IXTEEN D D 

A handbook of 
Apolo(5etic Procedure 

~~,_, 
H.O'H. WALKER. S.J. 

EDMUND J. FORTMAN .S.J. 



~ ... ~ ... 



Sixteen Steps to the Church 

A Handbook of Apologetic Procedure 

Especially prepared for the immediate use 

of Catholic laymen, for people taking apolo-

getic instruction, for students in classes of 

Apologetics, for convert classes and forums, 

for college Newman Club discussions, and 

for all those who are interested in a handy 

reference to that sequence of thought that 

establishes the position of the Catholic 

Church as the Church founded by our Savior 

Jesus Christ for the salvation of all mankind. 

by 

EDMUND J. FORTMAN, S . J. 
HERBERT O'H. WALKER, S. J. 

THE QUEEN'S WORK 

3742 W. Pine Blvd. 

St. Louis 8, Mo. 



Imprimi potest: 

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F. J. Holweck 

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Imprimatur: 

>I< Joannes J. Glennon 

Archiepiscopus Sti. Ludovici 

Sti. Ludovici, die 1 J unii 1939 

Fourth printing. July 1945 

ANY FINANCIAL PROFIT made by 

the Central Office of the Sodality 

will be used for the advancement 

of the Sodality Movement and the 

cause of Catholic Action. 

Copyright, 1939 

THE QUEEN'S WORK. Inc. 



Explanation 

On opening this Handbook at the index, which is in the middle of the book, the reader will find the main steps 
needed for his apologetic discussions-and arranged in a ranking order of apologetic procedure. 

This Handbook is to serve two purposes : 

1 ) to furnish the reader with a logical sequence of arguments that establish the apologetic proof that 
the Catholic Church is ,the Church established by Jesus Christ; 

2) to give a brief proof for the certainty of each link in the .chain of development . . 

The book is prepared especially fdr classes in Apologetics, Convert Classes and Discussion Clubs. With 
this outline well in mind one would be in a position to accomplish the most out of his religious discussions in the 
apologetic field. 

Thus in such discussions the outline shall have prepared him : 

a) to find out the position of his opponent in relation to the general index ; 

b) to make the logical transition from that point to the next; 

c) to prove the new point (Never advance a new point until your opponent is convinced of the one you 
are discussing.); 

d) to continue his way logically to the conclusion that one must accept the Church. 

For example: if he learns, by questioning, that his opponent believes that Christ is God, he will make the 
transition to the following point-That Jesus Christ established one Church. " If, then" , he might say, "since 
you believe Christ is God, we as His subjects must obey His commands. His words become our law." Now he 
has very definitely spoken about the plan we are to follow in working out our Salvation and we must submit 
ourselves to it. 

Then he should offer his proofs for the fact that Christ e~tablished one Church as. the means for our obtain~ 
ing salvation. The proof contained under the heading "Jesus Christ establishes one Church for salvation" will be, 
it is hoped, adequate for the demand. 

And so the procedure advances to the ultimate conclusion that the Catholic Church is the Church that Christ 
established. Once a person has accepted that conclusion, one can begin to talk about the sacraments, dogma and 
morals and all the teachings of the Church, for the infallibility of the Church shall have been proved. But to do 
so before that conclusion has been reached is for the most part a waste of time-an argument "full of sound and 
fury. signifying nothing. " 

This Handbook is both a primer and a guide, showing the inquirer briefly but solidly the line'Of apologetic 
argument and guiding those who wish to speak on such matters or study them more deeply. 

The list of books in the rear of the Handbook is added for those who prefer a fuller and more detailed infor~ 
mation on the points considered. 



1 No Religion Without God ..... But God Exists 

The whole world silently but eloquently declares the presence of an invisible being-its cause and ruler. As 
St. Paul says: "the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being manifested by 
the things that are made." Man is a rational being and by reason alone can he reach to the invisible; hence, by 
the power of his reason he must search out the existence of the invisible God and gain a knowledge of His 
essential attributes. 

Thus looking at the visible things of the world about us, we ponder the reason for their existence and find 
it in God, their First Cause ... We behold the universe instinct with movement, activity, life: reason demands 
the cause of all this ... and locates it in the Prime Mover-God .... We note the universal order and law of 
the universe ... and we are compelled to look beyond to the intelligent Orderer and Lawmaker-God. Reason 
can guide us to God and will do so infallibly if we but use it rightly. 

1) There is a Necessary Being, the First Cause of all other beings-God. 

We see beings around us that may or may not exist, that do not necessarily exist, 
that come into and go out of existence-plants, animals, men. They are possible and contingent beings. Why do 
they come into existence? Obviously not by reason of themselves: some other being is the cause of their coming 
into existence. Was this other being also a contingent being which did not have the full reason of its existence 
in itself but in another being, and this being in still another, and so on and on? No matter how many such con-
tingent beings we find, we can never fully explain the existence of any one of them until we come to a necessary 
being, one that has in itself the full and adequate reason for its own existence. Without such a necessary being 
there could be no contingent beings for there would be nothing sufficient to bring them into existence. The exist~ 
ence of contingent beings demands absolutely the existence of a necessary being which is their cause. This 
Necessary Being we call God. · 

2) There is a Prime Mover, the First Cause of all other beings-God. 

All around us there is motion, activity, life. All these involve change. This change 
requires an agent to bring about the change. If this agent itself undergoes change then still another agent is 
required to account for this change, and so on until we are forced to come finally to an unchanging and unchange~ 
able agent. Because if there were no such unchanging agent of change, there could be no change at all and this 
changing world would be non-existent. Hence the very fact that there is change in this world demands that there 
be such an unchanging agent of change, a prime mover responsible for all movement, itself unmoved, and as 
such the first cause of all else. This Prime Mover and First Cause we call God. 

3) There is an Ordering Intelligence, the Cause of the world order-God. 

Everywhere in this world we see order, purpose, finality in the actions and inter~ 
reactions of diverse beings. There is a tremendous coordination and subordination of l;>eings, a marvelous, con-
stant, universal adaptation of means to ends everywhere-in the domain of stars, sun, and planets, in the mineral, 
plant and animal kingdoms. Everywhere there is orderly functioning according to all embracing laws that 
govern the actions of the most diverse members of the cosmos. Laws inevitably imply a lawmaker above and 
beyond them. Order is essentially opposed to chance: chance might possibly produce a very slight order for a 
very brief space of time but by its very na:ture it is unable to produce a highly complicated, all-embracing, long-
enduring order such as meets us in the world. Order, of its very nature and conc'ept, is the effect of an ordering 
and adapting intelligence. This Ordering Intelligence, the Cause of the world order, above, beyond, and distinct 
from . the world, we call God. 

THEREFORE there exists a being, above and distinct from the world, invisible and NECESSARY, the 
FIRST and INTELLIGENT CAUSE of all else: 

THIS BEING we call GOD. 



From the nature and essence of a being we can reason to certain attributes of that being. So from a con~ 
sideration of the essence of God~Self-Existence~we reason to certain attributes that, as it were, inevitably flow 
from that essence. In this way by a simple analysis of reason we are forced to conclude that God is: 

INFINITELY PERFECT ~that is. He contains all possible perfections in the most perfect, unlimited manner. 
If God's perfections were finite or limited, such limitation would have come either 

intrinsically, from God Himself, or extrinsically, from a cause or being distinct from God. But the limitation can~ 
not have come intrinsically. that is from God's essence, for as God is not the cause of His own existence neither 
can He be the cause of a limitation of His essence: for, as God's essence is precisely "Self-Existence," and exist-
ence of itself is unlimited, obviously no limitation of God's Being can arise from such an essence. Nor can it have 
come extrinsically, from some other being, for that would make Him dependent on that being whereas the First 
Cause is independent of all beings. Hence there is no limit to God's perfections: therefore, God is Infinitely 
Perfect. 

ONE~for if there were more than one God, these Gods would differ in some respect, such that one would lack 
something that the other possessed~some perfection. In that case, however, the 

one lacking that perfection would not be infinitely perfect. Hence to be infinitely perfect a being must likewise 
be One~so that it may contain all possible perfection. 

ABSOLUTELY SIMPLE~because it is impossible for an infinitely perfect being to be composite. For if it 
were composite, either its component parts would themselves be infinitely perfect, 

in which case we would have a plurality of infinites~something that is impossible; or they would be perfectible. 
and then what was already infinitely perfect (the whole composite) would be capable of more perfection~a thing 
which is likewise repugnant. Hence if a being is infinitely perfect it can have no parts but must be Abso-
lutely Simple. 

ABSOLUTELY IMMUTABLE~that is, He can undergo no change. whether substantiaL accidentaL physicaL 
or moral. A necessary being is such that its essence is existence, such that whatever 

it is or has, it is or has by reason of its essence. Any change, then, would mean a change in the essence of 
necessary being. But where the essence is changed, that being no longer exists, for the essence of a being makes 
it what it is. Change, therefore, in a necessary being would mean that necessary being were no longer necessary 
being. Hence in God. the necessary being, we must rule out all possibility of change: make Him Immutable. 

ETERNAL~for a necessary. self-existent being that could begin to exist or cease to exist, would thereby be 
contingent, not necessary, being. For by definition necessary being admits no pos~ 

sibility of non-existence while contingent being admits the possibility of non-existence. Hence necessary being must 
be without beginning, end. or successon, in other words, must be strictly Eternal. 

OMNIPOTENT and OMNIPRESENT ~In God are found a11 perfections in the most perfect manner. But to 
have power and to be present to something are perfections. Hence they must be 

found in God in the most perfect manner, that is, as Omnipresence and Omnipotence. God, therefore, can do all 
things that are possible, and is substantially present everywhere at one and the same time. 

OMNISCIENT -Knowledge is a perfection and hence must be in God in the most perfect manner. God, then. 
must know all things knowable, else He would not be infinitely perfect in knowl-

edge. To know all things knowable implies that God knows whatever could happen, whatever would happen if 
certain conditions were to be verified, whatever actually will happen as well as whatever is actually happening. 
Such a knowledge we call Omniscience. God, then, is and must be Omniscient. 

CREATOR~ Whatever exists owes its existence to God for He is the First Cause of all contingent beings. 
Obviously, then, the first things that He produced came from no pre-existing 

matter-for there was none: hence they were Created. 



2 Man Is God's Servant . . . . . But Service Is Religion 

Religion is natural to Man. All down the centuries peoples of whatever material, moral, social, intellectual 
development, have been impelled by religion to the service of a stipramundane power. A very instinct of their 
nature, and not something merely extrinsic, drove them to this. Their reason readily perceived the necessary 
dependence of man on God, and bade them give this God worship. For if man is essentially a subject creature 
and by nature God's servant, then man is bound by his very nature to recognize his dependence on God in a 
fitting manner. He is bound to this just as much as he is bound to abstain from murder-by the very constitu~ 
tion of his nature-for it is a matter of simple justice. Natural Religion is the expression of this dependence of 
man on God as it is indicated by the light of reason. In the analysis of man, then, is found the basis of religion 
-and of the service that religion demands. 

In this analysis made by reason alone we find that man by nature is: 

1) A Creature of God-Man, since he did not always exist, belongs to the category of contingent beings 
and as such requires the action of God, the necessary being, to bring him into 

existence. This act of God's-creation-constitutes man by his very nature a creature. 

2) A Servant of God-for the maker destines his product for a certain purpose and service by the very fact 
that he makes it adapted to that purpose and service. The purpose and kind of 

service that God had in view in the case of man appears clearly from a more thorough inspection of man's nature. 

3) Not a simple being but essentially composite-made up of: 

a: A material body-with all the characteristics of matter; 

b: A soul-that is, the vital. informing principle of the body, characterized by: 

Simplicity-that is, the absence of all parts; 

Spirituality-an intrinsic independence of the body in its proper functions of mem~ 
ory, understanding, free will; 

Immortality-an eternal post~mortem existence, of which the soul's nature is ca~ 
pable and which God is pledged to grant to the soul so that it may 
fulfill the desire for perfect happiness implanted in it by God but un~ 
attainable in this life. 

4) Utterly dependent on God-because Man in every phase of his being is and always remains a contingent 
being and as such is always dependent on God, the necessary being. 
Man is thus 

Dependent Physically-for as a contingent being he cannot of himself come into existence or remain in 
existence, or perform any activity without the immediate and continued physical 
action of God. Contingent being, at all times and in all phases of its activity remains 
contingent and hence always dependent on the concurrence of the necessary being. 
If this concurrence or conservation be withdrawn for even a moment the contingent 
being immediately ceases to act and to exist. More utter dependence than this is 
impossible to conceive. 



Dependent Morally--for inasmuch as he is a being endowed with understanding--in order that he may 
attain to truth--and with will.-in order that he may attain to good--and gifted 
with free choice in the exercise of this will that his actions may be properly his own 
and imputable for praise or blame, merit or demerit, he is constituted a 

moral creature, free but by no means independent because over and above all this God has estab~ 
lished laws to govern man's actions: 

THE NATURAL LAW--imprinted on man's rational nature and interpreted by the 
voice of his cons.cience; and 

POSITIVE LAW .-delivered orally by God--the Ten Commandments. Further, God 
has placed a sanction on the observance of these laws the better to lead man to his 
final end of perfect happiness. Since the innate tendency of man's will is toward 
good, he finds happiness only in the possession of the Perfect Good, which is God. 
Hence Man is dependent on God for the fact that he is a moral creature and also 
for his ability to perceive clearly the obligations that moral creatureship implies. 

5) Bound to a fitting recognition of this utter dependence on God. 
Religion is the proper recognition and manifestation of man's dependence on God, and inasmuch~ as it is 

arrived at by reason it is called NATURAL RELIGION. This religion prescribes a two~fold 
service or worship of God, namely: 

1) /nternal.-through interior prayer and service to the end that man in strict justice 
Praise and Adore God.-in testimony of God's supreme excellence and man's utter dependence 

on God; 

Love God.-because God is supremely lovable, by reason of His infinite goodness, and because He 
has bestowed great gifts on man; 

Serve God faithfully--because man is essentially the servant of God, the Master, Who wills this 
service and has promised man-- for loyal service--the most perfect eternal happiness. 

2) External--by public worship, sacrifice, prayer, faithful observance of God's commands to the end 
that the internal worship may be intensified and that the body as well as the soul may 
render God His due. 

Man is clearly then, the servant of God, and bound to a definite kind of religious service. Faithful perform~ 
ance of this service, as manifested by his reason, will enable man to do the will of God and thereby attain to 
perfect happiness. Failure to serve is culpable and if gross must inevitably lead to the loss of the happiness that 
God has destined for man and to punishment for his disobedience. Reason. in the natural order of things, is man's 
guide in the observance of his religious duties. Should reason, however, fail somewhat in its proper duty of attain-
ing truth, naturally Religion would suffer. False worship, the influence of the passions might override the guid-
ance of reason entirely and man's condition would be perilous in the extreme. Is there hope of.-and room for--
another guide in addi_tion to reason to act as a check and directive for reason? There is IF GOD STEPS IN 
and INSTRUCTS MAN.-DIRECTL Y .-by means of REVELATION. 



3 God Instructs Man in His Service .. . This Instruction Is Divine Revelation 

Man guided by the light of his reason, could, therefore, know and fulfill the obligations of Natural Religion. 
But what if reason should falter in its proper task of attaining truth, what if man should abandon the lead of 
reason and follow the urge of vice, passion, pleasure? In that event, religious observance would obviously be like~ 
wise distorted and the clear perception of the right order of things, of the worship of God, would give way in 
practice to a more and more false religion. What then? Could God.....-and would He.....-step in to instruct man, to 
point out to him the error of his ways and thus help him back to the proper observance of his religious duties? 
Because He is Omnipotent we must certainly grant that He could do so; from a consideration of the Infinite 
Goodness we are led to conclude that such a divine intervention would take place; from a study of history we 
see that such intervention actually did take place. That intervention we call Revelation. 
Revelation-is the communication of truth to man by God. It is 

Natural-if God, through nature, enables man's reason to attain to the truth; thus, the world, to a reasoning 
man, shows forth God, His wisdom, etc. 

Supernatural-if God directly communicates to man the truth, through speech or its equivalent. Thus God 
gave man the Ten Commandments. 

Here we are concerned with Supernatural Revelation chiefly. It is 

Possible-for it is obvious that if God has enabled men to communicate directly with each other He Himself can 
directly communicate truth to them, since He is all~wise, all~powerful, and omniscient. 

Useful-for it is a highly efficient mode of instruction, whereby God, the most excellent teacher, directly communi~ 
cates to man religious truths of the utmost importance and thereby furnishes an infallible guide 
and check to man's fallible reason. 

Morally Necessary-for the generality of mankind-because 

A congruous knowledge of the truths of natural religion is essential for man to live out, with 
practical facility, God's will ; 

Through sin, frailty, passion, the generality of men early lost this congruous knowledge and fell 
into a degraded polytheism; 

It was morally impossible.....-by reason of their habits of vice and immorality and false religious 
beliefs.....-to reacquire it unaided; 

Divine- assistance, therefore, was necessary, and taking the form of Revelation, this supernatural 
Revelation became morally necessary. 

Obligatory on Man-because the Natural Law demands that man obey God, the Supreme Master, and hearken 
reverently to His commands and behests. 

Clearly Discernible-as coming from God.....-else God's wisdom and power would suffer and He would be instru~ 
mental in leading men into error. Hence there must be attached to it distinctive marks which 
enable men to decide with certitude that only God could be its author. If the proposed doctrine 
be reasonable, holy, noble, in accord with the principles of religion and morality, and the one 
proposing it.....-in the name of God.....-be worthy in every respect, and prove his assertions by in~ 
controvertible signs, then men can know this doctrine is revealed by God. 



Demonstrable WITH CERTITUDE through miracles and prophecies~as being the word of God Himself, for 
miracles and prophecies are God's infallible testimonials of a divine supernatural revelation 
inasmuch as they are works that only He can effect. 

MIRACLES~are sensible events, outside the source of nature, due to the divine omnipotence. Certainly 
the author of nature can suspend the ordinary laws of nature which He established to bring 
about , for instance, the resurrection of a dead man , instantaneous cures. 

PROPHECIES-are definite predictions of free fu ture events (such as depend for their occurrence on the 
free will of man or God). Only God can know with certainty beforehand what a free agent 
will do: hence only He can be strictly the author of prophecies. 

A Fact~that is, God has actually vouchsafed to men such a supernatural revelation. In addition to many 
authenticated private revelations there are two great public revelations. on record, both histor-
ically indisputable and demonstrated to be supernatural through proper signs-miracles and 
prophecies. These two revelations, constituting the Old and New Laws are the: 

Hebraic Revelation-granted to the Hebrews and contained in the historical document entitled the -"Old 
· Testament." It consists of a 

Primitive Revelation~granted to our first parents, announcing the penalty of the sin committed 
and the hope of redemption from the consequences of this sin. 

Patriarchal Revelation~made to and through Abraham, Isaac; Jacob, Juda . .. outlining more 
and more clearly the promise of a Redeemer to come. 

Mosaic Revelation~given to and through Moses, the great law-giver, and including moral. cere-
monial. and civil precepts for the guidance of the Hebrews in their theocratic government. 

Post-Mos~ic Revelation~made through the Prophets for the purpose of guiding the people in the 
proper worship of God and keeping alive the hope of the promised Redeemer. 

Christian Revelation~made by Jesus Christ, a divinely sent ambassador, to announce the end of the Jewish 
dispensation and establish a New Dispensation according to the will of God. 

Christ Proved Himself a divine messenger by the many incontrovertible miracles that He worked 
and prophecies that He enunciated, as well as by perfectly fulfilling the Messianic prophecies 

-which the Old Testament contained about the Messias. a divine legate; 

announced His revealed doctrine as destined for all men of all ages to come, with the strictest 
obligation of acceptance under penalty of eternal damnation~for His doctrine was intended 
to and would lead all men to eternal salvation if properly accepted and observed; 

entrusted this doctrine to an authoritative teaching body through which it was to be transmitted 
to posterity to the end of time. 

The record of this revelation is contained in the historical document called the NEW TEST AMENT as well as 
in the continuous Tradition of the Church of Christ. 



4 Revelation's Story ... Failure of Man ... His Deprivation ... Hope of Salvation 

A quick review of the story told to us through Revelation. 

GOD PREPARED A WONDERFUL EXISTENCE FOR MAN. 

The first man and woman were made by God and placed in a land of delight called Paradise, where all things 
were subject to them. ' 

Adam and Eve were given preternatural gifts-more than normally natural: 

physically perfect 
given knowledge 
beyond the influence of concupiscences 
at leisure 
never in pain 
not to die 
to be grateful to God for these magnificent gifts and after a period of loyalty to Him to be trans~ 
lated to heaven and lead God's life along with Him. They were destined to be lifted to a higher 
plane of living-to enjoy an eternity not of human but of divine life. 

THEY WERE GIVEN SUPERNATURAL GIFTS-powers belonging by right or by their nature solely and 
exclusively to God. 

Of course their natural powers were adequate for human existence and so from the beginning God conferred 
upon them the higher spiritual faculties necessary for living His divine life. These faculties operated in their souls 
concomitantly with their natural powers but were not to enjoy their direct objects until the time of their transla~ 
tion came and they found themselves in the presence of God. 

THIS GREAT GIFT OF LIVING DIVINELY IS CALLED "SANCTIFYING GRACE.' ' 

It made it possible for Adam and Eve to live two lives : one natural and one supernatural. They had been 
gratuitously elevated to the same plane in which God lives-they had become participators in His divine living. 
When they reached heaven these divine faculties would let them know God as God knows Himself-and love 
God as God loves Himself-however not in the same degree as God does. 

Possessing divine life makes one divine as possessing human life makes one human. Having divine life does 
not make one God any more than I. who have human life as well as my brother has , am my brother. 

The retention of these gifts was not forced upon the first parents. Having free-will they could accept or 
reject them. 

GOD DEVISED A TEST: 

which was useful for it permitted them to establish their loyalty and gratitude and the subsequent 
fulfillment of God's high design for them; 

which was easy-"But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat." Gen. 2: 17; 

which was serious and sanctioned-"For in what day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die 
the death.'' Gen. 2: 17. 

~~-- --~ ----



THEY CHOSE TO DISOBEY: 

They were deprived of their preternatural gifts-bodily immortality and perfect control of their passions. 

In losing these gifts their human nature was not intrinsically impaired because they are not con~ 
stituent parts of human nature. 
These losses left them dependent upon their human intelligence which we know can become dark~ 
ened, and to those weaknesses inherent in the human will, and to that rapidly aroused tumult of 
the passions that we all experience. 

They were deprived of their supernatural gifts. Without them they could not live God's divine life and so 
Heaven's doors were closed to them. They could not attain to that end for which God had destined them. 

THE HUMAN RACE WAS DEPRIVED WITH THEM. 

We were incorporate-summed up in the action of our first parent-our representative; and so when he lost 
the "Gifts of God", we lost them. 

But the destiny of the human race was not changed. We are still destined for an eternity of divine life. 

But the "Sanctifying Grace" which makes this divine life possible for us had been rejected by Adam in his 
breaking of God's law. This deprivation of Grace is called "Original Sin." 

But before they were expelled from Paradise 

GOD PROMISED TO RE~OFFER SANCTIFYING GRACE TO MAN. 

God said to the serpent, the devil who in the guise of a serpent had led our first parents into the fall, "I 
will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou 
shalt lie in wait for her heel." Gen. 3:15. "Crush thy head" promises complete victory-and this to be accom~ 
plished through the offspring of the woman. 

The Woman-the Blessed Virgin Mary-came in the course of time and her divine Son-the Second Person 
of the Blessed Trinity-by the sacrifice of His life on the cross of Calvary redeemed mankind, merited the return 
of Sanctifying Grace, and "as many as received Him, He gave them the power' to be made the sons of God." 
John 1.12. 

Incorporate in Adam, all lost the grace of God. 

By Incorporation with Christ, the Incarnate Son of God, we are restored to the Grace of God, and given 
Sanctifying Grace. The doors of Heaven are open again. 

All who so will can obtain the supernatural faculties of leading a divine life and can go to Heaven. This 
is accomplished through the reception of the Sacrament of Baptism which brings sanctifying grace to the soul 
and makes one a child of God and co~heir with Christ to the kingdom of heaven. 

This divine life is strengthened in the soul by the reception of other Sacraments. Christ is the Fount of Grace, 
from Whom Grace goes to all Christian souls making them all His brothers and brothers to each other. This kin~ 
ship in Grace is called the Mystical Body of Christ which shall continue in the world until the end of time-
when th-e purpose of the human race shall have been completed and all the places in the eternal kingdom have 
been filled. 



5 Jesus Christ Is Man's Hope of Salvation 

Jesus Christ, history's greatest personality, was the promised Redeemer. 

In the passif\g of time the primitive revelation made by God to our first parents, which was transmitted by 
them to their children, and in turn by them to their children, etc., faded out, until at . the time of the birth of 
Christ the world at large was given over to idolatry and polytheism. The human race had drifted away from the 
knowledge of the one God and of its high destiny. 

By special privilege God had selected the Jewish people out of all the races on the earth as a chosen nation 
to whom He made revelations from time to time to keep alive the hope of redemption given to Adam and Eve. 
They alone worshipped the One God-while all about them the gentile nations worshipped many gods, and were 
idolaters. 

The monotheism of the Jews was to be the stem upon which Jesus Christ was to graft His doctrines. 

Among the revelations made to this people were prophecies concerning the Messias-The Promised One-
Who was to rule "my people Israel." 

A prophecy delineates a future event depending upon the free will of man or God. God alone, since He is 
omniscient, knows free future events. He is the only possible author, then, of those events in the life of the Messias 
which were announced centuries before He was born. 

Jesus Christ was the Messias-the Hope of Israel and of mankind: 

Because He fulfilled these prophecies . . . and 
lived out the biography written hundreds of years before His birth. 

·That there was a promise made to 

Adam and Eve, Gen. 3:15. "I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and HER SEED : 
she shall crush thy head." 

Abraham, Gen. 12:3. " .. .. and in thee shall all the kindred of the earth be blessed." 
Isaac, Gen. 26:4. " , ... and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." 
Jacob, Gen. 28:14. " .... and in thee and thy seed all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed ... " 
Tribe of J uda, Gen. 49: 10. " .... till He come that is to be sent, and He shall be the expectation of nations." 

And Jesus Christ was so descended, Matt. 1:2 . . 

Furthermore He fulfilled the circumstances of place foretold concerning the Messias, for 

a) He was born in Bethlehem of Juda. Michaes 5: 2; Matt. 2:6. "And Thou, Bethlehem .... shall He come 
forth .... and His going forth is from the beginning ... " 

b) He was born of a virgin. Is. 7: 14; Matt. 1:23. "Behold a ·virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and His 
name shall be called Emmanuel." 

c) He was exiled to Egypt. Osee. 11:1; Matt. 2:15. " ... . and I called My son out of Egypt .... " 

He fulfilled the circumstances of the foretold death of the Messias for 

a) He was sold for thirty pieces of silver, Zacharias. 11: 12; Matt. 27:9. "And they weighed for My wages 
thirty pieces of silver." 

b) He was pierced through the hands a;nd feet. Ps. 21 : 17, 18; Matt. 27 :35. " .... they have dug My hands 
and feet .... and numbered all My bones." 



c) He was mocked. Ps. 21:7, 8. 9; Matt. 27 :39. "All they that saw Me have laughed Me to scorn .... 
and wagged the head." 

d) The story of Christ's death by St. Matthew is little better than the story told of it by Isaias centuries 
before him. Matt. 27. 

e) He was victorious over death. Isaias 11 : 10. Rom. 15: 12. " .... and His sepulcher shall be glorious. " 

He fulfilled the circumstances of time foretold con._cerning the birth and death of the Messias for 

He was born after 
the second temple had been built . Aggeus 2:8 . "And the desired of all nations shall come: and I will 

fill this house with glory." 

the appearance of a special messenger to prepare for Him. Malachy 3 : I; Matt. II: I 0. 

He was dead after 
the passing of the seventy weeks of years foretold by Daniel. Daniel 9 :24-27. 

These are but scattered references to the many prophecies. 

St. Matthew wrote his gospel to prove to the Jews that Christ had fulfilled their scriptural prophecies . 

. The sober truths of history show that these prophecies were made centuries before the birth of Christ and were 
fulfilled in His lifetime. 

Fraud and chance are both ruled out by the demands the prophecies made upon the Messias: that He be born 
of a virgin , in a definite family , definite town, definite time. 

The divine plan is manifest in the accumulating prophecies during the passing of centuries . and in their con-
vergence upon one person, fulfilled in One Being. 

This is not the dream of some genius author: these data are from the pens of many writers; hundreds of 
years pass between the various revelations; later prophecies clarify earlier ones, and even at times depend on them. 
In the Sapiential Books insinuations of the divinity of the Messias were made. Cf. Psalms 2. 44. I09. 
"God Himself will come and will save you." Isaias 35:4. 

He was termed "Wonderful." "God the Mighty," "the Father of the world to come," "the Prince of Peace." 
Isaias 9 :6. 

Christ plainly claimed that these prophecies referred to Him and were fulfilled by Him. " Search the scriptures 
.. they give testimony of Me." John 5 :39. 

So Christ claimed to be the Messias; proved He was fulfilling the prophecies. But besides the unique proof 
offered by the accomplishment of this searching and meticulously detailed biographical data, Christ also claimed -
~ hat He was God. the eternal Son of the eternal Father. and proved .it. 



6 Jesus Christ Is God ..... Redeems Man From His Failure 

Besides being the Messias Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, equal to 
the Father in all things.* 

For 

CLAIMING TO BE GOD 

a) implicitly, by changing the laws God gave to Moses. Matt. 5:21~22, 28, 39, 44. " . ... and I say unto 
you .. . . " implying, "I am your lawgiver." 

b) by absolving sin in His own name. Matt. 9:2~8 . Luke 7 :1. Implying, "I can forgive sin." 

c) as the Judge and Remunerator of the deeds of every man, implying, "I will judge and re-
ward you." Matt. 16:27. That is.- I am equal to God-am God. 

a) explicitly, "I and the Fatlier are One." John 10:30. John 16:15. 17:10. 5 :18. 

b) " He declares that HE IS GOD. Matt. 26:63..-66. "I adjure thee .... be Christ, the Son 
of God .... " Christ answers this adjuration clearly; and His enemies understood His 
answer for they charged Him with blasphemy. 

WE BELIEVE HIM FOR 

His holiness is a guaranty of His words. 

He is proclaimed just by Judas, His betrayer and daily companion. Matt. 27:4. 

He said to others: "He that is without sin .... let him cast the first stone." John 8: 7. 
"Which of you will convince me of sin?" 

He prays forgiveness for His executioners, not for Himself. 

He calmly condemns Himself to death, rather than lie. 

SUCH A MAN DOES NOT LIE. 

HIS CLAIM WAS CONFIRMED BY MIRACLES. John 10:25, 33, 37~38. 

A miracle is a signature that God alone has the power to write. 

God alone has power over death. His exclusive power approves the truth of Christ's claim.-that Christ 
was God. 

Raises the daughter of Jairus. Matt. 9:25. 

Raises Lazarus. John 11 :13. 

Raises the son of the widow of Nairn. Luke 7: 14. 

WHICH INVOLVES THE RESPONSIBILITY OF GOD 

and this is decisive because God, unable to support a liar and blasphemer, endorses the claim of Christ. 

AND PROVES CONCLUSIVELY THAT JESUS CHRIST IS GOD. 

• To prove the authenticity of the New Testament as an historical document cf. chapter (15] . 



He foretold His Resurrection as a sign of His divine mission . 

" .... and the third day .. . . rise again." Matt. 16:21. 12 :40. 

His enemies understood His prediction for on the evening of the passion they went to Pilate: "Sir, we have 
remembered, that that seducer said, while He was y et alive: after three days I will rise again. Command 
therefore the sepulcher to be guarded until the third day. " Matt. 27 :63. 

His disciples dared not to believe Him. Some fled in despair to Emmaus. _ Women went to the tomb carry-
ing spices for the embalming of His body. 

Subsequently they all testified that Christ had fulfilled His prophecy. 

HE REALLY D lED. for 

His executioners. specialists in this work. said so. 
Common sense confirms it: 

Fifteen hours of torture; loss of blood during the scourging. crowning of 
thorns, carrying of the cross. draining on the cross. heart pierced by a spear. 

THEREFORE HE REALLY ROSE 

for many witnesses saw Him living, not once or one at each time. but many to-
gether at different times during a period of forty days: 

The holy women returning to the tomb. 
The Apostle Peter and the group. 
The disciples en-route to Emmaus. 
Five hundred at Tiberias. 

The crowd on Mount Olivet on Ascension Day. 

Furthermore the tomb was found empty. 

Stolen? By whom? 

The Jews? No. They would have immediately exhumed or produced the 
body to prove that the teaching of the Apostles was a fraud. 

The Apostles? No. The story of their fright and their hiding and their 
slow belief (John 20:28) is their own. No, they would not have 
faced death ratl;ler than not announce the resurrection of their 
Master. 

These witnesses did not see a phantom: Jesus speaks and reassures them: " It is I ; fear not" Luke 
24:39. He shares their repast; has them touch His wounded body; "a spirit has not flesh and bones 
as you see Me to have." He tells Thomas to put his fingers into His wounds. John 20:27. 

Men roughened by nature, healthy. robust, giving testimony so varied, repeated, coherent; men hav-
ing their courage suddenly enlarged and strengthened to the acceptance of death after a state of deep 
depression, cannot· be victims of a collective hallucination. · 

THEREFORE THEIR TESTIMONY IS TRUE AND IRREFUTABLE AND PROVES THAT JESUS 
CHRIST REALLY ROSE AND IS GOD. 



7 Jesus Christ Establishes One Church for Salvation 

Jesus Christ by His passion and death Fedeemed the-world (Matt. 18:11. John 3: 17; 10:1 0; 1:12): reconciled 
man with God, restored to him the power of leading a supernatural life and so made possible again his obtaining 
a supernatural end. 

Out of the many possible ways of propagating· and conserving His doctrines and powers Christ selected a 
LIVING TEACHING AUTHORITY. which He ca11ed His Church . to 

A. TEACH HIS DOCTRINES 

B. RULE HER MEMBERS 

C. SANCTIFY THEM; 
and with His complete authority to carry His mission to all men till time ends. 

A. THE MISSION TO TEACH ALL MEN. 
a) "Going therefore, teach (not write) ye (the Apostles) all nations; (every man) 

b) .... to observe .... (believe His doctrine-fulfill His imposed obligations) 

c) .... all things whatsoever I have commanded you: .... (not add or subtract) 

d) .... and behold I am with you .... (in a special way I sha11 see you through) 

e) .... all days .... " (without interruption). ,Matt. 28:19. 
People are bound to hear them-Mark 16:16. 

"He that believeth and is baptized, shall be save.d: but he that believeth not shall be condemned." 

BUT THIS IS INSTITUTING A LIVING TEACHING APOSTOLIC BODY FOR CONSERVING AND 

PROPAGATING HIS DOCTRINES UNTIL THE END OF TIME. 

B. THE POWER TO RULE THE MEMBERS-THE ·BELIEVERS. 

a) " .... Amen I say to you (the Apostles) Matt. 18: 18. (to those having power which proves there is 
not equality among believers ) 

b) .... whatsoever you shall bind upon earth it shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall 
loose upon earth it shall be loosed also in heaven." 

To bind and loose implies bonds-physical. couldn't mean chains. etc., here. 
moral. tying the will. 

But such moral binding and loosing is effected by laws carrying obligations. 

Matt. 18:15.-fraternal correction is commanded; 
18:16~17.-judicial correction with power of punishment: excommunication. Why? Because they 
"will not hear the Church." i. e., obey the laws. 

THEREFORE THEY HAVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE LAWS 

JUDGE THEIR OBSERVANCE 

PUNISH DELINQUENTS 



C. THE POWER TO SANCTIFY HER MEMBERS through religious rites. 
Christ gave His Apostles the power 

to baptize-Matt. 28: 19. " .... baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost." 

to administer the Eucharist. Luke 22:19-20. "Do this for a commemoration of Me." 

But these rites sanctify men. Mark 16:16. " ... and is baptized shall be saved." 

Baptism: John 3:5. "Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter the 
kingdom of God." 

Eucharist: John 6:54. " ... except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man .... you shall not have life 
in you." 

The Apostles, taught by Christ, certainly knew His will. From their practice, then, we can note how th~y fulfilled 
His instructions. That Baptism is a purification of the soul and a necessary sign of introduction into a Chris-
tian community, cf. Acts. 2:37-41; Acts. 8:5-16; 36-38; 9:18; 10:47-48; 11:15-17; 19:1-5. 

The Breaking of Bread, cf. Acts. 2:42; 1 Cor. 10: 16-21; 11:23-28. 

The Imposition of Hands for giving the Holy Spirit, cf. Acts. 8: 14-19; 19:6. 

THE END OF THIS MISSION IS TO LEAD PEOPLE TO SALVATION-Mark 16:16. John 3 :5. 

Thus Christ gave to His Apostles the power to A. Teach His doctrines. 

B. Rule. 

C. Sanctify. 

To subject members-all nations-to their authority: 

by common bonds-moral-The profession of the same Faith. 
The communion of the same rites: Sacraments. 
The subjection to the same rule. 

in order to obtain the end: a) that His religion would be conserved and propagated by making and training 
disciples. 

b) that the members might thus reach an eternal Salvation. 

BUT THIS CONSTITUTES A SOCIETY 

religious-sanctification here and in heaven 
supernatural-given through revelation 

AND THIS RELIGIOUS SUPERNATURAL SOCIETY CHRIST CALLED HIS CHURCH. 

Matt. 16:18.....-" .... I will build my Church .... " 
18:17.....-" .. .. tell the Church .... " 



8 Jesus Christ Makes St. Peter Head of His Church 

So the mission of Christ and the powers necessary to effect its success were communicated to the Apostles 
-making them one moral person with Christ-Matt. 10:40. " He that receiveth you, receiveth Me: and he that 
receiveth Me, receiveth Him that sent Me." Luke 10:16; John 13:20. The obligation of men to accept their 
teachings, obey their laws, etc., proves that the Church is hierarchical and not democratic. But among the gov~ 
erning Apostles there is not equal jurisdiction and authority, for Christ gave SUPREME JURISDICTION to 
ST. PETER. -

(Whenever the Church is mentioned it is always treated as a society having those who are in authority and 
others subject to them.) 

SUPREME JURISDICTION GIVES A MONARCHIAL FORM OF GOVERNMENT TO THE CHURCH 
which makes of the one holding that supreme jurisdiction a primate. 

And since THE CHURCH WILL LAST FOREVER. UNCHANGEABLE FROM WITHIN 
FROM WITHOUT 

it must EVER BE HIERARCHICAL AND RULED BY A PRIMATE. 

A . Matt. 16:17~19. Christ speaks only to Peter and not to the other Apostles: 

"Blessed are thou, Simon Bar~Jona. " (as clearly named as a lawyer demands) 
(Peter had just received the special revelation from the Father.) 
"I say to thee: that thou art Peter;".-a new name for him. Mark 3: 16; John 1:42. 

a ) " . . . . thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my Church," Peter, in the Aramaic, which Christ 
spoke, means rock. That explains itself : "thou art a rock and upon thee I .. .. " 

b ) " I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven" 

BUT THESE PROMISES CONCERN PRIMATIAL JURISDICTION. 

For a) Peter is to be for the Church what a foundation is for a building: the principle of unity, of firmness , and 
of stability. Matt. 7 : 24~27. But this principle cannot efficaciously safeguard matters of faith and dis~ 
cipline; that is, actually influence the faithful and their pastors, unless one rules with supreme authority. 

b) 'The keys' is symbolic of supreme jurisdiction . .. 
for it was a custom among ancient peoples, especially among the Orientals, to use the "giving over of 
the keys" to the city, citadel. house, as a symbol of handing over the rule of the city, the command of the 
citadel. the ownership of the house. Isaias 22 : 
So he who has the keys of heaven has the power from whence all other powers flow. 

THEREFORE PETER WAS PROMISED THE PRIMACY OF THE CHURCH. 



The promise was fulfilled after the Resurrection. John 21 :15~17. 
Ai. Christ speaks to Peter only and not to any of the other Apostles. 

a) calls him by his proper name, Simon, son of John. 

b) St. John says: "Jesus saith to Simon Peter." 

c) " ... lovest thou Me more than these?" i. e., more than these disciples love Me? -Special love demanded 
of one holding the supreme office. 

d) triple attestation of love for triple denial. St. Peter was the only Apostle that denied Christ three times. 

He saith to him: "Feed my lamos' John 21:15~16. 
"Feed my sheep" John 21:17. 

BUT THIS CONFERS THE PRIMACY OF THE CHURCH UPON PETER: 

For a) to feed means to rule: shepherds of the people were rulers of the people. 

2 Kings 5:2. "Thou (David) shalt feed my people Israel. and thou shalt be prince" (in Latin dux-
leader-is used). 

Psalms 2:9 "Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron." (The Greek has "poimai:nein" which is to fee9.) 
Homer (profane author) calls kings "poimenas laon"-shepherds of the people). John 10:14~16; Acts 
20:28; 1 Peter 5:2. 

b) feed my lambs and sheep means the whole {lock-therefore, rule everybody. 

1. from the metaphors used, which designate supreme jurisdiction-the power and rule of kings is given 
to Peter over the Church. 

2. if a greater or an equal power were had in the Church the one enjoying that power would not be 
under Peter; and so not one of the sheep-certainly not one of the lambs ruled by the sheep. 

3. that was the sort of power promised to Peter. Matt. 16:17~19. 

4. common powers to all were received by Peter along with the rest. John 20:21; Matt. 28:19. But here 
a special prerogative is given. 

Then too the Apostles accepted Peter as their primate as is easily shown from a cursory reading of the Acts of 
the Apostles. 

THEREFORE PETER ALONE HAS SUPREME JURISDICTION-PRIMACY. 

B. Matt. 16:18. "I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against her." 
The gates of hell-power of the devil. greatest enemy of Christ. Implicitly Christ declares 
that no power will overcome His Church for if diabolic power must fail. all other force 
must likewise fail. 

THEREFORE 1. THE CHURCH CANNOT BE CHANGED FROM WITHOUT. 

'2. SHE CANNOT BE CHANGED FROM WITHIN. 

3. THE CHURCH WILL EVER BE MONARCHIAL AND RULED BY A PRIMATE. 



THE EXISTENCE AND NATURE OF GOD 

ADAM AND · EVE 4 

BY THE LARGESSE OF GOD 

BEGAN THEIR EXPERIENCE 

ON THtS 

THE SUPERNATURAL PLANE 

MAN 2 

BY HIS VERY NATURE 

LIVES ON THIS 

THE NATURAL PLANE 

MAN HAS A SUPERNATURAL DESTINY ... 

AN ETERNITY WITH GOD IN HEAVEN: 

BY SIN 4 

AND 

WERE 

DRIVEN 

FROM 

PARADISE TO 

CONTINUE 

THEIR EXISTENCE 

ON THE 

NATURAL PLANE 

TO THE 

NATURAL 

FROM THE 

HIMSELF 

ELEVATE 
CAN .NOW 

SO WILLS 
IF HE 

ANY MAN 

WAYS •nd EVERYWHERE 

TEACHES 7 

TRADITION 9 

THE BIBLE 15 

SANCTI 

EXTREME UNCTION 

HOL 

ORDE 
CONFIRMATION 

BAPTISM 

HOLY EUC 

ALL THE 



~OLY GHO.ST .............................................. _ 
SANCTIFYING GRACE 

FLOWS FROM CALVARY 

THROUGH THE CHURCH 

TO SAVE-ELEVATE MAN ~ TO THE SUPERNATURAl PlANE 

rf GHOST 

URCH 12 

FIES 7 

APOSTOLICALL Y 
AND PERENNIAllY I I 

GOVERNS 7 

MATR~IMONY _y 
:Rs 

PENANCE 

THE MASS 

~~ARIST 

BY PRIMACY 8 

HIERARCHY 7 

AITHFUL 

• 

MAN THEN MUST BE ELEVA TED 

TO THE SUPERNATURAL PLANE 

GOD ELEVATES MAN THROUGH 

THE CHURCH AND SACRAMENTS 

SUPERNATURAL PLANE 

EXCOMMUNICATED 13 

PROTESTANT CHURCHES 14 
Of 16th CENTURY 
REfORMERS-
lUTHER-CAlVIN 
KNOX-HENRY VIII 



Christ, being God, could not teach error. The service God demands of His creatures has been clearly 
outlined by Him. He has opened the gates of Paradise for us; but He has also marked the course we must 
pursue in order to pass through them into eternal happiness. His revelation then is of awful importance to us. 

Christ commanded Peter (and his successors) and the Apostles (and their successors) to teach His revela~ 
tion to all nations. The correctness of their instruction is of the greatest importance to all of us who did not 
listen to Christ Himself. Christ must see to it then that His Church does not lead people into error.-for their 
salvation would be imperiled-if not lost.-and Christ would have to accept the blame for it, because the only 
reason we have for accepting the teachings of the Church is the command of Christ that we do so.-under pain of 
eternal damnation. Mark 16: 16. 

Christ and the Church constitute one moral person. Luke 10 : 16. John 13:20. 

But Christ cannot teach error or permit error to be taught in His name. 

THEREFORE THE CHURCH MUST BE INFALLIBLE IN TEACHING HIS REVELATION. 
The Church must teach. It is not free not to teach. The command of Christ: "Going therefore, teach ye all nations 
.... " will be fulfilled just as are all of God's commands and all His laws. even down to the movements of atoms. 

If the Church could teach error it would be, because 

a) Christ could not preserve her from error; 
(BUT being Omnipotent He can preserve Her. ) 

b) Christ is unwilling to preserve Her from error; 

(BUT this makes God indifferent to error-an impossibility, and would make God responsible for 
the errors of the Faithful.) 

It would mean that 

the Incarnation and Redemption had been in vain. 

His Church has failed and that the 'gates of hell' have prevailed against Her. 

His coming to teach men the way to avoid sin has become another cause of sin. 
But Christ knew that it is human to err and that His teachers, if left to their own natural powers, would in all 
probability bungle things-so 

HE TOOK PRECAUTION THAT HIS CHURCH WOULD NEVER TEACH ERROR. 



The Teaching of Peter and the Apostles (the Church) Must Be Infallible 9 

A. By promising His efficacious assistance. 

First there is the command (which must be fulfilled because it is from an omnipotent God) that they 
must go forth (Matt. 28:20) ...... .''teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." 

Tha t means the complete revelation. 

They shall not add anything to that revelation-in the course of time: as time and customs change-
and economic conditions. 

They shall not subtract anything from it-to gain members, say, by making the demands less exact~ 
ing, etc. 

That with the death of the last Apostle nothing new can ever be added to the deposit of Faith taught by 
Christ to the Apostles. 

"AND BEHOLD I AM WITH YOU ALL DAYS-even to the consummation of the world." 

Christ remains the (invisible) head of His Church. 

Christ guarantees by His presence that His revelation shall be taught accurately until the end of time. 

The formula "I am with you" is a biblical expression having a very noted and precise meaning. God 
uses it (directly or indirectly) during the course of His revelations to manifest His will in certain 
events, and to insure the accomplishment-absolute-of that event. Gen. 31 :3; 39:3; Deut. 31 :8; Jer. 
30: 10~11; in the Acts 18:9~10. 

B. By promising the efficacious assistance of the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Truth; and we know that this promise 
was fulfilled, Acts 2: 1~5. 

"And I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with you forever. 
The spirit of truth." John 14:16. 

"He will teach you all things, and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I shall have said to you .. . " 
John 14:26; John 16:7; 16:12~13. · 

BUT this special help again insures their infallibility. 

_THEREFORE THE CHURCH MUST BE INFALLIBLE IN TEACHING HIS REVELATION. 

Infallibility means immunity from error: It does not mean immunity from sin. 
Just as a cancer cure does not mean that all cancer cases are cured, but that there is a possibility of a cure 
for those using the cure, so Christ has made Salvat ion possible for all men who follow out" the method He 
has set for obtaining Salvation: by accepting the teaching and direction of His Church, and by the reception 
of those means-Sacraments-prepared for their sanctification. 



' 

Insured of existence till the end of time, certain of ever teaching the revelation of Christ without hesitancy or 
the shadow of doubt, knowing that every man who accepts Christ as God must accept His teaching and join the 
Faithful or be damned, carrying the divine powers of sanctification which are absolutely necessary to elevate man 
to the supernatural life and make possible his eternal Salvation, THE CHURCH OF CHRIST goes forth to in~ 
struct the world. 

That world was the Roman Empi-re-an empress 

A. wealthy from the loot of conquered kingdoms; 

B. unsympathetic in her military sternness, holding four~fifths of the people in slavery; 

C. devoted to idolatry, whose rites necessitated immoral living. 

Christianity and Rome could never compromise, for Rome was proud and Christianity was essentially 
humble. 

the LAW OF CHRIST WAS OF JUSTICE (A) teaching self~denial. voluntary poverty, alms~giving; 

the THEME OF CHRISTIANITY WAS CHARITY (B) teaching love of our neighbor, care for the sick, 
the old, deserted babies; 

the CHARM OF CHRISTIANITY WAS CHASTITY (C) teaching the sacredness of marriage, respect 
for women, personal purity. 

If the Church was to succeed, ROME HAD TO BE COMPLETELY CHANGED. 

But Rome could not change herself-not even the Emperor, raised to the stature of a god, with full power 
over the lives of his subjects, could change her. 

BUT ROME WAS CHANGED COMPLETELY and BECAME CHRISTIAN. 

DID THE CHURCH SUCCEED BY HUMAN MEANS? 

Humanly speaking. Christ had done everything to make Himself a perfect failure: 

Knowing that it was quite impossible to obtain a hearing in the world unless you were born a Roman 
citizen-and of a famous Roman family-Christ was born a Jew, and in a stable. He lived the greater 
part of His life in the despised town of a despised people. 

Knowing that victorious generals were given triumphal receptions at Rome, He offered to this warring 
nation a palm branch, a crown of thorns, a throne of crossed boards. 

Knowing the veneration Rome paid to those who had the courage to commit suicide rather than face 
pain and infamy, He had Himself crucified-the ugly penalty Rome reserved for her lowest criminals. 

Knowing the adulation Rome poured over the shoulders of her leaders who brought slaves, prisoners, 
and wealth for her entertainment, He promised her the keen restraints of chastity, charity, and poverty. 
Instead of selecting gifted philosophers, eloquent orators, trained diplomats, lettered men, to announce 
His doctrines to ·Rome, He selected the colorless, ignorant, and slow of speech from the fisherman huts 

~I 



• 

The Church Spreads Over the World: Confronts the Reformation 

bordering an inland sea, in the small county of Galilee. in the province of Syria. Twelve were chosen; 
one of these betrayed Him; the appointed head denied his Master. These He sent into the savage scene 
that was Rome: a plethora of slavery, lust. gladiatorial slaughter, gluttony. and despair. with a message 
of faith. hope. and love that were to undermine the principles of the mighty empire. 

Obedient to the command of Christ they went forth . to battle. 

Nero, Domitian, Trajan. M. Aurelius. Severus, Maximian. Valerian, Decius. Aurelian, and Diocletian loosed 
their tremendous powers as gods and emperors upon the teachers of Christ and their followers. The records 
of those who stood blood witnesses to Christ are not definite, but historians count them from two million as 
a minimum to ten million as a maximum. 

The empire-wide persecutions prove that Christianity was wide-spread; the first persecutions prove that the 
Church spread quickly; the continuous persecutions prove that the spread of Christianity was efficacious. 

In the day of Constantine the Church was given official freedom ; over half the empire was Christian. Rome had 
lost the fight. 

HUMANLY POSSIBLE? Absurd. Try to put over a small business deal in this same fashion. The divine help 
is manifest . 

• The History of European civilization is the History of the Church of Christ. 
She was the only thing of certainty in the great chaos that flooded the world with the pillaging of the bar-
barians from the North. Out of this dark night. owing to the long silent work of the Church in her monastic 
system, emerged suddenly the glorious dawn of the eleventh century. Culture and progress is best ex-
emplified in her gothic cathedral in its flight in the material to point out the spiritual world. reaching daringly 
up toward the throne of God. Cold historical facts bring the story of the Church of Christ up to the six-
teenth century. Her line of successors to St. Peter and of the successors to the Apostles transmitting their 
powers regularly (as Christ had foreseen) from generation to generation. has never been questioned. At-
tempts to subvert the revelation of Christ, by adding to it and by subtracting from it have been made, but 
the successors of St. Peter have been true to their high office : pointing out the untruth. commanding 
retraction from those in error, and when the retraction was not made, excommunicating them. 

We pause here, not because the history of the Church is in doubt , but because in the sixteenth century men 
called into question the authority of the Church. As a result we find some three hundred churches today claim-
ing to be the Church of Christ. Since WE MUST BE MEMBERS OF HIS CHURCH IN ORDER TO BE 
SAVED it is necessary to consider the claims of these churches and compare their constitutions to the 

CONSTITUTION CHRIST GAVE HIS CHURCH . 

10 



The Constitution and the spread of the Church of Christ is an historical fact. We have studied it from 
records more authentic than those used by students at work on the writings of Caesar, Cicero, Vergil. and others 
of the same century as Christ. That men disagree more over Christ than over Caesar, etc., is not due to a la,ck 
of reliable records but to this-that Christ is more than a mere person of history. He is God, and to accept Him 
as God means submission to His Church. 

But to find His Church out of the numerous claimants today is the problem of every God-fearing and God-
loving man. The promise of an Omnipotent God that His Church will (must) last forever insures the presence 
of His Church among us. Since He established ONE Church all the claimants cannot be right. BUT He has also 
promised His divine assistance to safeguard His Church from CHANGE both from within and from without, 
and so His Church today must be constituted as it was when He established it. The only way, then, to be certain 
of His Church is to compare the Constitutions of the various Churches with the elements that compose His 
Church. 

The Essential Elements that make up the Constitution of Christ's Church are: 

A. That it be a TEACHING CHURCH 

a) TEACHING with authority-the absolute authority of Christ Himself for He is its Invisible Guide and 
Teacher. "I am with you." · 

such that demands acceptance under pain of eternal damnation. 
from Christ, transmitted to His Apostles, to their successors, till the end of time-hence, DIVINE 
authority. 

not derived from any human power, personal or national; and since the spiritual power, by reason 
of its higher end. transcends the temporal. is SUPREME over Kings, Nations, Peoples. 

b) TEACHING all of Christ's doctrines-in the full sense of the term. 

Every part is ESSENTIAL~ to disregard any part is to go counter to the will of Christ; to do so 
proves that His divine help has not safeguarded His Church, or that the Church which does this 
is evidently not His Church for His will not change. 

One and the same doctrine. ALWAYS. At no time for reasons of compromise or anything else can 
it change His teachings. A Church that admits a change admits it has no claim to be His. 

Wherever found: a) in Tradition-the teaching of the Apostles transmitted by word of mouth. 

b) in Scripture-the inspired word of God. 

c) By the MEANS Christ appointed-that is, His selected Teachers: 

the Apostles and their succe~sors for they were the ones who were given the RIGHT, the DUTY, the 
AUTHORITY to teach. And THEY ALONE. "He that despiseth you, despiseth Me." 

d) Until the END OF TIME-the Teachers deriving their DIVINE authority from the Apostles and their 
legitimate successors. · 

e) Without FEAR OF ERROR ... having the infallibility of Christ; when teaching matters of Faith and 
Morals : the Doctrine of Christ. 

f) ALL NATIONS-having a DIVINE commission to enter among every race, every class, into every 
state, every place where men are. 



. The Church of Christ Is Known by Its Unchanging Constitution 

THUS THE TRUE CHURCH OF CHRIST, today, MUST BE: 

A divinely appointed and infallible group of Teachers, teaching with absolute authority derived from Christ 
and His Apostles, teaching His complete doctrine found in the Sacred Scripture and in Tradition. 

B. that it be a RULING CHURCH in its very institution and constitution: 

a) LEGISLATIVE 

laws to direct the faithful in matters of their Salvation; 
laws that bind in conscience; 
laws that cover external discipline: the external and internal forum. 

b) JUDICIAL 

legislative power necessitates .judicial and punitive powers to interpret and apply authoritatively the 
laws of God and Church. 

c) PUNITIVE 

to establish a sanction for the non~observance of the laws-expulsion. 

d) Powers to rule FROM CHRIST HIMSELF, therefore, God, for Christ remains the invisible Ruler of 
His Church. "I am with you ... " 

therefore from no human power; 
independent of all human power-civil power; 
supreme power-above temporal power. 

e) Powers can be exercised only by divinely appointed Rulers and Successors. 

Christ gave His Apostles absolute power to rule the Faithful. 
This absolute power, by Christ's command, is to be transmitted. 
This power is to be transmitted till the end of time. 
Hence only LEGITIMATE SUCCESSORS OF THE APOSTLES HAVE JURISDICTION. 

THUS THE CHURCH IS ESSENTIALLY HIERARCHICAL-consisting of divinely appointed Rulers, 
and subjeCts bound to them in absolute obedience in faith and morals. 

And the HIERARCHY and the FAITHFUL are under ONE divinely appointed HEAD, their PRIMATE-
the Vicar of Christ, St. Peter, or his Successor. 

This power of Primacy is to last as long as the Church. THUS THE CHURCH of Christ today is essen~ 
tially a MONARCHIAL Hierarchy-or else it has changed. 

C. That it be a SANCTIFYING CHURCH leading the Faithful to Salvation: 

By teaching and preaching the sanctifying doctrines of Christ-the Beatitudes, the Evangelical 
Counsels, Good Works, Faith, Fasting, etc. 

By administering divinely appointed Rites-Sacraments-which Sanctify the Faithful receiving them; 
who receive them under obligation as having a direct and necessary bearing on their Salvation-as 
Christ willed. · 

Through MINISTERS divinely appointed, ordained, and endowed with this divine power: Christ gave 
this power of administration to . His Apostles; it is to endure until the end of time, through transmission 
by the IMPOSING OF HANDS, producing Sanctity, lives of heroic virtue based on the Counsels. 

I ' 

THUS THE CHURCH OF CHRIST, today, essentially Sanctifies the Faithful by MINISTERS with divinely 
transmitted power producing lives of heroic Sanctity based on the Counsels. . 

11 



With the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles in Jerusalem, the Church of Christ began to function 
and spread. Into Judea, Samaria, Asia Minor, Greece, the uttermost parts of the known world, the Apostles car~ 
ried the Gospel of Christ and aggregated to His Church peoples of every race and color. Pope of Rome, bishops. 
priests, carried on the work of the Apostles and overcame the hostile onslaught of paganism, Arianism, Pelagi~ 
anism, Albigensianism. Till the 16th century the Roman Catholic Church was universally recognized as the stand~ 
ard bearer of Christ's doctrine, the one true Church that He had established to carry on His work to the end 
of time. Then her right to that title of true Church of Christ was boldly called into question. But it is easily 
demonstrable that if she be not the true Church of Christ then there is no true Church of Christ in the world 
today, nor was there in the past, for only in the Roman Catholic Church are found the essentials of the 
true Church. 

1) There is NO CHURCH OF CHRIST in the world UNLESS IT BE the ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

Christ founded one Church that was to begin its work immediately under the leadership of the Apostles. 
and through their successors was to continue this work uninterruptedly until the end of time. The only Cliurch 
that dates back to the Apostles in an unbroken continuity is the Church of Rome that is in existence today. 
Hence it alone is the true Church. 

2) CHRIST DETERMINED THE CONSTITUTION OF HIS CHURCH as it would remain forever. 

Only in the Roman Catholic Church is this Constitution found today. just as it has been found without 
essential change . either by way of addition or subtraction. 

a) CHRIST ESTABLISHED A DEFINITE KIND OF TEACHING CHURCH, one that was to teach 
with the absolute authority of Christ Himself, the entirety of Christ's doctrine; one that was to teach with 
absolute infallibility by means of the teachers whom Christ Himself selected; one that was to teach all 
peoples, in all parts of the world one and the same doctrine till the end of time. 

The Roman Catholic Church is just 'such a teaching Church, verifying in every particular the will of 
Christ. It teaches with absolute authority derived not from any state or ruler but by legitimate trans~ 
mission from the Apostles and Christ. 

It demands the absolute obedience to its teaching authority under penalty of excommunication al}d 
the consequent loss of eternal salvation. It presents the doctrine of Christ in its entirety, whether it be 
found in the New Testament Scriptures or in the equally authoritative and uninterrupted Tradition: it al~ 
lows of no distinction between essential beliefs that must be retained and non~essentials that may be 
rejected, when both are found contained in the teaching of Christ. 

Christ endowed the Apostles and their successors with infallibility. The Roman Catholic Church has 
always exercised the prerogative of infallibility; once the teaching Church has given definitive judgment. 
she steadfastly maintained that in virtue of Christ's promise, that judgment in faith or morals was abso~ 
lutely true and infallible. She has spread the Gospel into every part of the world, one and the same doc-
trine in ancient, medieval , and modern times. without admitting the slightest change in essential matters. 



• 

The Roman Catholic Church Is the True Church of Christ 

b) CHRIST ESTABLISHED A PARTICULAR KIND OF RULING CHURCH: one that was to exercise 
the absolute power of Christ Himself in matters legislative, judicial, coactive; one in which the ruling 
element was to be an ecclesiastical Hierarchy made up of the Apostles and their legitimate successors; 
one in which there would be perpetual Primacy of Juris diction exercised by St. Peter and his legitimate 
successors. Just such a ruling Church is the Roman Catholic Church. She exercises...- and has from the 
very beginning-absolute legislative, judicial, coactive powers; powers derived from no secular authority 
but from Christ Himself through legitimate transmission. She rules and judges and punishes infractions 
of her own laws as well as the laws of God and exercises the sanction of excommunication. 

She has always had a Hierarchy of rulers, consisting of pope and bishops legitimately deriving their 
authority from the Apostles, and has always upheld the strict distinction between rulers and subjects which 
Christ introduced into His Church. At no time has she been a strictly democratic organization wherein 
rulers derived their power from the people, or a dependency whose rulers derived their power from secular 
monarchs. but she has always been an independent Church with power of her rulers descending from Christ 
Himself. 

At all times the Pope has exercised the Primacy of Jurisdiction, and exercised this absolute power in 
virtue of his being the legitimate successor of St. Peter. Hence the Roman Catholic Church has always 
been a Monarchial Hierarchy remarkable for its unexampled unity of faith and doctrine. 

c) CHRIST ESTABLISHED A UNIQUE TYPE OF SANCTIFYING CHURCH: one that was to effect 
the sanctity of her members by teaching and preaching His sanctifying doctrines, by extolling the prac~ 
tice of the Evangelical Counsels, Good Works, Fasting, Prayer, by everywhere and at all times giving God 
public worship by means of the Sacrifice of the Mass, by using the Sacraments He established; one that was 
to carry on the work of sanctification through the ministers that Christ appointed-and their legitimate 
successors-by means of the special power conferred on them by Christ; one that was to be effective in its 
work of sanctification as manifested by the presence of a high degree of virtue in the Church, of saints 

· of heroic virtue, of miracles to show divine appJ;obation. 

Such a sanctifying Church is the Roman Catholic Church. She teaches and practices the Evangelical 
Counsels particularly in her flourishing religious orders of men and women; everywhere she celebrates the 
same Holy Sacrifice of the Mass; everywhere she insists on the use of the seven Sacraments;' everywhere 
this work is carried on by special ministers deriving their power through the Sacrament of Orders from 
Christ Himself by virtue of the Apostolic Succession: at all periods of her existence she has shown forth 
high virtue and even sanctity in her multitudinous religious and canonized saints; all through the centuries 
she has borne the marks of divine approbation in the innumerable miracles ~hich God has seen fit to per~ 
form in testimony of individual sanctity and doctrinal rectitude. 

She is preeminently the Church that teaches, preaches, and effects the sanctification of her members, 
a work that was peculiarly Christ's own work, for which He came into the world and for the continuation 
of which He established ONE ALL~EMBRACING CHURCH. 

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IS THE TEACHING. RULING. SANCTIFYING CHURCH OF 
CHRIST . 

12 



The word "REFORMATION"....-chosen to cover the political. moral. and religious revolutions in the six-
teenth century-is hardly apprppriate. It does not fit the case. You can't reform a thing by creating something 
new. And yet that is what the Reformation did. The Rules Committee can reform the game of football by making 
new rules, or changing old ones, as long as the elements of the game are not changed. If the Committee were to 
shelve football and put up soccer no one could say that football had beeri reformed, even though there was a refor-
mation of some sort, and soccer is still a football game. If the Church had been reformed we would not have to 
consider a new order of religious creeds dating their origin to that reform. · 

The Reformers took their common name of Protestants from the fact that they protested against the Catholic 
Church. They likewise held that their Church-each one for his own....-was the Church of Christ. 

They protested against the Catholic Church because they thought that it had failed, that is-was no longer 
the Church of Christ. If the Catholic Church had failed, then the promise of Christ to see to the perpetuation of His 
Church had failed. That means that Christ has failed: His religion, His Church, and all concerning His divinity, 
etc., and that people need bother no more about Christianity. 

They protested against the Catholic Church because they thought that they, the Reformers, had established a 
Church which is the true Church of Christ. Then, for the same reason, people should not bother themselves about 
Christ or His Church. For if Christ instituted a Church, and promised it perpetuity until the end of time, there 
could never be a time when it could cease to exist; but if the Reformers are correct and the Catholic Church wrong . 
then the Church of Christ did not start to function until the day of the Reformers in the sixteenth century. For 
sixteen hundred years the Church of Christ had not existed. 

But why can 't Protestantism be a continuation of the Church of Christ? 

The Catholic Church was the Church of Christ up to the time of the Reformation but at that period it was 
given over to the Protestants. If this is the case, then the Protestant Church must possess the unchanging ele-
ments that compose the Constitution of the Church of Christ . 

AUTHORITY TO TEACH IN PROTESTANT CHURCHES. 

From whom do the Protestant teachers derive their authority to teach? 

From Christ through the Apostles and their succ;:essors? 
From the King or the Queen or the Dictator? 
From Parliament? 
From the choice of the People? 
From private inspiration? 

If these Protestant teachers teach in the Church of Christ . their authority must be from Christ and traced 
back to Him. 

OBLIGATION OF SUBJECTS TO ACCEPT TEACHING UNDER PAIN OF DAMNATION. 

Do they oblige their subjects to believe under pain of damnation? 
Do they oblige their subjects to any definite belief. or is the Protestant layman free to accept or refuse the 

teaching of his Church? 

Doesn't the existence of so many sects and sub-sects prove that the Protestant Churches lack authority. and 
have been so recognized by those who have started other sects? 

Have their general convocations any authority? or can the faithful object to their decisions? or do not the 
delegates themselves oftentimes refuse to accept their conclusions? 



Have the Protestants Taught the Doctrine of Christ? With Christ's Authority? 13 

What sort of authority does the Parliament of England offer the English Church? 

The decision reached by that body is from the vote of members some of whom not only do not belong to the 
Church but are not even Christians. 

Do the Protestant Churches 
even claim divine authority? 
assert their spiritual power to be independent of the temporal power of government? 

HAVE THE PROTEST ANT CHURCHES EVER CHANGED THEIR DOCTRINES? 

The existence of sects and sub~sects proves that original doctrines have been changed. 

Luther's doctrine has undergone a complete reversal: from teaching that it was faith that counted and not 
good works, his followers now teach that it isn't so much what you believe that matters as what you do. 

What is the purpose of the great Protestant convocations with representatives from every sect, if not to 
compromise their individual teachings in order to set up some sort of common creed which all can accept 
and so produce a harmony and unity? But a willingness to compromise is itself a proof that they do not 
think that their doctrine is the unchanging doctrine of Christ. · 

Who is in a position to state the creed in the Protestant Church? Anyone? 

Changes mean an admission that their teachings were wrong and that the new teaching on the particular sub· 
ject is a correction. 

BUT THE TEACHINGS OF CHRIST'S CHURCH ARE UNCHANGEABLE. 

HAVE THEY DISAGREED OVER THEIR INTERPRETATION OF THE BIBLE? 
(This will be discussed in a later lesson. ) 

DO THEY FOLLOW A LIVING TEACHING AUTHORITY given by Christ to His Apostles or do they 
rely on the written word? 

HAVE THEY BEEN TEACHING SINCE THE DAYS OF CHRIST succeeding to the Apostles, or did 
they start in the sixteenth century? 

DO THEY CLAIM INFALLIBILITY and insure their subjects that they can follow their instructions without 
fear and hesitation and be sure of reaching heaven? 

DO THEY TEACH ALL NATIONS? Or are they teachers in National Churches and only appear in foreign 
lands because their governments rule in distant places? 

Do they restrict their teachings to the educated? the social elite? permit all classes of people to assist at their 
services? Have the Red, Black, and Yellow, and Brown races equal rights in their Churches? 

Are they sincere in 
their teachings of Christ's doctrine when their government heads appropriate funds for the erection of 
pagan shrines and for the carrying on of pagan services-as in India? 
their convictions when they say that one Church is as good as another, knowing that Christ established 
One Church? 

Are they solicitous for the doctrines of Christ when they change them to suit the change of the times? as 
laws on marriage and birth control? · 

I 

BUT THE DOCTRINES OF CHRIST ARE DIVINE, ETERNAL, UNCHANGING, AND UNCHANGE-
ABLE, AND THE CHURCH WHICH TEACHES HIS DOCTRINE MUST DO SO TO THE LAST 
BIT OF TRUTH CONTAINED IN THEM. 



Christ instituted a very definite form of government in His Church : the faithful were to be obedient to the 
Apostles (thus constituting them a hierarchy) and the Apostles were to be obedient to Peter (thus constituting him a 
primate). Now since this Church of Christ cannot change without ceasing to be the Church of Christ, this 
organization and subordination of powers must be found in the Church of Christ today. 

And since the power was given by Christ to His Apostles for the accomplishment of a divine mission which 
is to endure until the end of time, the Apostles had to give their powers to others who were to take their place and 
carry on the mission. The same divine powers are necessary to effect the success of the divine mission. Since the 
Apostles were the only ones who received these powers from Christ they were the only ones who could pass them 
on. No one can give what he does not possess. So the ministers in the Church of Christ today must be in a line of 
Apostolic Succession: that is , they must have received these powers from the successors of the Apostles. 

A . Christ gave ST. PETER SUPREME POWER TO RULE, TEACH. AND SANCTIFY THE FLOCK. 

Is there such an office in the Protestant Churches? 

Is it held by one person? 

Is he obeyed? are his decisions accepted as final? 

From whom did he receive his commission? was it a State appointment? the Crown's? the vote of the 
laymen? or of a hierarchy with Apostolic Succession? 

Does all authority in the Church over which he presides derive from him? 
Does he decide on the appointment of his clergy to their parishes? 

Does he decide those who will be raised to the episcopacy? and place them in their various sees? and 
specify their work? or the extent of their powers? 

Can he decide on the character of their teachings? whether it is true or false? does he decide on 
moral matters? do his subjects have to obey him? 

Does he claim that he has the SUPREME POWER TO RULE. TEACH. AND SANCTIFY? 

B. Christ gave THE APOSTLES THE POWER TO RULE. TEACH , AND SANCTIFY THE 
FAITHFUL. 

Is there such a hierarchy in each Protestant Church? 

Does this Protestant hierarchy rule under the absolute rule of one superior? 

Does this body agree in all its teachings? do they teach one definite and accepted doctrine? did they 
decide that doctrine? 

Do they as a body believe that they possess a power to rule, teach, and sanctify that is absolutely bind-
ing upon their subjects? 

Do they claim to have received their powers from successors to the Apostles? 

Do they claim that the powers they have are divine? 

Who consecrated them Bishops? who nominated them for that office? 

Is their authority, in some circles at least, considered to flow from their scholarship? and not from their 
office? can laymen decide to remove their appointees from their parishes? or to accept their 
appointees? or to select the man they wish to have as their pastor? do laymen decide what may or 
may not be preached to them? does the ability of the Protestant clergyman to make popular 
speeches, to be at ease in certain societies, to have an organizing power make for his success? does 
his success depend more on his natural endowments, on the human element, than on the divine ele-
ment of his work? 

Do they believe that they are independent of the temporal power? 

C. THE CHURCH OF CHRIST MUST BE APOSTOLIC: MUST TRACE ITS POWERS BACK TO 
THE APOSTLES. -

The Churches of Protestantism arose rather recently in the history of Christianity. They date their 
existence from the sixteenth century. 



Have Protestants the Divine Powers of Ruling, Teaching, and Sanctifying? 

They must have an APOSTOLIC power to TEACH, RULE, AND SANCTIFY. 

Since they started late they must have received this Apostolic power from some Church. 

They either received it from the TRUE Church of Christ or from a false Church. 

If they received it from a false Church they have no power: because a false Church of Christ does 

not possess Christ's divine power; 

if they received it from the True Church they are not now in the TRUE Church of Christ : because 

the TRUE Church could not pass HER powers to an outsider. It would cease to be the TRUE 

Church of Christ as soon as it would prostitute HER Apostolic Powers to an outside body. 

History tells us that the Reformers rebelled against the Catholic Church. Many of the reformers were priests 

at one time in the Catholic Church; many of the Bishops who apostatized and joined themselves to the Refor~ 
mation had their powers from the Catholic Church. If the Catholic Church is the TRUE Church of Christ their 

powers were Apostolic. The Catholic Church had given over to their jurisdiction certain groups of the faithful; 

when they apostatized the Catholic Church took her subjects away from them, and excommunicated the bishops 

and priests. She had the power to give them jurisdiction, and power to cancel that jurisdiction. 

She has SUPREME POWER in the successor to Saint Peter. 

Luther felt that he had to justify his revolt to the world so he claimed to have received his mission as a Reformer 

from the Apostles. He laid claim to their divine jurisdiction; 

BUT A MERE ASSERTION IS NOT A CREDENTIAL TO PROVE DIVINE POWERS. 

Jesus Christ and the Apostles proved that they had DIVINE POWERS by working miracles. That this point 

of a DIVINE mission bothered Luther is evident from the fact that he changed his opinion on the subject four~ 
teen times in twenty~four years. Sometimes he said he held his mission from the magistrates of Wittenberg, and 
at other times because of his position as DOCTOR. 

In 1662 when the Episcopacy was reestablished in Scotland (note the period when the Presbyterian Church 

lacked a hierarchy and a primacy) the KING appointed four of their ministers for consecration. BUT the 

BISHOPS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND refused to consecrate them until they were first made deacons 

and priests. That they submitted to the demand of the English Bishops proves that they knew they were mere 

laymen; and the English bishops thought so too. 

Cranmer solemnly subscribed his name to the position that princes and governors no less than bishops could 

make priests. Barlow, on the validity of whose consecration that of Matt. Parker and of all succeeding Anglican 

bishops chiefly rests, preached openly that the king's appointment, without any orders or ordination whatsoever, 

suffices to make a bishop. This was his answer to those , who claimed that he had not been consecrated. Three 

centuries of search have not found a record of his consecration. If the founders are not in the line of APOSTOLIC 

SUCCESSION, the sects and sub-sects depending on them are certainly not. 

14 



Since we have mainly relied on the Four Gospels to show the divinity of Christ and the authority of His 
Church, it is important that we clearly perceive their historical character. If these documents are not strictly his-
torical accounts of the life, miracles, death, and resurrection of Christ, and the founding of His Church, then the 
documentary basiil of Christianity and the Roman Catholic Church is greatly impaired. Hence we shall show be-
yond all possibility of doubt that these records are genuine, substantially entire, thoroughly truthful. and by trac-
ing their authorship to Matthew. Mark. Luke. and John we shall flx the dates of their composition in the flrst cen-
tury of the Christian Era. 

I ) The authenticity of the Gospels is evident from an overwhelming converge~ce of testimony. 

a) All Christian writers ........ even of the earliest centuries ........ unanimously ascribe the Gospels to apostolic times 
and surround them with the authority of the Apostles. The apostolic Fathers. who were the immediate 
disciples of the Apostles , make frequent quotations from the Gospels; St. Ignatius of Antioch refers to 
them; Papias mentions the Gospels of Matthew and Mark by name; St. Justin declares them the writings 
of Apostles and apostolic men; St. lrenaeus, disciple of Polycarp, who was in turn the disciple of St. John 
the Apostle, cites the names of the four evangelists and makes such frequent references to the Gospels that 
we can almost reconstruct the entire Gospel narrative from his quotations alone. Origen . in Egypt, and 
Tertullian in Africa, give formal and almost equally ancient testimony. 

b) The heretics of the early centuries all testify to the genuinity of the Gospels. either directly or indirectly. 
The gnostics knew our Gospels and frequently referred to them. Marcion falsified the Gospel of St. Luke 
to adapt it to his own erroneous doctrines. So incontestable was the authenticity of the Gospels that none 
of the heretics dreamed of disputing it, even though its denial would have been a most effective attack on 
Christians. 

c) The early pagans ........ inveterate enemies of the Christians ........ never denied the genuinity of the Gospels. Celsus 
in the second century. Porphyrius in the third, Julian the Apostate in the fourth , certainly would have dis-
proved. instead of conceding, the-authenticity if that had been possible. 

d) If the Gospels were not authentic the Apostles and their immediate successors would never have allowed 
such forgeries to pass as the word of God; Jewish and Gentile converts would never have accepted them 
had there been doubt of their genuinity; the early Church would not have had them publicly read had she 
not been certain of their authenticity. 

Further 

e) The Gospels bear all the intrinsic marks of genuinity. They portray the laws, customs, language. social 
and religious state of Judea of that time with such scrupulous accuracy and precise detail as to show clearly 
that they are the work of contemporaries. A later writer must have erred in detailing some of the very 
complicated and obscure historical. social. legal. geographical background of the flrst century. 

f) Finally Modern Criticism ........ which is very critical indeed ........ after extensive and hostile investigation has been 
forced to concede the genuinity of the Gospels and thus ascribe their composition to the flrst century. This 
unwilling concession is a very strong proof of genuinity. 

The remarkable fact, then, that the Gospels were accepted by all down through the ages as genuine is proof 
enough of their authenticity; if we add to this the concession of the Critical School .......... which was the most bitter 
adversary in the last century ........ it must be admitted that Gospel authenticity is now unquestionable. 



The Authenticity of · the Four Gospels . . . . . Their Inspiration 

2) The substantial integrity of the Gospels is apparent from a consideration of the Gospel manuscripts and certain 
historical facts. 

a) More than ten thousand codices of the Gospels are known: of these 114 antedate the tenth century while 
some go back to the fourth and fifth centuries. All of these are in substantial agreement with one another 
and with the existing texts today. In addition there are numerous versions of the Gospels in various Ian~ 
guages, some of which even date back to the second and third centuries and between these and the codices 
there is again the same substantial agreement. Further the innumerable excerpts and citations from the 
Gospels which are found in the writings of the early Fathers likewise perfectly agree with our Gospel 
text. Such evidence is overwhelming, and becomes more so if we compare it with that favoring the in~ 
tegrity of profane texts~such as Caesar, Livy, Tacitus, etc. In their cases there are very few codices ex~ 
tant and most of them date no further than the tenth century. 

b) When could substantial alteration in the Gospel text have taken place? Certainly not in the time of the 
Apostles: they would not have permitted it. And after their deaths their disciples would have perceived 
it and protested against it as they did in the case of every non~Apostolic innovation. Later? The custom 
that prevailed in the very early Church of reading the Gospels at public worship would have effectively 
prevented this, for history relates that the faithful were so accustomed to the wording of the Scriptures that 
the changing of even a word aroused their indignation. Further, by this time copies of the Gospels were 
num.erous enough to serve as a check on one another and make it impossible for alterations to take place 
without violent protest from Christian, heretic, Jew, and pagan alike. 

Such a remarkable continuity of transmission and conformity of manuscripts is undeniable proof of the substantial 
integrity of the Gospels. 

3) The accuracy of the Gospel accounts is incontestable for the Evangelists were trustworthy witnesses. 

15 

They knew the facts they related and were certainly not deceived in their regard, for they either witnessed 
them personally or gathered them from eye~witnesses. SS. Matthew and John were Apostles, constant companions 
of Christ in his public ministry, and as such perfectly conversant with all that He did or said. SS. Mark and Luke 
were intimately associated with His Apostles and thus were in a most excellent position to get the most accurate in~ 
formation. They detailed sensible, recent facts, accomplished publicly in the presence of friendly and hostile 
witnesses. They could not have been deceived in the matters they related as facts . 

Nor did they deceive or wish to deceive. There was no sufficient reason for them to deceive. From a worldly 
point of view such deception meant persecution and ignominious death ; from a spiritual angle it meant the loss 
of their eternal salvation. They wrote of events that had publicly transpired that had been witnessed by multitudes, 
tnat had been discussed over the length and breadth of Palestine. They wrote at a time when there were still alive 
great numbers who had been eye~witnesses of the very events which they were narrating. Under such circumstances 
to attempt to distort or misinterpret facts , to adduce as fact what had never actually transpired, would have been 
the sheerest folly, would have aroused the most violent opposition, and absolutely prevented any possibility of 
making conversions, of spreading the Gospel. No, common sense forces us to admit that their accounts are 
trustworthy. 

THE INSPIRATION OF THE GOSPELS~has generally been admitted. From the earliest days of the Church, 
they have always been regarded as works written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, just as much as were 
the Books of the Old Testament. This has been the constant teaching of the Church, the constant belief of the 
faithful. And finally, the INFALLffiLE teaching Church put her .definitive stamp on this belief in the Vatican 
Council where she declared it heretical to deny the Inspira tion of the Scriptures. 



The Catholic Church. then. is the Church established by Christ for Salvation. No other Institution. there~ 
fore. has the office or the means to lead men to heaven. All men are under the obligation put upon them by Christ. 
under pain of eternal damnation. to submit themselves to the Catholic Church . 

But for over three hundred years. a great number of earnest. sincere. and learned men have held both in 
theory and practice that THE BIBLE. and the Bible ONLY is the SOLE RULE OF FAITH: and not the LIV~ 
lNG TEACHING BODY. INFALLIBLE. UNITED UNDER A SUPREME HEAD. APOSTOLIC. 
WORLD~WIDE. with the MEANS TO HOLINESS and SALVATION. DIRECTED BY CHRIST AND 
THE HOLY GHOST until the end of time. 

THE BIBLE : A Library rather than a book. containing seventy~two books. forty~six in the Old Testament and 
twenty~seven in the New. Some fifteen hundred years intervene between the writing of the first chapter of Genesis 
by Moses and the finishing of the Apocalypse by St. John. The Old Testament was finished about 100 years be~ 
fore the birth of Christ. and the New about 70 years after His ascension. 

In the sixteenth century various religious revolutions took place. One of the most astounding of the intellectual 
somersaults turned at that time was the new position of the CHURCH and the BIBLE. Topsy~turvy they put 
the BIBLE as an authority over the CHURCH. The BIBLE and the CHURCH-the WORK over the 
AUTHOR. Religious leaders enunciated a new dogm a : the BIBLE. and the Bible ALONE. is the new and 
SOLE RULE OF FAITH. 

As a conscientious person. eager to serve God and obtain my eternal destiny. I should like to know the cre-
dentials these religious leaders had for making this new dogma. 

Were they from CHRIST? These leaders say they are Christians. 

If the BIBLE is the ONLY GUIDE TO SALVATION 
why didn't Christ, Who is the Way to Salvation. say so? 

why didn't He write it? Why didn't He train His Apostles to write rather than prepare them for 
TEACHING and command them to TEACH? 

why did He promise the assistance of the HOLY GHOST to TEACH them all things and have the 
HOLY GHOST pour on their lips the gift of tongues for TEACHING all peoples? 

HISTORY SAYS THAT CHRIST NEVER HEARD OF THE BIBLE : IT CAME IN 397 A. D . 

Were they from the APOSTLES? They were the INFALLIBLE TEACHERS OF CHRIST. 

Did Christ's promise of assistance fail because His Apostles did not teach that the BIBLE was the SOLE 
RULE OF FAITH? 

They knew the mind of Christ. if any did. Where do they mention anything about the BIBLE as the 
GUIDE TO SALVATION? 

Why didn't all the Apostles write for the BIBLE then? 

Why didn't they devote their time in the Cenacle to writing? 

If they thought that they were writing a book which was to be the ONLY RULE OF FAITH why didn't 
they state that purpose clearly? What lines in their writings even suggest that they intended to write 
a New Testament as we know it now? 

"Search the Scriptures, for you think in them to have life everlasting; and the same are they that give testi~ 
mony of me." But this verse in St. John 5:39 refers to the prophecies concerning Him (there was no 
New Testament then): read them and learn the characteristics of the Messias, and so identify Me. Men~ 
tion is made of the Jews of Berea (Acts 17: 11 ) for their industrious study of the Scriptures. 



The Bible, the Sole Rule ·of Faith 

When the Apostles ordained successors to take their places why did they insist on the faithful TEACHING 
and say nothing of preservation of their writings or of going ahead with writings of their own? 

Why isn't the BIBLE mentioned in The Apostles' Creed? 

THE INFALLIBLE CHURCH NEVER TAUGHT THIS NEW DOGMA OF THE REFORMATION. 

Were they from the HOLY GHOST? (This concerns private inspiration.) 

If the HOLY GHOST, the Spirit of Truth, Who cannot deceive, inspires the readers of the BIBLE with the 
result that there are over two hundred interpretations of the simple sentence, "This is My Body," there 
is something wrong some place. With the Holy Ghost? or with the supposition that the Holy Ghost 
will inspire men so that they will interpret the BIBLE correctly? Whence does the information come 
that the HOLY GHOST has promised this? IT IS NOT IN THE BIBLE. 

How can the HOLY GHOST inspire one to say that there are seven Sacraments; another, that there 
are none at all ; another, two; another, three; etc.? 

How can one tell when he is being inspired in his private reading? 

This NEW DOGMA of private interpretation of the BIBLE-the unchanging Word of God-HAS 
BEEN THE SOURCE OF DISUNION AMONG THOSE WHO HAVE ACCEPTED THAT 
DOCTRINE. The truth of God has led people into some three hundred different sects becaus~ they 
quarreled among themselves over the meaning of His inspired words. This fact is a proof that the 
private interpretation of the BIBLE clearly declares its meaning is a fallacy. 

If the BIBLE is necessary for our SALVATION, how about the people who lived in the times of Abraham , Isaac, 
and Jacob? Not a line of the Sacred Scriptures had been penned in their day. 

Were the followers of Christ in His day saved? There was no BIBLE then. 

How about the Good Thief? and all the martyrs who went joyfully to death confident in their acceptance of 
the TEACHINGS OF CHRIST before the year 397 when the first Bible was put together? How about 
the Christians who did not have the chance to see that one copy? And those who died while copies of 
that first copy were being made. And those who could not read? and so could not check up on those who 
interpreted for them? 

The BIBLE had to be copied by hand. There were no printing .presses then. A BIBLE was a treasure- men 
worked for at least a year copying it. It was a Sacred Book and bound in stout leather set with precious stones 
in a fitting manner. Such a Book was worth about $10,000 in our money. If Christ had intended the Bible to be 
the ONLY guide for Salvation, He must have come to lead the wealthy to heaven. (They alone could afford a 
Bible.) When people say that the Bible was chained to the lecterns in Churches so that the people could not take 
them home, remember that the tin cups at public drinking places are chained, and they are worth a couple of cents; 
the daily paper is locked on the paper stands in the public libraries. 

When printing became a reality the Bible was spread rapidly. On exhibit at the Caxton exhibition of 1877 there 
were nine German editions of the Bible printed before 1483, the year Luther was born, while eighteen other edi-
tions of the Bible are known to have been printed before the one Luther got out. A French translation of the Bible 
was out in 1478, two more in 1487, and the last of these three passed through 16 editions before 1547. In Italy 
there was a translation made in 1421, and before there was a Protestant version in Italy, more than forty editions 
of the Catholic version had appeared. And so on. 

Why did the Reformers tear out seven books that had been in every Bible till theirs? Why did Luther add words 
to the Bible : as "ONLY" to .. justified by faith"? 

16 



Books for Further Reference and Reading 
*Oddsfish ... *By What Authority ... *The King's AchievemenL ................................................ Benson 
:~~~:~tc~tt?smH~ii:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: .:::::·.:::::::::::::::::::::::::·.:::::::::::::::::::::·.:·.:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::: : ::::::::::::::::::::::::: : :: : :::~~~~i~ 
*Adventurous Perilous ................................................................................................ ................................................. .............. Wilmot-Buxton 
Isabella of Spain .. . Isabella the Crusader ......................................................................................................... Walsh 
~~;~h:e~fJfA~~~t·i~_"_"_"_"_"_"_"_"_"_"_"_"_"_"_"j3i.Th~~-~-~ -M~;~::::::: :::::::::::: ::::::: ::::::::::·.:::·.::·.:·.: : ::: : :: :: ::::::: :: : : : : : ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::g~~ent · · · · Hollis 
Life and Work of Robert Bellarmine ... St. Peter Canisius, S. J .................................................... Broderick 
The History of the Popes ...................................................................................................................................................... Grisar ... . Pastor 
The Churches of England ..................................................................................................................................................... Sands and Co. London 
Survivals and New Arrivals ... Crisis of Civilization ... Richelieu ................................................ Belloc 
The Protestant Crusade ...................................................................................................................................................... Billington 

15. 16. 

~t: ~o~;~ aG~i~he~--~~~-~-~:::::: ::::::::: : ::: ::: :: : : : : :: : :::::::::::::: ::::: :::::::::: : : ::::::::::::::: : : : ::::::::: : ::: : : : :::::: : :::::: ::::::::::::: :: :: :::: ::::::::::::::: ::::b~;d · · · H uby 
Whence We Got the Bible ..................................................................................................................... ........ ...................... Graham 
The Bible ... Dublin Review, July 1836 ................................................... ......................... ..... ..... .................. Wiseman 
The Bible, History, Authenticity, and Authority ............................................... ....................................... Lattey 
The Bible Against Protestantism .................. .......... ........................................................ .. .. .............. .......................... Shield 
The Gospel-Fact, Myth, or Legend ........................................................... .......................................... ..................... Arendzen 
t~:d~U~;o~~h~og~~p~i'~::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::: :· .. .. ::::::::::::::::::::::: :::: :::~~~:~ley 
W olsey .................................................................................................................................................................................................. Belloc 
The Bible (Discussion Outline) ........................................... ............ .................................................................. ... Heeg 
~t: ~~~~ ~~bl:~::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::: : :::::::::: : :: : ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::·.::::::·_·_:::·.::::: :: ::::: :: : : ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::~~~~smeyer 

THE RELIGIOUS SITUATION TODAY FOUND IN BIOGRAPHY AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
The Emancipation of a Free Thinker ............................................................................................... ...................... Cory 
For the Heathen Are W rong ............................................................................................................................... ........... Bagger 
Spiritual Aeneid ................................................................................................................................... .......................................... Knox 
Jorgensen-Vol. 1.. ................................................................................................................. ..... ....... ......................................... Jorgensen 
~~~i~f:e~--r:;~-~t--F~ith:::::::::: :: : :: : : ::::::::::::::::::::::: : : :: : ::::::: ::: :: ::::: : ::::::::::::::::::: : ::: : ::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::: : :::::::::::: : ::::: :: ::::::::: ::::::~t~dd:rd 
The Long Road Home .. ............................................................................................................ .................... ..... .. ..................... Moody 
The High Romance ............... .................... .................................. ................................................... ............................................. Williams 
~~: 'C¥o0~1d ~;gaC:·;~---F~i'i~~,~::::: : ::::::::: : : : :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: :: :: ::: :::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::: : ::: :~~r~c;d 
A Flower for Sign ........................................................................................................................................................................ Stancourt 
Life of Robert Hugh Benson-Vol. L ......................................................... ........................................ .................... Martindale 
The Flight From Reason ... Now I See ... Come What May ........................................................ .Lunn 
Three Ways Home ...................... ............... ........................... ...................................................................... ............................... Kaye-Smith 
Sorrow Built a Bridge ............. .... ........................................................................................... .... ............. .......... ....... ................. Burton 
Orestes A. Brownson ............................. ....................... ................ ............................................................................................ Schlesinger, Jr. 
Unfinished Universe ............................................................................................................................................................... Gregory 

12. 
Soeur Therese Liseux ............................. ....... .. ................................................ ..................... .................... .................. ...... ... Autobiography 
Damien the Leper.. .................................................... .. ....................................................... .............................................. ............ Farrow 
St. Francis of AssissL ............... ................ ............................................................................................................................... Chesterton 
Saint Among Savages .................................................. .......................................................................................................... Talbot 
Ignatius of Loyola ............................................................... .. ...................................................................... ................. ............... Thompson 
An American Woman ............................ ................................................................................................................................ Feeney 
St. Catherine of Sienna ........... .. ........ ..... ....... ....................... ....... .................... ................ .................................... ..................... Jorgensen 
Life of John Berchmans ............................................................................................. ..................... .......... .. ............... ...... ...... Daly 
Edmund Campion ....................................................... ......... ......................................................... ................................................ Waugh 
A Saint in the Slave Trade ....................... ......................................................................................................................... Lunn 
Mary Ward ........................................................................................................... .. ..... .................................................................. Coudenhove 
Life of Cardinal Newman ................................................................................................................................................... Ward 
Great Catholics ....................... ....................................................................................... ............................................................ Williamson 

• Novel ..... 38 



' 



~38 

THE QUEEN'S WORK 

3742 West Pine Blvd. 

St. Louis 8, Mo. 

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