MT8U 
 
 >f 
 
A LECTURE 
 
 DF.I.IVERRD IIV Tlir. 
 
 REV. WILLIAM MOORE, 
 
 IN THE 
 
 Ba^ik street Pyesbyferian Church, 
 
 SUNDAY, 81ST DKCFMHEK, 187J. 
 
 ISUBJECT: 
 
 Is the Church, of Home [iifalUble ? " 
 
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 OTTAWA: 
 Pbintkd by I. B, Taylok, -"J, 31 and 33, Kideau Stbeet. 
 
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SERMON 
 
 "To the law and to tliu tern ciomy ; if theyi«i)rak not wconKng to thii 
 word it in hec.iusu tliero Ih no light in thum." ' litaiah. chap.- viii., 20 verse, 
 
 Tlio editor of tlic Christum Union, iu a recont isMUO, 
 speaks of liis work during the past year, in tlie following 
 terms : — " Wo have assailed and logically rented a large 
 ])roportion of the heresies of the day. Wc have touehed 
 up the Jews J we have confuted the Unitarians ; wc have 
 bothered the Catholics; wc have utterly confounded the 
 Atheists; the Baptists, with their close communion, have 
 been made to s(piirm ; and as to High Ciiurch Ei)isco- 
 palians, wo have not left them a leg to stand upon. By 
 all the best known laws of cause and effect, then* should 
 l>e very little remaining of any of these denominations, 
 and yet we are much afraid they all still live and hold 
 each its ])eculiar tenets as finnly as over, and perhaps 
 more so for our unanswcial)Ie arjxuments." 
 
 And that, as I Uike it, is generally the result of con- 
 troversy. Iu the sphere of the physical, when wo have 
 fought with an enemy and killed him (nit right, he does 
 not give us any more. troul)le. Once di-jul li(5 will stay 
 dea<i, and we may bury him in peace. Not so, however, 
 in the war of words, or the conflict of opinion. Hero the 
 victor's Avork is never done. The lejiions which he scat- 
 tered like leaves before the wuid yesterday, as though 
 unconscious of defeat, nuist be fought over again to-day. 
 Doubtless the good Priest Damen is filled with astonish- 
 ment that there is even a remnant of Protestantism left 
 in any of the places which have been favonnl with his 
 fancied, unanswerable demonstration of the claims of the 
 
 r^ar>(V2 
 
Papacy, to be the only true Church and the infallible 
 expounder of the Scrii>ture, in a word, the reprcsontative 
 and mouth])iece of God on earth. No doubt the disconi- 
 iiture was complete. But somehow, like Milton's anjjjels, 
 we still live, and are able to show as bold a frcuit as 
 though no such redoubtable champion had ever entere<l 
 the lists against us. The (piestion lictwecn us and the 
 Papacy is of the first impoiiance. Jf the Ilomish Church 
 is the true spiritual body of Christ, we are in a^langerous 
 position ; that once fairly established, it l)ehoves us to 
 submit in order that we may find salvation. If on the 
 other hand it can be shown that her claims arc false, then 
 she stands convicted of liaving usurped the jirerogatives 
 of Christ, and it becomes our duty to testify against lier, 
 and to call ujion others to do the same. 
 
 The controversy between Papal and Protestant 
 (*bristendoin may be reduced to a very narrow compass. 
 It is simply this : — Does the Bible, as found in the original 
 JF' brew and Greek, contain the whole revealed mind of 
 Gofl, and is it sufficient under the enlightening influence 
 of the Holy Ghost to guide men to salvation ? If sufH- 
 cicnt, it needs no supplement. If insulHcicnt, it must be 
 Ru. ijilemented if men are to l)e saved. Protestantism says 
 the Bible is sufficient. Romanism says it is not. The 
 Rev. Mr. Damen ti'ies to j)rovc the falsity of our doctrine 
 by a clever rcductio ad absvrdum; his argiunent under 
 this head may be briefly put thus : — If the Bible alone 
 were a safe guide, Ave could leam the truth from it; but 
 if we could learn the truth from it, there would bono 
 difibrences of opinion among Protestants, for truth is one. 
 Instead of unity of faith, one great Protestant (Jhmch, 
 we find 352 churches, each of which claims to be right. 
 All cannot be right, therefore, the Bible alone is not a 
 safe guide, in their case, at lo:.fyt, it has not led to a know- 
 ledge of the truth. With resjictt to the statement, that 
 theic are 352 Protestant churches, I can only characterise 
 it as a manifest perversion of the truth. If such a 
 number can be made out, it can only be done by counting 
 the great national churches, as not only inde])endent but 
 conflicting powers, no matter how closely they may bo 
 allied in polity and doctrine c. g., the Presbyterian Church 
 
is ono tho world over. Thou<:jh not one in organic or legis- 
 lative union, she is one in doctrine and l>o!ity, and numbers 
 within lier pah; in Europe and America some 28,()()(),0()() 
 of people. C)ut of this oni; church Mr. J)amen would 
 make a j^'reat conjjiany, the Kirk of 8(C)tland, the Free 
 ( 'Innch, the United rreshyteiian, the English Preshy- 
 terian, the Preshyterian Church of Canada in connection 
 M'ith the Church of Scotland, the same in the J^ower 
 Piovinccs, The Pnisbyteiian Church of the Lower Pro- 
 vinces, the Canada Presl»yterian (!hurch, the Pjcshyterian 
 Church Noith, and the Presbyterian Church Soutli, and 
 I know not how many more. And after all this unfair- 
 TU'sshe cf)unts as Protestant every infidel sect in existence, 
 not excepting the Mormons and the Free Loveites, and 
 asserts that each and all of these adke profess to <1raw 
 tlieir inspiration from the P)il)le, and regard it as the 
 repository of their <loctrines. Now, as I ean hardly bring 
 myself to believe that Mr. Danien won id knowingly be 
 guilty of falseho* . (J, even for the ])urpos;' of seeming to 
 weaken the position of au opponent, I am forced U) the 
 conclusion that I'is recklessness is the result of ignorance. 
 Cut away from (he great body of Evangelical Christians 
 the brood of antl-vJliristian sects, which l>o])ery delights 
 to count as Protestant, in order to lieighten her own claim 
 to unity, and at o.ie single stroke the number of the so 
 called Protestant Churches is mightily reduced. There 
 are, no doubt, many points of difference among Protes- 
 tants, and these differences I have no desire to ignoie or 
 undei'rate, but they do not exceed the differences wliich » 
 exist among Romanists themselves notwithstanding their 
 boasteel unity, lint if it l)e remembered that the jx.ints 
 of difference and dispute among Protestants do not t'Uch 
 fhe foundati(,)ns of the faitli, that each and all alike point 
 the inf|uiring sinut'r to Christ as the only Saviour of 
 men, we shall find that there is a real unity of faith and 
 ])ractice pervading Protestant Christendom sutHi;ient to 
 vindicate our doctrine respecing the Pible. But lot us 
 for a moment sup))oso that Mr. ])amen is correct wlicn lie 
 ^ays there are 3.')2 Protestant Churches. l>eing Protestant 
 they claim to be Christian. The Romish Church also 
 churns to be Christian. We must, therefore, add one 
 
' - ■ , , 
 
 moic to tins number, and then wo liave 3.')3 cliurchcs 
 claiming to be C/liristian from wliich to select if in search 
 of the true Church. Which s.inll we acknowledge ? Let 
 us begin with the one whicli has the largest nominal 
 membership, the Romish. This Church claims to bo 
 infallible in teaching t le truih. This once admitted or 
 fully established, the whole ground is covered and disj)uto 
 is at an (;nd. Mr. Damon says (pages l.*J-14'), "The 
 Catholic has Divine faith, and why ? Because the 
 (*atholic says, I believe in sudi and such a thing. Why ? 
 Because the Church teaches m(^ so. And why do I believe 
 the Church ? Because God has commanded rnc to believe 
 the teaching of the Church ; and God has threatened mo 
 with damnation if I d( not believe the Church ; and wo 
 are taught by St. Pet<'r, in his epistle, that there is no 
 private prophecy or interjjretation of the Scriptures." 
 Here notice first, that to prove the doctrine that God 
 commands us to hear the Romish Church, he seems to 
 rely on Mathew, chap. 1(S, v. 1 7, this being the oidy ])assago 
 in wdiich the words "hoar the Church" so often re})eated 
 l)y him. occur in the whole of the New Testament. 
 These words, liowever, have nothing to do with the ca.se 
 in hand. The Avhole passage runs thus : — " Alorcover, if 
 thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him 
 his fault l)etwcen theo and nun alone. If he shall hear 
 thee, thou hast gained thy ijrothc. But if he will not 
 hear thets tlion take with thee one or two more, that in 
 the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may bo 
 established. And if he shrdl neglect to hear them, tell it 
 unto the Church ; butif he reglect to hear th(; Church, 
 let him be unto theo as an l.i athen man and a jiublican." 
 Any man with half an eyj can sec that this passage 
 lays down a coursi; of conduct to be followed by one who 
 has received, or who thinks Ik> has received an injury at 
 the hand of a Christian broti er. The first step is " Go 
 and tell him his fault between thee and him alone." The 
 second step is "If he will nol hear the»\ then take with 
 thee one oi* tv/o more, ' the object being to prevent pub- 
 licity and yet secure sufficient judicial witness. The 
 third step is "If he shall n 'gleet to hear them, tell it 
 unto the Church." That is the whole bearing of that 
 
passage, and it no more obliges ns to liear the Romish 
 Churcli as a teacher than the words of Isaiah the Proi)het, 
 " Woe unto tliem that rise up early in the moniing t<> 
 mingle strong drink," oblige us to lie in bed until noon. 
 
 Again look at 2nd Peter chap, i., v. 20, 21, — "Knowing 
 this first, that no proj)hecy of the Seiipturc is of any pri- 
 vate inter})retation." These words simply mean that " no 
 j)rophe('y of the Serijituio" is the result of liuman fore- 
 sight or excogitation ; that tli(^ Prophets did not utter 
 their own s])eculations, or speak on their own authority, 
 but, as we learn from the 21st verse, these " holy men 
 of (.jod sj)ake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 
 It takes a magnifying glass of very considerable power 
 to ilnd hero any liijit that we are not to use our own 
 Clod-given poweis in the study of His Word, but, on the 
 contrary, to hand emrselves o\er, asking no (piestions, to 
 th<! guidance of an infallible church. 
 
 But there is still a more serious objection to the 
 good Priest's argument '"ihn Church exists before the 
 liible." — "The Bible deri' es its authority from the 
 Clmrch." — "We only knov what the Bible is when tlie 
 Church has told us." Of cinirse, in such a case we can 
 only be sure we have an i » fallible Bible when we have 
 the word of an infallible cluirch for it. ISiow what does 
 Mr. Damen say if we ask him, " How do you know that 
 the Bible is infallible T' " Becau.se the Clmrch .says so, 
 and she is infallible." " But how do you know that tlie 
 ( 'hurch is infallible ? ' " The Bible says .so." That is to 
 say, ho first proves tho infallibility of the Bible on 'le 
 jiuthority of the Church, and then the infallibilty of the 
 ( 'hurcli from the book to which she has just certified, 
 which is a manifest circle. Atlas cannot hold the world 
 on shoulders tan<l have it undei" h's feet at the same 
 time. The Romish Cluirch must cither submit to an 
 infallible ]3ible, whicli is all we ask, oi- else she nnist 
 not biing to ])rovt! lier own infallibility a book, the 
 authority of \'vhich we have first to learn from lier owu 
 lips. Of this many of i\u) most intelligent and accom- 
 plished Romanists are fully aware. Hence, instead of 
 appealing to the Bible to piove the dogma of ecclesi- 
 astical infallibility, they a.vsume it as a first principle 
 
rf 
 
 or axiom, vvliich we are to hold on its own self-evidenc- 
 ing light, as we hold the existence of God. 
 
 Let us then ask, " Is the Romish Church infallible ? " 
 This is her own chosen ground, and here she nuist 
 stand or fall. If her claims are well founded, she has 
 nothint; to fear from the most searching investigation, 
 hut rather, everything to ho])e. 
 
 Infallibility is thus defined or described by J. II. 
 Newman ("(Jranunar of Assent," JKige 215, American 
 edition), — "A man is infallible, whose words arc always 
 true; a rule is infallible if it is uncrrlnr/ in all iffi 
 possible ((p}tUcat'o)iS ; an infallible authority is certain 
 in every particular case that may arise." Ai';ain, at 
 pag(; 217, — "If, indeed, I claimed to be infallililc, onk 
 FAlI ITEE would sliivcr my claim to pieces. J. H. Newman 
 is quite as good a Roman Catholic as Priest Damen, and 
 this is his definition. Let us apjdy to the claim so 
 defined — the test of history. If the Church is infallibl(>, 
 sh(i cannot be s.-'lf-contradictory in any of her acts or 
 utterances. Moreover, according to her own decision 
 or detinitioii, the attribute of infallibility inheres oi- 
 centres in the reigning Poj)e or Jiishop of Rome, who is 
 for the time being to iSe considered as the exponent of 
 her orthodox}'. This being so, each individual po])e 
 will be self-consistent in his acts and utterances. 
 He will also ))e consistent with all the acts 
 and utterances of his predecessors an<l successors in 
 office. If, then, we can produce even one instanco in 
 which a })ope has contradicted either himself or his pre- 
 • lece.ssors or his successors, that om^ inst;inc(! will be, to 
 use the emphatic hmguage of. I. If. Newman, sutiicient 
 to *' shiver the chiim to pieces." 
 
 Pope Innocent 1., in a letter to the Council of Alilevis, 
 and Pope Celasius I., in his epistU? to the Bishojis of 
 Picemnu, declared it to be so indisjicnsible \\)Y infants 
 to receive comnumion, that those who die without it go 
 (straight to hell. A thousand years later the (^tuncil of 
 Trent, ami the popes at the head of it, anathamatised 
 this doctiine. 
 
 Pope Celestine HI. tried to loosen tlie marriage tie, 
 by declaring it dissolved if cither party became heretical. 
 
Pope Innocent III. annulled this decision, and Pope 
 Hadrian VI. called Pope Celestine, his infallible prede- 
 cessor, a heretic for giving it. 
 
 Poi)e Iiniocont III. declared that the spiritual bond 
 which unites a bishop to his diocese is firmer and more 
 indissolul)lc than the carnal bond, as he is plcase<l to 
 call it, which unites man and wife, and that Gml alone 
 can loosen it, that is, translate a bishop from one diocese 
 to another. But, as the pope is the representative of 
 (Jlod on earth, he, and he alone, can dissolve this holy 
 and indissoluble bond, not by human, but by divine 
 authority, and it is God, not man, who looses it. Tho 
 ol)vious and direct inference that if the pope can dissolve 
 this most sacred tie, raucli more may he also dissolve tho 
 less firm and holy tie of common wedlock, he entirely 
 overlooked ; for on tliis point ho solemnly condemned 
 the decision of Pope Celestine III., thereby unwittingly 
 involving himself in a contradiction. 
 
 Pope Nicholas III., in the Decretid "Exiit qui se- 
 minat," gave an ex]>osition of the Rule of St. Francis, 
 in which he declared the renunciation of all pei'sonal or 
 corporate pro])erty to be holy and meritorious, and that 
 Christ Himself had taught tliis, and confirmed it by His 
 exam])le. The Franciscans were to have tho use of 
 tho ])r()perty, but its possession inhered in tlu; Roman 
 C'hurch. Tills <lccretal was addressed to tho whole 
 church, and any gloss or interpretation thereof against 
 tlie literal sense was forhiddeii under pain of excommu- 
 nication. Po})e Clement V., in the decretal " Exivi de 
 I'aradiso," renewed this ordinance of Nicolas ; and Pope 
 .lolin XXII., in the bull " Quorundam," declared — this 
 ordinance of Nicholas 111. and Clement V. to be s.alutary, 
 clear, and of force. After awhile he hail a dispute; with 
 the Franciscans, the uj)shot of which was that this same 
 John XXII. ;ssued another bull, in which he declared 
 the distinction Itetueen uso and 2>osses8loii impossible, 
 and linally wound up by rej<>cting the doctrine of his 
 ])redecessors, that Christ and His Apostles were in word 
 and deed patterns of the Franciscan ideal of poverty, 
 ius heretical and hostile to the Catholiir faith. And thus 
 we have the perplexing spectacle of one infallible pope 
 
10 
 
 broadly charging another infallible pope with false 
 doctrine ; nay, more, the same infallible man at one time 
 cleclaring a tidng to be holy and good which soon after 
 he, in the exercise of the same divine jiower, declares to 
 be unholy and heretical. And because the Franciscans 
 held to the infallibility of Nicolas III. and Clement V. 
 rather tlian to that of John XXTI,, there were, between 
 the years 131(> and 1352, no less than 114 of them 
 l)urned to death, — a course of treatment so often resorted 
 to for the good of the souls of those who unha]))uly 
 differed from " the Chui'ch," that it may be regarded as 
 her a|)proved method of dealing with heretics. 
 
 In connection with the Latin Bible, of which Mr. 
 Damen s])eaks so highly, this dogma of infallil>ility 
 received a terrible shock. The (\)unci!. of Trent ])ro- 
 nounced Jerome's translation authentic, but did not state 
 which edition of it, was to be so consi<lered. The text of 
 all the different editions was, on examination, found to 
 be so imj)erfect, that there w:»s none to answer the 
 reijuii'ements of the covnicil's decree. 
 
 Vo\n) Slxtus \". undertook to ])rovIde one, which 
 n}.[)eared in due time, garnished and sfuarded with the 
 ui-ual anathemas. This Bull ordered this edition, cor- 
 rected with his own hand, to be received and used as the 
 only true and genuine one, and every change, even of a 
 single vord, was forbidden luider ])ain of anathema. 
 
 It soon ap))eared that his edition was full of blunders, 
 •2,000 of them liavinLT l»een introduced by his own hand. 
 The reign of (Jregory XIV. was short, and nothing was 
 done. Hi« successoi-, Clement VIII. called in the edition 
 ofSixtus V and issued another of his own, which was 
 as carefully fenced in b}'' penal enactments as that of his 
 jn-^decessor. Lest this should shake the eonlidence of 
 the church in the dogma of infallibility, which Avas then 
 begimiing to obtain currency, the famous Cardinal 
 Bellarmiue suggested that the new Pope should save tlu) 
 credit of the old one by saying that the mistakes in the 
 first edition, that of Sixtus V., had been introduce«l by 
 the carelessness of the j»rinters and others. Bellarmine, 
 himself was connnihsioued to circulate this lie, and the 
 Po])e endorsed it by writing the ])reface. 
 
11 
 
 In matters luoro immediately pertainiijff to the 
 sphere of theology, the Popes are equally unfortunate. 
 Poj)e Innocent I, confirmed the sentence of the 
 Councils of Carthage and Milevis, ■•vhich condemned the 
 doctrine of Pelagius and Celestinc; as heretical. Pope 
 Zozimus, in the year 417, rescinded this judgment, and 
 ])ronounced Pelagius and Celestine orthodox. The next 
 year, 41S, the same Zozinms re-tried the parties, rovei-sed 
 his ])i'evious sentence, declared them heretical, excom- 
 nmnicated and anathematised them, and beside all this, 
 he issued a circular letter in which he particularly 
 endorses the verdict of the councils which he had ali'cady 
 condemned. And this not hy inspiration or enlighten- 
 ment of the Holy Ghost, hut through fear of the Emjieror 
 Honorius. 
 
 Pope Vigilius, who owed his elevation to, the Chair 
 of St. Peter, to a contract with the Empress Theodora, 
 by which he pledged himself to condenni the council of 
 Clialcedon,(a) succeeded in making a singular series of self 
 contradictions. The Enn)eror Justinian, in 544, issued an 
 edict in which he impliedly ai least condemned the 
 Council of Chalcedon. Vigilius ilrst, condemned this 
 edict, then lie caccepted the edict, and condennied the 
 " three chai)ters " to which it referred. Soon after, at th(5 
 instance of the African and Illyrian bishops, he with- 
 drew his condenmation of the said three chapters, and 
 linally completed the circle by renewing his condemnation 
 of the chapters for the sake of the Emperor's friend- 
 ship (/>.) 
 
 Pope Hojiorius, in the controversy as to whether 
 Christ had one will «m- two, asserted that he had only one. 
 Pope ib)hn IV. anathematised the wliolf sei t to which 
 Honorius belonged ((').Po})e Martin l.didthesame tliing(f/.) 
 JV)pe Theodore anathamatised Pyrrhus the ^lonothelite, 
 and to jjfive'n'eatersolemnifv tothc; d(!cree of excommuni- 
 cation, signed it with a])en dipped in consecrated wine (e.) 
 Pope Agatho not only condemned the sect but anathe- 
 matised Pope Honorius ]>y name (/".) 
 (I. oidCatii. rii. iKVfKi'Ji;'.. 
 
 /.. MrtHlicini, 1). 2;'.2-;<. 
 
 r. I hill., Y. 2:^\, :u. 
 
 d. OliKIiith. Cli..!.. 215. 
 
 *". DnwlhiK, p. 1-"»'X 
 
 /. Mohhvini, 250, & Old C'akh. Ch. 210. 
 
Here again wc have tlic s|)(ctaclu of infallibility 
 arrayed against infallibility. Wliieli are wo to licliove ;" 
 If Popes Innocent and CJelasius were rii,']it in sayiiijj; 
 that unless infants reeeivc th(! eonmiunlon tlicy must 
 perish, then assuredly the council and its Popes were 
 wrong. If Honorius was right, tlie Monotlielites wer(s 
 orthci'ox. If Ajjcatho and the otheis were ri^dit, then 
 Honorius was a heretic, and the Romish Clmrcli did well 
 to ca'this name out of her liturgy, tliough I shall not say 
 it was wc^l done to mention his name in the Breviary as 
 a person of " d(t7/inat(i} oncrnQriai" ncciWHod memory. 
 But I need not go over the entire list. In any instance 
 of contradiction, take which side the Romanist may, it 
 })roves equally fatal to the doctrine of the infallibility of 
 the Church as recently defined, for both the ])arties are 
 in the same line, and equally infallil)le, if the doctrine }>e 
 true. From all this, it follows — that the Pa})a('y, the 
 Roman Catholic Church, of which the reigning pope is 
 for the time being the niouth-j)iece and exponent, has 
 erred. If one example of eri-or would suiHce to " shiver 
 the claim of infallibility," what becomes of it when well 
 nigh a round dozen has been faii-ly established ? 
 
 In addition to this I shall not charge her with 
 idolatry in the worship of saints and angels, and the 
 invocation of " Mary, the Rb)ther of God." I shall not 
 even hint at the sin of simony with which the whole 
 body, from the head downward, is notoriously infected. 
 I shall not say a ^^'ord about the moral corrui)tion of 
 which St. Catherine of Sieima said to Po])e Gregory XI., 
 " I find in the Court of Rome the stench of infernal vices." 
 (3n his replying that she had only l)een theie a few days, 
 her answer was, "I dare to say that in my native city I 
 have found the stench of the sins committed in the Curia 
 more oppressive than it is to those who daily, connnit 
 them." Bishop Coriolano Martorano, of San Marco, who 
 made the opening s])eech at the C^juncil of Trent, is said 
 by Romanists themselves to have drawn a picture of the 
 Italiai^ Cardinals and Bishops, their ])loodthirsty cruelty, 
 {}iQ\v avarice, their pride, and the devastation they had 
 .,yrOUght of the Church, which was i)erfectly shocking. 
 Of the^^ things I shall not say a word. They belong to 
 
18 
 
 a dark and fijlooiny page in the liistory of tho world, and 
 are too well kn(>wii to re([uire more than this passing 
 glance. ]jut leavii:g these anide, aiwl looking only to tlie 
 self contradictions of th(^ popv*s and the errors into which 
 ihey liave repeatedly fallen, we <iiid enough to cover the 
 lloiuish j)r(!tensioiis lo infallihility with everlasting 
 disgra<-(!. Yet Mr. l)a)nen says : " Hear nie, Jesus, hear 
 what I say ? I say, tliat if t-he ( atholic Church now in 
 the 10th Century, is not the true Church of (lod, as she 
 was 1(S.*}S years ago, then 1 say, Jesus, thou hast deceived 
 us, and thou ait an impostor." 
 
 I now join is.siic with the good priest and say either 
 the Roinish Churcli is not the tiuc Church of (Jod, the 
 living spiritual hody of Christ, or Christ is an impostor. 
 He ma> take the latter horn of the dilemma ?f he chooses, 
 hut I iind it much easier to take the lirst, and to f ay 
 that the society known as tlu; Roman Catholic Chuich 
 is not now, .aiid nev(T has Ix^en, in any special and 
 exclusive sense, the " ]3ody of Christ," the " Church of 
 the Living God." 
 
 Before entering u])on a statement of the I'rotestant 
 doctrine respecting the Church, let it he distinctly under- 
 stood that the Bihle, instead of heinix received on tho 
 authority of the Church, is itself, as tho case a<tiially 
 stands, the fountain of all our knowledge of and the sile 
 authority for the existence of the Church. But for the 
 Bihlc we could not know, either, that there is, or tiiat 
 there was designed to he any such thing as a Church of 
 (ilod on earth. To the Bihle therefore, wo must look for 
 the history of her estahlishment, the nature of her con- 
 stitution, and the extent of h<n' j)rerogatives. 
 
 W^ith this jireface, I shall at once })roceed to state 
 our doctrine of the Church, and in doing so .shall use the 
 language of the Rev. Charles llodge, D.D., of Princeton, 
 whose statement is prohably nnich more compact, and at 
 the same time more full and comj)iehensive than any 1 
 could ])roduce. It is as follows, viz.: — " (1.) The Churcli as 
 such or in its essential nature, is not an external organiza- 
 tion. (2.) All true believers in whom the Sjiirit of (h)d 
 dwells, are members of that Church which is tho Body 
 of Chri.it, no matter with Avhat ecclesiastical organiza- 
 
•./, 14 ' /■■/ , 
 
 tion they may be coimected, aiirl even althougli they 
 have no sucli connection. The thief on tlic cross was 
 Haved, though lie was not a member of any external 
 Church. (3.) Therefore, the attributes, prerogatives, 
 and promises of the Cliurch do not belong to any external 
 society as such, but to the tnio people of God collectively 
 considered ; and to external societies only so far as they 
 consist of true believers, and are conti'olled by them. 
 This is only saying what every man admits to be true, 
 that the attributes, prerogatives, and promises pertaining 
 to Christians belong exclusively to true Christians, and 
 not to wicked or worldly men who call themselves 
 Christians. (4.) The condition of membership in the 
 true Church is not union with any organized society, 
 but faith in Jesus Christ. Thty are the children of God 
 by faith ; they are the sons of Abraham, heirs of the 
 j)romiso of redemption made ..o him by faith ; whether 
 they be Jew or Gentile, bon( . or free ; whether Protes- 
 tants or Romanists, Pr 3sby tei ians or Episcopalians ; or 
 whether they 1)0 so widely scattered, that no two or three 
 of them are able tomecj togct icr for worship. 
 
 "Protestants do n)t deny that there is a visible 
 Church (Catholic) on eirth, consisting of all those who 
 ])rofess the true religion, togci/her with their children. 
 But they are not all included ia any one external society. 
 They also admit that it is the duty of Christians to unitt? 
 ibr the ])ur[)ose of worship and mutual watch and care. 
 They admit that to sucli asscn^iations and societies certain 
 prerogatives an I j)romises belong; that they have, or 
 ought to have, the ofhccrs whose (pialifications and duties 
 are prescribed in the Scipture-j, — that there always have 
 been and j)robal)ly always will be, such Christian organi- 
 zations or visible churches. But they deny that any one 
 of these societies, or all of them collectively constitute 
 the Churdi for which Christ died ; in which He dwells 
 by His Spirit; to which He has promised perpetuity, 
 catholicity, unity, and divine guidance in the knowledge 
 of the truth. Any one of them, or all of them, on<> 
 after a!ioth(;r. may apostatize from the faith, and all th<'. 
 l)romises of God to his Church l)c fulfilled. The Church 
 did not fail, when God rcser^•ed to himself only seven 
 
_ .• - . . . lo ^ > , * . . - 
 
 ', thousand in all Isreal who had not bowed the knee unto 
 Baal." 
 
 With this statement cf the truth, I close the present 
 discussion : May God in His infinite mercy for Christ 
 sake grant that all concerned, whether Romanist or Pro- 
 testant, being grafted in the true s})iritual body of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ by faith, may, notwithstanding their 
 misconceptions of his truth, or tlieir lack of charity 
 toward each other; be found at last in the General 
 Ass2mbly and Church of the tirst-born whose names are 
 written in Heaven. Amen.