul, and mind,
and strength. What is adoration ? Is it to offer sacrifice?
" I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of
God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable, unto God, which is your reasonable
service." "What is adoration ? Is it prayer ? " Let us

122 lecture III.
Uft our eyes unto the hills, whence cometh our help ;
our help cometh from the Lord who made heaven and
earth." And, if we thus believe, and praise, and love,
and pray, on earth, our adoration shall not cease here.
No ! Transplanted from this world of sorrow and im
perfection to the world of bliss and blessing above, we
shall surround the heavenly throne, the throne of God
and the Lamb, and there we shall renew our acts of
adoration ; -with the elders and the Seraphim, with the
Aposties and the Marys who surrounded .the cross,
with the noble army of martyrs and the saints, with aU
the host of God's elect and redeemed ones, we shaU
prostrate ourselves before the throne, and serve him day
and night in his heavenly temple, ever more praising
him, and saying, " Blessing and honour and glory and
power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and
unto the Jjamb for ever."

NOTES TO LECTURE 111.
1. Originals of some of the quotations.
1 . Selections from the Italian Te Dei Matrem.
" A Te, Madre di Dio, innalziamo le nostre lodi : * Te Maria
"Vei-gine predichiamo.
" Te Sposa dell' Etemo Padre * venera tutta la terra.
" A Te gli AngeU tntti e gli Arcangeli: • a Te i Troni e i
Principati umili si inchinano.
" A Te le Podesta tutte e le Virtu superne dei cieli * e tutte
le Dominazioni prestano nbbidienza.
" A Te i Cori tutti, a Te i Cherubini e i Serafini * aasistono
intomo esultanti.
" A Te le angeliche creature tutte -* con incessante voce di
'iode catitano -.
" Santa, Santa, Santa Maria * Genitrice di Dio, Vergine in-
sieme e Madre.
" Pieni sono i cieli e la terra * della maesti gloriosa del frutto
del tuo grembo.
" Te il glorioso coro degli Apostoli * Te Madre del loro Crea-
tore coUaudano.
" 0 pia Vergine Maria, * deh ! fa che insieme coi Santi tuoi
siamo deUa etema gloria rimrmerati.
" Salvo sia per te, o Signora, il popolo tuo, * si che siamo
fatti partecipi della eredifi del tuo Figliuolo.
" Sii nostra guida, * sii sostegno e difesa nostra in etemo.
" In ciascnn giomo, o Maria Signora nostra, * ti salutiamo.
" E bramiamo cantare le lodi tue * cola mente e colla voce in
sempitemo. " Degnati, dolcissima Maria, ora e eempre * conservarci illesi
da peccato.
" Abbi, 0 Pia, di noi miseiioordia : * abbi miaericordia di noi

124 notes.
" Fa misericordia ai figliuoli tuoi : * ch6 in Te, o Vergine
Maria, abbiamo 'riposta tutta la fiducia nostra.
" In te dolcissima Maria, noi tutti speriamo -. * difendici in
eterno. " A Te le lodi, a Te 1' impero, * a Te virtii e gloria pei secoli
dei secoli Cosi sia."
2. Extract from " II Tesoro deW Anima."
" 0 afflittissima anima della Vergine consolatemi.
" O addoloratissimo Coi-po della mia cara Madre confortatemi,
" O amatissime lagrime della Regina del Paradiso purifiea-
temi.
. i " 0 dolorosissimi sospiri, o gemiti della Madre di Dio, con-
pungetemi con vera contrizione.
" 0 appassionatissimi sensi della mia gi-an Signora satiate
santificate li miei. O spasimi, e morte dell'Imperatrice de'
Cieli, siatemi Vera allegrezza, e vita.
" 0 Maria mare di amarezza per la morte del Figlio defen-
detemi dal peccato, e dall' inferno.
" Ricevetemi per vostro servo, che ami, e confidi in Voi.
Nell'ora della mia morte ajutatemi, accio con tutti gli eletti
vi glorifiohi nei secoli de' secoli. Amen."
8. Extracts from " Xe Pouvoir de Marie par Saint laguori."
" Nous lisons dans les chroniques des Franciscains, que FrSre
Ij6on out une fois cette vision : il vit deux ^chelles, une rouge
au haut de laquelle 6tait Jfisus-Christ, et une blanche, au haut
do laquelle se trouvait sa sainte mfire. Plusieurs s'efforjaient
de mooter par la premiere 6chelle; ils montaient quelquea
Echelons, puis ils tombaient ; ils revensient k la charge, mais
sans ^tre plus heureux ; aucun n'arrivait jusqu'au sommet. Alors
une voix leur cria de se toumei du c6t6 de I'echelle blanche ; et
I'ayant fait, ils montferent heureusement, car la bienheureuse
Vierge leur tendait la main pour lea aider."
" 0 Marie, mon refuge, combien de fois ne me- suis-je pas -vu
par ma faute I'esclave de I'enfer I Vous avez bris6 mes liens
vous m'avez arrach6 des mains de mes fiers ennemis ; mais je
tremble d'y retotaber, car je eais que leur rage n'a point de

NOTES. 125
repos, et qu'ils se flattent que je deviendrai encore leur proie.
\' ierge sainte, soyez mon bouclier et ma defense ! Avec votre
secours, je suis silr de vaincre; maisfaitesquejen'oublie jamais
de vous invoquer dans les combats, et principalement dans ce
dernier, le plus terrible de tons, que le dSmon s'appr^te k me
livrer a mon heure supreme. Mettez vous-meme alors votre
nom sur mes livres et dans mon coeur, et que j'expire en pro-
nonjant ce nom, afin que je me ti-ouve a voa pieds dans le ciel
Ainsi soit-il."
II. Other illustrations of Mariolatry, from " The Graces of
Mary," published by " D. & J. Sadlier & Co., New York and
Montreal, 1853," bearing the imprimatur of "f John, Arch
bishop OF New York."
PRACTICES IN HONOUR OF THE BLESSED VIRGIiV.
1. To choose the Blessed Vii-gin for mother and patroness, to
offer oneself to her service, and renew this offering frequently
on her festivals.
2. To ast for mediation every morning and night, and run to
her in every temptation and trial.
3. To visit her churches and altars, and often protest to her
that you love her more than yourself.
4. To recite her Little Ofiice, or at least that of her immacu
late conception, frequently.
5. To say the Angelus morning, noon, and night.
6. To prepare for her festivals by a novena and some act of
mortification on the virgils, &c.
7. To honour her specially on Saturdays, as being dedicated
to her.
8. To pray for those souls in purgatory who have been most
devout to her.
9. To say the Magnificat and recite the Rosary daily, if pos
sible. 10. To try to make o'.hers devout to this Blessed Mother.
11. To read those books that treat of her glmies, <fec., and
nevfer to omit the usual practices of devotion to her.
12. To enter into her sodalities, confraternities, &c., and to
give alms in her honour.

126 _ NOTES.
13. To rejoice in her perfections, to thank her daily for the
favours received through her intercession, to honour the saints
•"connected with her, as St. Joseph, St. Joachim, Ste. Anne, &c.
14. To pronounce her holy name frequently, and salute her
by the Hail Mary, when the clock strikes.
15. To reverence her pictures and images, and to have one in
our oratory,
16. To compassionate her dolours, particularly at the Passion
of her blessed Son.
17. To love chastity specially, and say three " Hail Marys "
daily to obtain it through Mary, recommending to her at the
eame time om- senses, cSh;.
18. To ornament her oratories -with flowers, &c.
19. To offer to her, especially during the octaves of her fes
tivals, a crown of spiritual flowers, i^at is, of different acts of
virtue performed in her honour.
20. To invoke her daily for a happy death, and that she
would specially assist us in our last hour.

Inqmre what indulgences you have in your power to gain by
prayers and other devotions addressed to Mary, and recite the
following to obtain a happy death, to which an indulgence of
800 days is attached :
Jesus, Joseph, and Mary, I ^ve you my heart and my life.
Jesus, Joseph, and Mary, assist me in my last agony.
Jesus, Joseph, and Mary, may I die iu peace in your blessed
company. PRAYER.
O queen of the universe and most bountiful-sovereign, thou
art the great advocate of sinners, the sure port of those who
have suffered shipwreck, the resource of the world, the ransom
of captives, the solace of the weak, the consolation of the
afflicted, the refuge and salvation of every creature. Oh, full
of grace, enlighten my understanding, and loosen my tongue,
thai I may recount thy praises, aud sing to thee the angelical

NOTES. 12*7
salutatjon, which thou so justly deservest. Hail; thou who art
the peace, tJie joy, the consolation of the whole world ! Hail
paradise of pure delight, the assured asylum of all -who are in
danger, the source of grace, the mediatiix between God and
man. "

LECTURE IV.
THE ONE SACRIFICE FOR SIN.
The subject upon which I have to address you this
evening is of infinite moment in the scheme of Christian
doctiine, and is associated with the highest, because
with the immortal interests of man. That aU men are
sinnei-s, is a proposition whose truth I do not feel it
my duty, this evening at least, to defend by any
elaborate argument. Whether you view the simple form
of Patriarchal religion, or the more august ritual of the
Levitioal economy, or the more beautiful and glorious,
because more perfect system of Christianity, you
discover that each had its origin in the fact of man's
sinfulness, and his consequent estrangement from God.
In each the doctrine of atonement holds a prominent
place. From the time of the fall, men sought to pro
pitiate the Divine Being because they had sinned
¦against him ; — ^Moses stamped the necesgity of propitia
tion upon almost every rite and offering which, as the
vicar of the Most High God, he prescribed for the
guidan-ce of the IsraeUtes ; — and in the establishment
of Christianity, it is expressly declared that its founder
received his name from the fact that he should save his
people from their sins, that he became the Lamb of God
for the purpose of bearing away the sin of the world,
and that the offering which he presented upon the cross
was emphatically a sin offering.

130 THE ONE SACEIFICE FOK SIN.
Whatev^ differences of opinion then we may enter
tain upon other subjects, on this I apprehend there -vrill
be no disagreement. Be we Protestant or CathoUc, we
shall be unwilUng to deny that every one of us is a
sinner against God, because every one of us has a heart
which is, by nature at least, opposed to goodness, and
that every one of us therefore needs mercy and forgive
ness from God. How important then is it for us to in-
qijire whether there is any ground to hope that mercy
can and will be extended to sinners ; whether any
feasible and palpable scheme of relief for sinnerS has
ever been disclosed to the world. I solve this inquiiy
by reading out of the Douay Bible the last five verses
in the 9th chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews :
" For Jesus is not entered into the Holies made with
hands, the patterns of the true : but into heaven itself,
that he may appear now in the presence of God for us.
" Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the
high-priest entereth, into the HoUes, every year with the
blood of others :
" For then he ought to have suffered often from the
beginning of the world: but now once at the'end of
ages, he hath appeared for the destruction of sin, by the
sacrifice of himself
" And as it is appointed unto men once to die, and,,
after this, the judgment :
" So also Christ was offered once to exhaust the sins of
many ; the second time he shall appear -vrithout sin, to
them that expect him unto salvation."
These verses open to us the door of the glorious
temple of the Christian dispensation. Looking through

ME ONE SACEl*IOE FOB SIN. 131
the -vista of by-gone years, we gaze upon the imposing
Ceremonies of the day of atonement. The high altar
of the cross is- erected in the midst ; a lamb without
blemish and without spot is pro-vided for a sin-offering ;
the great High Priest of the Christian economy stands
forth ; the representatives of a guilty world surround
the sacred enclosure ; the solemn sacrificial hom- arrives ;
the altar receives the Lamb of God ; the precious
blood of Christ flows down and stains the altar ;
the victim -writhes beneath the sacrificial knife, groans
out, in deepest agony, " It is finished," and gives up
the ghost ! Angels exult in heaven, devils tremble in
hell, and on earth, the rocks rend, the earth quakes, ^
the graves yield np their dead, and an astonished world
exclaims, " Truly this is the Son of God, who hath
appeared once in the end of the world to put away "sin
by the sacrifice of himself."
The clauses in -the text to which I invite your special
attention are these : —
" non tet that he should offer himself often.
"now once at the end of ages, he hath. ap
peared fob, thb destruction of sin by the sacrifice
of himself.
" Christ was offered once to exhaust the sins
OF MANY."
"Whether or not we are all agreed as to the origin of
sacrifice ; whether all the members of the congregation
are able to subscribe to the views of the preacher that
animal sacrifices can only be accounted for on the
supposition that they were appointed immediately by
God, are questions which it is not now of importance to

132 the one sacrifice fob sin.
determine ; it is, however, of great importance to know
that on some leading points in the doctrine of saori%g
forJsin both Protestants and Roman CathoUcs are pre
cisely agreed. They believe,, for instance, that^the
animal sacrifices of the Mosaic law shadowed forth the
gospel sacrifice ; that whatever efficacy they possessed
in the purging away of sin, was derived from Christ in
whom they all terminated ; and they believe in the
atoning character of Christ's sacrifice, that it was sub-,
stituted for the punishment of sin, and that it was
presented as a propitiation for the sins of the whole
•world. I find in the Douay Bible, under the 12th
verse of this chapter the foUovring beautiful note : " By
that one sacrifice of his blood, once offered on the.
cross, Christ om- Lord paid and exhibited, once for all,
the general price and ransom of all mankind, which no
other priest could do." The foUo-vring suppUcation
taken from the service of the Mass contains the germ
of this doctrine : " Lamb of God who takest away the
sins of the wol-ld, have mercy upon us !"
The irnportance of the doctrine of Christ's sacrificial
death may be inferred from the marked promiuency
which it received in the epistles, conversations and
sermons of the blessed Apostles. " Christ crucified"
was, of aU others, the doctrine which they exhibited ; to
know this, to teach this, to impress this upon the atten
tion and hearts of the people, was then- chief aim ; to
set /orth the Lord Jesus as bearing our sins in his own
body on the tree, to proclaim that through Him the
world has received the atonement, that He is the propi
tiation for -the sins of the whole world, that through; His

the one sacrifice for sin. 188
blood we have redemption, even the foi^iveness of our
' sins, and that through the same blood our unrighteous
ness is cleansed away, was regarded by them as their
chief business. These are truths with which they
• addressed men of all ages, ranks and classes, truths
¦with which they interwove every page of inspiration.
Let ns pause for a moment to observe how impressive
is the view which is imparted to the attributes of the
Divine Being, by the doctrine of Christ's sacrificial
death. "Where have you such a manifestation of the
spotless purity and inflexible justice of God as upon
the cross, in the agonies and cries of the blessed
Saviour ? "Where have you such an Ulustration of the
infinite Wisdom of the Most High, as in that scheme of
redemption which was consummated by the sacrifice of
Christ ? "Where shines the leve of God with so great
splendour, as upon and around the hallowed precincts
of Calvary, on whose heights the only begotten Son of
God, by His eternal Father's appointment, suffered and
died ? See how nieroy and truth here meet together,
see how righteousness and peace here etnbrace each
other ; see how the rays of the divine glory are con
centrated in this sacred point, this ci-ucificial altar, this
spotless sacrifice ! Where else could you so effectually
study the Divine character ? In the heavens ? No, not
even -with the modem aids and discoveries of astronomy ?
On the sea ? No, not even -with the wonderful appli
ances of steam ? In the bowels of the earth ? No, not
even with all the light which geology has reflected upon
the mighty power and infinite -wisdom of God. Where
else, but'on the cross could you so effectually study the

134 LECTURE IV.
divine characters ? On the mountains and the plaias
of the earth ? in her forests and her fruitful fields ? No !
We learn much of God in the works of his hands ; the
glories of creation reflect the glories of his character ;
that His name is great His wondrous works declare ;
but when you come within the circumference of light
which is radiated by the cross, you behold an intensity
of justice, and a depth of wisdom, and a majes'ty of love^
all too in glorious and perfect harmony, which no other
sight could afford.
" Part of thy name divinely stands
On all thy creatures writ.
They show the labour of thy hands.
Or impress of thy feet.
" But when we view thy strange design
To save rebellious worms :
There vengeance and compassion join
In their divinest forms.
" Here the whole Deity is known,
Nor dares a creature guess,
"Which of the glories brighter shone,
The justice or the grace."
You will be prepared now for this general statement :
Protestants reoaed the Sacrifice of Christ,
finished upon the Cross, and therefore once
offered and nfvbb to be repeated; as the onk
sin-offering OF THE CHRISTIAN DISPENSATION.
The Roman Catholic doctrine ooncei-ning the sacrifice
of Christ is that it is repeated in e-vei-y celebration of the
Eucharist or the supper of the Lord ; and that by a

THE ONE SACRIFICE FOR SIN. 135
process which the Catholic Church calls transubstantia
tion, every priest of that Church offers in holy sacrifice
upon the altar, the Lord Jesus Christ, offei-s Him to
God, as completely as Aaron and his successors offered
the sacrifices of the law.
Against this view the Reformed Churches enter their
solemn protest, which may be conveniently divided
into two parts. — They protest against transubstantiation,
and they protest against the sacrifice of the Mass.
First, — Thet protest against the doctrine of
Transubstantiation. This doctrine I shall not attempt to describe in my
own language, because I know how easy it would be to
colour and to misrepresent the views of others, where
so much of mystery and incomprehensibleness is
involved. The first description which I shall present to
you is taken from Dr James Butler's Catechism, recom
mended by the four Roman Catholic Archbishops of
Ireland. " Q. "What is the blessed Eucharist ?
" A. The body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus
Christ, under the appearance of bread wine.
" Q. "What means the word Eucharist ?
" A. A special grace or gift of God ; and it means
also, a solemn act of thanksgiving to God, for all his
mercies. " Q. "What do you mean by the appearances of bread
and -wine ?
" A. The taste, colour, and form of bread and wine,
which still remain, after the bread and -wine are changed
into the body and blood of Christ,

136 lECTUKE IV. 7
" Q. Are both the body and blood of Christ under fh
appearance ofbread 'and under the appearance of wine.
" A. Yes ; Chrifet is' whole and entire, true God an
true Man, under the appearance of each.
" Q. Are we to beUeve, that the God of all Glory- :
under the appearance of our corporal food'?
"A. Yes; as we also beUeve, that the sftme God c
aU Glory s-dffered death, under the "appearance of
criminal on the cross.
" §. How can the bread and wine becomel the bod
and blood of Christ ?
"A By the goodness and power oi' GoA., with whoi
no word 'shall be impossible. Puke, i. 3V.
" Q. Are Ve assured, that Christ changed bread an
wine into his body and blood ?
" A. Yes.; by the very w'ords which Christ hims^
"said, when he instituted the blessed Euchaiist at his la/
supper. " Q. Which are the words Christ said, when he inst
tuted the blessed Eucharist ?
" A. This is my' body — this is my blood. Matt, xv
" Q. Did Christ give po-vver to the priests of h;
church, to change bread and wine into his body an
blood ?
" A. Yes ; when he said to his apostles at his la!
supper : Do this for a commemoration of me. Lulc
xxii. 19.
" Q. "Why did Christ give to the priests of his churc
so great a power ?
".4. That his children thfOughout all lages and ni
tions, might have a most accejitible sacrifice to' Offer 1

the one SACRIFICE FOR SIN. ISV
their Heavenly Father — and .the moat precipus.. fpod to
nouj-ish their souls."
The Canons, which, were, passed at, the thirteenth
Session of the Council of Trent are more full and expUcit.
I will read ;thosfi which .expressly relate to the doctrine
of transubstantiation.
" Canon (1.) "Whosoever shall deny, that in the most
holy sacrament of the eucharist there are truly, really,
and substantially contained the body and the blood of
our Lord Jesus Christ, , together with . his. soul apid
divinity, and consequently Christ , entire.; but- sljiaH
aflBi'm that he is present , therein only in a sign and
figure, or by hia power ; let him be accursed*
"(2.) Whosoever shall affirm, that in, the rnost.holy
sacrament .of the eucharist, there remains thesubstauPQ .
of the bread and , -wine, together with the body , and
blood of our Lord Jesus Christ ; apd shall deny- that
wonderful and peculiar conversion of the whole substance ;
of the bread into, his body, and of the whole substance
of the wine into his.-, blood, the species only of bread
and wine remaining, which conversion the Catholic
Chm-ch mostj fiiily t^rms,:' transubstantiation;' let,, him
be accursed.
" (3) "Whosoever shall deny that Christ entire is
contained in the venerable sacrament of the eucharist,
under, each species, and under every- part of. each species
when they are separated ; let him be accursed.
" (4.) "Whosoever shall affirm that the body and blood
of. our Lord Jesus Christ are not present in the admir
able eucharist, as soon as the consecration is performed,
but only as it is used and received, and neither! fore

138 LECTURE rV.
nor after ; and that the true body of our Lord doe
not remain in the hosts or consecrated morsels whicl
are reserved or left after communion ; let him b
accursed. " (5.) "Whosoever shall affirm that remission of sin
is the chief fruit of the most holy eucharist, or tha
other effects are not produced thereby ; let him b
accursed. " (6.) Whosoever shall affirm that Christ, the onlj
begotten Son of God, is not to be adored in the hoi
eucharist with the external signs of that worship whic
is due to God ; and therefore that the eucharist is not t
be honoured with extraordinary festive celebration, no
solemnly carried about in processions, according to th
laudable and universal rites and customs of holy Churcl
. nor pubUcly presented to the people for their adoration
and that those who worship the same are idolaters
let him be accm-sed.
" (V.) Whosoever shall affirm that it is not la-wful f
preserve the holy eucharist in the sacristy, but ths
immediately after consecration it must of necessity t
distributed to those who are present ; or that it is nc
lawful to carry it in procession to the sick ; let him I
accursed. " (8.) Whosoever shall affirm that Christ, as exhibite
in the eucharist, is eaten in a spiritual manner onl;
and not also sacrament aUy and really ; let him I
accursed. The Creed of Pope Pius IV, which every Roma
Catholic professes to believe, has the following article ;
" 1. I profess, likewise, that in the mass is offered t

the one SACRIFICE FOR SIN. 139
God a true, proper; and propitiatory sacrifice for the
Uving and the dead ; and that in the most holy sacrifice
of the eucharist there is truly, really, and substantially,
the body and blood, together -with the soul and divinity,
of our Lord Jesus Christ ; and that there is made a con
version of the whole substance of the bread into the
body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the
blood, which conversion the Catholic Chm-ch calls
transubtantiation." In Den's theology vol. v, p. 276, Maynooth edition, I
read, " the word ' body ' is received properly and
strictly, forasmuch as it is distinguished from the blood ;
comprehending the flesh, the bones, the nerves, &c.,"
( — comprehendens camem ossa, nervos, <&c.)
In the catechism of the Council of Trent, which. Dr.
Doyle calls " a most authentic exposition of the precepts
of the Church, the Mass, and the Sacrament, as they are
received by all CathoUcs," we have the following : " It
is also in this place to be explained by the pastors, that
there is contained in this sacrament, not only the true
body of Christ, and whatever belongs to a true condition
of a body, such as bones and nerves, but also a whole
Christ." And lastly, in the Roman Missal I find the follovring
on this subject of the consecration of the Mass :
" If any one shaU leave out or change any part of the
form of the consecration -of the body and blood, and, in
the change of the words, such words do not signify the
same thing, there is no consecration.
" If the Priest vomit the Eucharist, and the species
appear entire, he must piously swallow it again ; but if

140 LECTUKE IT^
a nausea prevent him, then let the coMecratedi specie
be cautiously separated, and put by in some holy plac
tin they be corrupted, and after, let them be cast int
holy ground ; but if the species do , not appear, th
vomit must be burned, and the. ashes thro-wn into ,hol
ground."* These extracts, which, I :have . selected !with. honest
and care, will convey to you a tolerably correct -idea c
those doctrines of Eucharistic transubstantiation agains
wMch we p-otest. From thpm we.deduce the foHowin
proposition, to each one of which Roman CathoUcs ai'
bound to assent, unless indeed they^ choose . to den
their own formularies and creeds, and thus i to do wjw
Protestants have done before them.
I^, That when the bread and ,wine ace, first laid upo:
the altar, in the celebration of ,the jH^y Eucharist^ tha
is before consecration, they are , truly^ bread and win<
containing all, the attributes, eleni^nts and constituents c
bread and wine.
2. That during that part of the sei-vice of the Mass
previous to the utterance of. the words of conseQratio]
the bread and the wine undergo, no change.
3. That until every word of the form " Hoc est enif,
Corpus meuni'' is uttered, the bread and the, win
remain unchanged.
4. That if there is any defect on the part; ofith
officiating Priest in the enunciation of the verbal fqrii
of consecration,, the substance of the bread and -win
remain unchanged, and the people receive and worshi
not Christ's body, but bread and wine.
* See note at ,the end of this Lecture,

THE ONE SACRIFICE FOR SIN. 141
5. That, as soon as the words are uttered by the
Priest, the bread is immediately transformed or con
verted into the body, the blood, the. soul and divinity of
the Lord Jesus Chiist.
6. That the wine alsp is converted into the body, the
blood, the soul, the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ.
7. That this change, though real, is not evident to
the. senses ; that the remaining substances taste like
bread and wine, smell like bread and wine, feel like
bread and wine, retain the same form as bread and
-wine,, and reflect the same colour as bread and wine.
8. That notwithstanding this retention of form, colour,
taste and smell, there is no particle of bread or drop of
wine, remaining upon the altar.
9. That in the wafer or bread, separately, and in the
wine contained in the chalice separately and equally,
there is contained a whole and perfect Christ ; His
body vrith its bones, muscles, nerves, flesh, veins, skin,,
hair, &c. ; His, soul with its wUl, ^ts affections, its desires ;
His divinity -with all its atti-ibutes of power, holiness,
wisdom and love.
10. That every individual, good or bad, when he
receives the holy Eucharist eats and feeds upon the
body, the soul, and the divinity of the Lord Jesus Ohi-ist.
11.. That every particle even the minutest of the con
secrated bread, and' every drop of the consecrated wine,
as. thoroughly, and properly contain a .whole Christ, as
all the bread and the -vrine that may be conseprated by
the Priest ; that indeed in every such particle, Christ's
body, soul and divinity, are as absolutely present as
they now are before His Father's throne.
g2

142 LECTURE IV.
1 2. That the body of Christ can exist in heaven ati
in'" ten thousand places upon earth at the same momer
of time, that in each place a whole Christ exists, an
yet that there is only one Christ in the Universe.
13. That the body, soul and divinity of the Son (
God may be vomited, and under these circumstance
must be burned in fire, and the ashes thereof buried.
14. That the body, soul and divinity of Christ ma
moulder and decay, and so " see corruption."
I am sure you wiU aU feel -vrith me how difficult it i
to discuss this matter -with such seriousness as shoul
ever pertain to sacred subjects, and to the house of Goc
You will see the danger to which one is exposed c
treating ironically such propositions as have now bee
fairly deduced from Catholic authorities. You will se
how strong the temptation is to meet them -vrith th
argumentum ad absurdum. I shall endeavour, noi
withstanding, rigidly to maintain the principle upo:
which I set out, that of respecting the prejudices an(
feelings of my Roman Catholic friends.
We protest against the teaching of the Church o
Rome on the subject of transubstantiation.
First, — On the authority of the Word of God.
This word expressly declares that Jesus Christ ha
left the world, that he has gone to the Father, that h
sitteth at the right hand of God ; and also, that from th
moment of his ascension into heaven, to the moment o
his second coming in clouds and glory, the Churcl
would have no right to expect his bodily presence ii
her midst.
Let me remind you of the expressions which occu

the one sacrifice for sin, 143
ia the text. These declare that Jesus Christ has
entered into heaven itself, a,nd that he now appeareth
in the presence of God for us. Again it is said, " The
second time he shall appear -vrithout sin, i. e. a sin offer
ing, unto salvation." I refer you also to the twelfth chap
ter of St. John's Gospel, in the eighth verse of which the
Saviour is represented as saying, " For the poor you
have always vrith you ; but me you have not always."
Did Christ mean that his bodily presence would be
altogether removed from his disciples, or did he not ?
If he did, then woidd his declaration be opposed in toto
to the doctrine of transubstantiation; if he did not,
his words were vain and meaningless. Let us now
¦examine the eleventh verse of the first Chapter of
the Acts of the Apostles : " Ye men of Galilee, why
stand jrou looking up to heaven ? This Jesus who is
taken up from you into heaven, shall so come as
you have seen him going into heaven." And let
us in connection -with this, look at the twenty-
first verse of the third chapter of the same book :
" Whom heaven indeed must receive until the times
of the restitution of all things, which God hath spoken
by the mouth of his holy prophets from the beginning
of the world." Now I ask, can any language be found
more explicitly declarative of the Protestant belief,
that until Christ comes in his glory the second time,
he comes not at all ? I speak of his corporeal presence.
I will refer you also to a passage which the advocates of
transubstantiation often adduce, and which is found in the
twenty-sixth verse of the eleventh chapter of first Cor
inthians : " For as often as you shaU eat this bread and

144, leotujrb IV.
drink the chalice you shalLshow the death of the Lord:
until he come." A very clear announcement on the
part of St. Paul, that he did not understand the body,
the soul- and the divinity. of Christ to, be, in what was
eaten, or to exist in the chalice; for how, in such a.
case, could he have used the expression, ^^ until he come."
The last Scripture which I shaU adduce is taken from
St. Paul's second letter to the Corinthians,, and. may
be found in the sixteenth i verse of the fifth chapter-:
" Henceforth know we no man after the flesh. And
if- we have known Christ according to the flesh; but
now we know him so no longer." But how could this
be affirmed by -the Apostle, if it were true that on
every occasion in which he consecrated the bread and
wine in the Eucharist, he ate and adored the body the
flesh and the blood of Emanuel ? I ask with confidence,
whether these passages, so far from favouiing, do not'
completely oppose the notion that Christ Jesus comes.
in his proper person, comes in his flesh, his blood, his
bones, his sinews, his nerves, comes in his true body,
every time a priest ,of the Church of Rome celebrates
the Eucharistic Sacrament ?
But it is only fair that I should present to you the;
arguments which Roman Catholics themselves draw
from the word of God in support of this wonderful
theory. I will, then, quote from that great champion of
the Papal faith. Dr. Mjhier, who in his work, " The,
end lOf the Controversy" p.p. 246, 247, speaks. as fol
lows : — , ¦
".Nothing proves more clearly the faUacy of- the '
CalviBists and other dissenters, as Ukewise of the

THE ONE SACRIEIOE FOR SIN. 145
established church men in general, who profess to make,
the Scripture, in its plain and literal sense, tlie sole rule
of their faith, than their denial of the real presence of
Christ in the sacrament, which is so manifestly and
emphatically expressed therein. He explained and
promised this dirine mystery near one of the Paschs,
John vi. 4, previous to his institution of it He then
multiplied five loaves and two fishes, so as to afford a
superabundant, meal to five thousand men, besides.
women and children, Mat. xiv. 21 ; which was au e'sn.-
dent sign of the future multipUcation of his own body
on the several altars of the world ; after which he. took
occasion to speak of this mystery, by saying, / am the
living bread^ which came down from heaven. If any
man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever : and the
bread that I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the
world. John vi. 51. The sacred text goes on to inform
us of ,the perplexity of the Jews, from their understanding
Christ's words in their plain and natural sense, which,
he, so far from removing by a different explanation,
confirms by expressing that sense in other terms still
more emphatieal. The Jews therefore strove amongst
themselves, saying, How can this man give us hisjlesh to
eat ? Them, Jesus said unto them : Verily i, verily, I say
unto you : except ye eat of the fiesh of the son of man,
and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. — For my
flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeM. Ver.
52, 53, 55. Nor was it the multitude alone took
offence at this mystery of a real and corporal reception
of Chiist's person, so energetically and repeatedly
expressed by him, but also several of his own beloved

148 LECTtrftE tv.
disciples, whom certainly he would not have permitted
to desert him to their own destruction, if he could have
removed their difficulty by barely telling them that
they were only to receive him by faith, and to take
bread and wine in remembrance of him. Yet this
merciful Saviour permitted them to go their ways, and
he contented himself with asking the apostles if they
would also leave him. They were as incapable of
comprehending the mystery as the others were, but
they were assured that Christ is ever to be credited
r^on his word, and accordingly they made that
generous act of faith, which every true Christian wiU
also make, who seriously and devoutly considers the
sacred text before us. Many therefore of his disciples,
when they had heard this, said : This is a hard saying :
who can hear it ? From that time many of his disciples
went back and walked no more with him. Then Jesus
said unto the twelve : will ye also go away ? Then
Simon Peter answered him : Lord, to whom shall we go ?
thou hast the words of eternal life. 'Ver. 60, 66, 67, 68.
The Apostles thus instructed by Christ's express and
repeated declaration, as to the nature of this sacrament,
when he promised it to them, were prepared for the
sublime simplicity of his words in instituting it. For
whilst they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and blessed
it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said :
take ye and eat: THIS IS MY BODY. And taking
the chalice, he gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying :
drink ye all of this; FOR THIS IS MY BLOOD
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, WHICH SHALL
BE SHED FOR MANY UNTO THE REMISSION

THE ONE SACRIFICE FOR SIN 147
OF SINS. Mat. xxvi. 26, 27, 28. This account of
St. Matthew is repeated by St. Mark, xiv. 22, 23, 24,
and, nearly word for word, by St. Luke, xxu.. 19, 20,
and St. Paul, 1. Cor. xi. 23, 24, 25 ; who adds : There-.
fore whoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of
the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of
tlie blood of the Lord — and eateth and drinketh judg
ment (the Protestant Bible says damnation) to himself."
1 Cor. xi. 27, 29.
On this passage I remark :
Istly. That the author has given us no proof what
ever that the multiplied loaves and fishes vrith which
Jesus Christ fed the five thousand men were " an
evident sign of the multiplication of His own body on
the several altars of the world." Who says so ? Does
the Saviour ? No ! Do the Apostles ? No ! You cannot
produce even the shadow of an evidence that such was
the signification of this miracle.
2ndly. That it is mere assumption on the part of
Dr. Milner to assert that the words of Christ in John
John vi., 52, &c., refer to the sacrament of the Eucharist.
Again we ask who says so ? Do the Fathers ? No ? Do
the Doctors of the Church ? No ! They saw plainly
that the argument proves too much, for it proves that
no one who does not eat the real flesh and -drink the
real blood of the Son of God in the sacrifice of the
Mass, can have Ufe. I rather interpret the words with
St. Augustine, who, as we shall immediately see inter
preted them spirituaUy. I interpret them by the 35th
verse. " Jesus said to them : I am the bread of life, he that

148, LBCTUBE , IV.
coffiethio me,shajll not hunge^-; and he that believethm
me shall never thirst." How, natural it was that now,
having fed. the multitude, he, should speak of, himself
under the figHMfof ladfina,. heavenly manna. Of bread,
li-ring . bread ; just as he spoke of himself undgi' the
similitude of water in his, conversation at Jacob's well
-with, the Samaritan woman .! Are we then, on a merely
gratuitous assumption, to receive a, dogrnia which Roman
CathoUcs themselves acknowledge to be, contrary both
to our sensations and to our reason ? But what, will
my friends. who hold this doctrine. say to the statepient
which ^I shall now make ai^d prove, that Dr. Milner in,
this , interpretation , is opposed by some of the most
lefii-ned and. illustrious writers and, ecclesiastics of his
.own communion ? Thomas Aquinas expressly declares
that the words mean ".spiritual eating,'' Imanducationeni, .
spiritualein]. Cardinal Cajetan declares that the literal.
sense of this passage would, destroy the .sufficiency of
baptism, and such,, an interpretation , therefore is incon-
sis,tent with the Christian, faith. Labbeus in the twentieth
vol, of his works, printed ^at,"Venice in 1728, declares
that the Constantine,, Basilian and .Treiitine Fathers, as
explained by Mauricius, Ragusa.aijd.Villetan, reject the
literal, and acpqept the -spiritual; interpretation. "Our,
Lord," say they, " in , John's Gospel, points to spiritual,
participation in his. flesh and blood, by faith, of which,
ajl who believe pajrtake in , baptism, and without which
neither child nor adult can obtain salvation." I ask
then, which of these CathoUc expositors am I to follow ?
Dr. Milner or the sainted Dr. Aquinas, and Cardinal.
Cajetan 3 Again, if; this passage, refers to the Lord's

iy.4

THE ONE SACRIFICE FOR SIN. 149
Supper as Dr. Milner here asserts, how is it that the
literal words of Christ are not. carried out by the prac
tice of the Roman CathoUc Church? Chiist says,
" except, ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink
His blood, ye have no Ufe in you." Do the laity of the
CathoUc Church drink Chiist's blood ? You reply, the
blood is contained in the host ; but I keep you to the
literal sense, and I aflfiim that the blood, is not drank
m the host ; yet, saith Christ, '' except ye dbink ye have
no life in you."
Srdly. In compUance with Dr. Milner's invitation,
we shall now examine those passages in the New Testa
ment, which speak of the direct institution by the Lord
Jesus Christ of this holy sacrament. He bids us turn
io the Gospel by St. Matthew : I do so,, and in chapter
xxvi, verse 26,, 27, 28, liread as foUows : —
" And whilst they were at supper, Jesus took bread,
and blessed, and broke : and gave to his disciples, and
said : Take ye, and eat : This is my body.
" And taking the chalice he gave thanks : and gave
to them, saying^: Drink ye aU of this.
" For this is my blood of the New Testament which
shaU be shed for many unto remission of sins."
Mark ! the Saviom- said, "This is my blood which
shall be shed for many." Then was it not yet shed, and
therefore was not in the chalice. Observe also, that after
the words of consecration were pronounced, he said, " I
will not drink from henceforth of this fruit of the vine
imtil that day when I shall drink it vrith you new in
the kingdom of my Father." Could the Divine Teacher
have expressed himself thus, if the transubstantial theory

150 leotuee IV.
were orthodox and evangelical 1 This account is
repeated by St. Mark ; and, Dr. M. observes, in the
paragraph which I have just read, is repeated by St.
Luke " nearly word for word ;" not quite remember, and
therefore it may be as well to mark the difference. I
will read from the Douay Bible.
" For I say to you, that from this time I will not eat
it, till it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.
" And ha-ring taken the chalice he gave thanks^ and
said : Take, and divide it among you.
" For I say to you, that I vrill not drink of the fruit
of the vine, till the kingdom of God come.
" And taking bread, he gave thanks, and brake : and
gave to them, saying : This is my body which is given
for you. Do this for a commemoration of me.
"In like manner the chalice also, after he had supped,
saying : This is the chalice, the new Testament in my
blood, which shaU be shed for you."
" Do this for a commemoration of me" is an expression
which could scarcely be used if Christ were always
present, corporeally present, in the Eucharist. " In Uke
manner the chalice also, after he had supped saying,
this is the chalice the New Testament in my blood."
The vulgate says, " Hie est calix novum testamentum in
sanguine meo," the more natural rendering of which is
" This chalice is the New Testament, in my blood." Our-
Roman CathoUc friends abhor the very notion of our
Lord's having spoken here under a trope or figure ; but
will they in this instance accept the Uteral exposition?
Will they admit that the chalice is the New Testament ?
And yet the Sa-viour as expressly declares of the chalice,

THE ONE SACRIFICE FOB SIN. 151
that it is the New Testament, as he does of the bread,
that it is his body. The last Scriptural account which
we have of the institution of this Sacrament is from the
pen of the apostle Paul who was favoured from the Lord
-with a special revelation on this subject. I -vrill read it
from the Douay Bible —
" For I have received of the Lord that which also I
deUvered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night
in which he was betrayed, took bread. And giving
thanks, broke, and said : Take ye arid eat : this is my
body which shaU be deUvered for you : this do for the
commemoration of me. In Uke manner also the chaUce,
after he -had supped, saying : This chaUce is the new
testament in my blood : this do ye, as often as you shall
drink, for the commemoration of me. For as often as
you shall eat this bread, and drink the chaUce, you
shaU shew the death of the Lord, until he come."
" Therefore whosoever shaU eat this bread, or drink
the chaUce of the Lord unworthily, shaU be guilty of
the body and of the blood of the Lord.
" For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth
and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the
body of the Lord."
In this passage the apostle informs us that Jesus
said, " This is my body that shall be delivered," but
the doctrine of transubstantion requires us to believe
that the body of Jesus Christ was then already deUvered
in the Sacrament. Again : " This chaUce is the New
Testament in my blood" Here, as in St. Luke's gospel,
we are all obliged to regard the words of Jesus as
figurative, for no Catholic believes the chalice to be the

1:52 LEC>TU^B I'V.
New Covenant: B.ut let us proceed,: " For as often as
you shall, eat this. SrcacZ.'" This bread!! But how..
cpul4 the apostle call thai "bread" which the Rpman-
.GathoUctheory^deckrestobe not bread, but the body,
spul and divinity of the blessed .Savio.ur ? " And drink,.
this chalice!" This surely is_ a. figure and, a bold
figure. Does the CathoUc Church act upon the. literal
interpretation.of this and oblige every priest to drink,
th.e, chaUce?
Th,e,se passages are the entire sum of ,.the Scriptural,
ai^thprity upon which the, Rpman . Catholic Church
builds the, romantic fabric of tEansu^staij.tiation., I ask-,
you to , consider candidly; whether, they constitute, a
suffcient basis for .so transcendant an edifice.. Da-
these proofs suffice, to convince, you tha^ a miracle , is ,
vs^rought , in 'the Sacrament of the Eucharist,, not abq-Re,
merely, but contrary ;to ,your reason, ,and to the evidence.
of ,-ypur senses.2 ; Ypu^say that we are, not to interpret
the words of thp institution figuratively, , while at tlje
same time you yourselves are giving, or , are obliged to
give a figurative, explanation to some of them. Figures I
Is , there not a, figure in the words ".This, chalice is, the
New Testament or Covenant ?" Is there not a figure iu
the words, " As often as ye diink this chaUce." Who
then wiU :contend that we have not the right to suppose-.;
that the Sa-rioiu- spoke as much i in a figure when hp;
said, "this is. my body," as he did in the words,, "this
chalice is "the New, Testament?" Why, the Roman i
Catholic Church does not interpret, the , words, "this is
my body," literally, for, they say the teead is not merely
changed into Christ's body, but.intp.his soul, his divinity .

THE ONE SACRIFICE FOR SIN. 153
" This is my body which shall be delivered for you" —
That is, it represents this body which is to hang upOli
the tree for your sins, this body of ttiine which is to be
outstretched upon the cross for your iniquities. " This
is my blood of the New Testament which shall be shed
for many unto remission of sins" — That is, it represents
my precious blood which is to be poUred foi-th upon the
altar of the cross — that blood which, flo-vring fl-om my
head, my hands, my feet, my side. Shall constitute that
fountain which is to be opened for sin and for unclean-
ness. Let me take you back -to' survey the circumstances
which attended the institution of the Passover, that
i-ite, or sacrament rather, which shadowed forth the
Christian Eucharist. I -will read then the eleventh
verse of the twelfth chapter of Exodus : —
" And thus you shall eat it '.you shall gird your reins,
and you shaU have shoes on your feet, holding staves
in your hands, and you shall eat in haste : for it is the
Pnase (thatis the Passage) of the LOrd."
Mark the expression — "It is the passage Of the
Lord." Was it reaUy so ? By no means. The paschal
lamb was the sign -and -the pledge to Israel of the
passage of the Lord, or the passover, as we moreusually
designate it. " The blood, said the Lord, shall be unto
you for a sign in the houses where you shall be, and I
shall seethe blood and fehall pass over J-bu." If you
oblige me to interpret literally, I oblige you to interpret
in thesame Uteral manner when the 'Saviour says, "I
ain the vine,'" "I am" the doOr"; or'tlie apostle "says,
"this rock is Christ": or when the son of God in the

154 LECTURE IV.
Apocalypse said to John, "The seven stars are the
angels of the seven churches," and " The seven candle-
sticlis are the seven Churches."
Secondly, — I shall refer you to the authority of the
Fathers in support of the Protestant disclaimer.
I think I have before referred to the value to be set
upon patristric authority, viz. : that it is only worthy of
confidence when it accords -vrith the -written word of
God. There, is this remarkable difference between the
Scriptures and the Fathers. All the scriptural writers
agree, they never contradict either themselves or each
other, the Fathers do both. But forasmuch as the
Fathers are of some authority in the Roman CathoUc
Church, and forasmuch as her ministers are forbidden
to interpret any passage of Scriptm-e except by the
unanimous consent of ^ the Fathers, it is only right that
we should refer to them in any discussion of Roman
CathoUc doctrine.
Now I candidly acknowledge that there are passages
in the Fathers which seem to favour the doctrine of
transubstantiation, but there are in the same Fathers
passages which obUge us to regard them either as
using figurative language when they thus speak, or as
being manifestly inconsistent -vrith themselves.
St. Ignatius who was one of the earliest Fathers, has
the following passage which is much dwelt upon by our
Roman Catholic friends. Speaking of some persons
whom he describes as heretical, he says, " They abstain
from the Eucharist and prayer because they do not
beUeve the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Sariour
Jesus Christ, which fiesh suffered for our sin, and which

THE ONE SACRIFICE FOR SIN. 155
flesh in His goodness the Father resuscitated." How
are we to understand this language ? Surely you will
agree -vrith me that the fairest way vrill be to let Igna
tius, if he -vrill, interpret his own words. Well then, in
his epistle to the 'Trilesians he distinctly disavows, as it
seems to me, aU beUef in transubstantiation, for he says,
" EstabUsh yourselves, cv ¦n-im-ei ij etrri ^ trap^ icai. ev
ayaTTj) ij ctrri to iifxa rov Xpitrrov in faith which
is the flesh, and in love which is the blood of Christ."
This language could not be employed by any one
who subscribes to those Canons of the Council of
Trent, which we read at the commencement of the
discourse. I could transcribe passages from Tertul
lian, from Cyprian, from Clement of Alexandria, from
Origen, from Athanasius, from Cyril of Jerusalem,
and from Jerome, sho-wing, that however strongly they
spoke of eating and drinking the flesh and the blood of
the Lord Jesus, they intended to employ their expres
sions figuratively and spiritually. But there is one
Father who is spoken of by the advocates of transubstan
tiation as beyond any other " more copious and more
nervous in explaining this doctrine, so that a child
might understand him." I refer to St. Augustin. Now
I hold in my hand the Homilies of this very Father on
the Gospel of St. John. I turn then to the homily on
that part of the 6th chapter of St. John's Gospel, on
which so much reUance is placed by Roman Catholics,
and I find so mucU. in it that favours the spiritual inter
pretation of our Saviour's words that I am sorry not to
have time to read it to you from beginning to end : —
" This, then," says he, " it is, that He hath taught

156 LECTURE IV.
aud admonished us in mystical words, that 'we be in
His body, under Himself the Head in His members,
eating His flesh, not forsaking the unity of Him. How-
beit, they that were .present, the more part by not
understanding were offended, for, in hearing these
things they thought but of flesh, vrhich they were
themselves. But the Apostle saith, and saith truly,
To be carnally minded-^to understand according to the
flesh — is death. His flesh the Lord giveth us to eat,
and to understand according to the fiesh is death;
while yet of His flesh he saith, that in it is Ufe eternal.
Therefore even the flesh we must not understand after
the fiesh, as in these words following 
The words, saith He, which I have spoken to you are
Spirit 'and Life : For, we have said, that what- the
Lord hath given us to understand in the eating of his
flesh and drinking of His blood is, THAT "WE
SHOULD DWELL IN HIM AND HE IN US."
I have referred you tq both Scripture and the Fathers
in sujpport of the Protestant disclaimer against the doc
trine of transubstantiation. Let me now direct your
attention, 'Thirdly, — 'To the differences of Roman CathoUcs
themselves respecting this doctrine. It may, perhaps,
surprise you to learn that in the Catholic Church where
all is represented as 'unity — where " her doctrines,' hbr
liturgies, her .practice,' are," as Dr. Milner says, "one,"
there are four distinct opinions on the subject of tran
substantiation. 'The /rsif ' opinion is that of the Dominicans, who "at
the Council of Trent differed from the Fi-anciscans on

THE ONE SACRIFICE FOR SIN. 157
this subject. They maiutain the Trentine doctrine, that
there is an annihilation of both the bread and the -vrine
by the consecration of the Priegt, and that they are
transubstantiated into our blessed Lord's body and
blood, which body and blood possess all the chief pro
perties of matter ; e. g. quantity, extension, visibiUty,
motion, and locaUty.
The second opinion is that of the Franciscans, who
affirm that the substance of the sacramental elements
remains unchanged, while the substance of our Lord's.
body takes its place. To this theological section belong
Aquinas, Bonaventure, Cajetan, Gabriel, Varro, and
many others. They further say, that Jesus in the host
occupies no place, and possesses no locality. He fiUs
no space. He has no parts, no length, breadth, or
thickness. He cannot be seen, touched, felt, tasted or
broken. The third opinion ascribes to the soul of Christ in the
sacrament all the principal powers and operations of
the mind. He possesses in the estimation of those who
hold this opinion the same inteUect and sensation upon
the altar as he possesses in heaven. Like another
human being he can see, hear, feel, move, act, and
suffer. Some indeed have assigned the power of singing,
and warming the officiating Priest's hands. This
statement is such a tax upon your credulity that I must
give you the very words, " Christum in Sacramento
posse videre, canere, avAirii, et facere et pati omnia, qum
caeteri homines pati et agere, Ut est in sacramenta
posse propriam manum sacerdotum calefacere, et ab ipsa
calefieri."

168 LECTURE ir.
A fourth opinion rejects this theory, and stripping
the Son of God in the host of aU sensation, asserts that
he lies upon the altar as a dead body, " mortuum modo."
He has, lay its supporters, spiritual without corporal life.
I have enumerated these differences of opinion to
convince you, that notwithstanding the boasted unity of
which we daily hear, there exist in the Church of Rome
the most opposite opinions on even the distinctive
doctrines of their faith. I haye enumerated them also
for the purpose of showing that there are in the CathoUc
community men of independence who reject many of
these dogmas, a noncompliance with which secures for
them ipso facto the solemn anathema of their Church.
Would that they broke off every remaining link that
binds them to doctrines which can be upheld by neither
Scripture nor reason.
Fourthly, — We protest against the doctrine of tran
substantiation because it is opposed to both reason and
sense. There are many things both in nature and in revealed
religion which are above reason, but there is nothing in
either which is opposed to reason. The doctrine of the
tri-unity of Jehovah is often compared by the Roman
CathoUcs with that of transubstantiation, but it is absurd
to constitute this sacred mystery, which aU admit does
not come under the cognizance of our senses, a paraUel
to that which is sensible and material. To make it a
perfect parallel you must prove that Protestants beUeve
the one Jehovah to have been miraculously spoken into
three persons by an officiating minister. What parallel
is there between the sacred mystery of the godhead and

THE ONE SACRIFICE FOR SIN. 159
a miracle ? The CathoUc Church affirms that by the
enunciation of the words " Hoc est enim corpus meum,"
a great miracle is wrought by her Priests ; that indeed,
bread and wine, which are laid upon the altar in their
natural state, become by this simple utterance on the
part of the Minister, the true body, blood, soul, and
divinity of Jesus Christ. Now aU who understand the
nature and office of miracles vriU at once see that it is
the duty of the Church of Rome to prove this transub
stantiation. We ask to have it submitted to the
eridence of our natural senses. For you to say it is a
spiritual matter, and is not therefore to be understood
through the medium of the senses, wiU be vain ; it is
not a spiritual, but a natural doctrine ; it relates to
matter ; to flesh, and blood, and bones, and sinews.
"When Christ cured the leper, the miracle was evident
both to the man himself and to his friends, and the
Saviom- submitted it to the ordinary sanitary test, —
" Go show thyself to the Priest ;" but when the Priest
- of the Church of Rome works this miracle it is not
e-vident either to himself or to the people for whom it is
wrought. "When Christ at the marriage in Cana of
GalUee, transubstantiated water into wine, the miraculous
effect was manifest to the taste, the smell, the sight of
those in whose presence, and for whose use, the prodigy
was performed ; but when the Priest of the Church of
Rome transubstantiates sacramental wine into the blood
of Christ, it is not evident either to his taste, or smell,
or rision. "Where is the evidence, we ask again, that
Christ's true and proper body, his flesh, his blood, his
bones, his nerves, his sinews, lie upon the altars of

160 LECTURE IV.
Roman Catholic Churches ? If you analyse the host, '
will you find the component parts of bones, of flesh, of
nerves, &c. No ! Roman Catholics tell us, " No." They
acknowledge that the taste, the smell, the form, the
color of the bread and the wine, are stiU on the altar,
but that the bread and wine themselves are not there ;
they have gone never again to return ! We say they
have not gone, and thus throw the burden of proof upon
the advocates of transubstantiation. The bread is there.
Do you ask how I know ? I reply, there is the substance
of the bread, there is the shape of the bread, there is
the color of the bread, there is the smell of the bread,
there is the taste of the bread ; and more than this,
were you to form two wafers precisely similar, and were
the officiating Priest to consecrate one and not the
other, that Priest himself could not detect by examination
which was the wafer, and which the body of Christ.
The -vrine is there. You ask me how I know ? I reply,
there are the smell, the taste, the color, the every pro
perty, indeed, of wine. My Roman Catholic friend
says, it is not wine, it is blood. Now let me ask him,
does it contain the properties of blood ? Does blood
contain alcohol ? Will blood intoxicate ? No. But if
I can prove that the intoxicating quality of the wine
remains after consecration, I go far, I think, towards
proring that it is not blood, and that the nature of the
wine has undergone no change. I read in St Paul's
first Epistle to the Corinthians, that certain members
of that Church when they partook of this holy sacra
ment became drunken — they drank to excess. Was it'
blood then that they drank ? Was it a whole Christ

THE ONE SACRIFICE FOR SIN. 161
that they partook ? Did the body and blood of Christ
throw those Corinthians into a state of intoxication ?
You reject the blasphemy — every Catholic rejects it.
And yet if the canons of the Council of Trent are true,
the conclusion is in-esistible that these converts became
inebriate by drinking, in the chalice of the Holy
Sacrament, the blood, the body, the soul, and the
divinity of the blessed and glorious Saviour !
We demand that the miracle be submitted to the
ordinary test Moses, by the power of God transub
stantiated the waters of the Nile into blood. How did
the people — ^how did the lawgiver himself know that
the miracle was wrought ? By the fact that the tran
substantiated water lost aU the properties of water. By
their senses they determined that the smell, the color,
the specific grarity were changed. The Catholic
Priest forbids an investigation of the Corpus Christi,
How different is this from the spirit and condescension
of Him whose servant he professes to be. After the
resurrection of Christ there was found amongst the
eleven disciples, one who was rather more faithless than
the rest He could not be brought to beUeve that the
Sariour was risen from the dead. He must have the
eridence of his senses, he must put his fingers into the
print of the Sariour's nails, he must thrust his hand into
His side. How did Jesus meet him at their first inter-
-riew ? Did he upbraid him ? No. Did he command
him to stand at a distance and to believe at his word ?
No. How condescendingly did he meet his infirmity !
"• Reach hither thy finger and behold my hands, reach
hither thy hand and thrust it into my side and be not

162 LECTURE IV,
faithless but beliering." We are unbelievers in the
doctrine of transubstantiation, we approach a Roman
CathoUc altar, and we say to the ministering Priest, we
cannot beUeve that our blessed Jesus in his body,
his soul, his dirinity, rests upon that altar. "What is
his reply ? Does he say draw near, and examine for
yourself ? No. He forbids our approach, he frowns
upon our unbelief, he commands us to take the word of
the Church for it How unlike the son of God I "Why
does he not say. Reach hither your hand, behold the
head, the feet, the bones, the flesh of Jesus ? Reach
hither your fingers, behold here is Christ in his power,
glory, dirinity ? My dear friends, do you expect me to
subscribe, do you yourselves subscribe to the declaration
of Pope Urban, who in the midst of a Roman Council •
said, " The hands of the Pontiff are raised to an emi
nence granted to none of the angels, of creating God,
the creator of all things, and of offering him up for
the salvation of the whole world ?" Do you expect me
to beUeve what Cardinal Biel said of himsdf and aU
Priests, " He that created me, gave me if it be lawful
to tell, to create himself; Mary once conceived the
Son of God and the Redeemer of the world ; while
the priest daily calls into existence the same deity ?"
Do you expect me to receive the doctrine that I am
to adore that which I eat, and that I am to eat that
which I adore ? Do you expect me to believe, that
the Lord Jesus Christ in the sacrament, body, soul and
dirinity, may moulder and become corrupt, may be
carried away and eaten by a mouse ? My reply is, "•!
cannot." Where, I ask, in the Word of God, do you

THE ONE SACRIFICE FOR SIN. 163
find authority for aU this ? "Where is the cornmand
for the adoration of the host ? The apostles, who were
quite as jealous for the glory of Christ as any Roman
Catholic priest, made no prorision for the protection of
the host, the body of Christ, after the celebration of
the Eucharist Your reply is, that "all things are
possible to God." This I deny; God cannot lie —
falsehood, therefore, is impossible to him. He cannot
sin — He cannot act inconsistently vrith his cwn charac
ter and nature. He cannot perpetrate an absurdity. I
do not deny that the Divine Being can convert bread
into a human body, but the doctrine of transubstan
tiation requires me to believe that this conversion is
effected in a body, -vrithout any change in appearance,
color, shape, soUdity, or extension. Then again I am
required to beUeve that this bread is transubstantiated
into the very same body that is in heaven, ' and that
remains in heaven ; yea, and that this is repeated ten
thousand times every day; so that one Christ, and
only one, is, at the same time, body, soul, and dirinity,
in ten thousand places.
Oh, brethren ! fly -vrith me from these contradictions,
from this materialism, to the pure spirituality of Christ's
gospel. Here, in his own word, here in his own ordi
nances, let our souls feed upon Christ by faith. He is
the liring manna, let us go forth over the gospel plains,
and with the hands of faith let us gather up this dirine,
this heavenly food, and let us eat that we may live for
ever ; and while thus employed, let us remember that
he is that liring water whose streams make glad the
world's -vrildemess, and of that water let us freely drink

164 LECTURE IT.
that we may live for ever. Here is food for Hie hungry,
here are streams for the thirsty spirit ! "Who art thou
that desirest this divine food ? Blessed art thou ; for
thou shalt be filled ; Blessed art thou, for whoso, saith
Christ " eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath
eternal life, and I wiU raise him up at the last day."
Secondly, — It -vviU not demand a lengthened discus
sion, or an elaborated argument, to sustain the other part
of the protest which we recorded this evening, that,
namely, which relates to the sacrifice of the mass.
And here, I ask, what is the sacrifice of the mass -vrithout
transubstantiation ? It is a gorgeous and magnificent
temple falUng into ruins, because it has no foundation.
Had we, however, failed to maintain our protest against
transubstantiation, -we should yet have been prepared
to prove that the sacrifice of the mass is unserip'tural
and unnecessary.
. My fii-st duty -wSi be to present from authorized
standards a brief view of the doctrine of the Romain
CathoUc Church on this subject.
Listen then to one or two Canons of the Council of
Trent :—
"If any one shall say that the mass is only a
serrice of praise and thanksgiring, or a bare commem
oration of the sacrifice made on the cross, and not a
propitiatory offering ; or that it only benefits him who
receives it, and ought not to be offered for the liring
and the dead, for sins, punishments, satisfactions, and
other necessities ; let him be accursed."
Attend also to the following sentences from the
Catechism of the Council of Trent : —

THE ONB sacrifice FOB SIN. 165
" We confess that the sacrifice of the mass is one
and the same sacrifice with that upon the cross :
the rictim is one and the same Christ Jesus, who
offered himself, once only, a bloody sacrifice on the
altar of the cross. ' The bloody and unbloody victim is
still one and the same, and the oblation of the cross is
daily renewed in the eucharistic sacrifice, in obedience
to the command of our Lord, ' This do for a commem
oration of me.' The Priest is also the same Christ
our Lord : the Ministers who offer this sacrifice conse
crate the holy mysteries not in their own but in the
person <3f Christ. This the words of consecration de
clare : the Priest does not say, ' This is the body of
Christ,' but, ' This is my body ;' and thus invested with
the character of Christ, he changes the substance of
the bread and wine, into the substance of his real body
and blood. That the holy saciifice of the mass, there
fore, is not only a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiring,
or a commemoration of the sacrifice of the cross, but
also a sacrifice of propitiation, by which God is appeased
and rendered propitious, the Pastor vrill teach as a
dogma defined by the unerring authority of a General
Council of the Church. As often as the commemora
tion of this rictim is celebrated, so often is the work
of our salvation promoted, and the plenteous fruits of
that bloody rictim flow in upon us abundantly through
this unbloody sacrifice."
Read -vrith me, lastly, the foUowing extracts from
the Roman Missal concerning the defective and non-
defective offering of the mass :
" Mass may be defective in the Matter to be conse-
h2

166 lecture IV.
orated, in the Form to be used, and in the officiatin
Minister. For if in any of these, there be any defec
viz: due matter, form, with intention, and priestl
orders in the celebrator, no sacrament is consecrated.
" If any one shall leave out or change any part <
the form of the consecration of the body and blooc
and in the change of the words, such words do nc
signify the same thing, there is no consecration."
First, — We contend that this doctrine is not sui
tained by Scripture. The chief ground of the Protestai
disclaimer is to be found in the use of the word pre
pitiatory. Protestants beUeve -vrith Catholics, thj
sacrifices are daily offered unto God in the church. ]
is not to be questioned, that, in this congregation ther
have been offered to the Dirine Being this evening
sacrifices which he "has accepted. One penitent teai
one contrite sigh is to God an acceptable offering, fo
" a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou -wilt no
despise." One fervent song of praise, one simple
unadorned supplication, one fervent breathing afte
God, is a sacrifice which he receives. But does th
Word of God lead you to suppose that there is dail;
offered in the Christian Church a propitiatory sacrifici
for sins ? It has seemed to me in investigating ihii
awful subject, that if St. Paul had intended to produc<
a simply great and conclusive polemical pamphlel
against the sacrifice of the mass, he could not hav«
done this more effectually than he has done in hi
Epistle to the Hebrews. The very note from the Douaj
Bible, on the twelfth verse of the ninth chapter, is 8
standing refutation of the practice, and a conrincinj

THE ONE SACRIFICE FOR SIN. 167
argument tiiat the language of Paul, taken in its natural
sense, is opposed to it. "By that one sacrifice of
his blood, once offered on the cross, Christ our Lord
paid and exhibited, once for aU, the general price and
ransom of aU mankind ; which no other priest could
¦do." A Protestant commentator could not have spoken
more decisively.
Listen again to two other notes which foUow : —
" Christ shaU never more offer himself in sacrifice, in
that rioIent,.painfaI and bloody maimer, nor can there
be any occasion for it ; since by that one sacrifice upon
the cross, he has farnished the ftdi ransom, redem'ption,
and remedy for all the sins of the world. But this
hinders not that he may offer himself daily in the
sacred mysteries in an unbloody manner, for the daily
appUcation of that one sacrifice of redemption to our
«ouls." -" To exhaust. That is, to empty or draw out to the
very bottom, by a jdentiful and perfect redemption,"
One of the passages which Roman Catholics urge
in favour of the sacrifice of the mass is Malachi i, 11.
" For from lie rising of tiie sun even to the going
do-wn, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in
every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to
my name a clean oblation: for my name is great
among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts.'- The
note on this text asserts that this ckan oblation is
'*,the precious body and blood of Christ in the
.Eucharistic sacrifice," but it does not state the authority
upon -which this assertion is made. Is it possible, if
the sacrifice of the mass was intended to be a standing

168 LECTURE rv. "
institution of the Church, that there should be found no
direction for its celebration. If going to mass was
designed to be so large and important a part of Christi
anity as our Roman Catholic friends seem to think, you
must acknowledge it to^be inconceivable that in the
epistle to the Hebrews which treats of the ChristiaU
ritual, there should be no account or explanation of it
given, and no rules respecting it laid down, for the
guidance of Christian Ministers. Do the Sacred
Scriptures sanction, in any way, the sacrifice of the
mass ? Christ certainly made no elevation of the host ;
and the apostles did not worship the sacrament. In
apostolic times there were none of the coiistituents of a
sacrifice in the celebration of the Lord's Supper.
Cardinal Bellarmine freely confesses all this, for he
says, " The oblation which follows consecration belongs
to the integrity of the' sacrament and not to its essence :
this," he continues, " is proved by our Lord not haring
made any oblation, nor even the apostles in the begin
ning, as we have demonstrated from Gregory." The
Jesuit, Salmeron, in the first book of his commentaries
on St Paul's epistles gives an enumeration of certain
unwritten traditions in which he mentions the ecclesias
tical hierarchy, i.e. the Papal Monarchy, the mass, the
mode of sacrifice, and the tradition that Jesus offered a
sacrifice in bread and -vrine. Cardinal Baronius makes
a similar coUfession. We do not wonder that these
learned men abandoned the plea for the mass on Scrip
tural authority. Paul in his epistle to the Romans
says, " For in that he died to sin, he died once." In
that to the Hebrews, " In the which -wiU we are

THE ONE SACRIFICE FOR SIN. 169
sanctified by the oblation of the body of Jesus Christ
ONCE ;" " For by one oblation he hath perfected for
ever them that are sanctified." Then where is the
necessity for the perpetration of this sacrifice. The
Catholic Church says that the unbloody sacrifice of the
mass is a propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of the dead
and liring ; now, I say, that it therefore lacks the main
characteristic of a propitiatory sacrifice, for the apostle
Paul, as I read in the Douay Bible, says in this very
chapter, that " -vrithout shedding of blood there is no
remission." Secondly, — ^This doctrine and practice are not sus
tained by remote antiquity. I give you one passage
from Justin Martyr's celebrated description of a Sab
bath serrice in a Christian congregation contained
in his apology for Christians. It may be found in the
second volume of his works, Paris edition, page 97.
" Then the bread and the cup of the water and of the
wine mixed with it, is offered to the president of the
brethren, and he, taking it, offers up praise and gloi-y
to the Father of aU, in the name of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, and at some length he performs a thanks
giving, for haring been honoured with these things by
him. "When he has finished the prayers and the thanks
giring, all the people present, joyfully cry out. Amen.
Amen signifies, in the Hebrew tongue, so be it. But
the president haring returned thanks, and all the people
haring joyfully cried out, those ' who are caUed by us
deacons, give to each of those who are present, a portion
of the bread and the wine and the water, over which a
thanksgiring has been performed, and they carry away

l'?0 LECTURE IV.
some for those who are not present. And this food
is caUed by us the Eucharist, of which no one is
permitted to partake but he who. believes that the things
taught to us are true, and who has been washed for the
remission of sins and for regeneration, and -who lives as
Christ has enjoined. For we do not receive these things
as common bread, or common drink ; but as the incar
nate Jesus became, by the Word of God, Christ our
Sariour, and received flesh and blood for our salvation,
so also we have been taught that the food which is
made the Eucharist by the prayer, according to his
word, by which our flesh and blood are nourished, is
both the flesh and blood" of that incarnate Jesus. For
the apostles, in the histories which they have written,
which are called gospels, have thus recorded that Jesus
commanded them ; that he taking bread and giring
thanks, said, ' Do this in remembrance of me, this is
my body ;' and that he, in like manner, taking the cup
and giring thanks, said, 'This is my blood.' And, in
all that we offer, we bless the Maker of all things by his
Son Jesus Christ, and by the Holy Spirit. And on the
day that is called Sunday, there is an assembly in the
same place, of those who dweU in towns or in the
country, and the histories of the aposties and the -writ
ings of the prophets are read, whilst the time permits ;
then, the reader ceasing, the president verbally admon
ishes and exhorts to the imitation of those good things.
Then we aU rise in common and offer prayers, and, as
we have already said, when we have finished our prayers,
bread and wine and water are offered, and the president,
in Uke manner, offers prayers and thanksgirings as far

THE ONE SACRIFICE FOB SIN. 171
as it is in his power to do so, and the people joyfully
cry out, saying, Amen. And the distribution and
communication is to each of those who have returned
thanks, and it is sent by the deacons to those who are
not present. Those who are rich and wiUing,
each according to his own pleasure contributes what he
pleases, and what is thus coUected is put away by the
president^ and he assists the orphans, and -vridows, and
those who, through sickness, or any other cause, are
destitute, and also those who are in bondage, and those
who are strangers journeying, and in short, he aids aU
those who are in want. But we all meet in common on
Sunday, because it is the first day in the which God,
who  • • • made the
world ; and Jesus Christ our Sa-riour on the same day
arose from the dead."
Roman CathoUcs sometimes taunt us -vrith the
assertion that there is no true Church amongst us,
because we have no altar, no priest, no sacrifice. No
altar ! We have an altar whose foundations are the
glorious attributes of God, cemented together by divine
love, whose superstructure is the world ; an altar around
which shines the radiant glory of the everlasting
covenant ! No altar ! We have an altar which is
stained -vrith the precious blood of God's eternal Son,
and upon which has descended the approring fire of
heaven. We have an altar. Sometimes we find it
on the cragged rock, at others in the groves of the
mantled forest; sometimes on the silent beach, at
others on the top of the ocean wave ; it may not be
adorned with the gold and the silver, the tapestry and

172 LECTURE IV.
the paintings, the statues and the candelabra which dec
the altars of our Roman Catholic friends ; butall natu
adorns our altar ; the glorious firmament is its over-han
ing canopy, and the candles which have been lit arom
it are those orbs of light which illumine day and nigl
"Wherever the true Christian goes he finds an alts
Sometimes he is Uke Abraham, who found an altar I
the vale of Mamre ; or like Isaac, whose evening alt
were the fields in -vvhich he prayed. Sometimes he
like Jacob whose pillow of stone became his altar ; .
like Darid, when he fled from Saul and found an alt
in the caves of the -wilderness ; or Uke Solomon, wl
erected his altar in a magnificent edifice. With Pa
the Christian sometimes finds his altar on the wreck
a ship, or with Brainerd, in the forests of Amerii
-vrithin sound of the Indian war whoop, or with Judso
on Eastern sands and plains. The Christian may 1
on the mountain top, or in the busy town ; he may 1
on the lonely island, or in the peopled city ; he mi
find himself gliding down the flo-wing river, or tossi
upon the rolUng biUow, — " 'Tis nought to him," he h
an altar, " Since God is ever present, ever felt,
" In the dark waste as in the city full :
" And where He vital breathes there must be joy."
Sometimes we are told that we have no priest ]^
priest, while Jesus lives in heaven ! Jesus who once fori
hath offered himself -vrithout spot to God, for our si
and for our uncleanness ! Jesus who hath passed -vrith
the glorious vail of the temple of the Universe n
without blood, Jesus who hath presented himself befo

the one SACRIFICE FOR SIN. 173
the throne" of the Eternal with a propitiatory sacrifice !
No priest ! "While He is there who is touched with
the feeling of our infirmities— He the Son of God who
is able to succour them that are tempted — He who ever
liveth to make intercession for us — He who is able to
save unto the uttermost all who come unto God by
him. No priest ! "While he stands before the throne of
the Eternal -vrith the golden censer in his hand sanction
ing by his presence the access of every sinner who
cometh to that throne vrith a humble and contrite
spirit ! " But you have no visible priest." No visible
priest ! While every saint in the company of Christ's
faithftd ones belongs to the Royal Priesthood of the
Christian dispensation. No visible priest ! While the voice
of _^every saint of God is privileged to exclaini, " unto
Him that hath loved us and washed us from our sins
in his own blood, and made us kings and priests unto
God, and his Father be glory and dominion for ever and
ever !" God's people are the priests of the Christian
temple, and wherever you find a Christian, you find a
priest of the most High God. '
And who are they that affirm, "You have no
sacrifice !" The Lamb of God is our sacrifice ; perfect,
spotless, precious, infinite ; once offered — " once for
ALL " — offered for me, for you, for every child of the
family of Adam. No sacrifice ! —
" Jesus, my Great High-Priest,
Offer'd his blood and died ;
My guilty conscience seeks
No sacrifice beside ;
His powerfiil blood did once atone.
And now it pleads before the throne. '

174 LECTURE IV.,
No sacrifice ! Through him, wherever there is a broke
and a contrite spirit, there is a sacrifice which God dol
not despise. No sacrifice ! Wherever there is a humbl
grateful Christian ready to present his body upon the alti
of consecration, there is a liring sacrifice, holy, acceptab
to God. No sacrifice ! So long as a Christian beUev
is to be found vrith a prayer to breathe to heaven, or
note of praise to waft to the throne of Eternal Majest
there is an offering, a sacrifice, which ascends as incena
and as a savour of a sweet smell before the Heaven
altar. We have an altar : We have a priesthood : "V
have sacrifices. O cjome to this altar of Christianil
the altar of the cross; come to the Holy of HoU
through the sacrifice of God's Dirine Lamb ; come wi
aU your guilt and all your poUution, remembering th
you have a High Priest who advocates your cause, ai
who is both able and -wiUing to " save unto ti
EJTTEEMOST ALL -WHO COMB UNTO GoD BY HiM."

NOTE TO LECTURE IV.
" De defectibua Panit.
let. " If the bread be not of wheat, or if of wheat, it be mixed
-with such quancity of other grain, that it doth not remain
wheaten bread ; or if it be in any way corrupted, it doth not
make a sacrament.
2d. " If it be made -vrith rose or other distilled water, it is
doubtful if it make a sacrament.
3d. " If it begin to corrupt but is not corrupted : also, if it be
not unleavened according to the custom of the Latin church, it
makes a sacrament ; but the priest sins grievously."
" De defectibus Vini.
" If the -wine be quite sour, or putrid, or be made of bitter or
unripe grapes : or if so much water be mixed with it, as spoils
the -wine, no sacrament is made.
" If after the consecration of the body, or even of the wine,
the defect of either kind be discovered, one being consecrated ;
then, if the matter which should be placed cannot be had, to
avoid scandal, he must proceed."
" De defectibus Ministri.
" The defects on the part of the minister, may occur in these
things required in him, these are first and especially intention,
after that, disposition of soul, of body, of vestments, and dispo
sition in the serrice itself^ as to those matters which can occur
in it.
" If any one intend not to consecrate, but to counterfeit ; also
if any wafers remain forgotten on the altar, or if any part of
the -wine, or any wafer lie hidden, when he did not intend to
consecrate but what he saw ; also, if he shall have before him
eleven Wafers and intended to consecrate but ten only, not

176 NOTE.
determining what ten he meant, in all these cases there is
consecration, because intention is required.
" Should the consecrated host disappear, either by accidei
or by wind, or miracle, or be devoured by some animal, ai
cannot be found ; then let another be consecrated.
" If after consecration, a gnat, a spider, or any such thing fi
into the chalice; let the priest swallow it with the blood, if 1
can ; but if he fear danger and have a loathing, let him take
out, and wash it with wine, and when mass is'ended, bum
and cast it and the washing into holy ground.
" If poison fall into the chalice, or what might cause vomitii
let the consecrated wine be put into another cup, and oth
wine with water be again placed to be consecrated, and wh
mass is finished, let the blood be poured on linen cloth, or to
remain till it be diy, and then be burned, and the ashes be ce
into holy ground.
" If the host be poisoned, let another be consecrated and iisf
and that, be kept in a tabernacle, or a separate place until it
corrupted, and after that be thrown into holy groimd.
"If in winter the blood be frozen in the cup, put war
clothes about the cup ; if that vrill not do, let it be put in
boiling water near the altar, till it be melted, taking care
does not get into the cup.
" If any of the blood of Christ fall on the ground by neg
gence, it must be licked up with the tongue, the place be sui
ciently scraped, and the scrapings burned ; but the ashes mu
be buried in holy ground."

LECTURE V.
THE ONE MEDIATOR BET'WEEN GOD AND MEN.
It is hardly necessary for me to state, to my hearers,
unless, indeed, it be by way of constructing a link
which shaU complete the chain of argument and obser
vation now to be employed, that man, in his primeval
state, was one with Deity. God dwelt in him, and he
in God. Man took the highest delight in his Creator,
arid God in his creature. AU was peace, harmony and
love. No medium of access to God was necessary for
man, because the intercourse and the feUowship were
immediate and absolute. To how great an eminence,
to how dirine a height, was our nature raised, in the
person of Adam !
Who needs to be told that from this lofty height,
man fell % Sin separated between him and God. Those
who had been so intimately united, were now severed
and placed at an infinite distance from each other ;
those who had been friends, were now enemies. All
intercourse with the Dirine Being was cut off; and
man found himself at enmity against an aU-powerful
and infinitely holy God. Had he endeavoured to find
his way back again to God, every attempt which he
could have made must have failed : for between him and
Dirinity there was fixed an impassable abyss, with no
way around it, and no way over it. In the distance, but

178 LECTURE V.
within his trembling -riew, there was seen the Ughtning
flash, reminding him that God is a consuming fire ; ar
from that distance, there fell upon his trembling eai
the thunders of Almighty vengeance, a revelation -
His wrath from heaven against all imgodliness. .
flaming sword guarding the Paradise of the Divii
presence, warned man that any attempt to enter i
would be -visited with instant judgment.
By what derice could this breach be healed ? "Wh;
power could erect over this fearful gulph of separatic
a sufficient bridge — a bridge over which man migl
walk in safety to his God? What skill and ener^
could repair the fracture which sin had producec]
"Who could discover a medium of access for the sinm
to his God? Who could penetrate the depths of tl
dirine mind to ascertain whether there existed in tho
depths, the pure gem of redeeming mercy ! "Wh
advocate could be found to plead before the offendc
majesty of heaven, the cause of rebel man ?
Wonder O heavens, and be astonished O earth ! Tl
skill, the power, the compassion are all at hand, f
they are aU in God. Yea, the way is already openec
the bridge has been erected by our Dirine Architec
the scheme of reconciliation is completed ; the breac
is healed ; the serpent's head is bruised ; the etern
Word, the Son of God, Jehovah's fellow, appears, arra;
himself in our flesh, assumes our entire humanit
places himself in contact with the vengeance-charge
cloud, receives its feai-ful shock, stands our Advoca
before the throne of Heaven, and from that throi
exclaims to us who seek after God, if haply we mi

THE ONE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MEN. l79
find Him, " I am the way, the truth, and the life,
no man cometh to the Father but by me."
The question which we have to discuss and settle this
evening, is not whether there is any necessity for the
sendees of a mediator between God and men ; this is a
point upon which both CathoUcs and Protestants are
agreed. What we have to determine is, whether of
these two is the more scriptm-al — the doctrine of the
Reformation, that there is but one mediator, or the
practice of the Church of Rome, that there are many
mediators. The passage of Scripture which I have
selected as a text may be found in the Apostle Paul's
first epistle to Timothy, the second chapter at the fifth
verse. It is thus rendered in the Douay Bible : —
" There is one God and one mediator of God
AND MEN, the MAN ChRIBT JeSUS."
If we take a comprehensive view of the doctrine of
Chrisfs mediation, we shall find that it covers the whole
history of man from the period of his fall.
For as soon as man sinned, as we have already seen,
immediate intercourse between him and God was inter-
, rupted. The scheme devised and proposed in the mind
of Deity was, that thenceforward man should be
governed and treated vrith, through the intervention of
a mediator. In harmony vrith all the arrangements, I
m'ean ordinary arrangements, of both the works and
the proridence of God, this scheme was gradually
developed. It did not burst suddenly upon the world
in aU the splendours of its Ught and glory ; .it rather
followed that beautiful ordination of the Creator which
we daily behold in the gradual development of the

180 LECTURE V.
morning light. But that Jesus Christ was mediat
between God and men eqnaUy in the days of Abel ai
of Caiaphas the High Priest, equally in the days
Moses and of Peter and Paul, is a doctrine which
admitted by the most celebrated dirines both Cathol
and Protestant. We all detect the doctrine of Chrisi
mediation in the sacrifice of Abel, and in -the Offerir
of Abraham; we recognize our glorious Mediator :
the Angel of the Covenant, and in the Captain of tl
Lord's Host ; we see the doctrine of mediation shadow
ed forth in the appointment of the High Priest, in tl
daily offering of sacrifices, and in the yearly atonemen
we recognize Christ crucified in the sin offerings :
the priests, in the predictions of the prophets, and :
the praises of the Psalms. For this Old-Testamei
recognition of Christ our Mediator, we have his ow
authority. The Evangelist Luke describes a convers
tion which Jesus had vrith his disciples, in the foUowii
words : — " These are the words which I spake imto yc
while I was yet with you, that all things might be fu
filled, which were -written in the law of Moses, and i
the prophets and in the psalms concerning me."
A comprehensive view of Chrisfs mediatorship en
braces also his mediatorial qualifications.
Mediator is a word that is transferred from the Lati
to the English language vrithout any variation ; it is ¦
translation of the Greek word /jiEmrrje which means
middle . person — one who comes between two adverf
parties and reconciles them. "Whatever lower meanin
may be given to the word as applied by St Paul 1
Moses, it is clear that whenever it is applied in the Ne-

THE ONE MEDIATOB BEl^WEEN GOD AND MEN. 181-
Testament to Jesus Christ, it includes the doctrine of
reconciliation by atonement Hence in the verse
immediately foUovring our text it is said :— -" Who gave
himself a redemption for aU." The qualifications of the
Lord Jesus Christ to interpose between God and men,
are seen —
First, In his possessing in his own person the nature
of each of the estranged parties. To employ the
language of the Nicene Creed, he was " true God of
true God," and yet, not less truly, " was incai-nate by
the Holy Ghost of the "V^irgin Mary and was made
man." These qualifications are seen
Secondly, In his possession, as an infinite Being
untainted by sin, of an infinite merit. And
Thirdly, In his offering himself as a ransom, an
atonement, a satisfaction, for the sin, and consequent
demerit of the offending party.
A comprehensive view of Chrisfs mediation embraces
also his every ofiice and his entire work.
" AU the offices of Christ arise out of his gracious
appointment as Mediator between the offended God and
offending man. He is the Prophet who came to
teach us the extent and danger of our offences, and the
means by which they may be remitted. He is the
Great High Priest of our profession, who haring
offered himself without spot to God has entered the
holiest to make intercession for us, and to present our
prayers and services to God, securing to them acceptance
through his own merit. He is the King ruling over
the whole earth for the maintenance and establishment,
the' defence and enlargment of his Church, and the

182 LECTURE V.
punishment of those who reject his authority."* H
teaches us as our Mediator, he atones for us as oi;
Mediator, he intercedes for us as our Mediator, 1
rules over us and defends us as our Mediator. H
entire work as the God-man is mediatorial. Tl
Gospel is mediatorial, the Christian dispensation (
covenant is mediatorial ; all that we in this state >
being have to do vrith God, and all that God has to c
with us is mediatorial.
A coTnprehensive view of Chrisfs mediation comp^
hends his absolute unity as Mediator.
He stands forth in the Gospel single and aloni
needing no helper, rejecting all aid, in the peculi
functions of his office. It is as certainly a scriptui
truth that there is but one mediator, as it is that the
is but one God : the two doctrines seem to be cognai
or rather the unity of Christ as mecUator arises out
the doctrine, " Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is o!
Lord." Adapting the truth contained in the text
the phraseology employed by Moses, we may say, " He
ye children of our Christian Israel, the Lord Jesus, o
Mediator, is one Mediatoe."
There is not, probably, an intelligent Roman Catho'
-present whoTvould be disposed to question the scriptui
accuracy and the general orthodoxy of these riev
And, we will not be backward to admit that the writt
teaching of the Church of Rome on these subjects
generally correct. The divinity of Christ, his infin:
merit, the satisfaction which h^ paid down for the si
of the whole world, the reconciliation which he effect
* Tarrar's Biblical Dictionary sui voce.

THE ONE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MEN. 183
between God and sinners, and the unity of the Dirine
Mediator, are exhibited with more or less clearness in
the authorised canons and liturgies of that Church.
Candom-, however, obUges us to state that these gems
of original gospel truth are so imprisoned within modern
incrustations as not to be easily detected. It is only by
taking the hammer of God's word that we reach them
at all. For instance, I find in the " Key of Heaven," a
devotional work recommended by Ai-chbishop Mm-ray,
at page 171, the foUowing sentiments : —
" And that my petition may find acceptance, I appeal
to thee, sweet Jesus, Son of the Uving God, the Advocate
and Mediator betwixt us sinners and thy eternal Father,
humbly beseeching thee, through that infinite charity
which brought thee from heaven to the ignominy of the
cross, and thy precious blood spUt thereon, that I may
now partake of the benefit of thy sufferings, and be
cleansed from aU my offences : that by thy assistance I
may sincerely repent and amend of all my failings :
that dying to myself and the world, I may live only to
thee, and never suffer either passion or pleasure to divide
me from thee any more."
I find also the following sentence in the Catechism of
the CouncU of Trent : — " True there is but one MecUator,
Christ the Lord, who alone has reconcUed us through
his blood ; and who having accomplished our redemp
tion, and having once entered into the holy of holies,
ceases not to intercede for us." Nothing could be more
scriptural than this, but then there are added these
words, " it by no means follows that it is therefore
unlawful to have recourse to the intercession of saints."

184 LECTURE V.
I could in this way pick out from authorised Roma
Catholic works numberless sentences, phrases an
expressions, which clearly acknowledge the New Test
ment doctrine of Christ's mediation. I shaU, howeve
content myself with one other taken from page 43 i
Bishop Butler's Catechism : —
" Q. What conditions are necessary to render oi
prayers acceptable ?
" A. We must always offer them with an humble ai
pontrite heart ; with fervour and perseverance ; wil
confidence in God's goodness ; with resignation to h
will, and in the name of Jesus Christ."
Now, what Protestants remonstrate against is, tl
want of unity and consistency which pervades tl
teaching of the Church of Rome on this subject.
some authorised utterances of the Church, there
an avowal that only one mediator exists between Gc
and men ; but in other utterances of equal authorif
saints, angels, and men are invested vrith mecUator:
attributes, and clothed -vrith mediatorial prerogativi
It appears to me that the protest of the Reformi
Churches, that protest, I mean, which relates to t
subject now under consideration, may be thus €
pressed : —
" We protest against the Church of Rome b
CAUSE she practically substitutes other mbdiato
FOR Jesus Christ, and avowedly recognizes ti
existence OF secondary mediation in the invisib:
WORLD. You vrill say, perhaps, that this protest involves
grave charge against our Roman CathoUc brethrei

THE ONE mediator BETWEEN GOD AND MEN. 185
and you -vriU ask, " Does the Church of Rome really
usurp the mediatorial position of the Son of God, by
placing in his stead others than he ?" Listen vrith
attention for a few minutes, and you vrill see how easily
the charge can be sustained oijt of the writings and the
mouths of CathoUcs themselves.
Observe, however, that we do not charge the Church
of Rome with investing men, or saints, or angels, vrith
all the attributes and powers of Christ as mediator;
but we do charge her with investing them vrith some
of these powers — powers which cUstinctively and solely
attach to BGm as the God-man. Two instances out of
many shaU now be given : Forgiveness of sins, and
Intercession -with God.
I. Forgiveness of Sins.
I open the Douay Bible on the fifth chapter of the
Acts of the Apostles, and I find at the thirty-first verse,
the foUovring passage : " Him hath God exalted vrith
his right hand, to be Prince and Sariour, to give repent
ance to Israel and remission of sins." Here, as I con
ceive, we have a cUstinct announcement, that the dirine
prerogative of pardoning sin is transferred to Christ, and
to him alone, as the mediator of the New Testament ;
and that to invest in any other being, man, saint or angel,
the powers of this prerogative, is to substitute another
mecUator in the place of Christ, the only mediator.
Our Roman Catholic friends have done this ; their
doctrine, and their practice too, place the priests of theii-
Church, instead of Jesus Christ, between the people and
.their God. We are quite aware that ministers of the

186 LECTURE V.
gospel sustain the position of ambassadors for Christ, w
do not forget that Paul the Apostle represents them i
standing in the stead of Christ; but for what purpose a
they invesijed with the high dignity of Christ's amba
sadors? Why dotheystandinChrist'sstead ? Forthesg
purpose of "beseeching" sinners to be "reconciled
God." But in the Church of Rome the Priest absolv
the sinner, and does this not as a minister but as
judge; as God: — for in the fourteenth Session of tl
Council of Trent, the following Canon was passec
" Whoever shall affirm that the Priest's sacrament;
absolution is not a judicial act, but only a ministry 1
pronounce and declare that the sins of the party cd
fessing are forgiven, so that he believes himself to 1
absolved even though the Priest should not absoh
seriously, but in jest ; or shall affirm that the confessic
of the penitent is not necessary in order to obtain absol
tion from the 'Priest ; let him be accursed." " Tl
Council farther teaches, that even those Priests who a
liring in mortal sin exercise the function of forgivir
sins, as the Ministers of Christ, by the power of tl
Holy Spirit conferred upon them in orcUnation ; ar
that those who contend that -vricked Priests have n
this power hold very erroneous sentiments. "Whoev
shaU affirm that Priests liring in mortal sin have n
the power of binding and loosing, or that Priests a
not the only Ministers of absolution, <kc. ; let him
accursed." The Catechism of the Council also declare
" Our sins are forgiven us by the absolution of t
Priest The voice of tiie Priest, who is legitimate
constituted a Minister for -the remission of sins, is to 1

THE ONE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MEN. 187
heard as that of Christ himself, who said to the lama
man, ' Son, be of good cheer ; thy sins are forgiven
thee.' " " The absolution of the Priest, which is ex
pressed in words, seals the remission of sins, which it
accomplishes in the soul." " UnUke .the authority
given to the Priests of the old law, to declare the leper
cleansed fr-om his leprosy, the power -vrith which tha
Priests of the new law are invested is not simply tq
declare that sins are forgiven,, but, as the Minister?
of God, really to absolve from sin ; a power which God
himself, the author and source of grace and justification,
exercises through their ministry."
I put it to any ordinary understanding, whether thi?
teaching does not invest man, aye, even a vricked maii,
-with the prerogative of om- dirine mediator, that of foiv
giving sins? The Scribes and the Pharisees coul4
have taught our friends that it is no less than blasph^jny
for any creature to assume this power. " "Who can
forgive sins but God only ? " And yet the Catechisin
of the CouncU of Trent declares, that " the voice of the
Priest is to be heard as the voice of Christ himself, who
said to the lame man, " Son, be of good cheer ; thy
sins are forgiven thee!" We protest against these
assumptions ; they rob God of his honor, they denude
Christ of his prerogative. But I need not longer dwell
upon this branch of our subject, because the next
lecture -will embrace the whole subject of a sinner's
pardon, or justification before God.

188 LECTURE T.
II. Intebcession WITH God in the invisible word
IS ANOTHER OF THOSE MEDIATORIAL PREROGATIVE
WHICH THE Church of Rome has teansferbe:
FROM Christ, to both saints and angels.
"Who, with the New Testament in his hand,.cai
doubt the belief of the Apostles to have been, tha
Christ was that only intercessor through whom the;
could approach to the Father ? Do you ever - find a
apostle presenting a snpplication through any other thai
Chiist, pleading any merits but those of Christ, flyiuj
to any other Refuge, or laying hold of any other Hop
than that of Christ ? Is not the intercession of Chris
indeed represented here as his cshief function in tha
worM whither he has asc3ended? Abeady has he born
our sins in his own body ; already, in our stead, magni
fied the law and made it honorable; already has h
completed his atoning work ; by his cme offering, as w
saw in the last lecture, he hath perfected- for ever ther
that are sanctified ; and now, by rirtue oi his atonin
work, by rirtue of his sprinkled blood, by virtue of hi
infinite merit, he hath passed into the heavens, and eve
Irveth in the presence of God to make intercession fo
sinners. Turn to the epistle to the Hebrews, and yo
will find text upon text confirmatory of the sole intei
'cessorship of Christ. Sole it must be, for his merits ar
ihe ground of his intercession. He now, saith th
apostle, appears in the presence of God for us. But le
me read to you a few verses from the tenth chapter c
this epistle : " Haring therefore, brethren, a confidenc
in the entering into the Holies by the blood of Christ
A new and liring way which he hath dedicated for u

THE ONE mediator BETWEEN GOD AND MEN. 189
through the veil, that is to say, his flesh, and a high
priest over the house of God : let us draw near with a
true .heart in fulness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled
from an eril conscience, and our bodies washed with
clean vvater." Here there is pointed out to the Church
of the Hebrews no other way but Christ. Are we to
draw near ? It is to be through him. Have we, as the
saints of God, an entrance into the presence of the
Holy One ? It is through his blood. Let me read to
you again out of the first CathoUc epistie of John ; " But if
any man sin, we have an advocate vrith the Father,
Jesus Christ the just : and he is the propitiation for our
sins : and not for ours only, but also for those of the
whole world." All that we ask of Roman Catholics
is, tiiat they will furnish us from the word of God, vrith
one instance of prayer and supplication having been
offered to God or to Jesus Christ, through the rirgin
Mary, or, indeed, any other saint. Then, wUl we, vrith
them, make pUgrimages to the shrines of Mary, and we
wiU entreat the saints, as they do, to protect us by their
power, and to plead vrith God for us by virtue of their
merits. But the Scriptures are against them, the prac- •
tice of the apostles is against them, the genius of
Christianity is against them ; " Through Christ we have
access by one Spirit unto the Father."
But, I must make good the ground of our protest ; <
and in doing this, wUl remind you of the deep sensation
which you experienced a few evenings ago, when we
furnished so overwhelming a testimony that the Church
of Rome, in her ritual, is guilty of presenting to the
Mother of Christ, the honors of supreme adoration.
i2

190 lecture v.
The- subject which we are now discussing is the int
cession, rather than the adoration of saints ; but y
will at once see that each is in a great degree involv
-with the other ; so much so in this case, that Protesta
Divines in discussing the two questions general
associate them under the general title of " The invqc
tion of saints."
The teaching of the Church of Rome on this Si
ject, as enunciated by the CouncU of Trent, is
foUows : —
" The holy CouncU commands all Bishops and.othe
who have the care and charge of teaching, tl
according to the practice of the Catholic and Aposto
Church, received from the first beginning of t
Christian religion, the consent of venerable Fathers, a
the decrees of holy Councils, they labour with dUigc
assiduity to instruct the faithful c^onoerning the invo(
tion and intercession of the saints, the honour due
relics, and the lawful use of images ; teaching them, tl
the saints, who reign together with Christ, offer th
¦prayers to God for men ; that it is a good and a use
thing suppliantly to invoke them, and to fiee to th
prayers, help, and assistance ; because" of the benei
bestowed by God through his Son Jesus Christ c
Lord, who is our only Redeemer and Sariour ; and tl
i| those are men of impious sentiments who deny that t
saints, who enjoy eternal happiness in heaven, are to
invoked ; or who affirm that they do not pray for mi
or that to beseech them to pray for us, is idolatry ;
that it is contrary to the word of God, and opposed
the honour of Jesus Christ, the one Mediator betw,€

THE ONE MEDIATOE BETWEEN GOD AND MEN, 191
Ijod and men ; or that it is foplish to supplicate, verbally
or mentally, those who reign in heaven,"
The Catechism of the Council says, " The veneration
¦and invocation of angels and saints, who enjoy the
'glory of heaven and the honour which the (Roman)
<}athoUc Church has always paid, even to the bodies
-«nd ashes of the saints, are not forbidden by the first
commandment. — Their intercession, therefore, we invoke,
because they always see tbe face of God, and are con
stituted by him the vriUing advocates of our salvation, —
To honcjur the saints who sleep in the Lord, to invoke
their intereession, and to venerate their saered relics
and ashes, far from diminishing, tends oonsidei:ably to
increase, the glory of God; in proportion- as the
'Christian's hope is tUns animated and fortified, and h^
-himself excited to the imitation of their rirtues. — True,
there is but one Mediator, Christ the Lord, who alone
-has reconcfled us through his blood"; and w^ho, having
accomplished our redemption, and having once entered
into the holy of hoUes, ceases mot to intercede for us ;
•but it by no meaas foUows, that it is therefore unlavriid
•to have recourse to the intercesaon of the saints."
The Church of Rome ascribes to the Virgin Mary
:and other saints the highest prerogatives of "diHst as
intercessor. "What are these prerogatives ? I reply in
sthe .words of St Paul in tiie Hebrews: "He is able
also to save for ever them that come to God by him-:
salways living to make intereession for us." As Inter-
•cessor, Christ saves, — ^this is his right, his peculiar right
as our High Priest Let us see whether this ciharge can
3>e sustainecL

192 LECTURE V.
My first proof is taken from a work entitled, Tl
Devotion and Ofiice of the Sacred Heart of our Lm
Jesus Christ, including the Devotions to the Sacri
Heart of Mary. Twelfth Fdition, with an Append
and the Indult of his Holiness, Pope Pius, in favoi
of it. For the use of the Midland District. Keatir
and Brown.
" Go then, devout client, to the heart of Jesus, bi
LET TOUR WAY BE THROUGH THE HEART OF MaRY.
" Come, then, hardened and inveterate sinner, ho
great soever your crimes may be, come and behol
Mary stretches out her hand, opens her breast i
receive you. Though insensible to the great conceri
of your salvation, though unfortunately proof again
the most engaging invitations of the Holy Ghost, flii
yourself at the feet of this powerful advocate.
" HaU Mary, lady and mistress of the world, to who:
all power has been given both in heaven and earth.
" You are the great Mediatrix between God as
Man, obtaining for sinners all they can ask and demai
of the Blessed Tiinity."
My second proof is taken from the Key of Heave
a work in common use in this city. On page 81,
read the following prayer : —
" Ever glorious and blessed Mary, -Queen of "Virgin
Mother of Mercy, hope and comfort of dejected ar
desolate souls, through that sword of sorrow whic
pierced thy tender heart whilst thine only Son, Jesi
Christ our Lord, suffered death and ignominy on tl
cross: through that filial tenderness and pure love 1
had for thee, griering in thy giief, whUst from his cro

THE ONE MEDIATOB BET-VVEEN GOD AND MEN. 193
he recommended thee to the care and protection of his
beloved disciple, St. John, take pity, I beseech thee, on
my poverty and necessities ; have compassion on my
anxieties and cares ; assist and comfort me in all my
infirmities and miseries, of what kind soever. Thou art
the Mother of Mercies, the sweet Consolatrix and only
refuge of the needy and the orphan, of the desolate and
affiicted. Cast, therefore, an eye of pity on a miserable
forlorn chUd of Eve, and hear my prayer ; for since in
just punishment of my sins, I find myself encompassed
by a multitude of erils, and oppressed with much
anguish of spirit, whither can I fly for more secure
shelter, 0 amiable Mother of my Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ, than under the wings of thy maternal
protection ?"
My third proof is taken from the " Power of Mary," a
work by St. Liguori.
I told you before who Liguori was, and reminded you
that not only is this work printed by permission of the
superiors, but that the author was himself canonized
some years since for his writings and his devotion to
the Church of which he was a member.
In this book I find the following sentiments : —
Page 217. "St Bernard did not fear to assert that
' all things are submitted to the Holy "Virgin, even God
himself.' "
Page 218. " Mary is all powerful, for, foUovring all
laws, the queen enjoys the same privileges as the king,
and in order that the power may be equal between the
son and the mother, the son who is all powerful has
made his mother all powerful. The one is all powerful

1S4 tECTUBE V.
fey nature, the other by grace, i. e. as it was revealed i
St Bridget, our dirine Christ is obliged not to rejei
any commands of his mother's."
Page 219. "It is then with great reason, 0 oi
advocate, that St. Bernard and St. Anselm say that
sufficeth you only to wish a thing to be done ; thus yc
can at your wUl elevate the most unworthy sinner i
the highest degree of sanctity.''
Page 217. " Damien says that the ' Virgin when si
presents herself before the altar of reconcUiatio
appears less to supplicate than to (Uctate laws.' "
But the authorized liturgies of the Roman Cathol
Church are full of such sentiments. - In " the Garden •
the soul," a work with' which every Roman CathoUc
acquainted, I find a Hymn to the "Virgin Mary, froi
which I take the foUovring stanzas ; —
" Hail thou resplendent star which shinest o'er the main
Blest Mother of our God, and ever virgin queen.
Hail happy gate of bliss greeted by Gabriel's tongue.
Negotiate our peace, and cancel Eva's wrong.
Loosen the sinners bands, all evil drive away.
Bring light into the blind, and for all graces pray."
St. Germain once prayed as fellow's : " 0 mother
God, your defence is immortal ; your intercession
life ; your protection is security ; if you do not teach -
the way, none can become spiritual, nor adore God
spirit O most Holy "Virgin, none can have the kno-
icdge of God but by you : 0 Mother of God, none ci
be saved but by you : 0 Virgin Mother, none can 1
delivered from dangers but by you : 0 favoured of Gc
none can obtain any gift or grace, but by you." i

THE ONE MEDIATOB BETWEEN GOD AND MEN. 195
Anselm says, " More present reUef is sometimes found
by commemorating the name of Mary, than by caUing
upon the name of our Lord Jesus Chi-ist her only son. In
the " Treasure of the soul," page 72, 1 find the follow
ing prayer : — " O most pious Mary, Virgin, Mother of
the most Holy God, my most beloved advocate, succour
me in all Iny necessities both now and ever."
"Wliat, I ask, is this, but to hurl the Son of God from
his rnecUatorial throne, and to place upon it Mary in
his stead ? My dear Roman Catholic friends, I tremble
when I contemplate this usurpation. It were the height
of impiety, it were to rob dirinity of its peculiar glory,
to raise her to an equali'cy with Christ. But oh ! to exalt
her ABOVE Christ, to ascribe to her a clemency which
he does not possess, he who came from heaven, and
abandoned his glory, and lived a life of suffering, and
bled upon the cross, — ^to ascribe to her a willingness to
hear and to save when he vrithholds mercy, — Slanguage
fails to designate, as I feel, the fearful character
of this anti-scriptural delusion. I wUl not be harsh,
I am in no mood to employ a single unkind
word, but I ask you whether, what I have now advanced
(and I have ten-fold more of proof beside me) is not
sufficient to warrant me in stating that no more accurate
view of the practice of the Church of Rome in relation
to this whole subject can be found than that which is
presented in a picture which was placed some years ago
in a Roman Catholic Chapel at Wigan, in which God
the Father was painted on one side, and God the Son
on the other side, and the Virgin Mary enthroned
between the two, -with a crown upon her head !

196 LECTURE V.
I can imagine some one saying, this relates to othi
countries; I cannot believe it of this country, or i
least of the intelligent Roman Catholicjs that live aroui
us. Now I think we shall be disposed to admit thi
the Roman Catholic Bishop of Montreal, is a fa
representative of the intelligent portion of the Roma
Catholic community. Let me then bring to your reco
lection the year 1847, when this city was risited wit
that terrible fever-scourge, which cut down so many
our fellow citizens, and which threatened the destructic
of thousands. The various Churches offered speci
supplication to heaven that Proridence would avert tl
calamity, and our friends of the Roman Catholic cor
munity did the same. The Bishop issued a pastor
letter to his flock on the subject, and I shall addui
this letter as another proof that the Church of Ron
ascribes dirine power to the Virgin Mary. The lett
was dated August 13, 1847, and appeared in full, :
several of the Roman Catholic Journals in Low
Canada. Though the first extract that I shall transcril
does not bear precisely upon the subject which we ha-^
now in hand, yet as it bears upon the general contr
versy, I may be permitted to read it. The Bishc
speaks of eight priests, ten nuns, and several laymen, wl
had fallen rictims to the disease, chiefly by attendii
to the spiritual and temporal necessities of the dyin
and regards them in the light of " propitiatory victir
which the justice of God selected in order to satis
itself, being provoked by our crimes ; that it may 1
able afterwards to show favour to the great number
sinners who amongst us continuaUy abuse his gre

THE ONE MEDIATOB BETWEEN GOD AND MEN. 197
mercies." But that part of the letter to which I direct
your special attention is this : — " Lastly," says the pre
late, " put yourself under the protection of Mary, and
ask her that she would preserve this city, and all this
diocese, from the dreadful scourge which is threatening
us." Here certainly is a transfer to Mary of the power
and authority committed to Christ as mediator, to whom
ALL power is given in heaven and in earth. But, in
this pastoral, the Bishop sets his flock an example also,
by renewing his own vow and offering prayer to the
Virgin. " 0 dirine Maiy, I humbly prostrate myself
at thy feet, to protest in the sincerity of my soul that I
do not even deserve to bear that glorious name never
ha-ving done anything that was worthy of thee."
" Acknowledging, however, that thou art a mother
fuU of goodness and that thou lovest to do good to
those who are most poor and most wretched, I conjure
thee vrith all the confidence which the thought of thy
maternal heart inspires, to cause the calamity to cease
which prevails among the clergy and the communities
of this (Uocese, and to preserve from this awful contagion
aU the people confided to my c«re."
The Bishop then vows to engage all his efforts to
"re-establish the pious pilgrimage of our Lady of
BonsecouTs" and reminds the Virgin that she has at
all times loved to be called " the help of Christians."
" The miracles which thou hast been pleased to work in
that ancient Chapel which our Fathers built, attest
that." The Prelate then vows, once more, to repair the
negligence, and promises that there she shall receive the
homage of pious pilgrims. He then announces to her,

198 LECTURE v.
that he has caused to be made in Paris a statue of
gilded bronze which has been solemnly blessed at -the
altar of the Church of " Our Lady of Victories," and
promises to have executed and exhibited in the Bonse-
cours Church a picture representing the Typhus seeking
to enter Montreal, but stayed at the gate by her power
ful protection. This votive prayer contains also the
foUowing declaration, "Under an inspiration which
evidently came from thee, I have caused to be engraven
on the pedestal (of the statue) this devout -invocation
' Ora pro nobis, interveni pro clero^ which at this sad
time is like the cry of our pain and the exclamation of
our heart for thy help in our urgent need."
" In the face of this whole country," continues the
Bishop, " I form this engagement. Thy honor and thy
glory are concerned to grant so solemn a vow. It is
indeed a very faVorable opportunity of proring that
one never invokes thee in vain. — 0 holy Mary,
succour thy unfortunate children, help the feeble;
warm those who are lukewarm in God's serrice;
pray for the people ; "employ thyself for the clergy ;
intercede with thy dirine Son for the consecrated
communities." What now becomes of the professions of our Catho
lic friends that they only seek the assistance of the
prayers of the Virgin and of the other saints ? Is not
the Virgin here approached as though she had in her
own power the safety or destruction of the city ? Is
there not an intimation that no one ever invokes her in
yain ? Is there not a call upon the inhabitants, to place
themselves under the protection of Mary? ' Is this

THE ONE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MEN. 199
seeking merely the assistance of her prayers — ^to
prostrate yourselves at her feet, to speak of the honour
and glory of her name, of an inspiration which she
breathed into the mind of the Bishop ? What, in
yiew of the extracts just now read from Roman Catho
lic liturgies, becomes of the following assertions of Dr.
Milner, in page 228 of his End of Controversy, "In
short, the saints do nothing for us mortals in heaven
but what they cUd whUe they were here on earth, and
what all good Christians are bound to do for each
other, viz : they help us by their prayers. The only
difference is, that as the saints in heaven are free from
every stain of sin and imperfection and are confirmed
in grace and glory, so their prayers are far more effica
cious for obtaining what they ask for, than are the
prayers of us imperfect and sinful mortals." I have
read no passage even in Protestant authors which
more thoroughly proves the weakness of the ground
upon which the theory of saint invocation is based, than
this passage of Dr. Milner's which soseeksto dilute the
practice of the Chm'ch of Rome, which indeed is so
different from her practice as to conrince me that he
felt it impossible to sustain her in it, either by reason or
by Scripture. Now mark the doctrine and apply it to
the Virgin Mary : she does in heaven, what she was
bound to do on earth, she helps people by her prayers ?
Is this aU that Roman Catholics ask her to do in
heaven ? " No," is our prompt reply ; and we cannot
allow the Doctor to say, that her assistance in heaven
is more efficacious than it was on earth, because the
reasons which he assigns, does not hold good in her

200 LECTUBE v.
case, at least in his opinion, ,for she was immacu
late, fi-ee from every stain of sin and imperfection while
on earth, so that by his own theory, he has no right to
expect more efficacy in her interference now, than she
possessed then. And what, -vrith all her perfection,
with aU her power and immaculate purity, did she
possess then ? What did she possess when she sought
her son in the crowd without the house in which he
was teaching ? What power did she possess when she
saw her son upon the cross, and when he was .obliged
to commit her to the care of the loved disciple ? Did
she ever exert her power in working a miracle ? Did
she take a prominent part in the establishment of
Christianity? The very silence of the Scriptures is
like the voice of thunder reiterating its ponderous
reproofs against that Church which invests -vrith media
torial, and therefore cUrine honours, her who was at
most but a favored creature.
An illustration of the confusedness of the theological
view which these opinions involve is found in the
following prayer which I will now read from "The
supplement to the Manual of Catholic Piety," page 30 :
"We beseech thee, 0 Lord Jesus Christ, that the
blessed Virgin Mary, who at the hour of thy passion,
had her most holy soul run through with the sword of
sorrow, may intercede for us with thy clemency, both
now and at the hour of death ; who Uvest and reignest
with God the Father and the Holy Ghost, one God,
world without end. Amen.
Again : the Roman Catholic Church not content
with ascribing these titles, offices and works to the

tHE ONE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MEN. 201
toother of Christ, transfers them, if not in equal, yet,
in considerable amount to other saints, and to angels.
1. In the " Key of Heaven," page 348, St George
takes the place of Christ, in the following prayer : — " O
God, who by the merits and intercession of blessed George
thy Martyr, rejoicest the hearts of the faithful, mercifully
grant that what we ask in his name, we may obtain
through the gift of thy grace."
2. In the " Garden of the Soul," pages 435-6, there are
the following supplications to St. Joseph, the husband of
Mary : — " 0 glorious descendant of the Kings of
Juda ! inheritor of the vu-tues of all the Patriarchs !
just and happy St. Joseph ! listen to my prayer. Thou
art my glorious protector, and shalt ever be, after Jesus
and Mary, the object of my most profound veneration
and tender confidence. Thou art the most hidden,
though the greatest saint, and art peculiarly the patron
of those who serve God vrith -the greatest purity and
fervour. In union with all those who have ever been
most devoted to thee, I now dedicate myself to thy
service ; beseeching thee, for the sake of Jesus Christ,
who vouchsafed to love and obey thee as a son, to
become a father to me ; and to obtain for me the fflial
respect, confidence, abd love of a child towards thee.
O powerful advocate of all Christians ! whose interces
sion, as St. Theresa assures us, has never been found to
fail, deign to intercede for me now, and to implore for
me the particular intention of this Novena. (^Specify it)"
" Present me, 0 Great Saint, to the adorable Trinity,
-vrith whom thou hadst so glorious and so intimate a
con-espondence. Obtain that I may never efface by

202 tSCTttRE v-
sin the Sacred image according to the likeness of which
I was created. Beg for me, that my divine Redeemer
would enkindle in my heart, and in all hearts, the fire
of his love, and infuse therein the virtue of his adorable
infancy, his purity, simpUcity, obedience, and humility.
Obtain for me likewise a lively devotion to thy Virgin
Spouse,' and protect me so powerfully in life and death,
that I may have the happiness of dying as thou didst,
in the friendship of my Creator, and under the imme
diate protection of the Mother of God."
" Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, Spouse of St. Joseph, Pray /or us.
St Joseph, confirmed in grace. Pray for us.
St. Joseph, Guardian of the Word Incarnate,
, St^Joseph, Favourite of the King of Heaven,
St. Joseph, ruler of the famUy of Jesus,
St Joseph, Spouse of the ever-blessed Virgin,
St Joseph, nursing father to the Son of God,
St. Joseph, example of humility and obedience,
St Joseph, mirror of sUence and resignation, \ ^g
St. Joseph, patron of innocence and youth, / §>
St. Joseph, exiled with Christ into Egypt, ' -*"
St. Joseph, intercessor for the affiicted,
St Joseph, advocate of the humble,
St Joseph, model of every virtue,
St. Joseph, honoured among men,
St. Joseph, union of all Christian perfections.
Lamb of God, <fec.

THE ONE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MEN. 203
V. Pray for us, 0 holy St Joseph.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of
Christ
3. In the Roman Catholic Missal for the use of the
laity, page 85, we have the following prayer: — "May
this communion, O Lord, cleanse us from sin, and by the
intercession of blessed Thomas a Becket, thy martyr,
make us effectual partakers of this heavenly remedy."
And, in the same serrice, " Do thou, by the blood of St
Thomas which he spent for us, grant that we may ascend
whither he has ascended." Could language more
devout, or work more sacred, be appUed to our divine
mediator ? It is a well-known historical fact, that in
Becket's Chm-ch, at Canterbury, there were three shrines,
one for himself, one for Mary, and one for the blessed
Sa-riour. The offerings to these shrines, for one year, were
as foUows: — the shrine of Jesus Christ £3, that of the
Virgin £63, and that of Becket £832. The next year,
the offerings to the shrine of Christ were nothing, to
the Virgin's £4, and to Thomas a Becket's £954. I
mention this to show you the tendency of that system
which appropriates to saints, the title and offices of
Christ our only mecUator ; it is to set aside Christ, to
rob him of his glory and to give it to another ; it is to
ascribe to creatures, aU of whom were sinful, and many
of whom died in sin, the powers and merits and func
tions of our glorious intercessor,
4. To show the extent to which saint invocation is
carried by Roman Catholics, on the continent of Europe
at least, if not in this country, I may remark that dif
ferent saints are applied to on different occasions, and

204 LECTURE V.
for different dangers and diseases, e. g., " St. Anthony,
the Abbott, preserves from fire — Anthony, of Padua,
from drowning — St. Barbara, in times of thunder and
war — St. Blass is applied to for diseases of the throat —
St Polonia preserves the teeth — St Domingo cures
fever — St Roque cures the plague." Thus in all
diseases, under every pressure of afiliction, some saint
is accessible by prayer, TeU me, ye men of reason and
of religion, whoever you are, by whatever community
you are acknowledged, what must be the effect of this
system upon the minds of the UUterate ? "What but
to divert them from the knowledge of the only true
God and Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent ? Tell me
not that Christ retains his proper position in the
economy of grace, because Dr. Milner and other en
lightened Roman CathoUc expositors speak as they do,
80 long as the common people, the hundreds and
thousands who flock to your churches, are taught to
offer more prayers to the Virgin and other saints than to
Christ ; tell me not that Christ is regarded by Roman
CathoUcs as the true and only Mediator, while the
works of Liguori are put into the hands of your devotees,
and while the people are taught to pray to Thomas
a Becket, and recognize his blood as haring been spilt
for them. I take up the Missal of the Roman Catholic
Church, and I find that in the course of the serrice of
the mass, the Priest offers the foUowing prayer : —
" We beseech thee, 0 Lord, by the merits of thy
saints, whose relics are here, and of aU the saints, that
thou wouldst vouchsafe to forgive us all our sins.
Amen."

THE ONE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MEN. 206
Consistentiy herewith, prayers are offered in this
city to saints, whose relics are supposed to be deposited
nnder the altar of the Bishop's Church. I hold in my
hand two prayers, printed by a Roman Catholic printer
of Montreal, and which must be familiar to most
Catholics present. One of these is a prayer to St.
Zotique, and the other is a prayer to St. Januarius.
Two or tiiree extracts must suffice : " O Holy Zotique,
who hast had the good fortune of dying for religion,
deign to hear the humble prayers which we adcU-ess
you in the presence of your holy relics. Look vrith
kindness on the pious faithful who invoke you, and
bless this city which places its glory on possessing you.
And now we pray you to protect us, O glorious martyr,
and to obtain for us the favour of imitating your
patience, your courage, and your other rirtues. Amen."
Again : " 0 holy Januarius, we bless the divine good
ness which has willed that your holy body should be
exhumed from where it lay for so many ages, and
which has inspired our holy father, the Pope, with the
thought of giving it to us as a pledge of his paternal
affection. We regard this venerable body as a rich
treasure, and we esteem it more than the good of the
world. Bless aU the works which are carried on in
this city and in this diocese, bless those who labour for
your glory, bless us ourselves who are at yom- feet full
of righteous confidence in your merits and in your
goooness. Amen."
Brethren, time fails, or I would adduce equally
numerous and conrincing proofs, that the glory and
functions of Christ as Mediator, are transferred to angels

206 LECTURE V.
as well as saints ; but I shall merely quote the Cori'
fiteor, which every devout Catholic daily employs:— r
" I confess to Almighty God, to the blessed Mary,
ever Virgin, to blessed Michael, the Archangel, to
blessed John the Baptist, to the holy apostles Peter
and Paul, and to all the Saints, that I have sinned
exceedingly, in thought, word, and deed, through my
fault, through my fault, through my most grievous
fault. Therefore I beseech the blessed Mary, ever
Virgin, blessed Michael, the Archangel, blessed John
the Baptist, the holy apostles Peter and Paul, and all
the Saints, to pray to the Lord our God for me. May
Almighty God have mercy on me, forgive me my sins,
and bring me to everlasting Ufe. Amen."
My hearers are now fully informed of the views and
the practice of the Church of Rome in relation to this
grave subject; and I feel pei-suaded that there can
scarcely be a person in the congregation possessing
ordinary candour of mind, who will not agi-ee vrith me
that the transfer by that Church, of Christ's mediatorial
honors to the Virgin and other saints, is ti-iumj)hantly
proved. You will not, therefore, be surprised at our
solemnly protesting against this transfer : And we do it
First, — On the ground that it is not sustained
BY THE Word of God.
I take up first the New Testament, because, though
the Old Testament may assist us in its interpretation,
the latter must ever be regarded as the only infallible
exponent of the doctrines and principles of Christianity.
And what do I find in the New Testament? If I
examine the teaching of Christ on the subject of his

THE ONE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MEN. 207
mediatorial power and authority, I find it altogether
at variance with the dirision among others of the
smallest portion of his high prerogative. The way to
the Father is himself ; the door to the fold of his
Church is himself; "No man cometh unto the Father
but BY ME." " If ye shall ask anything in mt name
that -vrill I do." " I will pray the Father, and he shall
send you another comforter." " Come unto me all ye
that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you
rest." " Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise
cast out." In no one of the Sacred Evangelists can I
find an expression which borders even on an intimation
that God the Father will be approached through any
other than the Son, or that the Son will be, or needeth
to be approached by any secondary Mediator. Is it
possible, I ask, to conceive that there should be in
the teaching of Christ no single reference to a doc
trine which the Church of Rome declares to be
prominent in the Christian scheme, and necessary
to the comfort and protection of the children of
God? But we are told in reply, that the age of Christ was
too early for the introduction of this practice, because it
was not until after the resurrection of Christ that such
a change took place in the condition of the departed
saints as enabled them to discharge the duties of
protectors and intercessoi-s of his people. Even were
we to admit this reasoning, it would certainly have no
force in the case of angels, neither could it hold in re
spect to Enoch and Elijah. But we will refer to the
Acts of the Apostles. By this time Simeon, and John

208 LECTURE V.
the Baptist, and Ann, and Joseph had died, and Christ'
had risen ; but in all the specimens of prayer (and there
are many) which we have in the Acts of the Apostles,
there is not the least semblance of the intercession of
saints and angels. Read that simple, beautiful, and power
ful apostolic prayer in the fourth chapter : " Who having
heard it, with one accord lifted up their voices to God
and said -: Lord, thou art he that didst make heaven
and earth, the sea, and all things that are in them.
Who by the Holy Ghost, by the mouth of our father
Darid thy servant, hast said. Why did the gentiles rage,
and the people meditate vain things ? The kings of the
earth stood up, and the princes assembled together against
the Lord, and against his Christ. For of a truth
there assembled together in this city against thy holy
child Jbsus whom thou hast anointed, Herod and
Pontius Pilate, with the gentiles and the people of
Israel, To do what thy hand and thy counsel decreed
to be done. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings,
and grant unto thy servants, that vrith all confidence
they may speak thy word, By stretching forth thy hand
to cures and signs and wonders, to be done by the name
of thy only Son Jesus." Is there mention here of any
other name than that of Christ ? Turn to the seventh
chapter, and listen to the dying prayer of Stephen :
" And falUng on his knees, he cried with a loud voice,
saying : Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And
when he had said this, he fell asleep in the Lord. And
Saul was consenting to his death." Here there is no
mixture of saints with the Lord Jesus as there is in the
supplications prescribed by the Church of Rome for her
dying members.

THE ONE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MEN. 209
Listen, for example, to the following devotional
exercises which are prescribed for the use of dying
pei-sons in a work called "The Christian's Guide to
Heaven, or a complete CathoUc Manual :" —
" O holy Mary, Mother of God, who didst assist at
the death of thy beloved Son Jesus, obtain for me the
grace of a happy death. Glorious St. Michael, prince
of the Heavenly host, intercede for me at the hour of
my death, that I may depart this world in the grace
and favour of my Creator. O holy Angel Guardian, to
whose care God in his mercy has committed me, stand
by me at the dreadful hour ; protect me against all the
powers of darkness, defend me from all my enemies •
and conduct my soul to the mansions of eternal
repose." I turn to the apostolic epistles and yet there is no
variation. Neither Peter, nor Paul, nor John, throws
new light on the subject. Christ is the only intercessor.
When they needed grace to discharge their duty, their
language was, " I can do all things through Christ who
strengtheneth me." If they prayed for themselves or
their people, Christ was the only advocate through
whom they approached the Father. There was no
recognition of any subordinate mediator. Even St.
John, the last of the apostles who lived on earth, makes
no reference to this doctrine of saint invocation. He
speaks of an advocate, but it is Jesus Christ the
righteous ; and when he refers to our seeking blessings
at the hand of God, it is in the following language : —
'' And this is the confidence which we have towards
him : That, whatsoever we shall ask according to his

210

LECTURE v.

wiU, he heareth us. And we know that he heareth us
whatsoever we ask : we know that we have the peti
tions which we request of him." How is this?
The prince of the apostles, and Paul too, had been
dead for many years when this epistle was writteij, but
there is no application for their advocacy. Stephen
the proto-martyr had been dead sixty years, and yet
there is no reference to his intercession. Gabriel and
Michael were as well known as to their nature and
office then, as now, but does John exhort Christians to
jly to their protection ? Can you imagine an apostle,
if he believed as the Church of Rome believes,
writing a letter to an elect lady without mentioning the
Virgin, without urging her to imitate her rirtues,
without commending her to Mary's protection ? Is it
conceivable that at that late period there should have
been no reference to this practice 'of the Church, if it
then existed — if the primitive Church were guided by
the principles of the Roman Catholic Church ? Brethren!
the more I study my Bible in relation to this matter,
the more conrinced am I that Christ shares not his
mediatorial throne vrith any creature ; he sits there
alone ; angels aiid saints are at his feet. They have no
power to bless, for all power is with him : no power
have they to protect, for all power is with him : no
power have they to save, for all power is with him : no
authority have they to intercede, for there is one
mediator between God " and men. Fearful is the con
templation, yet is it true, that upon all who fa-ust in any
other but the divine arm, there rests God's dire
anathema. " Cursed be the man that trusteth in man,
and maketh fiesh his arm."

the one mediator between god and men. 211
But you will not be surprised to learn that our Roman
CathoUc friends refer to the Scriptures in support of
their doctrine and practice ; and you will perhaps be
curious to know upon -vthat particular texts they rely.
(1.) The angelic salutation to the Virgin is one of
them, " Hail Mary full of grace, &c." whose meaning
we fully discussed in the lecture on adoration, showing
that it is a weak and uncertain basis upon which to rest
the doctrine of either the adoration or the invocation of
the Virgin.
(2.) Most Roman Catholic Dirines adduce the third
verse of the twelfth chapter of Osee. " In the wornb he
supplanted his brother : and by his strength he had
success -vrith an Angel ;'' And also Genesis xlriii., .15, 16.
" And Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph, and said : God,
in whose sight my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
God that feedeth me from my youth until this day ; The
angel that delivereth me from all eril, bless these boys ;"
And also Joshua v., 13, <fec. " And when Joshua was in
the field of the city of Jericho, he lifted up his eyes, aftd
saw a man standing over-against him, holding a drawn
sword, and he went to him, and said : Art ihou one of
ours, or of our adversaries ? And he answered : No :
but I am prince of the host of the Lord, and now I am
come. Joshua fell on his face to the ground. And
worshipping, said : What saith my Lord to his servant ?
Loose, saith he, thy shoes from off thy feet : for tho
place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did as
was commanded him."
An ignorance of the first principles of Biblical inter
pretation pervades the whole argument that is sought

212 LECTURE V.
to be consti-ucted upon these passages. Who does not
know that Angel is an Old-Testament title of the
Lord Jesus Christ? At least it is sufficient for our
present purpose,, to show that the personage spoken of
by Jacob was Divine, " I have seen God," said the
patriarch, " face to face." And as it respects the Angel
who appeared to Joshua ; who can doubt that the same
Being is intended who appeared to Moses under the
designation Jehovah ? each of whom addressed the
leaders of Israel in the same terms : " the place whereon
thou standest is holy;" — "Holy," because the presence
of the Almighty was there.
Now i think you are conrinced that there is no
foundation whatever in these passages for constituting
angels our intercessors, and if even there were, they
would not be sufficient to warrant the doctrine of the
intercession of saints. But let us refer to the New
Testament, Dr, Milner in his "End of Controversy," (page 230),
lays gi-eat stress on a passage in Luke the evangelist :
" We know Tlmt there is joy before the angels
of Qod over one sinner that repenteth." Luke xv.
10, Now, is it by risual rays, or undulating sounds,
that these blessed spirits in heaven know what passes in
the hearts of men upon earth ? How does his lordship
know, that one part of the saint's felicity may not con
sist in contemplating the wonderful ways of God's
providence with all his creatures here on earth ? But,
without recurring to this supposition, it is sufficient for
cUssipating the bishop's uncharitable phantom of blas
phemy, and Cilvin's profane jest about the length of

the one MEDIATOB BETWEEN GOD AND MEN. 213
the saint's ears, that God is able to reveal to them the
prayers of Christians who address them here on earth."
What, I ask, can be gathered from this passage,
but the doctrine that by some method there is conveyed
to the heavenly world information respecting the
advancement of Christ's redeeming work on earth ?
Who denies that the angels know much ? Who denies
that they are powerful beings ? Who denies that they
are God's ministei-s, ministering for the benefit of his
people on earth ? But am I therefore to worship them.
to invoke then- prayei-s ? Our Catholic friends reason
with us as though we almost denied the existence of
angels. But I vrish you to observe another thing in the
remarks of this learned controversialist, viz. : the impli
cation, that God hears the prayers of his people on
earth, reveals these prayers to the saints in heaven, and
then that these saints in turn present them again to the
Father and to Christ ! Is there any warrant in Scripture
for supposing that the prayers of God'select take a
route thus circuitous ?
Another passage which our friends adduce is Matthew
xviU. 10. " See that you despise not one of these little
ones : for I say to you, that their Angels in heaven
always see the face of my Father who is in heaven."
But there is no proof here of the intercession of angels.
The fourth verse of the first chapter of the Apocalypse
is also put in as proof : " John to the seven churches
which are in Asia. Grace be unto you and peace from
him that is, and that was, and that is to come, and
from the seven spirits which are before his throne."
Modern Roman Catholics have affected to believe that
k2

214 LECTURE V.
the seven spirits are angels or saints giving aid Of
assistance to men. I have not time to say more than
that I fully believe this to be a superlative form of
expression to signify the Holy Ghost, the Third Person
in the ever blessed Trinity. In this opinion I am
distinctly supported by three of the most illustrious
fathers of the Church, and this being the case, no
Roman Catholic has a right to give a contrary opinion,
for his creed binds , him not to interpret any passage
except by the unanimoufe consent of the fathers. St.
Augustine in his exposition of Psalm cl. says, " Which
Holy Spirit is chiefly commended to us in Scripture by
the seven fold number, as well in Isaiah as in the
Apocalypse.'' Gregory Nazianzen, in his forty-first
Oration says, " The precious spirits were called seven,
for Isaiah, I think, was accustomed to call the operations
of the spirit, spirits." St. Ambrose in his exposition of
Luke speaks of " the silver tried by fire, and purified by
the Septiform Spirit.'" -
There is a class of passages which Roman Catholics
advance in favour of the invocation of saints which
retort upon themselves vrith terrible effect Such as ;
" Brethren pray for us ; — pray one for another." The
argument is, that if St. Paul desired the prayers of his
infirm and imperfect brethren on earth, beliering them
to be availing, much more consistently might we desire
the prayers of the spirits of the just made perfect in
heaven. But if the prayers of saints in heaven are so
much more efficacious than ours on earth, surely the
apostle knew it,. and if he knew it, is it liot surprising
that we'do not find him crying out, " Holy John- the

THE ONE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MEN, 215
Baptist pray for us ?" " Holy martyr, St. Stephen, pray
for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course
and be glorified ?" " Holy St. Ann intercede' vrith the
Saviour on our behalf ?" " Holy Simeon have us in
thy protection ? " But passing from the Scripture, we
assert that upon their own principles the membei's of
the Church of Rome have no right to contend for this
-doctrine, because it is not support«d by the unanimous
voice of antiquiiy.
I am aware that our friends adduce what they call
apostolic liturgies in support of their views and practice,
l)ut these are admitted even by the Roman Catholic
" historian Dupin to have had their origin, not in the days
of the apostles, but in the fifth or sixth centuries,
I am aware also, that in some of the Fathers, espres-
-sions may be found which seem to favour the doctiine.
But that aU the Fathers were not like-minded — listen to
the foUovring sentiment from St. Augustine ; — ^ou may
find it in the Paris edition of his works, vol. iv., p. ^83.
He is commenting on the sixty-first Psalm, and hfc
words are, " Christ is the High Priest who has entered
for us within the vail, and who alone, of aU who have
appeared in the flesh intercedes for us.''
Other objections press themselves upon cnir attrition,
to which I can only refer : —
First, — The departed saints are not eiido-wed vrith
capabilities of interceding for others. Let those who
say they are, prove it from the word of God. "What
knowledge les than omniscience could qualify the
Virgin Mary tO listen to the invofiation of the tens
¦of thousands who every moment of every da/ pay* th^ir

216 LECTURE V, V
devotions to her thousands of shrines ! What power
less than omnipotence could enable her to help their
necessities J The same may be said of other saints. _,
Second, — ^In reference to many of the saints, how is
it known that they were not hypocrites ? Roman
CathoUc dirines and historians universally acknowledge
that there have been hypocrites even in the Papal
Chair. Who can determine that in the list of Roman
CathoUc saints there are not to be found many such.
Third, — How can it be determined that these saints
are yet out of purgatory ?
Fourth, — How is it known that all these saints have
had an existence at all? It is certain that cases have
occui-red in which imaginary saints have been wor
shipped. A fact which drew forth from the learned
Cassandrus, a Roman Catholic, the following remai-ks :
— " There is also another error not unfrequent, that the
common people neglecting- in a manner the ancient
and known saints, worship more ardently the new and
nnknown, of whose holiness we have but Uttle assurance,
and of whom we know some only by revelation ; so
that it is justly doubted of several that they never
existed at aU."
My dear friends, I fear that you have been already
wearied by the length of this exposition and discussion ;
and yet I may not suffer you to retire, without calling
back your thoughts to that glorious doctrine, the
oneness of Christ's mediatorship. No other days-man
do you need but Christ : No other advocate do you
need but Christ : No other High Priest has been ap
pointed to make intercession for you but Jesus, the Son

THE ONE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MEN. 23 7
of God. We rejoice to pray for each other upon earth,
through Him, but when we come to God, we feel our"
need of infinite merit to embolden us to approach his
throne, and we are conrinced that we have this merit
only in Christ. "When we come to God, ,we feel our
need of an unchangeable intercessor, and we know that
it is Christ alone who ever liveth to make intercession
for us. When we come to God, we feel our need of a
mediator perfect in knowledge and perfect in sympathy,
and we feel that these requirements are only found in
Christ ; we feel that these are necessaiy to embolden
us even to crawl to his footstool, and when, suppliant
there, we cast our eyes to the throne of Eternal
Majesty, we see nothing to encourage our hope of
mercy but the presence of our glorified and exalted
advocate. He is thei-e, and we want no other. His
humanity is there, and that is the link which binds us
to the Dirinity that is in him, and to the Dirinity that
is upon the throne. We want no intermediate link of
man's forging : "V^Tio is Thomas a Becket, who is St.
Anthony, that either of them should be allowed to inter
vene between us and Christ ? Who is Liguori or Bona
venture, that he should be needed to come between us
and our blessed, our loving, our Almighty Saviour, who
is able to save unto the uttermost all who come unto
God by Him. Who are even Peter and Paul and
John, but sinners saved and redeemed by the grace of
God in Christ ? Need we their intercession while we
have a dirine intercessor ? Can they know, as he does,
our wants ? Ai-e they touched, as is he, with the feeling
of our infirmities ? Have they power -vrith God, as he

218 LECJTURE V.
hath, to prevail on our behalf? What is their finitude
to his infinity ? What is their power to His Almighti-
ness ? What are their resources to the boundless fcun-
tain of grace and love which reside in his glorious mind 1
And who are Michael and Gabriel, and all the host of
Cherubim and Seraphim, that exult in the presence of
the throne, compared with Jesus, the King of Kings,
and Lord of Lords ? O, brethren, I feel that if the
brightest Archangel that basks in the beams of God's
eternal presence, did but pass between my vision and
the glory of this divine mediator, my view of that glory
would be utterly eclipsed ; I feel that I could not bear
even a feather of his wing to gUde for one moment
between my Saviour and myself I see my Sariour
exalted upon his mediatorial throne, I contemplate his
power — ^his merit — his love — his deep compassion; I
listen to him praying for me, as once he prayed " Father
/orgive him," and while I thus behold and hear, I ex
claim — " Thou, 0 Christ, art all I want,
" More than all, in thee I find."
And because the purest created intellect is placed
infinitely below his feet, I would set aside angels,
patriarchs,* prophets, apostles, martyrs, saints, — and say
with the venerable Peter : " Lord, to whom should we
go but UNTO THEE, THOU hast the words of eternal
life."

LECTURE VI.
THE ONE METHOD OF JUSTIFICATION.
There is one doctrine of the Christian reUgion, respecting
which, happUy, there exists no difference of opinion
between the Protestant and Roman Catholic commu
nities. It is a doctrine no less true than humiliating ;
a doctrine which History has penned upon every age of
the world, and which experience has confirmed in
every investigation of humanity. It is a doctrine which
is written in bold black letters upon every page of inspi
ration, and which the Spirit of God has inscribed in
burning characters upon every fold of the human con
science. It is a doctrine, the eridence of whose truth,
noth-vrithstanding the sophistries of ancient pagan
vrisdom and the copious dilutions of modern philosophy,
(so called,) gathers strength as the world gathers age.
My hearers are not in suspense as to the doctrine of
which I speak, for they have doubtless already detected
the reference to be to the natural sinfulness and deprav
ity of the human race.
Here then, is common ground : The Protestant can
take the hand of the Catholic, and with downcast eyes
and smiting upon their breasts they can draw near
together to their Heavenly Father's throne^ and can
say, each vrithout riolating the creed of the other, in
one language, and in one voice, " God be merciful to

220 LECTUBE VI.
me a sinner !" Ah, my hearers ! we are all sinners, and
God hates sin. We have broken his laws, and " cursed
is every one that oontinueth not in all things that are
written in the book of the law to do them." Who,
where is he, among the thousands that now hear my
voice, who would be bold enough to stand forth and
protest that he has never committed a single sin, that
he has never manifested a sinful disposition, or spoken
an unholy or unkind word, or indulged an impure
thought or affection or motive ? I pray God, that this
doctrine so personally momentous to us all, may this even
ing influence each one now before Him to correspondent
solemnity of feeling. I desire to remember this evening
that God is in this place, that I am addressing a congre
gation of sinners, and that I am placed here in order,
not only to defend the truth, but also to beseech you
in Christ's stead to be reconciled to God.
There is another doctrine upon which we are all
at one, our need of God's pardoning mercy. Many of
the petitions which ascend to heaven from both Roman
Catholics and Protestants, demonstrate this. I enter,
for example, a Roman Catholic Church, and during the
serrice of the mass I hear the officiating priest cry out,
" Agnus Dei, qui ioUis, peccata mundi miserere nobis,"
and I see the devout Catholic following the Latin of
the priest in the English of his prayer book, his lips
quietly moving to the words " Lamb of God who takest
away the sins of the world. Have mercy on us I" Here
then is an acknowledgment on the part of the Roman
Catholic Church of the need of mercy at the hands of
a Saviour. I go into an Episcopal Church, and I hear

the one method of justification. 221
the whole congregation pleading with the Holy One in
these words, " But thou, 0 Lord, have mercy upon us,
miserable offenders :" I worship with my Congregational
or Presbyterian brethren, and I hear the same confession
from the lips of the minister, and the same earnest cry
for mercy : and in a congregation of Baptists or Metho
dists, the " Amen" that occasionally seals the petition
for grace and salvation proves that these sections of the
common church of the Redeemer acknowledge the
same doctrine. Here again is common ground ; let us
then occupy it this evening, and be we of the Roman
Catholic Church, or belong we to some of the various
Protestant communities, let us present the unworthy
sacrifice of our petitions upon the universal altar of the
Christian religion, let us gaze with the eye of our faith
upon the one sacrifice for sin, let us come through the
one mediator between God and men, and let us humbly
but earnestly cry, " Hide thy face, 0 Lord, from our sins,
and blot out all our iniquities."
And now I wish both Protestants and Catholics, to
listen whUe I read as a text the 38th and 39th verses of
the xiiith Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. " Be it
KNOWN therefore TO YOU, MEN BRETHREN, THAT
THROUGH HIM FORGIVENESS OF SINS IS PREACHED TO
YOU : And from all the things, from which you
COULD not BE JUSTIFIED BY THE LAW OF MoSES.
In him every one that believeth, is justified."
The Protestant vei-sion reads thus : — ¦
" Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren,
that through this man is preached unto you the forgive
ness of sins : And by him all that believe are justified

222 LECTURE VI.
from all things, from which ye could not be justified
by the law of Moses."
This passage speaks of justification, it speaks also of
forgiveness of sins, and it speaks of these two graces
and blessings as one and the same. At first sight, this
seems rather contradictory, because speaking after the
manner of men and of the world, a man who is justified
does not need forgiveness ; he spurns the very idea of
pardon, and claims acquittal as his inriolable right :
and a man who is forgiven feels, on the .same principle,
that he can neither demand nor expect to be justified.
How then can we reconcile this evangelical paradox ?
Only thus : That the Holy Spirit, for the purpose of
demonstrating that forgiveness under the gospel is
bestowed by God consistently -vrith the claims of law,
employs an expression which literally means, i. e. in
law, for it is a forensic term, to acquit a man of any
charge or charges that may be preferred against him
in court, and to pronounce him innocent ; not that a
justified sinner is positively innocent, this were a
contradiction, but that by the scheme of redemption
through Christ, having previously complied with certain
conditions, he is treated, accepted, and acknowledged, as
though he were an innocent person. I shall refer you
to two passages from the writings of the Apostle
Paul to prove that this is the gospel view of justification :
" Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemp
tion that is in Jesus Christ. Whom God hath pro
posed to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood,
to the shevring of his justice, for the remission of former
sins." " But to him that worketh not, yet believeth in

THE ONE METHOD OF JUSTIFICATION. 223
him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is reputed to
justice according to the purpose of the grace of God.
As Darid also termeth the blessedness of a man, to
whom God reputeth justice without works : Blessed
are they, whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins
are covered. Blessed is ihe man to whom the Lord hath
not imputed sin. Blessed are they, ivhose iniquities are
forgiven, and whose sins are covered." " That is,"
says a Catholic annotator in the Douay Bible, " blessed
are those who, by doing penance, have obtained pardon.
and remission of their sins, and also are covered ; that
is, newly clothed vrith the habit of grace, and vested
with the stole of charity. Blessed is the man to whom
the Lord hath not imputed sin. That is, blessed is the
man who hath retained his baptismal innocence, that
no grievous sin can be imp-ated to him. And likewise,
blessed is the man, who after falUng into sin, hath done
penance and leads a virtuous life by frequenting the
sacraments necessary for obtaining the grace to prevent
a relapse, that sin is no more imputed to him."
Without discussing the integrity of the paraphrase, it is
clear from the text that when the apostle speaks
of evangelical pardon he means the same as justification,
that indeed " forgiveness of sins," " remission of sins,"
imputation of justice, (or righteousness) " non imputa
tion of sin,'' and " the covering of sin," all mean the
same thing and refer to the same blessing.
To me, it appears indisputable, that the apostle here
speaks of a blessing which has no reference to any
other change than that which is relative, that he speaks
of a change which alters merely the position or relation

224 LECTURE VI.
of a sinner to His God. He was guUty, he is no-«
accounted righteous ; he was condemned because
he had broken God's law, he is now pardoned ; he wai
an enemy, he is now reconciled unto God by the deatl
of his Son ; he was a prodigal, he is now accepted bj
his offended Father. Were we to take another step,
were we, in speaking of this blessing, to refer to s
change of nature as well as of relation, we should, 1
think, go beyond the boundary which the Holy Script
urcs usually assign to justification, and find ourselves in
the region of regeneration. Roman Catholic divines
have often confounded these two blessings, it was
especially done by the Council of Trent. We shall keep
them perfectly distinct; indeed our present scheme oi
doctrinal exposition assigns, to the next lecture, the dis
cussion of the important subject of Regeneration.
The plan which I propose to follow this evening is, to
lay down a scheme, or chain, of Protestant propositions,
proving their truth out of the Douay Bible, and, as
occasion may serve, out of the writings of the early
fathers of the Church ; and showing, as we proceed,
whether the deduction which shall be drawn from these
sources, are, or are not, correspondent with the teaching
and the practices of the Church of Rome.
L The following proposition will form the first link
in this chain: — There is no man, be he in his natu
ral STATE, OR IN A JUSTIFIED STATE, WHO IS NOT
UTTERLY DESTITUTE OF PERSONAL MERIT.
I am not unaware that this is a proposition which
strikes at the root of our natural pride ; I know how
difficult it is to bring man down from those moral

THE ONE METHOD OF JUSTIFICATION. 225
heights to which his dreamy and misguided fancy
has elevated him ; but am I, therefore, to conceal the
truth ? Am I even to smooth down the hard and rug
ged doctrine of man's absolute demerit in the sight of
God? I dare not, with this book of dirine scripture
before me ; for I here read, (Romans in,) that " there is
none just, that all have turned out of the way, that they
are become unprofitable together, there is none that
doeth good, there is not so much as one." These preg
nant sentences are surely sufficient to annihilate, at least
this opinion — ^that man, before justification, is, or may
be possessed of merit. Where is the meiit, if there is
none that doeth good ? Where is the merit, if they
have all turned out of the way? Where is the merit,
if there is none just ? And experience is parallel with
this scripture. Bring me any unregeneraCed man — I
care not how many steps he may have taken towards
the kingdom of grace, or how nearly he may have
arrived thither, he will confess to an admixture of
impurity, or insincerity, or pride, or selfishness, in even
those words and works which seemed most meritorious ;
he vrill confess that ever, in his experience, when he
would do good, evil is present with him. But the most
startling feature of this proposition is that which
denudes of all merit, a man who is even justified
and regenerate ; that which denies to all the zeal, and
all the love, and all the sacrifices, and all the charities,
and all the obedience of the people of God, the smallest
particle of merit. This is a hard saying, who can hear
it ? But let us go to the law and to the testimony, for
if we speak not according to this word, there is no light

226 LECTURE VI.
I turn then to the seventeeth chapter of St. Luke's
Gospel, and I read in the tenth verse : — " So you
also, when you shall have done all these things
that are commanded you, say: We are unprofitable
servants ; we have done that which we ought to do."
In the very nature of things it must be so. Whence
come these fruits of righteousness, but from Him from
whom proceedeth every good and perfect gift? To
constitute the works of Christians meritorious, it must
be shown that they are wrought independently of
extraneous influence, suggestion, or aid ; wrought also oi
perfect free will. But because they are not thus wrought,
because we are moved and empowered by the Holy
Spirit to do them, because there is in us, naturally,
no disposition to good works, where is the merit of
them ? What of merit is there in the branch of the
riue laden vrith its rich clusters of fruit, the branch that
derives all its life and nourishment from the roots and
the stock ; that is pruned by the husbandman ; that is
warmed by thfe sun, and fanned by the breeze ? Sever
it from the vine, and the question is answered. And so
it is with the Christian. Is there life in his soul ? it is
the life of Christ. Is there strength ? It is the power of
Christ. Is there warmth ? It comes from Christ the
Sun of Righteousness— 7" Christ is all and in all,"
and if you desire to sum up the amount of merit which
the Christian possesses, sever him from Christ, and the
problem is solved. Ort'nodox to the letter are the
sentiments on this subject of Pope Gregory the First
who said, " that the best of men will find no merit in

THE ONE METHOD OF JUSTIFICATION. 227
their best actions, and that if he should attain to the
highest virtue, he should obtain eternal Ufe, not by
merits, but by pardon." Again, in commenting on the
Penitential Psalms, he says, " I pray to be saved, not
trusting .to my merits, but presuming to obtain that by
mercy alone, which I hope not for by my merit." Would
that the Council of Trent had taken this leaf out of the
writings of Gregory the Great, and inserted it aniongst
their canons instead of the following :—'¦'¦ Whoever shall
affirm, that the good works of a justified man are in
such sense the gifts of God, that they are not also his
worthy merits ; or that he, being justified by his good
works, which are wrought by him through the grace of
God, and the merits of Jesus Christ, of whom he is a
liring member, does not really deserve increase of
grace, eternal Ufe, the enjoyment of that eternal life if
he dies in a state of gi-ace, and even an increase of
gloi-y : let him be accursed." Here then is Gregory the
Great, a Pope and a Saint, anathematized by the
Trentine Fathers !
A striking Ulustration of the present doctrine of the
Church of Rome, as it respects human merit, is found in a
grave-yard in Cork, on a tomb stone, upon which the fol-
lovring inscription is engraved : — " I. H. S. Sacred to the
memory of the benevolent Edward Molloy, the friend of
humanity and father of the poor : he employed the
wealth of this world only to secure the riches of the
next ; and, leaving a balance of merit on the book of
life, he made heaven debtor to mercy. He died October
17, 1818.^R. I P."

228 •- ¦ LECTURE VI.
II. The second proposition which we advance is this :
Justification is a (jratuitous blessing, i. e. it is
BESTOWED UPON MAN IRRESPECTIVE, IN THE LEAST
DEGREE, OF HUMAN MERIT.
The very term, forgiveness which St. Paul uses in the
text as synonymous with justification, proves this. If I
break the laws of my country, am found guilty by an
adequate tribunal, and am sentenced to punishment,
and then, in her clemency, the Queen should extend to -
me her Royal pardon, it would not, methinks, be difficult
to show that the act was an act of free and gratuitous
mercy on the part of the Sovereign. It is even so as it
respects ourselves and the King of Kings : we have
broken his laws, all the world is declared guilty before
Him, we are condemned to punishment, but God extends
to us the offer of a free pardon. This is grace without
merit, and hence the Apostle Paul, as I read in his
epistle to the Ephesiaus, Douay version, says, " In whom
we have redemption through his blood the remission of
sins ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE."
And the term justified, as it is employed by the
Apostle, does not detract from the doctrine of the gra
tuitousness of the blessing. We have already seen that
man, as a sinner, may be both forgiven and justified.
This arises from the peculiar nature of the economy of
redemption. Evangelical justification indeed means
neither more nor less than forgiveness bestowed con
sistently with the claims of the divine character and
laws, and we know that this is the only principle upon
which forgiveness could or would be bestowed. As,
therefore, forgiveness is bestowed by God, of his grace,

THE ONE METHOD OF JUSTIFICATION. 229
as God could not bestow this grace to the disparage
ment of his justice, it follows that the scheme which he
has devised for the reconciliation of these two perfec
tions in the act of forgiveness must have been derised,
and its blessings bestowed without claim or merit also.
Hence, I read in the Douay Bible the foUovring text :
" Being justified freely by his grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus."
The Bible, yes this Douay Bible, is full of passages
to this effect. I read in Romans xi. 6 : "If by grace it
is not now by works ; otherwise gi-ace . is no more
grace." In Ephesians U. 8, 9 : " For by grace you are
saved through faith, and that not of yourselves for it is
the gift of God. Not of -yvorks that no man may glory."
In Titus Ui. 5 : " Not by works of justice which we
have done, but accorcUng to his mercy he saved us ;
that being justified by his gi-ace, we may be heks
according to the hope of everlasting life." But why
should I multiply references to substantiate a doctrine
whose fitness and whose glory appeal to the conscience
of every sinner, and whose truth was patent to the
whole Christian Church for the first thousand years of
its existence ? Roman Catholics speak of the imity of
their church, and of the apostoUcity of its teaching and
practice ; but this we confidently affirm, and you shall
have proof before you leave this church, that into what
ever other errors the Church of Rome may have faUen
before the sitting of the Trentine Council, it was left to
that body of ecclesiastics to hurl the first church
anathema against every humble preacher who should
dare to affirm with Paul, " that man is justified by faith
L

230 LECTURE VI.
only." In the beginning of the twelfli century,
Auselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, required that the
foUovring exhortation should be given to a dying monk :
" Do you believe that you cannot be saved but by the
death of Jesus Christ? I do believe so. Do you
-heartily thank him for it ? I do. Be you therefore
ever thanking him for it as long as you Uve, and put
your whole trust and confidence in that death alone ;
and let that be your only safeguard. And if the Lord
•will enter into judgment with thee, say thus :' 0
Lord, unless I hold the death of our Lord Jesus Christ
between me and thee and thy judgment, I am not able
to plead vrith thee. K he tells you that you have
merited damnation, say unto him, I hold the death of
om- Lord Jesus Christ between me and my ill-deserts;;
and instead of those merits which I ought to have, but
alas, have not, I offer to thee the merit of his most
-meritorious passion." This exhortation was judged so
/Orthodox and scriptural in the twelfth century, that it
found its way into most of the Roman Catholic devo
tional works. Cardinal Hosius, indeed, referred to it
as Catholic in doctrine, and it was not until the Council
of Trent that it was found to contain articles of faith
contrary to the belief of the church ; so it soon found a
place in the Index Fxpurgatorius ! What will be said
by Roman Catholics when they are informed that in
the year 1584, several passages which deny the
merit of. good works, were commanded by the order of
the Council of Trent to be blotted out of several books?
"What will be said, when I affirm, that from the office
for the dying, the following questions and answers were.

the ONE METHOD OF JUSTIFICATION. 231
expunged by the same authority : Q. " Dost thou be
lieve that thou shall come to Heaven not by thy own
merits, but by the virtue and merit of Christ's passion ?
A. 1 do believe it. Q. Dost thou believe that Christ
died for our salvation, and that none can be saved by
their own merits, or any other way but by the merits of
his passion? A. I do believe it." These are the
questions which, prior to the Council of Trent, were put
by officiating ministers to dying Roman CathoUcs ; but
that Council stietched forth its sacrUegious hand and
robbed the members of the church of this sole founda
tion of their hope.
Our CathoUc friends sometimes ask : ," Where was
your religion before Luther ?" In the Bible we reply :
and, so far as the doctrine of justification by grace is
concerned, in St. Bernard, in Anselm, in those sentenees
which the CouncU of Trent expunged from the office of
the church. To show you how Scripture triumphed
over the Tridentine dogmas, I wiU read to you some
of the last expressions of CarcUnal Hosius, the vei-y
prelate who presided over the Council : — The following
sentiments are taken from his last will: — "I approach
the throne of thy grace, O Father of mercies, and of all
consolation, to the end that I may obtain mercy, and
find grace in thy sight. Whensoever it shall please thee
to demand back again that which thou hast committed
to me, into thy hands I resign my spirit ; which if thou
shouldst look upon as it is in itself, I confess it is not
worthy to appear in the presence of thy Majesty, for it
is full of all kind of pollution ; but if thou hast respect
to the blood of thy Son, wherein it has been washed

232 LECTURE VI.
and purified, and to those bitter torments which he
suffered for our sins, that he might render us acceptable
in thy sight ; they are worthy that for their sake thou
shouldst give it eternal life, which he purchased at so
great a price." He then desires that God would not look
upon him as himself .but in the face of Jesus Christ " I
am not worthy," says he, " that thou , shouldst behold
me with the eyes of thy Majesty ; but as it is most
worthy, that for the sake of his death, and passion, thou
shouldst not only look upon me, but crOwn me also ;
'tis therefore that I come unto thee, most dear Father,
and that without any merits, but those inestimable ones
of thy Son, Jesus Christ, my Lord and my Redeemer; I
bring thee the merit of that death, wherein alone I place
aU my hope and my confidence ; that is my righteous
ness, my satisfaction, my redemption, and my propitia
tion. The death of my Lord is my merit." And after
that, having recited the words of St. Bernard in the 61st
sermon upon the Canticles ; he adds, speaking of the
blood of Jesus Christ, " Regard that 'price, for that
price sake declare me worthy to be placed among the
sheep at thy right hand."
Blessed, thrice blessed Gospel truth ! It is the Ught
of the glorious Gospel of Christ ; it is the refuge of the
distressed sinner ; it is the anchor of the rejoicing soul
of the believer. What other doctrine can sustain the
mind of the penitent, while in fear and trembling he
prays, " God be merciful to me a sinner ?" 'What other
doctrine can encom-age the faith of the Christian while
he surveys, the absolute demerit of his best actions?
What other doctrine but that of salvation by grace can

THE ONE METHOD OF JUSTIFICATION. 233
enable the dying Christian to say " thanks be to God
which giveth me the rictory ?" I rejoice to be permitted
to preach to Protestants and to Catholics this evening,
salvation by the grace of God ; " Be it known unto you
men and brethren, that through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by Him all that
believe are justified from all things from which ye could
not be justified by the law of Moses."
III. We come now to the third proposition,— ^When
God justifies a sinner, he justifies him wholly.
This proposition 3-ou perceive is educed from the
text : " And fi-om all the things from which you could
not be justified by the law of Moses, in him every one
that believeth is justified."
The Apostle eridently means all things with which
man stands charged in the sight of God. The law of
Moses, either ceremonial or moral, justified from nothing ;
if therefore Paul's language means anything, it means
that the evangelical justification of the sinner by God
through Christ is perfect and complete ; that the sinner
indeed is delivered fi-om all the guilt of his original sin
and all the guilt of his manifold offences ; delivered so
fully as to be able to exclaim in the triumph of his faith,
" There is now, therefore, no condemnation to them that
are in Christ Jesus ;" and as long as this text remains
in the Douay Bible it will witness vrith the clearness
of the noon-day sun against the counter-teaching of
the Church of Rome during the last four centuries.
Her view as propounded by the CouncU of Trent is,
that XLL. guilt is not remitted in justification, that the
accepted and reconcUed chUd of God is still liable to
temporal punishment on account of his sins.

234 LECTURE VI.
Hence the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church
which divides sin into mortal and venial ; a division
which the Reformed Churches declare to be unscrip-
tural, and against which, therefore, they protest
It is difficult to determine from Roman Catholic
-writers, which sins are mortal and which venial ; and it is
surprising that iu a matter of so great moment to man,
a matter on which his endless interests are suspended,
a holy and infallible Church, possessing such care and
anxiety for the faithful as she professes to feel, should not,
in' some of her authorized, foi-mularies, have presented
us with a list of those sins which are venial and of
those which are mortal. The most consistent statement
on the subject which I have been able to find is in the
Theology of Peter Dens, the great text book of May
nooth CoUege. It is found in the 1st vol., p. 362, &e.
The work is written in Latin, but I shall give you
a literal translation into English :
" What is rice (vitium) ? Vitium properly and theo
logically is defined ' a habit inclining to sin (adpeccatumy
whence vitium is distinguished from peccatum as the
habit from the act ; vitium and peccatum however are
often taken for the same.
" "What is mortal sin ? It is that which of itself brings
spiritual death to the soul, inasmuch as of itself it
deprives the soul of sanctifying grace and charity in
which the spiritual life of the soul consists.
" What is venial sin ? That which doth not bring
spiritual death to the soul^ ; or that which does not turn
away from its ultimate end, or which is only sUghtly

THE ONE METHOD OF JUSTIFICATION. 285
repugnant to the order of right reason. It is moreover
certain not only from the dirine compassion, but fi-om
the nature of the thing, that there are venial sins, or so
slight ones as in just men may consist with a state of
grace and friendship vrith God." Mark, the foUovring
note, and see from it the terrible character of the evil
which is involved in this unscriptural distinction : —
" Although mortal sin diffei-s much from venial, yet, by
the testimony of St. Augustine, it is very difficult to
discover, and most dangerous to define, what is mortal
sin and what venial." " However," continues Dens,
" some rules are every where assigned by theologians,
by which it can generally be discovered what sins are
in their own nature mortal or venial. When
Scripture speaks of any sin in severe terms, that
is to be considered mortal, e. g. if it call it scelus^
nequitia, iniquita, abominatio, or says that it is worthy
of death, hated by God, that it excludes from the king
dom of God, that it cries to heaven, if there be prefixed
' Alas,' (fee, it is mortal. On the contrai-y, that sin
is considered to be venial when Scripture uses milder
expressions, as if it employs the word 'mote,' ' stubble,'
'hay,' &c., or but slightly blames it, as in Prov. x. 19.,
' In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin,' and
' Every idle word which man shall speak, they shall
give an account thereof in the day of judgment' "An
idle word is of its own nature a venial sin^ also a jocose
or officious lie, excess in laughter, joy or sorrow, vain
curiosity. The early motions of luxury, hatred, cfec, are
venial. " 'WTiat sin is called venial from the smaUness of tha

236 LECTURE VI.
matter ? That which of its own nature is mortal sin,
but in this act, here and now, is venial from the smaU
ness of the matter about which it is concerned ; thus
THE THEFT OF ONE PENNY IS VENIAL from the smalluess
of the matter, a trifling excess- of drinking, &c,"'
The time vrill not permit me to quote moi-e extensively,
though I gi'eatly desire to do so. But you have heard
enough to show you what is the doctrine of the Roman
CathoUc Church on the nature of sin ; and I shall
wonder greatly if this extraordinary revelation, does not
strike every mind now present with astonishment and
terrca-, I am sure there is not an inteUigent Catholic
in this Chureh whose conscience does not at once-
rebel against the immoral principles contained in these
theological expositions. Where, in the word of God,
have we ground for such doctrine ? The Bible says
thou shalt NOT steal — the command is absolute ; but
the CathoUc Church says, thou mayest steal a penny,
and yet continue in the grace and favor of God ; thou
mayest exceed a little in drinking, and yet not lose the
grace of true religion. ! How different is this teaching
from that of our Dirine Jesus, when he explained on the
Mount thespirituaUty of the law ? When he showed that
an immodest look involves the commission of adultery,
and that to be angi-y vrith a brother vrithout cause is-
to commit murder ? Is the teaching of Dens, or of his
great Master, Thomas Aquinas, accordant with that of
the apostle James : " But if you have respect to persons,
you commit sin, being reproved by the law as trans
gressors. And whosoever shall keep the whole law, but
offend in one point, is become guilty of all." " So,"

THE ONE METHOD OF JUSTIFICATION. 237
says the Romish commentator, " the meaning is,
that in matters relating to faith, the administer
ing of the sacraments, and other spiritual functions
in God's Church, there should be no respect of persons ;
but that the souls of the poor should be as much
regai'ded as those of the rich. See Deut. i. 17. That
is, he becomes a transgressor of the law in such a
manner, that the obserring of aU other points will not
avail him to salvation ; for he despises the lawgiver, and
breaks through the great and general commandment of
charity, even by one mortal sin. For all the precepts
of the law are to be considered as one total and entire
law, and as it were a chain of precepts where by
breaking one link of this chain, the whole chain is
broken, or the integrity of the law consisting of a col
lection of precepts. A sinner, therefore, by,a giievous
offence against any one precept, incurs eternal punish
ment : yet the punishment in hell shall be greater for
those who have been greater sinners, as a gi-eater reward
shall be for those in heaven who have lived with greater
sanctity and perfection."
Intimately involved in this distinction, is that other
equally unscriptural dogma that the giult and punish
ment of sin are two-fold. The foUovring is the canon
of the Council of Trent : " "Whoever shall affirm, that
when the grace of justification is received, the offence of
the penitent sinner is so forgiven, and the sentence of
etei-nal punishment reversed, that there remains no
temporal punishment to be endured, before his entrance
into the kingdom of heaven, either in this world, or in
the future state, in purgatory : let him be accursed."
l2

238 LECTURE VI.
But how is this canon to be reconcUed vrith the state
ment of Paul in the epistle to Galatia, chap, iii., verse
13, " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the
law, being made a curse for us." The usual argument
which our friends adopt is this : that the punishment of
spiritual death is removed by justification may not be
questioned ; but that because man is called to suffer the
penalty of temporal death, it is clear that the temporal
punishment is not removed. But it is forgotten that
this temporal punishment as it is caUed, is no longer a
punishment to the righteous man — ^that this curse of
temporal death is converted by the grace of Christ into
a blessing ; so much so is this the case that the man of
God desires to depart and to be vrith Christ, and that in
his last moments the sting of death is extracted, the
rictory of the grave annuUed, and the dying saint
enabled to exclaim, " thanks be unto God which giveth
me the rictory through Jesus Christ our Lord."
It is upon these distinctions of sin unto mortal and
venial, and of punishment into eternal and temporal,
that the novel scheme of indulgences rests ; a scheme
at which we must at least glance in our present discus
sion. And here we vrilUngly accord that many Protestants
have fallen into error by supposing the authorized
teaching of the Church of Rome to be, that indulgences
are granted Jo the faithful for the remission of the
guilt of all sins ; whereas her most eminent dirines are
careful to explain that mortal sins and spiritual guUt are
not regarded by them at all ; that these -indeed are
taken away in absolution. I wish to be very clear in

THE ONE MEl'HOD OF JUSTIFICATION. 239 t
presenting the Roman CathoUc riew of this subject ;
and turn firet to the 6th vol. of Dens' theology, p. 417,
where I find the following: — ^. " What is an indul
gence 1 A. It is the remission of the temporal punish
ment due to sins (already) remitted as to their guilt,
effected by the power of the keys without a sacrament
by the application of the satisfactions which are con
tained in the treasury of the church. Q. "What is to
be understood by the treasury of the church ? A. It is
"the accumulation of spiritual virtues (bonorum) remain
ing in the cUrine acceptance, the disposition of which
is intrusted to the church. Q. From what things does
this trcEisure grow ? Chiefly from the superabundant
satisfactions of Christ, then from the overflovring satis-
fections of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the rest of the
Saints;" In the " End of Controversy," by Dr, MUner, we are
presented -vrith the following view of the scheme of
indulgences : — " To explain, now, in a clear and regular
maimer, what an indulgence is ; I suppose, first, that
no one vriU deny that a sovereign prince, in showing
mercy to a capital convict, may either grant him a re
mission of all punishment, or may leave him subject to
some lighter punishment : of course he wUl allow that
the Almighty may act in either of these ways vrith
respect to sinners. I equally suppose that no person,
who is versed in the Bible, vrill deny that many
instances occur there of God's remitting the essential
guilt of sin and the eternal punishment due to it, and
yet learing a temporary punishment to be endured by
the penitent sinner. Thus, for example, the sentence

240 LECTURE VI.
of spiritual death and everlasting torments was remitted
to our first father, upon his repentance, but not that of
ccjrporal death."
But what shall we say to this learned controver
sialist for sustaining' by an appeal to Scripture, a
scheme which the most celebrated doctors of his
church, have declared to have no warrant fi-om Scrip
ture ? Durandus says, very little can be affirmed
-vrith any certainty concerning indulgences, because
neither the Scripture speaks expressly of them, and the
Fathers Ambrose, Hilary, Augustine, and Jerome, speak
not at all of them. He also says, that it is not clear
that the power of the keys conferred upon the apostle
Peter is to be understood of the power of granting indul
gences. Which of these dirines are we to follow ? Car
dinal Cajetan in the fii'st volume of his works, speaking
on this subject, says, " If we -could have any certainty
(si certitudo habere posset) concerning the origin
of indulgences, it would help us much in the disquisition
of the truth of purgatory." Alphonsus De Castro
acknowledges that " many things are known to us of
which the ancients were altogether ignorant such as
indulgences, &c." I might also refer to Gabriel Biel,
Navarius, St. Anthony, Archbishop of Florence, Cardi
nal Fisher, and others to the same purpose. What,
again, shall we say to Dr. Milner, who is full of wrath
- against Bishop Porteus; for , stating an indulgence to
be a transfer of the over-plus of the saints' goodness
joined -vrith the merits of Christ," while Delahogue a
great authority, in Maynooth at least, asserts : " In
dulgences remit, even in God's forum, the debt of

THE ONE METHOD OF JUSTIFICATION. 241
temporal punishment which would else remain to be
satisfied, either in this Ufe or in pm-gatory, after the
remission of the guilt of sin ; they derive their efficacy
from the treasure of the Church, which treasure
consists, primarUy, of the merits and satisfactions of
Christ ; for, as a single drop of his blood was sufficient
for the redemption of the sins of the whole world, there
remains an infinite hoard of his merits at the disposal
of the Church for the serrice of her children ; and,
secondarily, of the merits and satisfactions of the Vii-gin
Mary and other saints, who underwent far severer suf
ferings than their own sins required; which super
abundance and almost superfluity of sufferings of theirs
form a sort of bank or deposit, out of which the Church
may make disbursements for the common benefit of the
faithful, in the way of payment (via solutionis) for the
punishments or satisfactions due from them."
1. We protest against Indulgences because, by the
showing of CathoUc writers themselves, they have no
authority in the word of God.
2. We protest against Indulgences because; by the
showing of Catholic writers themselves, they have no
authority in the writings of the early Fathers.
3. We protest against Indulgences because, they are
so worded as not to maintain even the Roman Catholic
distinction between spiritual and temporal guilt. Intel
ligent Catholics will not dare to deny that, whatever
may be the case with the literate portion of the Church,
the illiterate and common people are frequently misled.
In travelling through Sicily, on one occasion, having to
remain, for a few hours, in a town in the interior, my

242 LECTURE VI.
attention was directed to three monks who were moving
through the streets followed by a crowd of the lower
orders of the people. I observed that one of these
monks had a large number of printed papers in his
hand, and that another was ringing a small bell ,to draw
the attention of the townsfolk to the business which
they had in hand. Upon inquiry I found that they
were dispensing Indulgences. Wishful to procure a
copy, I desired the keeper of the hotel to purchase one,
which he did for a smaU sUver coin. That indulgence,
I now hold in my hand ; the proceeds of the sale, it is
said, were to be devoted to the maintenance of the
religious orders of the Church in the Holy Land. I
vriU read one sentence fi-om this document : — " For the
benefit of the holy places and the sanctity of the faith, our
Lord, Pope Benedict XIV., conceded a plenary indul
gence in the article of death, and remission of all sins to
officials and benefactors of the Holy Land." What, I ask,
would be the probable effect of the possession of such a
document upon the mind of an ignorant person ? The
Pope concedes to him a plenary indulgence in the
article of death, and remission of all his sins. What
does he know of those nice distinctions in theological
philosophy -which hav^e been drawn by the doctors
of his Church ? Peter Dens himself complains of
the strong language which is employed in the BuUs
of the Popes, as ascribing too much to their indul
gences ; and no marvel while Pope Boniface IX. granted
indulgences from punishment and from guUt, a Poena et
a Culpa; and Clement VHI, whom Bellarmine magnifies
for his care in reforming indulgences, grants a most

THE ONE METHOD OF JUSTIFICATION. 243
plenary remission of sins; no marvel while Clement VI.
in his buU, published out of the Utrecht manuscript,
not only gives a plenary absolution to all persons who
died in the way to Rome, but also demands the Angels
of Paradise to carry the soul immediately, to heaven !
4. We protest against indulgences because they
lead to superstition. Upon the minds of the common
people they produce the same influence which the
charms of witchcraft produced in olden times. Con
firmatory of this I shall read one line merely appended
to the indulgence which I procured in Sicily : — " This
indulgence is profitable against Ughtning, earthquake,
thunder, thunderbolts, and other afflictions."
5. Lastly, we protest against indulgences, because
they lead to the commission of sin. They encourage
sin, and to their influence we ascribe the confessedly
low state of morals in Italy, Spain, and other Roman
Catholic countries. If a man may, by absolution,
obtain remission of spiritual and eternal guilt, and by
indulgences be freed from temporal punishment, under
what restraint is he placed ? "What is there to keep
him fi-om the commission of the basest crimes ? I shall
give you the opinion of Antonius, one of the Trentine
fathers, as to the state of the church in the sixteenth
century, when the scheme of indulgences was in full
rigour. It may be found in an address which he
delivered before the CouncU : — He called upon the
CouncU to " consider the depravation of manners, the
tm-pitude of rice, the contempt of the sacraments, the
soUcitude of earthly things, and the forgetfulness of
celestial good, and of aU Christian piety :" Each sue-

244 LECTURE VI.
ceeding day witnessed a " deterioration in devotion,
divine grace. Christian rirtue, and other spiritual attain
ments." No age had ever seen " more tribunals and less
justice ; more senators and less care of the common
wealth; more indigence and less charity; or greater
riches and fewer alms." This neglect of justice and alms
was " attended with public adultery, rapine, exaction,
taxation, oppression, drunkenness, gluttony, pomp of
dress, superfluity of expense, contamination of luxury,
and effusion of Christian blood." Women displayed
" lasciviousness and effrontery ; youth, disorder and in-
subcrdination ; and age, impiety and folly :" whUe never
had there, in all ranks, " appeared less honour, virtue,
modesty, and fear of God, or more licentousness, abuse,
and exorbitance of sensuality." The Pastor was " vrithout ,
vigilance, the Preacher without works, the law without
subjection, the people without obedience, the monk
without devotion, the rich without humility, the female
without compassion, the young- without discipline, and
every Christian vrithout religion." The wicked were
" exalted, and the good depressed." Virtue was despised,
and vice, in sits stead, reigned in the world.' "Usury,
fraud, adultery, fornication, enmity, revenge and blas
phemy" enjoyed "distinction;" while "worldly and
perverse men, being encouraged and congratulated in
their wickedness, boasted of their rillany."
IV. We shall now adduce a fourth proposition : —
The merits of our Lord Jesus Christ constitute
THE ONLY satisfaction WHICH GoD EITHER ACCEPTS
OR DEMANDS FOR THE JUSTIFICATION OF A SINNER.
Any one who is in the habit of reading the New

THE ONE METHOD OP JUSTIFICATION. 245
Testament does not demand proof of the scripturalness
of this proposition. It is emblazoned upon almost
every page of the Holy Evangelists ; it is the living
breath of the sermons of the blessed apostles, as recorded
by Luke in the book of their Acts ; it is the burden of
their epistolary communications to the several churches
of whose establishment they were the instruments ; and
in the heavenly rision of the beloved John, it is recorded
as the great subject which inspu-es the worship of
angels, and the songs of the redeemed in the world of
glory. Saith Paul in his Epistle to the Hebrews,
" Christ was once offered to exhaust the sins of many,
i. e., according to the Rhemist expositor, in language
equaUy beautiful and forcible — " to empty or draw out
to the very bottom, by a plentiftil and perfect redemp
tion." How sublime in simplicity is that portion of St.
John's narrative of the crucifixion in which the com
pleteness of Christ's sacrifice, and the ijerfection of his
merits are set forth : — " Afterwards Jesus knowing
that all things were now accomplished, that the scrip
ture might be fulfilled, said : I thirst. Now there was
a vessel set there full of rinegar. And they putting a
sponge full of vinegar about hyssop, put it to his mouth.
Jesus therefore when he had taken the vinegar, said :
It is consummated. And bowing his head, he gave
up the ghost."
We have found it desirable in former lectures to
mark those points of agreement which exist amongst
Roman Catholics and Protestants. Let us follow the
' same course in considering ,the doctrine of satisfaction
for sin. We aU believe that God in his infinite wisdom,

246 lecture VI.
did not think fit to pardon the sins of mankind without
a ricarious sacrifice, that our Lord Jesus Christ became
that sacrifice through the merits of which God is wil
ling to pardon sin ; and that to all true penitents the
efficacy of that sacrifice is available for everlasting sal
vation. Thus far we are agreed ; but here comes the
point of difference : Protestants declare that, according
to the scripture, whenever the guilt of sin is taken away
the punishment is remitted also. Roman Catholics
assert that when the eternal punishment of sin is re
mitted, the penitent must satisfy the justice of God, so
far as the temporal punishment is concerned, by doing
voluntary or compulsory acts of penance, by obtainipg
indulgences, or undergoing the penalty in purgatory.
That I have not mis-stated this doctrine is clear from the
foUovring answers in Bishop Butler's Catechism, (pp. 53,
64) : §.. " What do you mean by the penance enjoined
by the confessor ? A. The prayers and other good
works which he enjoins on penitents, in satisfaction for
their sins. Q. Why does the Church grant indul
gences ? A. To assist our -vveakness, and to supply our
insufficiency in satisfying the Divine Justice for our
transgressions." In the fourteenth canon of the 14th
Session of the Council of Trent, I read as follows :
" Whoever shall affirm, that the satisfactions by which
penitents redeem themselves from sin through Christ
Jesus, are no part of the serrice of God, but, on the
contrary, human traditions, which obscure the doctrine
of grace, and the true worship of God, and the benefits
of the death of Christ: let him be accursed."
The Council teaches also at the same session, " that

THE ONE method OF JUSTIFICATION. 247
such is the abundance of the Divine bounty that we are
able to make satisfaction to God the Father through
Christ Jesus, not only by punishments voluntarily en
dured by us as chastisements for sin, or imposed at the
pleasure of the priest according to the degi-ee of the
offence, but also (and this is an amazing proof of love)
by temporal pains infficted by God himself, and by us
patiently borne."
This is the ground of that system of penances which
are undergone by Roman CathoUcs, sometimes by self-
infliction, at others by command of the priest. These
penances vary in cruelty and duration, and sometimes
they are voluntarily assumed by CathoUc devotees
for the purpose of increasing the capital stock of merit
which has been entrusted to the church.
And here I vrish to offer a remark on the introduc
tion into Roman Catholic versions of the Bible, of the
expressions '¦'¦penance" and " do penance," as transla
tions of the Greek words fiearvoia repentance fieravoEiTE
repent Roman Catholics consider the Latin word
pcenitentia, coming from the word poena, punishment,
as, under all circumstances conveying the idea of penal
or satisfactory punishment. This term, however, is not
an exact rendering of the word which the Holy Ghost
employed, which is derived from fierh, implying change
and vofiig, the mind ; and therefore must mean ia change
of mind — a spiritual change. This consequently can
have Uttle to do with bodily austerities. "We see the
inconsistency of rendering the word fitTavoriaare, " do
penance," jn- the address of Peter : — " Now when they
had heard these things, they had compunction in their

248 ' LECTURE VI.
heart, and said to Peter, and to the rest of the apostles t
What shall we do, men and brethren ? But Peter said
to them : Do penance, and be baptized every one of
you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of
your sins : and you shall receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost." Here is a proof that Peter employed the word
in a very different sense from that in which it is under
stood by the Church of Rome. Could the apostle mean
by this command, " Do penance and be baptized." If
he intended this, Roman Catholics do not follow the
apostolic order and practice, for they say, "Be baptized _
and do penance."
The following- penance is reccjmmended by Dens for
voluntary drunkenness : " That he should read for two
days the psalm miserere on his knees ; that he should
fast twice in the week ; and that he should distribute
to the poor twice as much as he has spent in drink.
But if he be a poor man and a labourer, he is to recite
for three successive days on his knees five Paters and
Aves, for two days, not to drink anything before noon
and in the evening to eat only half a meal ; on the two
next Sundays not to enter Church, but after mid-day he
may go to preachings or to praises.'' And this is the
satisfaction which the drunkard is requUed by the
Church of Rome to add to the infinite satisfaction of
Jesus Christ ! Observe, there is no direction for him to
abandon his sin, to look to Christ. Again ; his punish
ment consists, chiefly at least, in some of the high
privileges of Christianity, those of prayer, alms giring,
and. the reading of the word of God.
I vriU now give you an instance of self-torture from a

THE ONE METHOD OF JUSTIFICATION. 249
document intitled ; — The austerities of Santa Rosa,
who was canonized by Pope Clement X., A. D. 1673. —
Extracted from the collection of the Constitutions pub
lished by the Popes at the solemn canonization of Saints
from John XV., to Benedict XIV. ; that is, from the
year of our Lord 998, to the year 1729. Superintended
by Justus Fontaninus, Archbishop of Ancyra. Printed
at Rome, 1729, at the press of the Rev. Apostolic
Chamber. — From the Bull of Canonization.
" She changed the stones and crosses, with which
when going to prayer in her childhood, , and as yet
ignorant of the use of whips, she was loaded by her maid,
Marianne, who was almost the only person conscious of
her mortifications, into iron chains, which she prepared
as scoiu-ges, with which, after the examples of St
Dominick, every night she offered herself a bloody
victim to God to avert his just anger, even to the copious
efiusion of streams of blood, either for the sorrows of
the holy Church, or for the necessities of the endangered
kingdom or the city of Lima, or compensating the wrongs
of sinners, or for making any expiation for the souls of
the dead, or for obtaining Divine aid for those who
were iji their last agonies ; the servants be sometimes
horror-struck , at such dreadful blows of the chains.
And when the use of these were forbidden to her, she
privately encircled her waist with one of them bound
thrice round her, so that it never was apparent that she
wore it, except when she was under the tortures of the
sciatica ; which chain was afterwards loosened only by
a miracle, and its links after the rirgin's death were
found to emit a wondrous and indescribably sweet

20O LECTURE VI.
odour. Lest any part of her innocent body should ha
free fi-om suffering, she tortured her arms and limbs
with penal chains, and stuffed her breast and sides vrith
handfuls of nettles and small briars. She afterwards
increased the sharpness of the haircloth, which reached
from her neck beneath her knees, by needles mixed up
-vyith it, which she used for many years, until she was
ordered to put it off on account of the frequent vomit
ing of blood. When she laid aside this punishment
she substituted another garment less injurious to her
health, but not less troublesome. For beneath it every-
movement was painful to h,er. Her feet only were free
from these sufferings, which, either by hitting them with
stones or by the burning of an oven, she did not sufier
to be free from torture. . . .
" She fixed upon her head a tin crown, with sha^p
Uttle nails in it, and for many years never put it on
without receiring wounds ; when she grew older, this
was replaced by one which was armed with ninety
points. . . .
" She desired the hardness of her bed to be such that
it should rather diive away than inrite sleep, so that
when about to sleep, the same should be both a bed to
her and an instrument of tortiu'e. Her pillow was
either an unpolished trunk, or stones concealed for this
purpose ; which bed she afterwards so fiUed with sharp
pieces of tiles and triangular pieces of broken jugs, that
the sharp points of each should be turned to her body ;
nor did she try to sleep until she had embittered her
mouth with a draught of gall.
" Near the time of her death, Rosa throughout Lent

THE ONE METHOD OF JUSTIFICATION. 251
alternately sang the canticles and praises of God every
day for a whole hour with a very melodious bird, in so
orderly a manner, that when the bird sang the virgin
was silent, and when the vu-gin sang, the bird, who was
most attentive, ceased to sing. She invited, moreover,
the inanimate plants, after an unheard-of fashion, to
praise and pray to God, pronouncing- the verse, ' Bless
the Lord, aU ye things which bud on the earth ;' and
she so risibly persuaded them, that the tops of the trees
touched the earth, as if adoring their Creator with a
solemn veneration."
Xavier, Liguori, and many others have practised
-equally severe austerities. The doctrine against which
we are protesting leads to such practices, but I ask is it
according to the Word of God ! Is it according to the
testimony of the ancient fathers ? St. Ambrose says,
" Of tears, I. read ; of satisfaction, I read not ;" and
our Heavenly Father says, " I wiU have mercy
and not sacrifice." My beloved hearers, how does
this doctrine detract from the glorious and ample
sufficiency of the sacrifice of Jesus, that any supposed
merit of ours should be represented as adding to his
merit, that these Pater Nosters and Ave Marias, and
fastings and flagellations, these suicidal sufferings should
make satisfaction for that for which his blood does not
make satisfaction, is methinks to seek to dilute vrith
human frailties, and to pollute with human sins, that
precious blood of our Redeemer, which cleanseth from
aU sin. To what strange inconsistencies are men
led by a departure from tAe Word of the Liring
God!

252 lECTUBE VI. >
V. One other proposition, and only one, have we to
advance and sustain this evening : — Faith in the
ATONEMENT OF ChRIST, IS THB GRAND, SOLE, SCRIPTURAL
condition OF JUSTIFICATION.
Passage aft«r passage could I repeat from the Douay
Bible in support of this proposition, but I have time to
adduce but two or three. And first, let me invite you
to consider the case of the jailor at PhUippi, who sought
direction from the apostle Paul respecting his salvation.
" What," said he, " must I do that I may be saved ?
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved ?" What saith Paul to the Galatians ? " By the
works of the law no flesh shall be justified before him."
What saith he again ? " We account a man to be
justified by faith -vrithout the works of the law."
Ought not these passages to be sufficient to set at
rest the entire question ? They satisfied the mind of
St. Hilary, who in the ninth canon upon Matthew plainly
says, " Faith only justifieth." They satisfied St.
Basil, another father of the Church, who thus wrote:
" This is a perfect and a whole rejoicing in God when a
inan advanceth not himself for his own righteousness
but acknowledgeth himself to lack true justice and '
righteousness, and to be justified by the only faith in
Christ" " Paul,'-' he continues, " doth glory in con
tempt of his own righteousness, and looketh for the
righteousness of God by faith." These passages satisfied
Ambrose, another father, who says, " This is the
ordinance of God, that they who believe in Christ should
be saved vrithout works, by faith only, freely receiving
remission of their sins." And yet we are anathematized

THE ONE METHOD OF JtUSTIFICATION. "'253
by the' Council of Ti'ent for holding these views of the
early fathers ! There is one ground of complaint which
Protestants rightiy, as I think, urge against their Roman
Catholic brethren in relation to this subj ect. Our friends
unfairly and untruthfully represent the Protestant
doctrine of justification by faith only ; as though we
meant, by being- justified freely by grace through
faith, that this faith is alone in man without true repen
tance, hope, charity, dread, and the fear of God, at any
time and season. Now, when we say that believers are
justified freely by faith, we do not mean that nothing is
afterwards requu-ed from the justffied person. " This
saying," to employ the exposition of one of the Homilies
of the" Church of England, " that we be justified by
faith only, freely and without works is spoken for to
take away clearly aU merit of our works as being
unable to deserve om- justification at God's hands, and
thereby most plainly to express the weakness of man
and the goodness of God ; the great infirmity of ourselves,
and the might and power of God ; the imperfectne.ss of
our own works, and the most abundant grace of our
Sariour Christ ; and therefore wholly to ascribe the
merit and deserring of our justification unto Christ only,
and his most precious blood shedding." The eleventh,
twelfth, and thirteenth Articles of the Church of England
seem to exhaust this branch of our subject, " We are
accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of
our Lord and Sariour Jesus Christ by Faith, and not
for our own works or deservings : Wherefore, that we
are justified by Faith only is a most wholesome doctrine,
find very full of comfort, as more largely is expressed in

254 LECTURE VI.
the Homily of Justification. Albeit that Good Works,
which are the fruits of Faith, and follow after Justifica
tion, cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity
Of God's Judgment ; yet are they pleasing and accept
able to God in Christ, and do spring out necessarily of
a true and lively Faith ; insoniuch that by them a
lively Fajth may be as evidently known as a tree
discerned by the fi-uit. Works done before the grace
of Christ, and' the Inspiration of his Spirit, are not
pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith
in Jesus Christ, neither do they make men meet to
receive grace, or (as the School-authors say) deserve
grace of congruity : yea rather, for that they are not
done as God hath vrilled and commanded them to be
done, we doubt not but that they have the nature of sin."
Here we have the key to the interpretation of the
language of St James, respecting the justification of
Abraham, upon which the Roman Catholic Church so
Confidently relies for the support of her particular rie-v^s.
St Paul says of Abrahapi that he was justified by faith,
St. James, that he was jastified by works. -Now it is to
be noted that these apostles refer to different periods in
the life of the Patriarch ; St. Paul, to the period when
God promised that Isaac should be born ; and St. James to
the period when Abraham obeyed God as to the offering
up of Isaac. Surely the Patriarch was justified when he
believed God's promise concwning the birth of a son,
for it^is said that the faith was imputed to him unto
justification. James speaking of a period forty-one years
afterwards, when Abraham obeyed the voice of 'God,
says that he was justified by works. How ? Why he

THB ONE METHOD OP JUSTIFICATION. 255
proved that his faith was not dead ; ho was justified in
the sight of men by his works ; he demonstrated to all
the world that he had faith, for he brought forth its
fruits. Here then we have a spiritual justification by
God through faith only, and a declarative justification
by ourselves through works ; I mean, that we declare
ourselves truly justified by God, when we bring forth
the fruits of faith.
Protestants do not deny, that there is needed, in
every sinner, a preparation of heart before he can
saringly believe. No sinner, for example, vriU even
seek, much less obtain justification, unless he is convinced
by the Holy Spirit of God of the eril of sin ; unless the
conviction is so deep as to lead to contrition and sorrow *
of spirit, — so deep as to lead him to confess his trans
gressions unto the Lord.
We now wish to show another difference between
Protestants and their Roman Catholic neighbours. With
us THE PENITENT CONFESSES HIS SINS TO GoD, and
asks for pardon through Christ. With them the
PENITENT CONFESSES TO THE PRIEST, and asks absolutiou
from the Church.
There are few tenets of the Church of Rome against
which Protestants feel so strong an objection as that
of auricular confession, i. e., the confession of sin in
the ear of the Priest of the Church. We read in the
Bible of confession of sin, but it is in the following
language, " I have acknowledged my sin to thee, and
my injustice have I not concealed." I read in 1 John
i. 9, "If we confess our sius, he is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins ;" but there is not one word here of

256 LECTURE VI.
confession to the priest. In the Epistle of James, chapter
V, verse 16, I find the foUovring passage : — " Confess
therefore your sins one to another : and pray one for
another, that you may be saved. For the continual
prayer of a just man availeth much." " Confess
your sins to one another. That is," says the Catholic
annotator, " to the priest of the church, whom (verse
14,) he had ordered to be called for, and brought
to the sick ; moreover, to confess to persons who
had no power to forgive sins, would be, useless.
Hence the precept here means, that we must confess to
men whom God hath appointed, and who, by .their
ordination and jurisdiction, have received the power of
remitting sins in his name." Notwithstandingthis note,
Cardinal Cajetan, as we find in Catharinus lib. v, p. 444,
would not allow " any one place of Scripture to prove
auricular confession." Maldonat an old canonist of the
Church says, " that all the interpreters of the decrees
held that there was no dirine precept for confession to
a priest ;" and Gregory de Valentia, writing on this veiy
subject acknowledged that some good CathoUcs cUd " not
believe in its necessity.''
Protestants must have the letter of the word of God,
enjoining upon them the absolute necessity of confessing
to a priest, before they will be content to pour into the
ear of any mortal, of any one indeed but God their
Heavenly Father, all the secret thoughts and workings
of their hearts ; they must have higher authority than
the twelfth century, before they can allow their wives
and their daughters to be put upon the rack, which Dr.
Chaloner has constructed in his t' Garden of the Soul,"

the one method of JUSTIFICATION. 257
and which I would read to you this evening did not
decency forbid. If every ancient father of the Church
prescribed auricular confession, and the word of God
remained as it does in even the Douay Bible, Protest
ants would reject the dogma as unscriptural, as unsafe,
as contributing to immorality of life, both in ministers
and in people. But the ancient fathers are against the
Church of Rome here, and I bid every Roman Catholic
to mai'k this. " What have I to do with men," inquires
St. Augustine, " that they should hear my confession, as
though they could heal my disease." " I do not force you"
says Chi'ysostom, " to disclose yom- sins to men ; review
and lay open your conscience before God. Show your
wounds to the Lord, the best of physicians, and seek
medicine from him."
Here then is another novelty which the Church of
Rome has introduced into her creed and practice, for
as we have already sho-wn, am-icular confession is sup
ported neither by the letter of Scripture, nor by the
voice of antiquity.
While on this subject, haring referred to the immoral
effects of the confessional, I must quote the following
from Dens : —
" "What is the seal of sacramental confession ? It is
the obligation or debt of concealing those things which
are known fi-om sacramental confession.
" Can a case be stated in which it is lawful to break
the sacramental seal ? It cannot be stated, though the
life or safety of a man or even the ruin of the state
should depend upon it ; nor can the supreme Pontiff
dispense vrith it ; so that on that account this secret of

258 LECTURE VI.
the seal is more binding than the obligation of an oath,
or vow, or a natural secret ; and that by the positive
will of God.
" What therefore ought a confessor to answer being
interrogated concerning truth, which he has known
through sacramental confession alone ? He ought to
answer that he does not know it ; and if necessary
confirm the same by an oath.
" It is objected that it is in no case lawful to tell a
falsehood, but the confessor would tell a falsehood,
because he knows the truth. Answer. I deny the minor
i. e., that the confessor would lie, because such confessor
is interrogated as a man and repUes as a man ; but
now he does not know that truth as a man though he
knows it as God ; and that sense is naturally inherent
in the r^ply for when he is interrogated or replies out
bf confession he is considered as a man."
Such are the enormities which we have been com
pelled to lay before you, and to which this doctrine
unquestionably leads.
And now, fellow-sinners, suffer me to recall your
thoughts to a consideration, for a few minutes only, of
the grace and the glory of that doctrine which is revealed
to us in the text, the doctrine of justification by faith
only. I call you fellow-sinners, for I feel that I myself
am a guilty sinner before God, and that you, my
brethren in the flesh are guilty too. But oh ! the won
drous grace, the boundless wisdom, the almighty power
of God have discovered, devised, and executed a scheme
of righteous mercy for the removal, the present removal,
of your guilt and of my guUt, of all the guilt of our
every soul.

the one method of JUSTIFICATION. 'Z5i)
What is it to be justified before God ? It is to have
my sins forgiven'; my poor unworthy soul acquitted
and accepted ; it is to have my offended Father
embracing- me his prodigal child, clothing me with the
best robe, the robe of righteousness, placing the signet
of- his love upon my finger, and killing for the feast of
joy the fatted calf Can I justify myself? No ! It is
God that justifieth. Can any priest or prelate bestow
on me this gi-ace of pardon ? No ! " It is God that
justifieth." " I, even I am He that blotteth out thy trans
gressions for my namesake." ¦ Can I contribute to my
justification ? No, for what am I ? All my righteous
nesses are but as filthy rags ; I am a worm ; I am a man
of unclean lips ; I have broken the Divine commands
and if I could even now render obecUence, this obedience
would not atone for past transgression. " Whither oh
whither shaU I fiy ?" "Whither ? to Christ my
only Lord, my only righteousness. Whither? to
Jesus who saves his people from their sins ; to
Jesus who bare my sins in his own body on the
tree ; to Jesus, my suffering, crucified, bleeding,
dying Sariour; my 'risen, exalted, interceding Lord.
Shall I then attempt to add to his merit by lacerating
this poor sinful body ? No ! for by His stripes and not
my own am I healed. Shall I pier^ce myself with spikes
and thorns for the purpose of helping to satisfy the
claims of divine justice ? No ! for He was wounded for
my transgressions. Shall I chastise my sinful flesh ?
Shall I macerate this polluted clay ? No ! for the
chastisement of my peace was upon Him, and He
was bruised for my iniquities ; He is my all, and it

260

LECTURE -VT.

is only for me to come to God with a broken and con
trite spirit, renouncing all trust in my own righteous
ness, accepting Christ as my Saviour, and trusting in
his righteousness and in his only, and then
" My debt is paid ; my soul is free,
And I am justified."
I need no other satisfaction than this ; it is all suffi'-
cient, for it is infinite and it is present. And how vast
the love and condescension of my heavenly Father I
He permits me to approach him through Christ ; t&
Him I may confess my sins, whether I am in the closet,
or in the busy world ; whether I am in a church, or a
conventicle ; whether I am on the mountain top, or on
the v.erdant plain ; whether I am gently gliding down
the river stream, or tempest-tossed upon the ocean wave ;
whether I am wading through the snows of Greenland,
or panting beneath a vertical sun in the deserts of
Africa; whether I am in youth or in years, whether I
am in health or in sickness, whether I am just entering
into life, or quitting upon the bed of death this mortal
vale ; wherever I am, or in whatever circumstances, I
have a confessional, I have an ear open to my confes-
sions of sin, an ear into which I can pour without
restraint the troubles of my penitent spirit, and that
ear is -the ear of God, — 'my Father! into that ear
I can utter my penitent complaint ! I have also a
Priest who has power upon earth to forgive sins, and
that is Jesus Christ the Great High Priest of the
Christian CathoUc Church. I hear that Father
say : " Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be
made as white as snow : and if they be red as crimson

the one method of justification. 261
they shall be white as wool ;" and I hear my High
Priest say : " Son be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven
thee." No other absolution do I need, this is all sufficient
and I go on my way rejoicing ; no other satisfaction,
for in him are my sins exhausted ; No masses, for he
was once offered in the end of the world to take away
sin by the sacrifice of himself
My dear hearers, have you thus come to God through
Christ ? Are you mom-ning before him this evening on
account of your sins ? Are you anxious for the com
munication of pardoning mercy. Are you pouring
into the ear of the Lord God of Sabaoth your- confes
sions of sin ? Are you coming to God through your
only Priest ? Are you trusting to him alone making
mention of his righteousness, and of his only ?
Come , 0 my guilty brethren, come,
Groaning beneath your load of sin.
His bleeding heart shall make you room.
His open side shall take you in ;
He calls you now, invites you home,
Come, 0 my guilty brethren, come ;
Cast your souls for a present conscious pardon upon the
infinite merits of your Divine Redeemer, so being
justified by faith you shaU have peace vrith God
through our Lord Jesus Christ.

m2

LECTURE VII.
l-HE ONE AGENT OF REGENERATION.
There is not, probably, one of my hearers, who would
be disposed to deny, that the design of Christianity is
to make men holy. More than this, I question whether
there is vrithin these waUs, an indiridual, either Protest
ant or Catholic, who vrill not agree with the speaker
that that form of reUgion which tends not to individual
and ecclesiastical holiness, is unworthy of the designa
tion Christian. If it is true that " a tree is kn6v>Ti by
its fruit," and if it is righteous to apply this principle,
as we may call it, to Churches, we might arg-ue, a priori,
that that system or section of Ch-ristianity which most
successfully accomplishes this end, approaches nearest
to that dirine original which has been sketched out in
the New Testament. We are quite wUling to meet
our Roman Catholic friends on this ground, and are
glad that an opportunity wUl be afforded in the course
of this evening's lecture.
The subject which we have now to discuss, leads us
to consider not only theory of doctrine, but also
practice of life ; not only what we believe, but also, yea
chiefly, what we are, and what we do. Members of the
Roman Catholic Church often assail their Protestant
brethren vrith the charge of nullifying the sanctity of
the Christian religion by the impious doctrine of Justi-

264

lecture vii.

fication by faith only. In a work entitled "Grounds of
Catholic Doctrine, now in use for the reception of con
verts into the Chm-ch," printed and pubUshed by a
Roman Catholic bookseller in this city, I find the follow-
' ing description of Protestants : — " Their church is not
Holy, neither in her doctrine, which, especially in the
first ' reformers,' was shamefully scandalous in the
encouraging lust and breaking of vows ; blasphemous
in charging God with being the author of sin ; and
notoriously wicked in their notions of free-will and pre
destination ; nor is she Holy in the Uves, either of her
first teachers, — none of which were remarkable for
sanctity, and the greater part of them infamous for their
vices, — or, of their followers, who, as many of their
chief Protestant -writers have freely owned, instead of
growing better than they were before, by embracing
the 'reformed religion,' grew daily worse and worse."
Again: — "It is risible to any unprejudiced eye, that
there is not so much devotion, zeal or religion amongst
Protestants, as there is amongst Catholics. We never
hear of any instances of extraordinary sanctity amongst
them." In "Catholic Tracts," No. 8, by Rev. T. Baddely,
entitled, " A sure way to find out the true reUgion," I
find this comparison of Roman CathoUcism and Pro-
testanism : — " The holiness of the Catholic religion is
indeed very different from that of other religions :
'because the religions taught by men teach doctrines
invented by Luther, Calrin, Wesley, "Whitfield, and
other deluded and wicked men ; whereas the CathoUc
Church teaches only that doctrine which Christ taught

THE ONE AGENT OP REGENERATION. 265
his apostles ; consequentiy, if it was holy then, it is
holy now." Again : — " There is nothing in the Protest
ant religion that can make a man more holy or more
virtuous. They have no sacrifice, nor sacraments,
except baptism, and that they begin to make light
account of. They receive no benefit when they go
to the Lord's Supper, because they receive nothing but
a sup of vrine and a morsel of bread ; they have no
houses of devotion, no convents, or monasteries ;
scarcely a book of spirituality."
Dr. MUner, one of the most liberal of Roman
Catholic controvertists, gives tiie following opinion of
Protestant sanctity : — "In a former letter to your
society, I have stated that sincere humility, by which,
from a thorough knowledge of our sins and misery, we
become little in our own eyes, and try to avoid, rather
than to gain the praise and notice of others, is the very
groundwork of all other Christian rirtues. It has been
objected to Protestants, ever since the defection of their
arrogant patriarch, Luther, that they have said littie,
and have appeared to undeistand less, of this essential
virtue. I might say the same with respect to the neces
sity of an entire subjugation of our other congenial
passions, avarice, lust, anger, intemperance, envy, and
sloth, as I have said of pride and vain glory "
Without dwelling upon the uncharitableness of many
of these remarks, I vrill just say that these friends of Pro
testant humanity either knew, or ought to have known
that a change of heart and sanctity of life are insisted
on by all Evangelical Protestant communities, as essen
tial to Christian character.

268 LEOTDltE VII.
These observations have been suggested by the sub
ject which has been approj)i-iated to this evening's-
discourse : — Rbgenbbation by the Holy Spirit. The
words- which I have selected for a text are found in
the Gospel according to St. John, chapter iii., verse 5 : —
" Jesus answered : Amen, amen, I say to thee,
unless, a man bb born again of water and the
Holy Ghost he cannot enter into the kingdom
OF God."
We are to speak, then, of something without which
all other things are vain. If it can not be predicated
of us that we are born again, we are unfit for the king
dom of God ; yea, we can never see it. We may be
inteUigent and intellectual, we may be orthodox and
moral, we may have the true Bible, and the true Priest
hood, and the true visible Church, and the true
Sacraments ; but, if we are not born again, all these
outward circumstances and accidents will avail us
nothing. As _St. Paul saith, in his letter to the Gala
tians, " neither cUcumcision availeth any thing, nor
uncircumcision, but a new creature." What then are
Church Unity, and Church InfallibiUty, and Church
ApostoUcity, without the New Bu-th ? Here is some
thing which concerns you all, the responsibility, of
which, you cannot shift upon either priest or church;
for the Blessed Saviour comes to you in his Gospel, and,
as vrith the voice of thunder, exclaims, to every one of
you, "you must be born again."
* The word iraXtyyeveuia, regeneration, taken in its
comprehensive sense, denotes any entire alteration of
-* See Knapp.

the one agent of regeneration. 267
state by which oUe is brought into a wholly new and
reformed condition. The change indicated by the term
is, however, invariably a change /or the better. Cicero,
for example, caUs his restoration from exile, a regene
ration ; and Josephus denominates the restoration of
the Jewish land after the captirity, a regeneration of
the country. In Roman law, the manumission of a
slave was called his regeneration. In Matthew xix.,
verse 28, the word is employed to denote the change
from this to the heavenly world : " Verily, I say unto
you, that ye who have followed me ; in the regeneration,
when the son of man shall sit on the seat of his majesty,
you also shall sit on twelve seats, judging the twelve
tribes of Israel."
"When the Israelites spoke of a person changing his
religion, they used the phrases birth, and new birth ;
When a Gentile became a Jew, he was regarded as
new-born, a chUd, a new man, just beginning to live.
This might be caUed external regeneration. The term
was afterwards used by the Rabbins in a moral sense ;
since it became the duty of one who had been admitted
into the Jevrish Church, to live according to Jewish
laws, and to have a better moral disposition. This is
internal, moral regeneration. The term was used in
both these senses in the time of Christ and his apostles.
Now it was not the manner of Christ and his apostles
to invent new terms, but to borrow terms from the
ancient Jevrish phraseology, and transfer them to
Christianity. Hence we find the terms regeneration,
begotten again, born again, born of God, used in the
New Testament in the two foUovring senses : —

268 , lecture VII.
(1.) To denote a passing over, externally, from
Judaism or Heathenism to the Chiistian society, and
making an external profession of the Christian name.
Thus, the apostle Paul, in the epistle to the Ephesians,
speaking of the union of Jews and Gentiles into one
church, says " that Christ has made in himself of twain
one new man," which cannot here denote internal re
formation, because it could not be predicated of all
Gentiles who adopted the Christian profession. ,
(2.) But the term regeneration and its cognates is
more frequently employed in scripture to denote an
internal change, a moral renewal of the heart and dis-
ipositions of man, which empowers the subject of it to
renounce the love of sin, to follow after holiness, to do
the -vriU of God, from the higher motives of love to the
Father and to Christ In this sense the creation of a
new heart is spoken of even in the Old Testament;
circumcision of heart is an expression which is also
used. Again ; a " new heart," a " new mind," a " new
spirit," which has God for its author : expressions
which are transferred by the apostles to the New
Testament. Paul speaks of " putting on the new man ;"
he speaks also of the Christian being made " a new
creature in Christ Jesus;" St John also designates
Christians " sons of God," because they are " born of
God." There are two passages of scripture, -in which these
two meanings of regeneration are, as we suppose,
combined ; one is our text, the other is its par
allel in Titus iu, 5 : — " According to his mercy he
saved us, by the laver of regeneration and renovation

the one agent 6f regeneration. 269
of the Holy Ghost;" — .language very similar to that
which the Great Teacher addressed to Nicodenius :
" Unless a man be born aarain of water and of the
Holy Ghost," i. e. unless a man consecrate himself by
baptism to the profession of my reUgion, and become,
by the renewing of the Holy Spirit, a reformed man, a
child of God, a friend of God, like him iu moral cha
racter, bearing his image, he cannot be considered, a
member of the Messiah's spiritual kingdom either on
earth or in heaven. A great deal of the confusion
which has arisen respecting baptism and regeneration,
has been caused 'by not considering the first or pro
fessional sense in which some of the early fathers,
(Ignatius and Justin, for example,) and probably the
apostle in the verse in Titus just quoted, used the word
regeneration, as altogether different from and by no
means necessarily connected with that positive change
¦ which is inwrought'in the heart of every true Christian
by the power of the Holy Ghost.
It is to this latter, more general and more moment
ous sense of regeneration that we now invite your
.attention, in a series of prepositional truths : and surely
it wiU accord both -vrith the sanctity of this place, and
the supreme importance of the subject under considera
tion, for me to inrite my every hearer to offer present
prayer to the Father, through the Son, for the enlighten
ing gxace of the Holy Spirit.
First, — The natural depravity of the human heart
IS THE doctrinal FACT UPON WHICH RESTS THE
necessity of THAT SPIRITUAL CHANGE WHICH IS
DESIGNATED IN THE TEXT, BEING BORN AGAIN.

270 LECTURE VII.
The truth of this proposition none of us wiU be dis
posed to question. The depravity of man is acknow
ledged, with but little variation, by both Protestant and.
Roman Catholic authorities. The first and second
Canons passed in the fifth Session of the Council of
Trent, read thus : — " "Whoever shaU not confess
that when Adam, the first man, transgressed the
commandment of God given him in paradise, he
lost immediately the purity and righteousness in which
he was created ; and by the sin .of his prevarication
incurred the wrath and indignation of God, and
consequently death, with which God had before
threatened him ; and with death, captirity to him who
thence hath the power of death, that is the deril ; so
that by this offence of prevarication the whole man was
changed for the worse, both in body and soul : let him
be accursed. "Whoever shall affirm that Adam's pre
varication injured himself only, and not his posterity,
and that he lost the purity and righteousness which he
had received from God, for himself only, and not also
for us ; or that when he became polluted by disobedience
he transmitted to all ma-akind corporal death and
punishment only, but not sin also, which is the death of
the soul : let him be accursed."
The ninth article of the Church of England- is very
clear and expressive on the subject :— " Original Sin
standeth not . in the following of Adam, (as the Pela
gians do vainly talk ;) but it is the fault and corruption
of the nature of every man, that naturally is ingendered
of the offspring of Adam ; whereby man is very far
gone from original righteousness, and is of his own

THE ONE AGENT OF REGENERATION. 271
nature inclined to evU, so that the flesh lusteth ahvays
contrary to the spirit ; and therefore in every person
born into this world, it deserveth God's wrath and dam
nation. And this infection of nature doth remain, yea
in them that are regenerated ; whereby the lust of the
flesh, called in the Greek, phronema sarkos, which some
do expound the wisdom ; some, sensuality ; some, the
affection ; some, the desire of the flesh ; is not subject to
the Law of God. And although there is no condem
nation for them that beUeve and are baptized, yet the
A-postle doth confess, that concupiscence and lust hath
of itself the nature of sin."
Here then we agree : we are not only guilty, we are
depraved also ; we are not only under the condemna
tion of the law, our hearts also are deceitful above all
things,- and desperately vricked ; we not only need
pardon and justification, we need also spiritual renewal
or the new birth. This is clearly set forth by our Lord
in his discourse vrith Nicodemus. The import of his
language is : ye are already born, but " ye must be
bom again ;" ye are already born, but it is " of the
flesh," of human nature, of corruption, of sin ; " That
which is born of the flesh is flesh,'' that which is born
of sin is sinful. Ye are all the chUdren of wrath, for
behold ye were bom in sin and shapen in iniquity.
Oh that the solemnity of this tmth were now impressed
by the Holy Spirit upon our every mind ! I am far
from God; I am ignorant of God; my heart is at
enmity against him ; I see him not ; I hear him not ; I
feel him not.; He is not in my thoughts ; I am a sinner,
depraved, corrupt, loathsome, rile ; I am Ufeless —

272

LECTURE VII.

DEAD ; I am ready to perish ; to sink into perdition !
This is my state by nature ; this is my present state,
unless I am converted and regenerate. My dear hearers,
endeavour to realize this your fearful, wretched, deplor
able, and dangerous condition, while I press upon your
attention the words of the Saviour, " Yb must be born
AGAIN."" The Council of Trent, in her third and fifth Canons
on Original Sin, has, in effect, taken away this gi-ound
of the necessity of j-egeneration. These canons express
ly state, that the guUt, the pollution, the very in-being
of sin are washed away in baptism ; washed away not
only in the case of infants, but even in that of adults.
There is not the least ambiguity in the language em
ployed, as you vrill immediately see : — " "Whoever shall
affirm, that this sin of Adam, which originally was one
offence only, but being transmitted to all by propagation,
not by imitation, becomes the sin of all, can be taken
away by the strength of human nature, or by any other
remedy than the merit of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
one Mediator, who hath reconciled us to God by his
blood, and ' is made to us justice, santifioation, and
redemption.' (1 Cor. i. 30 ;) or shall deny that the
merit of Christ Jesus is applied, both to adults and
.infants, by the sacrament of baptism, rightly administer
ed according to the form of the church : let him be
accursed. Whoever shaU deny that the guUt of original
sin is remitted by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
bestowed in baptism ; or shall affirm, that that wherein
sin truly and properly consists is not wholly rooted up,
but is only cut down, or not imputed : let him be
accursed."

THF ONE AGENT OF REGENERATION.* 273
The following sentiments also occur in the Catechism
of the Council : " Baptism washes away the stains of
sin." " The law of Baptism extends to all, insomuch
that, unless they are regenerated by the grace of bap
tism, be their parents Christians or infidels, they are
bom to eternal misery and everlasting destruction."
Again : " K then through the transgression of Adam,
chUdren inherit the stain of primeval guilt, is there not
still stronger reason to conclude that the efficacious
merits of Christ the Lord, must impart to them that
justice and those graces which will give them a title to
reign in eternal life ? This happy consummation
BAPTISM ALONE CAN ACCOMPLISH." " lufants UulcSS
baptized cannot enter heaven." Once more : " The
salutary waters of baptism, not only wash away all the
stains of past sins, but also enrich the soul with divine
grace, which enables the Christian to avoid sin for the
future, and to preserve the invaluable treasures of
righteousness and innocence."
These doctrines being so prominently inculcated in
the standards of the church, it need not surprise us that
there is so utter an absence in Roman Catholic teaching,
both public and private, of aU reference to the necessity
of the New Birth. Baptism, indeed, takes its place ;
the members of the church are taught, that if they are
baptized, (whether as infants or as adults it matters
not,) the guilt and the poUution of sin are of necessity
entirely washed' away. They may contract new guilt,
their souls may become again spotted by sin, but there
are close at hand confession, and absolution, and pen-
nance ; these wiU remove the newly contracted guUt

274 ' LECTURE VII.
and pollution ; and so the whole system of salvation, ,
essentially spiritual in its nature, is ritualized by that
church which assumes to itself the sole distinction of
apostolical.
Secondly, — Regeneration is an Inward, Spiritual
CHANGE.
Nicodemus, you observe, was giring a natural inter
pretation to the Sariour's words ; but our dirine teacher
immediately corrected his misapprehension, and showed
him that, by the language which he employed, he
meant to enforce the necessity of a spiritual change.
Except a man be born " from above " (avwdev) ; " ex
cept a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he
cannot see the kingdom of God." " Ye must be bom
FROM above." There is nothing natural or physical in
the whole thing ; it is supernatural, it is spiritual, it is
heavenly. And because it is a spiritual change, it is
holy ; purity is its leading characteristic, for it is from
heaven, and heaven is holy ; it is from God, and God
is pure. It is a change fi'om sin to holiness ; fi-om
sinful motives, to pure motives ; fi-om sinful desires, to
holy desires ; from sinful propensities, to holy propen
sities : It is a change from death to Ufe, — from the
death of sin to the life of righteousness : It is a change
^from spiritual torpor to spiritual action, fi-om spiritual
blindness to spiritual eyesight : It is a translation from
the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of God's dear
Son ; a transformation from the image of sin and the
world, to the image of God's righteousness and true
holiness. The change is so great, so real, so marked,
so decided, so conspicuous, that it can be neither mis-

THE ONE AGENT OF REGENERATION. " 275
taken nor misunderstood. It is real and not relative,
it is radical and not superficial ; it reaches down to the
very depths of the ini^er man. Listen to two or three
passages of the New Testament, which speak of this
change : " God," says St. Paul, in his Epistle to
Ephesus, " who is rich in mercy, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together in Christ."
Here this cUrine change is spoken of as a resurrection
from the dead. In his Second Epistle to the Corinthians,
the same apostle compares it with a new creation ; for
he speaks of the regenerate man as a new creature, old
things ha-ving passed away, and all things being made
new. In another place it is spoken of as an introduc
tion from darkness into Ught : passages which all show
that regeneration is not only a spiritual change, but that
it is a change of so positive and decided a character as
to be immecUately recognized both by the subject and
the observer.
For the same reason which we just now advanced,
viz. : — that our Roman Catholic friends regard Baptism
by the very act itself (ex opere operato) as producing
regeneration, and as capable of doing this vrithout
respect to the quality of the subject, — the spiritual
character of the change is completely lost sight of I
know that the Catechism of the Council of Trent
declares that free-ivill, faith, and penitence, are disposi
tion? necessary for baptism ; that the -rite is to be forced
upon no one ; and that it has been the invariable prac
tice of the Church, to administer baptisni to no
individual without preriously asking him if he were
wfliing to receive it. But the practice of the Chm-ch

276 LECTURE VII.
is not invariable. In the Bibliotheca Ferraris, 1 read,
that any voluntary consent is sufficient, although it is
mixed vrith an involuntary one, extorted by force or
fear in any manner. Pope Innocent III. quoted by this
author, says : " He who is violently attracted by terrors
or punishment, and, lest he should receive detriment,
receives the sacrament of baptism, such a one receives
the character, the impress of Christianity." But then
it is. not to be concealed that Roman Catholic dirines
distinguish between a valid and a fruitful reception of
baptism. The doctrine of the Council of Trent, as expressed in
the Catechism is as follows : " Another necessary con
dition is compunction for past sins, and a fixed deter
mination to refrain from their future commission ;
should any one dare to approach the baptismal font, a
slave to vicious habits, he should be instantly repeUed ;
for what so obstructi-ve to the grace and rirtue of bap
tism as the obdurate impenitence of those, who are
resolved to persevere in the indulgence of their unhal
lowed passions." It would have been well for the
Church of Rome, and for Christianity in general, if
this excellent and scriptural requirement had been uni
versally attended to ; but alas, it has been almost en
tirely disregarded. Cardinal Wiseman himself and his
authority as an expounder of Roman CathoUc doctrine,-
few will be disposed to question, in his lectures on the
doctrines and practices of the CathoUc Church,, vol. i,
p. 131, teaches that strict examination of baptismal
candidates is unnecessary. This is his language:
" Apply this to the two rules of faith : and suppose a

THE ONE AGENT OF REGENERATION. 277
Missionary arriring in a foreign country, where the
name of Christ was not known, and advancing as his
fiindamental rUle, that it was necessary for all men to
read the Bible, and for each one to satisfy his own mind
on all that he, should believe. I ask you, not if you
think it possible that thousands could be said to be
properly converted by one discourse, under such a prin
ciple, but whether, if the Missionary conscientiously
believed and taught this principle, he could, in one day,
admit those thousands, by the baptismal rite, into the
religion of Christ ? Would he be satisfied that he had
made true converts, who would not go back from the
faith once received ? I am sure any one conversant
with the practice of modem Missions, -vrill be satisfied
that no Missionary, except one from the (Roman)
CathoUc Church, would receive persons so sUghtiy in-.
structed into its bosom, or be satisfied that they would
persevere in the religion they had adopted. But they
can do it at this day, and they have done it in every
age ; for St. Francis Xarier, Uke the Apostles, converted
and baptized his thousands in one day, who remained
steadfast in the faith and law of Christ. And all may
be so admitted at once into the (Roman) Catholic reU
gion, who give up their belief in their own incUvidual
judgment, and adopt the principle, that whatever the
(Roman) CathoUc Church shaU teach them, must be
ti-ue." That the Cardinal speaks here of baptism adminis
tered not vaUdly merely, but fruitfully, is clear from his
comparing the converts of Xarier, vrith the converts of
the apostles ; forgetful that they worked inii-acles, and

278 LECTURE VII.
were empowered to read the hearts of men, and are
therefore no rule in this respect for ordinary ministers.
Besides, the Cardinal's theory is wholly opposed to the
teaching of the Fathers, .for St. Augustine, Cyril, and
Jerome, as it is kno-wn to any one acquainted with their
-writings, insisted upon the minute instruction of candi
dates for baptism. Now it cannot but be, that a theory
which is so contrary to experience will be practicaUy
disregarded. True, Roman Catholic divines speak of a
spii'itual change, so spiritual and so extensive as that
the very roots of sin are plucked up and destroyed from
the soul, but then, they ascribe this work to baptism ;
and when the people see that even in baptized adults
the same old habits, dispositions, tempers, propensities
remain, when they see that in most instances the water
of baptism touches only the head, and that there is no
special washing of the inner man, they soon begin to
suspect that the doctrine is one grand Christian hoax.
Granted that baptism is a Christian sacrament, that as
a sacrament, when received in faith it is a sign and a
seal of inward renewal ; granted further, that when the
adult penitent receives the sacrament in the faith of
Christ, it becomes the instrument of regeneration ; but
then this is a very different theory from that of the
Cardinal, who contends that a Christian missionary,
upon the consent of five hundred or one thousand
idolaters, or cannibals, or deril worshippers, and a sum
mary and very general profession on their part of faith
in Christ, is authorized to baptize them en masse. And
I confess that for me to beUeve that the sacramental
water thus appUed in the name of the blessed Trinity

THE ONE AGENT OP REGENERATION. 279
would, ex opere operato, regenerate every one of these
idolaters, these devU worshippers, these cannibals, would
make them new creatures, would remove the guilt of
sin, would uproot the seeds of sin, vsould secure to them,
were they immecUately to die, an entrance into the
kingdom of heaven, requires a stretch of credulity equal
to that which a man e-vinces when he adopts the pro
fession of atheism. Is it any marvel that in the midst
of such views and practices the spiritual character of
regeneration should disappear ?
Thirdly, The Agent of our Regeneration is the
Holy Spirit of God and He alone.
From first to last the work is His. From the first
ray of conrincing Ught which pierces the dark mind of
the sinner, to that regenerating change which introduces
him into the light of spiritual day — the day of holiness,
the work is whoUy His. The sense in which we are
said to be bom of water has been already intimated :
The sense in which we are represented as being born of
the incorraptible seed of the word, so far from disaUow-
ing the sole agency of the Holy Ghost, rather confirms
it ; for that word is nothing, imparts no life, vrithout
his quickening power. Roman CathoUcs will ' say,
" this is our doctrine ;" we grant that several instances
may be pointed out in which the theory of regeneration
by the Spirit is defined, (not perhaps very clearly,) but,
methinks, to give to an external rite that prominence
which the CouncU of Trent imparts to it, and that
greater prominence vrith which the practice of the
CathoUc Church invests it; to make the new birth so

280 lecture vn.
intimately and invariably dependent on its administra
tion ; to say that no man can be regenerated without
baptism, and that baptism intentionally ministered, and
willingly received, always produces regeneration ; to
declare, so solemnly as that all who deny it are anathem
atized, that the absence of the rite, whatever other
qualities or graces may exist, leads infaUibly to everlast
ing damnation, and this in the case of helpless infants,
- is, as I think, to limit the power and the benignity of
the Holy Spirit, and to stigmatize with injustice the
gracious scheme of redemption ; it is to rob the Holy
Spirit of his prerogative, and to place that prerogative,
virtually afleast, in mortal hands. Now I will ask
you, whether Paul could have entertained the modern
Roman Catholic view of baptism, the Ti-entine view I
mean, and yet have consistently written, as he did, to
the Corinthian Church : " I give God thanks, that I
baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gains. Lest
any should say that you were baptized in my name.
And I baptized also the household of Stephanas : besides,
I know not whether I baptized any other." Could any
Roman Catholic Bishop, with his views of Baptism,
insert in a pastoral letter, I give God thanks that I
baptized none of you but Crispus and Gains ? I trow
not. Paul knew how to distinguish between the work
of the spirit, and the signification of a sacrament Now
the Roman Catholic theory would require us to believe
that Crispus, Gains, and the house of Stephanas were
all in the Corinthian Church, whom Paul had instru-
mentally introduced into the regenerate state ; but his
own language in the fourth chapter of this same epistle, ¦

THE ONE AGENT OF REGENERATION. 281
completely sets aside this riew : " For if you have
ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet not many
fathers. For in Christ Jesus by the gospel I have
begotten you." Again : If no one can be rege
nerated, can receive the Spirit of God, but by
baptism, as the whole Roman Catholic Church declares,,
how came it to pass that when Peter preached
toCorneUus and his company, the Holy Ghost descended
upon them before baptism, and that Peter riewed this
descent as qualifying them to receive the rite or
sacrament: ""While Peter was yet speaking these
words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the
word. And he commanded them to be baptized in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then they desired
him to tarry vrith them some days." Oh ! my brethren,
regeneration is the Spirit's work, for the birth is Divine,
It is as true now as it was in the days of the apostles,
that to AS MANY AS RECEIVE ChRIST BY FAITH, the pOWCT
is given to become the sons of God ; " who are bom not
of blood, nor of the wUl of the flesh, nor of the vrill of
man, but of God."
Fourthly. The fruit of Regeneration is Sanctifi-
CATION.
This is a truth which Catholics in general, might
probably be disposed to concede. But what is sanetifi
cation ? It is living holiness. Regeneration is the
birth, sanetification is the life. Regeneration is a
change from nature to grace, sanetification is not a
change, but a state ; a state of holiness. .It is holiness
of heart and life. It comprises therefore two branches.

282 lecture VII.
though the stock is one ; the one inward, the other
outward. Inward holiness, to adopt the language of
the Westminster Confession, is " the destruction of the
whole body of sin, it is the mortification of the lusts of
the soul, it is the existence of the Spirit's grace and
strength in the inner man, it is the principle of pure
love to God and to all mankind." Outward holiness is
obedience to the law and wiU of God ; it comprehends
holiness of dispositions, holiness of temper, holiness of
word, holiness of action, it comprehends self-denial,
daily cross-bearing, love of prayer, charity to the poor,
benevolence and even beneficence to our enemies ; it
embraces temperance of liring, honesty of purpose and
action, humility of deportment, obedience and deference
to superiors, chastity of life. Let me read to you from
the Douay Bible a few passages Ulustrative of these
views : — " And what concord hath Christ vrith Belial ?
Or what part hath the faithful with the unbeliever ?
And what agreement hath the temple of God vrith
idols ? For ye are the temple of the Uving God : as
God saith : / will dwell in them, and walk among them,
and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
"Wherefore, Go out from among them, and be ye separate,
saith the Lord, and touch ¦not the unclean thing. And
I will receive you ; and I will be a Father to you : and
you shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Al
mighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly
beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of
the fiesh and of the spirit, perfecting sanetification in
the fear of God." The same apostle in his epistle to
the Romans, chapter ri,, 6, says : " Knowing this that

THE ONE AGENT OF REGENERATION. 283
our old man is crucified vrith him, that the body of sin
may be destroyed, to the end we may serve sin no
longer." In the fifth chapter of his epistle to Galatiatis
we have the following impressive view of Christiaft
sanetification : — " But the fruit of the Spirit is, charity,
joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity,
mUdness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity. Against
such there is no law. And they that are Christ's, have
crucified their flesh, with the vices and concupiscences.
If we Uve in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit
Let us not be made desirous of vain glory, provoking
one another, envying one another." Saint Peter also,
in the second chapter of his first epistle says, '-' You are
a chosen generation, a kingly priesthood, a holy nation,
a purchased people, that you may declare his rirtues
who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous
light." These are apostoUc riews of the effects of regene
ration, and where these fi'uits, in more or less maturity,
do not appear, there exists not true holiness, there is the
absence of regenerating grace. Christianity is a holy-
thing. True Christianity sanctifies every thing
that it touches, and purffies every man whom it rightly
influences. That holiness is the prevailing characteristic
of aU true Christians, may appear from the very term
by which the apostles designate them. They call
believers " saints." This is theu- usual form of address
in their epistles to the Churches ; the Romans were " call
ed fo be saints," and the Corinthians also. " Paul to aU
the saints who are at Ephesus, Paul to the saints and
faithful brethren in Chiist Jesus who are at Oolossa,"
are the superscriptions of two of his epistles.

284 LE-CTmiE VII.
Our Roman CathoUc friends have limited the meanin
of the term " saints ;" and, without any authority froE
the word of God, they apply it only to those who hav
been canonized by the Pope, and placed upon the Hoi;
Calendar, And here, perhap, it may be well to refe
to those characteristics by which the Church of Romi
judges of the holiness of her members, and of thei
worthiness for canonization. Every Roman Catholi
knows that his Church grounds the sanctity of indiri
duals on the amount and severity of their austerities
and on the number and magnitude of the supposec
miracles which they have wrought. Take v up the live
of your saints, and you vrill find that their holiness wa
chiefly a ritual holiness •, Prayers, fasts, pennances
lacerations, exposures to cold, bodUy fatigues, fighting
for the Church, destroying heretics ; these things
together with the working of some few miracles, ar
quite sufficient, in the Church of Rome, to establish thi
holiness of an indiridual, and to give him the cUstinc
tion of a saint.
The saints of the Church of Rome may be cUvidec
into sevei'al classes. There are some who, by means o
immense wealth have been great benefactors to the
Church ; others who from the high authority which thei
possessed became the patrons and defenders of thi
Church, Many have been canonized because of a lifi
of long and afected retirement ; and others agau
because they have returned from a dissolute Ufe to the
service of God and of the Chureh.
I shall now adduce some of the grounds upon whicl
several of the canonized saints of the Church of Romi
have been raised to so elevated a distinction : —

THE ONE AGENT OF REGENERATION. 285
Of St. Patrick it is said (Roman Breviary) that he was
wont to repeat daily the whole psalter, together with
the canticles and two hundred hymns and prayers ;
three hundred times on each day to worship God upon
his knees, and in each canonical hour of the day to
sig-n himself one hundred times with the sign of the
cross. Dividing the night into three portions, he spent
the fii-st in running through one hundred psalms, and
in two genuflexions ; the second in running through the
other fifty psalms in cold water, vrith his heart, eyes,
and hands raised to heaven ; he yielded the third part
to a short sleep upon a hard stone. To these devotions,
miracles vrithout end may of course be added ; such as
restoring sight to the blind, and health to the sick,
and raising nine dead persons to life. I askr my
Roman Catholic hearers if these characteristics of
sanctity are apostolic. Did Paul thus ? Did he exhort
Timothy or Titus to such practices ? Are these the
methods for obtaining holiness which John prescribed ?
No ! " If we walk in the light, as he also is in the
light : we have fellowship one with another, and
the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all
sm." From the Golden Legend, and Grey's Lives of the
Saints, we have the foUovring instances of the sanctity
" and power of the saints : —
" St Clare was in such esteem vrith God, that with
out the least difficulty she obtained whatever she asked.
From her very infancy there appeared sui-prising signs
of her future sanctity. Even fi-om that early period she
prayed, fasted, gave alms, and wore a hair ciloth to
n2

286 LECTURE VII.
mortify the flesh. She was seldom alone in her pi
exercises. On one occasion, a very beautiful chUd, v^
two radiant wings flew into her lap — at another ti
she saw the young child Jesus lying in his man^
In her dying moments, Jesus was seen near her ace
panied by several virgins crowned -vrith flowers. (
of them in particular, who wore a close crown m
radiant than the sun, embraced her ; the rest sprea
carpet of inestimable value over her body." The n
of the Convent to which this saint belonged, mad
post mortem examination of her body, and fo
engraved upon her heart, as she had often prerioi
affirmed, a figure of Christ upon the cross and
the instruments of his passion. Is there, I
anything Uke this in the Christianity of the 1
Testament? St. Theresa had many extraordinary risions ; iiu
one of which, it is mentioned that a cUrine love-wo
was made in her heart, by a seraph with a go!
arrow, pointed with red-hot steel.
St. Bonaventure not being able to take the I
Eucharist in the usual way, through riolent indisposi
in the stomach, had the holy pyx placed upon
breast, and the sacred wafer instantly penetrated
way into his very bowels, in order to become the li
his soul.
St. Francis Xarier, so noted a saint in the Ro
CathoUc Church, demands some mention. That he
a hero, no one vrill doubt, who has read his life ; thi
was diUgent in the discharge of his ecclesiastical 1
tions, is no less unquestionable — ^that he was bent i

THU ONE AGENT OF REGENERATION, 28?
die success of the order to which he belonged and of
which he was one of the earliest members, is eridenced
hj every page of his remarkable histoi-y ; but, that he
was possessed of Kipernatural sanctity, who will believe,
when it is known, that he praised the inquisition after
visiting its cruel dungeons ? Yet, there were some noble
traits of character in St. Francis. There was «. g, an
utter disregard of difficulties in tiie prosecution of his
labours. On one occasion his friends attempted to
•dissuade him fi-om undertaking a mission on account of
its extraordinary dangers. " Ah," said he " who are
they that set bounds to the power of God, and Have
such mean ideas of the grace of our Sariour? And
-are there any hearts hard enough to resist the power oi
the Most High when it pleases Him to soften and to
ohange them ? Can they resist this power, at the same
tipie so gentle and so strong, that makes the dry branch
flourish, and raises up chUdren unto Abraham from the
stones ? What ! cannot he that subdued the whole
world to the empire of the Cross by the ministiy of the
Apostles bring into subjection that Uttle corner of tha
•earth ? Are the islands of the Moor, alone, to be ex-
-cluded from the benefits of redemption ? And when
Jesus offered all the nations to His Eternal Father as a
heritage, were those people to be excepted ? They are
very barbarous and very brutal, I know ; but they were
once more so ; neither can I do anything of myself,
and therefore I have the more hope of them. I can do
aU things in Him that strengtheneth me, and from Him
alone Gospel-workmen gather aU their power." The
miracles which -Xarier is said to have wrought might

288 LECTURE -vrii.
fill a volume. Here is one : " When sailing, one di
among some islands, a tempest arose, and, in order
quell it, as they say, he touched the waves with 1
crucifix. The rirtue of his crucifix stilled the raging
the vrind and sea ; but, to his great grief, he let tl
image fall into the water. Some time aftei-wards, wal
ing with a Portuguese on the beach, he saw the sacr
object appear above the crest of a wave. The wa
broke on the sand, and threw up a crab holding t
crucifix in one of its claws. Xarier stood stUl. Tl
crab crawled towards him, canying the cross erect, la
it at his feet, and retumed to its native element." .
his death his body saw no corruption ; by touching
a sick man was instantly healed, and fi-om it the richc
odours were exhaled.
But why should I occupy your time with sui
strange and wonderful details ? If these are qualific
tions for saintship, then have I read my Bible to i
purpose. No such prescriptions for securing holine
do I discover here — no such evidences of sanctity a
demanded here. What are gifts to Christian lov
Hear the apostle : " If I speak vrith the tongu
of men, and of angels, and have not charity, I am b
come as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And
I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, ai
if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have n
charity, it profiteth me nothing." This .is the tri
principle of spiritual Christianity, as Paul understood
and enforced it ; and this is the Protestant principle-
would God it were more the ft-otestant practice !
Dr. Milner finds no saintship amongst the most i

I THE ONE AGENT OF REGENERATION. 289
nowned Protestants. They come far short, in his esti
mation at least, of the holiness of the worthies of his
own church. He professes to be conversant with the
works of Fletcher, Vicar of Madeley. Had he read his
life with candour, shame would have compelled him to
expunge from his book, this self-sufficient, this unchari
table, this derogatory sentiment. I wish every intelli
gent Catholic would read and compare the life of
Xavier, by Bonhours, or even by Alban Butler, and
that of Fletcher, by Benson ; let him then tell me
whether Dr. Milner was just when he charged upon
Protestantism an incapability to make its followers
holy. Were not the life and labours of the Swiss
Pastor, Felix Neff, both saintly and apostoUc ? Who
, that has been in the habit of witnessing the dying
hours of faithful Protestant Christians, has not often
discovered a courage and 5 victory over death scarcely
less remarkable than that which cUstinguished Paul,
when he said, "I am now ready to be offered,"
" Thanks be unto God who giveth us the rictory
through our Lord Jesus Christ I will read to
you the closing scene of one of the most celebrated
modern saints in the Roman Calendar — distin
guished for his devotion to the church, and to
piety, I mean Alphonso Liguori ; and then I wUl read
an account of the closing hours of a good Protestant,
which I this morning, almost at random, took down
from my library shelves ; The Rev, Peard Dickinson.
S. ALPHONSUS LIGUORI.
"On the 8th of July, 1787, in addition to hi^ old
complaints, he was attacked by a sharp fever, together

290 LECTURE Vtt.
'with a terrible dysentery. These were symptoms so
little to be mistaken, that, although he had been
absolved three days before by Father Vincenzo Magaldi
of the congregation, he confessed again to Father
Lorenzo Negri of the congregation also, and after haring
received absolution, was released from aU his usual
anxiety, and broke forth into expressions of the liveliest
joy and hope, the Lord being doubtless vrilling to
console his servant by a foretaste of Paradise, for all
that he had made him suffer during this life, and
especially for the grievous temptations against faith, by
which he had been assailed some time after his retire
ment from his diocese. His sufferings lasted for fourteen
days, during which he was constantly engaged in acts
of piety, keeping his eyes lovingly fixed_ upon the
crucifix and image of the blessed Mother ; confessing
frequently, and communicating every day.
" The news of his mortal Ulness haring been spread
abroad, priests, secular as weU as regular, and. persons
of the highest cUstinction, came from aU parts to Mss
his hand, bringing kerchiefs, and other things, to
sanctify by contact with him, and preserve as relics.
At length it became necessary for him to receive the
sacrament of Extreme Unction, which he did vrith the
most fervent acts of faith, hope, charity, resignation,
and joy. On the 25th of the same month, he received
the Blessed Sacrament as a riaticum ; and when the
time for communicating approached, every moment
appeared intolerably long, and unable to contain him
self, he incessantly exclaimed, "give me the body of my
Jesus — when will Jesus come to me ? — when shall I

THE ONE AGENT OF REGENERATION. 291
possess him^ His longings haring been at length
satisfied, he sunk into a long and deep meditation upon
the love of Jesus in the most Holy Sacrament.
" Four days before his death he was seized with
convulsions so violent as to deprive hjm of the use of
speech. On the thirtieth day of the month. Father
VUlani not thinking it safe to give him the Viaticum,
as he was afraid he should not be able to swallow, one
of the fathers desired him to make a spiritual commun
ion, which he cUd, showing by his eyes and various
signs, that he joined in the devout sentiments suggested
by that father. On the day before his death Monsignor
Tafuri came to visit him, and seeing him so near his
dissolution, reverently kissed his hand, and placed it on
his head. On the day of his death, just before the
commencement of his agony, upon hearing the names
of Jesus and Mary, he opened his eyes and appeared
somewhat to rerive. What is even more sui'prising, on
the night before his death the image of the blessed
Mother haring been brought near his bed, he not only
opened his eyes, but fixing them upon it, smiled sweetly,
his countenance all radiant vrith delight. "Whence we
may aU conclude, that the dirine Mother blessed her
holy client vrith one of those risits which it was his
daily prayer to have at the hour of death, and which
he so often holdout to all who should be devout to Mary.
Alphonsus straining the crucifix and image of most
holy Mary to his breast, the brethren in tears and
prayer around him, calmly and without struggle or con
tortion, breathed forth his blessed soul, on Tuesday, the
1st August, 1787."

292 LECTURE VII.
REV. PEARD DICKINSON.
" On Tuesday, May 11th, in the midst of a riolent
fit, I heard him whisper, ' We have erred and strayed
from thy ways like lost sheep.' I said, ' But are now
retumed to the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls ;' he
immecUately replied, in broken words, with great
energy, ' It was all of gTace, free mercy in Christ
Jesiis.' After the fever abated that evening, and he
began a little to rerive, his soul was abundantly fflled
vrith divine consolation-; he seemed at a loss to express
the joy he felt, his love to Christ, or his riew of God's
boundless mercy and infinite compassion. He said, ' I
seem all happiness.'
" During one of the following nights, he cried out,
' O happy, happy spirits, I see you, I see you all, and I
am coming to you. They are waiting for me, and I
must go;' and clapping his hands, he shouted,
' Victory, victory, my Jesus, and my AU !' To one of
his nurses he said, ' For Chi-ist's sake, make sure of an
interest in him ; it is neither Paul, nor Apollos, nor
Cephas, nor any other creature, but Jesus Chi-ist the
corner-stone : build upon him, as the sure foundation.'
While taking a little refreshment, I perceived him
deeply engaged in-prayer, and distinctly heard the fol
lowing words : ' That an abundant entrance may be
administered unto us into the eternal kingdom.' Soon
after he said to me, ' The Lord give you the bread of
life.' I answered, ' I am sure he will give it you, and
I trust I shall partake of it :' he replied, ' I doubt not
but you wiU,' and spoke with sweet confidence of our
being mutual partakers of the blessings of the kingdom.

THE ONE AGENT OF REGENERATION. 2 98
" To one of the nurses that attended him he said, ' I
have not a shadow of doubt ; my evidence is as clear as
the noon-day sun !' At another time, ' I have nothing
but glory and heaven in my riew ; my heart is full of
God, my cup runneth over !' He told her he should
' be glad to leave some fiirther dying testimony, that
his friends might be satisfied, but that he was so low he
could not converse with them.' She repUed, '¦ You
have given us proof enough.' ' Then,' said he, ' teU
them God is love ; I know and feel him so !' Having
had a very severe fit, and being extremefy weak after
it, he said, ' What a mercy it is that the Lord careth
for the righteous !' A person present repUed, ' He
does, and it shall be well with them.' 'Yes,' said he,
' weU for ever and ever, glory be to God !' The nurse
giring him a Uttie drink, vrith his hands clasped, and
his eyes lifted up to heaven, he entreated her to love
the Lord Jesus vrith her whole heart : ' 0,' said he.
' the sinner's friend ! Never forget the sinner's
fiiend !'
"May 14th, in the evening, he appeared very
eamestiy engaged in prayer; but I could only hear
these words, ' Lord, make us vrise unto salvation !' On
my going to him, he said, (with peculiar tenderness
taking my hand,) ' My dear love, sweet is thy voice to
me : God bless you.' These are the last words he
spoke to me ; for a fit presently c-ame on, which was
followed by a very painful and restless night. On May
15th, after being in extreme pain, when, we thought
him past speaking, about two o'clock in the afternoon,
he opened his eyes, and, as the nurse was giring him a

294 LECTURE VII.
little wine vrith a teaspoon, he suddenly stopped
and pointing vrith his finger upward, he said, ' B
do you not hear ? they are come for me. I am ri
quite ready.' A few minutes after, she spoke to
again, he said, ' Stop, say nothing but — Glory, gl
These were the last words he ever spoke. After a
painful struggle, which lasted more than fom- hour
happy spirit took its flight, about twenty-five mi
past seven o'clock in the evening."
Is there then no power in Protestant Christianil
make men holy, and to sustain the mind in death
We lay no claim on behalf of Protestant Chris
to self-fiageUations, to self-inflicted stripes and b
and wounds, to daily Aves and Pater Nosters v
may be reckoned by the hundred, to midnight
on cold altar steps ; no claim do we lay to mirac
gifts, to the gift of tongues, of healing, of raisir
dead, of quelUng the fury of the elements ; no
lay we on behalf of the dead bodies of Protestai
sweet instead of corruptible odours, to incsorru
to the impartation, by mere contact, of health t
dying, and of Ufe to the dead. No ! the bodies c
holiest Protestants see corruption. This we are o
to confess. They crumble into dust. Like most
mortals, Protestants " come forth like a flower a
cut do-wn, they flee also as a shadow and continue
Protestant dust returns to the earth as it
— but we do claim for Protestant Christians
for all, alas ! who bear the Protestant name, but
who worthily bear it, we do claim, I say, deep i
and contrition of heart on account of sin, sevei

THE ONE AGENT OF REGENERATION. 299
flicts with their vricked hearts, the mortification of un
holy desires, crucifixion to the world, self-denial, love to
the Redeemer, zeal for his cause, devotion to his glory :
We claim for them hours spent, in communion with the
ever blessed Trinity, a knowledge of God's Word, a
love to their fellow men, liberality to the poor, integrity
of purpose, honesty of life, benevoleiice and beneficence
to their enemies : — We claim this for them, not for
their own honor, God forbid ! but for Chiist's glory, for
it is He, and not themselves, who hath -wrought in
them this grace, who hath wrought in them to wiU
and to do of God's good pleasure. They came to Him
as guilty sinners, they mourned at his cross, they cried
to him for mercy, they pleaded and beUeved his merits,
they waited for the descent of the Holy Spirit, and
the answer came : to use the words of Paul, as they
are written in the Douay Bible, God sent forth the
spirit of his Son into their hearts, crying : Abba, Father,
and then they were strengthened vrith might in the
inner man, then they were empowered to walk not after
the fiesh but after the spudt, then they brought forth
those fi-uits of regeneration which are to the praise and
glory of God. Glory be to God alone for all that has
been experienced, and aU that has been achieved by
true Protestant Christians. We pray that such may
abound yet more and more in all our communities.
We acknowledge the existence of much inconsistency,
vices alas prevaU, and sin abounds, but om- confidence
and our hope are this, that Protestant Christianity
which has done by the grace of God so much for the
world, especiaUy vrithin the last century, vrill accom-

296 LECTURE VII.
plish the spiritual regeneration of entire noi
Christendom. There is, however, this cUfference between the Protc
and Roman Catholic Churches : The Protestant Cl
lays no claim to infallibiUty, but acknowledges h
to be erring, and to be affiicted with grievous inc'
tencies over which her more spiritual and de
members mourn and weep. We thank God that
is amongst us a Uttle religion, but we acknowledge
shame that it is very Uttle, and vrith unaffected sin
that we lack more, much more. But the R
CathoUc Church lays claim to infallibility, to uni
sanctity. She once had the true gospel, and be
she is infallible she must have it now. This i
style of argument which is employed, and thi
opinion that is entertained by many Catholics ; bi
they fully acquainted with the history of their Ch
We Protestants say, and we do it with all Hnc
that a Church assuming such attributes and powc
the Chm'ch of Rome assumes, ought to be a hol-
regenerate Church ; but has she been, and is she
thus holy and regenerate ? Let our friends only
their own historians, and they, vrith us, vrill ar
" No." And why ? because she has overlookei]
thrown aside the doctrine of spiritual regeneratii
the Holy Ghost as the one foundation of all hoi
If you would but read the history of your Church froi
eighth to the sixteenth centuries, you would soon
with us that whatever other attributes she possessec
could lay no claim to those of sanctity and infalUl
I read to you in the course of the last lecture

THE ONE AGENT OF REGENERATION. 297
gi-aphic description of the state of the Roman Church
which was given to the CouncU of Trent by one of its
Fathers, Antonius.
Let us examine other Roman Catholic authors :
Cardinal Baronius describes the Popes of these ages to
have been "monstrous and infamous in their Uves,
dissolute in their manners, and vricked and rillainous in
aU things." Platina, the Roman historian, declares that
Pope Boniface VII. obtained the popedom by vricked arts
(malis artibus) and lost it in a similar mannerr The
citizens conspired against him on account of his
iniquities, so that he was glad to fiy the city ; during
his absence John XV. was elected in his room, but
Boniface retumed and avenged himself upon his substi
tute by starving him to death. He lived but a short
time, and after his death the citizens dragged his body
tied by the feet through the streets, and left it a prey
to dogs. And what shall we say of the boy Pope
Benedict the Ninth ? of whom one of his successors says
" So base, so foul, so execrable was his life that I
shudder to relate it."
Statements equaUy fearful respecting the clergy and
Church generaUy might be readily produced, but I have
only time to ask, are such things consistent with the
infallibiUty and sanctity of the Church ?
Regeneration is the want of the professing Church.
I now address myself more especially to Protestants,
and I feel sure that there is not in the congregation a
spiritually minded Protestant who wiU not agree with me
that we aU need more of the regenerating gi-ace of the
Holy Spirit. Our principles are holy and glorious ;

298 ' LECTURE VII.
but what are our practices ? Our Gospel is pure and un
adulterated ; but what are our lives ? Our knowledge of
the Bible is extensive ; but are we foUovring its precepts ?
Our professions are great ; but are our principles of
action evangelical ? Our privileges are abundant ; but
is there a corresponding progress in Christian knowledge
and love ? Why, I ask, is it, that the high and holy
principles of Protestantism have not made more sure
and rapid advancement ? Why, but because we our
selves have been unfaithful to those principles ? "Why
is it that Protestantism has, in many instances, been a
by-word and a reproach amongst our Roman CathoUc
brethren ? "Why ? Partly because Protestants have
dishonoured that name for which our ancestors shed
then- blood. Our charity has faUed us ; our meekness
has failed us ; our devotion to the ordinances of religion
has faUed us ; our benevolence has faUed us ; our self-
denial has failed us ; our integrity has failed us ; the
fruits of Regeneration have faUed in too many a Pro
testant rineyarcL I am addressing Protestants of almost
every name ; and I would say to myself and to you, let
us but be faithful to our privUeges, let us but live in
purity, in benevolence, in charity, in peace, in devotion
to Christ's cause, in zeal for his glory ; let us but Uve and
labour for the instruction and salvation of those around
us, both Protestant and Catholic, who are in spiritual
darkness, and no weapon that is formed against us shall
prosper ; opposition may come, but, come whence it wiU,
it shall not hinder the word of the Lord from having
free course and being glorified. Let us, then, go this
evening to the fountain of grace, let us caU upon the

THB. ONE AGENT OF REGENERATION. 299
Divine Spirit, let us seek his regenerating, transforming,
sanctifying power, and may a merciful God vouchsafe to
answer 1 — Shall we then for ever live
At this poor dying rate ?
Our love so faint, so cold to Thee,
And Thine to us so great I
Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove,
With all thy quick'ning powers ;
Come, shed abroad the Saviour's love,
And Ihat shall kindle ours."
I beUeve I am addressing many hundreds, some of
you Catholics, but most of you Protestants, who feel
that you need that change of heart of which the blessed
Sariour spoke to Nicodemus, and vrithout which no man
shaU see the Lord. Oh, suffer me to plead vrith you this
evening in my Master's stead, and to say in his own
language. " Ye must be bom again." I ask you not
your Church, your age, your rank in society ; I ask you
not whether you are educated or UUterate, I ask you not
whether you are baptized or unbaptized, but I ask you :
" Have you a sinful heart ? Are you Uving m rebelUon
agamst your God ? Are you breaking the Dirine Laws ?"
Is it so ? Then, on the authority of Christ I say, unless
you be bom from above you cannot enter into the
kingdom of God. Would you be born again ? Repent
ye and beUeve the Gospel, for to as many as receive
Him, to them giveth He power to become the sons of
God. Would you have your hearts cleansed, would
you be justified and sanctified ? Come to that precious
blood of your Redeemer which cleanseth from aU sin,

300 LECTURE VII.
for ye are washed, and sanctified, and justified in the
name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
" Ye must be born again." O ye spiritual prodigals!
Your offended Father is waiting to receive you ; long
have you wandered away from his home ; long have
you disregarded his government ; but lo ! he appears,
and from the distance where he now stands he cries,
" Come now and let us reason together though your sins
be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow." " Stands,''
did I say ? No ! he moves, he walks toward you ; walk
you towards him, and he vrill accept you and be a
Father unto you, and ye shaU be his sons and daughters ;
and then, with wonder and vrith joy, you shall exclaim
together, " Behold what manner of love the Father hath
bestowed upon us that we should be caUed the sons of
Goi"

LECTURE VIII.
THE CHRISTIAN SACRAMENTS.
If you survey the two great religious systems which the
Dirine Being has established amongst men, you will
find between them some points of correspondence and
many points of contrast Judaism and Christianity
have each then- attesting miracles ; each has its law,
its priesthood, its. offering of sacrifice, its way of access
to the Divine Presence, its method of pardon, its sacra
ments and ritual of worship ; and not only is there a
general correspondence between these several parts of
the two systems, but an intimate relation also — that
-which exists between a type and its anti-type.
Very striking are the points of contrast between these
two systems. Whether you contemplate its establish
ment or its operation, you see that each stands out in .
bold distinctness from the other. How different the
first appearance of Jehovah to Moses, and the appear
ance of the same glorious Being in the stable of
Bethlehem ; how different the giving of the law in the
midst of the clouds and darkness, the lightnings and
thunderings, the earthquake and .tmmpets and voices
of Sinai, to the publication of the Cljristian law and
doctrine in the sermon on the Mount ; how different
the unposing ritual of the temple worship, with its altars
and sacrifices, vrith its mitred pontiff, and sacrificing

302 LECTURE VIII.
priests, and attendant Lerites, with its clouds of incense,
and its ceremonial ablutions and sprinklings of water
and of blood, — to the simple forms of worship which
the apostles and early Christians practised in the upper
rooms of Jerusalem, and in the private dwellings of
Judean villages, and in the highways and groves of the
Holy Land ; vrith no other dome but that of Heaven's
canopy, and no other priest but an unseen though
spu'itually present Jesus, and no other sacrifices but
those of a broken and contrite spirit, and no other
incense but that of ardent prayer to God. I am sure
you have been often struck with the rigid simplicity
of the apostolic ritual, as compared with the gorgeous-
ness of the Levitioal, which, glorious as it was, may be
said to have had no glory by reason of the excelling
glory of Christianity. The glory of the Christian
system is not derived from its dazzling paraphernalia of
gold and gems, or from its imposing ceremonial, but •
from its essential spirituality and its chaste simpUcity.
There is less of art in Christianity, and more of nature,
less of matter and more of Ufe. Between the Jewish
and Christian dispensations there is just the difference
which exists between a gorgeous temple with its fluted
columns, its rich capitals, its jutting- architraves, its
elaborated entablature, its bold cornices, its noble
portico, its magnificent vestibule, its outer court, its
inner sanctuary, its robed priest?, its bedecked altars,
its imposing ritual, its awe-struck worshippers — and a
simple grove, nature's un artificial temple, with its mossy
pavement, and its trees rising like columns, their over-
banging foliage forming a canopy that admits whUe it

THE CHRISTIAN SACRAMENTS. 303
subdues the Ught of heavep, and its simple minded
worshippers, sometunes prostrate, at other times daring
to lift their eyes toward heaven, sometimes ofiering a
prayer for mercy, at others sending up a note of praise,
and at otiiers again bending, like tiie cherubim, over
the dirine law; exclaiming, "the Lord is in this place
and we knew it n(5t. How dreadful is this place, this
is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate
of Heaven."
Who that has studied the history of the Christian
Church does not kno-vv, that from a very early period
in her history, there was manifested a proneness to
wander away fi-om the sinapUcity of the apostoUc age ?
As the church became numerous, wealthy, and influen
tial, the upper room, the highway, the grove were
abandoned ; the rigid plainness of the first Christians
was thought unsuitable to this altered position of the
circumstances of the church. Large and expensive
structures were erected, robes of office inta'oduced,
mitres were employed to adorn the heads of the sue-.
eessors of plain fishermen, and sceptres of authority
were put into their hands ; rivers and brooks were no
longer the scenes of Christian baptism, these were re
placed by fonts of sculptured marble ; the breaking of
bread and drinking of vrine in commemoration of the
blessed Saviour's death and passion, gradually assumed
the distinction of a sacrifice, which was offered by
bedizened priests in more than the pomp and splendours
of the* Jewish day of atonement ; the ministers of the
church no longer content with the designation elder
- and bishop, became priests and archbishops and pon-

304 LECTURE VIII.
tiffs ; no longer were thgy servants but vicars C5f
Christ ; and then poUtioal authority was usurped,
kings were dethroned, persecution was fostered, and
cruelties were practised, which have given to the
church, aye the Christian Church, the unenriable dis
tinction of creating the gloom of the world's dark ages.
These facts have forced themselves on my attention
during this whole investigation, especiaUy in examining
the subject which I am tg bring before you this evening :
" The Christian Sacraments.". The words which I have
selected for a text you may find in the Gospel according
to Saint Matthew, the fifteenth chapter at the ninth
verse. It is thus rendered in the Douay Bible : —
" And in vain do they worship me teaching doc
trines AND commandments OF MEN."
This is the tendency of human nature, to depart from
the written law of God by superadding to it. The
Scribes and the Pharisees did so ; and the Great
Teacher reproves them in this chapter. The teachers
of the Christian Church have followed in their wake,
adding, as we shall now prove, traditional prescriptions
to the written Christian law.
I. The first thing- which we have this evening to
determine is, " What is a Sacrament ?"
There is no word in the Greek New Testament which
could be rendered sacrament in the sense in which it is
now • almost universally understood in the Christian
Church. The' Greek word which the Vulgate some
times renders sacramcntum is fivarripiov which* is the
same word as the Latin mysterium, . and the English
mysteiy, and means something secret, covered, hidden,

the christian SACRAMENTS. 305
concealed. This word i^varfipWv oocura twenty-seven-
times in the New Testament, and it is worthy of remark
that the Vulgate, while in nineteen instances it translates
it by mysterium, only renders it by sacramcntum eight
times; in the following passages, among others: 1.
Timothy iU. 1 6, " Great is the mystery (sacramcntum)
of godliness." Col. i. 27. "To whom God would make
' known the riches of the glory of this mystery (sacra-
mentum) which is Christ in you the hope of glory."
Apoc. xvii. 7. " I wUl tell thee the mystery (sacramcn
tum) of the woman and of the beast which carrieth her
which had the seven heads and ten "horns." It is still
more worthy of remark that the Rhemish Translators
in what is usually caUed the Douay Testament, and
which is a translation from the Vulgate, out of the
eight instances in which the word sacramcntum occurs
in the Vulgate, render it only once by sacrament,
preferring in the other seven to retain the Greek word
mystery. It is clear, therefore, that the translators of
both the Vulgate and Douay versions understood the
Latin sacramcntum to be very generally used in the
sense of mystery. Literally the Latin word means that
particular form by which a, person binds himself to
discharge a duty or to fulfil a promise. It thus signifies
in classical authors, a bond or oath ; and it is employed
to signify especially a military oath.
The Fathers frequently used the word in the sense of
mystery, and also with great latitude. They sometimes
called the Christian religion a sacrament ; the Trinity
was a sacrament ; and it is perhaps to be regi-etted that
a word which neither occurs in Scripture in the sense in

306 LECTURE VIII.
which it is now understood, nor has any representative
there, should have been adopted by the Christian
Church with so restricted a meaning. But, since it has
been adopted and defined by the Church generally, we
must deal vrith it accordingly. Let us then examine
the Protestant and Roman Catholic definitions of a
Sacrament. In the xxvth Article of the Church of England it is
said, " Sacraments ordained of Christ be not only
badges or tokens of Christian men's profession, but
rather they be certain sure witnesses, and effectual signs
of grace, and God's good wiU towards us, by the which
he doth work invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken,
but also strengthen and confirm our Faith in him." In
the Catechism of the same Church, I read : " Ques.
What meanest thou by this word Sacrament ? Ans.
I mean an outward and risible sign of an inward and
.spiritual grace given unto us, ordained by Christ him
self, as a means whereby we receive the same, and a
pledge to assure us thereof Ques. How many parts
are there in a Sacrament ? Ans. Two : the outward
visible sign, and the inward spiritual grace." In the
Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter xxvi., a
Sacrament is thus defined : " I. Sacraments are holy signs
and seals of the covenant of grace, immediately institu
ted by God, to represent Christ and his benefits, and to
confirm our interest in him ; as also to put a risible
difference between those that belong unto ' the church
and the rest of the world ; and solemnly to engage them
to the serrice of God in Christ, according to his word.
II. There is in eveiy sacrament a spUitual relation, or

THE CHRISTIAN SACRAMENTS. 307
sacramental union, between the sign and the thing
signified ; whence it comes to pass, that the names and
effects of the one are attributed to the other. III. The
grace which is exhibited in or by the sacraments, rightly
used, is not conferred by any power in them ; neither
doth the efficacy of a sacrament depend upon the piety
or intention of him that doth administer it, but upon the
work of the Spirit, and the word of institution ; which
contains,, together vrith a precept authorising the use
thereof, a promise of benefit to worthy receiveis.'' And
in the larger Catechism I find the foUovring : — " Ques.
What is a sacrament ? Ans. A sacrament is an holy
ordinance instituted by Chiist in his church, to signify,
seal, and exhibit unto those that are vrithin the covenant
of grace, the benefits of his mediation ; to strengthen
and increase their faith, and all other graces ; to oblige
them to obecUence ; to testify and cherish their love and
communion one with another ; and to distinguish them
from those that are vrithout." In the larger Catechism
of the Wesleyan Methodist Church I find the foUowing,
which as you perceive is extracted from the Catechism
of the Church of England : — " Ques. "What mean you
by the word sacrament ? Ans. J mean by the word
sacrament an outward and visible sign of an inward
and spiritual grace, given unto us, ordained by Christ
himself, as a means whereby we receive the same, and
a pledge to assure us thereof." But, perhaps, the most
comprehensive Protestant definition of sacrament is that
which we find in the Heidleburg Catechism : " Sacra
ments are holy visible signs and seals ordained by God
for this end, that he may more fully declare and seal

308 LECTURE VIII,
by them the promise of his Gospel unto us ; to wit, that
not only unto all believers in general, but unto each of
them in particular, he freely giveth remission of sins and
Ufe eternal, upon the account of that only sacrifice of
Christ which he accomplished upon the cross."
Tm-n we now to the Roman Catholic, definition of a
Sacrament. The Catechism of the Council of Trent, part
U., section 10, declares that " a sacrament is a thing sub
ject to the senses, and possessing by the institution of God,
at once the power of signifying holiness and righteous
ness, and of imparting them to him who receives it"^
In, Bishop Butler's Catechism, page 45, we have the
foUowing definition ; — " Q. "What is a sacrament ?
A. A visible, that is, an outward sign or action, institu
ted by Christ, to giye grace. Q. Whence have the
Sacraments the power of giring grace ? A. From the
merits of Christ, which they apply to our souls. Rom.
vi. 14." The fourth and following Canons of the
seventh Session of the Council of Trent give further
Ught on the doctrines of the Church respecting the
sacraments : — " Whoever shall affirm, that the sacra
ments of the new law are not necessary to salva
tion, but superfluous ; or that men may obtain
the grace of justification by faith only, -vrithout
these sacraments, (although it is granted that they
are not all necessary to every individual :) let him
be accursed. Whoever shall affirm, that the sacra
ments were instituted solely for the purpose of strength
ening our faith : let him be accursed. "Whoever shall
affirm, that the sacraments of the new law do not
contain the grace which they signify ; or that they do

THE CHRISTIAN SACRAMENTS. 309
not confer that grace on those who place no obstacle in
its way ; as if they were only the external signs of grace
or righteousness received by faith, and marks of Cliijs-
tian profession, whereby the faithful are distinguished
from unbelievers : let him be accursed. Whoever shall
affirm, that grace is not always conferred by these
sacraments, and upon all persons, as far as God is con-
cei-ned, if they be rightly received ; but that it is only
bestowed sometimes, and on some persons : let him be
accm-sed. Whoever shall affirm, that grace is not con
ferred by these sacraments of the new law, by their own
power, \e.v opere operato ;] but that faith in the divine
promise is all that is necessary to obtain gi'ace : let him
be accm-sed."
There are some things, therefore, in which Protestants
and CathoUcs agree, — Firstly. They agree as to the
institution of the sacraments. It is of God. The
Catechism of the Council of Trent says ex Dei institu
tions — ^by the institution of God. Secondly. They
acknowledge that the sacraments are outward, signs of
spiritual graces. Thirdly. They concur in this also,
that there ought to be an agreement or fitness between
the sign and the thing- signified.
But there are two particulars chiefly involved in
the general doctrines of the Church of Rome respecting
the sacraments, against which the Reformed Churches
protest. The first relates to the inherent grace and
power which are said to reside in the sacraments.
The eighth Canon which we just now read, declares
that grace is conferred by the sacraments, of or by their
own power. The Catechism of the Council of Trent
o2

810 LECTURE VIII.
affirms that " in the sacraments the power of the
Omnipotent exists, effectuating that which 'the natural .
elements cannot of themselves accomplish." It is
difficult to determine what the Trentine Fathers meant
by these expressions, for the seventh Canon declares
that " grace is always conferred by these sacraments as
far as God is concerned, if they be rightly received"
which, seems to contradict the ojjinion that sacraments
confer grace by their own power. Roman Catholic
divines are not themselves agreed as to the meaning of
these conflicting Canons. Numerous opinions have
been maintained, which have given rise to fierce con
tentions ; indeed such is the obsoureness of the phrase-'
ology which the infallible council employed, that the
vrisest sons of the church have failed to make it clear,
at least to each other, if not even to themselves. On
one question, riz : " Whether the sacraments confer
grace morally or physically" the Roman Catholic
Church is divided into two gi'eat sects, the. Thomists
and the Scotists. The Thomists, who derive their
designation fi-om Thomas Aquinas, maintain, vrith their
leader, that the sacraments confer grace physically.
Peter Dens, and many other names of eminence, are
found in this school. The Scotists, so called from Duns,
a celebrated Scotch dirine, and therefore known as
Duns (ScoiMS, maintain the doctrine, that the sacraments
confer gi-ace morally. Amongst the adherents to this
opinion are Vasquez, Bonaventure, Richardus, and
others. The Thomists maintain, that " the sacraments possess
a physical causality, as the instruments of the Dirine

THE CHRISTIAN SACRAMENTS. 311
Omnipotence ; and truly and properly concur toward
¦the production of their effects in the mind, by a
supernatural virtue from the principal agent, - communi
cated to, aud united with it in the manner of a transient
action." The Scotists, on the other hand, teach "that
" the sacraments do not confer grace physically, but
morally ; that is, they do not produce grace as physical
causes do, but as moral causes, inasmuch as they
¦efficaciously move God to produce the grace which
they signify, and which God Himself promises infallibly
to give, as often as they are rightly administered, and
worthUy received. The Sacraments, as Sacraments,
are something moral, depending solely on the institution
of Chi-Kt, from which, and from the merits of Christ,
they possess their entire force and efficacy of consola
tion, so that then- manner of operation is not physical,
but moral." — Ferraris Bib.
Such are the conflicting riews which exist in the
Church of Rome herself, - respecting sacramental
efficacy. Here is a substantial difference on an
important doctrine. Can our Roman Catholic friends
therefoi-e, be surprised if Protestants ask them where,
in this case, is their boasted unity ? K, concerning a
•doctrine of so much moment, there is serious disagree
ment between Roman Catholic Cardinals and Doctors,
why is not the infallibility of the Church brought into
requisition to settle this important difference, and to
allay the minds of her obedient children ? We hear
that the Church is the great exponent of Christian
doctiine ; it is often urged against Protestants that
they have no authority to settie points of doctrinal

312 lecture VIII.
dispute, because they are destitute of that main attribute
of the Church — infallibility ! Now, I think, we have
good ground for asking, why one of these adverse sects
has not been set right? and why the unity of the
Roman CathoUc Church has not been restored ?
But where, in the Word of God, is the authority for '
this doctrine of salvation by the Sacraments ? I read
that " he who believeth and is baptized shall be saved."
I read, " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou
shalt be saved." I read " Neither circumcision availeth
anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.'' I
find then that faith is necessary to salvation, but I do
not find that the sacraments are necessary to salvation.
The damning sin "of the soul is unbelief; for, said
Christ, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be
saved ; but he that believeth not shall be damned."
He does not say he that is not baptized shall be
damned. And yet the Council of Trent anathematizes
all those who declare that a man may obtain the grace
of justification vrithout these sacraments. Then Saints.
Ambrose, Cyril, and Augustine are anathematized, at
least as to theu- memories and doctrines. We have
only time to quote fi-om Cyril, who, so far from believ
ing in the opus operatum of the sacraments, expressly
declares in his first Catechisiti, that " Regeneration is
AN EFFECT OF THE FAITH OF HIM THAT IS BAPTIZED."
The SECOND branch or section of Roman Catholic
sacramental doctrines, against which the Reformed
Churches protest, is the doctrine of ministerial intention
as necessai'y to the efficacy of the sacraments.
I might occupy the whole evening in exhibiting to

THE CHRISTIAN SACRAMENTS. 313
you the various phases of this doctrine which are pre
sented to the mind of an inquirer in authorized Roman
Catholic writers.
The Council of Trent, in the eleventh Canon, Session
vii., makes the following declaration : — " Whoever shall
affirm, that when ministers perform and confer a sacra
ment, it is not necessary that they should at least
have the intention to do what the church does : let him
be accursed."
" Representing, as he does, in the discharge of his
sacred functions, not his own, but the person of Christ,
the minister of the sacraments, be he good or bad,
validly consecrates and confers the sacraments, prorided
he make use of the matter and form instituted by
Christ, and always observed in the Catholic church,
and intends to do what the church does in their admi
nistration." — Catechism, p. 150.
There was offered in the Council great opposition to
the introduction of this canon, especially by Catharinus,
Bishop of Minori. This we have on the authority of
Father Paul Sarpi, in his history of the Council, who,
in his second book, furnishes a minute account of the
arguments used by Catharin against the doctrine : —
" Here, Catharin, Bishop of Minori, proposed a
memorable thing, and which was judged by all, worthy
of due consideration, and very weighty, viz : he said,
that as to the Lutherans, who attribute no other virtue
to the sacraments, but that of exciting faith, which may
be awakened by other means, the receiving of the true
sacrament is of small importance ; wherefore, also they
say, that it is not necessary, and yet they hold it to be

Si4 LECTURE VllI.
an absurd thing, that the malice of a wicked Minister,
who hath no intention to confer the true sacrament, can
be any prejudice,, because we are to regard what the
believer receives, and not what the Minister gives him.
But as for the Catholics who attribute to the sacrament,
the virtue of conferring grace, it is of very great moment,
that they be assured of their receiving the true and
, efficacious sacrament, for as much as it very rarely
happens' that grace is obtained by any other means.
And certainly, little children and distracted persons do
not receive grace by any other means. And certainly,
the common people have ordinarily so small and weak
a disposition, that without the sacraments it would
never be sufficient for the receiving of grace. Moreover,
those few persons that are as rare as Phcsnix's, which '
have a perfect disposition, do, nothwithstanding, receive
a greater degree of grace by the sacrament. If it should
happen, that a Priest that hath the charge of four or
five thousand souls, should be an unbeliever, but withal
a great hypocrite, and that in the absolution of peni
tents, at the baptism of little children, and consecration
of the Eucharist, he should have a secret intention not
to do what the Church doth, we must conclude the
little children damned, the penitents unabsolved, and all
deprived of the fruits of the holy communion ! And, it
avails nothing to say here, that faith supplies that
defect, because that cannot be true iu infants, aud in
othei's it cannot, according to the Catholic doctrine, do
the effect of the sacrament ; and if it can, in case of the
Minister's wickedness, forasmuch as the same may be
constant and perpetual, why might it not do the same

THE CHRISTIAN SACRAMENTS. 316
always. Besides, that the assigning so great a virtue
to faith, is to take away that of the sacraments, and .to
fall into the opinions of the Lutherans.
" He offered it also to their consideration how great
would be the affliction and anguish of a tender father
for his child at the point of death, if he should have
any doubt concerning the intention of the Priest that
baptizeth it ; likewise, in what anxiety would a
Catechumen be, who finding in himself only a small
and very imperfect disposition, and, notwithstanding
presenting himself to receive baptism, should he come
to doubt whether the Priest might not be a false
Christian, and have no intention at all of baptizing him,
but only to dip or wash him in jest or sport ? That the
same thing might be considered in confession and
receiring the communion. And if it be said, proceeded "
Catharin, that these cases are veiy rare ; would to God
it were so indeed, and that in this corrupt age there
were not reason to suspect them but too frequent : But
suppose they be very rare, and that there were but one
.only, might it not so happen that this wicked Priest
might administer the true baptism without intention to
an infant, who, when grown to a man, might be made
a .Bishop over a great City, and Uve many years in
that charge, so that he hath ordained a great part of
the Priests ; it must be said, that he, being not baptized,
is not ordained, nor they ordained, who are promoted
by him. So, that by this means there would be in this
great city, neither the sacrament of the Eucharist nor of
Confession, which cannot be vrithout the true sacrament
of Holy Orders, nor that, without a true Bishop, nor a

316 LECTURE VIII.
Bishop duly ordained without baptism. Behold here,
how by. the wickedness of a Minister we find in one
sole act a mirUon of nullities of sacraments ; and who
would say, that in so great a number of nullities God
supplies aU by his Almightiness, and that by extraordi
nary remedies he provides for things of constant and
daily use ? We should much rather be persuaded he
hath already by his providence prorided, that such like
accidents cannot happen. And yet, said the Bishop,
God hath provided against aU inconveniences, having.
ordained that that should be a true sacrament, which
is administered with the ceremonies ordained by him,
though it may happen that the Minister may have
another intention. He added, moreover, that this was
not repugnant to the common doctrine of dirines, nor
to the determination of the Council of Florence, which
imports, that the intention of the Minister is required to
the sacrament ; because that is to be understood not of
the internal intention, but of that which manifests itself
in the outward work, though inwardly he might have
a contrary intention." And that thus all those incon
veniences are avoided, which woidd otherwise be
innumerable.'' " Intention," says Dens, " is the act of the wiU refer
ring to an end : whence the necessary intention in the
minister, consists in the act of his will, whereby he wills
the external act of the sacrament, under the pi-ofession
of doing what the church does." He then distinguishes
intention into actual, virtual, habitual, and. interpre
tative ; and tells us that an habitual intention is not
sufficient to the perfecting of a sacrament, nor an inter-

THE CHRISTIAN SACRAMENTS. .317
pretative intention ; that an actual intention suffices ,
because it is the best, but that a virtual intention may
and does suffice.
Dens gives also the following cases, amongst others,
in explanation : "A general implied and confused inten
tion is enough, when it sufficiently determines to do
those thing-s externally which belong to the sacramental
action. Hence, St. Thomas says, " Although he who
does not believe baptism to be a sacrament, or to have
any spiritiial rirtue, does not intend, v^'hile he baptizes to
confer a sacrament, nevertheless, intending- at the same
time to do what the church does, though he may con
sider that to be nothing ; and because the church does
something so of consequence, he intends to do the same
Obscurely but not explicitly. Li like manner, it . is not
required that the minister should explicitly do what the
Church of Rome does." Again, quoting from St
Thomas, he says : " K a priest intend to baptize a
certain female to abuse hei-, or, if he intend to make
the body of Christ that he may use it in order to
poison .... the perversity of such an inten
tion does not destroy the verity of the institution, but
the minister sins grievously by such an intention."
The Roman missal has the following deliverance
respecting the doctrine of intention ; "1. If any priest
does not intend or design to complete the sacrament,
or to transubstantiate, 2. In Uke manner, if any hosts
from forgetfulness remain upon the altar, 3. If any
part of the wine or any hosts lie cc)ncealed, where he
only intends to consecrate those he sees, 4. Likewise,
if the priest has before him eleven hosts, and intends to

818 LECTURE VIII.
consecrate only ten, not determining which ten, in these
cases he does not consecrate, that is, no transubstantia
tion takes place, because his intention is wanting."
It is time to ask our Roman Catholic friends whether
they have sufficiently weighed the force, and the possible
consequences to themselves, of this marvellous doctrine.
Whatever you make of the doctrine of priestly inten
tion, you must suppose it possible that, under certain
circumstances the necessary intention may be wanting ;
and further, that these circumstances may have existed
in your own case. How do you know that the last
absolution which you received was not vrithout inten
tion ? Are you certain that the last time you adored
the host it was not a host at all, but a mere wafer,
because of defect of intention on the part of the conse
crating priest? How know you that the priest who
baptized you, intended to do what the church intends ?
How do you know that the Bishop who confirmed you,
had the intention to do so ; or if he .'had, are you
sure that he was truly baptized, or ordained, or conse
crated ? Is it not possible that some flaw of intention
might have nullified one of the sacraments which he
received, so as that he is no Bishop at aU ? Is it not
possible that some centuries ago, in the line from which
the priest who last absolved you has apostoUcally
descended, there may have been some flaw through
want of intention ? Where is the certainty of your
salvation? You are removed from the rock Christ,
who always intends to save, and the church places you
on the insecure and dangerous quicksands of priestly
- intention. No one who is not riglilly baptized can.

THB CHRISTIAN SACRAMENTS. 319
according to the doctrine of the Church of Rome be
saved ; and yet you have no certainty of true baptism.
He who adores an unconsecrated wafer is guilty of
idolatry, (according- to the doctrine of the church,)
and yet you are not sure but that many of the hosts
before which you have prostrated yourselves wore ^m-
duly consecrated. On your own principles you ought
not to bow down before the sacred wafer without being
sui-e of its transubstantiation, and yet you never have,
and never can have this assurance ! As it respects also
your dying and departed friends, what certainty have
you that the sacrament of extreme unction was duly
administered, or that the masses which are now said
for the removal of their souls fi-om purgatory, supposing
true masses to be prevalent, are said vrith im intention to
do what the Church does ? How different this fi-om the
simplicity of the Gospel, which suspends not the salvation
of a sinner upon the wUl or intention of a priest, or
any other mortal, but which says, " BeUeve in the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." How far
St. ChrysostoUi was from entertaining this notion of
priestly intention may be learned from his eighty-fifth
Homily upon John, in which he says, "I do not only
assert that the priests, but that an angel of God can do
nothing in things that are given by God. It is the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that order aU things ; for
the Priest, he only lends his tongue and hand." Listen
also to St. Augustine in his eightieth Homily on St
John's Gospel, (vol. ii, p. 827) : " Now ye are clean
because of the Word which I have spoken unto you.
Why saith he not. Are clean because of the baptism

320 LECTURE VIII.
wherewith ye are washed — ^but because in the water
also it is the word that cleanseth. Whence hath water
this so great rirtue to touch the body, and wash the
heart, but, by the Word doing it, not because it is
spoken, but because it is believed." This does not
say much for the doctrine of priestly intention. What
can Roman Catholics say of the antiquity and
apostoUcity of their doctrines in face of the fact that
the doctrine against which we now protest, was first
broached before a Council in 1414,. — the CouncU of
Constance ? It accords not with the genius of
Christianity, nor vrith the universal benevolence of the
Gospel, nor •wiQi the freedom of indiridual man, nor
with either God's justice or God's love to make the
salvation ofi-hundreds and of thousands dependent on
the intention of a single man.
II. We have Uow to determine the number of
THOSE rites of CHRISTIANITY WHICH, IN THB SENSE
BEFORE STATED, MAY BE DENOMINATED SaORAMENIS.
The Reformed Churches acknowledge two, and but
. two : Baptism and the Lord's Supper.
The Roman CathoUc Church also acknowledges these
to be Sacraments, but adds five others to them, viz : —
Confirmation, Penance, Extreme Unction, Orders,
and Matrimont.
1. We have not then to discuss the question, whether
Baptism and the Holy Eucharist are Sacraments. To
this, both Protestants and Catholics assent. It may be
well, however, to give, in brief, the leading views
respecting these Sacraments of each community, and
then to state the grounds of protest, if any, which exist

THE CHRISTIAN SACRAMENTS. 321
in the standards of the Roman Catholic Church, con
cerning the doctrines involved iu them, or the ceremonies
practised in their jidministration.
First, then, as to Baptism. I kno-w not that I can -
more fully present the Protestant riew of this sacra
mental rite than by reading the twenty-eighth Chapter
of the Westminster Confession ; — " Baptism is a sacra
ment of the new Testament, ordained b}' Jesus Christ,
not only for the solemn admission of the party baptized
into the visible church, but also to be unto him a sign
and seal of the covenant of grace, of bis ingrafting
into Christ, of regeneration, of remission of sins, and
of his giring- up unto God through Jesus Christ, to
walk in newness of life : vvhich sacrament is, by Christ's
own appointment, to be continued in his church until
the end of the world. The outward element to be used
in this sacrament is water, wherewith the party is to be
baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost, by a minister of the gospel,
lawftdly called thereunto. Dipping of the person into
the water is not necessary; but baptism is rightly
administered by pouring or sprinkling water upon the
person. Not only those who do actually profess faith
in and obedience unto Christ, but also the infants of
one or both believing parents are to be baptized.
Although it be a great sin to contemn or neglect this
ordinance, yet grace and salvation are not so insepar--
ably annexed unto it, as that no person can be regene
rated or saved without it, or that all that are baptized
are undoubtedly regenerated."
The Roman CathoUc riew is thus defined and explain-

322 LECTURE VIII.
ed by the CouncU of Florence : — " Holy baptism pos
sesses the first place among t^ie sacraments, because
it is the door of spiritual life : for by it we become
members of Christ, and of the body of the Church.
And since by the first man death hath entered into tho"
world, we cannot (as saith the truth) enter into the
kingdom of heaven, unless we are born again of water
and the Holy Spirit. The matter of this sacrament is
true natural water; nor is it any difference whether
cold or hot. But the form is : 'I baptize thee in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost' Nor do we deny but that also by these words,
' Let this servant of Christ be baptized in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,' or
' This person is baptized by my hands, in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,'
true baptism is effected ; the principal cause from which
baptism hath its rirtue being the holy Trinity ; and the
officiating Minister, if the act is expressed, and exercis
ed by him with the invocation of the holy Trinity,
perfects the sacrament. The Minister of this sacrament
is a Priest, to whose office it belongs to baptize. But
in case of -necessity, not only a Priest or Deacon, but
also a layman or woman, nay, even a Pagan or heretic,
can baptize, while he observes the form of the Church,
and intends to do what the Church doeth. The effect
of this sacrament is the remission of all original and
actual guilt; also of all punishment which is due for
any guilt. Besides, to the baptized there is no satisfac
tion enjoined for past sins ; but these who die before
they commit any sin arrive immediately in the kingdom
of heaven and to the rision of God."

THE CHRISTIAN SACRAMENTS. 823
You observe fi-om these extracts that there are
several points of agreement between the two communi
ties. The matter of baptism is the same, the form is
the same, " I baptize thee, itc," there is also an agreement
as to-the sign, and as to the thing signified. More than
this, the Church of Rome acknowledges that Protest
ants have this sacrament in its integrity : " Whoever
shall affirm that baptism Avhen administered by heretics
(i. e. by Protestants) in the name of the Father, of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost, vrith the intention to do
what the Church does, is not true baptism, let him be
accursed." The chief point of disagreement is that which relates
to the effect of Baptism in the justification and regene
ration of the recipient This question has been
discussed at so great length already, not only this even
ing in our remarks on sacramental efficacy generally,
but also and chiefly in the lectures on justification and
regeneration, that I need not repeat the discussion here.
I must, notwithstanding, mention two particulars before
I go on to the consideration of the Eucharist : —
One relates to the case of unbaptized infants. The
Church of Rome, in the Catechism of the Council of
Trent, teaches that without baptism children are born
to eternal misery and everlasting destruction ; that bap
tism alone can impart that righteousness and those
graces which wUl give them a title to reign in eternal
life ; that infants, unless baptized, can not enter heaven.
How opposed this to the principles of that dirine
government which is carried on through our mediator,
Christ Jesus! From this doctrine of the Church of

324 LECTURE VIII.
Rome, it foUows, that thousands and miUions of infants
die eternally, not from their own, but fi-om others'
neglect. How opposed to the express declaration of
Scripture ! for I read iu the Douay Bible, Mat. xviu. 3 :
" Amen, I say unto you, unless you be converted and.
become as little children you shall not enter into the
kingdom'^of heaven." I read again in Mark x. 14, that
Jesus said : " Suffer the little children to come unto me
and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of
God." The other particular relates to the ceremonies which
'the Roman Catholic Church has added to the simple
method which the Apostles employed in the ministra
tion of baptism.
These ceremonies are threefold :
j(l.) The first are those which precede the approach
to the baptismal font. The blessing of the baptismal-
waters. This is done only on the eve of Easter or of
Pentecost, unless in cases of necessity. A lighted torch
is put into the font to represent the fire of Dirine love
which is communicated to the soul by baptism ; and the
light of good example which aU who are baptized ought
to give. Holy oU and chrism are mixed vrith the water
to represent the spu-itual union of the soul vrith God
by the grace received in baptism. Then comes the
presentation of the candidate at the church door, who is
forbidden to enter, as unworthy to be admitted to the
house of God until he has cast off the yoke of Satan.
If it be an adult. Catechetical instruction is admin
istered. The next ceremony is denominated the exorcism,
which consists of sacred words and prayers for the

THE CHRISTIAN SACRAMENTS. 325
purpose of expelling the deril from the candidate, and
of insuffiation, or breathing upon him with the words,
" Depart from me thou unclean spirit and give place to
the Holy Ghost, tlie Comforter." The Priest then^a^s
a little blessed salt into the rnouth, saying, " Receive the
salt of wisdom : in.ay it be unto thee" a propitiation
unto life everlasting." Then ike, forehead, eyes, breast,
and shoulders, and ears are signed with the sign of tlie^
cross ; and lastly, another exorcism is recited, the priest
touching with a little spittle the ears and nostrUs of the
person to be baptized, and saying, " Ephphatha, i. e.,
be thou opened into an odour of sweetness ; but be thoii
put to flight, 0 d'evil, for the judgment of God wUl be
at hand." This completes the preparatory ceremonial.
(2.) Those rites which are discharged at the font are,
first, the renunciation, when affirmative answers are
given to the questions. " Hast thou renounced Satan ?
and all his works ? and aU his pdinps?" Then the indi
ridual is anointed v,'ith holy oil on the breast, and
between the shoulders, during- which the Priest says,
" I anoint thee with the oU of salvation in Christ Jesus
onr Lord, that thou mayest have Ufe everlasting." He
is then interrogated respecting the several articles of the
Creed and is baptized in the name of the blessed
Trinity. (3.) There are also the ceremonies which follow the ad
ministration of baptism. The priest anoints with chrism
the crown of the head, to s'uow that the recipient of
baptism is united to Christ his Head, and ingrafted on
his body. Then a white garment is put upon the bap
tized person, the Priest saying, " Receive this garment

826 LECTURE VIII.
which mayest thou carry unstained before the judgment
seat of Christ, that thou mayest have eternal Ufe. Amen."
In the case of infants, a white kerchief is substituted for
the garment. A burning light is then put into the
hand as an emblem of the light of a good example.
I have been thus particular in the description of
these rites because they constitute so striking a com
mentary upon the language of my text, " teaching
doctrines and commandments of men." Where is
prescribed in the Gospel such a ceremonial as this ?
What Bishop consecrated the . water in which the
Eunuch was baptized? Can any man forbid water
said Peter, that these should not be baptized? but he
does not mention salt, or oil, or chrism. Oh ! it is a
grave departure from the simpUcity of the Gospel on
the part of our friends of the Church of Rome, that
such rites as these should be practised ; and who can
calculate the amount of injury which they engender, by
drawing off the minds of the people from the spiritual
character of the sacrament, to the merely outward, show
and form ?
Second, The Lord's Supper, or Eucharist, is the
other sacrament which the Protestant Chm-ches
acknowledge and celebrate in common with the Church
of Rome.
The Protestant view of this sacrament is so clearly
expressed in the Larger Catechism of the Church of
Scotland, that I shall meiely quote frc->m it : —
Q. What is the Lord's Supper ?
A. The Lord's Supper is a sacrament of the New
Testament wherein, by giring and receiring bread and

THE CHRISTIAN SACRAMENTS. 327
wine according to the appointment of Jesus Christ, his
death is shewed forth ; and they that worthily commu
nicate feed upon his body and blood, to their spiritual
nourishment and growth in grace ; have their union
and communion with him confirmed ; testify and renew
their thankfulness, and engagement to God, and their
mutual love and fellowship each with other, as members
of the same mystical body.
Q. How hath Christ appointed bread and wine to be
given and received in the sacrament of the Lord's
supper ?
A. Christ hath appointed the ministers of his word,
in the administration of this sacrament of the Lord's
supper, to set apart the bread and wine from common
use, by the word of institution, thanksgiring, and
-prayer ; to take and break the bread, and to give both
the bread and the wine to the communicants : who are,
by the same appointment, to take and eat the bread,
and to drink the vrine, in thankful remembrance that
the body of Christ was broken and given, and his blood
shed, for them.
Q. How do they that worthUy communicate in the
Lord's supper feed upon the body and blood of Christ
therein ?
A. As the body and blood of Christ are not corpo-
, rally or camally present in, with, or under the bread
and wine in the Lord's supper, and yet are spiritually
present^to the, faith of the. receiver, no less truly and
really than the elements themselves are to their outward
senses ; so they that worthily communicate in the
sacrament of the Lord's supper, do therein feed upon

328 LECTURE VIII.
the body and blood of Christ, not after a corporal and
carnal, b-at in a spiritual manner ; yet truly and really,
while by faith they receive and apply unto themselves
Christ crucified, and all the benefits of his death.
Q. How are they that receive the sacrament of the
Lord's supper to prepare themselves before they come
unto it ?
A. They that receive the Sacrament of the Lord's
supper are, before they come, to prepare themselves
theueunto, by examining themselves of their being in
Christ, of their sins and wants ; of the truth aud
measure of their knowledge, faith, repentance ; love to
God and the brethren, charity to all men, forgiving
those that have done them wrong ; of their desires after
Christ, and of their new obedience ; and by renewing
the exercise of these graces, by serious meditation, and
fervent prayer.
The Roman Catholic view of this sacrament is found
in the Canons of the Council of Trent : " Whoever shall
deny, that in the most holy sacrament of the eucharist
there are truly, really, and substantially contained the
body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, together with
his soul and divinity, and consequently Christ entire ;
but shall affirm that he is present therein only in a sign
or figure, or by his power : let him be accursed.
" Whoever shall affirm, that Christ, the only, begotten
Son of God, is not to be adored in the holy eucharist
with the external signs of that worship which is due to
God ; and therefore that the eucharist is not to be
honoured with extraordinary festive celebration, nor
solemnly carried about in processions, according to the

THE CHRISTIAN SACRAMENTS. 329
laudable and uuivei-sal rites and customs of holy church,
nor pubUcly presented to the people for their adoration ;
and that those who worship the same are idolaters : let
him be accursed.
"Whoev-er shall affii-m, that aU and every one of
Christ's faithful are bound by divine command to
receive the most holy sacrament of the eucharist in both
kinds, as necessary to salvation : let him be accursed.
" Whoever shall affirm, that a true and proper sacri
fice is not offered to God in the mass ; or that the
ofiering is nothing else than giring Chi-ist to us to eat :
let him be accursed."
There are in the doctrines and practices thus set forth
by the CouncU of Trent, four things against which the
Refoi-med churches most solemnly protest; Transub
stantiation, The Sacrifice of the Mass, The adoration of
the Host, and. Communion in one kind.
The two first of these, Transubstantiation and the
Sacrifice of the ilass, were discussed at great length in
the Lecture on " the one Sacrifice for sin," and the
Reformed Protest incontestably maintained, on the
authority of both Scripture and the early Fathers. But,
against the present doctrines of the Church of Rome as
to' fransubstantiation and the sacrifice of the Mass, I
wish to present one additional proof from antiquity. It
is from the liturgy of St. Basil. I beg your particular
attention to it because it demonstrates that the Roman
CathoUc Church has departed from both, the doctrines
and the practices of antiquity. After the words of
consecration by the priest, St. Baril caUs the elements
" ra avTLTVTra rov 6.yiov trufiaroQ Kai alfiaroc rov

330- LECTURE VIII.
Xpurrou." — the antitypes of the holy body and blood of
Christ How could he have called them antitypes after
-consecration, if he believed the Roman Catholic theory,
which indeed obliges all its followers to call them the
veritable body, soul and dirinity of the blessed Saviour ?
It is impossible to conceive that this was his belief.
But let us follow him in his prayer : " May the spirit
come upon us and upon the gifts proposed, to bless and
sanctify them, and to make this blood the veritable
body of our Lord and Sariour Jesus Christ, and this
cup his blood, the Spirit working the change." — A
prayer which, after consecration of the bread and wine,
would be utterly inconsistent in the mouth of a Catholic
priest in Ihe present day.
The elevation and adoration of the host is another
thing against which Protestants remonstrate ; a practice
which stands or falls with the doctrine of transubstantia
tion. We remark, (1.) because there is no ground for
this doctrine of transubstantiation, either in the scriptures
or in the early fathers of the church, as was proved in
the former lecture, we are therefore bound to protest
against it as both unscriptural and idolatrous. But
independently of this we protest against it, (2.) Be
cause it was not the practice of the Apostles as recorded
in the Word of God. If our Catholic friends say that
they have warrant for it in scripture, the onus probandi
is upon them, they must prove that it is so, and not we
that it is not. We protest against it, (3.) Because it
is opposed to the practice of the ancient church after
the apostolic age. The first command which the
church received for the elevation and adoration of tha

THE CHRISTIAN SACRAMENTS. 331
host, was in the year 1216, the year foUowing that in
which the Lateran Council was held, when Pope
Honorius ordered that the priests, at a certain part of
the service of the mass, should elevate the host and
Clause the people to prostrate themselves in worshipping
it We challenge our Roman Catholic friends to pro
duce higher or more ancient authority for this practice,
in the Church generally, than the early paa-t of the
thirteenth century. And yet the Church of Rome, as
to both doctrines and practices, lays claim to apostoUcity
and antiquity !
With equal earnestness we protest against the practice
of half-communion, i. e., vrithholding the cup from the
laity. That there is no scriptural warrant for such a practice
is evident frbm the words of Christ, " Drink ye all of
this." But it has been argued that the Apostles were
clergymen, and that therefore these words of Christ are
not to be taken in proof that the laity are entitled to
drink of the cup. But those who reason thus forget
that the same argument would deprive the laity of the
bread also. Besides, in the Roman Catholic chureh, no
one receives the cup but the officiating priest, the
Bishops, if they are present, receive but in one kind : —
the Pope, if he is dying, receives but in one kind ; if then
this be the scriptural practice, the Sariour ought to
have vrithheld the cup from the disciples. But both the
CouncU of Constance and the Council of Trent, acknow
ledge that communion in both kinds was the ancient
practice of the church, and give as the reason for the
change, the avoidance of certain dangers and scandals.

S33 LECTURE VIII.
I ask, was there not the same exposure to dangers and
scandals in the age of the Apostles as in the year 1214 ? ¦
How is it that the blessed Saviour and the inspired
Apostles did not foresee those dangers and Scandals which
arise from giving the cup to the laity ? How ? Because
they did not believe the doctrine of transubstantiation.
Well had it been for these Councils had they rememberecJ
the words of St. Ambrose, who in his commentary upon
1 Corinthians, xi., says : " It is an insult to the Lord to
celebrate the sacrament otherwise than he did. For he
cannot be devout who presumes to give it in any other-
way than as it was given by its author."
It is worthy of remark here, that Pope Leo, in the-
year 443, excommunicated the Manicheans, who, on the
plea of their abhorring wine, refused the sacramental .
cup ; he also termed their practice, " sacrilegious dis
simulation." And in 495, Pope Gelasius used stUl
stronger language respecting these same Manicheans,
enjoining the entire observance or the entire relinquish-
" ment of the institution, and adding these words, " the
cUvisiou of one and the same mystery cannot be effected
without great sacrilege." On the authority, therefore, of
Pope Gelasius, the two Councils of Lateran and Trent
are guilty of great sacrilege.
2. We have now to speak of those five rites which
the Church of Rome has exalted to the dignity of
sacraments, viz : Confirmation, Penance, Extreme Unc
tion, Orders, and Matrimony. The following is the
Canon of the Council of Trent on this subject " Who
ever shall affirm that the sacraments of the new law
were not all instituted by Christ, or that they were more

THE CHRISTIAN SACRAMENTS. 333
or fewer than seven, namely : Baptism, Confirmation,
the Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Orders, and
Matrimony ; or that any of these is not truly and pro
perly a sacrament, let him be accursed."
Cardinal Bellarmine, in his Treatise on the sacra
ments, book ii. sec. 25, says: — "All our dirines and
the whole church, for five hundred years, viz. : from the
time of the Master of the sentences, have agi-eed in the
number of the seven sacraments." See how completely
this celebrated defender of the Church of Rome mani
fests the weakness of his cause, by acknowledging that
he could not trace the antiquity of this belief in seven
sacraments higher than one thousand years after the
age of the Apostles ? What matters it, that the Church
for five centuries, avowed this beUef, if it should not
avow it for t'ne other ten ? And what becomes of the
infaUibility of the Clrai-ch, if for ten centuries she allowed
her chUdren to be ignorant of the fact that Jesus Christ
(as says the Trentine Councjil) instituted seven instru
ments of grace, v, liereas they only rec;ognized two ¦ or
three of them ? The Church, therefore, has not even the
eridence of Catholic tradition in support of her present
belief on this subject. St. Isidore, Bishop of SevUle,
who lived in the beginning of the seventh century,
writing a work on the Offices of the Chm-ch, in which
he necessarily treats of the sacraments, names only
Baptism, Chrism or Confirmation, and the Eucharist ;
and he tells us " they are therefore called sacraments,
because, under the covering of corporal things, a secret
and invisible rirtue is conveyed to the partakers of
them."
p2

334 LECTullE VIII.
It is not, be it remembered, pleaded by Protestants
that these rites did not exist in the Christian Church
before the tenth century, but it is contended that they
were not all regarded as sacraments, even in the sense in
which the Church of Rome defines a sacrament. Yet
the Catechism of the Council of Trent ventures the
assertion, that these seven sacraments can be proved
from Scripture, though it does not vouchsafe the -pas
sages or texts. Peter Dens, however, in his Theology,
has the following : " The number seven is also insinuated
in various places of scripture. Thus, in Prov. ix., it is
said, " Wisdom, which is Christ, hath built her house,
i. e. the Church, and hath cut out her seven pillars, to
wit, the seven sacraments, which as so many pillars,
sustain the Church." Thus, in like manner, in Exod.
XXV. by the seven lights, which were in one candlestick,
this is insinuated : for the seven sacraments are, as it
were, so many lights which illuminate the church. In
the CouncU of Trent, for example, it was agreed that
seven is a perfect number, that since there are seven
days in the week, seven planets, seven excellent virtues,
sevendeadly sins, &c.,so there are seven sacraments."
Well may we exclaim in the language of the text, " Iir
VAIN do they worship ME TEACHING DOCTRINES AND
COMMANDMENTS OP MEN."
But let us briefly and singly examine the claims of
these five additional rites to the dignity of sacraments.
(1st.) As to Penance. The doctrines involved in
Penance, were discussed in a former lecture. As to its
being a sacrament, it seems difficult to impart to it such
a character or position. Two things says St. Augustine

the christian sacraments. 835
s,Te necessary to the matter of a sacrament; 1st. that it
he an external and sensible sign ; 2d. that there must be
¦a resemblance between the agn and the thing signified."
E. g. In baptism water is the sign, spiritual washing is
Ihe thing signified ; — in the Eucharist bread and wine
are the signs — the body and blood of Christ the things
signified. What sign, then, is there in penance?
What " corporeal thing," to use the language of St.
•Isidore, " covei-s the secret grace ?" How can conti-i-
tiou make up any part of the matter of asacrament, when
it is not external ? How can confession when it is no risible
sign ? How can satisfaction which may be done when
-the eflect of the sacrament is over in absolution ? It is
said that the grace of the sacrament is conveyed by
the words " Absolvo te, (tcP I absolve tube ; aiKl yet
the acknowledged doctrine of the Church is, that before
the pelritent goes into the .confessioBal, if he have oon-
trition, Godbas already absolved him, and that in this
¦case the priest does not absolve but makes a declarative
announcement cf what has taken place before. Bkiw
•then does this accord -n-ith the doctrine of the Church,
.that a sacrament always confers grace, and that the
sacrament of penance alu-ays confera absolution ? There
is also another difficidty, the more serious because
scriptural, which I have never seea explainecL On the
•day of Pentecost, Peter the Apostle commanded the
people, so says the Douay Testament, to " do penance
-and be baptized ;" did the people therefore receive the
sacrament of penance first, and did the apostles then
'Confer the initiatory sacrament of baptism i
(2d.) As to Orders, or the ordination of ministM-s.

836 ' lecture VIII.
The question is not whether ordination of ministers by
imposition of hands is a Christian institution, to this
perhaps we shall mostly agree, but whether it is a
sacrament ordained by Christ, possessing a visible sign,
a promise of grace, and a correspondence between the
sign aud the thing signified. The CouncU of Florence
declares that the visible sign is the delivery of a chalice
with wine it, and a paten with bread upon it into the
hands of the person to be ordained, and that the form
is " Receive thou power of offering sacrifice in the ,
Church of God for the living and the dead." Did
Christ institute this matter and form? Bellarmine ii
obliged to acknowledge, that there is no proof of his
ever having ordained his apostles by imposition of hands ;
and who ever heard of the cup and the paten for the
first thousand years of the Christian era ? Who ever
heard, for this entire period, of the form which we have
just quoted ? There is no such foi-m in the ApostoUc
canons as they are called. . The most ancient accoimt
that we have of ordaining is in the fourth council of
Cartilage; but there is no such form of words to be
found there ; no mention of the cup and paten there ;
and yet Christ instituted this sacrament, and these forms
too, according to the Trentine Council ! Is not this
teaching doctrines and commandments of men ?
(3rd.) As to Matrimony, which is exalted by the
Church of Rome to the dignity of a sacrament. The
arguments which are brought to support this view are
BO puerile that I shall not occupy your time with their
investigation. It is enough that we acknowledge
" marriage to be honorable in all, and the bed unde-

THE christian SACRAMENTS. 337
ffled, and that whoremongers and adulterers God will
judge." But when Bellarmine confesses that he does
not ground this doctrine upon the use of the word
sacramcntum inEph.v. 32 : " Sacramentumhoc magnum
est,'' — This is a great sacrament;, — ^because, as he says,
the word is joined to some things which are not sacra
ments, I think we may forego the labour of a lengthened
investigation and merely read the passage from the
Douay Bible : — " Husbands, love your wives, as Christ
also loved the chm-ch, and deUvered himself upfor it.
That he might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of
water in the word of Ufe. That he might present it to
himself a gloi-ious church, not haring spot or wrinkle,
or any such thing, but that it should be holy and with
out blemish. So also ought men to love their wives as
their own bodies. He that loveth his vi-ife loveth
himself For no man ever hated his own flesh : but
nourisheth and clierisheth it, as also Christ doth the
church. Because we are members of his body, of his
flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man
leave his father and mother : and shall cleave to his
wife, and they shall be two in one flesh. This is a great
SACRAMENT : BUT I SPEAK IN ChRIST AND IN THE
church." (4th.) As to Confirmation. The language of the
Church of Rome is : " Confirmation is a sacrament
instituted by Christ the Lord by which the Holy Spirit
is given to the baptized, constantly and intrepidly to
profess the faith of Christ." It differs from baptism,
according to the following manner which I extract from
the Catec'nism of the CouncU of Trent: " As by the

838 LECtURE Vlll.
grace of baptism we are begotten to newness of life, so,
by confirmation, we grow to full maturity having put
away the things of a ohUd." The scripture texts alleged
in support of this view of confirmation, are those in the
Acts of the Apostles whicih speak of the laying on of the
apostles' bands for the descent of the Holy Ghost ; but
it will be easily seen that these passages do not prove
the sacramental character of confirmation. We quai-rel
not with the Church of Rome or with any other Church
for instituting an arrangement with a view to the public
acknowledgment by persons baptized in infancy, of those
vows, which baptism imposed and still imposes upon
them ; we think rather, that it would be advantageous to
any Church to establish some suitable and evangelical
form for the accomplishment of such an o'bj ect. But when
Christ's authority is produced for the ceremony of oon-
fii'mation as celebrated by the Church of Rome, and
when by virtue of such authority it is dignified as a
sacrament ; we must protest against such human
additions to the commandments of the Gospel. The
Church of Rome teaches us that here are aU the requi
sites of a true sacrament. 1st We have the visible
sign or matter chrism, which is a compound of oil of
olives and balsam. 2dly. Wo have the grace con
ferred, viz : — strengthening and perfecting grace.
3dly. We have the form of administration, " I sign
thee with the sign of the cross, and I confirm thee with
the chrism of salvation in the name of the Father, cfec."
It is sufficient to demand the New Testament authority
for all this. Granted that in their apostoUc tours, the
first ministers of the Gospel confirmed the Churches;

THE CHRISTIAN SACRAMENTS. 839
granted that the Holy Spirit is the comforter and
streng-thener of the members of Christ, but wUl you tell
me where in the Holy Scriptures I may find a proof of
the sacramental authority of confirmation as celebrated
by the Church of Rome ?
(5th.) As to Extreme Unction. Our Roman Catholic
friends rest this rite or sacrament upon two passages of
the Now Testament. But before we refer to them it
will be well to state the Roman Catholic view of this
ceremony from their own authorities : " This sacred
unction of the sick was instituted as a true and proper
sacrament of the New Testament by Chi-ist Jesus our
Lord; being first intimated by Mark, (ch. \\. 13,) and
¦afterwards recommended and published to the faithful
by James the apostle, brother of our Lord. ' Is any
man,' saith he, 'sick among you? Let him bring in
the priests of the church ; and let them pray over him,
anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord : and
the prayer of faith shall save the sick man, and the
Lord sh^ll raise him up ; and if he be in sins, they shall
be forgiven him.' (James v. 14, 15.) In which words,
as the church has learned by Apostolical tradition,
handed down from age to age, he teaches the matter,
form, proper minister, and effect of this salutary sacra
ment For the church understands the matter of the
sacrament to be the oU, blessed by the bishop ; the
unction most fitly representing the gi-ace of the Holy
Spirit, wherewith the soul of the sick man is invisibly
anointed. The form is contained in, the words of admi
nistration." — Council of Trent.
It is clear, therefore, that the Roman CathoUc

340 LECTURE VIIL
Church relies on two passages as their au-thority for
practising this rite, that in Mark vi. 13, in which the
sacrament is said to be insinuated, and that in James
V. 14, &c., in which it is said to be promulgated : —
" And they cast out many derils, and anointed with oil
many that were sick, and healed them." " Is any man
sick among you? Let him bring in the priests of the
church, and let them pray over him, anointing him
with oil in the name of the Lord."
Now concerning- the passage in Mark, it is clear that
whatever unction the disciples administered, it was not
extreme, for the sick persons were anointed vrith a riew
to their being healed, and it is expressly stated that
they were healed. Who can doubt that it was miracu
lous healing- which the apostles here efi'eoted, and of
which they spoke ? But vi''nere is even the insinuation
of its sacramental character ? AVhere is the prescription
as to the kind of oil ? Where is it said that the oil
must be blessed — or if it must be blessed, where is it
written that the blessing must be episcopal ? Maldonat,
the Jesuit writer, contends that the text teaches the
institution of the sacrament. Dens, however, seems to
have doubted that this ])a'page is favorable to the
Church, for he says in answer to the question : " When
did Christ institute this sacrament s" " The time is uncer
tain, yet. it is very likely that he instituted it after his
resurrection, during the forty days in which he conversed
with his disciples concerning the kingdom of God and
the affairs of the Church.'' But the chief foundation
upon which Roman Catholics buUd their opinions
of Extreme Unction is the passage in James. Let us

1?

THE CHRISTIAN SACRAMENTS. 341
then see whether the foundation is secure ? Observe
then — First. That the object of Extreme Unction
in the Catholic Church is the purging away the
remains of sin. That the object of St. James' anointing
was to restore to health. Second. That the doctrine of
the Church of Rome is, that the sacrament saves. That
the doctrme of St. James is, that faith and prayer save.
Third. That the doctrine of the Church of Rome is,
that one Priest should minister. That the doctrine of
St James is, that several ^vere to be engaged in the rite.
Fourth.'Tbst the doctrine of the Church of Rome is,
that the anointing is for siiis. That St. James says, -• if
he be in sins," this then was not the primary cause of
istie anointing — sickness was the piimary cause, but i,
the sickness had been produced by sin, or had followeci
sm as a judgment, it is intimated that not only should
the sickness be removed, but the sins should be forgiven
him. »
Now let any Roman Catholic of candour and inteUi-
gence ask himself whether there is in this passage
ground for the doctrine, that Extreme Unction is a
sacrament appointed by Christ to be administered to
the dying for the remov;..! of the remains of sin ? And
here let me merely add the interpretation of this passage
by Cardinal Cajetan. " It neither appears by the words
nor by the effect, that he speaks of the sacrament of
Extreme Unction, but rather of that Unction which our
Lord appointed in the Gospel, to be used upon sick
persons by his disciples. For the text does' not say is
any man sick unto death, but absolutely is any man
sick. And it makes the effect to be the recovery of the

342 LECTURE VIII.
sick, and speaks but conditionally of the forgiveness of
sins. Whereas, Extreme Unction is not given, but
when a man is almost at the point of death, and, as the
form of words sufficiently shows, it tends directly to
the forgiveness of sins."
This has been a lengthened investigation, and it is
more than time to bring it to a close, and to dismiss
you to your homes. Yet I dare not allow you to retire
without a brief appeal to you respecting the beautiful
simplicity of the Gospel of Christ, and the absolute
necessity of adhering closely to its precepts and instruc
tions, and of following as closely its ecclesiastical prac
tices. I am no bigot, I beUeve no ecclesiastical form to
be essential to salvation ; but I say to every one of you
who are seeking that gospel blessing, " BeUeve on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." I have
seen no cause to alter an opinion which I advanced from
this pulpit more than five years ago, and which I
reiterate this evening. I say then to the Episcopalian,
" Your Episcopalianism cannot save you ; I say to the
Presbyterian, your Presbyterianism cannot save you ;
I say to the Congregationalist, your Congregationalism
cannot save you ; I say to the Methodist, your Methodism
cannot save you ; aud I will add, I say to my
Eoman Catholic friends,, your Catholicism cannot
save you ; And if you are trusting in any one
of these forms of Christianity, if you suppose that
either the one or the other wiU make you more accept
able to the Divine Being, you are labouring under a
grievous delusion, and wUl find yourselves fearfully
(disappointed at the last What, if you have been

THE CHRISTIAN SACRAMENT. 343
baptized in the name of the ever blessed Trinity, and
have not a change of heai-t ! What, if you have been
confirmed, by episcopal hands, and are destitute of the
grace of the Holy Ghost ! What, if the Priest has
absolved you, if you are not freely justified by faith
having peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ !
What, if you are in the habit of approaching the
Eucharistic feast, and do not spiritually feed upon
Christ Jesus the Lord ! What, if the Minister or the
Priest should come to you in your last moments, and
pray over you and give you the tokens of your Saviour's
death, and after all you should die without the spiritual
anointing, the unction of the Holy One ! What are
Church forms, and Church orders, and Church claims,
¦without Christ and his salvation wrought in the heart
by the Holy Spirit! "^Tien ? O, when wUl aU
sectarianism and bigotry cease to exist in the Christian
Church ? AVhen will the Churches of Christ begin to
lose themselves in Him ? From eveiy other object
would I now lead you, and point you wholly to the
Cross — from every other refuge but Him — from every
other mode or place of cleansing but his adorable, his
pierced side, which was opened as the fountain for sin
and for uncleanness !
" Thy side an open fountain ia,
'Where all may freely go,
And drink the liviui; stream of bliss.
And wash them white as snow."

LECTURE IX.
PURGATORY.
If there are any doctrines of religion for a knowledge
of which we are entirely dependent upon revelation,
they are those which relate to man's future existence.
We can gain much information of the nature and
attributes of the Dirine Being, from the glorious works
of creation ; we can reason upon the eril of sin, from
observation and experience of its effects ; sound phUo-
sophy may suggest principles of ethics, and remedies
for immorality ; but gross absurdities have ever been
the offspring of human conceptions and deductions, as
to that unseen world to which every immortal spirit is
journeying. How signaUy the ancient philosophei's
faUed in their endeavours to pry into futurity, is patent
to all who are but slightly acquainted with their
wiitmgs or opinions. Indeed, whether there were in
man any soul at aU, whether death were not a state of
eternal sleep, whether there were a Paradise and a
hell, or whether these v/ere the chimeras' of a supei-sti-
tious fancy, were doctrines conceming whose trath
the Gentile world at least, and even the Jewish in some
measure, wandered in uncei-tain and gloomy perplexity.
AU, aU was dark untU Christ came, shedding the
brilliant Ught of truth over the darkness of the future—
" bringing life and immortality to light by the Gospel."

346 LECTURE IX.
Hitherto in these lectures we have discussed those
doctrines of Christianity which concern us in this life.
We^have spoke'n of God's Word, and of our obligation
to read it; of the Church, and its glorious and
universal Head ; of man as a sinner, of Chiist as a
Saviour; of repentance and faith, of forgiveness and
holiness ; of the institutions of Christianity. This
evening we are to pass from* these present scenes, we
are to lift the vail which hides futurity froin our vision,
we are to leave this'world for an hour or two, and are
to enter the world that is unseen, the dark, dreary
undefined regions of the departed dead ; we shall need
a guide to direct us in our wanderings — let us not take
man who is as ignorant as ourselves of the way, but
The Spirit of God in His Word ; we shall need light
to illumine our path, let us not follow the meteoric
light of human speculation, but let us seize the torch of
truth ; and so far as our guide will take us, and our
torch will serve us, let us solemnly contemplate those
future scenes whose reaUty, ere long, every one of us
must experience.
In the year 1813, several devout and charitable
members of the Church of Rome in Dublin, formed
themselves into a Society for the purpose of raising-
money to relieve themselves and their friends from
Purgatory when they should go thither. The Society
was designated by those who composed it, " The
Purgatorian Society,'' and its rules were printed and
published in a circular, by J. Coyne, Printer, 74 Cook
Street, DubUn. The heading of the Circular is as
foUows : " Purgatorian Society, Instituted July 1st,

PURGATORV. 347
1813, and held in St James' Chapel. In the name of
the Father, and of the Sou, and the Holy Ghost. ' It is
therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the
dead that they may be loosed from their sins.'
Maccabees, chap, xii, ver. 46."
The Second Rule reads thus : " E very well disposed
Catholic wishing- to contribute to -the relief of the
suffering soiUs in Purgatory shall pay one penny per
week, which shall be appropriated to the procuring of
masses to be offered up for the repose of the souls of
the deceased parents, relations, and friends of all the
subscribers to the Institution in particular, and the
faithful departed in general."
The Sixth Rule is as follows : " The spiritual
benefits of this Institution shall be conferred in the
following manner, viz : Each subscriber shall be
entitled to an office at the time of their death, another
at the expiration of a month, and one at the end of
twelve months after their decease."
The Seventh Rule makes the following provision :
" Every subscriber without distinction shall be entitled
to the benefit of one mass each, provided that such
member or subscriber shaU die a natural death, be six
months a s-abscriber to the Institution, and be clear of
aU dues at the time of their departure."
In London a simUar Society was formed as early as
1810. From its rules the following are transcribed ;
" All monies acquired by this charity shall be destined
to provide that the Holy Sacrifice of the mass be offered
for the intentions of the Society, and for the support of
the schools. At the death of any member, mass shaU

348 lecture IX.
be said three times for the repose of his seal. A
member may enter the names of his departed friends in
the books of the Society, and such deceased persons
shall be deemed members of the same, and partake of
its spiritual adv'antages so long as their subscriptions
continue to be paid." ^
In the Catholic Directory for 1851, at page 28, there
is an appeal for the Gravesend Mission, in whicii is
asked " five shillings from two to three thousand good
Catholics." It is added, " that for the pious intentions
of those who thus either contribute or collect, the holy
mass vvUl be offered every Monday, at 8 o'clock, whicli
may be applied to their deceased friends." At page
132 of the same Directory, we find an appeal on behalf
of " the Asylum of the good Samaritan, Hammer
smith,'' to vvhich tlie following announcement is ap
pended : " Subscriptions will be thankfully received by
His Eminence, Cardinal Wiseman, 35 Golden Square."
It is added : " Benefactors liring and deceased,
participate iu the stated masses, communions, and other
prayers of the community and penitents, offered up in
behalf of all those who assist them with the means of
carrying out their holy undertaking. Cast off clothes,
bonnets, &c., are earnestly requested to fit the penitents
out for service."
The grave subject involved in these extracts is (hat
which we have proposed for this evening's considera
tion: Purgatory; — and the words which I have
selected as a text you wUl find in the seventh chapter
of the Apocalypse, at the fourteenth and fifteenth

PURGATORY. 349
" And I SAID TO him : Mr Lord, thou knowest.
And he said to me: These are they who are come
out of great tribulation, and have washed their
robes and have MAIJE THEM WHITE IN THE BLOOD OF
THE Lamb.
" Therefore they are before the throne of God,
AND they serve HIM DAY AND NIGHT IN HIS TEMPLE :
AND He, THAT SITTETH ON THE THRONE, SHALL DWELL
OVER THEM."
I. I SHALL FIRST DESCRIBE TO YOU THE PrOTESTANT
Purgatory :—
Protestants have a purgatory. The word, as many
of you know, is derived from a Latin word, which
signifies to purge, to cleanse. The Protestant doctrine
is, that " THE BLOOD OF Jesus Christ, the son of God,
CLEANSETH US FROM ALL SIN." This Is the Protcstaut
purgatoi-y — and though we cannot say, because we do
not beUeve it, that a fire has been kindled for sin and
for uncleanness ; yet we do say, vrith adoring gratitude,
that A FOUNTAIN has been opened for sin and for un
cleanness. Yes, many a Protestant has rejoiced to
smg— " There is a fountain filled with blood,
" Drawn from Immanuel's veins ;
" And sinners plunged beneath that flood,
^' Lose all their guilty stains."
The Protestant doctrine is, that aU the guilt and all the
poUution of the sin of believers are cancelled and
removed in this world, and that when once the redeemed
have passed into the inrisible state, there remaineth no

350 LECTURE IX.
more sacrffice and satisfaction for sin ; — ^that all the
purgation, or cleansing, or purifying is effectediiere, and
that upon the departure of the sanctified and saved
spirit fi-om the realms of time, there is an immediate
introduction into the presence of Christ, that though it
may not be doubted that after the resurrection, and
consequent reunion of the sanctified spuits and glorified
bodies of the saints, their happiness will be gi-eatly
augmented, yet that even now they are in a state of
perfect bliss in the presence of the Lord. As to the
wicked, those namely who die in sins, the Protestant
belief is, that though after their bodies shall have been
raised, their misery wUl be increased, their souls im
mediately after death depart to a state of conscious
punishment, of which there can be no alleviation through
out the ages of eternity.
II. The Roman Catholic Doctrine of Purgatory
having been greatly misconceived and misunderstood
by the generality of Protestants, it is most desirable that
its several parts or, articles should be clearly enunciated.
The fathers of the Council of Trent asserted the doctrine
of Purgatory in the following decree : " Since the
Catholic church, instructed by the Holy Spirit, through
the sacred writings and the ancient tradition of the
fathers, hath taught in holy councils, and lastly in this
oecumenical council, that there is a purgatory, and that
the souls detained there are assisted by the suffrages of
the faithful, but especially by the acceptable sacrifice of
the mass ; this holy council commands all bishops
diUgently to endeavour that the wholesome doctrine of
purgatory, deUvered to us by venerable fathers and holy

PURGATORY. 351
councUs, be believed and held by Christ's faithful, aud
everywhere taught and preached. Let difficult and
subtle questions, which tend not to edification, and from
which commonly religion derives no advantage, be
banished fi-om popular discourses, particularly when
addressed to the ignorant multitude. Let such as are
of doubtfid character, or seem to border upon error, be
prevented from being pubUshed and discussed. Let
those which promote mere curiosity, or superstition, or
savour of ffithy lucre, be prohibited, as scandalous and
offensive to, Christians. Let the bishops take care that
the suffi'ages of the bring faithful— riz., masses, prayers,
alms, and other works of piety, which the faithful, have
been accustomed to perform for departed believers — be
piously and religiously rendered, according to the insti
tutes of the church ; and whatever serrices are due to
the dead, through the endowments of deceased persons,
or in any other way, let them not be performed sUghtly,
but diUgently and carefully, by the priests and ministers
of the church, and all others to whom the duty be
longs." In the sixth Session of the CouncU, at the
thirtieth canon, it is said : " Whoever shall affirm, that
when the grace of justification is received, the offence of
the penitent sinner is 'so forgiven, and the sentence of
eternal punishment reversed, that there remains no
temporal punishment to be endured, before his entrance
into the kingdom of heaven, either in this world, or in
the future state, in purgatory : let him be accursed."
The second chapter of the twenty-second Session, declares :
" Wherefore it (the mass) is properly offered, according
to apostolic tradition, not only for the sins, punishments.

352 LECTURE IX.
satisfactions, and other necessities of liring believers ;
but also for the dead in Christ, who are not yet
thoroughly purified." And the third canon of the
same Session issues its anathema upon all who
" shall affirm, that the sacrifice of the mass is only a
serrice of praise and thanksgiring, or a bare commemo
ration of the sacrifice made on the cross, and not a pro
pitiatory offering ; or that it only benefits him who
receives it, and ought not to be offered for the living
and the dead, for sins, punishments, satisfactions, and
other, necessities."
In the Douay Catechism we find the foUovring expo
sition of the doctiine : " Whither go such as die in
mortal sin ? To hell, to all eternity. Whither go sucTi
as die in venial sin, ol- not haring fully satisfied for the
punishment due to their mortal sins ? To purgatory,
till they have made full satisfaction for them, and then
to heaven." The Catechism of the Council of Trent,
maintaining the same caution which is so erident in
the articles and canons, gives the following view : " In
the fire of purgatory the souls of just men are cleansed
by a temporary punishment, in order to be admitted
into their eternal country into which nothing defiled
entereth.'' In the " grounds of CathoUc doctrine" there is a full
exposition of the tenet, and a defence of it set forth on
the ground of Scripture, tradition, and reason. " Q.
What do you mean by Purgatory? A. A middle
state of souls, who depart this life in God's grace, yet
not vrithout some lesser stains of guilt or punishment,
which retard them fi'om entering heaven. But as to_

PURGATORY. 353
the particular place where these souls suffer, oi- the
quality of the torments which they suffer, the church
has decided nothing. Q. What sort of christians then
go to Purgatory ? A. 1st., Such as die guilty of lesser
sins, which we commonly call venial ; as many christ
ians do, who either by sudden death or othervrise, are
taken out of this life before they have repented for these
ordinary failings. 2ndly, Such as have been formerly
guilty of greater sins, and have not made full satisfac
tion for them to divine justice. Q. Why do you say
that those who die guilty of lesser sins go to Purgatory ?
A. Because such as depart this Ufe before they have
repented for these venial fraUties and imperfections,
cannot be supposed to be condemned to the eternal
torments of heU, since the sins of which they are guilty
are but small, which even God's best servants dre more
or less Uable to. — Nor can they go straight to. heaven in
this state, because the scripture assures us, Apocalypse,
21. V. 27 : " There shaU not enter into it any thing
defiled." Now every sin, be it ever so small, certainly
defUeth the soul : hence our Sariour assures us, that we
are to render an account for every idle word. Matt. 12.
V. 6.
From these various authoritative sources we deduce
the foUowing articles of Roman Catholic belief :
First, — That all persons who die in mortal sin, are
immediately consigned to the everlasting punishment of
hell, from which there can be neither deliverance nor
relief — It is necessary, however, to note that in all
cases in which priestly absolution is secured immediately
before death, there is an entire deliverance from the

354 LECTURE IX.
guilt and punishment of mortal sin. Every one, there-'
fore, who dies receiring the rites of the Church is
positively delivered from hell, and is consigned, for a
season merely, to the regions of purgatory.
Second, — That eternal punishment for sin is to be
distinguished from the temporal punishment due to our
' offences, and that the children of God are not delivered
from this temporal punishment but by rendering personal
satisfaction both in this world and in the next.
Third, — That this satisfaction is in the present state .
rendered by penances, masses, self-infiictions, prayers,
fastings, charities, and the Uke, and in the future, by
personal punishment in the fires of purgatory.
Fourth, — That the offering of masses is accepted by
the Di-rine Being, in lieu of this purgatorial punishment,
which is shortened in proportion to the number of
masses which may be said or offered.
Fifth, — That these, masses must be purchased by aU
classes, so that it is much easier for the rich to escape
from purgatorial punishment than the poor.
It is not, however, to be supposed that the doctrines
of our Roman CathoUc friends respecting purgatory are
confined to the riews which we have now announced.
It will be well, therefore, that we ascertain the opinions
of her most eminent champions and cUvines on this
mysterious subject.
Milner, in his " End of Controversy," gives it as his
opinion that " Abraham's bosom," to which Lazarus was
carried by angels, is purgatory.
Cardinal Bellarmine defines its position, and tells us
(works, vol. ii., book U., chapter ii., page 406,) that the

PURGATORY. 355
situation of piu-gatory in which souls are cleansed, is
adjacent to that in which the damned are punished, and
that it is a subterranean place. Dens, following the
Cardinal's view, states that " purgatory is situated
under the earth contiguous to hell." Bellarmine says
again : " almost all theologians teach that the damned
and the souls in purgatory are in the same place, and
tortured in the'same fire."
But the Cardinal goes farther ; he Ufts the vail, and
presents a series of illustrations, which, considering that
he was a man of acknowledged talents and erudition, it
wiU be well for us to contemplate, the more so, since
they represent the popular Roman Catholic riew of this
mysterious state.
1. The first Ulustration is taken by Bellarmine from
the venerable Bede : " A pious father of a famUy in
Northumberland, died after a long iUness, in the early
part of one night ; but to the great terror of those who
watched by the body, came to Ufe again at the dawn of
the foUowing day. AU, but his faithful and affectionate
wife, fied at the sight of him, and to her he communi
cated in the most soothing terms, the peculiar circum
stances of his case ; that he had indeed been dead, but
was permitted to live again upon earth, though by no
means in the same manner as before. In short, he sold
all his property, dirided the produce equally between his
vrife, his children, and the poor ; and then retired to the
Abbey of Melrose ; he there Uved in such a state of
unexampled mortification, as made it quite erident, even
if he had not said a word on the subject, that he had
seen things, whatever was the nature of them, which no

366 LECTURE IZ.
one else had been permitted to behold. He subsequently
revealed some things that he saw : ' One,' said the old
man, ' wiose aspect was as of light, and his gai-ment
glistening, conducted me to -a valley of great depth and
vridth, but of immeasurable length ; one side of
which was dreadful beyond expression for its burning
heat, and the other as horrible for its np less intolerable
cold. Both were fflled with souls of men, which seemed
to be tossed as by the fury of a tempest, from one side
to the other, for being quite unable to endure the heat
on the right hand, the miserable wi-etches kept throvring
themselves to the opposite side into the equal torment of
cold, thence back again into the raging fiames. This,
thought I to myself, must be heU ; but my guide
answered to my thought that it was not so. ' This valley,'
says he, ' is the place of torment for the souls of those
who, after delaying to confess and, expiate their sinsj
have at length, in articulo mortis, had recourse to
penance, and so have died ; these at the day of judg-ment
will be admitted into the kingdom of heaven by reason
of their confession and penance, late as it was ; but
meanwhile many of them may be assisted and liberated
before that day, by the prayers, alms and fastings of
the bring, particularly by the sacrifice Of the mass.' "
It is to be observed that this is not regarded by
Bellarmine as a fabulous invention ; he tells us that he
gives full credit to the story, which he further says, is
calculated to edify the faithful.
2. This, however, does not equal the second illustra
tion which the Cardinal supplies from the Ufe of Saint
Christina, by Cantepratensis, an author, he informs us,

PURGATORY. 35 7 *
of high repute. The Saint died, and afterward returned
to Ufe ; and in the presence of many vritneSges spoke
the following words : " Immediately as I departed from
the body, my soul was received by ministers of Ught
and angels of God, and conducted to a dark and horrid
place, fiUed vrith the souls of men. The torments
which I there witnessed, are so dreadful, that to attempt
to describe them would be utterly .vain •,- and there I
beheld not a few who had been known to me while
alive. Greatly concerned for theu- hopeless state, I
asked what place it was, thinking it was hell; but I was
told that it was purgatory, where are kept those, who in
their life had repented indeed of their sins, but had not
paid the punishment due for them. I was next taken
to see the torments of heU, where also I recognized some
of my former acquaintance upon earth. Afterwards, I
was translated to ParacUse, even to the throne of the
Divine Majesty ; and when I saw the Lord congratidat-
ing me, I was beyond measure rejoiced, concluding of
course, that I should henceforward dwell with him for
evermore. But he presently said to me — ' In very
deed, my sweetest daughter, here you shaU be vrith me ;
but for the present ; I offer you your choice : Will you
stay for ever with me now ? or vrill you return to the
earth, and there in your mortal body, but vrithout any
detriment to it, endure punishment, by which you may
deliver out of purgatory, aU those whose souls you so
much pitied, and may also, by the sight of your pen-
nance, and the example of your Ufe, be a means of
converting to me some who are yet alive in the body,
and so come again to me at last, vrith a great increase of
q2

358 LECTURE IX.
your merits ?' I accepted without hesitation the return
to life on the conditions proposed^ and the Lord, con
gratulating me on the promptitude of my obedience,
ordered that my body should be restored to me. And
here, I had an opportunity of admiring the incredible
celerity of the blessed spirits ; for in that very hour,
having been placed before the throne of God at the first
recital of the Agnus Dei in the mass which was said
for me, at the third (recital) my body was restored."
Cantepratensis then relates, that during her second life,
" she walked into bm-ning ovens, and though she was so
tortured by the flames, that her anguish extorted from
her the most horrible cries, yet when she came out,
there was not a trace of any burning to be detected on
her body. Again, during a hard frost, she would go
and place herself under the frozen surface of a river for
six days and more at a time. Sometimes she would be
carried round by a water wheel and haring been whirled
round in an horrible manner, she was as whole in body
as if nothing had happened to her ; not a limb was
hurt. At other times she would make all the dogs in
the £own fall upon her, and would run before them Uke
a hunted beast ; and yet, in spite of being torn by thorns
and brambles, and worried and lacerated by dogs to
such a degree that no part of her body escaped vrithout
wounds, there was not a weal nor scar to be seen."
" Such," says this iUustrious defender of the Chm-ch, " is
the narrative of Cantepratensis, and that he said nothing
but truth is erident, not only fi-om the confirmation
given to his testimony by the Bishop and Cardinal of
"V^itriaco ; but because the thing spoke for itself.

¦pURGATOR-f.

3^

St was quite plain that the body must have been endued
with a dirine rirtue which could endiue all that hers
'endm-ed without being damaged ; and this not for a few
¦days, but for forty-two years, during which she continued
alive after her resurrection. But stiU more manifest
does this become fi'om the many sinners whom she
brought to penitence, and from the miracles after her
death, by which she was distinguished, for God deter
mined to stop the mouth of unbelievers."
3. I cannot withhold fi-om you a third illustration
from this eminent writer. He is speaking of the
. possible duration of the pains of purgatory, and gives in
proof a quotation from a life, by the same author,
of a cUstinguished Roman Catholic female, Ludgardis -;
¦" About this time, Pope Innocent HI., after haring held
the Lateran council, departed out of this life, and shortly
afterwards appeared to Ludgardis. She, as soon as she
beheld him encircled vrith a vast flame, demanded who
he was ; and on his answering that he was, Pope In
nocent, exclaimed vrith a groan, ' What can this be ?
how is it that the common father of us all is thus
tormented f ' The reasons of my suffering thus,' he
answered, ' are three' in number ; and they would have
consigned me to eternal punishments, had I not, through
the intercession of the most pious mother of God, to
whom I founded a monastry, repented, when in extremis.
As it ia, though I am spared eternal suffering, yet I shall
be tortured in the most hon-ible manner to the day of
judgment ; and that I am now permitted to come and
pray for your suflrages, is a tooa, which the mother of
mercy has obtained for me from her Son.' With these

3'ftO LECTURE IX.
words he disappeared. Ludgardis not only communi
cated to her holy sisters the sad necessity to which the
Pope was reduced in order to obtain their succour, but
she also, herself, submitted to astonishing torments on
his accoimt." And the author adds, " The reader must
understand, that Ludgardis, herself, revealed to me the .
three causes of the Pope's sufferings ; but I forbear to
disclose them, out of reverence to so great a Pontiff."
"This instance," says Cardinal Bellarmine, "always
affects me with the greatest tei-ror. For if a Pontiff,
entitled to so much praise, one, who to all human
observation was not merely a man of integrity and
prudence, but of eminent, nay, most exemplary sanctity
— if even he so nan-owly escaped hell, and, as.it is, must
suffer the most excruciating torments tiU the day of
judgment, what prelate is there, who does not tremble ?
Who does not scrutinise the secrets of his ovvn consci
ence, vrith the most unsparing rigour ? For I cannot
easily persuade myself, that so great a pontiff could have
been capable of committing deadly sins, unless he was
deceived, under some semblance of good, by flatterere
and relatives, of whom the gospel says, ' a man's foes
shaU be of his own household.' "
4. I shall close these illustrations with an extract
from O'SuUivan's Compendium of the Catholic histoiy
of Ireland, a work printed cum faculiate sanctae inquisi-
tionis et regis, and authorised by Cardinals, Archbishops,
and Bishops. The extract contains a picture of the -
purgatory of St. Patrick : " There were numbers of
men which no arithmetic could number, all lying on
the ground, pierced through the body. They uttered

PURGATOnr. 361 ,
hoai-se cries of agony, their tongues cleaving fo their
jaws. They were buffeted by violent tempests, and
shattered by repeated blows of devils. The devUs drove
them into another plain, horiible vrith exquisite tortures.
Some with Uon chains about their necks and limbs,
were suspended over the fires ; others were burned with
red hot cinders. Not a few were transfixed with spits
and roasted, melting metal being poured into them."
Alas for those,'' it is added, " who do not penance in
this worid !"
These Ulustrations have been given thus minutely
and at length, for the purpose of conveying to your
minds the popular Roman Catholic idea respecting
purgatory. It would be possible to add other illusti-ations
equally appalling and equally authentic, but I forbear.
"What you have now heard will suffice to inform you
what purgatoi-y is, and without a single argument fi-om
me, they have, I am sure, already conrinced you of the
unscripturalness of the doctrine. Since, however.
Scripture proof, in its support, is advanced by our
Roman CathoUc friends, we must not shrink from a
scriptural investigation of the whole subject. With
this riew we shaU adopt the coui'se v.-hich has been
pursued in former lectures.
First, then, we protest against the Roman Catholic
doctrine of purgatoi-y, on the authority of the Word of
God, and in support of the protest shall advance three
classes of texts :
First, and briefly, those which speak of the perfect
satisfaction which Christ, om- divine Redeemer, has
presented to the Father for our sins. In the gospel by

362 LECTURE 13t.
St John, xix. 30, the bldssed Sariour is represented as
exclaiming vrith his dying breath : " It is consum
mated." What means this last utterance of the Son of
God upon the cross, but t'nat he was then paying; by
his expiring act, our full debt and penalty ? but that he
was then presenting upon this holy altar of the cross, a
sufficient oblation and satisfaction for the sins of the
whole world ? In the ninth chapter of St. Paul's epistle
to the Hebrews, at the twenty-sixth verse, the apostle
declares : that " now once at the end of the ages,
Christ hath appeared for the destruction of sin by the
sacrifice of himself :" What need then of fm-ther de
struction, or further sacrifice ? He says again in a
•following verse : " Christ was once offered to exhaust
the sins of many.'' If, therefore, the sins of the world
are exhausted by Christ's sacrifice, what additional
process is necessary ? Can our sins be more than
exhausted ? And if exhausted, are not their demerit
and punishment exhausted too ? I know not what im
pression these passages may have had upon the minds
of my hearers, but to me, they appear sufficient to over
throw the doctrine that human satisfactions, and self-
tortures, and masses, and purgatorial punishments, are
required by God to be added to the infinite satisfaction
of Christ Jesus, our Lord.
-The second class of passages which I adduce, are
-those which assert the entire removal, in this life, from
the soul of the believer in Christ, of all the-guUt and aU
the pollution of sin.
How clear on this subject is the language of Paul in
,his epistie to the Romans, (viU. 1.): "There is now

purgatory. 363
therefore no condemnation to them that are in Christ
Jesus ;" hut the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church
is, that there is condemnation to the Christian, for does
not purgatorial fire, which, in some cases, is endured
for years, imply condemnation ? Let us hear the apostle
further : In his first epistle to the Thessalonians, chapter^
V. verse 23, he prays : " May the God of peace himself
- sanctify you in aU things ; that your whole spirit, and
soul and body be preserved blameless in the coming of
our Lord Jesus Chi'ist." Is it conceivable that the
sanctified ix all things, i. e. in spirit, in soul, and in
body, should be lashed in purgatory for ages ? And
now, Usten to the language of St. John, in his first
epistle : " But if we walk in the light, as he also is in
the Ught, we have fellowship one with another, and
the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all
sin. If we say that we have no sin; we deceive our
selves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our
sins ; he is faithftd and just, to forgive us our sins, and
to cleanse us from aU iniquity.'' "Where then is the
necessity for fire ? "What other purgatorial process
does the beUever need ? "What after-process, when the
precious blood of the Redeemer has cleansed him from
aU sin? Look also at the text : "What had purged the
saints in white raiment, whom John saw in rision before
the throne ? Was it fire ? No, no ! but, the blood
OF THE Lamb. Are not these passages of fiiemselves
sufficient to sustain the Reformed Protest ? I put it to
every intelligent Roman Catholic, whether, if the doc
trine of purgatory is a scriptural doctrine, these passages
could have found a place on the page of inspiration.

364 lecture IX.
There is yet a third class of passages by which this '
protest is maintained, and to which I especially call your
attention, those, namely, which speak of the present
blessedness of the righteous dead.
The first Scripture of this class v\'hich I quote in support •
of the Protestant riew, notwithstanding that it is one of
Dr. Milner's proof of the existence of purgatoi-y, is that
which describes the state of Lazarus — the same Lazarus
who sat at the rich man's gate, and who at death was
carried by angels into Abraham's bosom. Of him
Abraham is represented as declaring, " Now he is
comforted" Could this be said of a purgatorial state,
such as that which St Patrick or St. Christina describes,
*or such even as the CouncU of Florence, or the
Catechism of the CouncU of Trent sets forth for the
belief of "the faithful?" Again: How could Paul
desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ? How
could he speak of the gain of dying with such a purga
tory before him as Pope Innocent the Third is said to
have suffered ? With how little truth, if the doctrine of
pm-gatory is an article of Christian faith, could the
angel say, " Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord ?"
Where, what is the blessedness of purgatory ? " From
henceforth now saith the Spirit that they may rest from
their labours." — What rest does purgatory afford to
_ the righteous departed ? I cannot here withold from
you an incident which occm-red in London a few years
ago, and which bespeaks the simple power of this beau
tiful text : An eminent Protestant minister delivered in
Poplar, near London, a lecture on the errors of the
Roman Catholic Church. Some hundreds of Roman

PURGATORY. 365 '
CathoUcs were present, some of them listening with
erident anxiety, and others interrupting with contemp
tuous sneers. The minister spoke to the people upon
the uncomfortableness (to say the least of it) of the
¦doctrine of purgatory, and shewed them the contradiction
between this pecuUar principle of Roman CathoUcism,
and the express and declared mind of the Spuit of God.
A lady present noted down the texts' which were adduced
and some of the arguments which were urged. Some
times a smUe played upon her face, at other times a
sneer was observed, and occasionally the pencU dropped
and her eyes were fitxed upon the floor. The clergyman
gave a. second lecture, which the lady also attended.
After he had spoken a Uttle, the pencil was laid down,
her eye was fixed on him, and her ear seemed to
drink in every word. At the close of the lecture she
handed to the speaker a slip of paper, requesting an
interriew, which was immecUately granted. As soon as
they met, she said to the clergyman : " I have been a
devoted member of the Roman CathoUc Chapel at
Poplar ; the priest is my intimate fi-iend, and the god
father of my boy ; I was to play the new organ when it
was put up ; I have gone regularly to mass and to con
fession, and have been regarded as one of the elite, of
the communion ; but after considering carefully and
prayerfully what I have heard in your two lectures, I
dare no longer to remain a Roman Catholic." She told
the clergyman at the same time, that when she saw the
placard announcing the meeting, she informed the
priest that a notorious firebrand was coming to Poplar.
The priest did not wish to take any notice of the matter,

366 LECTURE IX.
but on her urging the expediency of his being made
acquainted with what should be said, he agreed that she
had better go and take notes of the lecture. She did
so, as we have seen, and wrote him a letter-immediately ;
telling him there was to be another lecture, and that he
must come and answer it, or the Roman Catholics in
Poplar would all turn Protestants. The priest retumed .
no answer to this suggestion, and she then wrote to
another priest in the neighbourhood, Dr. Butler, but he
also took no notice of her communication. The second
lecture confirmed the impression of the first, and she
resolved to renounce for ever the Roman Catholic
communion. The clergyman who had lectured asked
her what points in bis statements struck her most forci
bly, and so rapidly alienated her affections from her
Church. She said, it was not so much the argument as
the TEXTS. One of these texts, she said, feU like a sun
beam from heaven, and unveUed to her hopes and pros
pects to which, preriously, she had been an utter
stranger ; and that text was " Blessed are the dead
THAT DIB IN THB LoRD ; YEA SAITH THE SPIRIT THAT
THEY may" — not suffer in purgatory, but — " rest from
THEIR LABOURS," She told him that she felt this most
acutely, because she had been formerly laid upon a sick
bed, and her medical attendant had given up all hope,
and told her there was no chance of recovery ; she sent
for an aged priest fi-om a neighbouring place to admin-
' ister the sacrament of Extreme Unction. On receiving
it, she asked him, " Am I now safe, ?" to which he
replied, " I can pledge my own safety that you are."
*'But." added she, " have 1 not to pass through purga-

PURG.WORY. 367
tory." " Unquestionably," said the priest. " Then tell
me, as a dying woman, what is the nature of the
purgatory that I have to experience ?" The priest,
vrith great solemnity, and, if his creed were right, with
great truth replied, " Purgatory, my dear child, is a
place where you vriU have to suffer the torments of the
damned, only of shorter duration." She said every
nerve tingled vrith agony at the announcement. But
when the text which the Protestant minister iUustrated
in his lecture, came upon her ear and reached her heart,
declaring that the dead in Christ rest ; and again that
to be " absent from the body" is to be " present with
THE Lord," she felt that either the priest must be wrong
and the Bible true, or the Bible must be false if purga
tory be true.
The passages which I have adduced are but few ;
there are others in this blessed Bible were it needful to
multiply eridence, but I ask my Roman Catholic friends
whethei- those which I have quoted concerning the
infinite satisfaction of Christ's atonement, concerning
the efficacy of the precious blood of Christ to cleanse
from aU sin, concerning the immediate bUss of the
departed faithful, do not constitute a mass of proof
against the purgatorial system of their Church,
sufficient to overthrow its claims, to allay their fears,
and to save that oftentimes i-uinous expenditure of
money which it involves. — "Blessed are the Dead
WHO DIB IN THE LoRD."
But I must not, neither would I, overlook those
passages of Scripture by which this favorite doctrine of
the Roman Catholic Clergy is sought to be defended.

368 LECTURE IX.
As formerly, I shall take these passages fi'om the Dtiuay
Bible, and shall-adopt the selection of Dr. MUner in his
" End of Controverssy." :
" To come now to the New Testament : what place,.
I ask, must that be, which our Saviour calls Abraham's
bosom, where the soul of Lazarus reposed, Luke xri. 22,
among the other just spuls, till he by his sacred passion
paid then- ransom ? Not heaven, otherwise Dives
would have addressed himself to God instead of
Abraham ; but evidently a midcUe state, as St. Austin <
teaches. Again, of what place is it that St Peter
speaks, where he says, Christ died for our sins ; being
,put to death in the fiesh, but enlivened in ihe spirit ; in
which also coming, he preached io those spirits ihat were
in prison. 1 Pet. iii. 19. It is evidently the same
which is mentioned in the apostle's creed : He
descended into hell : not the hell of the damned, to
suffer their torments, as the blasphemer, Calrin, asserts,
but the prison above-mentioned, or Abrahanffs bosom.,
in short, a middle state. . It is of this prison, according
to the holy fathers, our blessed Master speaks, where
he says, / tell thee, thou shalt not depart thence, till
ihou hast paid the very last miie. Luke xii. 59.
Lastly, what other sense can that passage of St. Paul's
Epistle to the Corinthians bear, than that which the
holy fathers affix to it, where the apostle says. The day
of the, Lord shall be revecdcd by fire, and the fire shall
try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's
work abide, he shall receive a reward. If any man's'
work be burnt, he shall sufer loss ; but he himself shall
be saved, yet so as by fire. 1 Cor. iU. 13, 15. The

PURa.A.T0RY. 369'
prelate's diversified attempts to explain away these
Scriptural proofs of purgatory, are really too feeble and
inconsistent to merit being even mentioned. I might
here add, as a further proof, the denunciation of Christ,
concerning blasphemy against the Holy Ghost : namely,
that this sin shall noi be forgiven either in this world or
in the world to come. Mat xii. 32 : which words clearly
imply, that some sins are forgiven in the world to come,
as the ancient fathers show."
(1.) The first passage is from Luke sixteenth chapter,
and twenty-second verse, v\-hich speaks of the angelic
conveyance of Lazarus, the beggar, to the bosom of
Abraham. This, says Dr. Milner, is purgatory, an
assertion which obUges us to beUeve that the " Father of
the Faithful" existed in purgatory two thousand
yeai-s, and that Abraham did not speak the truth to
the suffering rich' man when he said " now he is
comforted, and thou art toi-mented."
(2.) The second text which Dr. Milner quotes in this
paragraph is that id the first epistle of Peter, ch. Ui. v.
19., where that apostle says, " Christ died for our sins,
being put to death in the flesh, but enlivened in the
spirit; in which also coming. He preac'ned to those
spuits that were in prison.'' This is a most unfortunate
passage for the learned controvertlst, for the antedilu-
rian sinners died in mortal sin, they were, disobedient
to God and repented not — purgatory is for venial
sins. How cUd Chri,st preach to those antediluvians ?
through Noah the preacher of righteousness. How
the Doctor could have violated his solemn vo-w, that he
would interpret no passage of Scripture but by the

370, LECTURE IX.
unanimous consent of the Fathers, is to me surprising ;
and we can hardly suppose him ignorant of their views
of the passage. Augustine who strongly leaned to this
doctrine of purgatory is against MUner here. " It may
be," says this Ulustrious father and saint, "that the
whole of St Peter's statement concerning the spirits in
prison, who believed not in the days of Noah, has no
reference whatever to hell, (ad inferos^ but rather to
thosc-times of which he has transferred the example to
our own." He had no idea whatever that Purgatory
was taught by the passage. St. Jerome in his com
mentary on Isaiah (chapter liv.) observes that " Christ
preached to^ the spirits in prison, when the patience
of God jvaited in the days of Noah, bringing the flood
upon the wicked." Thomas Aquinas, and the venerable
Bede, give the same interpretation.
(3) The third scripture which Dr. MUner adduces in
confirmation of his views is Luke xii. 59 : "I tell thee
thou shalt not depart thence till thou hast paid the very
last mite." BeUarmine says, the mites or farthings
are venial sins, the payment is human satisfaction, and
the prison is purgatory. From the very face of the
passage, it is clear that our gi-eat Teacher speaks of
reconciliation with au offended brother, and of present
and unmediate reconciliation. " Be at agreement with
thine adversary betimes." But even if we allow the
passage to refer to a futm-e life what doctrine could be
gathered from it, but that the uttermost or very last
farthing would never be paid ? The stress of the ai-gu-
ment is upon the word " until," and it is contended
that it conveys the intimation that the last mite wiU be ;

PURGATORV. 371
paid ; but this comes with an iU grace from our Roman
CathoUc friends when we remember their interjiretation
of the words in the first chapter of the Gospel by St.
Matthew, " Till she brought forth her first born son."
I wUl read the note from the Douay Bible : " Till she
brought forth her first born son. — From these words
Helvidius and other heretics most impiously inferred _
that the blessed Virgin Mary had other children besides
Christ : But St. Jerome shews, by divers examples, that
this expression of the Evangelist was a maimer of
speaking usual among the Hebrews, to denote by the
word until, only what is done, without any regaj-d to
the future : Thus it is said. Gen. chap. riii. ver. 6 and
7. That Noe sent forth a raven, which went forth and
did not return tUl the waters were dried up on the
earth. That is, did not return any more. Also Isaias,
chap. xlri. ver. 4. God says : / am tiU you grow old.
Who dare infer that God should then cease to be ? Also
in the first book of Maccabees, chap. v. ver. 64. And
they went up to Mount Sion with joy, and gladness,
and offered holocausts, because not one of them was slain
till they had returned in peace. That is, not one was
slain, before or after they had returned.— God saith to
his divine Son : Sit on my right hand till / make thy
enemies thy footstool. ShaU he sit no longer after his
enemies are subdued? Yea and for aU eternity."
Then again it is said, till thou hast paid, which greatly
interferes with the doctiine of the Roman CathoUc
Chinch, that a man's friends, by a succession of masses,
can pay these last farthings for him. Dr. Milner is not
more fortunate in securing the consent of the fathers

372 • LECTURE IX.
¦to his interpretation of this passage than to his iitter-
pret^tion of the former. St. Jerome says, " He is i never
released from prison who does not pay the last farthing
before, the end of life." St. Chrysostom thus paraphrases
the text : " Agree with thine adversary while thou art
in the way vrith him, that is in this life, (tv tw^e rw Bi«)
' for when the way is finished there is no longer time for
repentance.! Beware lest the adversary deliver thee to
the judge, and the judge to the avenging powei-s, and
thou be cast into prison, i. e. into outer darkness." Bede
says, " ' until thou pay est ' is put for infinity." The
clear sense of the passage, as weU as its patristic inter
pretation, are against Dr. Milner.
(4.) Another passage is advanced by the learned
Doctor in proof of Purgatory, (1 Cor. Ui. 13, 15,) I -will
read it: "Every man's work shaU be manifest: for the
day of the Lord shall declare it, because it shall be
revealed in fire ; and the fire shall try every man's
work, of what sort it is. K any man's work abide,
vvhich he hath built thereupon : he shall receive a
reward. If any man's work burn, he shall suffer loss :
but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by &-e." Those
who were present at the first lecture of this course, have
not yet forgotten the manifold riews of the fathers on .
this very passage. Before we speak particularly of
these riews, it wiU perhaps be well to look at the pas
sage itself You observe then, (1st,) that the fire of
which the Apostie speaks, is not purgatorial, but pro
batory. " The fire shaU try, not pm'ge or purify man's
work. (2nd,) That the passage proves too much, for it
says every man's work shall be tried. Now the doctrine

PURGATORY.

873

of the Catholic Chureh, is that the wicked wiU not go
to purgatory, and that baptized infants do not go to
purgatory ; but every man's work wiU be tried by that
fii'e of which Paul speaks. Therefore it is not, it eannot
be purgatory. "Chrysostom and Theophylact," says
BeUarmine, " undei-stand the apostle to speak of eternal
fire " " Others,"' says the Cardinal, " understand the
fii-e of the conflagration of the world."
(5.) The last passage which Dr. Milner brings forward
is Matthew xii. 32, it is that which contains the denuncia
tion of Christ concerning blasphemy against the Holy
Ghost, riz : that it " shaU not be forgiven either in this
world or in the world to come ;'' which words he says,
clearly imply that some sins are forgiven in the world to
come. But, I ask, what has purgatory to do . vrith
forgiveness? Nothing whatever acccording to the
Church of Rome. Forgiveness is granted in this life ;
such at least is the CathoUc doctrine. But look for a
moment at the illogical character of the Doctor's reason
ing. On the same principle you may argue that because
it may be said the crime of miu'der wUl not be approved
either in this world or in the world that is to come,
some other crimes wiU be approved in the world
to come. Cardinal BeUai-mine was cancUd enough to
allow that the inference does not foUow from the pre
mises, and therefore that any reasoning upon the
passage for thispui-pose is altogether Ulogical. (" Non
sequi secundum regulas dialecticorum")
Although m my first lecture I clearly proved the non-
canonical character of the Apocryphal books, and that
they are therefore vrithout authority in the estabUshment

874 LECTURE IK. * ' . "
of any doctrine, I do not feel disposed to avoid tha
consideration of that favorite text which our Roman
Catholic friends adduce from 2 Maccabees, xU., 43.
^'And making a gathering, he sent twelve thousand
drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered
for the sins of the dead, thinking weU and reUgiously
concerning the resurrection." But I must first remind
you of the authority vvhich I then advanced for the
rejection of the Apocrypha. I showed you that
Eusebius, the most ancient historian of the Church,
rejected the Apocrypha ; that Origen rejected it ; that
the Council of Laodicea rejected all the books but
Baruch ; and that St. Cyril and St. Athanasius followed
the same course. I might have added then, but I do it
now, that Pope Gregory the Great, the most illustrious
of all Roman CathoUc Poiitiifs, rejected these two books
of the Maccabees. And yet the Roman CathoUc is the
old reUgion ! Yet is it the unchangeable religion !
Yet is it the infallible religion ! Yet is it the apostolic
religion ! Notwithstanding that St. Gregory, in the year
590, rejects the authority of that book upon which the
doctrine of purgatory chiefly rests !
Haring said thus much, we vrill take our Roman
Catholic friends upon their own ground, and will simply
remind them, that those on whose behalf prayers are here
said to be offered, died in idolatry, which is a mortal sin,
and that therefore neither .purgatory nor prayers could '
afford them relief, even on Roman CathoUc principles.
We have thus examined the scriptural gTound upon
which purgatory, rests. You have been conducted
into a patient investigation of at least the strongest

PURGATORY. 87$
scriptural evidences which Roman Catholics themselves
alledge, and I now ask with confidence, "What are
they aU t" Where is this doctrine of purgatory ? It is
not here ; the Word of God disavows it ; there is not
left upon another one stone of the whole foundation
upon which this mysteri ous and fiery fabric is constructed ;
they lie scattered at om- feet ; they are gone ! The
glaring bubble is so attenuated and brittle that it cannot
survive a scriptural handling ; the first touch of the word
of God causes it to explode ! Where, I repeat, do you
find the doctrine of purgatoi-y ? Wherever else you
find it, it is not in this Bible.
Secondly. — ^Roman CathoUcs, in contending for the
existence of purgatory, build much upon the practices
and opinions of antiquity ; but notwithstanding this
boast, we protest against the doctrine on the authority
of the early fathers of the Church.
Not that we deny the antiquity of the doctrine.
Plato taught it in his day, and Virgil, the Latin poet, in
the sixth book of the .^neid, furnishes a description of
purgatory which so nearly resembles the relations fur
nished by BellaiTnine, as to make it difficult to conceive
that the moderns did not borrow from the ancient
pagan poet. —
" For this are vai-io::s penances enjoined,
And some are hung to bleach upon the wind 
Some plunged in waters, others purged in fires.
Till all the dregs are drained, and all the rust expires.
All have their manes and those manes bear,
The few so cleansed to those abodes repair.
And breathe in ample fields the soft Elysian air,

376 LECTURE IS.
Then are tbey happy, when by length of time
The scurf is worn away of each committed crime ;
No speck is left of their habitual stains.
But the pure ether of the soul remains."
Dr. Milner refers to this extract, and says that it only
shows how conformable the doctrine is to the dictates of
natural religion ? He forgets that he might plead for
the practices of idolatry, or indeed any other Heathen
ish custom, on the same ground.
Our Roman Catholic friends, however, when they
refer to antiquity, mean by this expression, the ancient
Church of Christ. Now while we contend that there
existed in the Church at a very early period, especially
after the second century, many errors, and that many a
theological vagary was entertained, we are yet prepared
to maintain that the doctrine of purgatory was not
known to the Christian Church for the first six centuries
of its existence, nor even at the end of this period, in the
sense in which it is now held by Roman Catholics.
We readily admit, however, that some of the early
practices and opinions of the Church prepared the way
for the doctrine as it appeared in its full growth in the
Councils of Florence and of Trent.
We mention three : —
First. — The practice of praying for the dead ; a prac;
tice which commenced in the second centui-y and which
probably was introduced by converts from Paganism,
who, before their conversion to Christianity, were not
strangers to the rite. The notions which these ancient
Christians entertained were, however, widely different
from those purgatorial doctrines which obtain in the

PURGATORY. 3 77
modern Roman Catholic Church. Their belief was as
ours is,, that the felicity of the saints is capable of
augmentation even now, and that, at the day of resur
rection this augmentation wiU infallibly take place ; so
they were wont to pray for all the departed saints with
out exception. Now though we do not believe that
the scriptures furnish any warrant for such a practice,
we can yet conceive of its being followed without the
remotest idea of purgatorial punishment and satisfac
tion. Our Roman CathoUc friends believe that the
Virgin Mary never entered purgatory, that the apostles
too escaped this fiery ordeal, and that martyrs also go im
mediately to heaven ; if then this is their belief, I have
at hand an incontrovertible proof that praying for the
dead did not involve the modern Roman CathoUc notion
of purgatory. What will our friends say to the follow
ing prayer taken out of the liturgy of St Gregory:
" Vouchsafe 0 Lord to be mindful of all the Saints who
have pleased thee from the beginning ; of our Holy
Fathers, Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Evangelists, Mar
tyrs, Confessors, and those who have published the Gos
pel to thy Church, and of all the spirits of the just, who
having finished their course have departed in the faith .
But especially of the Holy and Glorious ever Virgin
Mother of God, and of Holy John, the forerunner. Bap
tist and Martyr, and Stephen, the first deacon and Pro-
tomartyr, &c." Every one will immediately perceive the
difference between praying thus for all the righteous
dead, and praying that some of the righteous dead may
speedily be deUvered from the pains and flames of pur
gatory. To the same effect are the liturgies of St. Basil

378

LECTURE IX.

and St. Chrysostom, in both of which the name of the'
Virgin Mary is introduced.
Second. — ^An opinion of the early fathers which pre
pared the way for the doctrine of purga tory,. and which
many orthodox Christians still maintain, is that there is
a separate state (Hades) for the spirits of the departed,
where they exist in conscious happiness or misery until
the resurrection, when their happiness or misery vrill be
completed, according as they died in faith or impeni- •
tency. Tertullian in his treatise on the resurrection
says, " No one when he departs out of the body dwells
immediately with the Lord, except it be from the pre
rogative of martyrdom, but his abode will be in para
dise, not in hell." St Augustine says, " The time which
intervenes between a man's death and the last resurrec
tion, keeps souls in hidden receptacles, according as
each is deserring of repose or sorrow, in consideration
of that which it has obtained while living in the fiesh."
It wUl scarcely be affirmed that in this notion the doc
trine of purgatory is involved, for it is held in the present
day by thousands who reject this Roman Catholic
dogma. Third. — The opinion which prevailed, that at the day
of judgment all believers, as well as sinners, including
the Virgin Mary and Apostles, vriU have to undergo a
probatorial fire, prepared the way for the reception of
the doctrine of an immediate purgatorial fire, but nei
ther of these doctrines is involved in the other.
It is not for us, at this time at least, either to defend
or to refute these opinions and practices of the Church
in former ages ; it is enough if we have shown that

PURGATORY. 379
they have no necessary connection with the doctrine of
purgatory. And now I ask, could Ambrose have beUeved this
doctrine while wi-iting the following words : — " Death
is a haven of rest, and makes not our condition worse ;
but, according as it finds every man, so it reserves him
to the judgment to come." Could Jerome be a believer
in the doctiine while he penned the following consola
tory words to Mai-ceUa, on the death of Lea : " Instead
of her short trouble, she is already in the enjoyment of
eternal blessedness." And even as to Augustine, whose
works are esteemed by Roman Catholics, the strong
hold of this doctrine, how loosely must he have held it,
to have said " such a matter as a middle state for pur
gatory might be inquired into :" but he afterwards.
affirms: "We read of heaven and of heU ; but thO
third place we are utterly ignorant of; yea, we find it
is not in Scripture." Listen to St Cyprian, speaking
of departed brethren: " They should," says he, "be
regretted, not mourned, nor should black garments be
assumed here, since they have put on white robes
there." But why should I multiply quotations, since
Roman Catholic cUvines of the greatest eminence have
acknowledged that there is no ground on which to plead
the antiquity of the doctrine ? The celebrated Fisher in
forms us, " That in the ancient fathers there is ¦ either
none at aU, or very rare mention of purgatory : that,
by the Grecians it is not believed to this day ; that the
Latins, not aU at once, but step by step received it ;
that purgatory being so lately known, it is not to be
wondered that in the first times of the Church, there

380 LECTURE IX,
was no use of indulgences." Alphonsus de Castro is
candid enough to say : " Many things are known to us
of which the ancients were altogether ignorant, as pur
gatory, indulgences, &c," And Cardinal Cajetan is
equaUy explicit : " We have not, by, writing, any
authority either of the Holy Scriptures or ancient doc-
stors, Greek or Latin, which affords us any knowledge of
purgatory." On how insecure a basis then does this doctrine of
purgatory rest ! The Scriptures are against it ; the
earlier fathers, with all theu- crude notions respecting a
future state, are not in favour of it ; the more modern
Confessors, Martyrs, Cardinals, Bishops, and Doctors
rescind its claim to aatiquity ; and yet it is held and
maintained, by the authorities of the Roman CathoUc
Chureh, as a doctrine, the denial of which will bring
down upon our heads the curse of God ! Because,
Pi'otestants deny, with Cardinal Cajetan, the authority
of Sci'iptm'e for this doctrine — the Council of Trent
anathematizes ust Because Protestants follow the
opinion of Cardinal Fisher, that purgatory is a doctrine
lately known, the Council of Trent excludes us from
salvation I Is this charitable ? Is it consistent ? Is it
Christian ?
There is one riew of the doctrine of purgatory which
has always -impressed me with its unsoundness ; and
that is its utter inconsistency with the purposes of
Dirine grace. The gospel offers its blessings — ALL its
blessings, vrithout money and without price. Salvation
is here declared to be by the free grace of GocL In the
Roman Catholic Church it is not without money and

PURGATORY. '381
without price. Indulgences and masses are, if not
ostensibly, yet reaUy sold and purchased, and so salvation,
at least in part, is made'to depend, not upon the bound
less love of God, but upon the wealth of its members.
Reason as you vrill, if relief from purgatory is to be
obtained by charities and masses, the rich in the
Roman Catholic Church have an advantage which is
denied to the poor. How this doctrine is made to
accord with the words of the Sariour, " How hardly
shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of
God," T have not discovered. In what a position are
the Catholic poor placed by this doctrine of the
Church ? Under what bondage must they groan, when
they contemplate their prospects in the painful abodes
of purgatory ? How deeply must they feel the disad
vantage of their poverty. Their rich brethren can pay
for thousands of masses ; they can harcUy pay for five
or perhaps one. Can you then wonder that when a
poor and feeble Roman CathoUc tradges our cities and
towns begging for bread, that even from the scanty
pittance which he obtains, he should lay aside a portion
for the purpose of securing as many masses as possible
for the welfare of his soul ? My Roman CathoUc
fiiends know that this is no uncommon occurrence. I
met a few weeks ago vrith an instance of a poor infirm
Roman CathoUc who sought and procured ahns fi-om a
member of my congregation, and who confessed that he
had already in store several doUars, which he intended
to devote to the saying of masses for the speedier
deUverance of his soul from purgatoi-y. I dare to say
that I am speaking to many who have long felt this
' r2

382 LECftTRE IX.
bondage, the bondage induced by the conriction that
poverty vrill be the occasion of their remaining in
purgatory and suffering its dreaded pains longer than
some of then- richer brethren ! We solemnly protest
against this doctrine, it is opposed to the genius of the
Gospel: — evangelical inconsistency is Stamped upon its
very face. "Where do you find it in the New Testament ?
Tell me in what cities the apostles and early ministers
of the gospel established pm'gatorian societies ? Tell
me in what apostoUc epistle the members of the primi
tive Chm-ch are asked to contribute their money to save
the souls of departed believers out of purgatory ? Give
me one instance out of the New Testament in which
Christians said masses to help the souls of Christ's
people suffering in purgatory — and with this intention we
will, at once institute a daily mass in this Church. If I
am addressing this evening one Roman Catholic who is
so poOr as not to be able to accomplish his vrish in
rpspect to the number of masses to be hereafter said for
his soul, I would direct that misguided incUridual to the
infinite satisfaction of Christ's sacrifice, to the infinite
fountain of God's; love, to the gracious promise of the
gospel,:. " Whosoever wUl, let him take of the water of
life freely," and to that blessed declaration which
delivered from the bondage and fear of purgatory the
.Roman CathoUc lady of Poplar, " Happy are the dead
who die in the Lord."
My dear hearers, Protestant and CathoUc, let me
exhibit to you this evening that gospel purgatory in
which, without money and vrithout price, you may be
cleansed from all your sin : from its guilt, from its

PURGATOR*. - 388
¦pollution ; that purgatory in which you may be delivered
from its temporal and spiritual and eternal condemna
tion. You know to what I allude — not to fire — but to
the purgatorial fountain of Christ's Blood. To this
fountain would I lead you all. It has been opened for
«n and for uncleanness ; it is still open — open for you —
for ALL — it flows from Calvary to every spot of our
«ai'th — " Its streams the whole creation r^ach,
So plenteous is the store,
Enough for all, enough for eacli.
Enough for evermore."
I would take you by the hand this evening, I would lead
you to the Ci'oss of Christ, to his open bleeding side, to
the very edge of this fountain, and I would implore you
with aU the guilt you have contracted and with all the
stains of pollution, which defile your souls, to plunge t^
faith into its streams, and then, though your sins be as
scarlet, they shall be as white as snc)w, though they be
Ted Uke crimson, they shall be as wool. Oh cover
yourselves vrith the cleansing blood of your Redeemer,
and rise in life and purity. Thousands and myriads
have already proved its efficacy. Darid, the backsUder,
"Washed in this fountain, and came out vrith a clean
lieart ; — ^Peter who denied his Lord washed in it ; — Paul
the chief of sinners bathed his guUty soul in its flovring
streams ; — The four-and-twenty Elders who are before the
throne plunged themselves here, and now the burden of
"their song is, " Thou wast slain and hast redeemed us
unto God by thy blood ;" — ^Thc great multitude referrM
to in the text, whom no man could number, whorti John

384 LECTURE IX.
saw standing before the throne and singing, " Salvation
to our God and to the Lamb," passed through the same
fountain, " washed their robes and made them white
in the blood of the Lamb." FoUow them ! There is no
¦other way ; there is no other purgation. The satisfac
tion that you need is herb, the cleansing that you need
¦is herb, the purity that you need is here. God help
you to wash your robes and to make them white in this
precious blood !
But though there is no purgatory after death there is
a fearful, an eternal Hell, in which the worm dieth not
and the fire is not quenched. Listen to the foUovring
passage from the Douay Bible: — "The fearful and
unbeliering, and the abominable and murderers, and
whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars,
they shall have their portion in the pool burning with
fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
And there is a Heaven where now the souls of believ
ers dweU with Jesus. They are absent from the body, '
but are present with the Lord — ^happy, peaceful, at rest,
" Far from a world of grief and sin.
With God eternally shut in."
Perhaps they were poor, but now they hunger no
more, they thirst no more ; — perhaps they were
afflicted sufferers, but there is no more sickness, no more
pain ; — perhaps they watered their couch with their
tears, but God has vriped them all away. Into this
heaven " There shall not enter anything defiled, or that
worketh abomination or maketh a Ue, but they that are
written in the Lamb's book of life."

PURGATORY, 385
Whither then are you tending ? In which way are
you walking ? In the way of holiness, or in the way of
sin ? In the broad road that leadeth to destruction, or
in the narrow way that leadeth unto life ? To heU with
aU its terroi-s, or to heaven with its endless joys ? Do
you ask how you are to solve this problem ? Let me
again demand, Have you forsaken )'.our sins ? Have
you repented ? Have you mourned in penitence before
your God ? Have you gone to the Cross for salvation ?
Have your hearts been changed by the Spirit of God ?
Are you living in holiness and righteousness ? If not,
be you Protestant or Catholic, you have no right to
hope for heaven. You are hasting to destruction. Oh !
wUl you Uve and die in your sins ? Remember, as the
tree faUs so it lies. " There is no work, nor d<5'rice, nor
knowledge, nor vrisdom, in the grave whither thou
goest" Are you trembUng before God on account of
your sins and in prospect of hell, are you saying :
" Shall I amidst a ghastly band,
Dragged to the judgment seat.
Far on the left with horror stand.
My fearful doom to meet ?"
Is this your language ? I reply :
"Ah ! no, you slill may tm-n and live.
For still his wrath delays ;
He uow vouchsafes a kind reprieve.
And offers you his grace."

LECTURE X.
PROTESTANTISM.
As this is to be the last Lecture of the course, I shaU,
perhaps, be excused if I oft'er two or three general
observations before entering- upon the discussion of our
prescribed subject :
First, then, I would remark, that these lectures did
not originate in any combination, on the part of the
Protestant Churches of this city, against the doctrines
which are held by our Roman CathoUc Brethren. They
were not even undertaken by desire of that portion of
Christ's Church with which the speaker is associated.
No one belonging either to another Church or to his
own suggested theu- delivery. Without suggestion, and
almost without consultation, they were determined upon
by him, just as in the retirement of his own closet, and
vrith earnest prayer for the Holy Spirit's guidance, he is
accustomed to select those subjects upon which he dis
courses in his ordinary ministrations. He had long felt
that an exposition of the grounds upon which the
system of Protestantism rests might be given vrith great
advantage to the members of his own congregation,
and that although discourses of a strictly and entirely
- controversial nature are not usually favorable to the
advancement of spiritual religion, yet that there would
be a possibility of so illustrating and enforcing the

388 lecture X,
great principles of Protestant Christianity as that they
should become spiritually and practically beneficial. He
also thought, and not without foundation, that if an
announcement of such a design were made, some cancUd
and inteUigent Roman Catholics, of whom there are
many in the city, might be disposed to come and exam
ine for themselves the principles of that great and
growing system which they are taught to regard as the
world's greatest curse.
The Second observation relates to the spirit in which
"this exposition has been conducted. The speaker appeals
with confidence to the thousands of all classes who have
listened tq these lectures, that the professions with which
he commenced the course have been faithfully main
tained. It is a great comfort to his mind, in the review
of the labours and anxieties which have attended this
investigation, that he has not been betrayed into even a
slight departure from the principle on which he thus set
out. He may also be allowed to say, that during these
ten weeks of thought and research there has been a
rapid growth of the conriction which he often expressed
before, that all religious controversies should be con
ducted in the spirit of Christian Charity, that the apos
tle's words, " Speaking the truth in love," should be the
motto of every theological controversialist, and that
until he is prepared to inscribe these words upon his
banner, he ought not to enter the field of polemical
warfare. He is free to confess, that, on both sides, the
controversy between Roman CathoUcs and Protestants
.. has often been carried on in a spirit of virulence and
abuse, which cannot be defended on simply philosophical

PROTESTANTISM. 389
much less on Christian principles, and which can never
be productive of spiritual benefit.
Thirdly, — As to the spirit in which these lectures have
been received. The speaker is thankful to that gracious
Being, from whom proceedeth every good and perfect
gift, for the spirit of inquiry and attentiveness which
has been manifested throughout the whole course. It
has rejoiced him to observe that Protestants take so deep
an interest in the maintenance of their principles, and
he has been especially gratified to know that many of
his Roman Catholic friends have so far thrown aside
their prejudices as to consent to enter a Protestant
Church, and to hear for themselves the Protestant
side of the question. It augurs well for future discus
sions, so at least the speaker thinks, that so orderly and
decorous a behaviour has characterized the very mixed
and crowded audiences which it has been his privilege
to address, the more so, that there have come under his
own observation facts which prove that in many
instances, Roman Catholic;s have listened to the argu
ments and appeals that have been advanced with an
earnest and candid desire to inquire into the truth as it is
in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Fourthly, — As to the results of this effort ; the
preacher leaves these to the influence of that Divine
Spirit in whose strength the work-was undertaken ; it
may, however, be permitted him to hope that these
results will be beneficial. One effect, probably, will be
the cultivation of a better state of feeling between our
Protestant and Roman Catholic fellow citizens. They
wiU, perhaps, understand each other better. Roman

390 LECTURE X.
CathoUcs will be convinced that they have Protestant
brethren around them who can defend their own prin
ciples without descending to abuse ; and Protestants
will learn that there are in the community candid
Catholics who are disposed to hear vrith attention what
may be said on both sides of the great questions on
which they differ. Another effect will be the establish
ment of Protestants in the principles of their own faith.
It is gratifying to know that this effect has been already
produced to a very large extent It is a result much to
be desired in the present day because of the insidious
and unworthy attempts which are now made to destroy
the foundations of Protestantism, by the Jesuits of the
Church of Rome, whose principles are as thoroughly
detested by liberal and enlightened Catholics, as they
are by Protestants. It is not too much to expect that
another effect of these lectures vrill be an acknowledg
ment on the part of our Roman Catholic friends,
grounded upon sincere conriction, that, without refer
ence to sectional pecuUarities, the great principles of
Protestantism are sustained by the Bible, and by the
most ancient authorities of the Church. The speaker
has already heard of conviction of the truth of Protest
antism in some minds, and of wavering in others
respecting the scriptural verity of Roman Cathcdicism,
and he prays that the Ught which has thus pierced the
darkness may become by the power of the Holy Spirit,
so intense as that its last remaining gloom may be >
dispeUed ! May we not also hope that one other result
will follow ? Why should we not expect and believe
that the gospel seed which has been thus sown in so

PROTESTANTISM. 391
many Protestant and Catholic hearts shaU bring forth
fruit ? Why should we refrain from casting ourselves
upon the divine announcement, "My word shall not
return unto me void ?" We will not refrain from thus
trusting the word of the "living God ; we will believe
that many Roman Catholics and Protestants shall
become, not Methodists, not Episcopalians, not Presby
terians, but humble and penitent believers in the merits
of Jesus, and faithful followers of the Lamb. God grant
that it may be even so !
The words which I have selected for a text you may
find in the third verse of the epistle of Jude.
" I WAS UNDER A NECESSITY TO WRITE UNTO YOU : TO
BESEECH YOU TO CONTEND EARNESTLY FOR THE FaITH
ONCE DELIVERED UNTO THE SAINTS."
The terms in which the subject of this lecture has
been announced, oblige me to define Protestantism.
"What is it ? Roman Catholics say it is a system of
negations. They also perpetuate that stale objection,
which, by the way, is assertion only and not argument,
that Protestantism is a new reUgion. Now, if Roman
Catholics desire to know from those who employ the
term what is meant by Protestantism, our reply is, not
Lutheranism, not Calrinism, not Arminianism, but
" THE Faith oncb delivered unto the saints." Listen
to the ffi-st few verses of this epistle and you will find
that St. Jude exhorts the Christians to whom he -wi-ote,
to protest against certain novelties which had been
already introduced into the Christian Church. " Dearly
belo^ved, taking all care to write unto you concerning •
your cx>mmon salvation, I was under a necessity to wi-it«

392 lecture X.
unto you : to beseech you to contend earnestly for the
faith once deUvered to the saints. For -certain men are
secretly entered in (vvho were written of long ago- unto
this judgment) ungodly men, turning the grace of our
Lord God into riotousness, and denying the holy
sovereign Ruler, and our Lord Jesus Christ."
I suppose it wUl not be denied by either Protestants
or Catholics, that it is both the duty and the privilege
of Christians earnestly to contend for the apostolic faith.
Now it appears to me that in the nine lectures to which
you have already listened, the leading principles of
Protestantism have been undeniably proved to be in
accordance both vrith the Holy Scriptures, and with the
ancient authorities of the Church. I would remind
you that no argument advanced during this discussion
has been founded upon Protestant authorities. If I
have quoted from the Bible in support of any Protestant
doctrine, I have adopted either the^Vulgate or the Douay
Version. If I have had occasion to refer to history,
Roman Catholic historians have been uniformly selected.
If I have described . the doctrines of the Church .of
Rome, I have employed the language . of its most
eminent members, and usually the very words of its
canons and formularies. And yet, notwithstanding that
I have thus left Protestant ground, and have fought the
battle within the Roman CathoUc territory, I repeat that
the truth of the leading principles of Protestantism has
been thoroughly ciemonstrated.
I shall adopt the following order in the investigation
of the subject : first, I shall prove that Protestantism
is the old religion; secondly, that the state of the

PROTESTANTISM. 393
Soman Catholic Church in the sixteenth century
educed that development of pre-existent principles
which resulted in the Reformation ; aud thirdly, I shall
reply to some objections that may not have been fully
met in the consideration of the previous investigations.
First, then, I am to prove that Protestantism is
THE OLD Religion.
I need not occupy much of your time in exhibiting
to you the doctrines of Protestantism, for this is what
we have been doing for the last nine Sabbath evenings.
Perhaps the leading principle of the Protestant religion
is the absolute sufficiency of the Bible as a rule of
faith ; this is the foundation of the whole superstructure.
Om- appeal for the truth of any doctrine, or the authority
of any practice is not to creeds, and canons, and articles,
and confessions, and catechisms, and liturgies, but to this
glorious fountain of immutable truth, the Bible. And
because we believe that the doctrines which I shall now
announce are taught in, and may be proved by this
dirine Book, we acknowledge them to be the articles of
our creed. These doctrines are. The existence and tri-
unity of God. Is this a negation ? Tlie totally fallen
and corrupt condition of man. Is this a negation ? The
redemption of the whole world by Christ. Is this a
negation? The incarnation of Christ by the Virgin
Mary. Is this a negation ? The crucifixion of Christ,
and his one sacrifice for sin. Is this a negation ? The
resurrection of Christ and his ascension into heaven. Is
this a negation ? The intercession of Christ and his sole
Mediatorship. Is this a negation ? The possibility of a

394 LECTURE X.
sinner^s justification and holiness. Is this a negation ?
The necessity of repentance and faith in order to salva- ^
tion. Is this a negation ? The personality, ofiice and
work of the Holy Spirit. Is this a negation ? The last
and general judgment. Is this a negation ? The eternal
blessedness of the righteous, and the eternal misery of
the unbelieving. Are these negations ? These are the
truths or doctrines upon which we have been dilating,
and I am much mistaken if it has not been proved to
the satisfaction of most of my hearers, that novelty is
not the characteristic of Protestantism, but rather of
Roman CathoUcism. Need I remind you that the most
ancient Creeds of the Church are freely subscribed by
Pi'otestants ? The Apostles' Creed, as it is usually
called, and the Nicene Creed, are the Creeds of Protest
antism ; and why we are anathematized when we are
prepared to adopt that only profession of faith which
was used in the first few centuries of the Christian
Church, is a question which I pretend not to solve. If
Protestantism is a novelty, then is the Apostles' Creed
a novelty. If Protestantism is a novelty, a thing of
yesterday, then may the same be predicated of the
formulary of the Nicene Fathers. If Protestantism is a
novelty, then is much that the fathers of the church wrote
a novelty ; for inconsistent with themselves and with
each other, as they frequently are, they favour more the
dootrinoeS of Protestantism than those of the Trentine
CouncU. Roman Catholic controversialists have expended
their curses upon Luther for preaching the doctrine of
justification by faith only, whUe St. Hilary in his ninth
canon upon Matthew, says, " Faith only justifieth ;" and

protestantism. 895
St. Basil in his Homily on HumiUty : " This is a perfect
and whole rejoicing in God when a man acknowledgeth
himself to be justified by the only faith in Christ ;" and
St. Ambrose : " This is the ordinance of God that they
which believe in Christ should be saved, without works,
by faith only, receiring remission of their sins." Is
there any novelty, therefore, in the Protestant doctrine
of salvation by faith only? The defenders of the
Roman Catholic faith have showered their sneers upon
Protestants for asserting the Bible to be the only rule
of faith. Now listen to St Augustine : " For whereas
the Lord had done many things, all were not written ; for
the same Evangelist John testffies that he both said and
did many things which are not written, but those things
were selected to be written which were thought sufficient
for- the salvation of believers." — On Gospel of John,
XX. V. 30. Jerome also may be quoted; " The Church
of Christ which has Churches in the whole world, is
united by the unity of the spirit, and has the cities of
the law, the prophets, the gospel, and the apostles ; she
has not gone forth from her boundaries, that is," he
continues, " fi-om the Holy Scriptures." Origen says,
" As all gold, whatsoever it be, that is without the
temple is not holy ; so every sense which is without the
Divine Scripture, however admirable it may appear to
some, is not holy, because it is foreign to the Scripture."
(25th Homily on Matthew). Hear also the following
triumphant defence of this great bulwark of Protestant
ism from St. CyiU of Jerusalem : " Not even the least
OF the Divine and Holy mysteries of thb faith
ought to be handed down without the Divine

896 lecture X.
Scriptures." WiU Roman Catholics in the face of
these extracts from their own revered fathers ever
again taunt Protestants with the novelty of this doc
trine ?
This charge of novelty comes with an ill grace from
those who have invested the novelties of the Council of
Trent with the authority of inspiration, and have ana
thematized all those who dare to dissent from them.
Novelty belongs to the Church of Rome. What will
our friends say to this passage from Justin Martyr, and
how wiU they make it agree with the doctrines of
transubstantiation and the sacrifice of the mass ? " I
also affirm," says he, in his dialogu'e vrith Trypho,
" that the prayers and praises of the saints are the only
perfect sacrifices acceptable to God. For these only
have the Christians undertaken to perform, and by the
commemoration of ihe wet and dry food, in which we
call to mind the sufferings which the God of gods suf-
, fered through Him, whose name the High Priest and
Scribes have caused to be profaned and blasphemed
throughout the earth." Listen to Eusebius, of Cesarea :
" He gave again to his disciples the symbols of the
Divine economy, and he commanded them to make the
image of his own body.'' Again : " He appointed them
to use bread as a symbol of his own body." To this
agree the words of Tertullian : " The bread which he
had taken and distributed to his disciples he made his
body, by saying, ' This is my body,' that is, the figure
of my body.'' And yet the Church of Rome pleads
antiquity in support of her doctrines, and attempts to
affix upon Protestantism the stigma of novelty. Novelty

PROTESTANTISM. 897 '
belongs to the Church of Rome. You heard enough
last Sabbath to prove to you that purgatory is a novelty ;
I ask you, however, to listen again to ancient testimony
on this doctrine. Chrysostom, in his secsond homily on
Lazarus, says : " When we shall be departed out of
this Ufe, there is then no room for repentance ; nor wUl
it be in our power to wash out any spots we have con
tracted, or to purge away any one of the evUs we have
committed." To whom then justly attaches this stigma
of novelty ? To the CouncU of Trent, which anathe
matizes those who deny the doctrine of purgatory, or
to the Protestant community, which declares it to be
contrary to both Scripture and antiquity ? St. Cyprian
in his sermon on mortality, says : " The just, when they
die, are called to a place of shelter and. rest ;" and
Gregory Nazianzen affirms, that " the souls of good
people when they are freed from t'ne body, do forth-
-vrith enjoy an incredible pleasure, and joyfully fly unto
the Lord." Novelty belongs to the Church of Rome.
Auricular confession is a favourite doctrine of the
Roman CathoUc Church. Is it however sustained by
antiquity? Listen to Chrysostom in his fifth sermon
on the incomprehensible nature of God : " For this
reason I entreat, and beseech, and pray you to confess
continually to God. For I do not bring thee into the
theatre of thy fellow-servants, nor do I compel thee to
discover thy sins to men. Uncover your conscience to
God, and seek a cure from him." Again, he says in
his sermon on Repentance and Confession, fifth volume
of his works : " But now it is not necessary to confess
your sins to vritnesses who are present ; let the inquiry

398 LECTURE X.
of thy offences be made in thy thought; let this judg
ment be without a witness, let God only see thee
CONFESSING." Novelty belongs to the Church of Rome.
The necessity of subordinate mediators to facilitate our
access to the Father and the Son, is a universally
acknowledged doctrine of the Roman Church : What
then will be said to the following declaration of Chry
sostom : " When we want any thing from men, we have
need of cost and money, and serrile adulation, and
much going up and down, and great ado. For it falleth
out oftentimes that we cannot go straight unto the lords
themselves and present our gifts unto them and speak
with them, but it is necessaiy for us first to procure the
favour of their ministers, and stewards, and officers,
both by payments and words, and all other means ; and
then by their mediation to obtain our request. But
with God it is not thus, for there is no need of interces
sors for the petitioners ; neither is he so ready to give a
gracious answer when entreated by others as by ourselves
praying unto Him." Can you wonder at our reiterat
ing the assertion that Novelty belongs to the Church
OF Rome ? I might advance other and equally coii-
rincing extracts from the Fathers in proof of my
position, but these will suffice. I know what our
Roman Catholic friends wUl reply— they vrill say that
they can produce passages from the Fathers equally
corroborative of the truth of their doctrines ; now snp^
pose we were to grant this ; how would the concession
serve the interests of Roman Catholicism ? It would
at once convict the Fathers of the Church of inconsis
tency -^ith each other and witii themselves, and there-

protestantism. 399
fore of being unworthy witnesses in support of Roman
CathoUc pretensions. We are not careful whether the
defenders of the Church of Rome select this or the other
horn of the dilemma.
But if such sentiments as these pervaded the writings
of the Fathers, and if novelty is the characteristic of
many of the peculiar dogmas of the Church of Rome,
might we not expect to find, before the days of Luther,
some indications of the existence of the old Apostolic
faith, as Protestants call it ? Is it probable, is it even
possible, that inteUigent ecclesiastics, should tamely
submit to the introduction of novelties ? That with
the Bible and the Fathers in their libraries, there should
not have been some protests against doctrinal innova
tions ? We reply that such a thing is not probable,
and scarcely possible. We reply, further, that such a
thing did not exist. This old reUgion, the religion of
the Bible and of Protestantism was in existence before
the Reformation of the sixteenfti century ; and nothing
but ignorance of his own authors, or unwarrantable
efirontery, could lead a Roman Catholic to propound to
a Protestant the oft repeated and oft answered ques
tion — " Where was your religion before Luther ?"
The Protestant answer to this demand is " In the
Bible ! " But we shall give another answer to the
question, and one which will conrict the enemies of
Protestantism of unscrupulous misrepresentation. Why
then, I ask, but that resistance was made to the dogmas
and practices of the Church, were laws enacted against
heretics? Why was Wickliffe denounced 150 years
before the Reformation, but that he protested against

400 lecture X,
the novelties of the Roman Catholic Church, and
appealed to the Bible as the only source of ti-uth ? Why
were Huss and Jerome of Prague martyred at the stake,
but that the truths which Wickliffe taught were in
fluencing them against the encroachments of Rome ?
But let us go back to the thirteenth century, and let
us ask why were the Waldenses persecuted and slaugh
tered ? Let Rainerius, the persecutor of these noble
people, himself declare : " They are the most formidable
enemies of the Church of Rome, because they have a
great appearance of godliness, because they Uve right
eously before men, beUeve rightly of God in all things,
and hold all the articles of the creed ; yet they hate
and revile the Church of Rome, and in their accusations
are easily believed by the people." Mark this ; the
chief ground of the treatment which they received at
the hands of the Church of Rome was not immorality,
not a renunciation of the articles of the Christian faith,
but an inveterate hatred to the practices of the Roinan
Church. And whence cUd these Alpine Christians and
martyrs derive their faith ? Was it a late importation
into the vaUeys and fastnesses which they peopled ?
This same Rainerius, the inquisitor, says again: "That
sect is the most dangerous of all heretics, because it is
of the longest duration, for some say that it has con
tinued to flourish since tbe time of Sylvester, others
from the times of the apostles." Cassini, an Italian
priest, testifies that he " found it handed down that the
Vaudois were as ancient as the Christian Church.".
Campian, the Jesuit, coUected that they were said to be
" more ancient than the Roman Chureh ;" and the monk,

protestantism. 401
Belridere, in, his inquisitorial reports, laments that
" these heretics have been found at all periods of history
in the valley of An^-ogna." And what were the doc
trines of the church against which these confessedly
ancient Christians protested ? Purgatory, images, the
invocation of saints, the sacrifice of the mass, transub
stantiation, the authority and decrees of the Bishop of
Rome. " 'Where was your reUgion before Luther ?" is the
demand. WTiere ? In the writings and experience of
those nonconfoi-mists of whom, in the year 1153, Ber
nard of Clairvaux spoke, who he says were then disturb
ing the Latin Church. Where was our religion before
Luther? We point our inquirers to the valleys of
Piedmont, and ask them to contemplate it in the purity
of life, and in the patient endurance of suffering for
Christ, which were manifested by their noble inhabitants.
Listen, and our reUgion will become vocal in the groans
of the hundreds and the thousands of that noble race
who were slaughtered for the testimony of Jesus. Where
was our religion before Luther ? Go to Oxford and
follow the pen of Wickliffe in his remonstrances against
the encroachments of Rome, in his scriptural expositions
of truth, and in his translating the Scriptures into the
Vulgar tongue. Here, in the writings of the " Gospel
Doctor,'' as he was derisively called, you see something
of the Protestant religion, and yet he lived one hundred
and sixty-two years before Luther ! Where was our
religion ? In the writings and opinions of St- Anselm
who taught his people to die " trusting only in the merit
rf Jesus Christ." Where was our religion before

402 lecture X.
Luther ? Go to Bale in Germany, and you wiU see it
engraved on a painted window by an ancient Bishop of
that city, Christopher of Utenheim, in these words : —
" My hope is the cross of Christ ; I seek grace and not
works." Where was our religion before Luther ? Read
its evangelical and simple principles in the following con
fession of a poor Carthusian monk :^" 0 God most
charitable ! I know that I cannot be saved and satisfy
thy justice, othervrise than through the merit, the
innocent passion, and the death of thy well beloved
Son. Pious Jesus, all my salvation is in thy hands.
Thou canst not turn from me the hands of thy love, for
they have created, formed and redeemed me." Where
was our reUgion before Luther ? The dungeons of the
. inquisition and its instruments of torture, the cries of
its penitents and the groans of its martyrs, the stakes and
the faggots and the gridirons and the cauldrons which
were in use ere Luther was born, declare with resistless
testimony that long before his day the blessed light of,
Protestanism dawned upon the world's dark ages.
Where then, I demand, is the justice or even the con
sistency of declaring the doctrines of Protestantism to
be the invention of Luther ? Any man who has read
history but slightly must know, that, by such an asser
tion, he convicts himself of insincerity and falsehood.
And what becomes of the taunt of novelty against Pro
testantism in the face of the fact which has been more
than once established in these lectures, that Roman
Catholic writers themselves acknowledge the existence
of doctrines and practices in their Church which were
unknown to antiquity ? But we wiU take our friends

PROTESTANTISM. 403
on their own ground ; we will suppose that the system
of religion which we have adopted and which we advo
cate was constituted by Luther, we will suppose that
novelty is the characteristic -of Protestantism and that
Roman CathoUcism can justly boast her antiquity, yet
wUl the foUovring words of Tertullian, even on this
ground, overthrow the pretensions of the Church of
Rome, and vrith them we shall close this branch of the
lectm-e : — '' As the doctrine of a Church, when it is di
verse from, or contrary to that of the apostles, shows it
not to be an apostolic Ghurch, though it pretend to be
founded by an apostle : So those churches that cannot
produce any of the apostles, or apostolical men for their
founders, (being much later and newly constituted) yet
conspiring in the same faith, are nevertheless to be
accounted apostolical Churches, because of the con
sanguinity OF Doctrine." I am now to show
n. That the corrupt state of the Church of
Rome educed that development of pre-existbnt
PRINCIPLES which RESULTED IN THE REFORMATION
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTUBY.
This is a subject which must be painful to Roman
Catholics, and yet, in justice to both the Reformers
and ourselves, it must be fully considered. Whether the
members of the Roman community in the present day,
are,. or are not prepared to admit the almost universal
corruption of the church at the period to which we now
refer, is not material to our purpose. It is enough
for us that the testimony of eminent Roman Catholic
writers of that day, is more than abundant as to the

404 LECTURE X.
absolute and immediate need of a general Reformation
of the Church.
The corruption of the Church of Rome may be said"
to have commenced in the time of Gregory the Great ;
and there is testimony at hand that Christendom was
subsequently deluged with poUutionfrom the papal court.
Make the fountain impure and the streams wUl be im
pure. Gibbon, who will not be suspected of any leaning
towards Protestanism, states on the authority of Luit-
prand, that for the first half of the tenth century the
Popedom was in the hands of Theodora and Marozia^
two abandoned women, who, rivalling each other in lewd
licentiousness, deposed and installed the vicars of Christ
at their pleasure. " The influence," says Gibbon " of
these sisters was founded on their great wealth and
beauty, their political and amorous intrigues. The
most strenuous of their lovers were rewarded •with the
Roman mitre, and their reign may have suggested to
the darker ages, the fable of a female Pope. The
illegitimate son, the gi-and son, and the great-grand son
of Maroria, a rare genealogy, were seated in the chair of
Peter ; and it was at the age of nineteen years that the
second of these became the head of the Latin Church.
His youth and manhood were of a suitable complexion,
and the nations of pilgrims could bear testimony to the
charges that were m-ged against him in a Roman Synod,
and before Otho the Great. His open simony might
be the consequence of distress — his blasphemous invo
cations of Jupiter and Venus, if true, could not possibly
be serious ; but we read with some sm-prise that the
grandson of Marozia lived in public adultery, that the

PROTESTANTISM. 405
Lateran palace was turned into a school for prostitution,
and that his open seductions had deterred the female
pilgrims from visiting the tomb of St. Peter, lest in the
devout act, they should be riolated by his successor."
Gibbon,- as we have already seen gives his authority for
this picture, and that it is not overdrawn, appears pro
bable from the foUovring representation made by nine
Cardinals to Pope Paul IH., at a subsequent period :
" In this city (Rome) prostitutes walk about as if they
wpre goodly matrons, or they ride upon mules, and are
at noon-day followed up and down by men of the best
account in the famiUes of the Cardinals, and by clergy
men. We see no such degeneracy in any other- city
but in this which should be an example to others."
Platina, the Roman Catholic historian, acknowledges
that " Boniface VH., obtained the popedom by wicked
arts, and lost it by the same means ; many of the honest
citizens of Rome, having conspired against him, he was
glad to escape from the city, after having first robbed
the church of St. Peter of all the precious jewels, rich
utensils and omaments, which he carried to Constanti
nople, and there -sold. Subsequently, he returned to
Rome, seized upon John XV. who had been chosen
Pope in his absence, put out his eyes, and at length
starved him to death in prison." He lived but a short
time after his return, and the citizens of Rome, says
Peneda, "dragged his dead body, tied' by the feet,
through the streets of St. John Lateran, and there left it
a prey to dogs." And what shaU we say of the boy
Pope, Benedict IX. of whom one of his successors says,
62

406 LECTURE X.
" So base and so execrable was his life that I shudder
to relate it ?" "
In a sermon preached by Jean Gerson, Chancellor of
Paris, before the Council of Constance, he applies to the
Church of Rome in his day, these words of the prophet
Ezekiel, " Thou didst trust in thine own beauty and
playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst
out thy fornications on evei-y one that passed by. And
in all thy abominations thou hast not remembered the
days of thy youth. Thou hast buUt thy brothel house at
every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be
abhorred. Behold, therefore, I vrill deliver thee into the
hands of those who hate thee." He then exhorts the
Council " either to reform all states of the church in a
general CouncU, or command them to be reformed in
Provincial Synods ; that, by their authority, the church
might be repaired, and the house of God purged from
all uncleanliness, vices and en-ors." The desperate state
of the church may be gathered also from the fact, that
the College of Cardinals, at the death of Alexander VI.,
before they entered the conclave for the election of a
new Pope, took an oath that if any of them should be
chosen, he should immediately, before the publication
of his election, bind himself under pain of peijury and a
curse, to call a CouncU within two years, for the refor
mation of the Chm-ch. It may be well to mention that
Julius III. who had taken the oath,was-elected ; but he
violated his vow, and nine Cardinals who had suffered
from his insolence, withdrew themselves from Rome and ¦
called the second Pisan Council for the purpose if pos-
sille of securing the much needed reformation. "Who

PROTESTANTISM. 407
-wiU say, in the face of these testimonies that a protest
against these crimes of the church was not demanded
fl-om some quarter ? Who will say that by every means
that would not involve sin, this poUution should have
been washed away ?
Listen to another representation of this polluted
condition of the church from St. Bridget, a saint of high
reputation in the Catholic Church, who in her celestial
revelations caUs the pope " the destroyer of souls, who
scatters and tears the sheep of Christ." She says,
•^ The pope is more abominable than the Jews, more
cruel than Judas, more unjust than Pilate, more wicked
and eril than Jupiter himself ; — that his throne shall be
hurled into the abyss as a great miUstone, that his
Cai-dinals shaU be cast into everlasting fire aud sulphur,"
" Of the pope," she again says, " Christ demands, ' what
means that excessive pride, insatiable cupidity, and luxury
which I abhor, and even a horrid whirlpool of the
basest simcmy.' The Pope who ought to cry, ' Come
ye shall find- rest for your souls,' exclaims, ' Come and
see me in pomp and grandeur above Solomon's. Come
to my court and empty your purees and ye shall find
damnation for your souls !' for thus he doth speak by his
example and conduct Behold Rome is now a vortex <£
infernal mammon, where the demon of all avarice dwells,
selling the patrimony of Christ which he purchased
with his passion, who has told us that We should freely
give because we have freely received." Speaking
afterwards of the Pope, she says. " This is true justice,
that the Pope who sits in the chair of Peter and does
flie works of the deril, should resign the seat which he

408 LECTURE X.
has dared to usurp, and be a partaker of the punishment
of the devU."
This picture is sufficiently sickening, and I would
immediately pass on to another and more grateful sub
ject, did I not feel it to be necessary, for the sake of
both Protestants and Catholics, to convey the fuUest
possible information respecting the condition of the
Church at and before the period of the Reformation.
The course usually pursued by Roman Catholics is to
heap all the iniquity and all the guilt that belonged to
that period, upon the Protestant Reformers. They were
the chief sinners of that age ; they disturbed the church
in her holy quiet ; they were worthy of concUgn punish
ment. The general opinion of Roman Catholics in the
present day is that Wickliffe, and Huss, and Luther, and
Calrin, and Cranmer were monsters of iniquity. "What
says the mild, the polite, the plausible Dr. Milner ? "I
have shown that patriarch Luther was the sport of his
unbridled passions, pride, resentment and lust ; that he
was turbulent, abusive, sacrilegious, in the highest
degree ; that he was the trumpeter of sedition, ciril war,
rebellion and desolation ; and finaUy, that by his own
account, he was the scholar of Satan in the most im
portant article of his pretended Reformation. I have
made out nearly as heavy a charge against his chief
followers, Zuinglius, Ochin, Calvin, Beza and Cranmer."
And now let us see the measure of severity with which "
the kind Doctor visits the corrupt Popes and Cardinals,
whose vices have been depicted by St. Bridget and other
Roman Catholics. " I, as well as Baronius, BeUai-mine,
and other Catholic writers, have unequivocally admitted'

PROTESTANTISM. 409
that some few of our pontiflfe have disgraced themselves
by their crimes, and given just cause of scandal to
Christendom ; but I have remarked that the credit of
our cause is not affected by the personal conduct of
particular pastors who succeed one another in a regulai-
way, in the manner that the credit of yours is by the
hehariour of your foundere, who professed to have
received an extraordinary revelation from God to reform
religion.'' ..." Lastly, I grant that a few of the Popes,
perhaps a tenth part of the whole number, swerring
fi'om the example of the rest, have, by their personal vices,
disgraced their holy station : but even these Popes
always fulfilled their public duties to. the church by
maintaining the apostolical doctrine, moral as well as
speculative, the apostolical orders, and the apostolical
mission ; so that their misconduct chiefly injured their
own souls, and did not essentially affect the church.''
Such is the gentleness of hand with which this Reverend
Doctor touches the monstrous profligacies of the Roman
Court ! WTiy does he not imitate the candour of St.
Bridget, whom he so much admires ? Why — but I,
dare not tmst myself to dilate upon this flagi-ant
partiality on the part of this defender of " the Holy
Faith." But I must refer you to other testimonies, as to the
corruption of the Popes. The celebrated Petrarch, of
whom Butler, in his Uves of the saints says, "His
works render his name immortal," in his twentieth
epistie, designates the Papal Court, "Babylon," and
"the Babylonish Whore, seated upon the waters,
the Mother of all idolatries and fornications, with

410 LECTtJRE X.
whom the princes and kings of the earth have com
mitted fornication." "The asylum of heresies and
errors, (fee, of whom the Holy Spirit prophesied in the
Apocalypse:" and amply proves the truth of that
proverb, " No greater eril can ever befal a man than
being elected Pope." In another place he thus wi-ites
of Rome, the Holy City : " Whatever any where you
have read or heard of perfidy and fraud, whatever of
cruelty and pride, whatever of uncleanness and unbrid- ¦
led lust ; lastly, whatever of impiety and abandoned
manners exists, or has existed in the whole world, from
pole to pole, ALL THIS you may see here, collected into
one mass and heaped up together .'"....:..." I speak
not," says he, " of Simony and selling the gifts of the
Holy Spirit for money ; I speak not of covetousnessj
the mother of that crime, and which is styled by the
Apostle — Idolatry. I speak not of the contrivers of
every lust, nor of the procurers who haunt the Papal
chambers," — But I dare, not proceed.
Once more, in his tenth Epistle, being then at the
Pope's court at Arignon ; he says, " Whoever would
'truly behold it, let him come hither and view that hell,
which poets of old did but fancy. For here is wanting
no horror of imprisonment, no error of palpable dark
ness, no fatal urns shuffiing together the lots and des
tinies of men : and to conclude, no imperious Minos, no
tearing Minotaurus, nor lascivious portraits of damned
Venus, are here rare and scarce. All hope of safety
Ues in gold, the cruel king of the Imperial regions is
appeased with gold. The prodigious monsters that
attend him are subdued with gold. For gold, the web"

PROTESTANTISM. 411
of human salvation is woven, only for gold are the hard
thresholds of this gate, shewn ; for gold the bars are
broken ; with gold the grizly Porter's mouth is stopt,
for gold Heaven is opened; and, what needs many
words, Christ himself is sold for gold." 
"There the hope of a future state is some empty
fable, and all that is revealed of hell, mere fabulous
reports. The resurrection of the body, and the end of
the world, and Christ coming to judgment, all old
women's tales. Truth is there madness, and abstinence
clownishness, chastity, a disgrace  and the more
foul one's life is, the more illustrious is it considered —
the more wicked, — ihe more glorious !"
Can we then wonder at Cardinal Baronius, when he
describes the Popes of these ages as " Monstrous and
infamous in th^ir Uves, dissolute in their manners, and
-wicked and viUainous in all things ?" But what has
been affirmed of the Papal Court, in particular, may
be said of the Clergy in general. Ecbert, a monk,
says of the twelfth century, " I have inspected the
Churches of the Clergy, and have found in them great
and endless enormities. I have seen the cloisters of
nuns which I can call by no fitter nande than a snare of
the deril, and lo, an alien has laid waste all, the lilies of
chastity are burnt up, and a woeful destruction is every
where conspicuous throughout the whole world of
souls." Honorius Augustodinus, says " Look also at
the nunneries, and you vrill see in them a chamber
made ready for the beast. These, from a tender age,
learn lewdness, and associate very many companions with
themselves to heap up greater damnation. Like an in-

412 LECTURE X.
satiable whirlpool, they can never be satisfied with the
filth of their uncleanness. In the fourteenth century,
Alvarus Peiagius, a Roman CathoUc author, wrote a work
entitied " The Lament of the Church," in which he says
of .the Clergy : — " Many of them enter taverns without
cause ; they are addicted to magical airts, aug-ury, and
divination. They carry w'eapons of offence ; many
can-y on wars. They have to do with unlawful gains ;
they often practise usury. They manage the affairs of
the Church badly. Tbey bring up their chUdren, and
relatives, with the property of the church, &c. ...'...
They are addicted to feasting, and drunkenness, and
whoredom, which is a common vice with them ; and
MOST OF THEM ALSO  THE SIN WHICH IS AGAINST
NATURE. They .give money to players, &c. ; they play
at dice  They mix themselves up with _
secular affairs. They are not an example of good to
the laity, as they ought to be, but rather the contrary ;
for in the present day, commonly, the clergy are more
WICKED THAN THE LAITY  Against that holy
chastity which they have vowed to God, they ofi^end
constantly, even in public ; besides those most horrid
crimes which they practise in secret, which neither my
paper will receive nor my pen write  The
bishops ordain priests for money  I scarcely
think, especiaUy in Spain, that out of a hundi-ed
bishops, there is one who is not a Simonist."
But I must witli-hold. — I could occupy hour after
hour in reading to you from Roman Catholic writers and
historians, descriptions and representations of the state
of the Church, that would make you blush and weep

PROTESTANTISM. 418
at the degradation and pollution of our fallen humanity
— pollution concealed beneath sacerdotal robes, and
within the walls of sacristies and convents. Can you
wonder that for years and almost centuries, the mem-
beis of the Church of Rome called aloud for a Refor
mation of the Clergy, that the Vatican was literally
asailed with remonstrances against the impurities of
the Church ? Is it not rather surprising that the Refor
mation did not assume shape and substance before the
sixteenth century ? Who will deny that a Reformation
was needed ? Who will deny that the authorities of
the Church, failed to do that, which by her best mem
bers, lay and ecclesiastic, they were urged to do ?
Cardinals, Bishops, Saints of both sexes, Doctors, Monks
and Pastors, Emperors, Kings, and Senators, called aloud
for Reformation.
What answer <Ud they get ? The Council of
Constance, which it was thought would strike the first
note of Refoi-m in the Church, imported into that city,
I speak on the authority of Labbeus, a larger amount
of lasciviousness and impurity than had previously
eristed within its walls. Seven hundred harlots ' fol
lowed the Constantian fathers into the City ! This
was the infallible Council that burned John Huss !
Cardinal Hugo, in a speech which he made to the citi
zens of Lyons, immediately after the dissolution of the
, sacred Synod which was held there, boasted that at the
time of the meeting, the city contained two or three
brothels ; but that at its departure it comprehended
only one which however extended without interruption
from the eastern to the western gate. And as to the

414 LECTURE X.
Council of Trent, its members spent more time in heap
ing anathemas upon the heads of Protestants than in
seeking to reform the crimes. of Catholics.
Will my Roman CathoUc friends look at these things
with candour ? WiU they ask themselves whether their
Church, in the ages of which I have spoken, manifested
the spirit and the purity of the true Church of Christ ?
Where was her sanctity ? Where was her unity ?
Unless indeed we speak of unity of crime ! Where
was her apostoUcity ? Not surely in the chair of St.
Peter ! Where was the infallibillity of the Church ?
Was it in the Popes ? No ; for we have seen that
they were corrupt and debased men. Was it in
the College of Cardinals ? No ; for they were no
less depraved. Was it in the Clergy generally?
History assures us that they had departed from the
purity of the Gospel. Did it reside in the convents
and monasteries of the Church ? No ; for they were
the acknowledged scenes of the foulest crimes. Do
you find it in the Councils of Basil or of Consta-tice ?
Alas for infaUibility ! It is a meteor ! You follow it
to Rome, it is still distant from you ; you imagine that
it lights upon the Church of the Pontiff, but as you
approach, it disappears ; — you see it resting over the
conclave of Cardinals, but as you draw near to admire
its light and beauty, lo, it is gone ! You follow it to
the cities of Florence, of Constance, of Trent, surely you
wUl reach it here, but it stiU shuns investigation.
To return however : Do I rejoice over these crimes ?
God forbid that I should triumph at the abounding of
iniquity. Would, I say, that the Church of Rome had

PROTESTANTISM. 415
remained in her original Apostolic purity and simplicity !
Then had there been no call for a Reformation ; then
had Christendom remained one ; but she did not ! And
when she had sunk into viciousness, her authorities did
not even then interfere ; but God interfered and raised
up insti-uments of his own. The imperfect light which
dawned upon Wickcliffe and Huss, increased in bright
ness in the days of Luther ; it was not perfect day but
morning, early morning. It is not yet perfect day ; but
the light is increasing, the truth is unfettered, the word
of (Jod is multipUed, the blessings o^ the Reformation
are difl'using themselves over om- dark world, and by
and by, the perfect day of millenial glory will burst
forth upon the Church from the Sun of Righteousness,
unintercepted by any cloud of en-or or of darkness or
of bigotry ; the Church of Christ shall be purified and
perfected, made one and catholic, and shall acknow
ledge one Sovereign Pontiff, one Shepherd and Bishop
OF souls, even Jesus Christ ; so wiU the prophetic word
be verified, " There shall be one fold and one
Shepherd." It was proposed to consider
III. Some objections which might not probably
HAVE been MET IN THE DISCIISSION OF THE FORMER
BRANCHES OF THB SUBJECT.
1. -A common objection urged by Roman Catholics
against Protestantism, is, that it is destitute of unity.
If it is meant that we have no real unity, doctrinal oi
spiritual, I deny the allegation, and appeal to the
course which I have adopted during these lectures
You aU know that the speaker is a Wesleyan Methodisi

416 LECTURE X.
Minister, and yet in defining the principles of Protest
antism, he has not, excepting in one single instance,
and then only to show that it coincides with Protestant
standards generally, referred to a Methodist standard.
I have taken up the standards of the Churches of
England and Scotland, and have quoted from the
Homilies and Articles of the one, and from the
Confession and Catechisms of the other, as well as from
one or two Continental Protestant authorities, thus
demonstrating that iu its leading principles. Protest
antism IS One.
Roman Catholics manifest great anxiety to father
upon Protestantism, the modern heresies of the Church,
and even some of its ancient ones. Mormonism is a
phase of Protestantism, and Millerism is a form of
Protestantism, if we may credit Roman Catholic con
troversialists ; ¦ but these champions forget, that we have
an equal right to brand the Roman Catholic Church
with Arianism, Pelagianism, SabelUanism, and a hun
dred other heresies which sprang up in the eaa-Uer
centuries of the Church's history. Has this method
been pursued in these lectures ? Because Arius was a
Bishop of the Church, have I fastened Arianism upon
it ? Has this been my course ? I leave yourselves to
reply. Then I add, you have no right, in describing
Protestantism, to associate with it Mormonism or Uni-
veralism ; or in writing about Protestants, to class them
with those sections of the community, whose principles
they themselves eschew with quite as much determina
tion and consistency of purpose as the ancient Chm-ch
eschewed the doctrines of Arius, and perhaps a little

PROTESTANTISM. 417
more. I can hardly suppress a smile when I hear
Roman Catholics boast of their own unity in contrast
vrith the diversities of Protestantism. The more I have
examined this subject, the more conrinced am I that
it is a hollow unity, — a mere crust which overspreads
and conceals the fused and confused masses of cinerous
and other substances that exist in the volcano beneath,
and which are ready to belch out their fury and to
involve in sudden destruction the myriads who walk
over it with as much security as though it were an
everlasting rock. Unity ! consider the five sections
into which the Roman Catholic Chureh is dirided on
the one subject of transubstantiation. Unity ! Look
at the almost innumerable opinions which exist in the
Church of Rome respecting the seat of its infaUibiUty.
Unity ! What shaU we say of the three systems that
prevaU respecting the number and authority of Church
CouncUs, some calling those general, and therefore
infallible, which others designate particular, and there
fore fallible ? Unity ! Look at the variations which
exist as to the particular efficacy of Extreme Unction,
and as to the kmd of adoration which" should be paid
to images. Unity ! What unity is there between the
Doctors of one age and those of another ? Where is
the unity of the Fathers ? Where is the unity of the
Popes ? Is there then any justice, any consistency, in
affirming that risible unity belongs to the true Church,
and then to unchurch Protestants, because they have it
not Where, I again ask, is the Unity of the
Church of Rome ?

418 LECTURE X.
2. Roman CathoUcs profess to object to Protest
antism because of the alleged ricious character of the
Reformers. I am not intending to defend either the
acts or the opinions of the authors of the Reformation.
There were many things said and done in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries by Protestants, which the
Protestants of the present day uniformly condemn ; and
I should indeed wonder if, in escaping from that .pit of
fflth and corruption through which I have this evening
conducted you, they had not retained upon their
vestments some stains of poUution. What astonishes
me is that they brought with them so few ! But after
all, the Reformers have been maligned, their failings
have been magnified and multiplied to serve a purpose.
Luther has been called a companion and disciple of the
deril, because he dreamed at one time that he had a
conflict with him, and at another time imagined himself
to be actually contending with him. But what do you
make of this ? His dream or his imagination, merely put
into physical form, what every one of us has every day
to contend with spiritually, — and those who perpetuate
this slur upon the character of the great Reformer, for
want of something more tangible, would perhaps not be
the worse of remembering- what the Apostle Paul
says : " We wrestle with principalities and powers and
wicked spirits in high places," or what Peter advised :
" Be sober, be rigilant, because your adversary the
Devil as a roaring lion goeth about seeking whom he
may devour." I observe further, that these objections
recoil with tenfold effect upon those who contend that
the integrity of the Church was not affected by the

PROTESTANTISM. - 419
impurities that were lodged for centuries in the Papal
Chair, and beneath the very altai-s of Christendom.
I must now conclude tiiis series of lectures. I am
grateful to God on my own account that I was led to
undertake this task. It is profitable to investigate the
truth of God, and I may say, without any fear of being
misundei-stood, that I see a greater beauty than ever in
the Gospel of Christ, especially in its doctrines of saririg
grace. Some have gone so far as to predict that such
an examination into the claims of Roman CathoUcism as
that which I have been undertaking, would lead to my
adoption of the faith vrith which I have thus been con
tending. Now, I am free to confess that I have learned
many things dm-ing this discussion which I never knew
before, but amongst other things, I have obtained a
deeper conviction than I ever yet experienced, that
the foundation upon vN-bich rest the principles of our
glorious Protestantism, is fiinn as the Rock of ages. We
have our peculiarities, and our inconsistencies, and our
failings, but the principles are sound and everlasting ;
the rock is not weakened bythe limpets which cleave
to its surface, or by the growth of weeds which fill up
its chinks — ^neither is it affected by the winds which
blow on its surface, or by the billows which rage at its
base. " The word of God liveth and abideth for
EVER." I intend to pursue in private the investigation of this
great and momentous subject, and if in the order of
Proridence, my life be spared, and my lot should be to
continue among you, I shall hope within a year from
this time to conduct you through a somewhat similar,

420 • LECTURE X.
though perhaps shorter investigation of the principles of
Roman CathoUcism. Hitherto we have defended the
principles of Protestantism, hereafter it may be desirable
and profitable to investigate and to describe the features
of Roman Catholicism.
I am thankful also that an opportunity has been
afforded me of proclaiming to such large numbers, both
Protestant and Catholic, the savting doctrines of the
Gospel. Oh ! my hearers, this glorious gospel of the
blessed God is beyond all price. It stands out from
every ecclesiastical system — it soars above creeds,
formularies, liturgies, ordei-s of ministers, churches,
altars, vestments, relics, masses. "What are aU these in
comparison of the glorious system of saring truth ? We
acknowledge that there are spurious forms of -Protest
antism, but real Protestantism goes forth amongst
the chUdren of men and exclaims vrith Paul, " I deter
mine to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and
him crucified." The boast and only boast of true
Protestantism is, " I am not ashamed of the Gospel of
Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every
one that believeth." K you ask me for a brief view of
genuine Protestantism, my reply is : " God forbid that
I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ." If you demand from me an epitome of a
Protestant's faith and experience, here it is : —
" Could my tears for ever flow,
Could my zeal no languor know ;
These for sin could not atone.
Thou must save, and Thou alone,
In my hand no price I bring,
Simp'Iy to the Caoss I cling."

PROTESTANTISM. 421
My fellow-sinners, suffer me, before I take my leavi?,
to remind you that we are all hastraning towards the
eternal world, and that we shall all have to stand before
the judgment seat of Christ At that judgment bar, it
will not be demanded, are you Protestant or Catholic,
but are you in Christ Jesus ? At that dread tribunal,
we shall have to give an account of all that we have
done in the body. I shall have to give account of
what I have spoken to you in these lectures, and yoji
wUl have to give accoimt of what you have heard.
You have been reminded of your sins ; has the view of
them which you have obtained, humbled you before
God ? You have been directed to the Sariour ; have
you approached his cross for mercy ? You have been
besought, by unnumbered arguments, to forsake the
wickedness of your way ; have you retumed to the
Lord who has promised to have mercy upon you and
abundantly to pardon ? O come this evening to the
altar of our common Christianity — the altar of prayer,
the throne of grace ! Come ; though you feel yourself
to be the chief of sinners : Come ; though your eyes
be suffused with tears, and yoiu- heart be hea'vy with
grief. Come through your only priest, the High Priest
of our Chi-istianity, Jesus Christ. Come, through the
precious blood of his only sacrifice which speaks and
pleads on your behalf before the throne of God. Come,
for all things are now ready : — The Gospel is ready to
instruct you ; the Holy Spirit is ready to influence your
minds and enlighten your hearts : — the Saviour is now
ready to save you. The Father is now ready to receive

422 lecture X.
his returning prodigal ; Angels are now ready to rejoice
over yom- salvation ;
" All heaven is ready to resound.
The dead's alive, the lost is found."
God bless you, my dear hearers ! On earth, we shall
never all assemble together again. When we next meet,
it will be at the bar of the Eternal ! May it be at the
right hand of our glorious Judge ! And with this riew
let us cry to him in some such language as the foUow
ing:— -' Jesus vouchsafe a pitying ray.
Be Thou my Light, be thou my 'Way
To glorious happiness ;
Ah 1 write the pardon on my heart,
And whensoe'r I hence depart.
Let me depart in peace."

AMEN.

NOTE TO LECTURE X,

Additional testimonies, by Roman Catholic authors, of the
corruption of the Church of Rome pi eviously to the Reformation.
1. St. Elizabeth, the Virgin, of Germany. " These things saith
the Lord to the prelates. ' Tlie iniquity of the land, which ye
have hidden, for the sake of silver and gold, ascends up before
me like the smoke of a furnace. Are not the souls of whom you
suffocate in eternal fire through youi- avarice, more precious
than sUver and gold ? Therefore your religion accuses you
before me. For behold you have caused your holiness to stink
in tlie sight of the people, and it is turned into an abomination
to me.' "
2. William of Paris — A monkish historian. " The clergv
have neither piety nor learning, but rather the foul vices of
devils, and the most monstrous uncleanness and crimes. Their
sins are not mere sins, but rather the most prodigious and
dreadful crimes. They are no Church ; but rather Babylon,
Egypt, and Sodom. The Prelates, instead of building the
Church, destroy it and make a mock of God."
3. 8t. Catherine of Sienna. " In former times the clergy
were moral and faithful, but in the present day they are
wicked. And as formerly, the bad were rare, so now the good
are seldom seen. Wherever you turn, you behold all the
clergy, both secular and religious, prelates and those subject to
them, small and great, old and young, infected with crime,
pursuing riches and delights, neglecting the support of the
poor and the care of souls, applying themselves to secular
affairs, simoniacally. selling the grace of the Holy Spirit, and
mismanaging the affairs of the Church. 'Woo to their wretched
and unhappy life. That which Christ purchased with hia

424 LECTURE X.
sufferings on the cross, they waste with harlots ; they con-upt
souls redeemed with the blood of Christ. They nourish illegi
timate children vrith the patrimony of Christ."
4. John Eobiizana — Archbishop of Prague. " I -openly
declare that the Church of Rome is 'Western Babylon, and that
the Pope is Anti-christ, who has overwhelmed the worship of
God with a heap of superstitions. There are few priests
followers of Christ ; and almost all of them are avaricious,
proud, ambitious, hypocritical and idle. They preach lies fof
the truth, and surpass their people in wicdcednes's, instead of
being their guides in every kind of piety."

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