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Ill 11^ 11 — ill1lil*l| THK r>oaMi»LS OP Tirn 1 4 , \ \ AND INVO(/ATI()N OF SAINTS INTEGUAL PARTS OF A SYSTEM, nerogatoi'j to the Word of (iocl, and Dishonourable to the one Mediator, , PROVED FROM HISTORY AND SCRIPTURE; AXI> il! W^x. me 92.) Such a system of teaching in early youth will soon lead to a regardini:; the scriptures as subor- dinate to the text books. It was by a somewhat sindlar process the Jews, adopting their Targums, liad, in our Lord's time, nearly extinguished the light of the Old Testament writings. »Such a process, as I gather from the Bishop of Huron's letter, prelixed to the pamphlet, is exemplified in the College teaching; first, we have a manuscript text book, or Targum — secondly, a number of authorities, Rabbles (the Rabbics of the Jewish church were those that added to the written law tbe traditions of the Targ\im or Talmud.) These similar authorities arc introduced in the pamphlet under the head of intercession of saints — all advocates of the dogma — all affirming that the doctrine is not contrary to Scripture. The Provost coincide^i with these authorities, and affirms the same thing!; but neither he nor they venture to demon- strate that the doctrine is in agreement, or coincidence, or with Scripture ; therefore, if received in the church, it must necessarily be a tradition, which completes the above :«nalogical summary. Here the Provost sets at nought the scriptures ; but liow m to his text ^< ik ? He asserts his deter- to leurn r, asserts the inter- red \i'Iieii give any id to this d schools i holpH to !SuU from set up as e church, trembling Church." ; in early 1 as subor- at suuilur >ur Lord's restament Bishop of liod in the ; book, or 3ble.s (the Jed to the I.) The.«e i\ncler the i dogma — Scripture, affirms the to dciuon- )incidence, church, it the above lought the ? hi« deter- nmuuiuiiu, Lca.Ii uuU uei^^ii^ the intercession of saintM : and way ?^ H,s reason is stated in the following extract, (page " Kcspecting the intcrcc^^sion of saints, in addition to the Xplea that lear^on, our text look, is followed, I may add, that so long as I lecture on the Articles, and ,o doing necessarily treat of the Komi«h error of invocation of saints, so Ion- must r ncces«.»rily refer to the intercession of ««int. depnrtcd,ln our be halt ; it cannot he esrapcd ; I must speak of it either as a pro- bable bchcf, not contrary to Scripture, or as a presuumtuous and unwarrantable conceit, dishonourable to the one .Mediator between God and man. The latter I will never do, because it IS contradictory to my reason, mid ngainst my conscience; and my position as a teacher in the Church of Kngland docs but add to the inipropricty of my doing so, as in so doing I should be setting at nought the authorities of her great divines." It will easily be imagined that in introducing such a doc- trine as that of intercession of .saints into his teachln.^ ia a public Protestant institution, and into discussion in a Protest- ant commutiity,- the learned gentleman would have manv opponents whose opinions might have deserved more respect than he seems to have given theni. The followers of John Knox, of Martin Lutlier, and they of the Anglican Church, have again and ag.iu protested against the dogma of intercession of saints, yet this -cutle- man treats the opinions of such men a:? nothing more than " nuserable cant," and through the whole of his ^pamphlet he deals with those who differ with him in opinion, with a degree ot uitoleranee more becoming a creed wliicli may possibly a-rc*^ with him in his doctrinal view., and connnend his zeal in'thc delcnec of the doctiinc of intercession of saints. Before catering into a general view of the subject, I would call attention to the system of reasoning adopted by the advo- cates of tins dogma, whereby they seek to gain our acceptance of the tenet. In the passage above referred to, the Provost i-t ii IM Hies the following Inn image : — " I may add, tltai bo long as I lecture on the Artiulc.-*, and in so doing, ncccsfiarily treat of the Knmish error of invocation of saints, so long must I refer to tkti intercession of saints in our Iwhalf." Hero it is very rninarkablc he acknowledges that the invocation of saints is a liomish error, but the intercession of saints an* orthodox tiuth. In this enunciation he reasons from the effect to the caufie, which is called an a posteriori argiuucnt. In medical jurisprudence the skillful physician usually assumes an a priori argument — that is, froi» , cause to cfTcct. No doubt he also takes an a posteriori view when he investigates the eftccts in order to ascertain the cause and remove tlic scat of the disease, knowing well that certain causes will produce certain effect^ but he docs not usually palliate or strengthen the cause, that the effectt may become more virulent and incurable. Now, this is precisely what the learned Provost dovs do; he strengthens tlic cause in order to invigorate the effect. Would any one of common sense say that the llomanist would stultify himself by invocating St. Mary or St. <^Dominick if he were not taught to beUcvc that both St. 3Iary and St. Dominick have powtr in heaven to make favourable interces- sion in his behalf? Would any one. even in earthly thij.gs, supplicate a favour from a patron who had cither no favour to bestow or was powerless to bestow it ? This a posteriori view is taken by all the co-advocates of the dogma, (page 47,) some of whom cuter into a spurious philosophical disquisition respecting the difference between I meritorious and deprecatory intercession, to which the Provosti ( invites particular attention ; but although these authors point' out the abuse of the doctrine of intercession of saints, not one of them has taken upon himself the necessary tapk of pointing out the order for its use. They proclaim anatheaias against the use of invocation — the effect — but not one of them holds out a nostrum to eradicate and remove the cause ; thus, while these Z3 > long as I treat of the I refer to it is very saints is a k* orthodox Ifcct to the In medical an a priori ic tilso takes t» in order lie disease, tuin cfTcct^ cause, tliat blc. Now, us do; he the effect, anist mrould '^Dotuintck \vy and St. le interces- thly thif.gs, o favour to idvocatcs of a Hpurious cc between the Provost I thors point' iits, not one of pointing i against the holds out a while these authors seem to teach tho reader tho avoidanoe of one error; they lead him imperceptibly into the other. "Incidlt in Sctflhtntf cupiens vitare Charyhdimy An a po$kriori\'uiWy wlicn rightly used, is good in ugu- ment; thus, apriorif wca«sumc that God necessarily exists as a first cause, and author of everything, but> a jmUriori^ we prove His exifltenco by Ilis works — " Atfnoscimw Deum ex opcrihm eJM,** The Provost very properly combines cause and effect h the same category, but he does not bc^jin a priori with thc6rst principle, and say, when I necessarily treat of the intercession of saints in our behalf, m long must I refer to our invocating the prayers of the saints on our behalf; that would be bringing cause and effect into too consecutive a proximity to suit his doctrine, and therefore he removes tfic cause to the background in his sentence and brings the effect to the front, and by giving to the one the character of err^r, and the other the character of truth— (there being no necessary connection between error and truth)— we do not at fir.st sight perceive the fallacy; but when he reasons a posteriori he rr; ..diates the effect, and therefore his proposition is a nullity, the'only conclu- Kion which it produces being, that, to think differently would be " ogninst his conscience, and setting at nought the authori- ties of his great divines." In the following pages I have endeavoured to give the reader a brief sketch of the origin of the dogmas of intercession and invocation of saints, and in so doing to demonstrate that these doctrines, as now entertained in the Romish church, still retain their former pagan characteristics; and also to demon- strate that the doctrine of intercession of saints, as taught by Provo.st Whitaker, and affirmed in the pamphlet, is in prFnciple repugnant U» the Word of God. There are three points of doctrine in the seventh article of the creed of Pope Pius IV., only two of which I «hull make the subject of argument . • 'I j4t ■, r- r V i f ' ? « if f f \ [II * 1» The sainte rii-imi,:: tn-(t|nr uith ChriM art' to Im Ji(_inniiri'ti .-iiid iiu 1 'Ciii'il, • . 2. Thr SI i Ills offer up prayer to f!") our part reverential commcmorat in nnd imitation, anrlon their part (part of the saints,) interest in in ImIihH, and probahle intercession with God for us. Tl.esc three propositions arc so nearly allied, they may he considered separately or conjunctively — tria Juncta in nno. The doctrines contained in the i^ccond and third hcada are taught and advocated in Trinity College. On these pointii of doctrinal teaching the Bishop of Huron objects, conceiving that to young men so instructed a transition to the use of invocation of saints, as affirmed in the first head of the Pius IV. creed, will be an easy and natural consequence. In page 48 of his second letter, the Provost very feelingly expresses his respect for tlic scruples of honc,st-n»indod persons, who, he says, "dread the *^jggcstion that departed saints pray for us, only because this hypothesis would imply an iuvaf^ion of the prerogative of the one Mediator." Such, in the absence of any scriptural proof that departed saints do pray for us, or that their prayers can add anything to the perfect advocacy of the glorified Redeemer, would seem a very honest and just scruple, if not by div*;ie grace a very probable safeguard against the transition the Bishop apprehends ; and the Provost asks, somewhat triumphantly, would such a transition have been easy to the martyr Eidlcy ? and he throws out an implied disparagement upon tlic individual who could even suppose such a declension. But he forgets that this is not the age of martyrdom, and that all men are not endued with the firmness and faith of a martyr, to resist, like Ridley, a transition from one innovation to another. It has also escaped his memory, that the Bishop's apprehensions have no uppUcaiiou to martyrs, but to the youth of the College, whose tender minds may, as phil- ■re to be i"M. as inn our behalf, hoy may be eta in nno, d hcada are p of Huron a transition ic first head lid natural py feelingly led persons, saints pray invaf'ion of 5 absence of ^ for us, or advocacy of 4 and just 8 safeguard the Provost isition have b an implied k'cn suppose t the age of the firmness isition from emory, that nartyrS| but lay, as phil- white paper, upon whieh im|jic^>siuu:i ma^ bo easily photo- gi;i|ilnMl, ThoPrnvd^t, whilf K(j oi^crti liib determination to leaell the doctrine of intcrecssion of saints, tells us with *rroa* caiMlmr, that \w ..iily rei,'5irds that tenet as a probable belief or />u>u« opinion ; but in order to impart to it cve»> JMs phase ofauthority he adduces the following argumcrt i (inalo^? " If a good man, departed out of this lite, coiitiuucs to offer for his friends and for the church at large the »nme suppli- eations he was wont to offer upon eartli, in the name and for the sake of Christ, can it, with any shadow of reason, be maintained that the one intemssinn more than flu other trenches on the inviolable prerogative of Ilim by whom alone we eome unto the Father ? " (Page 48.) To this very speculative question 1 \youia reply by asking another, equally speculative :— Does tho h arncd querist here suppose that, except as to the repose of the soul in Para- dise we have any adequate scriptural information icgarding its state and intercourse with God, cither in prayer or praise, anterior to the assumption of its glorified rcsuurcction body ? If he can give no satisfactory answer to this inquiry, then, as regards his question, I will say he assumes premises from whence there can be no conclusion. When good men make prayers and supplicationH and give thanks for all men, uniting with their fellow worshippers in the visible tabernacle of the church here on earth, they then perform a commanded duty, and an enjoined act of union and communion with Christ and His church—but on this question we cannot reason from what is commanded to that whieh is not commanded. When the souls of good men pjiss the dark valley of the shadow of death, and enter into the unknown and invisible world, wc know not what privileges they enjoy, or how qualified they may be in any kind or degree io luakc acceptable inter- i' 'I t i 10 cession in nnr lu lialf lieforc the throne of the one God and one Mediator. W(? know not, also, how far the locale of blessedness they have attained can give them the place in heaven here assigned to thcin — viz., a reigning together with Christ, or as it is expressed in some of the references given in the pamphlet, '' the very glorified saints in heaven " — " the saints in heaven." Although much is said in Scripture by way of autipast, as giving the believer a foretaste of the fruition of the kingdom of heaven, and the blessedness of a future life, yet here there seems to be a vacuum in Scripture information — the hopes of the dying penitent being directed to the second advent of the glorified llcdecmer, when He shall come again in like manner, or with the same body, which the Apostles beheld on the day of the ascension, wh<'>i our resuscitated bodies, which slept in the dust of the earth, shall be reunited to our souls, and mmlc perfect hy the assumption of bodies like that of the glorified Redeemer. This is the scriptural view, and is confirmed by the following very practical reasons. Christ, who was perfect God and perfect man, was in Ili.s human soul the exemplar and pattern of the transitions of our human souls ; we know that He spake to the penitent thief of a place to which his own human soul was departing, a place of paradise, where His soul would not be until after the death of His body. It was not heaven, for Christ was not translated to heaven until the subsequent day of His ascension, when, still as our exemplar, His human body had been raised from the dead, and had been rcunifed to His human soul, which then quitted Paradise. To suppose, there- fore, the doctrine contained in our genend proposition — the saints reigning together with Christ — would be stretching the antipast too far. But in reference to the first and second sections of the Pope Pius IV. creed, it is an old Pagan notion modernized, a revival of the Platonic philosophy by the Christians of the " latter times," the doctrine mentioned oy 1 1 11 and one less they assigncil as it is ainphlct, aints in bi{)a.st, as kingdom ere there hopes of int of the 1 manner, I the day li slept in ind mmlc ghrijied firmed by :i8 in II is )ns of our it tliicf of a place of c death of nslatcd to vheii, still II raised s human so, therc- ition — the iching the [id second ^an notion y by the itioncd by St. Paul in his Kpistic to Timothy ; and now exemplified in the Romish ritual of deified saints, St. Mary, St. Dominick, St. Bencdiet— saints reigning together with Christr~who are "honoured and invocatod, and make iutorcession for their brethren here on earth, and for the church at large." In order to prove this view of the subject, and also to demonstrate that the doctrine of intercession of saints, as affirmed in the Trinity College proposition, is contrary to the Word of God, it will be necessary to take a short review of the origin of the doctrines under contemplation. In doing so, I shall follow the Provost through his two letters. It must be inferred from the statement, page 92, second letter, that the doctrines of the intercession of saints and the invocation of saints, are so interwoven together that the one cannot be discussed without the other; this, the statement t^lls us, " cannot be escaped;" therefore they are allied princi- ples, adjuncts the one of the other, phases of the same doctrine; wherefore, also, if the one be contrary to Scripture so must the other, and, therefore, must both proceed part passu without warrant of Scripture. It is taught in the College manuscripts that communion of saints consists in, " on our part reveren- tial conmiemoration and imitation, and on their part (the part of the saints) interest in our behalf and probable intercession with God for us." There being no scriptural proof of this theory, we must look outside Scripture for its origin and con- nexion with its kindred dogma, the invocation of saints. Long anterior to the Christian era, an opinion prevailed that the souls of illustrious men and great heroes, after their decease, were elevated to the heavens, where they might mediate for the human race, take an interest in their affairs, and intercede with Deity in their behalf. This system of theology i« affirmed by Plato in the eleventh book of his laws, hence it spread very generally among the Greeks and Komansi and other Gentile nations, who, being ignorant of the true God, supcrstitiously venerated their departed heroes, whom they deified, and whose favour they supplicated, under the I I hi ■h ; 1 h I 1 ti ^ 1 111 12 seemingly |)M)W5 opinion that the celestial gods were too sub- lime and pure to be proHmed with the approach of earthly beings. Error being traditionary as well as infectious, some foolish Christians and even Jews in St. PauVi time, under similar pretences of pious humility, or fear of approaching too boldly to God, addressed their prayers to angels instead of the deified saints of the Greeks and Romans. (Col. ii. 18.) This brought forth a strong remonstrance on the part of the Apostle, wherein he adopts a species of argumentation very frecjuently used by him throughout his epistles — T mean the system of counter elements. Thus, in reference to the subject before us, he uses the remarkable form of words " the fulness of the Godhead bodily," implying that mysterious union in our Lord's person of all the qualities and attributes, human and divine, (requirements which neither angel nor nmii could accomplish,) which were essential to constitute Ilim the perfect Mediator between God and man ; and upon this principle, the perfection of our Lord's oiFering of those embodied qualities — mediatorial, propitiatory, and 'mtcrcessory^~-\\Q, draws the follow- ing necessary conclusion, " and ye are complete in Him;" and then, by a transition to the counter elements of the case, he tells the Colossians to beware — " Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."* (Col. ii. viii. see verse 18.) Pursuing this enquiry we learn that the Apost'pf! and their successors, through much trial and difficulty, succeeded in planting a church, which, renouncing the Pagan philosophy, continued in the simplicity of the gospel religion for at least the three first centuries of the Christian era. But the Church was not destined to rejiose long in the true faith. St. Paul had already riunounced to Timothy the coming of a great apostasy, the peculiarities and nature of which should resemble those of the Pagan philosophers. * Verses 8 aud 18 considered catcgoricaHy. '^v PC too 8ub- of earthly me foolish ler similar too boldly the deified 8.) This c Apostle, fre((uently svstem of before ub, ess of the )n in our uman and tmn could the perfect neiple, the [ualitics — the follow- Urn ;" and »c case, he man spoil radition of Christ."* y we learn h trial and •enouncing ity of the rics of the onjr in the imothy the nature of ers. 13 This apostasy progressed slowly and imperceptibly (as a disease which gradually works in the human frame, before it takes possession of the whole system.) A well informed writer upon these questions very correctly remarks "a distinction must be made between the apostasy in its individual and un- authorized state, and the apostasy in its corporate and dominant state." The latter form it did not acquire until the beginning of the seventh century, when it became firmly established under the rule and dominance of the Roman Pontiff. The peculiarities and novelties of this now established apostasy, (seventh century,) the accomplished historian who collated the events of those times, very clearly exhibits in the following; i^raphic sketch. * "The Christians of the seventh century had ft^ensibly relapsed into a semblance of Paganism. Their public and private vows were addressed to the relics and images that dis- graced the temples of the East : the throne of the Almighty was darkened by a crowd of martyrs, and saints, and angels ; the Virgin Mary was invested with the name and honours of a goddess; the saints and martyrs whose intercaHsion wm implored were seated on the right hand of God ; the devout Christian prayed before the image of a saint, and the Pagan rites of genuflexion, luminaries, and incense, stole into the Catholic church ; the scruples of reason and piety were silenced by the strong evidence of visions and miracles, and pictures which speak, and move, and bleed, must be endowed with divine energy as the proper objects of leligious adora- tion." — Gibbon's History, vol. 9. This extract points out the connexion between the Pa»an and Papal systems of theology. Standford's Hand BooTlo the Romish controversy gives a tabular view of the dates and periods when certain other innovations crept into the Papal creed — through the medieval period to the sixteenth century. With the exception of some later innovations regarding the " immaculat*? conception/' and devotional exercises and cerg- 14 monies in the worship of the Virgin Mary, (month of Mary,) as now used in the R. C. church of Canada, and certain other ceremonies in the worship of the canonized Saint Januarius in Naples, where the blood of that distinguished tutelary saint, preserved in a glass bottle, is said to liquify and become tepid, in token of the saint's acceptance of prayer, the Church of Rome, in the nineteenth century, preserves her boasted char- acteristics of being " unchangeable and unchanged." I have now endeavoured, in so far as a desire to epitomise the subject would permit, to drag this monster heresy from its temples among the earlier Gentiles, and to exhibit it in the phase which it assumed in St. Paul's time, (Col. ii. 18,) and from thence to its predicted reappearance in nearly its original form, in the seventh century, in reference to which reappear- ance the Apostle prophetically uses the same word by which it was known to the Greek philosophers, (1 Tim. iv. 1,) the objects and principles being the same — viz., the departed deified saint, translated into the heavens, reigning together witli Christ, invested with powers of making intercession in man*.s behalf. We have now to follow the semi-chameleon monster in the hue of piety in which it is clothed in the pamphlet, and anthoritatively taught in Trinity College. All men are fallible, and most men very tenacious of their own adopted theories, and even when reason makes against them, will endeavour to qualify or compromise them, possibly by telling us that their theories are pious, and not contrary to Scripture ; and this leads to the third proposition as it is recited in the pamphlet — " and on their part (part of the saints) probable intercession with God for us." It would seem supererogatory to waste words in refuting a doctrine which claims no higher authority than that of its being a probable opinion, but we learn also that it gains some importance from its being a pious opinion. So thought the Pagan philosophers when they Invocated their departed heroes, 41 i th of Mary,) certain other Januariufl in itelary saiiit, •ecome tepid, le Church of joustotl char- to epitomise rosy from ita bit it in the ii. 18,) and jr its original ich reappear- by which it . iv. 1,) the )arted deified )gether witli ion in man'8 monster in mphlet, and UI men are own adopted . them, will ly by telling Scripture ; jcited in the its) probable n refuting a 1 that of its t gains some thought the irted heroes, 15 and so thinks tlie humble sttppHant when he boirs before the bottle of St. Januarius, and waits with anxiety the liquifaction of the blood, which is, as it were, to telegraph to htm that hia sins have been remitted through the intercession of the great Saint Januarius. Pious opinion I In the absence of any scriptural proof of thi« dogma, it is to be expected that the learned gentleman should be anxious to add a specialty to the importance of the pious opinion, by quoting a long string of extracts from writers favourable to his view. It is not necessary that we should question the eminence of those writers in their degree, but we must adjudge them oracular in their authority, when presented to us under the responsibility of inforcing upon the consciences of men, especially young men, who may be destined for the ministry in this province, doctrines so pernicious and counter elemental to the principles of our Protestant reformed faith. The learned gentleman, if we are to judge by his expressions, considers it a sort of sine qua non that every Churchman should implicitly believe in the principles expound- ed in the extracts he has quoted ; and the non-acceptance of the dicta of his Rabbi, he deems can only bo " accounted for on the hypothesis of disgraceful ignorance, or still more dis- graceful dishonesty;'* and he goes on in this strain of confident assurance to impugn those who do not in all points swear by his text-book — " in verla jurai'e niagistriy^ — as aiding and abetting with Pope Pius in imposing an Index Expurgatorins, which is not only to exclude his favourite authors from being lieard in whatsoever they may say in accordance with Scrip- ture, but, using his own phraseology, " to erect ignorance as the palladium of our reformed communion ;" and then, (on the point of ignorance,) in page 90 he reaches his climax — " A very little information, and a very little love of truth, would prevent the putting forth sucli statements; and if the former be the antidote required, I hope it may be found in these If> 16 1 '! » ^ « »> pRgea." Truly, if in reference to the subject of discussion, paucity of information, or paucity of truth, is to be measured by plenitude of right knowledge and sound information, the Provost must shew by the exhibition of those qualities in the pages of his pamphlet, that we are hibouring under the bane, before we shall require the antidotv. But, as he evidently rests the importance of his case on the opinions of the authors he has cited, it will be necessary to make & few observations respecting this point of enquiry. Yet, first, I would premise, that in this view of the question the enquiry is not one of comparing scripture with scripture, precept upon precept, line upon line, but it is an enquiry as to comparing opinion with opinion. It is not an enquiry of, let God's word bo true, and man's opinion fallacious ; it is not an enquiry as to what saith the scripture, but what saith a Pearson, a Bull, and a Beveridge ! Surely, when the opinions of uninspired writers are so magnified, and put in competition with the infallible word of truth, we must be prepared to ex- pect something of paramount importance — " Pmturiimt mon- fe»." What say the writers ? Now it is not a little remarkable that although more than twelve autliors are cited, not three scripture references hearing directly on tho point, are adduced ; and what is not less remarkable, these authors, nearly one and all, as if aware of the sequence pointed out by the Bishop of Huron respecting the easy transition from one innovation to another, take some )^ns while ixtmmendlng the doctrine of intercession of saints, to interpose a caution against adopting the use of invocation. This indeed is commendable, since even in things rightly ordained, there is a natural proneness in man to abuse every ordinance and means of grace, making them substitutes for Christ, and a fortiori, the same proneness to abuse what in not rightly ordained — viz., an "ordinance proposing to him the adventitious support and interest of departed saints t In perusing; the extracts i«elected from Pear^ii, Buli, and iH of discussion, ) be measured brraation, the ualitics in the der the buiie, of his case on e necessary to nquiry. Yet, question the ith scripture, enquiry as to nquiry of, let us; it ia not what saith a 1 the opinions n competition epared to ex- 'turiimt mmi- ^h more than Duces hearing i is not less 5 if aware of )n respecting ir, take some on of saints, f invocation, lings rightly ' abuse every ibstitutes for buse what is ig to him the itst >n, Buli, and 17 other authors, upon whose authority, as regards the point at issue, the Provost so implicitly relies, I confess I am somewhat disappointed, in finding that the whole weight of the impor- tance attached to the testimony of these writers resolves itself into what in common parlance is called matter of opinion. But there is one point of opinion elicited in these extracts, which deserves special notice. It is the speculative enquiry, how far the saints who intercede for us, and take an intere.*t in our concerns, are cognizant of our wants and necessities. This seems to be a debatable cjucstion among the learned gentleman's great divines — since by consulting the quotations in pages 49, .50, 51, 52, we find one takes the affirmative, (Thorndike,) another (Bull,) the negative, a third (Ridley,) the hypothetical, and last not least, (Crakanthorp,) the con- ditional. As to the case of Ridley, the Provost conceives he here adduces a perfectly conclusive argument. Affirming the truth of his doctrine, he says : " I close this long and weighty list of authorities with a testimony which presents to us no stern controversial argument— no dry enunciation of theoretical belief— but a most affecting practical adoption of the opinion condemned by the Bishop of Huron, on the part of one of our great reformers, in addressing another on liis way to martyr- dom." And then follow Ridley's words, the ipsisdma verla (page 52) : " And then thou, good brother, pray for the remnant which are to suffer for Christ's sake, accmdmg to that thou then shalt know more clearly ^ I contend that these words imply an uncertain and un- known contingency, and arc much too indefinite to warrant an absolute conclusion. And even if Ridley had held this here- tical dogma, that would be nothing in its favour, since many of the early reformers, emerging out of Romanism, did not altogether and at once shake off the errors of the Papal creed. , We who are encompassed with infirmities, would require X f1 18 an intercessor respecting whoso knowledge of our wantA, and whose intuition into the recesses of our hcjirt, there can bo no such difference of opinion. And this speculative enquiry may be answered by referenco to another text book, (Rom. viii. 29.) This speculative enquiry is suggestive of a very natural reflection — viz. : that if the departed saints, whether literally or spiritually, have {now) the privilege of reigning with Christ, and apprehending the perfection of His alone intercession, they will behold such an amplitude of infinite merit and infinite satisfaction in that alone intercession, they will the rather veil their faces, and imitate the office of the seraphims, than tliat of the intercessor. "And each one had six wings, and with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly ; and one cried unto another and said : Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory." (Is. vi.) Again, referring to the pamphlet (page 90, ) some notice is given as to the dates of the authorities cited, and the circum- stance of their belonging to the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, is stated as supplemental to the importance already allotted them, and also as the Provost informs us, for the special purpose of silencing the " miserable canf" of those who have taken ex- ception to his doctrine. This addiiament to his case will give little advantage to him, while it affords to me the opportunity of bringing into the field a writer of no mean degree, the author of the celebrated work the " Clavts Apocalyptim,^^ Mr. Joseph Mede, Fellow of Cambridge University, died Oct. 1, 1638. Turning to the pages oi this immortal work, I find " the profoundly learned and pious" author far antidates my sketch of the origin of intercession of saints, since he goes back to the first monarchs of Assyria and Phoenicia, and gives much valuable information respecting the Balaam gods so frequently mentioned in Scripture, who derived their origin from Baal, Belus, or Bel, the first king of Babel after Nimrod, and the A 19 our wantA, and here can be no c enquiry may IRom.viii. 29.) i very natural ther literally or g with Christ, ;ercession, they [i and infinite tlie rather veil ims, than that I he covered his h. twain he did •ly, holy, holy, of his glory." some notice is tid the circuni- 18th centuries, ilready allotted special purpose have taken ex- s case will give be opportunity m degree, the Apocalyptica,^^ •sity, died Oct. \\ work, I find r antidates my ce he goes back and gives much s 80 frequently ;in from Baal, imrod, and the first canonized saint, and from whence Jezebel, the daughter of Ithobaal, king of Tyre, introduced the Balaam worship into Israel. But it appears from Mr. Mede, that Queen Dido must needs take her part in the pious work ; :*,nd at a most sumptuous banquet wherein she entertain-; i the Trojan princes and Pius JEneas on their escape from the ruins of Troy, her Phoenician Majesty is represented as pouring out libations to the deified Belus, and which is very beautifully told in Virgil's first iEneid, line 734— " Implevitque mero^ pateram quam Belus et omnfis A Belo solitV* Which lines I find thus elegantly translated by Dryden, including the four verses which follow in the Latin : — '• Xow Dido crowns the bowl of state with wine — The bowl of Behis and the regal line— Her hands aloft the shining goblet hold, Pond'rous with gems and rough with sculptured gold. When silence was proclaimed, the royal fair Thus to the gods addrest her fervent prayer." This reference of the Latin poet to the Hebrew prophet is remarkable, and Elijah said, cry aloud, " and they called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, Baal, hear us." (1 Kings xviii. 26.) This act on the part of Dido, in invocating the canonized Belus, was doubtless very impious, but Dido knew no better, and she acted upon an a priori view of her duty. She believed that the departed monarch was elevated to the highest heavens, where he had power to intercede and take an interest in her behalf, and from this a priori view she reasoned rightly that ■ the departed saint was to be invocated. Her Phoenician Majesty would have thought it absurd if even a Pearson or Crakanthorp of those times had reasoned with her against the folly and impiety of using invocation, unless he had previously convinced her that the intercession of the Saint Belus, reigning in heaven, in her behalf, was not likewise a fond and idle tale. f (i: 1 i '1 I', i The argument which I flhal! now prfH;ccd to elucidate is one which h well known to every rcudcr of the Bible, although ite application in reference to the cjucstion at issue is not often called for in a community which is strictly Protestant. Haply, in regard to any credit which we attach to the absurd doctrine of intercession of saints, we labour not under the &;»n'?, and rcfjuire not the onlidote. The fundamental princi- ples of our faith arc abundantly clear if men would let them M be. He who runs may read, and the wayfaring man who humbly seeks salvation through the co-operation of the eternal Godhead— one God, one Mediator, one Holy Ghost — cannot err therein, and it is only when vain philosophy and human systems are used to darken, confuse, and mystify the simplicity of our faith, that we are required to enter into the more elaborate reasoning of scriptural analogy. When Moses was directed to construct a ritual of the Jewish worship he was again and again admonished to make everything according to a pattern which had been previously shewn him by God Himself. He v/as to make a tabernacle after the pattern, which in the Jewish ritual was called (by St. Pau.) worldly, because it consisted of external things, tangible and visible, which typified heaven, said not to be made T/ith tiands. (Heb. ix. 24.) This tabernacle had two divisions — the holy place, and the holy of holies ; into the former the ordi- nary priests went daily, but into the latter none dare to enter but the High Priest alone to make atonement and intcrcdssion for the people. Here the High Priest presented himself before the mercy seat, the lid of the ark, where was a visible token of God's presence, in reply to the High Priest's inter- cessions. (Ex. XXV. 35 ; Lev. xvi. 24 ; Josephus, book 3.) Such being a brief sketch of the places of ministration, and the persons who ministered, Mr. Mede takes the following view : — " Now, in the tabernacle oj this world, as was in the first tabernacle, we may haply find many priests whom to employ as agents (mirusiers) for us with God — but in the to elucidate is Jiblc, although t issue is not ly Protestant. to the absurd not under the imcntal princi- would let them •ing man who of the eternal }host — cannot y and human the simplicity nto the more ritual of the ^n of our Great r covenant than ^ sanctuary and on of saints will of priority of Plato, Plutarch, the academics ad rather read a but turn to the rliose works, out e two following, lomines ut coni- lant advooatis/' i i What a religion is it 1 that tcachcth men to use good iknuons (deified saints) to commend them to the gods. And again;' '* Ad consci|Ucndam vitan beatani non tali mcdiatoro indigere homincm, qualis est dscmon, sed tali qualis est unus Christus." To attain a blessed )'fo man hath no nt.<;c! of a deified saint, but of Christ alone. The Church of England has of late years been doomed to lament a growing declension among the members of her com- munity. How this is to be accounted for is not for me to opine, but it has been suggested that she has lost something at the Keforniation which wc would wistfully look back upon, and clutch, like Macbeth clutching the fatal dagger. I speak as to facts which have been universally known in England and elsewhere. Posaibly the great names of those who began the retrograde course may account for the leaven. 1 he prestige of name has a great effect ; let a man acquire a great name either as a politician or a divine, and he is sure to require a wider gate for his followers to enter. And is not this fact exemplified in the case before us ? Pearson, and Bull, and Beveridge, have obtained the jircstige of a great name, but they are advocates of the dogma of intercession of saints. s«id therefore we must believe that doctrine — " Pearson, our text book, must be followed," and the not doing so would be "setting at nought the authorities of the church's great divines." And mark how the opinions of men with great names are imbibed. We have here, (pages 47, 48,) a citation from Crakan- thorp, an Oxford divine, who affirms the dogma of the inter- cession of saints, but draws a line of distinction between meritorious and deprecatory intercession. This, the Provost \ thinks '' a most distinct and judicious statement of the ques- ] tion," and to which he invites particular attention ! ! Now, this " distinct and judicious statement " is an old Romanizing sophism, designed for the nonce, to qualify the dogma, and give it some semblance of congruity \vith Pro- I fll i ' 24 testant reformed principles; and it is not a little remark- able that this authority, (Crakanthorp,) is dated Oxford, 1847, which identifies the Romanizing tendency of such writings with that system of teaching which, in these times, seems to have many admirers, and which does indeed savour strongly of a " looking back at something lost at the Reformation." Our celebrated author, Mede, of the seventeenth century, after proving with great force of argument, that the offering of intercessory prayer from us to Godward, is the incommunica- ble p>-erogative of the onemost Mediator, proceeds to notice this Romanizing sophism. He says, " Neither will this demon- stration admit that vulgar exception to be of any force— namely, that expiatory mediation or that meritorious intercession in heaven should indeed appertain to Christ alone, but favourable intercession on the part of the saints to pray for us. I should say that this rag is too narrow and short to cover their naked- ness who lay hold on it." (Book 3, page 788.) But Crakanthorp seems to have penetrated into all the mystery and arcana of the intercessory duties of the glorified saints, as we learn by the next paragraph cited, page 48 : "In the next paragraph, Crakanthorp shews that he disallows par- ticular intercession only so far as it implies a knowledge on the part of the saints at rest, of the present condition of the saints on earth." The reader will here perceive that the great struggle of these divines is to make a show of divesting the supposed interest which glorified saints take \\\ our behalf, from those interces- sory and mediatorial characters which can only belong to the second glorious person of the Holy Trinity. But their argu- ments will not meet the test of sober enquiry. The dogma of intercession of saints, even in a qualified aspect, would, by the law of homogeniety, be of like nature or kind as that offered by Christ Himself, and therefore in spirit an invasion of our Lord's prerogative in His incommunicable office of the one Mediator between God and man. I * little remark- Oxford, 1847, such writings imes, seems to avour strongly )rmation." senth century, the offering of incommunica- iseds to notice ill this demon- brce — namely, ntercession in but favourable us. I should r their naked- 1 into all the t the glorified )age 48 : "In disallows par- knowledge on idition of the •ugglc of these 3osed interest liose interces- belong to the ut their argu- riie dogma of would, by the hat oifercd by asion of our ce of the one ,1 \ m It is the property of Scripture doctrine that whensoever its integrity is invaded, it rejects every species of defence that is not founded upon right reason, combined with its own internal evidence ; and on the other hand, whatever illusory principles or spurious systems are attempted to be intermixed with its truth, such attempts can only be defended by sophistry and false reasoning, bearing with them their own refutation. Take an example of the latter from the following para- graph, page 48 : — " If a good man, departed out of this life, continues to oifer for his friends, and for the church at large, the same supplications which he was wont to offer upon earth, in the name and for the sake of Christ, can it with any shadow of reason be maintained that the one intercession more than the other trenches on the inviolable prerogative of Him by whom alone we come unto the Father ?" This is is an analogical argument which, being defective in its figures, is illegitimate in its conclusion. It is composed of these counter elements as figures of comparison : — 1. The intercession of glorified, immortal saints, redeem- ed from all sin and made perfect in holiness. 2. The intercession of dying sinful human beings — or sin and holiness — death and immortality. 3. Perfect knowledge of commanded duties in the present world. 4. Total ignorance of supposed intercessory duties in the world to come. We are taught and commanded to make prayers and supplications, and we approach God from the outward sanctuary of the church on earth, through ftiith in Christ, as mortal beings, sinful yet penitent. Such it was our Lord's peculiar oflfice to hear, while He was on earth, and for the same purpose (to hear sinners,) is He exalted to the lieavenly sanc- tuary, there to be our onemost intercessor, and to accept our prayers and supplications. In all this we have the clearest r^ u rii light of Scripture for our guide, and nothing on the other hand to direct us in the application of the comparison hei-e sought to be instituted ; in truth no comparison exists, and none is con- templated in Scripture ; this analogy therefore, is the excogita- tion of the human mind, *' intruding," as St. Paul says, *' into things not seen.'* From sophisms the learned gentleman descends into paradoxes — (pages 92 and 93) ; but here his statement is so enveloped in verbiage, it is difficult to extract from it a tangi- ble proposition. I shall merely take one sentence which comes between two periods : — "Let a young man be taught to dread and abhor the opinion that departed saints pray for us, even as he dreads and abhors the practice of the invocation of saints, and the natural result will be, that by giving to the Romanist a very easy victory over him on the former point, you will secure for him an equally easy victory on the latter." How such a result can follow from the premires contained in the first clause of this sentence is to me paradoxical. If the horror and dread of the dogma of intercession of saints entertained by a young man were nothing more than the emotions of prejudice without knowledge, yet not without common sense, I should even then think (prejudice being a stubborn passion,) the victory would be doubtful, but, a for- tton, if these emotions be strengthened by a right knowledge of scriptural truth, and the mind of the youth be not imbued with principles introductory to the reception of the error wc contemplate, I will then affirm the victory will be no longer doubtful. On these data, the initiative of dread and horror of the doctrine of intercession of saints taken by the youth, will be strengthened and confirmed by his knowledge of the Bible, and I deny that any such result as that contemplated iit the preamble of words before me can follow, unless our youth casts his Bible at the feet of his opponent and turns to the beggarly elements, the Romanising teaching contained in the i the other hand 1 hei-e sought to nd none is con- is the excogita- *aul says, *' into descends into statement is so Ei'om it a tangi- ce which comes and ahhor the 3 he dreads and and the natural ist a very easy secure for him mipes contained adoxical. intercession of ling more than ret not without ejudice being a :ful, but, a for- ight knowledge be not imbued if the error wc I be no longer d and horror of the youth, will ;;e of the Bible, tnplatcd ill the iless our youth id turns to the •ntained in the 27 extracts referred to. A system of teaching founded upon such extracts, or upon the i^^cidinr selected tenets of any clasa of writers put forward in manuscript as text books, is objection- able. The characteristics assigned to the Virgin Mary by Pear- son, may be very scriptural, but Pearson gratuitously carries instruction on this point beyond scrijitund precedent^ and the making that subject a prominent branch of teaching, is rather giving a bias in favour of Mariolatry, and intercession of saints. Happily and wisely, after the stupendous events of Calvary and Bethany, the inspired writers preserve a significant and studied taciturnity as to any mention of the blessed Virgin ; and therefore the introduction of questions relating to her antitypical and other characters, ispashing theological teaching beyond scriptural requirement ; and is neither useful for edi- fication nor commended by apostolic example, I have now before me a useful monthly periodical, the " Achill Missionary Herald,'^ which treats much of the sayings and doings of those who would corrupt the simplicity of our faith; and as I write, my eye glances over the May, 1859, number, which gives an extract of Lord Fielding's speech at Holywell in England, in defence of the pre^^-^nded miracle of the liquifaction of the blood of St. Januarius. His Lordship's "gullibility" was taken by witnessing the performance of the juggling trick in Naples, and he is an apostate from the Pro- testant faith, but he takes an a priori view of his supposed duty, he believes that the saint is invested with power of inter- cession, and therefore that the worship of the saint is to be defended and his relics venerated : this is the third point in the seventh article of the Pope Pius IV. Creed. The Bishop of Huron takes an a priori view, when he reasons from cause to eflfect, and says in his pastoral — " when young men are thus taught in the creed we profess to believe, that the saints departed take an interest in our spiritual welfare, and probably i, i .) ('.- / 28 intcroede with God for us, the transition is easj to— Holy St. Dominick, pray for us." The Provost of Trinity College takes an anomalous view, when he thinka he can disintegrate two allied principles, and teach the initiatory principle without its producing either a remote or proximate effect. All men have not that philosophi- cal turn of mind, to see such a recondite distinction between cause and effect ; neither is the mind of every young man fortified with so nice a discernment of truth, that he cm be taught to believe in the rudlnicnts of error, without indue- ing a false principle of reasoning, and in matters of religion a perverted sentimentality. Finally, if i„ these pages I have in ^ny degree exhibited the dogma of intercession of saints in Its anti-scriptural character, and stripped the subject of the covering of vain philosophy in which it is enveloped in the pamphlet, and in the extracts therein cited, I shall be abun- dantly satisfied that my labour has not been in vain. m^: mmmtm 18 easy to— Holy n anomalous view, led principles, and producing either a tot that pliilosophi- isti notion between every young ajan hf that he can be or, without tnduc- fnatters of religion these pages I have cssion of saints in the subject of tlio enveloped in the , I shall be abun- in vain.