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Gift of
Professor George Park Fisher
1907

Christ and The Church
LECTURES

DELIVERED IN

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DURING THE

Season of Advent, 1869.

THE REV. THOMAS S. PRESTON.

1 Christ is the head of the Church :
He is the Saviour 0/ His body."Ephesians v. 23.

New York :
THE CATHOLIC PUBLICATION SOCIETY,
126 NASSAU STREET.

1870.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by
THE CATHOLIC PUBLICATION SOCIETY,
hi the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for ihe
Southern District of New York.

PREFACE.

The argument of the following lectures
is so simple that it hardly needs any
explanation. The Holy Scriptures being
taken as at least an authentic record of
the sayings and doings of the founder
of Christianity, we endeavor to draw
from them, on the principles of a just
interpretation, the nature and plan of re
demption. Then it is shown that the
Catholic Church alone teaches that gos
pel of mercy which Jesus Christ and his
evangelists promulgate. They, therefore,
who would have the Redeemer in the
fulness of his salvation, must accept him
as he is revealed in his church. Christ
and the church are one and inseparable.
We have been led to thb discussion by

vi Preface.
the experience we have had of many sin
cere minds, who have been kept from
submission to Catholic truth by the false
fear that in some way they should lose
their reliance on the one and only media
tor of atonement. They seem to have
received from early education the preju
dice that sacraments are an obstacle to
direct communion with the sovereign Lord,
from whom alone cometh all grace. It
will be evident to any reasonable mind
that such cannot be the case, if the
sacraments really are what they profess
to be, outward signs of an inward grace
really present, and not simply barren
forms. The whole question turns upon
this fact; and if the almighty Redeemer
has seen fit to operate upon us in this
manner through sensible signs, it is ma
nifest that in and through these
means will God be brought most near
to us. The instrumentality which the di
vine hand employs cannot be an obstacle
to the workings of his grace. And if it

Preface. vii
be really true that the church is his
agent, and that the sacraments are the
channels of his redeeming mercy, then in
no other way can we be quickened into
the new life which comes from him, or
know to our profit the riches of his sal
vation. The Saviour who is separated
from these mighty works, which bring
the natural into contact with the divine,
and change by sanctifying power the
whole face of nature, is not the Christ
of the gospel, the Emmanuel whom the
prophets saw in their vision of good
things to come. We humbly trust that
these lectures may fall into the hands of
some who, dissatisfied with the unreality
and uncertainty of Protestantism, will be
glad to accept the whole Christian faith,
as the great teacher, the Son of God,
has delivered it to man. So plain is the
argument, and so evident are the proofs
of the divine character of the Catholic
Church, that we are persuaded sincere
and honest hearts will welcome the con-

viii Preface.
elusion which delivers them from the
slavery of private opinion, and imparts
to them the freedom of belief in one
God and one revelation.
As some excuse for any repetition of
thought or expression, we beg the reader
to remember that each lecture, as it was
delivered, required in itself a certain com
pleteness, that the audience might be able
to appreciate the full proposition under
debate. With many thanks for past fa
vors which the author has received in
his efforts to make known the truth to
his countrymen, he humbly implores the di
vine blessing which alone can make any
work fruitful.
Ne'W York, December 8, 1869.

CONTENTS

Lecture First. page
The Plan of Redemption, u

Lecture Second.
The Office of Jesus Christ, - 64
Lecture Third.
The Office and Nature of the Christian Church, 118
Lecture Fourth.
The Catholic Church the Church of Jesus Christ, - 193
Lecture Fifth.
Protestantism a False Gospel, - 259

Lecture I.
THE PLAN OF REDEMPTION.
"Ix whom we have redemption through his blood, the
remission of sins, according to the riches of his grace,
which hath superabounded in us in all wisdom and pru
dence, that he might make known to us the mystery of
his will, according to his good pleasure, which he hath
purposed in him, in the dispensation of the fulness of
times, to re-establish all things in Christ, that are in hea
ven and on earth, in him." — Eph. i. 7-10.
T has been my privilege to present
before you on former occasions
the claims of that faith which was re
vealed unto man through our Lord Jesus
Christ. At one time, we have viewed it
in connection with that Church which is
its only witness and keeper. At another,

1 2 The Plan of Redemption.
we have labored to show the harmonies
of reason arid revelation, which so clearly
demonstrate the divine nature of the Ca
tholic creed. Our demonstration may be
perfectly convincing, and yet fail to pro
duce its due results, because action de
pends more upon the will than the under
standing. And, whatever be the mercy
of God, we know he will never interfere
with the freedom of the will. Here the
moral agent must take the responsibility
and accept the consequences. We can
only offer to him sufficient motives for
action, such as would fully influence him
in any weighty affair of human life.
Yet we believe that many err from
real ignorance rather than from the love
of error. The Catholic Church, as they
know it, is foreign to their ideas of re
demption. It is a human instrumentality

The Plan of Redemption. 1 3
of which they have no need, which usurps
the place of Christ, and substitutes the
creature for the Creator, who alone can
fill up the wants of the soul. As such,
they cannot see its identity with Chris
tianity, nor its right to vindicate to itself
the way of salvation. But it is not that
which they suppose it to be. It is the
very opposite of that which misconcep
tion and prejudice have represented it. It
is the very thing which their souls ask
for with so much eagerness. It is not a
human institution to take the place of
the only Saviour of men, but the divine
means of bringing that Saviour into the
closest union with us. It is an essential
part of the plan of redemption ; so that
they who do not accept it have not the
complete notion of Christianity. If we
could only persuade the honest and true

14 The Plan of Redemption.
to see this, they would embrace with joy
the glad tidings of the Gospel of peace ;
a Gospel which dispels all the anxieties
of doubt and satisfies every want of our
being. Such, therefore, is the purpose of these
lectures ; and with such an end in view,
we say to every sincere mind to whom
our words may come, "Examine patiently
and candidly the faith of the Catholic
Church as she represents it. You may
have had very incorrect ideas of that sys
tem which, through the force of educa
tion, has been abhorrent to you. View
without prejudice a creed which, to say
the least, deserves a close attention. You
may find the very thing which from your
childhood you have sought in vain, and
you may have reason to bless God for
all eternity that in your day of probation

The Plan of Redemption. 1 5
you had the sincerity and the manliness
to shake off the shackles of early impres
sions, and be independent in the cause of
truth." There are three important classes who
are opposed to the Church at the present
time. There are the Rationalists, who
deny all things supernatural, and believe
in no revelation. It would be well for
them seriously to enquire whether they
are not disobedient to the plainest teach
ings of reason, and whether the instincts
of nature do not cry out against the cold
and barren system which they would up
hold. If the rationalist will not follow
reason, what shall be his guide? If he
be afraid to meet the evident conclusions
of his understanding, can he pretend to
honesty ?
There are, secondly, Protestants, who

1 6 The Plan of Redemption.
are satisfied with their various creeds,
and who have no thought beyond the
school of opinion in which their minds
were formed. Is it not right to ask
such persons to weigh well the rea
sons they have for the hope that is in
them ? They ought not to shut out any
light from their own minds, nor refuse to
listen to any argument which deserves
consideration. Religion is too important
a matter to be taken on the word of any
man, or adopted from the accident of
birth or education. There is not the
least agreement among Protestants who
profess to follow the same Redeemer and
believe in the same Gospel. This fact
alone is startling enough to excite enquiry.
If you take the negative points of Pro
testantism, as we have shown in former
lectures, you will have no creed at all ; for

The Plan of Redemption. 1 7
one sect neutralizes another. If you take
the positive points of each sect, and give
them their true meaning and just applica
tion, you have the faith of the Catholic
Church. Should, then, any earnest Protest
ant hear or read these discourses, it would
not be too much to ask him to give them
that fair consideration which they de
mand, throwing aside prejudice and mis
statement, and taking the creed we pro
fess with our own explanation. Unity
among Christians is certainly to be de
sired, and can only be attained by the
honest examination of that ancient Com
munion which unites at this moment the
great majority of all who profess obe
dience to Jesus Christ. Moreover, it
would be well for each one, however sin
cere he may be, to see if he can estab
lish the creed which he holds by true

1 8 The Plan of Redemption.
and unimpeachable logic ; if he really
knows what he believes, and why he
trusts his everlasting salvation to this or
that system of opinion. No upright un
derstanding will be satisfied to put off
the pressing claims of this great question.
Lastly, there are many who call them
selves Protestants, and are ranked as
members of one of the many sects, who
are far from being at ease in their own
minds. There is no sure ground beneath
them ; and the religious aliment which
their peculiar communion gives them is
inadequate to the thirst of their hearts.
Everything lies loosely in the region of
faith, and evasive answers are given to
the most vital enquiries, and the shadows
of doubt are chasing them continually.
Something more positive they must have,
or they are in danger of losing their hold

The Plan of Redemption. 1 9
upon revelation. They say inwardly, if
not openly, that the good God ought to
have given them a clearer path to their
final destiny ; that if Christianity be really
the work of a divine mind, it ought not
to be found in inextricable confusion.
To such minds, the argument of our
lectures will be acceptable, and, through
God's great mercy, salutary. Let us
trust that he who is infinite wisdom, and
with whom are the issues of life, will be
with us to inspire our minds and bless
the words we shall speak, that they may
be fruitful.
We propose to show the intimate union
between Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of
mankind, the founder of Christianity, and
the Church which he established. In
other words, we purpose to demonstrate
that Christianity and the Catholic Church

20 The Plan of Redemption.
are identical. To this end, it is necessary
to gain first a clear idea of redemption
and a just notion of the office of Christ,
that we may know how he has proposed
to redeem us, and understand the means
he has been graciously pleased to employ.
We shall thus be enabled to see that the
Church enters essentially into the econ
omy of grace, and is the way of life
to all who would live eternally in and
through him whom we adore with all our
affections as our Master and our God.
The sources from which we shall draw
our proofs of the propositions which come
before us for discussion are, first, Holy
Scripture ; secondly, the testimony of
facts ; and, lastly, the voice of natural
reason itself. For the two latter channels
of evidence no apology is necessary, as
no reasonable person can gainsay their

The Plan of Redemption. 2 1
force. As to the sacred Scriptures, we,
perhaps, ought to premise that we assume
them as inspired to all who are willing to
receive them as such — namely, the great
majority of those who believe in Chris
tianity. The denial even of the inspira
tion of the Bible does not affect its au
thenticity as a true history of the sayings
and doings of holy men, of Christ and
his apostles. In this respect alone, much
weight will be attached to the text of
Scripture, and sufficient to establish the
identity of the Catholic creed with the
religion introduced into the world by
Jesus Christ.
Let us, then, come to the discussion of
our subject with great earnestness, and,
at the same time, with impartiality. It
is of the highest importance that we
should know the truth as it really is, and

22 The Plan of Redemption.
all the treasures of earth are of compa
ratively little consequence when placed in
contrast with our eternal interests. As
the hart panteth after the water-brooks,
so our souls ought to pant after God and
every manifestation of his light, and only
fear to put any obstacle in the way of
the gracious beams which shine to illumi
nate and make fruitful every created
thing. And candor is above all neces
sary, as without it we shall only walk
in a circle, ever returning upon our foot
steps, and only stultifying ourselves with
the delusions of our own minds. Preju
dice is not argument. Preconceived opi
nion is not logic. No man should fear
to ask himself what he believes, and to
follow to its remotest consequences every
principle he adopts. If he do not do
this, he does not really believe, in the

The Plan of Redemption. 23
proper sense of the word, and even his
opinions are only, at the most, strong
persuasions. The object of the present lecture is to
define clearly the plan of redemption as
far as we may know it, that we may
have a just idea of what God our Saviour
proposes to do with our fallen race. Un
less we have a clear notion of this, we
can never understand the office of Jesus
Christ nor the instrumentality of the
Christian Church. The word redemp
tion implies in terms the restoration of
man through the mediation of another,
who, by his own person or through his
means, effects a complete ransom, to a
state forfeited by transgression. The just
consideration of our subject will therefore
lead us to examine briefly the condition
of our race in its original justice ; se-

24 The Plan of Redemption.
condly, the fall of man by sin ; thirdly,
the losses involved in that unhappy fall ;
and, fourthly, the necessary effects of a
redemption which should bring back the
gifts of Eden, and restore us to the full
favor of God. These are, indeed, great
and momentous questions ; but we shall
try to treat them with simplicity and
clearness, throwing aside all considera
tions which do not directly tend to eluci
date our meaning.

That mankind are not in the condition
in which the Creator placed them is the
conclusion of revelation and tradition, and
even the conjecture of reason. To an
accurate knowledge of the original state
of our race we cannot come except by
revelation. The Holy Scriptures teach us

The Plan of Redemption. 25
that man was created in the image and
similitude of God,* which certainly implies
more than mere excellence of nature. So
S. Paul, in the Epistle to the Colossians,
refers to this very fact when he speaks
of " putting off the old man and putting
on the new, him who is renewed unto
knowledge according to the image of him
who created him."f He who is to be
renewed is to be made that which he
once was ; and hence it follows that we
were at some time, in the person of our
first parents, conformed to God in justice
and true holiness.
This condition of the human family im
plied many gifts and the close friendship
and intimate communion of the Divine
Being. The head of the race was placed
in a paradise of pleasure, where the
* Gen. i. 26. ¦)¦ Col. iii. 9, 10.

26 The Plan of Redemption.
choice beauties of creation were spread
before his eyes, where the teachings of
nature were brought out in their most
striking phase, and where the Maker of
all held familiar conversation with him.
His happy state was not only one of in
nocence, but one of positive good, where
knowledge increased daily, where the will
and the reason moved in perfect harmony,
without any of the struggles which arise
from inordinate passion. Immortality, of
the body even, was his portion in that
Eden which God prepared for him.
" God made not death, neither hath he
pleasure in the destruction of the living."
" For God made man incorruptible, and
to the image of his own likeness he
made him ; but by the envy of the devil
death entered into the world."* In the
* Wisdom i. 13 ; ii. 23.

The Plan of Redemption. 27
garden there was a tree of life, whose
fruit nourished continually the corruptible
bod)', and man was forbidden to taste it,
only when he had sinned, when " the
Lord God cast out Adam, and placed at
the gate of paradise cherubims with flam
ing swords, to keep the way of the tree
of life, lest he should eat of it and live
for ever."* So, again, S. Paul tells us
that " by sin death entered into the
world."f According to the prediction of
God, ' in the day that thou shalt eat
of the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil, thou shalt die the death." J
Thus S. Augustine speaks of the primal
condition of our first parents : " Man
lived in Eden as he willed, so long as
he willed that which God commanded.
He lived in the enjoyment of the su-
* Gen. iii. 22-24. 1 Rom. v. 12. % Gen. ii. 17.

28 The Plan of Redemption.
preme Good, from whose sanctity he was
holy. He lived without any wants, hav
ing immortality in his power. Food was
given him that he might not hunger,
drink that he might not thirst; the tree
of life repaired the decays of his body ;
there was no disease within, and no ex
trinsic violence was feared ; there was su
preme health in his flesh, and in his soul
perfect tranquillity."*
Such a state of felicity was due to the
special grace of God, and not in any
way to human nature ; the mercy of the
Creator raising man to a condition above
the demands of his nature. It was quite
possible for God to have left man in his
purely natural condition, in which he
would have been mortal and passible,
and subject to the conflicts of the flesh
* S. Augustine, De Civ. Dei, Lib. xiv., '% 26.

The Plan of Redemption. 29
with the reason. All that man can ask
of his Creator is the integrity of quali
ties necessary to a being composed of
body and soul — in other words, to a ra
tional animal. Anything more than this
is in the order of a free gift, and to be
sought as such from the divine mercy.
Sanctifying grace is in its very idea
supernatural. The conflict between the
flesh and the spirit is the effect of the
human constitution, or of the twpfold
substance of which man is composed,
from which it arises that the flesh has
for its object a sensible good, while the
spirit has for its end a spiritual or intel
lectual good. This defect, which comes
not from the disobedience of the will,
would in the supposed state of pure
nature have in it no quality of fault or
punishment. The same is also evident

30 The Plan of Redemption.
of the gift of immortality, since the
body, as matter, is naturally obnoxious to
change, to pain and dissolution. If, there
fore, the goodness of the Creator pro
vides a remedy for these evils, it is ow
ing to his pure liberality.
Such an explanation of man's original
condition in the days of his creation is
directly drawn from Holy Scripture, and
is consistent with the principles of rea
son.. The Mosaic account distinctly teach
es it, and is a sufficient authority for all
who receive the sacred books. The tra
ditions of all nations are in harmony with
revelation, and confirm it as an authentic
record of the past. The idea of a para
dise once lost, and yet to be regained,
is in the religious annals of all tribes,
ancient and modern ; mingles with the
speculations of philosophers, and gives in-

The Plan of Redemption. 3 1
spiration to the songs of poets. So uni
versal a belief can only be founded upon
a great fact which has left its impression
upon the whole race.
We repeat, therefore, what we have so
briefly stated — that Almighty God, in the
exercise of his liberty and for the ends
of his glory, saw fit to create our race
in the person of our first father Adam.
He made him of an animal body united
to a reasonable soul, and left him upon
this earth, the place of his abode, to pay
to his maker a free and intelligent ser
vice. At the moment of his creation, he
was pleased to raise him by grace to a
supernatural condition, where in peace and
joy he was on trial for a higher sphere
and more perfect revelations of the good
ness of God, whom to know is beatitude.
So Eden was his home, with all its fair

32 The Plan of Redemption.
fruits and blooming flowers; a fitting
dwelling of the creature whom the di
vine beneficence had made in his own
image and likeness. ii.
That our first parents did not keep
this happy state is too painfully evident,
and that they lost it by their own act is
equally certain. No grace of God can
destroy the freedom of the will, which is
essential to man's moral nature. The
creature was necessarily subject to the
law of his maker. It could not be
otherwise. Obedience to that law was
his homage to the hand that drew him
out of nothing and upheld him in life.
Among other precepts imposed upon him
was one which contained in it much more
than at first sight appears. It was a

The Plan of Redemption. ^
law to which a fearful punishment was
attached. Loss of paradise and death
were to be the consequences of disobe
dience. With all these fearful penalties
in view, our first parents sinned ; and
their transgression has peculiar aggrava
tion from their resistance to the strong
graces which were their portion, and from
the intimate knowledge they had of the
goodness and perfection of God. So, as
the apostle tells us, "by one man sin en
tered into the world."*
In this simple account, drawn from the
inspired history, there is no mystery.
Man was on his probation, in the full
exercise of his free-will. He was tempted,
and he yielded to the temptation. His
nature, although in the light of paradise,
struggled against restraint ; the fruit was
* Rom. v. 12.

34 The Plan of Redemption.
pleasing to the eyes, and, in spite of
even the divine prohibition, he longed to
have dominion over every tree in the
garden. If God had made him without
free will, he would not have been an in
telligent agent. If he sinned with every
inducement not to sin, with great graces
to withhold him, and the threats of di
vine chastisement to deter him, surely it
was his own fault.
The traditions of this fall of our first
parents are as universal as the remem
brance of man's original felicity, and can
scarcely be accounted for unless by the
supposition that they touch a fact gene
rally known, which has left its imprints
upon the whole heart of humanity, Even
Voltaire confessed that " the fall of man
was the foundation of the theology of al
most every ancient nation."

The Plan of Redemption. 3 5
Reason can never be brought to bear
against a fact well attested, and especially
where there is no intrinsic repugnance in
its conditions. There are also many indi
cations in the present moral attitude of
our race which furnish reasonable argu
ments that we were not always in this
sad and imperfect state.
As for the objection that the story of
man's fall is mythical, and to be ex
pounded as an allegory, it is sufficient
here to answer that the first rule of right
interpretation is to take the literal sense
where the context does not plainly indi
cate a figure or symbol. And, secondly,
the traditional interpretation has ever been
the literal one, both in the Jewish and
Christian Church, so that it is a mark of
some temerity to depart from the simple
narrative of the Mosaic history. If we

36 The Plan of Redemption.
were to follow the principles of this objec
tion, we should hardly have anything
more certain in the Scriptures than in
the books of ancient mythology. And
even the allegorical explanation of the
first chapters of Genesis would not take
away the fact of man's happy state in
Eden, nor of his fall by sin.

in.
The disobedience of our firsts parent^
could not be without the most serious!
effects upon them and their posterity.
Laws without punishments have no pro
per sanction ; and in the transgression
of the paradisaical precept special penal
ties were foretold. What God had
threatened, then was fulfilled to the let
ter. Innocence departed with the first

The Plan of Redemption. 3 7
sin, and left in its place the sense of
guilt, till then unknown. The soul lost
the sanctifying graces which had enlight
ened and beautified it, and the conflict
between the flesh and the spirit was
the natural consequence. Paradise was
closed against the race in the person
of its head, who went forth to a bar
ren earth, which would yield fruit only
in response to his toil. The food of
the tree of life no longer sustained his
mortal body, which at once began to
feel the power of decay in the pangs
of disease and the certain prospect of
corruption. The death of the soul was its
loss of sanctifying grace, which had given
it a new and spiritual life, with many
blessed hopes. The death of the body
was its tendency to dissolution, and con
sequent separation from the soul, which

38 The Plan of Redemption.
informs and vivifies it. Such were the
losses involved in the original prevarica
tion of our first father Adam — losses
which were entailed upon his children.
In him stood the whole human race,
and his act necessarily involved his whole
posterity. God had given him grace
and privilege in no way due to his na
ture, and in losing by voluntary trans
gression all this felicity, he forfeited it
also for his descendants.
Such is the plain teaching of Holy
Scripture already quoted. We need not
repeat the Mosaic history, given by the
inspired writer in the simplest language.
S. Paul puts in plain words the fact
and the doctrine contained therein. " As
by one man sin entered into this world,
and by sin death, so death passed upon
all men, in whom [the head of the

The Plan of Redemption. 39
race] all have sinned." " By one man's
offence death reigned through one." " By
the disobedience of one man, many were
made sinners."*
We hardly need dwell longer upon
the testimony of the inspired record,
which can reasonably be understood in
no other way.
The voice of tradition in its sense of
the fall of the human family, retains sub
stantially its conviction of the loss of
Eden and its supernatural gifts. The
witness of Christian tradition is only
the voice of the Catholic Church speak
ing through her children, and there can
be no doubt as to her teaching, which
in the ages all along has been simple,
concise, and unmistakable.
It is in the province of reason to con-
* Rom. v. 12-ig.

40 The Plan of Redemption.
jecture from the facts it sees and knows
that the present state of man was not
his normal condition. There are great
facts which stare us in the face, and
which we cannot overlook. Vice, with
its thousand attendant miseries, oppresses
the human family and destroys the
sources of happiness. The strong hand
of power is needed to restrain the vio
lence of passion or maintain the natural
rights in the society of brethren. Pain
is the universal law, thorns grow where
one looks for flowers, and death stretches
its dark pall over young and old, and
the charnel-house is the hom^ of all
that is bright and lovely. Who c&n say
that such is the natural condition of an
intelligent agent upon whom the Al
mighty has stamped the marks of his
own nobility? It is idle to say that the

The Plan of Redemption. 4 1
laws of being have been infringed ; for
this is oaly admitting the conclusion for
the specious purpose of denying the pre
mises. There is a general punishment
affecting the whole race, of which no
honest mind can be unconscious. The
mother brings forth her child in pain.
The infant of an hour is born to sor
row, and the child, who could never
have transgressed in his own person,
struggles with the king of terrors, and
goes down to the same tomb with the
hoary-headed sinner. But reason may
be a just judge of the evidences of a
revelation which puts into clear light all
these problems of nature, tells us how
man is punished, and in what manner
divine love turns that punishment into
gain. If these evidences are satisfactory,
then reason cries out against the soul

42 The Plan of Redemption.
which refuses to believe and prefers its
darkness to the light of God. ,
But what objection can be brought
against our statement of man's fall? Our
father Adam receives special gifts of God
in no way the right of his nature. By
voluntary transgression, he forfeits these
gifts and suffers the just consequences
of his sin. Is there anything unreason
able in this? Was God bound to give
him these favors, or was he not free to
take them away when by disobedience
man deserved to lose them ? If sad
penalties afflict the innocent children born
of a sinful father, can this be avoided
in the necessary relations of the race ?
Is there any injustice in this, when the
children forfeit by their father's sin that
to which they have no natural title, and
when, if they defile their consciences

The Plan of Redemption. 43
by no actual sin, they shall lose no- t-
thing which is due to their nature ?
If Ave were to state, as some have
done in opposition to the whole current
of Christian theology, that man by his
fall lost any of the essentials of his
nature, and became so corrupted that he
was no longer the same being he once
was, Ave should readily see how reason
could rise up against the proposition.
For such a depravity deprives man of his
natural rights, and leaves him a maimed
and imperfect creature, without freedom
of will to perform the duties and fulfil
the obligations of his own order. With
out perfect freedom of will he is no
longer a moral agent, and therefore no
longer responsible ; a conclusion which
subverts morality and contradicts the
plainest testimony of reason. We know

44 The Plan of Redemption.
we are responsible when we violate a
law of God, and we know also that our
actions are not all necessarily sinful. All
the teaching in the world would not con
vince us that, when we love our breth
ren or do good to the poor, our acts
are abhorrent to God or worthy of con
demnation. The defenders of total de
pravity have a hard task before them in
seeking to propagate theories which are
contrary to the perceptions of every in
telligent mind. The Catholic doctrine of
original sin accepts no depravity in such
a sense. It shows us how man is the
sufferer by the loss of Eden and the
supernatural destiny to which his Creator
called him; but leaves him free, with all
the essentials of his nature, to work out
his own probation. So says S. Thomas:
"The loss of that original justice which

The Plan of Redemption. 45
was given to man at his creation hap
pened by the action of his OAvn free will ;
and as that justice was a gift of his
nature, and Avould haA-e passed to the
whole nature if man had not sinned, so
the deprivation of that good falls upon
the AAhole nature as its punishment and
fault. And in each individual man it
has the nature of a fault, because it
happened by the free will of the head
of the nature ; that is, the first man and
the progenitor of the whole race."*
IV.
Redemption implies the ransom of man
from the evil consequences of the ori
ginal fall, from sin and from death, and
his restoration to a state at least equal
to that which was forfeited by transgres-
* S. Thomas, in 2 Sent., dist. 30,

46 The Plan of Redemption.
sion. Anything less than this could not
properly be called a redemption. The
temporary alleviation of misery might be
a boon to the human family, but it
could not be the salvation for which it
longs. And the human heart looks up
with confidence to its maker, asking for
relief, and certain that if he undertake
the work of redemption he will do it
in a way worthy of his divine attri
butes and the infinity of his beneficence.
The steps in the restoration of our
race to its original felicity must there
fore include the forgiveness of sin, ori
ginal and actual ; the renewal of the
supernatural graces lost in Eden, with
power adequate to overcome the effects
of transgression ; and the re-establish
ment of the human family with its dig
nity and social unity unimpaired.

The Plan of Redemption. 47
1. No argument is needed to sIioav
that God, as a moral governor, is of
fended by the disobedience of his crea
tures. This offence implies an obliga
tion to punishment ; and the sinner
cannot be received into the favor of
hiS*" Creator till his offence is forgiven
and his debt to justice is paid. Sin un-
forgiven is in the nature of a perpetual
debt. How could man ever satisfy such
an obligation ? We might understand
hoAv the posterity of Adam should suffer
in consequence of his fall no loss of
any gift essentially due to their nature.
But how could they deserve to receive
the graces of paradise which were freely
given to their first father ? Forgiveness
of original sin implies even this ; and
the hope of it is founded upon the
limitless mercy of God. Actual sin,

48 The Plan of Redemption.
with its load of guilt voluntarily in
curred, weighs heavily upon the con
science, burdening the memory with its
deep reproaches, and darkening the un
known future with its fearful anticipa
tions. To be rid of this torment, the
undying remorse of the transgressor,
and to regain the cheerfulness of inno
cence, is our greatest need. Hence for
giveness must enter primarily into the
plan of redemption. No change is re
quired on the part of God, but the atti
tude of the creature must be changed ;
and, that mercy may be exercised con
sistently with the divine attributes, the
debt to punishment must be paid, and
the dispositions of the sinner must be
those of sincere and just repentance. It
seems to us that reason thus argues ;
and that such is really its voice, we

The Plan of Redemption. 49
have only to appeal to conscience and
the principles of every religion accepted
by mankind. Sin and punishment are
bound together in the received law of
nations, and there are crimes which hu
man societies feel that they have no
right to forgive, no matter what may
be the penitence of the offender. If the
social order demands this for the pre
servation of its own majesty, much more
does the Infinite Justice exact claims which
concern the very foundations of right.
The throne of God is essential to the
universe. If it could fall, no principle
of order or truth would remain. Moral
chaos would be the result.
The Holy Scriptures teach us that such
forgiveness as our souls ask for is given
us in the salvation of the Gospel. Here
we refer to our text, which covers the

50 The Plan of Redemption.
whole ground and expresses the whole
idea of our restoration. " In him [Jesus
Christ] we have redemption through his
blood, the remission of sins, according to
the riches of his grace, which hath super-
abounded in us in all wisdom and pru
dence."* "And you, when you were dead
in your sins, he hath quickened together
with him, forgiving you all offences, blot
ting out the handwriting of the decree
that was against us, which was contrary
to us. And he hath taken the same out
of the way, fastening it to the cross."f
" God commendeth his charity towards
us, because when as yet we were sinners,
Christ died for us ; much more therefore,
being justified by his blood, shall we be
saved from wrath through him." J "Christ
* Ephesians i. 7, 8. \ Colossians ii. 13, 14.
X Romans v. 8, 9.

The Plan of Redemption. 5 1
being come an high priest of the good
things to come, by a greater and more
perfect tabernacle, not made with hands,
that is, not of this creation ; neither by
the blood of goats, or of calves, but by
his OAvn blood, entered once into the
Holies, having obtained eternal redemp
tion."* "As by the disobedience of one
man, many were made sinners, so also,
by the obedience of one, many shall be
made just."f
2. Forgiveness, however, is not enough,
great as is the grace. We desire some
thing more than the integrity of nature
can afford us. The impression of the
gifts of paradise is ineffaceable, and we
cannot rest until the flaming cherubims
shall cease to keep the way of the tree
of life, and we shall enter in and live for
* Hebrews ix. n, 12. f Romans v. 19.

52 The Plan of Redemption.
ever. We ask, therefore, for the super
natural graces which once elevated man
to a high estate and exalted hopes. As
Adam was the true son of God by grace,
we yearn for the same sonship, that we
may filially look up to our Father in
heaven. We cannot expect at once to
be as if we had not sinned, nor to have
in our being the blessedness of innocence.
But ive do seek the power to overcome
every effect of the fall, and in due time
to survive all traces of sin, original or
actual. We ,ask that redemption shall
touch the child who has known no sin
in his own person, and place him in an
eternal beatitude fully equal to that of the
lost Eden. We ask that the sinner who
turns in penitence from the way of trans
gression shall receive strength to cast out
the power of death, and one day to enter

The Plan of Redemption. 53
paradise spotless and free. We ask for
victory OA'er death, and the reneAval of the
hopes of immortality in soul and body. We
cannot ask that the curse of death may be
removed, since the decree of pain extends
to every member of the fallen race. " Dust
thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."*
But Ave may hope that the sting of death
shall be taken aAvay, its terror removed ;
and that the grace of redemption shall
make it the door to an endless life far
above the reach of corruption. We may
ask that the Redeemer shall touch in some
Avay the body, and give it victory even in
dissolution, that even in the grave it may
live in God, and one day arise the partner
of the soul's felicity ; that the whole man
may find a paradise where the river of
life refreshes the unfading verdure, and
'"' Genesis iii. Tg.

54 The Plan of Redemption.
trees fairer than those of Eden yield their
fruit for the healing of the nations.
So in answer to our hopes, the Gospel
of Christ discloseth the plan of redemption.
" Not as it was by one sin, so also is
the gift. For if by the offence of one
many died, much more the grace of God
and the gift by the grace of one man,
Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
For if by one man's offence death reigned
through one, much more they who receive
abundance of grace and of the gift shall
reign in life through one Jesus Christ.
Where sin abounded, grace did much more
abound, that as sin reigned unto death,
so also grace might reign by justice unto
life everlasting through Jesus Christ our
Lord."* No doubt can be here entertained that
* Romans v. 16-21.

The Plan of Redemption. 55
the apostle teaches that the graces of re
demption shall surpass those Avhich man
lost by sin. But the inspired voice goes
on further to explain the dignity of those
to whom the justification of Christ is
given. " There is noAv therefore no con
demnation to them that are in Christ
Jesus, who walk not according to the
flesh. Whosoever are led by the Spirit
of God, they are the sons of God. You
have received the spirit of adoption of
sons, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. For
the Spirit himself giveth testimony that
we are the sons of God ; and if sons,
heirs also ; heirs indeed of God, and joint
heirs with Christ. For I reckon that the
sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared to the glory that
shall be revealed in us."*
* Romans viii. n-17.

56 The Plan of Redemption.
With restoration to sonship of God, the
Gospel also teaches us that even our
bodies shall partake of the life of Christ.
"If the spirit of him that raised up Je
sus from the dead dwell in you, he that
raised up Jesus Christ from the dead,
shall quicken also your mortal bodies,
because of his Spirit that dwelleth in
you." "By a man came death, and by a
man the resurrection from the dead. And
as in Adam all die, so also in Christ
shall all be made alive."* This life
which cometh from the second Adam
brings complete victory over death. " It
[the mortal body] is soAvn in corruption ;
it shall rise in incorruption. It is sown
in dishonor, it shall rise in glory. It
is sown in weakness, it shall rise in
* I Cor. xv. 21-22.

The Plan of Redemption. 5 7
pOAver. It is soAvn a natural body, it
shall rise a spiritual body. The first
man, Adam, was made a living soul ;
the last Adam a quickening spirit. The
first man Avas of the earth, earthly ; the
second man from heaven, heavenly. As
Ave have borne the image of the earthly,
Ave must also bear the image of the
heavenly."* Thus the Apocalypse, in the
closing Avords of its vision, gives us a
bright picture of Eden regained. " And
he shoAved me a river of water of life,
clear as crystal, proceeding from the
throne of God and of the Lamb. In
the midst of the street thereof, and on
both sides of the river, Avas the tree of
life, bearing twelve fruits, yielding its
fruits every month, and the leaves of the
tree were for the healing of the nations.
* 1 Cor. xv. 42-48.

58 The Plan of Redemption.
And there shall be no curse any more,
but the throne of God and of the Lamb
shall be in it, and his servants shall
serve him. And they shall see his face,
and his name shall be on their foreheads.
And night shall be no more : and they
shall not need the light of the lamp, nor
the light of the sun, because the Lord
God shall enlighten them, and they shall
reign for ever and ever."*
3. This view of redemption, which is
surely the scriptural one, is a restoration
of the human family to the dignity of
our first parents, in the social order and
unity which belong to them by the es
sential qualities of their nature. The
race fell from paradise by the prevarica
tion of its one head. It is to be re-
* Apoc. xxii. 1-5.

The Plan of Redemption. 59
stored by the obedience and life of one
Avho shall become, in like manner, the
head of the redeemed, in a real and pro
per sense; in fact, by a second Adam, Avho
shall quicken the dying children of the
first Adam by his OAvn vitality, and there
by make them truly his brethren. Thus
the unity of the race is preserved, and a
neAv head, which cannot fail, takes the
place of the old, which was unequal to
the hour of temptation. So say the words
of the Apostle, explaining the divine pur
poses : " The riches of grace have super-
abounded in us, that he might make
known unto us the mystery of his will,
according to his good pleasure which
he hath purposed in him [Jesus Christ],
in the dispensation of the fulness of
times to re-establish all things in Christ,
that are in heaven and on earth, in

60 The Plan of Redemption.
him."* Union to Christ by a real partak
ing of his life and nature, is not only the
restoration of the race, but its cohesion in
the bonds of a true and supernatural
being. To this end are the very plain
words of our Lord himself : "I am the
bread of life. 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. He that eateth
my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath
everlasting life, and I will raise him up
in the last day. He that eateth my flesh
and drinketh my blood, abideth in me
and I in him. As the living Father hath
sent me, and I live by the Father, so
he that eateth me, the same also shall
live by me."f
This union to Christ is the source of
* Ephesians i. 7-10. f S. John vi. 48-5S.

The Plan of Redemption. 6 1
life, and the manner in Avhich the graces
of redemption are applied. "As many
of you as have been baptized into Christ,
have put on Christ."* " For in One
Spirit Avere Ave all baptized into one
body."f " Noav you are the body
of Christ, and members one of an
other." %
To the same end are the words of
S. Peter : " By him hath he given us
most great and precious promises, that
by these you may be made partakers of
the divine nature, flying the corruption
of that concupiscence which is in the
Avorld."§ So do we exclaim with S. John in
rapturous joy : " Behold what manner of
loAre the Father hath bestowed upon us,
* Galatians iii. 27. f 1 Cor. xii. 13.
\ 1 Cor. xii. 27. § 2 E. S. Peter, i. 4.

62 The Plan of Redemption.
that we should be called, and should be
the sons of God." *
Thus in few words have Ave portrayed
the plan of that redemption which infi
nite mercy has devised for our fallen and
sinning race. Noble was our humanity
in its integrity when from the hand of
the creator it came forth, the master
piece of his works, fitted to glorify him,
admire and enjoy him. Nobler still was
its destiny when grace supernatural filled
the soul and clothed the body of the
first man, and Eden's gates opened to
receive him where angels and seraphs
welcomed him to communion with the
great king. Sad beyond all that heart
may know or mind conceive the act of
rebellion by which sin entered to cast
its shadow over the bright flowers of
* I E. S. John iii. I.

The Plan of Redemption. 6

o

paradise, and its deep gloom over the
fairer soul of man. Deep has been the
sorrow, and long the penance. But, be
hold, a second Adam has come, mighty
to save, a living and never-dying hu
manity, to embrace the fallen, restore the
gifts of the bright morning, and bring in
eternal day. To him, the Orient from
on high, let us come. "He will lead us
back to an enduring paradise ; "he will
enlighten those that sit in darkness, and
in the shadow of death, and direct our
feet into the way of peace."

Lecture II.
THE OFFICE OF JESUS CHRIST.
"God, having spoken on divers occasions and many
ways in times past, to the fathers, by the prophets, hath
in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he
Hath appointed heir of all things."— Heb. i. I, 2.

plAVING considered briefly the plan
^M of redemption as described in
Holy Scripture, and having seen its per
fect consistency with the demands of
our nature, we turn this evening to
examine carefully the office of Jesus
Christ, whom revelation declares to be
the Redeemer of mankind. Our object
will be to take up every point in that
office clearly and distinctly, so that there

The Office of Jesus Christ. 65
may be no doubt in the mind of any
one as to the steps of that mediation,
the knoAvledge of which is essential to
a right appreciation of Christianity.
Here let us lay aside prejudice and pre
conceived opinion, and be willing to ac
cept the Aveight of testimony with full
determination to folloAV our convictions
to their last results. The subject we
approach is the most important that can
occupy the attention of an intelligent
agent. The whole question of our sal
vation from the effects of sin is bound
up in it. Christianity stands or falls
Avith Christ, its founder. If we do not
rightly understand his nature and office,
we can have no just conception of the
religion which he teaches. If we have
misunderstood his work upon earth, we
have yet to learn that most precious of

66 The Office of Jesus Christ.
all lessons, the knowledge of the good
tidings of the Gospel. Partial truth is
not the truth itself, since the mixture of
truth and error, while inconsistent in
terms, leads to the most dangerous form
of deceit. The adversary of light is
never so much to be feared as when he
puts on the garb of an angel.
May then the Almighty Spirit, pro
ceeding from the Father and the Son,
send down upon our minds his creating
beams, and lift our souls to the high
appreciation of the great truths we are
about to treat !
The office of Jesus Christ will be
placed in a clear light if we consider
his person and his work in the following
order :
I. Jesus Christ is true man.
II. Jesus Christ is true God.

The Office of Jesus Christ. 67
III. He satisfies the justice of God
by a true atonement for our sins, and
is therefore our mediator.
IV. He brings back to man, in and
by his OAvn person, the gifts of paradise,
and is therefore a true Redeemer.

1.
JESUS CHRIST IS TRUE MAN.
The language of one of the early coun
cils of the Church accurately defines
this truth, asserting " Jesus Christ to be
perfect in humanity, true God, and true
man of a body and a rational soul, con-
substantial Avith us according to human
ity, in all things like us, sin excepted."
So the Athanasian Creed declares him to
be " perfect man, subsisting of a rational
soul and human flesh," The Holy Scrip-

68 The Office of Jesus Christ.
tures evidently confirm this great truth.
They recount the history of Jesus of
Nazareth as of any other member of
the human family. The circumstances of
his conception and birth were miraculous.
Many years before the event the pro
phet Isaias had foretold them : " The
Lord himself shall give you a sign. Be
hold a virgin shall conceive, and bear
a son, and his name shall be called Em
manuel."* The narrative of the evangel
ist records the exact fulfilment of this
prophecy. The angel Gabriel is sent by
God to the Virgin Mary, with the won
derful words, " Hail, full of grace. The
Lord is with thee. Behold thou shalt
conceive in thy womb and bring forth
a son, and thou shalt call his name
Jesus. He shall be great and shall be
* Isa. vii. 14.

The Office of Jesus Christ. 69
called the Son of the Most High, and
the Lord God shall give unto him the
throne of David his father, and of his
kingdom there shall be no end. And
Mary said to the angel, How shall all
this be done, because I know not man ?
And the angel answering said to her,
The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee,
and the power of the Most High shall
overshadow thee, and therefore also the
holy A\mich shall be born of thee shall
be called the Son of God."* S. Mat
thew also refers to the prophecy of
Isaias, and declares that the conception
of the Blessed Virgin was its direct fulfil
ment. " That which is conceived in her
is of the Holy Ghost. Now, all this
was done that it might be fulfilled which
the Lord spoke by the prophet." f
* S. Luke i. 28-35. t S. Matt. i. 20-22.

70 The Office of Jesus Christ.
The birth of Jesus Christ took place at
Bethlehem, at a time well known, Avhen
Caesar Augustus had commanded the en
rolment of the whole Roman empire. Both
sacred and profane history unite in con
firming this fact, which is the greatest
among the annals of our race, and which
numbers even the ages of the world be
fore and since his coming. It is impos
sible for any candid mind to ignore the
truth of his humanity, which has left such
a lasting impression upon mankind. The
Holy Scriptures give Avith sufficient mi
nuteness the records of his life, from the
remarkable events of his infancy and child
hood to the beginning of his public minis
try, and the great sorrows of his passion
and death. There was no possibility oi
any deception as to the verity of his human
nature, which showed itself in every qua-

The Office of Jesus Christ. 71
lity of body and sentiment of soul that
are necessary to a perfect humanity. His
crucifixion by the Roman governor, at the
instigation of the JeAvs, is notoriously an
evidence of his manhood, admitted by the
Avhole world.
Those who accept the inspiration of the
NeAv Testament need no further proof that
Jesus Christ was true man. And even
those who receive the story of the Evan
gelists as an authentic history must admit
the facts which are connected with its chief
personage. No character in the annals of
time is so well known, or has made so
lasting an impression upon our whole race.
In this respect, the words of S. John are
wonderfully true, " He was the light that
lighteneth every man that cometh into the
world."

72 The Office of Jesus Christ.
ii.
JESUS CHRIST WAS TRUE GOD.
The Catholic doctrine, which is evidently
the teaching of Holy Scripture, professes
that Jesus Christ was and is true God as
well as true man. This could only be
accomplished by the assumption of human
nature on the part of the Second Person
of the Blessed Trinity. So the Church
teaches that God the Son took humanity
of the substance of Mary his mother, and
united it to his OAvn eternal person. Since
the incarnation, therefore, he subsists in
two natures, equally his own; the divine,
by which he is unchangeably God, and
the human, by which he is consubstantial
with us. The human nature of Christ
could have no distinct personality, but is
sustained by the personality of the Word,

The Office of Jesus Christ. jt>
that thus God may become man. Had
the humanity possessed its own persona
lity, God Avould have only been in singular
union Avith a man ; he Avould not have
been truly man.
It Avill be sufficient for our present pur
pose to show that Jesus Christ himself,
whom Ave knoAv to have been true man,
claimed to be God in the most unmistak
able language, and that he wrought un
questionable miracles to prove the truth
of his claims, Avhich he could never have
done if he had been an impostor.
" So God loved the world, that he gave
his only-begotten Son, that every one that
believeth in him should not perish, but
have eternal life."* " I and my Father
are one."f " The Father is in me and
I in the Father." J " Glorify thou me,
* S. John iii. 16. f S. John x. 30. X s- John *• 38.

74 The Office of Jesus Christ.
Father, with the glory Avhich I had with
thee, before the world was."* "Whatever
the Father doeth, that the Son doeth like
wise."! " Dost thou believe in the Son
of God ? thou hast both seen him, and it
is he that talketh with thee." J
The Jews, as well as our Lord's dis
ciples, understood his words in their plain
sense as he spoke them, and were not
at all in doubt as to his meaning.
" The Jews, therefore, the more sought
to kill him, because he said God was
his Father, thereby making himself equal
with God." § " They answered, for a
good work we do not stone thee, but
for blasphemy, and because, when thou
art man, thou makest thyself God." ||
* S. John xvii. 5. \ S. John v. 19.
X S. John ix. 35. § S. John v. 18.
1 S. John x. 33.

The Office of Jesus Christ. 75
As to the disciples, there cannot be
tAvo opinions concerning their belief. The
confession of S. Peter proclaims his mas
ter to be "' the Christ, the Son of the
living God." """ S. John, in the beginning
of his Gospel, declares the doctrine of
the apostles : "In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word Avas God. . . . And the
Word Avas made flesh, and dwelt among
us, and Ave beheld his glory, the glory
as of the only-begotten of the Father, full
of grace and truth." f
In like manner, S. Paul speaks of
Jesus Christ as " God manifest in the
flesh," % " the splendor of the Father and
the figure of his substance, upholding all
things by the word of his power." §
* S. Matthew xvi. 16. f S.John i. 1-14.
X 1 S. Timothy iii. 16. § E. Hebrews i. 3.

76 The Office of Jesus Christ.
" All things were created by him, and
in him all things consist." *
To the same effect are the words of
S. John : " Who is a liar but he that
denieth that Jesus is the Christ ? He is
antichrist Avho denieth the Father and
the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son,
neither hath he the Father. He that
confesseth the Son, hath the Father also."+
" We know that the Son of God is
come, and hath given us understanding,
that we may know the true God, and
may be in his true Son. This is the
true God and eternal life." %
The miracles wrought by Jesus Christ
were facts, witnessed by many disinte
rested persons, and susceptible of proof
in the same way as any other facts.
* Coloss. i. 16. f I E. S. John ii. 22-23.
X 1 E. S. John v. 20.

The Office of Jesus Christ. y1/
If he Avere not that Avhich he claimed
to be, he was a deceiver unAvorthy of
any credence, and, in fact, guilty of the
crime of blasphemy Avith Avhich the Jews
charged him. There can be no possible
escape from such a conclusion, for the
language Avhich he used was abundantly
plain, and was literally understood by his
hearers. He could plead no incapacity
of comprehending the words which he
employed, and, therefore, if he were not
the Son of God, he must be declared the
greatest of all impostors. But the mira
cles Avhich he wrought attest the truth of
his divinity, and put beyond all doubt to
every reasonable mind the certainty of
his claims. No deceiver can work real
miracles, for this were to make God con
tradict himself, and support error. And
the miracles of Jesus Christ were well-

78 The Office of Jesus Christ.
attested facts, standing uncontradicted
upon the page of history, especially the
srreat miracle of his resurrection, to which
he himself appealed as the crowning tes
timony in favor of his divine character.
There is, then, no further need of ar
gument, for they who reject the divinity
of Christ are driven to deny the inspi
ration of Scripture, the authenticity of its
history, the miracles of the Gospel, and
then, by logical sequence, the first prin
ciples of evidence, and the testimony of
their own senses. Christianity, as the
Avorld has ever known it, ceases to have
any authority for them, since it stands
or falls with its founder. The rejection
of the divinity of Christ is, therefore, the
destruction of all revealed religion, and
the introduction of utter scepticism. Well-
disposed persons may try to evade this

The Office of Jesus Christ. 79
conclusion, but they cannot escape the
decision of inexorable logic. He who
claims to be God and is not God, is the
most Avicked of impostors. Impostors can
not Avork A^eritable miracles. He Avho re
jects the miracles of Christ, proved by
abundant evidence, must reject all other
facts established by evidence, and so be
come an universal sceptic. He who would,
in ansAver to the testimony of reason,
reply that the Godhead of Jesus Christ
is difficult of belief, would only shoAv
himself to be childish. That which is
presented to our minds on sufficient evi
dence, must be believed by every intelli
gent person. And as to difficulties, the
human soul asserts, as plainly as its own
existence, that all things are possible with
God ; that he can neither deceive nor be
deceived. When these axioms of reason

80 The Office of Jesus ChHst.
pass away, light can never reach our in
tellects, neither from nature nor from re
velation.

in.
JESUS CHRIST SATISFIES THE JUSTICE OF GOD BY A
TRUE ATONEMENT FOR OUR SINS.
Having seen by testimony unimpeach
able that Jesus Christ is both God and
man, the Second Person of the eternal
Trinity incarnate, Ave proceed briefly to
show the nature of his work, and to de
monstrate that he satisfied the justice of
God by a true atonement.
i. We advance, then, the simple fact
that his life was one of suffering, and that
he died at the hands of men. We have
certainly no need to prove the admitted

The Office of Jesus Christ. 8 1
history of the life of Jesus of Nazareth.
Born in poA^erty, he Avas exiled in early
years from his native land, and, returning
after the death of his persecutors, remained
in obscurity until his thirtieth year. During
a ministry of three years he went about
doing good, healing the sick, comforting
the afflicted, and teaching lessons of vir
tue such as the Avorld had not before
heard. At last apprehended through the
envy of the Jews, convicted without proof
before an unjust court which pronounced
him innocent, he Avas delivered up to
death. He suffered the abuse of the mul
titude, the scourging at the pillar, the
crowning Avith thorns, the agony of the
cross. He died praying for his murder
ers, and offering his life for the sins of
the world. This is the great tragedy
Avhich stands out with fearful prominence

82 The Office of Jesus Christ.
in the panorama of the world's history,
which can never be forgotten.
So said the sufferer himself: "And I,
if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw
all things to myself."* "Taking the form
of a servant, being made to the likeness
of men, and in shape found as a man, he
humbled himself, becoming obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross." f
2. We cannot look upon these suffer
ings, and this Avonderful death, as if
they were the sufferings and death of a
mere man, hoAvever exalted and noble. It
was the humanity of God that suffered,
the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity
who agonized and died in his human na
ture. There must have been a reason
worthy of the divine being Avhich induced
* S. John xii. 32. f E. Phil. ii. 7, 8.

The Office of Jesus Christ. 83
this mysterious humiliation, and the death-
struggles of God's eternal Son must have
an effect commensurate Avith the dignity
of the dying and the value of his precious
blood. So Avould even right reason teach.
But the sacred Scriptures leave no doubt
as to the character of Christ's passion.
" As Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, so must the Son of Man be
lifted up, that Avhosoever believeth in him
may not perish, but have life everlasting.
For God so loved the world as to give
his only-begotten Son."* " I lay down
my life for my sheep. No man taketh it
aAvay from me, but I lay it doAvn of my
self. I have power to lay it down, and
I have power to take it up again, "f
The death of Jesus Christ was wholly
* S. John iii. 14-16. f S. John x. 16-18.

84 The Office of Jesus Christ.
voluntary, for no human power can con
strain the will of God ; and to the last
he was free to deliver himself, to escape
from his persecutors, to turn their staves
and spears upon themselves, and even to
come down from the cross. Let us then
a little more closely view these sufferings
of our Lord, and we shall better under
stand their nature and effect. Here Ave
will only follow in the steps of the Scrip
ture narrative.
First, we notice that Jesus Christ offered
himself as a victim of expiation, and so
fulfilled a true priestly office, from which
alone, in fact, all our ideas of priesthood
are derived. We have seen that he offered
himself freely, because he laid down his
life, Avhich no man had poAver to take
away from him. The apostle S. Paul
tells us that in this oblation he fulfilled

The Office of Jesus Christ. 85
all the types and prophecies of former
dispensations. " But Christ being present, a high priest
of the good things to come, by a greater
and more perfect tabernacle not made with
hands, that is, not of this creation ; neither
by the blood of goats, or of calves, but by
his OAvn blood, entered once into the sanc
tuary, having obtained eternal redemption.
For if the blood of goats and of bulls,
and the ashes of an heifer, being sprinkled,
sanctify such as are defiled to the cleans
ing of the flesh, how much more shall
the blood of Christ, who through the
Holy Ghost offered himself without spot
to God, cleanse our conscience from dead
works to serve the living God ? " *
In these words the apostle draws .a di
rect parallel between the priest of the old
* E. Hebrews ix. n-14.

86 The Office of Jesus Christ.
law and our Lord as the priest of the
new dispensation. As the high priest
Avent every year into the Holy of Holies
to offer the blood of the victim Avhich
he had sacrificed, so Jesus Christ, having
given his life on the cross, entered into
heaven, of which the sanctuary was only
a type, to offer before the high throne
the blood Avhich he had shed. In the
ignominious death of Calvary there was
therefore a true sacrifice ; and on the
cross our Lord performed the principal
act of his priesthood. It is quite evi
dent that all the sacrifices of patriarchal
or Mosaic days have no significance, ex
cept as they typify the offering of the
Lamb of God. They were repeated, as
they were only types, and had not in them
selves the power of redemption. " The
true high priest hath appeared once at

The Office of Jesus Christ. 87
the end of the ages for the destruction
of sin by the sacrifice of himself."* So
plainly do the Scriptures teach that our
Lord is a priest, as the Incarnate God,
as the " Word made flesh." " Because
the mystery of our reconciliation required
an immaculate sacrifice, a victim was
needed Avho should be mediator between
God and man, that he might suffer death
by his human nature, and at the same
time conquer death by his divinity."!
Secondly, in this sacrifice, Jesus Christ
took upon himself the burden of our
sins, Avhich he died to expiate. He did
not suffer for himself, for he had no sin ;
but, according to the words of the pro
phet Isaias, " he was wounded for our
iniquities, he was bruised for our sins ;
* E. Hebrews ix. 26.
f Virgilius, Book v., contr. Eutyches.

88 The Office of Jesus Christ.
the chastisement of our peace was upon
him, and by his stripes we are healed."*
" For it was fitting that we should have
such an high priest, holy, innocent, unde-
filed, separate from sinners."!
Thus, S. Peter declares that " he bore
our sins in his own body upon the tree,
that we being dead to sins should live to
justice, by whose stripes we were heal
ed."! In like manner, we have the lan
guage of S. Paul : "He who knew no
sin was made sin for us, that we might
be made the justice of God in him." §
" Christ hath redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made a curse for us."||
Surely in no other sense could he be
made sin, or a curse, than in this, that
* Isaias liii. 5. \ Hebrews vii. 26.
X 1 S. Peter ii. 24. § 2 Cor. v. 2t.
|| Gal. iii. 13.

The Office of Jesus Christ. 89
he took upon himself the penalty due to
our sins, and suffered in our stead. No
other explanation can be given of the
apostle's Avords, nor can the wonderful
death of the God-man be accounted for
in any other Avay.
Thirdly, Jesus Christ and the Scrip
tures plainly declare that the human race
is redeemed by the blood of the Word
Incarnate. We have heard him say, " I
lay doAvn my life for the sheep," and the
testimonies of the Evangelists are not
wanting. " He gave himself for us that
he might redeem us from all iniquity."*
" KnoAving," says S. Peter, " that you
Avere not redeemed with corruptible gold
or silver, but with the precious blood of
Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and un-
defiled."! So, S. Paul, speaking to the
* Titus ii. 14. t 1 S. Peter i. 18, 19.

90 The Office of Jesus Christ.
bishops, bids them " take heed to them
selves and to all the flock over Avhich
the Holy Ghost had placed them bishops,
to rule the church of God, which he hath
purchased with his own blood." '
His life and his blood were therefore
in the counsels of God the price of our
redemption, and he who was not bound
by justice to redeem a fallen race was
pleased to accept an intervention freely
undertaken by his coequal and coeternal
Son. 3. We have, therefore, in the media
tion of Christ as our redeemer, all the
qualities of a true atonement.
First, there can be no question that
divine justice demands punishment of the
sinner. Reason teaches it, and -man in
* Acts xx. 28.

The Office of Jesus Christ. 9 1
every form of religion, and by the consti
tution of eA'ery civil government, acknow
ledges it. God's moral economy is uni
versally recognized. Our mediator, then,
stepped forth to give himself a victim for
us, by his precious blood to wash away
our guilt, and upon himself to take our
pains. " When we were enemies," says
the apostle, " Ave were reconciled to God
by the death of his Son."*
" In him it was pleasing that all ful
ness should dwell, and through him to
reconcile all things unto himself, making
peace through the blood of his cross, both
as to the things that are on earth, and
the things that are in heaven." " In
whom we haAre redemption through his
blood, even the remission of sins."!
Sin, which Christ came to expiate, is
* Romans v. 10, f Coloss. i. 14-20.

92 The Office of Jesus Christ.
an evil which has a threefold effect. It
establishes a debt by which we are bound
to the divine justice; it offends the Crea
tor, and destroys the friendship between
him and his creatures; and it is a crime
Avhich renders us obnoxious to eternal
death. Moreover, God is the creditor to
whom the debt is due, the person offended
who is to be appeased, and the just judge
who is bound to demand the penalty. To
a true satisfaction, therefore, are required
the payment of the debt, the appeasing
of the divine anger, and the expiation of
the guilt.
This view of sin is so plain and simple
that it recommends itself to the intelli
gence of every man, is freely admitted in
the actions of everyday life, and but for
the confusion of religious controversy,
would meet with no denial. Here con-

The Office of Jesus Christ. 93
science and revelation are in perfect har
mony. Secondly, the satisfaction demanded for
our transgressions Avas paid by our bless
ed Lord in a true and rigorous sense.
He stood in our place, to assume our
debt, for in himself he owed nothing to
divine justice, and as priest and victim,
he substituted himself for us, and thus
expiated our sins. The actions of Christ
Avere meritorious in the highest sense.
They were freely performed, and with a
view to the reAvard demanded and pro
mised in the counsels of the eternal Tri
nity. They were of infinite value in
themselves, for who but the Almighty
can estimate the worth of the sighs and
tears and blood of God ? And to what
end did the Incarnate Lord seek his bap
tism of blood, but to claim the salvation

94 The Office of Jesus Christ.
of the race whose nature he took into
union with his divinity ? So said the
prophet, many years before the sad tra
gedy took place : " If he shall lay down
his life for sin, he shall see a long-lived
seed. Because his soul hath labored, he
shall see and be satisfied."*
It is easy to see that, when Jesus cried,
"It is finished," and bowed his head to
die, our redemption was accomplished.
The vail which divided the Holy place
from the penitent people was rent in
twain. There was nothing more that
justice could ask. God could then be
just, and the justifier of him that believ
eth in Christ. " When thou didst over
come the sharpness of death, thou didst
open heaven to all believers." " Worthy
* Isaias liii. 10.

The Office of Jesus Christ. 95
is the Lamb that Avas slain, and has re
deemed us to God by his blood."
4. That such has been the doctrine of
Christianity from the beginning needs no
long argument. The Catholic Church has
defined it in the plainest terms ; and if
Ave Avere to give a synopsis of tradition
and of the teaching of the Catholic Fa
thers, Ave could hardly do better than
enumerate the following principles directly
in accordance with the sacred Scriptures :
(1.) No creature can render to God
a sufficient satisfaction for original and
actual sin.
(2.) Jesus Christ, our mediator, not only
fully, but even more than fully, satisfied
the Father for all the sins of our race,
as his merits are infinite.
(3.) The value of his acts and suffer-

96 The Office of Jesus Christ.
ings comes from the fact that they are
the acts and sufferings of the Second
Person of the blessed Trinity, the Word
Incarnate. (4.) No less power is required to re
deem than to create, and hence God alone
could intervene for the full salvation of
man. When these principles fall, Christianity
falls with them. The doctrine which
makes Christ a mere man is a logical
absurdity, and leads to scepticism. If he
died only to confirm his teachings, and
to give us an example of high courage ;
in what respect is he above the thousand
martyrs who have gladly sacrificed their
lives for their faith? Then, in like man
ner, we are to attribute our redemption
to the miracles of Christ, to his ascen
sion and resurrection, as much as to his

The Office of Jesus Christ. 97
death. Then must the Scriptures be re
nounced, since they plainly teach that the
expiation of our sins is due to the death
of Christ. A doctrine which subverts the
Scriptures, and the whole body of Chris
tian tradition, is plainly inadmissible by
any honest mind.
We have already seen how the di
vinity of our Lord is proved by the
most incontestable evidence, and that he
Avho rejects such evidence cannot accept
consistently either the testimony of others
or the voice of his own senses. There
are certain truths which cannot be denied
without the actual extinction of reason.
As for the theory that the God of hea
ven is all love, that he is not bound to
punish the guilty, that no satisfaction was
due to his justice, that the sinner alone
needs to be reconciled to God, who him-

98 The Office of Jesus Christ.
self is really never unreconciled, we have
only here to say that such teachings con
tradict the Scriptures, subvert Christianity,
and are opposed to our own natural intel
ligence. We have already at some length
shown the doctrine of the sacred writ
ings, and even those who do not receive
the inspiration of the Bible must feel the
weight of its authority as historical testi
mony. No amount of sophistry can do
away with the force of words like these :
" When we were sinners, Christ died for
us." " When we were enemies we were
reconciled to God by the death of his
Son."* Christianity holds, and has ever held,
as its fundamental belief, that the "Word
was made flesh" to save us from sin and
its consequences, and that his death Avas
* Romans v. 10.

The Office of Jesus Christ. 99
the " meritorious cause of our justifica
tion." Any religion which denies this
great and essential truth may be called
by its OAvn name, and denominated polite
ness, liberalism, modern thought, or any
thing else ; but. it is not Christianity, and
cannot rest itself on one of the pillars
Avhich bear up the great fabric of revealed
faith. It is strange, too, hoAV those who
think themselves pre-eminently intelligent
outwit themselves, and, as S. Paul says,
" professing to be Avise they make them
selves fools." Who put the consciousness
of guilt and shame in the breast of the
sinner ? Who taught him to fear the
wrath of God, and tremble in view of
judgment for crimes known only to the
mind of Omniscience ? Who instituted
the rite of sacrifice, universal in all the
religions of the world, and taught to

ioo The Office of Jesus Christ.
man the law of expiation? Who estab
lished in society the code of reward and
punishment, in which all rational minds
acquiesce? Who believes that the penal
ties of human tribunals are solely for the
amendment of the offender and not also,
or chiefly, for the vindication of the prin
ciples of justice and truth ? Who can
believe that God is so gentle a governor
that he can allow his intelligent crea
tures, to whom he has given free-will,
to trample upon the order of his domain,
and brave the essential attributes of his
being, thereby turning his realm of peace
into a chaos ? If God may not punish
offenders against his infinite majesty, how
can society take upon itself to touch the
life or liberty of the criminal ? We do
not believe that the upholders of the
liberal theory sincerely trust the creed

The Office of Jesus Christ. 101
they would desire to sustain, or are able
to turn a deaf ear to the voice of con
science and the instincts of nature. The
sinner cannot rid himself from the con
viction that God is offended by his trans
gression of laAAr, that retributive justice
Avill sooner or later overtake the guilty.
Divine providence is one vast scheme of
judgment, whose penalties are not all
simply for the amendment of the offender.
We do not knoAv that sickness and death,
sorrow and loss of temporal good, have
any direct tendency to correct the temper
of the sinner, or dispose the wicked to
a change of life. God may sanctify them,
but in themselves they have no purifying
power. Penalties they are, inflictions of
pain which fall with heavy force upon
the guilty, and serve as a vindication of
that power Avhich governs the intelligent

102 The Office of Jesus Christ.
as well as the unintelligent creation.
The death of the God-man could not
but be expiatory ; and no just motive
can be assigned for the agony of the
cross, except the redemption of the
world. It must be admitted that God
acts with at least human wisdom, and
appropriates means which are suited to
their end ; that he would not choose the
mysteries of Bethlehem and Calvary, uiji-
less in his wise counsels those mysteries
were necessary to the salvation of man.^
Who can look at the tree of shame and
behold the " image of the Father," his
consubstantial Son, going down to the
dust of death, and crying with a loud
voice, " My God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me ? " without exclaiming
with the centurion, " Truly this is the
divine Saviour of all !" or even with S.

The Office of Jesus Christ. 103
Paul, " O the depth of the riches of the
wisdom and the love of God, how un
searchable are his judgments, and his
Avays past finding out?"
The unhappy liberal Christian who be
gins by eliminating faith from his creed
must logically end by denying even the
language of nature. Progress for him is
not the ascension to a higher and high
er sphere, by the beams of supernatural
knoAvledge and the aid of superhuman
power; but a dreary journey upon one
plane, where man ever returns upon his
own path, where the true object of wor
ship is not the Deity in inaccessible and
fruitful light, but the creature himself,
helpless, without his God, and even piti
able in his mockery of greatness. " Hoav
art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,
son of the morning!"

1 04 The Office of Jesus Christ.
I IV.
JESUS CHRIST BRINGS BACK TO MAN, IN AND BY HIS
OWN PERSON, THE GIFTS OF PARADISE, AND IS
THEREFORE A TRUE REDEEMER.
The idea of a true redemption implies
the restoration of all the privileges which
belonged to man in his unfallen state, and,
as we have more fully seen in our first
lecture, makes good to the race redeemed
all the losses of paradise. It remains for
us, then, to show how this great work
was accomplished, and hoAV our divine
Lord, having paid the penalty due to our
sins, reinstates us in the light and grace
of Eden. We shall see how he blots out
our transgressions, brings back life to soul
and body, and re-establishes us in that
sonship of God which was the peculiar
glory of the unfallen man.

The Office of Jesus Christ. 105
1. The annunciation of the ever-blessed
Virgin, in the first notice of Christ, de
clares " she shall bring forth a son, and
his name shall be called Jesus, for he
shall saA-e his people from their sins."*
" In him then we have redemption
through his blood, the remission of sins,
according to the riches of his grace."!
" He is our peace, who hath made
both one, and breaking down the middle
wall of partition, the enmities, in his flesh,
that he might make the two in himself
into one new man, and might reconcile
both to God in one body by the cross,
killing the enmities in himself."!;
" Because in him it hath well pleased
the Father, that all fulness should dwell,
and through him to reconcile all things
* S. Matt. i. 21. f Ephes. i. 7.
X Ephes. i. 14-16.

106 The Office of Jesus Christ.
unto himself, making peace through the
blood of the cross."*
No plainer language could be adduced
to declare the end of the mission of
Christ, and to preach remission of sins to
the contrite sinner, through the all-avail
ing blood of the Lamb. As there is one
God, so " there is one mediator between
God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who
gave himself a redemption for all."!
The penalty having been paid, which
more than satisfies the divine justice,
"there is therefore now no condemna
tion to them that are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not according to the flesh." J
They who will, can freely accept the re
demption which Christ has achieved, and
upon the terms which he has proposed.
* Coloss i. 19, 20. \ 1 E. Tim. ii. 5, 6.
\ Rom. viii. 1.

The Office of Jesus Christ. 107
If the sinner remains bound by the chains
of guilt, it is the perversity of his own
will, and not the defect of the stream of
life Avhich Aoavs from Calvary.
2. But as has been intimated, the cri
minal forgiven is not necessarily replaced
in his father's house, nor admitted to all
the privileges of a son. Will, then, he
Avho so loved us as to die for us, com
plete the work, take away the flaming
sword from the gates of Eden, and admit
us to paradise ? Let us hear what the
Scriptures declare. " God, Avho is rich in
mercy, for his exceeding charity where
with he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together
in Christ.."*
There is then a life which is imparted
* Ephes. ii. 4, 5.

108 The Office of Jesus Christ.
to the forgiven sinner like that which
filled the soul and body of the first Adam
in the days of his innocence, and that
life is in and through Christ, and by the
power of the Holy Ghost. It is equiva
lent to a second birth. " Amen, amen, I
say to thee, unless a man be born again
of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God. That
which is born of the flesh is flesh, and
that which is born of the Spirit is spi
rit." *
Can there be a more potent assurance
of life in God than this ? What is the
meaning of this new birth? As the Spirit
of God dwelt in the first man, and made
him before heaven a living soul, so shall
the same creating Spirit deliver the ran
somed " from the law of sin and death."
* S.John iii. 5, 6.

The Office of Jesus Christ. 109
" You are not in the flesh, but in the
spirit, if so be the Spirit of God dwell
in you. And if Christ be in you, the
body is dead indeed because of sin, but
the spirit liveth because of justification."*
And is it true that the angry cherubim
are withdrawn from the way of the tree
of life, and that the mortal body shall
regain its immortality ? Hear what the
apostle adds : "If the Spirit of him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in
you, he that raised up Jesus Christ from
the dead shall also quicken your mortal
bodies, because of his Spirit that dwelleth
in you."!
We can now better understand the
words of Christ : "I am the resurrection
and the life ; he that believeth in me,
although he be dead, shall live : and
* Rom. viii. 9, 10. t Rom. viii. ir.

no The Office of Jesus Christ.
every one that liveth and believeth in me
shall not die for ever."*
These words are to be taken in the
full sense they bear. He who is life com
municates himself to the redeemed, that,
passing from the nature of the first Adam,
which failed, they may be united to the
living and triumphant nature of Christ.
"As in Adam all die, so also in Christ
shall all be made alive."!
Who can doubt that the God-man is
life eternal; in his divine nature the per
ennial source of all being, and from
whose prolific hand all existence springs ?
How is the Godhead, which took our
nature into union inseparable with his
^verlasting glory, to impart that life to
us? Let us hear his own words, and
no words but his. No voice is so sure.
* S. John xi. 25, 26. f 1 Cor. xv. 22.

The Office of Jesus Christ. 1 1 1
The accents of the "Word made flesh"
cannot deceive.
" I am the bread of life. Your fathers
did eat manna in the desert, and are
dead. This is the bread which cometh
down from heaven, that if any man eat of
it, he may not die. Except you eat the
flesh of the Son of man, and drink his
blood, you shall not have life in you. He
that eateth my flesh and drinketh my
blood hath everlasting life, and I will raise
him up in the last day. For my flesh is
meat indeed, and my blood is drink in
deed. He that eateth my flesh and drink
eth my blood abideth in me and I in him.
As the living Father hath sent me, and I
live by the Father ; so he that eateth me,
the same also shall live by me."*
These words, so plain that they can
* S. John vi. 48-58.

1 1 2 The Office of Jesus Christ.
hardly be misunderstood, explain the whole
economy of grace. Eden's gates were un
barred when in Bethlehem the. Virgin ful
filled the early promise, and brought forth
her child, and angels hovered around the
manger, singing, " Glory to God in the
highest, and peace on earth to men of
good-will ; " paradise was regained Avhen
he whose word is creating, " took bread,
blessed it, gave thanks, and brake, and
gave to his apostles, saying, This is my
body which is given for you."*
3. Such life, flowing from union Avith
the living Christ, survives all the changes
of death, gives here on earth a vitality
which can only have its end before the
throne in heaven, and from the penance
and decay of the grave lifts the redeem-
* S. Luke xxii. 19.

The Office of Jesus Christ. 113
ed body to an everlasting union with
the glorified soul. The tree of life in
Eden Avas only a type of the Word
Incarnate, God become man and stretch
ing out his arms and opening his heart
to the dying children of men. They,
then, Avho are so blessed as to be " par
takers of the divine nature"* in and
through Christ, "to be baptized into
him,"! to be "members of his body, of
his flesh and his bones," % to " eat his
flesh and drink his blood," § are become
by a glorious exaltation the sons of God,
and heirs of a paradise far more holy
than that of the first Adam.
"He who is rich in mercy hath raised
us up together, and made us sit together
in the heavenly places, that he might
* 1 S. Peter i. 4. f Rom. vi. 3.
X Ephes. v. 30. § S. John vi. 54.

114 The Office of Jesus Christ.
show in the ages to come the abundant
riches of his grace."* "To as many as
received him he gave power to become the
sons of God, who are born not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the
will of man, but of God."! These great
gifts, discerned here on earth by faith,
are to be made manifest in the " glory
that shall be revealed." " We are noAV
the sons of God ; and it hath not yet
appeared what we shall be. We knoAv
that when he shall appear, we shall be
like to him, because we shall see him as
he is." J So does the great Redeemer
fulfil his office, and complete the restora
tion of fallen man. He not only brings
him to Eden and its gifts, but passes far
above that earthly paradise, and opens to
* Ephes. ii. 6, 7. f S. John i. 12, 13.
X 1 E. S. John iii. 2.

The Office of Jesus Christ. 1 1 5
him even the heaven of hitherto inacces
sible light, Avhere the unfallen angels re
joice in the bliss of the divine presence.
On that sad morning, Avhen darkness fell
upon the earth, and thick darkness upon
the heart of our first father, who would
have ventured to hope for such a redemp
tion ? Who in his boldest conceptions of
the divine mercy Avould have imagined the
incarnation of God's eternal Son, the hu
miliations of Calvary, the wonderful mercy
of the diAane Eucharist ? So, " where sin
abounded, has grace much more abound
ed." In this brief analysis of the office of
Jesus Christ, we have placed before our
minds the simple words of Holy Scrip
ture, and have allowed our Lord and his
apostles to speak to us of his character
and mission. While reason would never

1 1 6 The Office of Jesus Christ.
have conjectured of itself a condescension
so great, and a dispensation so merciful,
it finds no objection to the truth so plain
ly set forth. Rather the heart of man
crieth out loudly to the living God for
help from his high throne. Nothing less
than union with him can satisfy the thirsty
soul, which in every faculty bears the
marks of the triune hand.
And to the honest mind it is evident
that the language of the sacred writings
must be taken in its literal sense, or alto
gether renounced. He who is truth, could
not speak to deceive, nor utter words of
high import to create false hopes never
to be realized. Let us then thank God
with faithful hearts for that which Jesus
Christ is in himself and to us. He is all
in all, the alpha and omega, the beginning
and ending of our faith. By him are we

The Office of Jesus Christ. 1 1 7
ransomed from sin ; in him do Ave live,
and through him do Ave hope to ascend
one day, glorified in soul and body, where
the great Creator shall unveil his face to
us ; and in bliss unspeakable every cloud
shall flee away.

Lecture III.

THE OFFICE AND NATURE OF THE CHRIS
TIAN CHURCH.
" And he hath put all things under his feet ; and hath
made him head over all the Church, which is his body, the
fulness of him, who is filled all in all." — Ephes. i. 22, 23.

N the preceding lectures Ave have
seen hoAV complete is the redemp
tion which our Lord Jesus Christ has
wrought for our sinful race. We trust
that we have made it clear that any lower
view of his gracious work would be an in
adequate notion of Christianity, and would
fall far short of the good tidings of his
Gospel. Let us then ever keep in mind
that which Christ is in himself and that

The Christian Church. 119
which he is to us, and adhere in simpli
city 4nd constancy to the revelation which
is mcl.de of our Redeemer in Holy Scrip-
ture. )
But it is quite evident, at first sight,
that, | although the Avork of our Lord
Avas cjomplete in itself, its gracious effects
remailn to be applied successively and in
dividually to the children of men. Jesus
Chrish died for all men and all ages,
and tevery man in his lot and in his
time iieedeth the help of his Saviour.
He wliose mercy planned the incarnation
surely (Avould not allow his atonement to
be uselVss for the lack of means to make
it known and apply it. He did not pro
pose to, remain visibly upon earth after
his resurrection, and therefore was bound
in justice and charity to provide for the
perpetuity of his Gospel, and the exten-

120 The Office and Nature of
sion through all time of the meat,s 0f
salvation. Surely this assertion neec, nQ
argument ; since if he had not done [ ^e
would have been less wise than the I foun.
ders of merely human systems, and L^p.,,.
larly inconsistent with the acts of his, Qwn
life and passion, which proved the • vaiue
of the soul in his eyes. For the Si r
God to become incarnate and die on ^
cross to save man, and then leave n<L a(je_
quate means to make known the V a Qf
salvation which cost such a price, woui<j
be a marvel far greater than any r» te
ever proposed to faith. Such injcons;s_
tency is in the nature of things /imD0S_
sible. The great question, therefore, fqir man.
kind is before us. What are the „,«.,„,,
which Jesus Christ has chosen t(? ma]ie
known and apply the redemption Of whicn

the Christian Church. 121
we have spoken ? How is the sinner to
find forgiveness and life in and through
him, the second Adam ? We answer, that
before his ascension, he established a
church and a priesthood, to which he
gave divine powers, and by which he
brings the knowledge of his truth to all
nations, and imparts to every believer the
gifts which he purchased on the cross.
It will be the object of this lecture briefly
to make good this answer by Holy Scrip
ture, history, and reason.
Our subject naturally takes the follow
ing divisions :
I. The institution of a church.
II. The office of the Church.
III. The nature or essential qualities of
the Church.
Under each one of these heads we shall
briefly call upon the fountains of proof,

122 The Office and Nature of
that we may place beyond any question
the points upon which we wish to insist.
The sacred writings will show what the
scriptural church is ; historical testimony
will bring out the leading facts of Chris
tianity, against which there can be no
honest argument; and reason will demon
strate what the Church ought to be, in
accordance with the end it proposes to
accomplish.

JESUS CHRIST INSTITUTED A CHURCH.
The first act of our Lord, in commenc
ing his ministry, was his solemn baptism
in the river Jordan. There, at the hands
of his forerunner, he received the outward
consecration to the work he began. The
Incarnate Son stood in the waters ; the

the Christian Church. 123
Holy Ghost, under the form of a dove,
hovered over him ; the Eternal Father
spake from heaA-en, " This is my beloved
Son, in Avhom I am well pleased." * S.
Peter also refers to this wonderful scene
in his epistle. " He received from God
the Father honor and glory, this voice
coming doAvn to him from the excellent
glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased, hear ye him."! After
this high sanction of his mission, one of
his first acts was to call his disciples.
" Come after me, and I will make you
become fishers of men." J
Afterwards of his disciples he selected
twelve, whom he made apostles. The
circumstances recorded by the evangelist
indicate sufficiently the importance of this
* S. Matt. iii. 17. t 2 s- Peter j- I7-
X S. Matt. iv. 19.

124 The Office and Nature of
transaction. "And it came to pass in
those days that he went out into a moun
tain to pray, and he passed the whole
night in the prayer of God. And when
it was day he called his disciples, and
he chose twelve of them, whom also
he named apostles."* Their authority is
plainly signified by the Avords employed
in their commission, "As the Father hath
sent me, even so do I send you."! "He
that heareth you, heareth me; and he that
despiseth you, despiseth me." J
The church which he proposed to found
was to be " built upon the foundation of
the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ
himself being the chief corner-stone." §
The apostles were certainly the chief
teachers and rulers of the church, but it
* S. Luke vi. 12-13. \ S. John xx. 21.
X S. Luke x. 16. § Ephes. ii. 20.

the Christian Church. 125
is evident that among them there was not
a perfect equality. As the twelve were
distinguished from the disciples by the
apostleship, so Avas Peter distinguished
from the twelve by a certain pre-eminence
over all. To this end are the plain words
of Christ: "And I say to thee that thou
art Peter, and upon this rock will I 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 upon earth, it
shall be loosed also in heaven."*
"Simon,"* son of John, lovest thou me
more than these? Feed my lambs, feed
my sheep."!
* S. Matt. xvi. 18-19. \ S. John xxi. 15-17-

126 The Office and Nature of
Here we have, in the most manifest
language, the proof of the fact that our
Lord established a church, with a ministry
and government, both of Avhich were ne
cessary to an organized body destined to
represent him upon earth. " If any one
will not hear the church, said he, let him
be to thee as the heathen and the pub
lican."* The Acts of the Apostles are a simple
history of the foundation and growth of
the church in different lands. In the very
beginning we find S. Peter calling to
gether the church to fill up the place of
the traitor Judas among the twelve ; and
the succeeding chapters shoAv how the
household of Christ, under various perse
cutions, grew and extended itself from
nation to nation, until, even before the
* S. Matt, xviii. 17.

the Christian Church. 127
death of S. Paul, it had well earned for
itself the name of Catholic.
So much for the argument from Scrip
ture in regard to the institution of a
church. If Ave appeal to history, we can say
Avith all candor that there is no fact so
Avell established, not one more universally
received, not one Avhich has left such in
effaceable marks upon society. There are
A'ery fe\v Avho are disposed to deny it ;
Avhile all Avho call themselves Christians
maintain it, and those who refuse to be
lieve in Christianity do not pretend to call
it in question. It were much easier to
deny the succession of kings in the vari
ous empires of the world than that of
Pontiffs in the apostolic see. The church
is the stone which the prophet Daniel
saw in vision " cut out of the mountain

128 The Office and Nature of
without hands, which broke in pieces the
clay and the iron and the brass and the
silver and the gold."*
S. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons in the
second century, was a disciple of S. Poly-
carp, Avho was a disciple of S. John. In
the following passage he gives the succes
sion of the bishops of the Roman church
unto his own day : " The blessed apostles
having founded and built up that church,
committed the sacred office of the episco
pacy to Linus, of whom S. Paul makes
mention in his Epistle to Timothy. To
him succeeded Anacletus, and after him,
the third from the apostles who obtained
that episcopacy, was Clement, who had seen
and conferred with the blessed apostles, and
who had still before his eyes their familiar
preaching and tradition. But to this Cle-
* Dan. ii. 45.

the Christian Church. 129
ment succeeded Evaristus, and to Evaristus,
Alexander. Next to him, thus the sixth
from the apostles, Sixtus was appointed,
and after him Telesphorus, Avho suffered a
glorious martyrdom ; next Hyginus, then
Pius, after whom was Anicetus. To Ani-
cetus succeeded Soter, and to him, the
twelfth in succession from the apostles,
Eleutherius, Avho now holds the episcopate.
By this order, and by this succession,
both that tradition which is in the church
from the apostles and the preaching of
the truth have come down to us. And
this is a most complete demonstration that
the vivifying faith is one and the same
which, from the first even until now, has
been preserved in the church and trans
mitted in truthfulness."*
Against facts there is no argument from
* S. Irenmus, adv. Hceres., 1. iii. c. 3.

130 The Office and Nature of
right reason ; and when we have further
examined the offices for which Jesus Christ
established his church, we can even urge
the conviction that an institution like this
was demanded in the very nature of
things, and as a means to the end pro
posed. Surely we have a right to expect
from God consistency, harmony, and pro
portion in his works ; which, although
they rise above the limits of our finite
capacity, are nevertheless in many re
spects submitted to our understanding.
Some instrumentality was required, and
none can be conceived of, which so per
fectly meets the Avants of man as the
church which, spread throughout the
world, meets every successive generation,
and comes in contact with every indivi
dual heart. Reason might not have been
able to devise so perfect a plan, yet it

the Christian Church. 131
cannot but admire its Avisdom and adapta
tion to the necessities of our race.

11.
THE OFFICE OF THE CHURCH.
While Ave are thus certain of the insti
tution of a church by our blessed Lord,
Ave are not left without some knowledge
of the object for which this church was
erected and endowed Avith high preroga
tives. We gather from the sacred writ
ings three principal functions to be dis
charged by this body, which owes its
existence to the love of Christ, " which
he purchased with his precious blood."
The first is to teach to men the truths
made known by the Incarnate Word ; the
second to convey to men individually the
graces of redemption ; the third to bind

132 The Office and Nature of
together in social communion the various
nations of the redeemed, and to guide
them in that unity which protects the,
believer, and at the same time vindicates
the truth.
1. That the church which Jesus Christ
established was commissioned as a teach
ing body is evident, from direct assertions
of holy Scripture, and from the fact that
the apostles were sent forth with divine
authority to instruct all mankind. The
powers which were given to the apostles
were to be transmitted to their successors,
because they were official, and necessary
to the existence of the body of which
they were ministers. If the power to
preach with authority had died with the
apostles themselves, what would have be
come of the church, or of the converts

the Christian Church. 133
daily to be received into its bosom ?
Nay, AA'hat would have become of the
very Avords and promises of Christ ? We
need only, therefore, produce the follow
ing passages, which are quite explicit :
" And Jesus coming spake to them, say
ing : All power is given to me in heaven
and on earth. Going therefore teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost ; teaching them to observe
all things whatsoever I have commanded
you, and behold I am with you all
days, even unto the consummation of the
world."* " Go ye into the whole world and
preach the gospel to every creature."!
" And he gave some apostles, and some
prophets, and some evangelists, and other
* S. Matt, xxviii. 18-20. \ S. Mark xvi. 15.

134 The Office and Nature of
some pastors and doctors, for the per
fecting of the saints, for the work of the
ministry, for the edifying of the body of
Christ ; until we all meet in the unity
of faith and of the knowledge of the
Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto
the measure of the age of the fulness of
Christ ; that henceforth we be no more
children tossed to and fro, and carried
about with every wind of doctrine by
the wickedness of men, by the cunning
craftiness by which they lie in wait to
deceive."* We quote again from S. Irenseus :
" The church spread over the whole
world to the earth's boundaries, having
/received from the apostles and their dis
ciples the faith in one God, the Father
Almighty, and in one Christ Jesus, that
* Ephes. iv. n-14.

the Christian Church. 135
Son of God Avho Avas made flesh for our
salvation ; and in the Holy Spirit, guards
it sedulously, as though dwelling in one
house ; and these truths she uniformly
hokis, as having but one soul and one
and the same heart ; and these she pro
claims and teaches and hands down
uniformly, as though she had but one
mouth." *
To the same effect are the words of
Origen: "As in the firmament called hea
ven, God commanded that there should
be lights to divide night from day, so
too in us may this take place, if so be
that we strive to be called and to be a
heaven. We shall have in us as lights
to enlighten us Christ and his church.
For he is the light of the world Avho
also with his light enlightens the church.
* S. Irenceus, adv. Hceres., 1. iii. c. 24.

136 Tlie Office and Nature of
For as the moon is said to derive light
from the sun, that by it even the night
may be illumined ; so also the church,
having received the light of Christ, gives
light to all who live in the night of igno
rance."* That the Christian church has always
taught with authority the doctrines of
Christ can hardly be questioned. The
very idea of a church implies a creed
and a teaching ministry, and even Pro
testants in their various organizations are
bound together by some symbol of faith.
Take away every such profession, and
all dogmas, and the notion of a church
seems impossible, if not ridiculous. The
very first necessity for which our Lord,
as a divine teacher, had to provide was
that of preserving and extending the
* Origen, Horn, in Genes.

the Christian Church. 137
truths he revealed. As a matter of fact,
he did provide no other means of teach
ing than his church, which reason shows
us to be Avell adapted to this end. He
caused indeed the record of his life, as
Avell as many of his divine truths, to be
Avritten doAvn in writings inspired, and
preserved by his providence. But these
Avritings Avere not accessible to the world
for many ages, nor are they capable of
impressing upon the mind of the reader
their true sense, as do the words of a
living speaker. Jesus Christ therefore em
ployed no other instrumentality than the
church Avhich he instituted, whose chief
office it Avas, in fact, to preach to men
the doctrines of her founder.
No means could be thought of so well
adapted to this end, and in this provision
we see the Avisdom of God. No single

138 The Office and Nature of
teacher could reach all mankind, nor every
age. A body, therefore, gathered from
the world, composed of converts to the
faith, and sustained by divine power in
the enunciation of truth, is perhaps the
only means suggested by our reason for
making effectual the gospel of Christ.
Man's first necessity is to know the
truth, and the second to live in obedi
ence to its high behests. No honest
person can find any intrinsic difficulty in
this mode of teaching, which is in such
accordance with our intelligence and natu
ral knowledge of our Creator.
2. The redemption which we have ex
amined proposes to restore man to a
supernatural condition, such as that which
he lost by the prevarication of Adam, the
head of the race, and therefore demands

the Christian Church. 139
the addition of divine aid to the powers
of nature. No man can redeem himself,
and the Aery idea Avould involve a logical
contradiction. The church which is to
teach the blessed truths of our regenera
tion must then be prepared to minister
the grace Avhich we need, to bring to
each soul the gifts of paradise, and to
apply to each willing heart the whole
strength of Christ's salvation. We have
this function of the ministry of the church
distinctly spoken of in Holy Scripture.
The words of Christ in regard to the
neAv-birth are so plain that they hardly
need explanation. " Unless a man be
born of water and the Holy Ghost, he
cannot enter into the kingdom of God."*
The universal application of this text be
fore the modern controversies, which are
* S. John iii. 5.

140 The Office and Nature of
of little weight as testimony, refers this
passage to the sacrament of Christian
baptism. No other interpretation" is con
ceivable ; for if our Lord did not refer
to baptism, he could -not have used the
word water, unless to mislead and puzzle
the hearer. The apostles were com
missioned to administer this ordinance to
all whom they taught, and, as a matter
of fact, we find them everywhere bap
tizing their converts. " Go ye therefore,
teach all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Ghost."* We need not here
quote the passages from the Acts of the
Apostles, where, in every case of belief
in Christ, this sacrament was adminis
tered. So said S. Peter on the day of
Pentecost : "Do penance and be baptized
* S. Matt, xxviii. 19.

the Christian Church. 141
every one of you, in the name of Jesus
Christ, for the remission of your sins, and
aou shall receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost." *
In language too simple to be misunder
stood by a child, our Lord gave to his
apostles the poAver to remit and retain
sin. " Whose sins you shall forgive, they
are forgiven them, and whose sins you
shall retain, they are retained."! The
gift of remission of sin is unquestionably
one of the gifts of the new law, and a
privilege comprised in the redemption
Avhich belongs to the children of the
church, who are submitted to the teach
ing of the apostles and their successors.
We find also in the Acts the institu
tion of an ordinance, whose external rite
was the laying on of hands of the apos-
* Acts ii. 38. f S. John xx. 23.

142 The Office and Nature of
ties, and whose inward grace was the
imparting of the Holy Ghost, for the spe
cific purpose of strengthening and estab
lishing believers in their profession.
" Now when the apostles that were in
Jerusalem had heard that Samaria had
received the word of God, they sent to
them Peter and John, who when they
were come, prayed for them that they
might receive the Holy Ghost. Then
they laid their hands upon them, and
they received the Holy Ghost."*
The following is the language of two
of the early Christian fathers in regard
to these sacraments :
" But if he [Christ] alone conquered,
what conferred he on others ? Hear
briefly. The sin of Adam had passed
unto the whole race. By 07te man, says
* Acts viii. 14-17.

the Christian Church. 143
the apostle, sin entered, and death by
sin, and so death passed tipon all men.
(Rom. a\) Therefore the justice of Christ
must needs pass unto the human race.
Christ begets in his church by means of
his priests, as says the same apostle, in
Christ have f begotten you. (1 Cor. iv.)
These things cannot be otherwise fulfilled
than- by the sacrament of the laver, and
of the chrism, and of the bishop."*
"And to you also, after you had come
up from the pool of the sacred streams,
was given the chrism, the emblem of that
wherewith Christ was anointed, and this
is the Holy Ghost. But see that you
do not suppose this to be bare unction.
For as the bread of the Eucharist, after
the invocation of the Holy Ghost, is no
longer simple bread, but Christ's body, so
* S. Pacian, Serm. de Baptismo.

T44 The Office and Nature of
also this holy unction is no longer plain
ointment, nor to say common, but Christ's
gift, and by the presence of his Godhead,
it causes in us the Holy Ghost."*
We see, therefore, how the church,
through its ministers, is to impart the
spiritual life and remit the sins of the
penitent. We only add that it is her
office to unite the believer to his re
deemer, by an actual participation of the
divine humanity, as the plan of salvation
has already taught us. Thus Jesus Christ
declares to the whole world that there is
no real life, except by feeding upon his
body and blood. " Except ye eat the
flesh and drink the blood of the Son of
man, you shall not have life in you."!
The apostles and their successors received
* S. Cyril Jerus., Catech. Myst. iii.
f S. John vi. 54.

thie Christian Church. 145
the power to communicate to the faithful
this most precious food. On the night
before he suffered he fulfilled the rite of
the paschal supper. Then " taking bread,
he blessed it, and brake, and gave to his
disciples, saying, Take ye and eat ; this
is my body. And taking the chalice, he
gave thanks, and gave to them, saying,
Drink ye all of this. For this is my blood
of the NeAv Testament, which is shed for
you and for many, for the remission of
sins."* So says S. Paul : "I have received of
the Lord that which also I delivered to
you, that the Lord Jesus, the night in
which he was betrayed, took bread, and
giving thanks, brake, and said : Take ye
and eat; this is my body, which shall be
delivered for you, do this for the com-
* S. Matt. xxvi. 26-28.

146 The Office and Nature of
memoration of me. In like manner also
the chalice, after he had supped, saying :
This chalice is the New Testament in my
blood; this do ye, as often as you shall
drink it, for the commemoration of me.
For as often as you shall eat this bread
and drink: this chalice, you shall show the
death of the Lord till he come."*
In this high mystery, so plainly reveal
ed, we find the great act of the church's
priesthood. As the twelve fed the five
thousand with the five loaves, so do their
successors, who show forth the death of
the Lord till he come, feed the faithful
everywhere with the true bread of life,
" the bread descending down from heaven,
that if any one eat of it he may not die."!
" We have an altar, says the apostle,
* 1 E. Cor. xi. 23-26. f S. John vi. 50.

the Christian Church. 147
whereof they have no right to eat who
sen-e the tabernacle."*
History is more than abundant in her
testimony in regard to the Holy Eucha
rist, but no Avords can be so plain as
those of the Scripture. All the faith and
devotion of Christians have ever centred
in this august and wonderful sacrament,
in Avhich the Lamb of God is present to
offer his sacrifice to the Father, and to
nourish the souls and bodies of the re
deemed unto everlasting life.
S. Cyprian, of the third century, quot
ing the Avords of Christ, " The bread
which I Avill give, is my flesh, which I
will give for the life of the world," thus
declares, "It is manifest that they have
this life who approach his body and re
ceive the Holy Eucharist."
* Heb. xiii. 10.

148 The Office and Nature of
" There is no place left to doubt of the
truth of his flesh and blood," says S.
Hilary, "for, according to the profession
of the Lord himself, and by our belief, it
is truly flesh and truly blood."
3. It is another function of the church
established by our Lord, to gather to
gether the company of believers in one
communion, and to maintain that unity
which is necessary for the preservation of
the Gospel.
The evangelists directly teach us this,
while reason insists upon its necessity.
The language of Scripture most dis
tinctly implies everywhere this end of the
church, wherever it is spoken of; and we
need produce only a few passages in this
connection. Baptism which admits into
the kingdom of heaven, makes the bap-

the Christian Church. 149
tized, members of the church which is
really, in the mind of our Lord and his
apostles, that kingdom. " In one Spirit
Avere we all baptized into one body,
whether JeAvs or Gentiles, bond or free ;
and in one Spirit have we all been made
to drink. Now you are the body of
Christ, and members of member. And
God hath set some in the church, first
apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly doc
tors, after that miracles, then the graces
of healings, helps, governments, kinds of
tongues, interpretations of tongues."*
" Now, therefore, you are no more
strangers and foreigners, but you are
fellow-citizens with the saints, and the
domestics of God. Built upon the founda
tion of the apostles and prophets, Jesus
Christ himself 'being the chief corner-
* 1 Cor. xii. 13, 27, 28.

150 The Office and Nature of
stone. In whom all the building being
framed together groweth up into an holy
temple in the Lord. In whom you also
are built together into an habitation of
God in the Spirit."*
"Take heed therefore to yourselves"
(says S. Paul to the pastors whom he
addressed at Miletus), " and to the whole
flock wherein the Holy Ghost hath placed
you bishops, to rule the church of God,
which he hath purchased with his blood."!
In like manner he speaks to Timothy,
first bishop of Ephesus : "I charge thee
before God and Jesus Christ, who shall
judge the living and the dead, by his
coming and kingdom : preach the word,
be instant in season and out of season ;
reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience
and doctrine ; for there "shall be a time
* Ephes. ii. 19-22. \ Acts xx. 28.

the Christian Church. 151
Avhen they will not endure sound doctrine,
but according to their own desires they
will heap to themselves teachers, having
itching ears."* Hence the admonition to
the faithful generally : " Obey your pre
lates and be subject to them. For they
Avatch, as having to render an account of
your souls, that they may do this with
joy and not with grief."!
As in all human enterprises reason dic
tates concerted action, so in matters of
such high importance as those proposed
by the Christian church, association and
unity are indispensable. They are neces
sary for the protection of the individual
believers, and for the profession of the
truth before the world. Moreover, as we
are by nature formed for society, we
should expect to see the social principle
* 2 S. Tim. iv. i. \ E. Heb, xiii. 17.

152 The Office and Nature of
sanctified under the graces of the re
demption, and to find a stronger than hu
man bond uniting those who are "mem
bers together of one Lord," "partakers
of the divine nature," " temples of the
Holy Ghost." Reason would dictate to
us a communion bound by faith, rising in
its aspirations above all the things of
earth, and passing the darkness of the
grave. As the head of the church is
God made man, so the whole body must
partake of his vitality, and the world
must see a vast kingdom spread through
every land where the standard of the
cross is unfurled, victorious over the law
of decay or death, and presenting a new
and diviner idea of social life than any
which the highest raptures of philosophy
had pictured. The honest heart may
judge if this ought not to be the case

the Christian Church. 153
with a church Avhose existence sprang
from " the Word made flesh," if such
was not the prediction of prophets and
the language of our Lord. " Amen,
amen, I say to you, he that entereth
not by the door into the sheepfold, but
climbeth up another way, the same is a
thief and a robber. I am the good shep
herd, and I know mine, and mine know
me, as the Father knoAveth me, and I
know the Father ; and I lay down my
life for the sheep. And other sheep I
have which are not of this fold ; them
also I must bring, and they shall hear
my voice, and there shall be one fold, and
one shepherd."*
" And for them do I sanctify myself,
that they also may be sanctified in truth.
And not for them only do I pray, but
* S. John x. 1, 14-16.

154 The Office and Nature of
for them also who through their word
shall believe on me. That they all may
be one, as thou Father in me, and I in
thee, that they also may be one in us ;
that the world may know that thou hast
sent me. And the glory which thou hast
given to me, I have given to them, that
they may be one, as we also are one."*
in.
THE MARKS OR ESSENTIAL QUALITIES OF THE CHURCH.
Having now seen, by a simple argu
ment from Scripture and facts uncontest
ed, that Jesus Christ established a church,
and having examined the principal offices
for which that church was instituted, we
proceed to detect the nature of the true
Christian communion, by the qualities
* S. John xvii. lg-22.

the Christian Church. 155
Avhich are essential to it, and which
therefore distinguish it from all other
bodies. We shall endeavor to pass ra
pidly, and still intelligibly, over the fol-
loAving, which Ave contend are necessary
marks of the church spoken of in the
sacred Avritings, as founded by our bless
ed Redeemer :
(1.) Unity.

(2(3
(4
(5
(6

) Infallibility.
) Sanctity.
) Catholicity.
) Apostolicity.
) Indefectibility.

1. The Christian church is visibly and
morally one, by Avhich we mean to assert
that it is one visible communion, bound
together by the most rigid principles of
unity ; and that it has one faith, and

156 The Nature and Office of
therefore one heart. To prove this we
shall only show that the comparisons
which illustrate its unity are of the most
complete and perfect kind. Its oneness
is paralleled with the unity of God, with
the human body, and with a temple built
upon one foundation, and compactly fram
ed together.
" There is one body, and one spirit, as
you are called in one hope of your call
ing. One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all, who is above
all, and through all, and in us all."* It
would be hard to conceive a more per
fect unity than that of God. Now the
apostle tells us that the unity of the
body, by which he always means the
church, is of the same nature. There
cannot be two Gods, nor can there be
* Ephes. iv. 4-6.

the Christian Church. 157
two bodies. There cannot be two creeds,
nor two baptisms, nor two Holy Spirits.
Neither can there be two churches of
Christ In the prayer of our Lord, which
Ave have just quoted, we have heard
him supplicate for the oneness of believ
ers, that the world seeing it might receive
his doctrine. " That they may all be one,
as thou Father in me, and I in thee."
It Avould be difficult indeed to picture
to ourselves a more complete unity than
that of the human body, yet such is
the comparison which S. Paul uses to
teach the doctrine we are striving to
prove. Nor is it only by simple compa
rison that he illustrates this truth, but he
teaches that there is such a real union
to Christ, that those who are baptized
become the members of his body, par
take of the vital current of his life, and

158 The Nature and Office of
through him are made one with God.
His own words are more striking than
any argument of ours. " He [Jesus
Christ] is the head of the body, the
church, who is the beginning, the first
born from the dead, that in all things
he may hold the primacy."*
" As the body is one, and hath many
members, and all the members of the
body, whereas they are many, yet are
one body ; so also is Christ. For in
one spirit were we all baptized into one
body, and in one Spirit we have all been
made to drink. For the body also is
not one member, but many. And God
hath tempered the body together, giving
;to that which wanted the more abundant
honor, that there might be no schism in
the body."! " From Christ [the head]
* Coloss. i. iS. + ! Cor. xii. 12-25.

the Christian Church. 159
the Avhole body being compacted and fitly
joined together, by Avhat every joint sup-
plieth, according to the operation in the
measure of every part, maketh increase,
unto the edifying of itself in charity."*
Noav, as the apostle argues, the human
body is a perfect unity, animated by one
principle of life. If a member be cut off,
it no longer partakes of the central ani
mating principle, and it perishes. So also
is the church one visible communion,
Avhose oneness cannot be impaired by
any changes of time. Individual mem
bers may fall away, but while they perish
for lack of that vitality which the church
alone contains, the unity of Christ's body
remains intact.
In like manner, the house of God is a
holy temple, lifting its head heavenward,
* Ephes. iv. 14.

160 The Office and Nature of
and standing firm upon its sure founda
tions, "built upon the foundation of the
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ him
self being the chief corner-stone, in whom
all the building being framed together,
groweth up into an holy temple in the
Lord"* In accordance with the inspired teach
ing the Christian fathers speak, founding
their testimony upon the apostolic tradi
tion. " From what has been said, it is,
I think, plain that the true church is one,
that which is truly ancient, in which are
enrolled all who are just according to
God's purpose. For as there is one God
and one Lord, on that account also that
which is most highly precious is praised
because it is one, being an imitation of
one principle. The one church is then
* Ephes. ii. 20-21.

the Christian Church. 161
associated to the nature of the One,
which church these men violently attempt
to divide into many heresies. In sub
stance, in sentiment, in origin, in excel
lence, Ave say that the ancient and Ca
tholic Church is alone ; collecting through
one Lord into the unity of the one faith,
according to the peculiar covenants, or
rather to the one covenant at different
times, by the will of one God, all the
preordained whom God predestined, hav
ing knoAvn from the foundation of the
Avorld that they would be just. But the
excellence of the church, like the principle
of everything concrete, is in unity sur
passing all other things, and having no
thing similar or equal to itself."*
So speaks S. Cyprian : " God is one,
and Christ one, and the church one, and
* Clement Alex., Strom., 1. vi. 899.

1 62 The Office and Nature of
the chair one, founded by the Lord's
word upon a rock. Another altar, or a
new priesthood, besides the one altar and
the one priesthood, cannot be set up.
Whosoever gathereth elsewhere scattereth.
It is adulterous, it is impious, it is sacrile
gious, whatsoever by human frenzy is in
stituted so as to violate a divine arrange
ment."* S. Gregory of Nyssa, among many
others, unfolds the doctrine of the unity
of the body in itself, and with Christ its
head. " The whole church is the one
body of Christ, though in this one body,
as the apostle observes, there are many
members, but all the members have not
the same office. Whoso has learned that
Christ is the head of the church, let him
before all things bear this in mind, that
* 5. Cyprian, Ep. xl.,ad plebem.

the Christian Church. 163
the head is even of the same nature and
substance as the body beneath it, and that
there is a certain coherence of each of
the limbs Avith the Avhole. Whence, if
any part be out of the body, it is utterly
disconnected with the head."*
But reason demonstrates the necessity
of unity as an invariable mark of the
true church. No human organization can
exist or accomplish any purpose without
visible oneness and a principle of coher
ence. Who ever heard of a society, estab
lished either for gain or for the good of
man, in Avhich this principle was not re
cognized ? It were to insult our intelli
gence to tell us that God the Word,
alone of all founders of religious sys
tems, took no care for the unity of the
* S. Gregory Nyssa, Horn, in Cantic, art, De Perfect.
Chris.

164 The Office and Nature of
body which he placed on earth with
great and wonderful powers to represent
him. A church, in the proper sense of
the term, without visible unity is an ab
surdity, a contradiction in terms. It pre
tends to represent the Redeemer, and at
the same moment to represent nothing ;
for it is not accessible, it cannot teach,
and is, in fact, the greatest obstacle in
the way of man's knowing the truth, or
coming to his Saviour.
Who can find an invisible church,
whose peculiarity is that it cannot be
seen ? If there are many bodies teach
ing different doctrines, who shall decide
where the right belief is, when, accord
ing to the supposition, they are all right,
and at the same time all wrong ? If
they all teach, then there is no creed to
be found, for they contradict each other,

the Christian Church. 165
and leave no residuum of faith. It is
evident to any one that there cannot be
two true religions, any more than there
can be two true Gods. It being the
principal object of the church to teach,
it is likeAvise evident that there cannot
be two churches. The redemption is for
all mankind, and therefore the means to
present and apply it must be clearly
before the world, as "a city set on a
hill." If the founder of Christianity had
then purposed the disunion and division
which are the consequence of Protestant
ism, he had better never left his heavenly
throne ; for all the work of Calvary is in
vain. Men are not so well off for light
as under the Jewish system, where pro
phets spake as they were divinely moved,
and the golden mercy-seat gave back its
certain response. We are better with no

1 66 The Office and Nature of
church whatever, than with many churches,
if really Christ has anything to do with
the shattered fragments of so-called Chris
tian bodies, that are crumbling in pieces
every day. And the real truth is, that
the leaders of Protestant associations do
not believe in any church ; for with them,
the organization to which they hold has
no authority, and they never dream that
it enters as an integral part into the plans
of redemption. It remains to be seen
how they can reconcile their notions with
the strong language of Holy Scripture,
or with the facts of sacred or profane
history. According to our view, and it
seems to us according to common sense,
the church is everything or nothing. If
it be everything, then there can be but
one church ; if it is nothing, it ought to
be banished altogether from the minds

the Christian Church. 167
of men, and with it will go all positive
dogma, and every pretence of a creed.
2. We speak of infallibility as the se
cond mark of the true church, for the
Scriptures give it to the society founded
by Christ ; the facts of Christianity prove
it ; and reason demonstrates that there
can be no church, properly so called,
Avithout it.
The commission of the priesthood is to
teach the doctrines revealed by our Lord.
" Going ye therefore teach all nations, bap
tizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
And behold I am with you all days, even
to the consummation of the world."* Our
Lord could not be with the apostles all
days, except by being with their succes-
* S. Matt, xxviii. 18-20.

1 68 The Office and Nature of
sors ; nor could they individually teach all
nations. And if he is with them, then
their teaching is necessarily infallible.
The promise of the Holy Ghost is for
the very purpose of guiding the church,
and keeping it in the truth. " When he
the Spirit of truth is come, he will teach
you all truth."* "I will ask the Father,
and he shall give you another Paraclete,
that he may abide with you for ever, the
Spirit of truth whom the world cannot re
ceive because it seeth him not nor know-
eth him."!
In consequence of the presence of the
Spirit, for the very end of the church's
organization, S. Paul and S. John directly
assert the infallibility of which we speak.
Thus, S. Paul writes to S. Timothy, giv
ing him explicit instructions, and declar-
* S. John xvi. 13. f S. John xiv. 16-18.

the Christian Church. 169
ing " the church of the living God to be
the pillar and ground of the truth."* It
Avould be difficult to find plainer words
than these, and if they do not satisfy the
doubtful mind, we despair of any lan
guage that will carry conviction. If the
church is the pillar of truth, its teaching
must be certain and unerring.
But S. John, speaking of false prophets
and erroneous doctrines, says : " Dearly
beloved, believe not every spirit, but try
the spirits if they be of God, because
many false prophets are gone out into
the Avorld." The rule by which they are
to be tried is the voice of the church.
" We are of God. He that knoweth God
heareth us. He that is not of God, hear
eth not us. By this we knoAV the spirit
of truth, and the spirit of error."!
* 1 E. S. Tim. iii. 15. \ 1 E. S. John iv. 1-6.

170 The Office and Nature of
There can be little doubt in any
honest and unprejudiced mind that the
Scriptures teach the infallibility of the
church which was established by Jesus
Christ, for the very purpose of making
known the true faith to mankind.
The facts of history only add to the
light of the evangelical record. The great
characteristic of the ecclesiastical teach
ing is the positive assertion of its truth.
This is the one point assumed, and to
be conceded before all others. No one
doubts that the Catholic Church, Avhich
historically is traced back to Christ, has
always claimed infallibility for its creed.
S. Irensus gives a clear expression to
the apostolic doctrine : " The pathway of
those who are in the church encircles the
whole universe, for it has a firm tradition
from the apostles, and gives us to see

the Christian Church. 171
that the faith of all is one and the same.
And indeed the public teaching of the
church, in which one and the same way
of salvation is shoAvn throughout the
whole Avorld, is true and firm. For to
this Avas entrusted the light of God, and
on this account is the Avisdom of God,
through Avhich he saves all men, pro
claimed in the gates. On the tops of
Avails is she announced, and in the gates
of the city she speaketh unceasingly.
For everyAvhere the church preaches the
truth, and this is the lamp with seven
branches, bearing the light of Christ."*
In accordance with this are the well-
known words of S. Augustin : "I, for my
part, Avould not belieAre the Gospel, un
less the authority of the Catholic Church
moved me to it." •
* S. Irenceus, adv. Hoeres., 1. v.

1 72 The Office and Nature of
We need not dwell long on the argu
ment from reason, because it is almost
self-evident. The principal object of the
foundation of the church is to teach the
doctrines of revelation. Now, if the
church can teach error, she ceases to be
the representative of the Incarnate Word,
and becomes his worst enemy. She stands
before the Avorld as his agent, and at the
same time she is under the dominion of
the spirit of evil. She is at the same
time the church of Christ, and no church
whatever. Will any one say that the
church of God can teach falsehood ?
Does the society that preaches error be
long to God in any sense ? Is it a pos
sible thing to conceive that a divine
teacher could establish a communion and
a ministry, for the purpose of spreading
his doctrines, and then allow that com-

the Christian Church. i J2>
munion to forget his Avord, and under
his authority teach error ? If Christ has
any church at all, it must be infallible.
The moment it ceases to be so, it ceases
to be Christ's church. And let the Avise
man tell us Avhat kind of a teacher in
things of faith is a fallible teacher ? Who
cares to listen to teaching that may be
true or may be false ? We know as a
matter of fact that our Lord promised
that the Holy Ghost should guide into
all truth the sacred company which he
sent forth to teach all nations, and that
the gates of hell should never prevail
against his church. What becomes of
him and his veracity if these promises
fail ? He had better have led his people
to a Red Sea, and have allowed them
to be engulfed, like Pharaoh's host, in its
waves, without a trace remaining of them,

174 The Office and Nature of
than to have permitted a church descend
ing from him, and bearing his name, to
abide on earth in the seat of power to
spread false doctrine, and corrupt the
truth once delivered to the saints. Christ
being God, and his words being almighty,
such a contingency as the latter is plainly
impossible. 3. Another characteristic of the church
of the Scriptures is sanctity. The end of
redemption is to make man holy, and
restore him to the innocence of his first
estate. The church, therefore, which ap
plies to the individual the graces of sal
vation, leads him after the steps of his
Master to that " holiness Avithout which
no man shall see the Lord."
" Christ also loved the church and de
livered himself up for it, that he mio-ht

the Christian Church. 1 75
sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of
Avater in the Avord of life, that he might
present it to himself a glorious church,
not having spot or Avrinkle, or any such
thing, but that it should be holy and
Avithout blemish."*
" You are a chosen generation, a king
ly priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased
people ; that you may declare his virtues,
Avho hath called you out of darkness into
his marvellous light."!
Says S. Augustin : "A Christian ought
to fear nothing so much as to be sepa
rated from the body of Christ, the church.
For if he be separated from the body of
Christ, he is not a member of Christ; if
not a member of Christ, he is not quick
ened by his Spirit."J
* Ephes. v. 25-27. f I E. S. Peter ii. 9.
X S. Augustin, Tract, xxvii., in Joan.

176 The Office and Nature of
S. Peter Chrysologus explains the arti
cle of the Creed, / believe in the holy
Catholic Church, as follows : " Neither
the members are separated from the head,
nor is the bride separated from the bride
groom. He therefore believes in God
who confesses in God, a holy church, a
church which Christ so took unto him
self, as to make it a partaker of his own
divinity." By the holiness of the Christian church
we intend to signify that her doctrines
lead to sanctity, and that they who fol
low her precepts necessarily grow in di
vine virtue. It is self-evident that the
God of infinite holiness could neither
found nor recognize a society of which
this could not be said. If there be one
church Avhich has received authority to
teach all nations, an authority which, ac-

the Christian Church. 177
cording to his promises, is to continue
all days unto the consummation of the
world, it is manifest that the teaching- of
that church must tend to sanctify the be
lieving and obedient. The knowledge of
the truth leads directly to the purification
of the heart and the understanding, while
the graces communicated, as we have seen,
in and through the church, impart a su
pernatural poAver to rise above nature, and
assimilate man to the divine purity. We
only add that it Avould be expected of the
Christian body brought into such close
connection with the " Word made flesh,"
that it should lead its members to a
higher morality than any ever before
known, to more exalted self-denial, and
to an imitation of the great example of
its founder. It could hardly be that the
Son of God should become man and live

178 The Office and Nature of
on earth, without leaving here in the wil
derness of human passion traces of his
presence, and proofs that one mightier
than the sons of men had been among
us to neAv- create the soul, and touch it
with a living fire.
4. The church which Jesus Christ
founded was, fourthly, intended for the
whole race, and for all ages, and is
therefore catholic in its very nature.
" This gospel of the kingdom," said
our Lord, " shall be preached in the
whole world, for a testimony to all na
tions, and then shall the consummation
come."* "Go ye into the Avorld and
preach the gospel to every creature."
" When they believed not," says S.
Irenseus, "last of all he sent his Son,
* S. Matt. xxiv. 14.

the Christian Church. 1 79
whom Avhen the Avicked husbandmen had
slain, they cast him out of the vineyard.
Wherefore did the Lord God deliver it,
noAv no longer fenced in, but opened
unto the AA'hole Avorld, to other husband
men, Avho give in the fruits in their
seasons ; the tower of election being
eA'erywhere exalted and beautiful. For
eA-erywhere is the church distinctly visi
ble, and everywhere there is a wine-press
dug, for eA^eryAvhere are those Avho receive
the Spirit."*
We quote also from Eusebius, the his
torian : " The false accusations invented
by our pagan enemies quickly disappear
ed, self-refuted, while fresh sects sprang
up aneAv upon sects, the first always
passing away, and corrupted, in a A'ariety
of ways, into other views of many modes
* S. Irenceus, adv. Hceres., 1. iv.

180 The Office and Nature of
and forms. But the splendor and solem
nity, and sincerity and liberty of the
Catholic and one true church, a church
always holding uniformly to the same
thing, still went on increasing and mag
nifying. ... In place of that great
and proud city that has been destroyed,
he [Isaias] prophesies that another city
was to be built unto God, the Catholic
Church reaching from one end of the
earth to the other."*
The early Christian writers also dwell
upon the distinction between the old and
new law in this respect, while the idea
of the absolute unity of the church is
everywhere recognized. The Jewish sys
tem embraced one church, divine, and,
in its sphere, infallible. But its benefits
were confined to one nation, while the
* Eusebius, H. Eccles., 1. iv.

the Christian Church.

181

law of grace and truth through Christ,
opened to all tribes and tongues the
communion to Avhich daily were added
" such as should be saved." S. Paul, in
his Epistles, enlarges upon this mercy of
the neAv dispensation : " You were once,"
says he to the Ephesians, " without Christ,
being aliens from the conversation of Is
rael, and strangers to the testament, hav
ing no hope of the promise, and without
God in the Avorld. But now in Christ
j  >, you Avho Avere some time afar off,
are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Now you are no more strangers and fo
reigners, but built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets."* " Other
sheep I have," said our Lord, " that
are not of this fold. Them also must I
bring, and they shall hear my voice, and
* Ephes. ii. 12, 19.

1 82 The Office and Nattire of
there shall be one fold and one shep
herd."* There can hc^dly be a doubt in any
reasonable mind t. <-. whatever the founder
\
of Christianity did v. s done for all time
and for the whole race. If he established
a church at all, he must have done so for
the Avhole world, and, to use his own lan
guage, for " all days even unto the end
of time." Any other course would have
been strangely inconsistent with the dig
nity of his office, and the love which
caused him to die for his brethren. We
have also seen the great and salutary
powers which he gave to the church
which he instituted, and to the priest
hood which he sent. We knoAV of no
other body to which such powers were
given, and, therefore, if his church were
* S. John x. 16.

the Christian Church. 183
not catholic as to time and place, it Avould
be ineffectual for its end, and an unfit in
strument of his designs. To suppose that
he provided for one age, and not for an
other, is an absurdit)-. To say that he
provided for only one nation, or that he
has different and clashing instrumentalities
in different nations, is to assail his wis
dom, Avhile, at the same time, it is an
assertion supported by no fact.
5. We shall only dAvell a moment upon
the apostolicity of the church, because any
church established by our Lord must ne
cessarily descend from his apostles, who
were confessedly the first ministers. " As
the Father hath sent me, even so I send
you,"* were the words by which they re
ceived their commission ; and hence any
* S. John xx. 21-23.

184 The Office and Nature of
body which cannot historically trace itself
to them as its founders, cannot be the
church of Avhich the Scriptures speak.
Tertullian, an early Christian writer, thus
sums up the Avhole subject : " Christ Jesus
our Lord did himself while he lived in
the world declare what he was, what he
had been, of what will of the Father he
was the minister ; what he determined
should be done by man ; either openly
to the people or apart to his disciples, out
of whom he had chosen to be attached
to his person twelve principal ones, the
destined teachers of the nations. Where
fore one of them being struck off, he,
when departing to the Father after his
resurrection, commanded the other eleven
to go and teach the nations Avho were to
be baptized into the Father, and into the
Son, and into the Holy Ghost. Immedi-

the Christian Church. 185
ately, therefore, the apostles having chosen
by lot a tAvelfth, Matthias, into the room
of Judas, on the authority of a prophecy
which is in a psalm of David, having ob
tained the promised pOAver of the Holy
Ghost for miracles and utterance, first
haA-ing through Judea borne witness to
the faith in Christ Jesus, and established
churches, next Avent forth into the world,
and promulgated the same doctrine of the
same faith to the nations, and forthwith
founded churches in every city, from which
the other churches borrowed the tradition
of the faith, and the seeds of doctrine,
and are daily borrowing them, that they
may become churches ; and for this cause
they are themselves also accounted apos
tolical, as being the offspring of aposto
lical churches. The Avhole kind must
needs be classed .under their original.

1 86 The Office and Nature of
Wherefore these churches, so many and
so great, are but that one primitive church
from the apostles whence they all sprang.
Thus all are primitive, and all apostoli
cal, while all being one prove unity. On
this principle therefore we shape our rule
of prescription ; that if the Lord Jesus
Christ sent the apostles to preach, no
others are to be received as preachers
than those whom Christ appointed, for
no one knoweth the Father save the
Son, and he to Avhom the Son hath re
vealed him (Matt, xi.) ; neither does the
Son seem to have revealed him to any
other than the apostles."
6. The last characteristic of the Chris
tian church which we shall here notice is
its indef edibility. He who founded it and
gave it its part in the economy of redemp-

the Christian Church. 187
tion distinctly declared that it should con
tinue as he formed it to the end of time,
and in all its essential qualities of faith
and government. " Behold I am with
you all days eAren to the consummation
of the Avorld."* "Thou art Peter, and
upon this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it."! Such Avere the words of
him Avho said, " Heaven and earth shall
pass aAvay, but my Avords shall not pass
aAvay." There can be no explanation of
these words Avhich does not imply the
perpetuity of the church in such a man
ner that the character and veracity of
Christ are involved in it. We must be
able at all times to find the company of
believers which he organized, or, finding
the failure of his promises, we must lose
* S. Matt, xxviii. 20. f s- Matt- xvi- l8-

1 88 The Office and Nature of
our confidence in him. We not only are
without a teacher, or an instrumentality
to apply to our souls the gifts of the
cross, but we find that the great author
of Christianity has broken his word and
is no longer reliable. The gates of hell
have prevailed to corrupt, divide, and de
stroy the church for whose unfailing life
he pledged his almighty power.
To this effect are the expressions of S.
Chrysostom : " God's words are creative
of deeds, of deeds wonderful and strange.
For as he said, ' Let the earth bring forth
the green herb,' and all was at once a
paradise ; so also now he said, ' I will
build my church,' and it is done with all
ease ; and though tyrants armed against
it, and soldiers brandished their weapons,
he saved the Avord of the gospel, for they
had fighting for them, and aiding them,

the Christian Church. 189
the irresistible poAver of him Avho said,
' Upon this rock will I build mjr church,
and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it.' Noav, reckon up hoAv many
princes haA'e since that time set them
selves against it, hoAv many have raised
the most grievous persecutions ; consider
in Avhat state the faith has been in all
preceding ages, when but newly planted,
Avhile the minds of men were more ten
der; and yet all these snares and assaults
Avere scattered more easily than a spider's
Aveb, Avere dissolved more quickly than
smoke, and passed aAvay more rapidly
than dust. Seest thou the force of the
prophecy, ' and the gates of hell shall
not prevail against it?' From these have
faith as regards the future, and that no
one will prevail against it. For if when
it consisted of a few persons, Avhen it

190 The Office and Nature of
seemed to be a mere matter of novelty,
when the doctrine Avas fresh planted, Avhen
such were the conflicts, and so dread the
strifes enkindled on every side, they pre
vailed not, they overcame not ; much
more now that it has taken possession
of the whole world. Yea, sooner shall
heaven and earth pass away than any
word of his prove false. Where are
those that warred against the church ?
They are unnamed, they are buried in
oblivion. But Avhere is the church ? She
shines brighter than the sun. They are
quenched ; she is immortal."
It seems to us that here no argument
is needed. If the Lord of life established
an instrumentality for the purpose of ex
tending and making effectual his gospel,
that instrumentality must partake of his
vitality and persevere to the end, until

the Christian Church. 191
all men shall hear the joyful sound, and
knoAV Avhere gushes the fountain of sal
vation, of Avhose Avaters all may freely
partake. No Avork of the God-man is
temporary. His every act proceeds from
the stability of the Godhead, with whom
resides infinite pOAver, Avith whom there is
no A^ariableness nor shadoAv of turning.
Hear, then, he that hath ears to hear.
There is a "voice of one crying in the
Avilderness, prepare ye the way of the
Lord, make straight in the wilderness
the paths of our God. Every valley shall
be exalted, and every hill and mountain
made low, and the crooked shall become
straight, and the rough ways plain. And
the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see together that the
mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. Get
thee up upon a high mountain, thou that

192 The Christian Church.
bringest good tidings to Sion. Lift up
thy voice with strength, thou that bring
est good tidings to Jerusalem, lift it up,
and fear not. Say to the cities of Juda,
Behold your God."*
* Isaias xl. 3-9.

Lecture IV.

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH THE CHURCH OF
CHRIST.
" We are of God. He that knoweth God heareth us.
He that is not of God heareth not us. By this we know
the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error." — I E. S. John iv. 6

HE preceding lectures of our brief
course have been only the enun
ciation of principles in the abstract, and
the establishment of premises. Having
gained a clear idea of the end of re
demption, and the means by which our
divine Saviour proposed to make it avail
able to all mankind, we are prepared to
accept with thankfulness his great salva
tion. Reason asks that the instrumenta-

194 The Catholic Church
lity employed shall be no less clear and
accessible than the urgency of the case
and the circumstances of the redeemed
demand. A light hidden in a bushel
shines in vain. He who ascended the
height of Calvary and died that man
might live, could never hide the beams
of his grace or teach man by uncertain
sounds. We have seen what the Scrip
tures declare concerning his nature and
office. We have seen how the church
enters into the plan of redemption, and
forms an integral part of the economy of
salvation. We are, therefore, ready to
enter upon the subject of this evening's
consideration with greater light and fuller
impartiality. The Catholic Church is the
church established by Jesus Christ, and
employed by him as the instrumentality
to make known, apply, and render per-

the Church of Christ. 195
petual his gospel. To it belongeth "the
adoption as of children, and the glory,
and the testament, and the service of
God, and the promises."
We propose to establish this truth by
a plain and unansAverable argument, and
to draAV the conclusions which flow from
the premises proved in our former lec
tures. We shall endeavor to show that
it alone answers the conditions of the
church spoken of in the sacred writings.
If a body be found which in no respect,
or only in a feAV respects, complies with
these essential conditions, manifestly it
cannot be the work of our divine Re
deemer. If all the characteristics of the
Scriptural church are found in the Ca
tholic Church, then surely the acceptance
of our demonstration by every honest
mind is inevitable. The conditions

196 The Catholic CJiiirch
of which we shall speak are as fol
lows :
I. The true church must be instituted
by Jesus Christ.
II. It must fulfil the offices of a church.
III. It must bear the peculiar marks of
the church.
IV. It must have manifest proof of the
divine presence.
Let us humbly implore the assistance of
the all-illuminating Spirit, that our words
may persuade the erring and carry convic
tion to any minds that may be in doubt,
or seeking sincerely the knowledge of the
truth. With these fervent prayers, let us
proceed to apply the above conditions, al
ready explained, to the Catholic Church.

the Church of Christ. 197

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WAS INSTITUTED BY JESUS
CHRIST.
The Scriptures record the fact of the
institution of the church in terms quite
plain ; the church of Avhich they speak is
the Catholic Church ; and there is no
other body which can claim sufficient an
tiquity to rival her just pretensions.
1. That the Catholic Church is the one
of which the sacred writers speak is easily
shown, from the peculiarities of its con
stitution, which exist in no other body.
We do not wish here to anticipate what
we propose to say under the other heads
of this lecture, but we shall allude to cer
tain striking facts which no just judg
ment can overlook. There is only one

198 The Catholic Church
organization spoken of in Holy Scripture.
Existing in various lands, it was found
under one government, and in the profes
sion of one doctrine. It was subordinated
to the apostles, and, as S. Cyprian tells
us, placed under one head, that its unity
might be preserved. Our Lord said to
Peter, " Thou art the rock, and on this
rock I will build my church." The least
deduction to be made from these Avords
is, that S. Peter and his successors are
the visible head of the church ; for every
body must have a head, and can have
only one head. Moreover, the lambs and
sheep of Christ Avere all placed under the
care of S. Peter, after the resurrection,
in the remarkable words : " Lovest thou
me, more than these, the other apostles ?
Feed my lambs. Feed my sheep." Were
it not for the unhappy divisions of these

the Church of Christ. 199
later years, Ave do not believe that any
one could hesitate as to the meaning of
such Avords. If they do not mean what
their literal signification implies, we are
driven to the conclusion that the founder
of . Christianity has intentionally deceived
us, rg>r he Avell knew in what sense his
langnoge Avould be taken. The Scriptural
church, then, is the one which S. Peter
and his successors govern, which is bound
in inseparable unity to him, upon whom
Christ said he would build his church.
We Avell know, therefore, where this
church is to be found, and need not
delay to notice other characteristics. If
any words of our Lord are to be re
ceived, surely these are ; and if his autho
rity is not good here, it is of no avail
anyAvhere. We use the words of S. Op-
tatus of Milevis, because they more clearly

200 The Catholic Church
express the truth upon which we would-l
insist, and also because they give th^e
additional weight of historical testimonfy.
Writing in the fourth century, he sav^s :
" In the city of Rome, on Peter the fi^rst
was the episcopal chair conferred, wherein
might sit, of all the apostles, the /aiea(^'
Peter ; whence also he was calle/on Ce
phas, that in one chair unity might ih^
preserved by all, nor the other apostles
each contend for a distinct chair for him-..
self; and that whoso should set up an
other chair against the single chair might
at once be a schismatic and a sinner.
Peter therefore first filled that individual
chair, which is the first of the marks of
the church ; to him succeeded Linus, to
Linus succeeded Clement." Then giving
the whole succession to his time, he adds :
" To Damasus succeeded Siricius, who is

the Church of Christ. 201
now our colleague, Avith Avhom the whole
world, by the mutual exchange of circular
letters, is concordant Avith us in one fel-
loAvship of communion."*
2. But no body having any appearance
oi organization as the Christian church is
old enough to pretend to derive its exis
tence from the hands of Christ, with the
one exception of the Roman Catholic Com
munion. Where shall we look to find a
competitor to that ancient church, whose
succession through the apostles to the
founder of our religion is unquestioned ?
Shall we seek the bodies holding more
or less of Christianity which came into
existence at the Protestant Reformation ?
Many of them have not survived the
changes of three centuries. Not one of
* S. Optatus, of Milevis, De Schism. Donat., 1. ii., n. 2-4.

202 The Catholic ChurcJt
them has preserved its internal and ex
ternal identity. All of them owe their
birth to individual men, who have long
ago run their brief day.
Shall we light the decaying candlesticks
of the East, and seek in its divisions for
the church which Jesus Christ founded
upon Peter ? We can give the day and
date when true branches of the one vine
fell off from the parent trunk. Shall it
be said to us that he whose word created
all things, whose arm is almighty, allowed
his church to be divided, or to fall into
ignorance of the saving truth ? This were
to break the word of him who is the
wisdom of the eternal Father. " Heaven
and earth shall pass away; his Avord shall
never fail." Where division exists there is
not unity ; Avhere unity is not, the church
of Christ cannot be found. The church

the Church of Christ. 203
that in faith can err, never was the bride
of the Lamb, nor ever touched the rock
against Avhich the gates of hell have
raged in vain. Theories are for specula
tors. Facts are for the sincere and true.
Protestants generally, while they declare
that the visible church has no essential
connection with the way of salvation, are
too honest to profess that their peculiar
organization is the one body of Christ of
which the evangelists speak such glow
ing words. The most inconsistent of all
religionists are those who owe their birth
to the convulsions of the sixteenth cen
tury, and at the same time insist that
they are primitive Christians, thus carry
ing their private judgment into the do
main of history as well as of theology.
To such we offer the words of S. Boni
face, bishop of Rome a.d. 418: "The in-

204 The Catholic Church
stitution of the universal church took its
beginning from the honor bestowed on
blessed Peter, in whom its government
and headship reside. For from him as
its source did ecclesiastical discipline flow
over all the churches, when the culture
of religion had begun to make progress.
The precepts of the Synod of Nicaea
bear no other testimony ; insomuch that
the synod did not attempt to make any
regulations in his regard, as it saw that
nothing could be conferred that was supe
rior to his own dignity : it knew, in fine,
that everything had been bestoAved on
him by the word of the Lord. It is
therefore certain that this church is to
the churches spread over the whole Avorld
as the head to its own members ; from
which church whoso has cut himself off
becomes an alien from the Christian reli-

the Church of Christ. 205
gion."* The Catholic Church, in union
with the see of S. Peter, alone answers
these plain characteristics of the Scripture,
which are thus explained by history and
the early Christian writers. A church
Avhich has no connection with that see
cannot be the communion founded by our
blessed Lord.
Another point of great importance is
the very name " Catholic," by which the
body of Christ has been designated from
the earliest ages. We have already
heard the words of S. Pacian : " Chris
tian is my name, Catholic is my sur
name." Let us now listen to S. Cyril of
Jerusalem : " But since the name church
is used of various things, and one might
properly and truly say that there is a
church of evil-doers — I mean the meet-
* S. Boniface, Ep. xiv. Thess.

206 The Catholic Church
ings of the heretics, of the Marcionites
and Manichees, and the rest — therefore
has the faith now delivered to thee, by
way of safeguard, the article, ' And into
one holy Catholic Church,' in order that
thou mayest flee their foul meetings, and
throughout continue to remain in the holy
Catholic Church, in which also thou Avast
regenerated. And if ever thou art so
journing in any city, enquire not simply
where the Lord's house is, for the sects
of the profane also attempt to call their
own dens houses of the Lord ; nor mere
ly where is the church, but where is the
Catholic Church. For this is the peculiar
name of the holy church and mother of
us all, which is indeed the spouse of our
Lord Jesus Christ."* These words ought
to be as true in our day as they were
* S. Cyril J., Catech. xviii. 22-28.

the Church of Christ. 207
when they Avere spoken, for truth is ever
the same, and there has been no change
of dispensations. It is also a remarkable
fact that many sects have tried to usurp
the name Catholic, but always without suc
cess. EA-en though they would brand the
name on the foreheads of their members,
it Avould be an idle ceremony, only likely
to excite the derision of the world. The
communion which has the name by right,
need make no efforts to defend or retain
it " The Christian religion is to be held
by us, and the communion of that church,"
says S. Augustin, " which is Catholic, and
is called Catholic, not only by its own
members, but also by its adversaries.
For in spite of themselves, even the very
heretics and disciples of schisms, when
speaking not with their fellows, but with
strangers, call the Catholic Church no-

208 The Catholic Church
thing else but the Catholic Church. For
they cannot be understood unless they
distinguish her by that name, by which
she is designated by the whole world."*
The appellation Roman is also a proof
of. catholicity and of union with the true
Communion of Christ. For it signifies
the membership with the head, and sub
ordination to him whom Christ in the
gospel made his chief Pastor. It denotes,
therefore, the unity and apostolicity of
the body to Avhich it is applied ; and any
sect rejecting the fellowship of the Roman
Church is thereby proved to be unscrip-
tural and heretical.
" He [the well-instructed believer]," says
S. Ambrose, " called the bishop to him,
and, not accounting any grace true, which
was not of the true faith, he enquired of
* S. Augustin, De Vera Relig., t. i., n. 12.

the Church of Christ. 209
him whether he agreed Avith the Catholic
bishops, that is, Avith the Roman Church."*
So Avrites S. Jerome to the bishop of
Rome : " FolloAving no chief but Christ, I
am joined in communion with your holi
ness, that is, Avith the chair of Peter. Upon
that rock I knoAv that the church is built.
Whoever eats the lamb out of this house
is profane. If any one be not in the ark
of Noah, he will perish Avhile the deluge
prevails. Whosoever gathereth not with
thee, scattereth."!
We conclude, then, that the commu
nion Avhich bears the title of the Catholic
Church was instituted by our Lord Jesus
Christ, and has descended from him. This
fact will be made more manifest in the
following divisions of this lecture, as we
* S. Ambrose, De Excessu Fratris, t. ii., 1. i.
f S. Jerome, Ep. xv., ad Damas.

210 The Catholic Church
draAv out one by one the traits of like
ness between it and the Scriptural society
of believers. One thing is quite evident :
if our Lord did not found the Catholic
Church, he did not found any. We can
not admit the latter conclusion, without
doing violence to all history and the very
text of the gospels. We must therefore
admit the simple truth, and recognize a
fact which has more evidence in its favor
than any of the well established events
which no man in his sober senses would
dare deny. n.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ALONE FULFILS THE OFFICES
OF THE SCRIPTURAL CHURCH.
i. The Catholic Church is a teacher of
revealed truth, and in such a manner that
she alone on earth fulfils that office.
We need not here delay very long to

the Church of Christ. 211
prove the first part of our assertion. No
one can deny that the Catholic Church
claims to teach positively and by direct
authority from God. All her statements
of doctrine are concise and plain. Her
creed is simple and easy of understand
ing. In her fold the lines of truth and
error are clearly drawn. She states to
us precisely what God has revealed, and
there is no ambiguity as to the terms of
salvation. No one of her children can be
in doubt as to the gospel Avhich Christ
delivered to her, and if he fail to appre
ciate and obey her, it is through the pre
varication of his OAvn will. There is a
world-Avide difference between opinion and
faith. One depends upon the true or false
operations of reason, while the other rests
upon the voice of God, which cannot err.
A teacher of truth above the powers of

212 The Catholic Church
nature must be divine, illumined by the
great centre and source of light, and up
held in the exercise of his salutary office
by an authority which cannot err. Who
can teach except under these conditions ?
Even in matters of abstract science we
demand certainty, and make the manifest
distinction between that which we know,
and that Avhich we only conjecture. How
much more in the things of revelation do
we ask for an unerring voice ! The Catho
lic Church claims consistently, therefore,
this infallibility ; and as the truth Avhich
she delivers is necessary for all mankind,
seeks to propagate it with zeal and autho
rity. Thus she answers the conditions ol
the Scriptural church in " teaching all na
tions," in delivering a distinct message to
mankind, and in representing the one and
only Saviour of the Avorld.

the Church of Christ. 213
Beside her Ave do not know ol any one,
or any body of men, which pretends to
teach Avith authority from on high. With
out exception, every Protestant organiza
tion asserts its own fallibility, and conse
quent inability to dogmatize. There is no
creed, among Protestants, which is sup
posed to be a necessary condition to par
ticipation in the graces of redemption.
Each one believes that which in his own
judgment is credible ; and the ground of
his faith is the intrinsic credibility of the
thing believed, and in no case the autho
rity of the church to which he belongs.
If the Scriptures even are accepted, they
are received on the strength of individual
judgment, and never because any parti
cular communion has declared them to
be inspired. This is more than evident
from the very nature of the societies

214 The Catholic Church
which have been engendered of the Re
formation. They began by denying the
infallibility of the Catholic Church, from
which they separated themselves, and
hence could with no show of reason
claim a prerogative which they assailed
as belonging to no one. So far, then,
they are consistent, and, while they make
no pretensions to teach, are unwilling to
claim that the doctrines they hold are
essential to salvation. The"y are capable
of teaching nothing, because they are un
able to assert either their own authority,
or the necessity of any particular creed.
We are inclined to think that very few
Protestants will object to our conclusions,
or take our representations as unfair. The
Episcopal Church most positively declares
her own fallibility, at the same time that
she denies the authority of any commu-

the Church of Christ. 215
nion that ever existed. And her forward
children, Avho Avould vindicate for their
mother rights Avhich she disowns and will
not have, are placed in a sad dilemma.
The}- must hear her voice or disregard it.
If they hear it, then they must reject the
infallibility of the church, and so be found
without a teacher. If they disregard it,
then surely for them there is no body
Avhich exercises the Scriptural office of
defining and defending revealed truth. If
Protestants appeal to the Eastern churches
as to any authority in matters of faith,
they condemn their own doctrines and ut
terly destroy their OAvn position. The
Eastern churches being the judge, Pro
testantism is laid low ; while the moment
that the individual Protestant seeks for an
infallible guide, he commits ecclesiastical
suicide. With the separated bodies of

216 The Catholic Church
the East which have retained their apos
tolic descent, the Catholic has an unan
swerable argument when he sIioavs their
loss of unity and other essential marks
of the true spouse of Jesus Christ. Com
munities Avhich depend for life on the re
jection of the ecclesiastical principle can
never point to them for a helper in logical
difficulties. We have then but asserted
a self-evident fact when we have repre
sented the Catholic Church as the only
teacher of divine revelation upon earth,
the only body which claims to possess
his authority, or to speak in his almighty
name. 2. The second great need of man is
grace to follow the light Avhich beams
upon him from Calvary, and to return to
the feet of his offended Father, not as an

the Church of Christ. 217
outcast, but as a child. Here fully the
Church Catholic fulfils the instrumentality
of Avhich the gospels tell us ; here she
alone ministers to the Avants of the soul.
The sacrament of baptism is placed pre
cisely Avhere our Lord placed it, at the
very door of the kingdom of heaven.
Her words are only the repetition of the
evangelical precept : " He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved." " Except
a man be born of water and the Holy
Ghost, he cannot see the kingdom of
God." She goes forth as did the apos
tles in every land, " baptizing her con
verts in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." The
importance of this sacrament in her
scheme of salvation has never been equi
vocal. It has ever been, just what the
Scriptures make it,, the remission of ori-

218 Tlie Catholic Church
ginal sin, the regeneration of the soul,
the new birth into the Second Adam, by
Avhom alone the effects of the fall are
repaired. The great office of " showing
forth the Lord's death" has ever been
discharged by her priesthood, who stand
before the altar of Avhich S. Paul speaks,
and. give to the faithful the bread which
came from heaven, the body and blood
of the Son of God. She has never been
forgetful of the words of her founder :
" Except ye eat my flesh and drink my
blood you shall have no life in you."
Impressed with the august nature of her
powers, she leads in the way of Christ
from birth to death, meeting at every
turn and every temptation, the needs of
the human heart. By the sacrament of
Holy Order, she perpetuates her hier
archy, and makes undying the line of

the Church of Christ. 219
sacerdotal gifts, which reach, through the
hands of her priesthood, every thirsting
soul of man. The founder of society, she
ever reneAvs in the Christian family the
life Avhich sanctifies the social fabric, re
stores woman to her dignity, and man to
his rights. The sacrament of Matrimony
lies beneath the order of states and king
doms, and by grace from above purifies
the mysterious current of human life at
its spring. All things become new in
her creed ; not that to sense the doors of
heaven are yet opened, but that to faith
and hope and love, the new Jerusalem is
on earth, and the mighty power of Beth
lehem and Calvary is ever wrestling with
evil, chasing away the clouds of sin and
shame, and leading the just to his true
home. Here, at least, the words of the
gospel are realized in their simple truth,

220 The Catholic Church
and the blessed sayings of Jesus of Naza
reth do not turn out to be fables and
enigmas. A view of the religions which oppose
the Catholic Church presents a strange
contrast to this bright realization of the
good tidings of redemption. There is no
system of spiritual nurture, no fixed path
of salvation, no definite answer to the
wants of the soul. With varied theories of
man's depravity, Protestantism brings no
certain means of recovery. The sinner is
told to cast himself on Christ, but how,
and when, and where, he knows not.
Baptism, though generally given, is not
considered of any necessity, nor as giv
ing to the soul any new spiritual powers.
Practically speaking, there are no sacra
ments, but ceremonies or rites of more
or less impressiveness, which derive all

the Church of Christ. 221
their efficacy from the disposition of the
person frequenting them. Man is never
brought by such means in face of any
supernatural influence, or lifted above the
plane of fallen nature. And to aggra
vate all this misery, the votaries of Pro
testantism preach a total depravity and an
exterior justification, thus throwing man
doAvn beloAv the integrity of the natural
order, and then telling him of a redemp
tion which neither restores the rights of
nature, nor conveys to him the faculties
illumined by grace. Fallen as he is, he
is never to be holy by any real justice.
The flood of sanctifying mercy is all in
the bosom of the Redeemer ; it never
flows out to quicken and regenerate the
lost children of Adam. Could any one
read the glowing language of the pro
phets, or the more ecstatic revelations of

222 The Catholic Church
the New Law, and find in this sad and
barren waste the bride of the Lamb,
whose clothing is of wrought gold, the
Zion on the tops of the mountains, which
is to arise and shine for the recoArery of
all the nations ? If so, human language
is all in vain, and the Scriptures were
written for nought. We do not know
how beyond the pale of the Catholic
Church the great question, " What shall
I do to be saved ? " can be answered.
If answered at all, it is by a sound of
confusing and contradictory replies, which,
instead of relieving the anxiety of the
sinner's heart, throw more darkness upon
his path, and leave him in greater per
plexity. If there be any Protestant church
Avhich comes with authority to feed the
hungry soul with true spiritual food, to
touch it with supernatural gifts, to apply

the Church of Christ. 223
the graces of the redemption, we have
never seen its face nor heard its name.
IndiA'iduals are before us here only as
units in the ocean of human life. The
Scriptures tell us of a church which ga
thers into its bosom those who are to be
saved, of apostles who were sent out to
teach and baptize, and dispense the true
manna, the flesh of the Son of God.
We look for these, and look in vain,
aAvay from the portals of that city which,
built upon the rock of Peter, stands
surely amid the confusions of peoples and
the changes of time.
3. We have seen in a former lecture
how the church of the gospel gathers
together the differing tribes and tongues
of earth, and binds them in a real unity
of social concord. The wonderful fulfil-

224 The Catholic Church
ment of this office by the Catholic
Church is in itself miraculous, and an
unanswerable proof of her divine charac
ter. Human societies have been formed,
sometimes to perish in a day, sometimes
to vary with the fluctuations of time.
The strongest bonds of blood, or nation
al life, or interest, have never been able
to wear off the discordant edges of in
dividual minds, nor to blend in one,
agencies by nature antagonistic. The
church alone has formed in one mould
the ever-beating human heart, and made
of the Babel of earthly interests and as
pirations one soul and body. Take so
ciety upon its most perfect model; the
church surpasses all the longings of
philosophy, and goes far beyond what
enthusiasts had dreamed. She gives to
men one will, one hope, one aim, one

the Church of Christ. 225
faith, and one end. Whatever may be
said of her, by friend or foe, there is
nothing Avhich bears her resemblance.
Built upon the principles of nature in the
family and the social order, she has ap
plied the truths of revelation to actual
life. She partakes of the family and the
state, and has all the sacredness of both.
She is one body in all the reality of
that unity which the Creator's hand has
impressed upon the most wondrous of
his works. She is a building fitly framed
together, a flock with one shepherd and
one sheepfold, a kingdom whose govern
ment holds the weak and inspires the
strong. Man, essentially social, needs to
be governed in religious as well as in
civil society. And blended together in
the hierarchy of the church are the
sweetness and firmness of paternal power,

226 The Catholic Church
with the splendors of regal strength ;
while grace moves the individual to that
just worship of God which is perfect
freedom. Is there any other organization which
answers these ends ? Can thistles bring
forth figs ? Can order and unity spring
from the principles of discord ? In every
one of the Protestant bodies, under their
different names, the government comes
from the governed, and is of human ori
gin. If there be a few theoretical ob
jections to this, there is little diversity in
practice. The individual gives character
to the church to Avhich he belongs. The
church has no power to mould or trans
form him. And disintegration is there
fore the law of all such communions,
however high or holy may be their as
pirations. There can never be among

the Church of Christ. 227
them that oneness of life Avhich the In
carnate Son of God came to produce
on earth ; that groAvth from diversity into
a real unity, till Ave all come in faith and
knoAvledge " unto a perfect man, unto
the measure of the age of the fulness
of Christ." Argument is no longer need
ed Avhere facts abound on every side.
Has not Protestantism been evolving for
three hundred years new and strange va
rieties of religious discord, and is it not
ever throwing off from its bosom chil
dren Avho disown their parents' principles,
which dethrone laAv, order, and even rea
son ? Who can think that in such va
rious pastures the "good shepherd feeds
his one flock, or that he on whose fore
head is written "king of kings and Lord
of lords," rules, where there is no settled
dominion, no centre of loyalty and obedi-

228 The Catholic Church
ence ? If so, then more blessed than Ave,
were the eyes that saw the throne of
David, and the majestic temple of the
Old Law. hi.
The marks which distinguish the
church of which the gospels speak, have
already been considered at some length.
The conclusions which flow from them
will readily suggest themselves to the
honest mind. We shall here only dwell
for a moment upon four of them, which
apply eminently to the Catholic Church,
and to no other body whatever.
i. Unity is the first and most essen
tial mark. It is so necessary to the ver^y
being of a church that it is involved in
its very idea. The conception of a body

the Church of Christ. 229
to represent Christ, and discharge the
eA-angelical functions, which has no one
ness of principle exterior or interior, is in
terms an absurdity.
We find the Catholic Church the ex
ample and type of a unity so perfect
that the Avorld has never seen its like ;
and this alone is a proof of its divinity.
It is one in constitution, as the human
body, to which the Scripture likens it, is
one. It is firmly bound together, and to
one head. As the unity of the body
can never be impaired by disease or ac
cident, so the church can never lose its
oneness. If a member falleth off, it
ceaseth to be a part of the body,
and loseth its life. Separation from the
head is the destruction of the member
separated; it never destroys the unity of
die body. This is the actual fact with

230 The Catholic Church
the Catholic Church ; its own profession,
and that peculiarity which all the world
accords to her. She is a communion
whose features are easily recognized, ex
tending over the whole earth, yet no
where confounded with anything else ;
having fellowship with that one head
Avhich Jesus Christ established ; and resting
everywhere upon that one rock against
which time and change cannot prevail.
Her exterior oneness is only a sym
bol and sacrament of her interior unity
of faith. Throughout her vast domain
there is but one confession of the truth
revealed ; amid the thousand diversities of
the human intellect, and the jarrings of
opinion, one creed. The Catholic is every
where at home, for every altar of the
wide earth offers the same sacrifice, and
lifts on high the same confession. When

the Church of Christ. 231
no force of man can produce a unity like
this, let the upright mind at least be con-
A-inced that it is the proof of a super
natural intervention.
To say that such unity is impossible
among the various sects of Protestants, is
almost to repeat a truism. The very the
ory by which they exist destroys all hope
of union. They are not one body ; they
have not one head ; they confess not one
faith. They are antagonists one of the
other, and founded upon the false princi
ple of applying reason to the intrinsic
evidence of truth. To them reason is the
judgment of each individual man, and
hence oneness of conclusion is not attain
able. Churches which are aggregated
upon the voluntary principle are a pro
fession in themselves that the church has
no essential part to play in the redemp-

232 The Catholic Church
tion, that grace is the property of the
individual, without any mediation ecclesi
astical. Plans for unity have often been
formed by good and sincere men, only
to demonstrate their impracticability, and
to widen the breach between the religions
whose antagonism has thus been more
clearly shown. And while no church is of
any consequence in their scheme, they are
forced to practically admit that no faith is
necessary to salvation. For if there be
any essential doctrines, then they are a
condition of eternal life. But it is rare
to hear them say that any man will be
lost for what he does or does not be
lieve, and so there is no criterion to
settle the minimum of Christian faith
Avhich Avill pass the ordeal of death and
judgment. Besides, if any essential doc
trines are to be held, there is no way

the Church of Christ. 233
of finding out Avhat they are. The vari
ous churches neutralize each other, and
leave no residuum of dogma. If they
are all right, then there is no creed. If
they are all Avrong, then surely they are
not to be trusted. So interior unity is
as far from being possible among them
as is visible or exterior oneness. The
state of the Christian Avorld at this mo
ment is a sufficient demonstration of the
truth Avhich we set forth. Can any one
in his sober senses believe that such
is the Avork of one God and one Re
deemer ; or can he find the Scriptural
marks of the church which our Lord
built upon one rock, among the con
flicting sects of our day ? The first
and most essential mark being Avanting,
Ave need go no further, except for cu
mulative evidence. If Jesus Christ es-

234 The Catholic Church
tablished a church at all, he established
only one.
2. As the apostles were the first teach
ers and founders of Christianity — as the
priesthood commenced in them and de
scends by succession from them — the true
church must of necessity be apostolic.
Any body which has a more modern
origin cannot be the one Avhich our Lord
instituted. Noav, Ave believe there is no
one Avho denies the historical fact that
the Catholic Church is the lineal de
scendant of the apostles. The line of
succession of bishops from S. Peter, has
already been quoted from the early fa
thers, and history establishes this truth
beyond all contradiction. At first sight,
therefore, the Catholic Church is in pos
session ; and this alone is a mighty ar-

the Church of Christ. 235
gument in her favor. That she inherits
the apostolic doctrine is, according to
reason, only a consequence of her share
in the promises of the apostles. More
over, the apostolic church was, as we
haAre seen, firmly bound to S. Peter as
the head and leader, and this character
istic is an essential one in the Scriptures.
That body, therefore, which is separated
from the rock on which the Christian
edifice is built, is not apostolic, even
though in schism or heresy the succes
sion of bishops be preserved. This much
being said, we have no need to dwell
long on this point of our discourse. The
various religious societies of Protestants
are all of modern birth, the very oldest
having only attained the age of three
centuries, and in that time even, having
failed to preserve their moral identity.

236 The Catholic Church
They can make no pretence of being
apostolic. Some are the offspring of our
OAvn busy day, and the greater part have
no claim of any succession of ministry
from the early age. The Protestant
Episcopal communion is, perhaps, the
only one of the modern churches which
professes to have a line of pastors from
the apostles. And in her case, the judg
ment of all who are capable of forming
an opinion is against her. Every body
which has historically kept unbroken the
succession of bishops from Christ, has
calmly decided that her orders are no
thing worth. As for the Eastern sees
which have been separated from Catholic
unity, we have only to say that the
mere exterior line of succession will not
make them apostolic in the true sense.
The apostles were not complete without

the Church of Christ. 237
S. Peter ; neither are bishops possessed
of the pOAvers of the early day, who are
without the Pope. Christ did not make
his church as a mere shell to cover no
thing. The exterior is the sacrament of
the interior. If any of the many modern
organizations profess to hold apostolic doc
trine, they Avill find it hard to make good
their claim even to their OAvn minds. There
must be an external witness to establish
Avhat apostolic doctrine is ; and for them
Avhere is this witness ? The testimony of
the individual is good only for himself,
if even he can be satisfied Avith the de
ductions of his OAvn reason. The Scrip
tures are capable of many interpretations.
We have examined impartially their lite
ral sense, and from it have patiently
drawn our conclusions. But, at any rate,
we cannot be contradicted when Ave affirm

238 The Catholic Church

that all the reformed sects cannot be
possessed of the apostolic doctrine. For,
as we have already said, they do not
profess the same faith, and even in the
bosom of different communions there is
no oneness of belief. That there is some
truth among them no one Avould deny,
but it would need an infallible authority
to decide where it is, and to separate it
clearly from error. The great fact is
before us, that in the apostolic day there
was one church and one head, one Lord,
one faith, and one baptism, one body,
and one Spirit.
3. The catholicity of the one fold estab
lished by Christ is another character of
intrinsic and absolute necessity which is
possessed by the Catholic Church, and by
her alone. Her very name implies it; that

the Church of Christ. 239
name which, as S. Augustin says, others
have in vain endeavored to claim for
themselves. For the Avhole world, the one
Redeemer founded one holy communion,
and gave it the pentecostal grace to
speak to the heart of every land and
clime. We need not argue to prove that
the holy Roman Church is catholic, that
she has her hand upon all the nations,
and that she bears to every creature the
message of the gospel. Go Avhere you
will, you Avill find her altars, and behold
her priesthood patiently laboring ; and
even Avhere persecution or martyrdom
has driven away the feet that are beau
tiful upon the mountains, she leaves be
hind claimants of the soil which has been
hallowed by her children's blood. She is
for no one tongue or tribe, but for the
whole world, merging even national pecu-

240 The Catholic Church
liarities in the one life of charity that ani
mates her bosom.
Vast is the difference in this respect
between her and the religious societies
Avhich surround her. They are in their
very nature local and national. They can
not be propagated beyond the clime that
gave them birth, or pass from one tongue
to another unchanged in life and essence.
Geographical boundaries hedge them in.
They live of the idiosyncrasies of a coun
try or nation, or cling feebly to a civil
power which uses them as tools for its
own aggrandizement. The shadow of uni
versality they have not. The very pre
tence of it would render them ridiculous.
As Christ meant his church to be every
where, and to teach in all lands his gos
pel, they cannot be, singly or collectively,
the body Avhich is filled with his fulness,

the Chunk of Christ. 241
Avhich he redeemed Avith his blood. By
themselves they cannot logically stand,
and the collection of contradictions is
even a Avorse distinction. So, if the
Master Avho has all power in heaven
and upon earth declared that his church
should teach and baptize all nations,
there is only one agency which accom
plishes this work, only one body which
fulfils his word and promise.
4. We shall add a few words in regard
to the mark of sanctity. The end of re
demption is the restoration of man to the
graces of paradise, and consequently his
sanctification. The instrumentality em
ployed therefore by the one and only
Saviour must lead to holiness and purity
of heart. The Catholic Church must
teach a holy doctrine, and guide her chil-

242 The Catholic Church
dren to a real sanctity. We claim for
her that she fully accomplishes this great
Avork. Whatever be the misconceptions
of her creed, or the misstatements that
have poisoned ignorant minds, it is evi
dent to every one that she teaches a high
morality, and a purity which goes be
neath the exterior, to the very recesses
of the heart. Every one of her doctrines
is holy in itself, and the practical effect
of all her teachings is to elevate the
moral sense, and press upon the soul its
accountability to God. She causes her
children to feel that salvation can only
be gained by active piety, by deeds of
faith and love, which can stand the test
of God's judgment. While no good work
-can be wrought without grace, while the
power of redemption lies beneath every
Christian act, yet still is that grace effec-

the Church of Christ. 243
tive, and that poAver in the hands of the
earnest and sincere. In fact, she has led
to a self-sacrifice, and victory over sense,
AAdiich the world never saw before her
day, nor has seen beyond her borders.
Her priests, her virgins, her confessors,
are not all hypocrites, even to the most
bitter eye ; and in their evidence of faith
in the Avorld unseen may safely chal
lenge the rivalry of her enemies. If any
of her sons wander in vice or error, it
is not the fruit of her precepts, but be
cause in the broad blaze of her light
they have chosen to depart from the
ways of her counsels. They who walk
after her guidance travel rapidly in the
way of virtue, and become daily more
and more like their Lord. It could not
be otherwise, with the faith she teaches,
and the graces she professes to hold in

244 The Catholic Church
her hands. They who believe themselves
to be the "temples of the Holy Ghost,"
who are partakers of the flesh and blood
of the Incarnate God, can hardly fail of
appreciating the holiness which the omni
scient eye demands, or feeling the weight
of responsibility which presses upon the
Christian soul.
We are by no means disposed to deny
the piety of many who are estranged from
the Catholic fold. Far be it from us to
gainsay the fruits of peace which edify
the heart of the sincere lover of truth.
But we distinctly claim that such are not
the legitimate fruits of the system Avhere
they are found, but the special operations
of divine grace in souls that wish for
light and union with God, and know not
where the full flood of redeeming love
flows. The Catholic is holy when he fol-

the Church of Christ. 245
Ioavs the creed which forms and matures
his regenerate life, and moulds his whole
being after the true type of justice, the
Word made flesh. When others tread in
the Avay of the cross, it is not by the
church in Avhich they were born that they
are led, but by distant glimmerings of
the star which would lead them to Beth
lehem, the house of the true bread of life.
The moral precepts on which they build,
are not the offspring of their religious
communion ; they come, unknown per
haps, from better, higher, and more an
cient sources. We could go further, and
say that the principles of their creed lead
them, Avhen strictly taken, in the opposite
direction, foster infidelity, and conduct to
danger. The exercise of private reason
upon the intrinsic credibility of doctrines
revealed, guides at once to the rejection

246 The Catholic Church
of the supernatural, and destroys the wor
ship due to God. The belief in total
depravity, or the denial of good works
as the condition of salvation, is a sure
path to recklessness of life, and conse
quent immorality. The removal of all
communion with the spiritual world, is a
blow fearful in its effects upon the sen
sitive soul, and degrading of the Crea
tor's image in man. All these are the
necessary consequences, if not the funda
mental principles of any form of Protest
antism. We daily thank the Most High
that men who misunderstand the Catholic
Church are not consistent, that restrain
ing grace holds them back, that they fear
to follow to the end the theories they
profess in Avords.

the Church of Christ. 247
IV.
The church Avhich OAves its existence to
Jesus Christ, Avhich discharges the Scrip
tural offices Avhich we have considered,
Avhich bears the marks of the true body
of the Lord, must of necessity possess
the divine blessing and favor. There is
therefore no need of entering into any
elaborate argument to point out the signs
of God's love which have ever visited his
OAvn vineyard. There are many things
of Avhich the human eye is no judge,
and in regard to which disputation Avould
be fruitless. Yet we propose to dwell in
this connection upon three evidences of
divinity, which attach to the Catholic
Church in such an eminent degree that
they are sure proofs of supernatural life.
They are such evidences as address

248 The Catholic Church
themselves readily to the understanding,
and which ought to carry great weight
to the unprejudiced mind.
1. The Catholic Church has a con
sciousness of her mission, and the gifts
which she believes are entrusted to her,
which could hardly exist without founda
tion. She realizes the functions of which
the Scriptures speak Avith an intensity
which could hardly be inspired by the
spirit of deceit. She feels that the whole
world needs her ministry, and that she
alone can intervene between the Re
deemer and the race he came to save.
The feeling of consecration which is en
gendered by such a sense of responsibi
lity is the mother of every high and
holy sacrifice. It is the feeling of S.
Paul : " Woe is me, if I preach not the

the Chunk of Christ. 249
gospel ; " or of the great Master : " I
have a baptism to be baptized with, and
Iioav am I straitened till it be accom
plished." This sense of the supernatural would
not be in itself a conclusive proof of a
divine mission ; but taken with other evi
dence, and with the fact that it is no
transitory impression, but an ever-living,
abiding conviction which has survived the
shock of centuries and the war of a
thousand obstacles, it is an argument
Avhich can be felt. No other body has
any such conviction. No other religious
association, Avhatever may be its, zeal, pre
tends to the high prerogatives which she
assumes and exercises. There are great
functions which the gospel assigns to the
church, that of teaching, that of govern
ing, that of feeding the thirsty soul with

250 The Catholic Church
the body and blood of Christ. Can it
be that such functions belong to com
munions which have no consciousness of
them, Avhich do not discharge them, which
deny even their existence ? The true
church has much to do with the superna
tural, holds the powers of the world to
come in its hands, is something vastly
more than human. That is not the true
body of the Redeemer, which falls even
in its own claims, far below the Jewish
ritual confessedly divine, which . asks no
faith from its children, who are really its
masters and not its sons. Human orga
nizations derive their strength from the
coherence of human wills alone. A divine
society lives of a vitality Avhich is com
municated from above.
2. Success in the midst of many and

the Church of Christ. 251
fearful obstacles is a proof of divine fa
vor Avhen the system Avhich triumphs over
all difficulties relies upon no human aid.
This is especially the case when the pas
sions are assailed, and men are taught
to renounce their appetites, and practice
virtues Avhich demand constant self-sacri
fice. No earthly pOAver could make such
a system of truth prevail perseveringly
amid the seductions of the world. The
mighty arm of God alone can work won
ders like this. Now, the Catholic Church
attacks the passions of man, and allows
them no indulgence. She teaches a mo
rality Avhich places under constant re
straint the most natural desires of the
heart' She places the cross upon the
shoulders of even the innocent, and is
ever crying out, "What shall it profit a
man if he gain the whole world and

252 Tlie Catholic Church
lose his own soul ?" "He that will come
after Christ, let him take up his cross,"
and bear it patiently. In spite of all
this, she has been victorious over ob
stacles which would long ago have sunk
in oblivion any merely human association.
There is no conceivable obstacle which
has not passed in her way. She has faced
death with its terrors, affliction and exile,
the loss of all one holds dear on earth,
misrepresentation and slander, the treach
ery of false children. Not one of these
has been able to subdue or even check
her onward course ; and in the midst
of surging floods of persecution she rides
the storm, and calmly waits till her truth
and love are made known.
The great miracle of her success is
that she gathers the nations together in
one faith, and gives to every soul with-

the Church of Christ. 253
in her arms the same sense of the su
pernatural, the same confidence in her
Avord. Could she accomplish this if she
Avere not of God ? In vain have earthly
poAvers bent their strength to achieve
such a result. It is the Lord Jehovah
Avho maketh those who dAvell in one
house to be of one mind. Moral con
cord, and concord in faith, are the work
of the great Spirit who fashioned chaos
A\dien it Avas Avithout form and void ; who
brought light into the darkness which
rested upon the face of the deep. Learn
ed and unlearned, kings and subjects, rich
and poor, kneel together before her al
tars, confess their sins in the same tri
bunal, look up to the same sacraments
for protection, when the shadow of death
appears. Could any human power have
forced such oneness of faith, such obedi-

254 The Catholic Church
ence to a voice Avhich in great humility
represents Christ to the sinner ?
3. Perseverance of life is a proof of
the divine mission of the Catholic Church.
No created thing can endure in and of
itself. All things change and pass away,
while the self- existent God is alone the
same, and his years never fail. He
whose word is creating, gave to the
church its life, which he promised should
continue to the end. That body Avhich
came from his hands, Avhich has come
down to us through the vicissitudes of
ages, which has at this day the full vigor
of youth, has the seed of life in itself,
(and abundant evidence of the divine fa
vor. Take history for a witness, and
count up the mighty kingdoms Avhich
have arisen, flourished, and gone since

the Church of Christ. 255
the humble fisherman founded the apos
tolic throne in the very heart of Caesar's
Avide domain. Call to answer the churches
which, born of division, have sought to
rival the glory of the unchangeable flock
which Peter feeds by his Lord's com
mand. The places that once knew them
knoAv them no more. If not already
among the things that Avere, they "have
groAvn old as a garment, and are changed
as a A'esture." The founders of the re
formed churches could scarcely recognize
their offspring amid the manifold societies
Avhich in constant change have lost iden
tity of soul and body. He who is the
life of all that lives, must be the inward
strength of that vast communion which
thus has resisted the corruptions of time.
Survey the field of religious strife at this
moment, and see if the ancient church

256 The Catholic Church
has lost any of its vigor or pentecostal
zeal. Nations long estranged are hurry
ing to her borders, and while the ele
ments of civil society are at war, and
threaten the state with convulsion, the
honest and pure are coming to find in
her unchanging creed the rest their souls
demand; the eye to see, beyond things
temporal, into that heavenly city which
the presence of the Lamb illumines, where
there is no need of a created sun or
moon. At this very moment there is a
movement toward her which is felt in
every land. At this very moment, from
east and west, north and south, her
prelates are gathered in solemn council
around the centre of Christian unity, and
the pulses of neAv life are beating
throughout her whole body. There
is a sound as of a rushing mighty

the Church of Christ. 257
Avind, and the Avindows of heaven are
opened. If, then, the apostle could say, "We
are of God. He that knoweth God,
heareth us ; he that is not of God, hear
eth not us. By this we know the spirit
of truth and the spirit of error ;" surely
Ave aat1io are his children, and the fruit
of his toil, may apply the same unerring
rule. He that gathereth with the apos
tles, gathereth with_ Christ. " He that
entereth not by the door into the sheep
fold, but climbeth up some other way,
the same is a thief and a robber." The
life of Christ and of the apostolic church
is noAv as ever with men. The city of
God cannot be hid. Let the words of
truth and soberness be spoken to the
pure of heart in this day of grace.

258

The Church of Christ.

" Blessed be the Lord God of Israel ;
for he hath visited, and wrought the re
demption of his people."

f€^

Lecture V.

PROTESTANTISM A FALSE GOSPEL.

" If any man come to you, and bring not this doctrine
receive him not into your house, nor say to him, God
speed you. For he that saith to him, God speed you,
communicateth with his wicked works." — 2 E. S. John io, ii.
]F the deductions of our former lec
tures are true, we easily proceed
to the task which is before us this even
ing. If our Lord Jesus Christ establish
ed a church for the completion of his
own work among men, any system, how
ever organized, which opposes that church,
is an enemy to him and his redemption.
Christ himself is the object of attack, al-

260 Protestantism a False Gospel.
though the battle rages against the agency
which he commissioned. If he has re
vealed to man a faith which will guide
the obedient to eternal peace, then any
other doctrine is a corruption of his gos
pel. Though it take the form of an
angel of light, it cannot announce the
glad tidings which the Saviour promul
gated from Bethlehem and Calvary. Any
thing less than the doctrine delivered by
him is not the gospel of salvation. Par
tial truth, even, is truth corrupted ; is truth
mixed with error; is perhaps the most
dangerous form of deceit.
We are persuaded that there are very
many who are thus deceived. They seek
their Saviour, and they think they have
him ; but they know him not. The be
lief which they cherish is only a travesty
of the great message of peace. The

Protestantism a False Gospel. 261
Lord AA'hom they see is far from being
the Word Incarnate, the good shepherd
Avho gave his life for the sheep. Like
the Samaritans, " they Avorship that which
they knoAv not." The Redeemer, as he
is, is unknoAvn to them. They have not
imagined the depths of the riches of the
Avisdom and knowledge of God.
We call, therefore, the system which
deceives the sincere, and hides the mercy
of Jesus Christ from the sinner, and robs
the faith of Christians of its most preci
ous hopes, a false gospel. And in this
discussion before us, let it be remember
ed that we are dealing with systems, and
not with individuals. We make no judg
ment of the individual conscience which is
before the all-seeing eye, when we pass
in review the principles and theories which
lie at the foundation of a religious move-

262 Protestantism a False Gospel.
ment. Our single aim, as God knoweth,
is the cause of truth, and the welfare of
immortal souls. In presence of such a
motive, all human considerations sink into
insignificance. May he Avho is light be
our illumination, and send forth into our
hearts the beams of his presence.
The Catholic Church has many oppo
nents at the present day. The worldly
and self-seeking, who prefer this life to
the next, are arrayed against her. Civil
power opposes her, when her doctrines
restrain its ambition within the bounds
of the revealed law. Infidelity in its va
rious forms feigns to despise the only
firm upholder of the supernatural, and
speaks with contempt of superstition, un
der which general name it includes all
faith. There were ages when she stood
alone, the only witness of Christianity, and

Protestantism a False Gospel. 263
Avhen all Avho believed in Christ at all,
ranged themselves under her banner.
Noa\', unfortunately, there are many Avho
seek to rival her in her incommunicable
office, AA-ho distract and divide the truth
as it is in Jesus, and give to the world
a false gospel, in place of the one true
message of salvation. It will be our ob
ject to shoAv that Avhatever Protestantism
may be in other respects, it is a mis
representation of Christ and the truth he
taught and delivered to men by means
of apostles and evangelists. Under the
general name of Protestantism we in
clude the various religious societies who
call themselves Christian, and are formed
or aggregated under the peculiar prin
ciples which gave birth to the reformed
sects. They profess to hold more or less
of the original faith, and protest against

264 Protestantism a False Gospel.
the Catholic Church, while they admit
within themselves every imaginable shade
of difference in creed and in ritual. From
the highest Episcopalian who imitates the
Catholic rite, down to the Society of
Friends, who have no ceremony whatever,
there is a bond of union in their oppo
sition to Rome. On the strength of their
private judgment they call in question
the ancient creed; and on the same indi
vidual authority condemn a Communion
which has on its side the prescription of
centuries. Some have gone so far as to
reject the founder of our religion, and
still pretend to cafi themselves Christian.
All have rejected any ecclesiastical author
ity as in and from Christ, and therefore
essential to the way of salvation. The
points of their protest against the Catho
lic Church are the very points in which

Protestantism a False Gospel. 265
we find they have corrupted the one
truth, and have given to men a counter
feit of the gospel. We then proceed to
show our reasons at some length for our
position ; and Ave charge Protestantism with
subverting the foundations of natural re
ligion ; Avith rendering the exercise of
Christian faith logically impossible ; with
removing the church from her evangelical
place in the economy of grace; with giv
ing a false and exaggerated view of man's
fall ; and finally with denying and practi
cally destroying the real office of Jesus
Christ as our Redeemer. We hope we
shall be able to substantiate our charges,
presuming only the conclusions to which
we have heretofore arrived, and the truths
which are generally admitted.

266 Protestantism a False Gospel.
i.
Natural religion rests upon the admis
sion of certain truths which are manifest
to reason, and upon the inflexibility of the
laws of evidence addressed to the under
standing. Thus, for example, the existence
and moral government of God are knoAvn
to the human mind, and cannot be ignored.
We can prove by rigid demonstration these
truths ; but whether we comprehend the
argument or not, we are conscious of the
being of a great First Cause, Avho has all
perfections in himself. Nothing can ob
literate from the intellect this conscious
ness. The " very attempt to disprove it only
impresses it more deeply. And from these
primary verities flow all our hopes and
fears; our hopes of greater union with
the Supreme Good ; our fears of a future

Protestantism a False Gospel. 267
where Ave shall be brought into contact
with the Supreme Justice. No intelligent
agent can lie doAvn like the beasts of the
field, for his brief and sensual gratifications,
bounding the aspirations of his soul by
present Avants of appetite. And in the
Arery notion of the Divinity is involved
the idea of the supernatural, and of the
A'eracity and immutability of One who is
self-existent, and therefore all-perfect. If
our faith in God is shaken, there is no
longer foundation for religion, natural or
revealed. Upon this faith depend the laws
of evidence by which we know that he
who has given to us senses and under
standing, . does not and cannot sport with
us as unreasoning children. That of which
our senses testify is real and not an imag
ination. The impressions of our intellect
are not produced by a deception. Hence,

268 Protestantism a False Gospel.
all mankind are bound to believe that
which is announced to them on sufficient
evidence, and are not free to deny facts
which are authenticated by good witnesses.
So he who has no light but that of nature
must follow the higher aspirations Avhich
are within him, hold firmly to that truth
which he knows, and keep his conscience
pure from offending against obligations
which he understands. This is the path
to greater illumination and peace of heart.
Now, as nature teaches the perfections
of the Deity, it teaches that all things are
possible to him, save only contradictions,
which in themselves are the negation of
o
power. God can therefore communicate
with his creatures, and even speak to them;
can make known to them truths which
naturally they could not discover, and Avith
a certainty which shall leave no room for

Protestantism a False Gospel. 269
doubt. Even does nature draAv from the
benignity and love of God the probability
that he Avould thus intervene for the greater
happiness of a Avorld Avhich he has made.
And AAdien in the exercise of such mercy
he does speak to man, he is able to give
proofs unansAverable of his presence, such
as no one can reasonably reject; and thus
to oblige us to receive undoubtingly all
that he reA^eals. Any one can see thaT the
Areracity of God is here involved, and that
he Avho refuses to hear the divine voice
Avhen properly authenticated, really in act
denies the existence of the Deity. And he
Avho would apply his reason to the in
trinsic credibility of the doctrine revealed,
instead of weighing therewith the evidences
of a divine interposition, would be not only
untrue to reason, but would logically sub
vert the religion of nature. If we can

270 Protestantism a False Gospel.
accept or reject what God declares accord
ing to the judgment of our intellect upon
its intrinsic reasonableness, why may we
not, in like manner, reject the existence of
a Supreme Being, endowed with all pos
sible realities ? If we will not listen to
the testimony of our senses Avhen they
establish to us the action of the super
natural, why not abandon their teachings
*
at all times, and confess that Ave may be
the prey of a skilfully contrived delusion ?
Let us suppose, then, that there is a
system of belief which distinctly asserts
that all things supernatural are to be tried
by the test of private judgment, in such a
way that no man should believe any truth
which does not intrinsically commend itself
to his reason, and that even the words of
the Most High are to be weighed by the
human intellect, to be judged worthy or

Protestantism a False Gospel. 271
umvorthy of acceptance. Suppose that this
system engenders a habit of mind which
Avill receiA-e only that which seejns reason
able to the individual, no matter what the
evidences are, and which prefers to dwell
rather upon the matter revealed than
upon the proofs of revelation. Suppose
that in the legitimate consequence of such
a habit of mind, the possibility of super
natural intervention be denied, and in
telligent men, calling themselves philo
sophers, do not hesitate to say that they
could not believe in a miracle even if they
saw it with their own eyes, thus admitting
the groundwork of scepticism. Suppose
that on every side miracles are rejected, as
not even worthy of examination, as the
fruit of superstition belonging to ages not
so blest as our OAvn, and pure reason is ap
plied to everything, divine and human, until

272 Protestantism a False Gospel.
the belief in God's moral government fades
away, and the fears of retribution for
wrong committed are dismissed as the
fable of the nursery. Even if there be
retained in such a system of belief, some
of the doctrines of Christianity, they are
retained in opposition to the logic profess
ed, and in such a manner that they can
never hold the intelligent, much less be
propagated among the educated. The hon
est hearer may judge if any of these pecu
liarities belong to Protestantism ; if its grand
principle be not the assertion of a right to
apply human reason to the intrinsic credi
bility of every doctrine proposed for belief;
a right which is claimed for every in
dividual. Even if in words some of their
older communities deny this, in practice
they act upon it, and owe their very exist
ence to its exercise. Logically they stand

Protestantism a False Gospel. 273
or fall by its truth or falsity. Who are
they Avho array themselves against the
supernatural, and deny the existence of
miracles, Avhich, as facts, come plainly under
the observation of our senses ? Who are
they that refuse to believe doctrines pro
posed, Avithout Aveighing the evidence on
Avhich they rest, simply because they are
difficult of comprehension ? Who are they
that forget that verities submitted to faith
are necessarily above the plane of natural
reason, and must depend upon the divine
word alone ? The principle of private
judgment, as practically understood among
Protestants, not only renders faith impos
sible, but takes away even the foundations
of natural religion, and approaches its
attack to the throne of God.
We are, by no means, disposed to think
that Protestants reject the existence and

274 Protestantism a False Gospel.
dominion of the Deity, or the truths taught
to the mind by nature. There are cer
tainly some who do deny these verities,
and their number is daily increasing. But
the question is, if they can hold them
logically, or .whether in strict justice they
ought not to apply to the natural or
der the principles they adopt in re
gard to religion revealed. If they them
selves are satisfied to be inconsistent, the
world will not long follow them, and their
children after them will push these pre
mises to their just conclusions. Facts
around us are a sufficient evidence of the
justness of our reasonings ; for in the
gradual loss of dogma since the Reform
ation, we have come to face an infidelity
which is bold enough to strike beneath
the groundwork of all divine worship, and
to make popular a naked deism, which is

Protestantism a False Gospel. 275
only another name for the adulation of
human pride. If the creature is all-suf
ficient to himself, he has no need of his
creator ; if he is able to make his OAvn
future, there is surely no need of a moral
gOA^ernor, or of a judgment to come. We
see and hear every day men, eminent for
learning and natural gifts, who have not
comprehended the first duty of a created
intellect, to boAv itself with submission
before the infinite intelligence. The popu
lar religion excludes this worship of the
understanding, and in its attempt to sub
ject all things to the finite reason, actually
robs the soul of her natural trust in the
great Maker and Ruler of heaven and
earth. We say these things feelingly,
because the path on which so many have
entered leads aAvay from light, and to the
denial of all positive truth. If we will be

276 Protestantism a False Gospel.
true, we must believe in God above all
things ; must accept the conclusions of our
senses ; must, without question, obey the
Divine A'oice whenever it speaks with
just evidence. Otherwise we are forced to
the state in which we can hold no commu
nion with the Supreme Good, nor hear the
whispers of that great power which speaks
through the many voices of the wonderful
universe. There is, indeed, but one teacher
whose lessons are all in harmony, whether
he proclaims his greatness through the
handiwork of creation, or, tearing away the
veil of sense, opens the world of eternity
to our view. Order is his great first laAv.

11.
It is a singular thing that the early
reformers, and even now many of their

Protestantism a False Gospel. 277
folloAvers, make "justification by faith"
the foundation of their religious system.
We are of the opinion that the majority
of Protestants are willing to accept
Luther's condition, that it is " the article
of a standing or falling church." In
their notion of it, it is a counterfeit of
the gospel, as we shall see in the last
division of this lecture. But the strang
est thing is, that it is impossible to have
any faith under the principles which they
profess, and so, that they destroy the
way of salvation of which they boast.
Faith in its just sense is not simply the
individual's belief that Christ has forgiven
his sins. Before that conclusion could be
legitimately reached, the person and office
of Christ must be accepted, with the ap
preciation of his divine character, and
work in our redemption. These truths

278 Protestantism a False Gospel.
are primary in Christianity, and hence
cannot be left in doubt. It is no faith
to believe that Jesus Christ lived on
earth, and died on the cross. These are
facts authenticated by human testimony,
which no sane person can deny. To be
lieve that he was and is God, and that
all his teachings are divine, is the exer
cise of faith. And, evidently, he who thus
accepts the divinity of Christ, must in
honesty receive the whole Christian sys
tem promulgated by him. No one can
take that system in part, without rejecting
actually the whole. And he who receives
the doctrines delivered by our Lord, must
take them all without exception, and simply
because they are revealed by him who is
truth itself. If he professes to hold them
for their intrinsic reasonableness alone, he
has no faith, Avhatever may be the

Protestantism a False Gospel. 279
strength of his opinions. Here then we
find fault Avith Protestantism, that it stops
mankind at the very threshold of revela
tion, and renders a true faith impossible.
This impossibility is both theoretical and
practical. The theory of private judg
ment leaves every question to the indi-
A'idual mind. Passing by the evidences
of divine interposition, it subjects every
Avord spoken by God to the crucible of
each one's understanding. No one is
called to believe a doctrine Avhich does
not approve itself to him as reasonable.
No matter whether this process be ap
plied to the Avords of apostles or the
sacred Scriptures, or the decisions of the
church, the result is ever the same.
From nothing, nothing comes. No one can
rise above his own order. That which
stands on private judgment is only hu-

280 Protestantism a False Gospel.
man opinion, even when it treats of
things sublime, or beyond the ken of
mortals. Again, this theory excludes all autho
rity; for an authority which will only
stand where its decisions are approved
by the hearer, is surely a ridiculous
mockery. The real authority is the indi
vidual whose supremacy cannot logically
be disturbed. But without authority there
can be no faith, since faith is simply
accepting truths above reason, upon the
authority of God as revealer. That
authority has to be rigidly proved, but
it must exist and clearly speak, or faith
is impossible. No subjective light can
take^ the place of an objective witness
authenticated from on high by indubita
ble testimony. And such a Avitness must
be found, or a revelation cannot be made.

Protestantism a False Gospel. 281
Protestantism excludes such a Avitness ;
and the A-ery mention of authority is in
consistent Avith its first principles. There
are a feAV of the reformed churches which
profess in some sense to govern their
members, but it Avill be seen that, on
close inspection, they derive their powers
from the consent " of the governed. There
are some Avho hold a creed as a con
dition of communion, but not on the au
thority of the church Avhich proposes it ;
for the infallibility of any church is dis
tinctly denied, and in faith an authority
Avhich is fallible is no authority at all.
The decisions of the church being then to
them no certain guide, there remains for
them no way of hearing the divine word
and learning things supernatural, and so
no Avay of exercising faith. God does not
speak to them through their various

282 Protestantism a False Gospel.
ecclesiastical organizations, which are con
fessedly human ; and if they think or
assert that he speaks to the individual
mind in the Avay of private revelation,
there is no mode of proving their asser
tion. Nor are they themselves free from
the danger of delusion by the fancy or
imagination, which, having no exterior
guide, is subject to error. To profess to
exercise faith on the ground of private
interpretation of the Bible, is only the
attempt to deceive ourselves. Exterior
and infallible proofs are required of the
inspiration of the Scriptures, and even then
that Avhich the individual believes is that
which he interprets, and not that which
is unerringly spoken. The disciples of
private judgment never get beyond their
starting-point, but continually return in a
vicious circle upon their own footsteps.

Protestantism a False Gospel. 283
Depending upon reason alone, they can
never advance beyond the plane of reason,
nor bring themselves into actual convic
tions of the supernatural. Here, as before,
Ave are arguing in the abstract, and do
not pretend to assert that there are no
Protestants who, acting inconsistently with
their principles, rise above their own sys
tem. There are some, at least, who with
out questioning the grounds of their be
lief, accept many of the Catholic doctrines
which have come to them by a kind of
tradition, and do not know how much
they owe to that ancient church which
they affect to despise. Argument is hap
pily lost upon such ; for after you have
shown them that there are no logical
foundations for their faith, they will still
obstinately believe what their fathers or
early associations taught them. The re-

284 Protestantism a False Gospel.
ligion, however, which cannot show a good
and unanswerable defence against its op
ponents, and even persuade by just rea
soning the honest mind, cannot long stand,
or transmit itself from age to age. Un
belief and infidelity will outstrip it in the
race, and eventually obliterate every trace
of its existence. Believing as Ave do that
Christianity stands or falls with the Ca
tholic Church, we are perfectly confident
that the positive portion or dogmatism of
Protestantism would have perished long
ago, had it not been for her presence,
and the light which, unwelcome perhaps,
streams from her towers. And those Avho
are disposed to think our statement exag
gerated, will do well to study history, and
mark the constant decay among the re
formed communions of all reality, or positive
truth. Let them take that which was the

Protestantism a False Gospel. 285
creed of their ecclesiastical progenitors, and
compare it Avith that Avhich they hold noAv.
Let them look at the boldness of infidelity
and the popularity of deism, and remember
hoAv eA-en the age of their fathers Avas
shocked by the most distant approach to
errors Avhich noAv are so common that
they excite not even surprise. Surely there
are lessons to be learned from facts like
these ; and if the religionists of our day
cannot support by good and logical argu
ment the system they defend, how can
they hope that their children shall tread
in their footsteps ? Everything shall perish
but that Avhich is divine. Every creed
shall change and pass away but that one
and infallible faith which rests upon the
immutability of the Creator, and the vera
city of God the Word.

286 Protestantism a False Gospel.

in.
We proceed, in the next place, to call
that a false gospel which removes the
Christian church from her place in the
economy of salvation. We have already
seen hoAV the church enters into the divine
plans of redemption, and what importance
the Scriptures give it as the instrument
appointed to make knoAvn and apply the
truths of Christ's revelation. We have
seen how he who has " all might in heaven
and on earth," commissioned apostles Avith
power to teach and baptize ; how he whose
word cannot fail, built his church upon
Peter, and declared that " the gates of hell
should never prevail in warfare against
it." We have heard him say, " He that
despiseth you despiseth me," and, " If any

Protestantism a False Gospel. 287
one Avill not hear the church, let him be
to thee as a heathen or a publican." We
haA-e heard the inspired evangelists, as
they tell us that " the church is the body
of Christ, the fulness of him Avho filleth it
all in all;" "the temple of the Holy Ghost,
fitly framed in unity, upon the foundation
of apostles and prophets ;" " the pillar and
ground of the truth." We have listened
to S. John giving us the rule of faith:
" We are of God. He that is of God
heareth us. By this we know the spirit
of truth, and the spirit of error." "If any
man come to you, and bring not this
doctrine, receive him not into your house,
nor bid him, God speed." And having
heard this, Ave are not prepared to accept
a system of belief which, contrary to all
Scripture and history, blots out the church
of Christ, and extinguishes its light in

288 Protestantism a False Gospel.
the Christian scheme. Whatever the world
knoAvs of revealed faith, it has received
from that church. This much we know
by indubitable facts ; and shall we now
turn upon the source of truth and seek
to eradicate the very sun from the heavens ?
Will any one make us believe that the
words of inspiration we have read are
unmeaning phrases of enthusiastic writers ;
or that the works of the unchanging God
in the apostolic day have been supplanted
by new and untried theories ; thus caus
ing the promises of Christ to be broken,
and the foundations of Christianity to totter
to their fall ? The church is of the first
importance in the Scriptural plan of re
demption. It is of no importance in the
Protestant gospel, therefore that gospel
is false. To prove our minor, Ave have only
to show that, theoretically and practically,

Protestantism a False Gospel. 289
Protestantism admits no church in any
true sense of the Avord.
1. The abstract principle of private judg
ment Avhich Ave have examined excludes
the very notion of a church. When all
the essential functions Avhich could belong
to an ecclesiastical organization are referred
to the individual, of what use shall the
church be to mankind ? If it has only
the delegated powers which its members
have entrusted to it; he who delegates is
always superior to his deputy, and can at
any time supersede him or do without him.
In the Protestant sense, the church can
have no direct power over its members,
who voluntarily compose its fold, and are
in reality its creator. We are not unaware
that in some of the reformed formularies
the church is spoken of as of divine insti-

290 Protestantism a False Gospel.
tution ; but, as the greater draws after it
the less, such a principle cannot be ad
mitted. If the church be really of divine
institution, then necessarily it must have
divine authority, and be infallible. Then
the church, as such, must be, of necessity
to all men, and there can be but one
claimant of authority and infallibility. If
there can be two or more, there might as
well be none, for who can decide between
them? As we have already seen, we
might as well have two Gods as two
infallible churches. Now, whateA'er may
be retained by tradition in the formularies
of any Protestant communion, it is quite
evident that with their essential notions of
religion there can be no church, in the
full sense of the term. They do not ad
mit any one church, communion Avith which
is essential to salvation. They distinctly

Protestantism a False Gospel. 291
deny any infallible external authority, and
even attack the claims of Catholics as
uneA^angelical. All that they think really
necessary to salvation is an interior union
to Christ by faith, as they understand it,
Avhether this union depends upon pre
destination or not. Some maintain that
there is such an absolute election to
eternal life as ensures the redemption of
the elect without regard to works. Others
think that the path of " justification by
faith " is open to all. The numerous sects
of Protestants differ upon various points
of doctrine or of rite ; but none of them
believe that the distinctions between them
are such as exclude from the favor of
God in heaven. The theory of the church,
as we have found it in Holy Scripture,
cannot be adopted by any of these com
munions without fundamentally changing

292 Protestantism a False Gospel.
their whole system of belief, and upsetting
the grounds on which it is built.
2. Practically, we need hardly say, that
the true notion of a church has gone out
of the minds of Protestants. Those who
are the leaders never dream of being
guided by the voice of the society to
which they belong, as if that society could
speak to them the words of God. They
have joined the particular community to
which they belong, not because they be
lieved it to be the depository of divine
truth, but because they, on examination,
found it to conform nearest to their ideas
of Christianity. The view of faith which
they have within themselves, by whatever
help they may have had, is that which
leads them, and not their religious associ
ation. And if the voice of their com-

Protestantism a False Gospel. 293
munion be heard at all, it is only as the
influence of a number of individuals banded
together for a moral purpose. Many re
main Avhere they were born, and take for
granted the impressions or prejudices of
early years. The idea of a divine body on
earth having the powers of "the Word
made flesh," and really representing Christ,
can hardly be introduced into their minds.
It is so alien from their thoughts and all
their habits of piety, that they can scarcely
even comprehend it. To find their Saviour
Avithout the intervention of church or priest,
and to appreciate him alone, is their high
est notion of religion. If they were to
have any infallible authority before them,
it would open the eyes of the blind, or
the doors of a new world. With all the
various denominations who surround the
Catholic fold, there is the full conviction

294 Protestantism a False Gospel.
that the exterior form of belief matters
not with the substance of piety. They
make and unmake churches with unlooked
for celerity. And even in organizations
which seek to ape the dogmatism of the
old creed, there is every variety of inter
pretation of their own formularies. They
strive, often for union, and the more they
strive the farther it flies from them, as dis
cussion only develops their discord. The
assertion of strict ecclesiastical principles
by any portions of Protestantism is suicidal
and impracticable : suicidal because it up
roots the foundation on which they stand ;
impracticable because the eyes of men
are too quick not to see the inconsistency
and absurdity. And every attempt to
catholicize any community which owes its
existence to the principles of the Reform
ation proves singularly abortive, while it

Protestantism a False Gospel. 295
demonstrates the incongruity of elements
Avhich nature will not allow to mingle.
While Holy Scripture, then, makes the
church an integral part of the economy
of grace, Protestantism has reduced it to
a nonentity ; a mere matter of convenience,
to be used according to the promptings of
human expediency. And to explain the
strong language of inspiration, it has ad
vanced the idea of an invisible church, which
is alike inconsistent with the nature of
things, and utterly contrary to the express
words of Scripture. Jesus Christ was a
visible Saviour ; the Apostles Avere visible
men ; Peter, the rock on which the church
was built, Avas visible. The Jewish church,
the type of the Christian, was a visible
body ; and, in fact, only a visible instru
mentality could be employed for the ends
for which the church was constituted. Such

296 Protestantism a False Gospel.
an agency alone could represent a visible
Redeemer, and teach in his name the truths
he came to promulgate, or apply to living
men the streams of grace which flowed
from his cross. To what straits of incon
sistency are not they driven who take the
word of God and ignore the plainest prin
ciples of interpretation, or seek to vindicate
from the language of Evangelists, a system
wholly in opposition to their declarations
of the truth as it is in Jesus !

IV.
The view of the fall of man which pre
vails among Protestants is so erroneous, that
it has given birth to many false doctrines,
and has greatly prejudiced the intelligent
against Christianity. It gives gross and
unjust notions of God, and changes alto-

Protestantism a False Gospel. 297
gether the evangelical view of redemption.
This Avhole subject is so important that
Ave haA-e found it necessary to treat it at
length in our first lecture. An erroneous
ArieAv of man's fall and consequent need,
Avill produce likeAvise an erroneous view of
justification, and the merciful restoration
Avhich the gospel proclaims through Christ.
And these errors lie so deeply at the
foundation of Protestantism, that they de
serve here more than a passing notice.
Luther and the first reformers taught
that the holiness of the first man was es
sential to human nature and an integral
part of the same. According to his views,
the religious faculty of Adam expanded
itself in a Avay acceptable to God, without
any supernatural aid. In this religious and
moral disposition, Avith its practical develop
ment, he found the divine image, without

298 Protestantism a False Gospel.
making any distinction between the faculty
itself, and its exercise in correspondence to
the Avill of God. In connection with this
view Luther asserts that man is devoid
of freedom ; that every pretended free act
is only apparent ; that an irresistible ne
cessity rules all things ; and that every
human act is at bottom only the act of
the Creator.
Calvin, who was the father of many of
the reformed churches, agreed with Luther
in holding the acceptableness of the first
man to have been his natural state ; but
at the same time asserted the freedom of
the will. This freedom, hoAvever, in his
system was only an abstract notion ; for
we find him teaching an eternal, im
mutable predestination of the fall of Adam,
and this is quite incompatible Avith the
proposition that he could have avoided

Protestantism a False Gospel. 299
sinning. These opinions, Avith various dis
crepancies, the reformers folloAved, and
hence in their explanations of original sin
they teach that man lost the faculties
Avhich Avere natural to him, and so be
came essentially, and some Avould say,
totally depraved. He lost, according to
the confession of Augsburg, the capacity
or the faculties for producing the fear of
God and confidence in him. Thus, " He
lost the most exalted and subtle portion
of his spiritual essence, the organs im
planted in his nature for his Maker and
for divine things, so that he sank down
into a mere earthly power, having hence
forth organs only for the finite world, its
laws, its ordinances and relations." To
sin, consequently, Luther gave a positive
character. "It is," he says, " the nature
of man to sin ; sin constitutes the essence

300 Protestantism a False Gospel.
of man ; the nature of man since his fall
has become quite changed. Original sin
is that very thing which is born of father
and mother. The clay out of Avhich we
are formed is damnable. Man, as he is
born, together with his whole nature and
essence, is not only a sinner, but sin it
self." The symbolical writings of his fol
lowers accordingly teach that in fallen
man not the slightest good has survived ;
that corrupt nature of itself, and by its
own force, can do naught but sin before
God. Any one will see the evil consequences
of doctrines like these, which really lie at
the foundation of the morality of Protest
antism. Even where in our own day they
are not openly professed, their influence
is fundamental, and has given birth to the
prejudices and peculiarities of the popular

Protestantism a False Gospel. 301
religion. Nothing else will explain their
common vieAv of the Supreme Being ; their
innate repugnance to forms and sacraments ;
their instinctive hostility to belief in the su
pernatural. By such opinions the church,
with her real intervention of sacramental
grace, is displaced; and while the system
of morality taught by natural religion is
subverted, the redemption of Christ is
made ineffectual to supply the wants of
man ; a Avork only half done, which may
justly be called an aggravation of our
misery. 1. The failure to understand the true
nature of man, and to distinguish between
that which is essential to him, and that
which is a free gift or grace, to be used
by his will, is a most serious mistake.
Protestantism seems not to comprehend

302 Protestantism a False Gospel.
what the first man Avas in his integrity
and innocency, and so cannot understand
the operations of grace, which, while it
assists and elevates the creature, does not
alter his essence nor take away his free
dom. It does not see how God added to
our first father in paradise gifts which
were not essential to his nature ; how he
repaired the decays of mortality by the
fruit of the tree of life ; nor how now
the same mighty mercy can restore those
gifts once lost without materially changing
the intrinsic qualities which are neces
sary to constitute humanity. External
rites, therefore, which are clothed with
supernatural power, are out of place in
such a system, and especially, a church
which is an outward sign of an inward
divine presence, and a real sacrament of
unity between the soul and Christ. In

Protestantism a False Gospel. 303
paradise, even, began the same method of
sanctification, Avhich the redemption has
only restored in fuller graces.
2. If nature teaches anything, it teaches
the justice and holiness of God, who can
neither do evil nor compel his creatures
to eA'il, nor punish them when they have
been compelled to sin. A God who can
create intelligent agents without freedom
of Avill, and then hold them responsible
for their actions, is not the God of nature.
We would not respect a human being
Avho Avould thus force his subjects to evil ;
nor can we worship such a deity. If the
paradisaic man had not freedom by reason
of his essentially good nature, how could
he be held accountable for the fall to which
he was impelled by an irresistible neces
sity ? If, after his fall, he lost all capacity

304 Protestantism a False Gospel.
for good, so that he can only commit evil,
how can he be punished for the conse
quences of a state which he cannot avoid
or prevent ? It would even seem as if
the propagation of the species were the
greatest of evils, and really a crime ; for
it brings into the world beings who can
do nothing, at their best, but offend God.
Thus Zwingle says : " God, as the just
one, is subject to no law. When he
makes an angel or a man a sinner, he is
not a sinner, but the creature whom he
urges and impels to the sinful action." So
Avhen Calvin brings forth a theory by
which God creates a certain number of
our race for the express purpose of their
eternal damnation, he only reasons in con
sistency with the above opinions. For
hoAv could anybody be saved in any other
way than by being compelled to be

Protestantism a False Gospel. 305
saved? There is no freedom in any one,
no merit in the good, and no demerit in
the ungodly. We are Avell aAvare that
very feAV Protestants are philosophers, and
hence that very feAV practically defend this
denial of the free-will of man ; and that
Calvin's doctrine of reprobation, though
held by a large number, is not univers
ally popular. But almost all who reason
at all upon the subject, hold to Luther's
vieAV of the state of the paradisaic man,
and so legitimately are involved in his con
clusions. For, a man essentially good can
do no wrong, except by an impelling
power stronger than his own will ; and a
man essentially evil can do no good unless
he be compelled to it ; while, without such
compulsion, he must constantly commit
sin. The consequences of such a moral
system are twofold. The intellect will be

306 Protestantism a False Gospel.
driven to reject it altogether, as opposed
to the first teachings of nature; and then
be tempted to doubt all revealed faith ; or,
holding it as an explanation of evil, to
disoAvn practically the natural religion
which furnishes him Avith a far different
view of the deity. Naked deism, which
will hold only the being of God, and
with it the independence and equality of
the creature, will be the result. If we
could persuade men to correct their views
of the condition of the unfallen man, we
should have gained much in the contro
versy between Protestantism and the
Catholic Church.
3. But whatever man was before his
fall, he ought, at least, to become again
by the redemption of Christ. The words
of Holy Scripture are explicit to this ef-

Protestantism a False Gospel. 307
feet, and explain amply the nature of his
restoration. According to the reformed
theology, he Avas good, and essentially so
by nature. Noav, in Luther's scheme he
never becomes again essentially good. In
his Avhole lifetime he can never do a
Avork truly good in the sight of his Maker,
but, on the contrary, even to the last, he
must sin. When he is saved, it is by
some arbitrary power Avhich leaves him
substantially unchanged, and by a right
eousness Avhich, imputed to him, is never
his OAvn. We do not see in this dreary waste
any signs of the tree of life that bloomed
in Eden, nor of that sanctifying Holy Ghost
which made Adam truly a son of God.
How grace superabounded where sin had
abounded we do not know. We hear of
salvation, but it is a salvation for which
we can hardly be thankful, The evil of

308 Protestantism a False Gospel.
the fall is not done away, and the just
man is never reinstated in his rights.
We wonder not that in the utter incon
sistency of all this gloomy theory many
have been forced to the opposite extreme,
and have denied man's fall altogether, thus
asserting that man is now in every re
spect as well-conditioned as he was in
paradise ; that the sin of Adam, if, in fact,
he ever sinned, brought no penalty upon
his posterity. "We are in Eden now, if
we could only believe it." While, how
ever, this extreme is the consequence of
the confused and outraged sentiments
which Avere engendered by the doctrines
of Luther and Calvin, there is no shelter
here for the honest heart. Facts of re
tributive justice, evidences of a universal
penalty, are daily before our eyes, and
will not let us believe that man, as he is

Protestantism a False Gospel. 309
born, is in his normal state. And if there
be no Eden to be regained, no gifts of
paradise to be restored, what need of a
redeemer ? We need not, then, be sur
prised to hear, in these days of error,
that Jesus Christ lived and died, not to
atone for our sins, but only to give to
men the incentive of a high and holy
example.

We are now prepared to declare that
the gospel presented to us by Protest
antism decries and practically destroys
the true office of Jesus Christ as our Re
deemer. This we shall briefly point out,
by showing that the great characteristics
of redemption, as we have discoArered them
in the revealed word, are not known, or,

310 Protestantism a False Gospel.
if known, are contradicted, so that really
the distinguishing mercies of the new laAV
are gone. Would to God that we might
be enabled to make clear and convinc
ing the few remarks we have to utter
in this conclusion of our discourse ! We
are dealing, be it well observed, with the
system on which Protestantism is based ;
with its fundamental theology, and not
with individuals who may have swerved
to a greater or lesser degree from the
formularies of their religious fathers. We
shall attempt to demonstrate that in the
divergence of the reformed communions
from the Catholic Church, a system of
doctrine has arisen in which Jesus Christ
does not properly redeem mankind; in
which justification is wholly exterior ; which
excludes all sacramental grace, or actual
union of the redeemed with the Redeemer,

Protestantism a False Gospel. 3 1 1
and ends in degrading the dignity of
Christ's person.
1. In our first lecture Ave were employed
in plainly developing the nature of man's
fall, and the consequent characteristics of
redemption. We saw from the language
of inspiration, how vast evils had arisen
from the prevarication of our first parents
and from actual sin. These evils bound
our race Avith the chains of guilt, obliga
tion to punishment, and with the sad con
sequences of a fearful loss of present gifts
and future hopes. Redemption implies not
only the deliverance from penalty due, but
the restoration of the gifts which were
lost. The redeemed man should at least
stand in as good a state before God and
angels, as did the paradisaic man. Any
thing less than this might be a benefit,

312 Protestantism a False Gospel.
but could not be called a redemption.
We need not here repeat the Scriptural
argument, on which Ave have sufficiently
enlarged : " If by one man's offence death
reigned through one : much more they
who receive abundance of grace, and of
the gift, and of justice, shall reign in life
through one Jesus Christ." * When, then,
the gifts of Eden were an union with the
All-Holy, by an inherent justice, so that
Adam, without exaggeration, was called
the Son of God ; when the tree of life
gave him the food of immortality ; we shall
demand of our almighty Redeemer to re
store to us such an inherent holiness, and
even to bring us to the bread of heaven.
If he do not do this for us, he disappoints
the longing of our souls, and leaves unful
filled the great promises of the prophets.
* Rom. v. 17.

Protestantism a False Gospel. 313
Here Ave Avell knoAv Iioav true to the
evangelical record, hoAv full to the aspir
ations of the soul are the teachings of
the Catholic Church. Protestantism, how
ever, begins by portraying an essential or
total depraA-ity, in Avhich we have lost the
faculties for good which originally be
longed to our nature ; in which freedom of
Avill is gone for ever. And when it brings
the light of Calvary upon the sad scene,
the only Saviour it has to show us, is one
Avho aggravates our woes in the disappoint
ment of our dearest hopes. He dies in
deed for our sins, but gloom and sorrow
hang over the day of resurrection as well
as over his cross. The chains of the cap
tive are not unbound. He does not rise
for our justification ; for, though he can
forgive us our sins, he cannot remove
their desolating effect ; he cannot give us

314 Protestantism a False Gospel.
back true freedom ; cannot restore or im
part inherent justice. All he can do is to
cast over to us the shadow of his merits,
and to say that, though we are sinners
and unclean, God shall not look upon the
leper, whose vileness would affright the
angelic choir, but upon the person of his
Son, who standeth in the place of his
elect, and with the cloak of his right
eousness covereth over his unworthi-
ness. No real holiness which can stand
the test of the omniscient eye can be ours.
We can never be as if we had not sinned ;
can never hold up our heads among the
innocent and pure, and claim heaven as
our rightful home; the paradisaic man
can never return. There is only one man,
and he is also God, who shall have holi
ness in himself, and be called the Son of
the Highest. They tell us of a resur-

Protestantism a False Gospel. 315
rection in doubtful terms ; some asserting
that we shall arise in the latter day with
the same bodies in which we sleep ; others
but holding out the promise that we
shall aAvake in a spiritual form, where
perhaps our very identity shall be lost.
But Avhere is the tree of life which the
flaming SAvord of cherubim barred from
the outcast Adam? Where a bread from
heaven, that the sinner may eat and live
for ever in soul and body ? Surely the
prophets were deceived, apostles and evan
gelists have led us astray, when they pro
mised that God should dwell in us and
we in him ; that there should be a re
generation in which we should become
"partakers of the divine nature." If
Christ has done nothing more than for
give me and still leave me in my sin, he
has not redeemed me. I know not how

316 Protestantism a False Gospel.
he can thus disappoint my hopes, or stop
halfway in the work of grace. My
reason tells me the all-perfect God can
not thus blot out my iniquity, and at the
same moment be forced to hate me for
my vileness. But so it is with the Pro
testant gospel. The veil of the temple
was rent in vain. The cherubim are keep
ing guard, and paradise is mine no more.
2. What, in the Protestant sense, is
justification, the notion of which gives
character to the whole view of redemp
tion ? It is that judicial act of God where
by the believing sinner is delivered from
the punishments of sin, but not from sin
itself. Catholics teach that, on one hand,
the remission of sin, of the debt as Avell
as the penalty, and, on the other, posi
tive sanctification, are imparted through the

Protestantism a False Gospel. 317
divine act of justification. Thus, accord
ing to the Catholic Church, the justice of
Christ is immediately appropriated by the
believer Avhen justified, becoming part of
his imvard self and changing his whole
moral existence. According to Protestant
ism, justice remains in Christ, passes not into
the inward life of the believer but remains
in a purely outward relation to him, cov
ering his injustice not only past but still
outstanding, since even then the will is
not healed. By justification, in the view
of the church, Christ stamps outwardly and
inwardly his living impress upon the jus
tified man, so that he becometh, though a
feeble and imperfect, yet a real copy of
the type. On the contrary, by the Pro
testant doctrine, Christ casts on the be
liever only his shadow, under which his
continued sinfulness is concealed, and no

3 18 Protestantism a False Gospel.
longer observed by God. The righteous
ness of the Redeemer is only imputed to
him : it is not his, nor the principle of. a
real holiness. Faith in the Saviour's merits
constitutes the only decisive distinction be
tween sinners in the divine eye ; whatever
good works follow the act of justification
are not able to alter essentially the rela
tion of the soul to its judge. They are
not meritorious nor able to please God ;
and, in fact, righteousness is not acquired
by any sanctifying power imparted with
the remission of sin, though it may be in
virtue of the declaration of forgiveness.
Yet, that sanctification which follows par
don, in the Lutheran scheme, is not one
which changes our interior state, or makes
us actually just before heaven. Original
sin is deeply engraven in man's essence.
Justification cannot go beneath the surface.

Protestantism a False Gospel. 319
The ravages of the fall are so frightful
that they remain in the will of the justified.
The disease cannot be cured. Christ our
righteousness is external to us. The un
righteousness of the old Adam is within
us : the justice of the new Adam is out
of us.
Can such a dreary view of redemption
be reconciled Avith the promises of the
gospel, and the exulting language of S.
Paul ? " We are buried together with
him," says the apostle, " by baptism into
death : that as Christ is risen from the
dead by the glory of the Father, so we
also may walk in newness of life. Know
ing this, that our old man is crucified with
him, that the body of sin may be de
stroyed, to the end that we may serve
sin no longer. For he that is dead, is
justified from sin. So do you also reckon

320 Protestantism a False Gospel.
that you are dead to sin, but alive unto
God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now
being made free from sin, and become
servants to God, you have your fruit unto
sanctification,. and the end life everlast
ing" * " There is therefore now no con-
demnation to them that are in Christ
Jesus, who walk not according to " the
flesh. For the law of the spirit of life, in
Christ Jesus, hath delivered us from the
law of sin and death. For what the law
could not do, in that it was Aveak through
the flesh ; God sending his own Son, in the
likeness of sinful flesh, and of sin hath
condemned sin in the flesh, that the justi--
fication of the law might be fulfilled in us,
who walk not according to the flesh, but
according to the Spirit." !
* Rom. vi. 4-23. f Rom. viii. 1-4.

Protestantism a False Gospel. 321
3. Consistently Avith this doctrine of im
puted righteousness and exterior justifica
tion, Ave find the sacramental doctrine
taught in the Scriptures to be ignored or
repudiated. While the Avords of our Lord
are as plain as Avords can be, Protest
antism, acting upon its privilege of inter
pretation, and folloAving its inward spirit,
explains aAvay their meaning. The en
trance into the kingdom of God is cer
tainly by the new birth ; and that new
birth is held out to us as the door of
Eden regained. In that regeneration Ave
are to knoAV once more a true worship of
the Most High, and a life that flourished
in paradise. Hoav -is that new birth to be
attained ? By baptism, in which, as S.
Paul has told us, we are to be buried in
a death unto the old Adam. " Except a
man be born of water and the Holy Ghost,

322 Protestantism a False Gospel.
he cannot enter into the kingdom of
God." * " He saved us by the laver of
regeneration, and renovation of the Holy
Ghost." f Here, in express terms by
Christ himself, an outward ceremony is
appointed as the means of imparting the
new birth to men. There is, thus, a re
generation as the fruit of Calvary, and
there is a clear and positive way of ob
taining it. The gospel teaches us how
to become sons of God and heirs of heaven.
The gates of Eden are already open. And
if we ask where is the bread of life, the
food of eternity, the pledge and assurance
of a glorious resurrection, our divine
teacher has not left us in doubt. " I am
the bread of life. Except ye eat the flesh
of the Son of man, and drink his blood,
you shall have no life in you. He that
* S.John iii. 5. | Titus iii. 5.

Protestantism a False Gospel. 323
eateth me shall live by me." * But how
find the body and blood of the Word
made flesh? How feed upon it, and live
for ever? "Take, eat; this is my body.
Drink ye all of this ; for this is my blood
of the neAv testament"! Then, who shall
longer hunger — Avho shall thirst? The
cherubim have passed aAvay : their flam
ing SAvords have been sheathed for ever.
Why, noAv, does Protestantism with one
consent reject so plain, so glorious decla
rations of the gospel ? Why does it rob
redemption of its greatest gifts ? Because
it is intrinsically opposed to a real justifi
cation, and the actual communication of
supernatural gifts. The internal ground
"of this opposition lies entirely in its one
sided conception of the state of the jus
tified man before God. Forgiveness of
* S. John vi. f S. Matt. xxvi. 26-28.

324 Protestantism a False Gospel.
sin is separated from sanctification, so
that one may take place independently
of the other, in a way hardly to be com
prehended by Catholics. To hold the
truth that God hath really attached sanc
tifying graces to outward signs or cere
monies, is to hold an inherent justifica
tion and a real holiness, and logically to
throw the honest mind into the habits
of Catholic faith. The utmost that is
made of the sacraments in the Protestant
religion is to take them as pledges of
the divine promises, or signs and seals
of a grace which they represent outward
ly, but do not confer. These effects,
then, are confined to the subjective acts
of the individual receiving them, on whose
internal state depends all their dignity or
fruit. Baptism is an outward sign of a
covenant with God Avholly external, and

Protestantism a False Gospel. 325
represents the neAv birth, which, however,
is in no Avay connected with the rite.
The soul is not regenerated by baptism,
but the neAv birth comes either before or
afterward, according to the various no
tions of different sects. The Holy Eu
charist is by no means the body and
blood of Christ, but simply an affecting
picture of the sacrifice of Calvary ; and
he Avho eats the bread and drinks the
Avine receives grace according to the faith
Avhich he is able to apply to the scene,
in the same way as if he were meditat
ing before a crucifix. Zwingle went even
further, to the vieAv, in which he is fol-
loAved by the greater number of Protes
tants at the present day, that the sacra
ments are only ceremonies whereby a
maru makes an external profession of faith
in Christ. "They are nothing," he says,

326 Protestantism a False Gospel.
"but external things, which in no way
affect the conscience. They are symbols
of spiritual things, but they themselves
are by no means spiritual, nor do they
produce any spiritual effect in us. It is
faith alone by which we are blest." Even
those who do not adopt the language of
the Swiss reformer are of the same mind
in all that concerns the use of the sacra
ments. And when once the inAvard grace
has been severed from its connection Avith
the outward ceremony, it will be difficult
to escape the conclusions to which he
came. For who can connect any sense
with the Avords of Christ, " He that be
lieveth, and is baptized, shall be saved " ?
" Except you be born of Avater and the
Holy Ghost, you cannot enter into the
kingdom of God " ?
There is no real distinction between

Protestantism a False Gospel. 327
the symbols of the Old and the New Tes
tament. Neither impart justifying grace
which places us in vital communion with
the Lord. " Circumcision is nothing," says
Melanchthon ; "so is baptism nothing; the
communion of the Lord's supper is no
thing. They are rather testimonies and
seals of the divine will toward thee ;
through them is thy conscience assured,
if it ever doubted of the graciousness and
good-Avill of God in thy regard."
With the theology Avhich lies at the
foundation of Protestantism, the doctrine
of the sacraments could not stand. It
does not propose a real redemption, nor
the proper sanctification of the fallen man.
Symbolical signs bring the higher world
more immediately within the perception
of sense, while from that world they con
vey the capacity for its influence. They

J

28 Protestantism a False Gospel.

bring in close contact with the soul the
gifts of the Redeemer, show us Avhere
the spheres of nature and grace touch
each other; where Christ is to be found
with all the riches of his saving power.
Total depravity, loss of free-will, exterior
justification, admit no such points of con
tact, no reality in the work of salva
tion. To the earthly birth stained with
sin, no spiritual birth for heaven is offer
ed. There is no supernatural order, tak
ing its source in the heart of an almighty
Saviour, to bestoAv on the order of na
ture the blessing of a true restoration, to
send its healing influences to the root of
the disease, and to purify by celestial
love every stage of earthly existence.
Protestantism despairs of such a renova
tion in which the earthly shall be per
vaded by the heavenly element, and the

Protestantism a False Gospel. 329
neAv creation break forth into songs of
joy for the liberty of the sons of God.
Five sacraments have been blotted out,
and even the two which are retained
haA_e ceased to be channels of any life-
giving poAver. In such a vieAv of re
demption, Iioav does "the ministration of
justice abound in glory"?* When shall
"the creature be delivered from the ser-
ATtude of corruption into' the liberty of
the glory of the children of God"?!
Where is that " spirit of adoption, by
Avhich we cry, Abba, Father " ? J Is there
any Mount Sion, and city of the living
God, a heavenly Jerusalem encompassed
by many thousands of angels ; any church
of the first-born who are Avritten in hea
ven ; any Jesus, mediator of the New
* 2 Cor. iii. 9. f Rom. viii. 21.
X Rom. viii. ij.

330 Protestantism a False Gospel.
Testament, the sprinkling of Avhose blood
speaketh better things than that of
Abel"?* 4. The plan of salvation, as we have
seen it, proposes to us a real union Avith
Christ, of whose life we actually partake,
and in whom we find complete emanci
pation from the effects of sin, and per
fect union with ' God. The Gospel is very
full upon these glad tidings, which it pub
lishes to the fallen Avorld. It represents
the first Adam and his progeny as hav
ing lost their original righteousness by
turning from the creator to the creature.
Though in this sad departure from holi
ness the integrity of man remains, with
the freedom of his will ; yet are there
fearful signs of lost sanctity and of a
* Hebrews xii. 22-24.

Protestantism a False Gospel. 331
wide-reaching penalty. When there was
no arm that could save, or reopen the
gates of paradise, the eternal Son inter
posed and took our nature into union
Avith his divine essence. God has become
man. That sacred humanity whose sor-
roAvs paid the price of our many trans
gressions, is the principle of life to the
dying. He Avho died that we might live,
shares his life with us. From the fallen
Adam we pass over to the second Adam,
the mighty Lord from heaven. His
arms lift us up. His blood courses in
our veins. His body becomes our food.
" By one Spirit are we baptized into one
body." Whose is this body of which the
Holy Ghost speaks ? It is " the body of
Christ, of whom we are members of mem
ber" — that body which is "the fulness of
him who filleth it all in all." We un-

332 Protestantism a False Gospel.
derstand the literal meaning of the joy
ous words of S. Paul, "I live; yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me." We know
that the birth of water and the Holy
Spirit is no fiction of the enthusiast's
hope. "As the living Father hath sent
me, and I live by the Father, even so
he that eateth me shall live by me."
Golden words addressed, indeed, to faith
ful ears, but containing in them the
epitome of the Avhole plan of redemp
tion. What a precious reality do they
teach ! What close union to the Word
made flesh, in whom alone are justice, and
sanctification, and salvation ! This union
with God incarnate, while it leaves in
tact the whole freedom of the intelligent
agent, brings back to man the blessed
remembrances of his unfallen state, and
lifts up his whole being to that victory

Protestantism a False Gospel. 333
over earth and sense which, in full frui
tion, the just judge shall one day crown.
Nothing like this union with Christ,
Avhich is the glory of the gospel, is
possible or conceivable, in the Protestant
scheme. It is a religion which ansAvers
no Avant of the soul, and offers no true
remedy for all the evils of sin. Faith
alone in an historical Christ survives ;
and it points out a Saviour at a far
distance, Avho, though he purpled with
his blood the agonizing way of the cross,
is pOAverless to heal the sore disease of
sinners. That Christ lived many years
ago, and has passed away. The traces
of his humanity are only to be known
in history. On the throne of the judge,
where clouds of aAvful majesty hide him
from vieAv, he sits until the day of wrath,
when earth and heaven shall melt at his

334 Protestantism a False Gospel.
approach, and the terrors of the law
awake the dead to stand before his bar.
Faith in him, so far removed from the
needs of his children, is even then not
belief in what he is, nor in what he has
taught of life-giving truth, but simple
confidence that because of our yearning
desire he hath forgiven our sin, and will
remember it no more. On that con
fidence alone the trembling sinner holds,
while no good Samaritan comes Avith oil
and wine to bind up his aching wounds.
It were vain to hope for full emancipa
tion from evil, or full liberty from the
bondage of corruption. The stains of the
past can never be eradicated ; the ignominy
survives even the resurrection of the just.
No more shall man with unclouded face
look up to the great centre and fountain
of life and holiness, The justice of Christ

Protestantism a False Gospel. 335
may cover him up in the burning fires
of judgment, even as the blood of the
paschal lamb guarded the habitations of
Israel, Avhen the destroyer was abroad.
It is not his OAvn treasure, nor hath he
any merits to offer before the throne,
Avhere there is no deceiver, nor anything
that maketh a lie. The laver of re
generation Avas only the outward wash
ing of Avater; the bread of the last sup
per is only mere bread. In face of this
utter desolation, it seems as if the sin
ner's heart Avould cry out for the living
God. Where is the children's bread ?
Where the flesh and blood of the incar
nate Word ? Oh ! if there were only one
altar on the earth's wide domain, where
I might know that my Saviour deceived
me not by vain words of awful import,
where I might find the food of my spiritual

336 Protestantism a False Gospel.
being, and really take and eat his life-
giving body, how would I be a pilgrim
to that holy place ! I would give neither
sleep to my eyes, nor slumber to my
eyelids, till, if it were only in death, I
had found him whom my soul seeketh,
and had refreshed my thirsty heart from
the veins of his overflowing love. Who
is a robber, but he that taketh from the
gospel its richest gifts and most precious
promises ? Who a deceiver, but he that
hideth the children's food, and in their fa
mine offereth them the husks of the
prodigal \ Little do they knoAv whom-
they deny, who, in their ignorance, as
sail the bride of the Lamb, and turn from
her rich pastures to starve their souls in
the sterile regions of a creed Avhose very
foundation ignores the Word made flesh
and his redeeming work.

Protestantism a False Gospel. 337
5. Shall Ave wonder, then, if at last
the whole fabric of Christianity falls to
the ground, and Jesus Christ himself be
comes the sacrifice to the new gospel \
With the dignity of his person as the
redeemer, stands or falls the redemption
of Avhich he is the author. If he be not
God and man, then is he not only the
most fearful of impostors, but he is utter
ly unable to mediate for the salvation of
a lost race. Then is his bleeding cross
but the crown of an exemplary life, by
Avhich he turned the hearts of the chil
dren to their fathers, and wakes up kindly
sentiments in sympathizing natures. One
by one the supports of Christianity fall,
and at last beneath the ruins behold him
who declared himself to be the coequal
Son of God.
Protestantism began first by denying

33% Protestantism a False Gospel.
the effects of his redemption ; thence it
ascended to assail the atoning character
of his death ; thence the step Avas easy
to dethrone the God-man, and spoil him
of his divinity.
From the ancient creed the sacraments
were taken aAvay, and all outward pledges
of grace imparted through divinely ap
pointed symbols. With this demolition of
the external fabric of the church, its in
ner life soon gave way. There was no
supernatural gift, no inherent justification,
and no true sanctity. All the outworks
of faith were pulled down, Avhen the
whole of religion was resolved into the
subjective experience of the individual on
a bare conviction of confidence in the for
giveness of sins through Christ.
Then as the intellect beheld how in
effectual had proved the redeeming work

Protestantism a False Gospel. 339
of Calvary, it was natural for it to ask
if God had really died, and left on earth
so little proof of the wondrous tragedy.
Could the Word become incarnate, and
leave behind his way of toil and suffer
ing, no living power for the nature he
took to himself, no actually sanctifying
graces for the dead and dying sons of
Adam % If such be really the failure of
Christ's mediation, then the course of argu
ment Avill have a rapid conclusion. That
death which could not change radically
the condition of fallen man, could not have
been the price of a redemption. It was
only a striking proof of God's love, and
a high example of courage and- moral
grandeur. Thence the step is natural to
the denial of any deprivation of original
justice. "Where there was no real atone
ment, and no restoration, there was no

340 Protestantism a False Gospel.
need of a redeemer, no radical fault to be
atoned for. God is not capable of chang
ing in regard to his creatures, however
much they offend him. He needs not to
be reconciled. Man only requires an in
centive to turn from sin by the powers
which are ever his own, and such an in
centive may be found in the pure life
and noble death of Jesus of Nazareth."
Then almost inevitable is the denial of the
divinity of the founder of our faith. When
his life and death were inadequate to
elevate the children of the fall above their
own lost estate, and breathe upon them a
heavenly influence, renewing the face of
the earth ; how could he be in truth the
mighty God, whose ways are from ever
lasting, and whose will is the law of
creation? So has Protestantism come by
a strict logical process to deny Christ,

Protestantism a False Gospel. 341
and make of Christianity a merely hu
man scheme of morality. Already have
Ave noted the legitimate consequences of
such a denial. But how much of the
gospel is left to the so-called votaries of
reason, let the honest heart declare. To
Avhat end are the labors of apostles or
the fervid writings of evangelists ? They
Avho fear the result, must quickly turn
from the path which leads downward to
the destruction of all religion, revealed or
natural. Mark well the signs of the times, and
examine thoroughly the array of conflict
ing sects around the time-worn but im
pregnable towers of the ancient church.
With how many has the belief in Christ
died away, until there is scarcely a recog
nition of his divine person and redeem
ing office? All positive faith has crum-

342 Protestantism a False Gospel.
bled to pieces, until indifferentism and a
low materialism are the characteristics of
modern thought. Philanthropy and na
tural kindness are the types of that which
is greatest and most sublime in the
popular creed. The supernatural world,
with its high and momentous doctrines,
fades out of view. The Deity even is
reduced from his inaccessible majesty to
the level of human comprehension, and
becomes only our highest conception of a
man advanced in culture and ennobled by
progress. There is not one single Pro
testant sect that can stay the flood of
unbelief, or turn the tide that flows with
such fearful power. The very attempt
exposes the framework of their Christi
anity ; the defenceless condition of the
house which is built upon the sand, only to
fall beneath the storm of human reason.

Protestantism a False Gospel. 343
Not for ourselves, but for him who is
the only life of sinners, and for the souls
of those Avho need his light, do we labor.
Ye Avho have need of a divine Saviour,
seek him, and rest not till you find him
in the fulness of his grace and mercy.
There is a redemption from every sor-
roAv Avhich man's fall hath brought upon
humanity, a full restoration of those bright
days Avhich made the joyous hours of
paradise, and caused the sons of God to
exult Avith gladness. Heaven itself hath
come down to earth, and its golden
gates aAvait your entrance. The Word
hath been made flesh, and hath spoken
the glad tidings. God himself in our na
ture extendeth his arms, and lifteth the
creature to the close embrace of the All-
Holy. He washeth the unclean in the
fountain of his OAvn blood, and no trace

344 Protestantism a False Gospel.
of vileness remains. He toucheth the
decayed and dying, and, 'filled with his
life and power, they arise in the form
and likeness of the Lord, who is the
type of regenerate manhood. " Behold
what manner of love the Father hath be
stowed upon us, that we should be called,
and should be the sons of God. We
know that when he shall appear, we
shall be like to him." Seek such, and
only such a Saviour, and rest not till
your Avhole being rejoices in his salva
tion. You will find him only in his
church.

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