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IVIaps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre filmte A des taux de reduction diffArents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour fttre reproduit en un seul ciich*, il est filmA A partir de I'angle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent 1^: mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 HEPLY TO X' THE REVEREND DR. CAHILL ON THE EUCHARIST, BY ROBERT BURNS, D. D., Propessoe op Church History, Knox College, TOliON'TO, CS^. TORONTO: JAME3 BAIN, 46 KINO STREET, HASr. 1863. \ .s \ :-: REPLY TO DR. CAHILL ON THE euch:a.iiist " La Sainte Messe n'est autre chose que le sacrifice de la Re- demption humaine, que le Di^^ine Sauveur Jesus Christ represente, renouvelle, et continue a I'autel, sous les apparen- ces Eucharisti ques, par le minist^re du pretre." " La messe est le magnifique ahrege de la Redemption." Such are the open- ing clauses of a well known " guide to the Mass " now before me, and entitled, " Christianisme en action, dans la Messe ; " and, " methode populaire, pourbien assister a la Sainte Messe." It is beautifully printed, and adorned with upwards of one hundred engravings, many of them very unbecoming, but all intended to illustrate the history of redemption as exhibited in scripture. The work is sanctioned by the imprimatur of the Archbishop of Toulouse, and is in high esteem among the habitants of Lower Canada. It is interesting to Protes- tants as indicating what Popery really is as regards the Mass and the Eucharist. Dr. Cahill in the opening of his printed vorks (p. 9,) expresses himself nearly in the same terms* " The Catholic church has now a sacrifice which is a perfect ^DH'^M- '» REPLT TO DR. CAHILL propitiation for sin, an offering suited to all the conditions of divine worship, and a gift to present to the Throne of Mercy worthy the acceptance of God." 1^ treating of the errors of the Church of Rome on the sabjeet of the Lord's Supper, we have this advantage, that not a doubt exists in any quarter as to what is, in this instance, really and truly the doctrine of the Eomish Church. There may be differences of opinion as to the consequences which we draw or which are supposed to follow from the doctrine, but 4here are none whatever in regard to the solid and substantial facts of the case. The Council of Trent long ago spoke out with perfect clearness when she said that " by the consecration of the bread and wine there is effected a conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord, and of the whole substance of the wine in^o the substance of hig blood.; which conversion is fitly and pro- perly termed by the Holy Catholic Church, transub> fitantiation." f And again, " If any one shall deny that in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist, there are contained truly, really, and substantially, the body and the blood, together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore the wh>le Christ ■ or say that he is in it only as a sign or figure, or by his influence, let him be accursed. If any one shall deny that in the adorable sacrament of the Eucharist, a separation being made, the whole Christ is con- tained in each element or species, in the separate parts of each element or species, let him he accursed." J *' By what means,'' asks the Douay Catechism, " is that which was before bre^d changed into the body of Christ, and that which was wine ^nged into the blood of Christ ? Ans.—By the divine t CouMcU of Trent, Sew. klii., c. 4. ^t Ibid, c. 8. )ndition8 of e of Mercy ome on the ;e, that not is instance^ eh. There s which we )ctrine, but substantial ► spoke out onsecration sion of the the body of B wine into y and pro- , transub- that in the contained d, together Christ, and it only as ursed. If ent of the rist is Qou- rts of each it means,' ^ ifore bre^d I was wine the divine ON THE EUCHARIST. 5 power, which as easily changes one substance into another as he made the world out of nothing, and works the miraculous effect, which the Catholic Church calls transubstantiation, by the ministry of the priest ; in the same manner as whe* by Moses, the rivers were changed into blood, and water into wine by our Saviour Christ." Protestants are sometimes inclined to think that this is a harmless speculation — an innocent absurdity ; and some Roman Catholic writers are not unfond of glossing it over as one of the smaller points, on which Christians, who are agreed on the substance of the faith, may conscientiously differ. The Popish Church herself takes a very different view of the matter. Trsnsubstantiation has been well described as ** the burning article " of the Church of Rome ; and the merest child who has looked into the ordinary martyrologies of persecuting times, can tell you, that the " denial of the real presence," as it was termed, constituted the heinous crime which multitudes of the most pious and holy men and women of the period were doomed to expiate in the flames. And need we remind the reader, that till within these very few years, a declaration against the doctrine, formed the test by which a senator, who might be suspected of Popery or of Popish leanings, was per- mitted to take his seat in the Parliament of Great Britain ? A man who denies transubstantiation virtually renounces Popery, and would be distinctly held by the Church as a here- tic, on whom her anathemas must fall. The connection of this doctrine, also, with that of the sacri fice of the mass, marks its great practical importance, r there be no change whatever on the sacramental elements there e&n he no real presentation of Christ's body as a sacrifi cial oblation ; and the sacrifice of the mass falls by necessary REPLY TO DR. CAHILL eoDBequence to the ground. If, on the other hand, there be a real and literal transformation of the elements into the " body and soul," together with " the divinity " of our Lord Jesus Chifct, the offeriog of the mass follows of course, in as much as this constitutes the recuton assigned for the singular trans- formation. Now, it is surely unnecessary to inform Protes- tants of ordinary education, that to hold the doctrine of the mass, and, at the same time, that of the one spotless and all- sufficient sacrifice of the Redeemer on the cross, is abso- lutely impossible. The one is incompatible with the other. The sacrifice of Christ, once offered upon the cross, ^as a full and perfect propitiation for the sins of men, and therefore ought not, because it needs not, to be repeated. The inspired Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews argues the superiority of the Gospel over the Law in this special respect, that the expiatory sacrifice of the Gospel was offered once for all, whereas the sacrifices of the law were regularly repeated. Christ says he, " needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first, for his own sins, and then for the people's, this he did once, when he offiered up himself." *' Once in the end of the world hath he appeared to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself, and as it is apointed unto all men once to die, and after this the judgment, so Christ was once offered to he&T the sins of many." ** By the will of God we are sanctifi- ed threugh the offering of the body of Jesus once for all." " This man," this person, *^ after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down on the right hand of God : for by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." X If the doctrine of the one atonement is of unspeakable mo- ment in that scheme of grace which constitutes the only le- ligion that is suited to man as a fallen creature, and if the i Hebrews, vii. ST ; is 26; x. 10, 12, 14. ON THE EUCHARIST. , there be a the " body Lord Jesus in as much gular trans- orm Protes- trine of the ess and all- 5g, is abso- the other. !,#Yas a full i therefore 'he inspired superiority !t, that the ice for all, kted. Christ to oflfer up ihe people's. Once in the sin by the men once to ce offered to are sanctifi- ce for all.'^ sacrifice for ; for by one anctified." J leakable mo- the only le- i, and if the daily repetition of this sacrificial oblation is at utter variance with simplicity of dependanceon the finished work of the Redeemer, of what importance is it to overthrow the foundation on which the Romish system of error on this point is reared ? We do so when we show that the ordinance of the supper is a sign or symbol, merely, and not a repetition of the sacrifice of Christ,— that his real body is not there, — that his soul does not ani- mate the wafer ; and that his divinity is not inclosed in, or covered over by that •' which perisheth with the using." I. Let us consider the history of the ordinance of our Lord's supper, that we may ascertain whether or not it gives any countenance to the peculiar dogmas of the Church of Rome, on the subject. . If we are entitled to expect clear and express information respecting the nature and design of any positive institution, it ought surely to be in the simple historical narrative of its primary appointment. We are not entitled to appeal to ab- stract principles, or to metaphysical reasonings, on such a subject ; and the moral uses of the ordinance, however valu- able in themselves, cannot, in the first instance, form a ground of evidence as to its real character and essence. In the case before us, we have not fewer than four distinct naratives of the original appointment of this service ; and had there been any foundation for the doctrines of Rome regarding it, surely we might have expected to see them interwoven with the texture of these narratives. We can appeal with confidence to one iand all of them, when we affirm, that in so far as the dogmas of transubstantiation and the sacrifice of the mass are concern- ed, there reigns throughout an unbroken silence. It is of considerable moment to advert to the circumstances in which the twelve Apostles were placed when Jesus insti- tuted the sacrament of the Supper. They had assembled, ag they had been accustomed to do, to eat the Paschal Supper, I REPLY TO DR. CAHILL and their minds were necessarily prepossessed with the notions commonly held by the Jews regarding that sacred Festival. They revered it as a monumental or commemorative service* They viewed it in connection with the eventful history of the deliverance of their fathers. They beheld in it nothing beyond a symbolical representation of certain events in history. No essential change did they anticipate in the substance of the oblation ; and though that oblation, like all others of the same nature, was sacrificial, its real virtue was believed to flow from its typical relationship. And yet the Jews, from the time of Ezra down to the latest period of their economy, were accus- tomed to say of the Passover, '* This Passover is our Saviour and our refuge*." Not that they had the most distant idea of the lamb then visibly oflFered up as transformed into Go our Savioiir distant idea id into Go(J, i, or into the 1 the time of put them in Bir fathers in crinkling the pst-born were ured the sal- t was to take our Lord, in substantially Dmed ; and it any essential r. Had our iifferent from 1 the matter, >me mode or lual creation^ rith Trypbo, a ON THE EX7CHARIST. 4nd qI£ iuhstitutionary sacrifice j would not surely have been left to conjecture. This was not God's manner of dealing with, his church, even in the infancy of its being ; and we may rest assured that he would not act on such a principle at ths glorious era of " grace and truth by Jesus Christ." If any credit \r. to be given to a professed narrative of events, that narrative must be interpreted on the principles of gram- matical analysis and common sense. Do the inspired relations of the last supper state that Jesus took his own body, then alive and in full health, and that he divided it into parts, and distributed these parts to the members of the company sitting around the table ? or do they tell us tjiat he drew the blood warm from his veins, and poured it into the cup before them, and then gave it to them to be drank oflf in his presence ? No. They affirm no such singular dogma. They tell us that the blessed Saviour, while seated at the Paschal table and conversing with his disciples, "took bread,"— just such bread as was before him — "and brake it, and gave it to his brethren and they did eat." They tell us that, in like manner, "he took the cup, and gave to them, saying. Drink ye all of it. All is simple and plain and easy to be apprehended. There is no change in the substance of the elements. There is no presentation to God of an "unbloody sacrifice." True, "he blessed," not the elements, but "his Father ami their Father" who gave them, and who only could bless the use of them. St. Paul renders the words " he gave thanks," and as if to show that the im- port of both expressions is the same, the inspired evangelist who represents Christ as " blessing," when he took the bread, represents him in the same breath as "giving thanks " at the |7icc^ui«Mvxi ui fciiq wup. Xi, iis a very remarkable oircumstaoce, also, that our blessed Lord, as if anticipating the corruptions 10 REPLY TO DR. CAHILL of a later age, and as if to remove even the shadow of a plea for such corruptions, closes the transactions of the Paschal eve with these impressive words : " I say unto you, I will not drink from henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I shall drink it with you new in the kingdom of my Father." He had just told them that this was his blood of the New Testament, and in the sequel of the very same address, h«3 calls it " this fruit of the vine," thus removing, one would think, out of the way, the very possibility of mistake The inspired Apostle Paul, in rehearsing the substance of the nar- rative, furnishes us with a similar caveat against error, when he thus concludes his statement : " As often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come*." It is really and only "bread" that is eaten; it is really and truly a " cup of wine " that is drank. No transfor- mation of qualities is hinted at. No sacrificial oblation ie oflFered. The deed is symbolical and commemorative ; for they who eat and they who drink •* do shew forth," in grateful re- membrance, and in holy triumph, '* the Lord's death till he comef." But does not the blessed Saviour say, " This is my body ;" •* this is my blood ?" And does not the same blessed Saviour say, on other occasions, " I am the duor;" " I am the vine?" And does not Paul say, without the slightest suspicion of be- * 1 Cor. xi. 26. t ThP Rhemish version of Matthew xxvi. 26—30, is a very exact copy of the original. , " And whilst they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and bl«S8ed', and broke, and gave to his disciples, and said, ' Take ye, and eat ; this is my body. And taking the chalice, he gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, ' Drink ye all of this. For this is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many unto remission of Bine. And I say to you, I will not drink from henceforth of this frnit of thfl vin«. until that. Hav ivVion T 0V.0II /l-:.i. :* ^.j^u m the kingdom of my Father.' " The reader may find it useful to compare this translation with that of the Protestant version. honav dow of a plea f the Paschal ou, I will not in til that day ngdom of my is blood cf the same address, g, one would iistake The ue of the nar- < error, when ye eat thi» death till he eaten ; it is No transform I oblation ie ive ; for they 1 grateful re- death till he i my body ;"■ jssed Saviour 1 the vine ?" pieion of be- a very exact and bl«ssed, ye, and eat ;, iks, and gave r blood of the I remission of leforth of this !?iiu you S6W 1 it useful to Brsion. ON THE EUCHARIST. 11 ing misunderstood, " All in Moses were baptised in the cloud and in the sea ; and did all eat the same spiritual food ; and all drank the same spiritual drink ; and they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ ? J" It is well known that in the Hebrew, or Syro-Chaldaic, the language which our Lord must have used on this occasion, there is no word precisely answering to our English term, signifies or represents. At all events, even if sucli a word ex- isted, it is quite obvious that it was never used in this connex- ion. And hence the frequency of the expression, it is, when the meaning obviously is, it signifies or represents. *♦ The three branches are three days." " The seven beautiful kine and the seven full ears are seven years of plenty." § " And he said to me, Son of man, all these bones are the house of Fsrael." || No man is in danger of mistaking the meaning of such expressions, who allows ordinary sense and the usage of language to guide him. It is true that the Greek language has terms to express what wo mean by signify^ denote^ repre- sent ; hni it is vreW known to have been customary with the Apostles to write Greek according to the Hebrew idiom, or the Chaldaic, which was their vernacular tonuue. Thus the Apostle John, in Eevelaiions I. 20, uses the substantive verb in exactly the same sense, when he says : ♦* The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven candle- sticks are the seven churches." *' Througli the Providence of God," says Dr. Adam Clarke, " we have complete versions of the Gospel in the Syriae language, and in them it is likely we have the precise words spoken by our Lord on this occasion. In Matthew xxvi. 26, 27, the words in the Syriae version are honaw pagre, this is my body ; honaw deme, this is my blood, t 1 Cor. X. 2, 3, 4. R. C. version. § Genesis xl 12 ; xli, 26. . I Kzek. xxxvii. 11. R. 0. vers. 12 EEPLY TO DR. OAHILL II! of which forms of speech the. Greek is a verbal translation. — Nor would any man, even in the present day, speaking in the same language, use, among the people to whom it was vernacu- lar, other terms than the above, to express, this represents my body, and this represents my blood." J Our Lord's language in the sixth chapter of John, where he speaks of " eating the flesh " and ♦* drinking the blood of the son of man," has been often quoted by Roman Catholic writers in proof of the doctrine of transubstantiation. The utter worthlessness of any argument derived from such a source may be proved by a simple reference to the passage itself. — ^'. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father, so, he that eateth me, the same shall live by me. This is the bread that came down from heaven ; not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead ; he that eateth of this bread shall live forever." f Jesus sometimes speaks of himself as " bread," and at other times as " flesh " and " blood." In both views his language is figurative, and when his carnally minded hearers showed their incliaation to under- stand in a gross and material sense what was meant to have an exclusively spiritual signification, he thus explains the import of his statements : " It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I have spoken unto you are spirit and life. "|| There is no i;pference in the whole pas- sage to the hcly sacrament of the supper, which was not insti- tuted for a considerable time after. Our Lord's design clearly is, to declare in figurative, yet very intelligible language, the necessity of our believing and relying on his sufferings and death as a divine propitiation. The recent miraculous feeding of t Dr. Clarke on the Bacharist. p. 53. t John, yi., 66—60. || lb. v. 64. «everj The 1 propr tracec drink impor tion Meat and s< of oui him a the d< us, m( the de him ] growt unto j to do ved ft his he patien Redee of hin Th( and w ham's which sacran [dinar) edek'a ItheM ,.] ON THE EUOHABIST. 13 translation. — peaking in the t was vernacu- represents my ohn, where he e blood of the atholic writers 1. The utter such a source ussage itself. — )d, abideth in ent me, and I same shall live a heaven; not he that eateth imes speaks of "flesh" and ive, and when tion to under- cut to have an ins the import neth, the flesh oken unto yott the whole pas- was not insti- design clearly language, the ings and death us feeding of several thousands of fainting followers is the key to the whole. The resemblance betwixt the figure, and that practical and ap- propriating faith which is the thing designed by it, may be traced in multiplied instances. This spiritual eating and drinking begins with hungering and thirsting— earnest and importunate longings after Christ. It implies also an applica- tion of Christ, and the benefits of his purchase, to ourselves. Meat looked upon will not nourish us j but meat fed upon^ and so made our own, and as it were, one with us and a part of ourselves. We must so accept of Christ as to appropriate him and the blessings of his salvation to ourselves. Moreover, the doctrine of Christ crucified, must be as meat and drink to us, most agreeable and refreshing. And then, faith implies the deriving of nourishment from Christ, and dependence upoti him for the support of the spiritual life, and the strength, growth, and vigor, of the new man " created in Christ Jesus unto good works." To feed upon Christ or to live by him, is, to do all in his name, in union with him, and by virtue deri- ved from him. Thus the Christian feeds daily on Christ, in his heart and soul, and proceeds in his walk and warfare with patient alacrity. He imbibes the spirit which breathed in the Redeemer himself when he said : " My meat is, to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work."| The notion of Dr. Cahill (works p. 8-10) that the " bread and wine " brought forth by Melchisedek on occasion of Abra- ham's return from the toils of war, was the ti/pe or si/mhol of which the bread and wine used by the Redeemer at the first sacramental supper was the realiti/, is at variance with the or- idinary ideas held by his church, that the elements in Mel«3his- edek's case were sacrificial, and that this venerable " priest of [the Most High God " presented « tJie first ma««." In regard t John IV. 34. B i f II 14 BBPLT TO DR. OAtnLL to both Views, however, I would remark-first; that Melchis- edek IS expressly said to have acted as a « King " when in hi» hberality he brought forth the means of refreshment to the Fatriarch; whUe as a "priest" « he bleas.^s Abraham," and the patriarch is nowhere said to have partaken of the bread and ^ne sacramentally as from priestly hands, but to have recog. msed his priestly character in another way altogether, namely, m giving him tithes of all " : and secondly, that the supposed connexion of the history in the book of Genesis with that of the first pasgover of Christ is a pure fiction. Tea moreover, it must be plain, to every candid mind, that the idea of the Lord's Supper being the reality, of what the bread and the wine in the patriarch s case st^mboUsed, is put down by the whole bear- ing of the evangelistic narration, which affixes Uy the supper Of the Lord as at first administered, not a sacrificial, but a strictly memorial or eucharistic character. " This do in re memhrance ofmer for -as often asye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do sheiv forth the Lord's death till he come " It waa not till the ninth century of the Christian era that the doctrine of the " real presence " was first promulgated, by Pas- a of the Lord's nd the wine in the whole bear- 8 to the supper acrificial, but a This do in re- read and drink he come." It I era that the Igated, by Paa- 3d to a contro- til the fourth ogma officiallj lat during the ire and design 1 from the ap- ist, for whom, At an early J simplicity of i remarks of a , alas I prema- the Church triumphant above; ^'It is certain that during the first three centuries, there was no adoration of the host; no altar; and no proper sacrifice; and that of course the mass, the great idol of Popery, was utterly unknown." J IT. Having seen that the doctrine of transubstantiation de- rives no support from the inspired history of the ordinance of the supper, let us now try the doctrine at the bar of sense and of reason. Beyond all question, the doctrine of transubstantiation fitands opposed to the direct testimony of four out of the Jive uenses with which our Creator has gifted us. These senses ai-e the inlets of knowledge; and the knowledge which is communicated by these inlets is commonly considered as the most certain of jail. To any statement of fact or opinion, then, it is 8, most fatal objection that it runs counter to the testimony of sense. All that we know of written revelation, of Christian doctrine, and of sacred ordinances, is ultimately derived from the testi- mony of sense ; and if the eye deceives us perpetually in one [instance, why may it not have deceived us in all ? It will not help us out of the difficulty to plead that in the case before us [there is a miracle. There is absolutely nothing of the kind. When water was turned into wine, fluidity remained, bat the qualities of real wine were ascertained by the taste of the re- |cipients. When a lame man was cured by a touch, he was no longer lame; ''he leaped and walked." When a dead man was raised to life again, he truly lived, and performed all the functions of living men. Here there was a miracle done, and plain matter of fact proved that it had been done. But in traiisubstantiation there is an alleged change of substance, while all the qualities, and attributes, and accidents of the substance remain as before. There is an eflFect supposed to t Historical Theology, by Principal Cuaningham, vcl. I. p. 205. 1« BIPLT TO DE. CAHIIL be produced, while there is absolutely not one evidence of the- actual production of such an effect. A change is said to be- efected on the bread, so as to transform it into the real body of Christ ; but the bread still remains ; for the only proofs we erer had that it really was bread, remain to prove that it is and must be bread still. An alteration is affirmed to have taken place on the substance of the wine, so as that there is no lon-er wine but blood, and that the real living blooJ of him who°is Emmanuel, God with us; but yet the wine remain, precisely as It was before j and the only evidences we had or could have that It ever was wine, remain to prove that it is and must b^ wmestiU If this be a miracle, we say of it, that it is a nuracle which any man at any time may perform, . provided only he can collect effrontery enough to make the attempt, and provided also that he can find spectators complacent enough,. ^d stupid enough, to believe that he has succeeded in making Tried at the bar of human rc.s,™. tntusubstantiation'must a be non-suited. Roman Oatholic. are not indisposed to ftaternise wi h Socin ans, when they atWmnt to draw a parallel betwixt belief in the doctrine of the Trinity, and belief in the dogma of transubstantiation. The attempt is as vain as it i, imp.ou. The doctrine of the Trinity doe's not run c nnt^ .:: the evidence of sense in a single instance ; the doctrine of transubstantiatbn is directly opposed to four senses out offivf The one is confessedly alove reason, and therefore cannot be proved to be contrarif to it; the other is perfectly level to human apprehension, and may be easily proved to be contrary to the plainest dictates of the human underetandino-. If it is an axiom in mathematics, that it is impossible for the same thing to be and not to be at the same time, then may we With TUirffirtf aa«i.q:^4._ -o . .. J '^r ..-_,,.r.ectc.r.a.n.jr 01 conviction, say that the same thing |;annot 1 Itime. 1 |rhe thin |f man is fiis capac |there ma tion to Y Is eertaii [of the SI Inounce i f of a pro I diction, to us, a^ tension! to the d that of person < is one \ In rega ON THE EUCHAEIST. 17 innot be simple bread and real flesh at one and tie same ime. There is no process of argumentation necessary here. The thing is level, if anything is, to the capacity of man ; and man is disqualified for judging here, where or when shall capacity and his title, to judge at all, be sustained ? That lere may be in the manner of the divine existence, a distinc- tion to which we can find nothing analogous in human beings, ^8 certainly possible ; or at any rate, our confessed ignorance [)f the subject in question, puts it beyond our power to pro- Inounce it absolutely impossible. We are not entitled to affirm [of a proposition that it involves a clear and manifest contra- I diction, unless all the terms of the proposition are intelligible to us, and the whole subject is one that is level to our appre- hensi'ons. This is confessedly not the case either with respect to the doctrine of the trinity of persons in the godhead, or that of the hypostatical union of divinity and humanity in the person of the mediator. The subject in both these instances is one which lies beyond the range of our limited apprehensions. In regard to trdusubstantiation, the matter of fact is directly the reverse. There, if anywhere, man is competent to judge, for the subject is one of reason and of sense : and a confessed incompetency here would, in effect, amount to a sentence of attainder upon the most thoroughly established and least con- tested rights of man's rational nature. III. Let us now try the doctrine in question by the test of direct and necessary consequences. In the first place, the doctrine of the Romish Church on the subject of our Lord's supper necessarily annihilates its sacramen- tal character. '' This do in remembrance," or as a memorial " of me," said our blessed Redeemer ; and the comment on his 1- • 1 *u^ ;^a»^;..ofi or>oatl*» of thft Gentiles, runs in 18 BBPLT TO DR. CAHILL corresponding terms : " as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come." All the accompaniments of a sacramental act belong to it ; and its due performance involves in it a solemn vow of consecration and obedience to the Lord. How different from this does the whole aspect of the ordinance appear, when encumbered with the ad- ditions superinduced by the Romish Church! There is no longer a deed of sacred remembrance ; there in an act of direct creation. There are no longer symbols to assist our faith by the instrumentality of sense ; there are actual realities, the body,, the soul, and the divinity, of our blessed Redeemer. There is no simple commemoration of" the decease that was accomplish- ed at Jerusalem ; " there is an acting over again of the solemn scene, and a renewed presentation of the Redeemer's sacrifice ''for the lite of the world." You may call this by whatever name you please; one thing is certain, it cannot be called a uacramental memorial. It has been divested of its original and trae sacramental character, and whatever may be its use, real or supposed, it is of no value whatever as a remembrance of Christ. In the aecmd pla«e, the doctrine in question inflicts a fatal wound on the evidences of the glorious Gospel, and more par- ticularly on the evidence of miracles. The moment you maintain that your eye and your ear are perpetually engaged in a conspiracy to deceive, you annihilate aU direct proof of any fact or doctrine from the evidence of miracles. On such a principle as that involved Jn transubstan- tiation, how am I to know that the lame man was really cured ; that the blind man really received his sight ; that Lazarus and the widow's son were really raised to life again ? The Church of Rome tells me that what I see, and handle, and smell, and taste, as bread and nothing but bread, is something far diffe- rent \ tha fiuccessfu flesh and history ( scenic r thought evidenc of noth the nai thrust desceu" to test touch- doctrii werel other pies, ! <'Th spiril tosa the ( whol resu test; do tha fles "1 pic ON THE EUCHARIST. 19 flesh and Wood ; and how am I to be « ^ ^^^^^^^ hUtcry of the birth, life and m.r^ s Cto.^^^ ^^^ ^_^,^^ ^„ic representation, ^''^ =" ^J^;, .^^ptical doubts, the «.„nght meet to '^^^^^^^ZIU^, ^her, he thought evidence of sense. J^ *;». ^, ,, ^, hands the pnnt of of nothing else. Except 1 sn ^^^ ^^.,^_ ^„j the nails, and put my lin^r -^ ^^ J „ j The con- thrust my hand into h«.f;>Jj " 2\.ish, and allowed him descending Saviour g-^Ufied ^'^ - ^^ «* , ,f ,et„al t« test the reality of h.s '^'""^^s" But, alording to the t„„eh-the direct expenment of^n.e^ ' ^^^„ ^^ aoctrine of t-™^— 7; "ll mistake. On an- ^erehoth labouring -*«^;J*7J, j„ the midst of his dise. other occasion """"/f ' "^.''"' flc^age of encouragement. ,,es, and ^—j^d'^SMeT^nf supposed *ey saw a c. They were troubled ana an « ,. • ^e their fears, and ^^■" ^-"^'t? tTitt Ztowhichhehrings to satisfy their doubts. And what ^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^ the question of his own ^M- "° ^j^^ ys actual ,hol matter of Ohristiamty .seU s UnUed ^^^ ^^^^^ resurrection, tK. depend? It is V ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ testimony of the senses. W by y ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ do thoughts arise in your ^'^^^^l^ / i^^ hath not that it is I myself Handle "•"'J^;^^,, Having said this, flesh and bones, as you see me ^^ lingering sus- .. he shewed them ^ishands and fe^ ^ ^„^, picions yet remaining - ^^J „"" f ^^ „!sence.* Soon !gain, by takingioodjmdjaun^mjhen^ ^_^_LJ- r""" •Luke, XXIV. 36-44. t John, XX. 25. ao REPLY T.0 DR. CAHILIi after he ascended visibly up into Heaveu, and tbe credit of his real atcmdon depends entirely on the testimony of sense. We have thus, by words and by deeds, the solemn imprimatur of Him who is truth itself, to the reality of the evidence of sense. We have it given to the Church and to the world, just when he is on the eve of leaving both. We have it re- corded, at the very close of those evangelical narratives which were written expressly for this end, that " ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ; and that believing we may have life in his narae.f" Can that doctrine be from God which is thus fatally at war with the evidences of his glorious Gospel ? Shall we hold the dogma of transubstantiation to be a merely speculative error, or a mental hallucination ? No ; it wounds Christianity in its vitals ; and it need not surprise us that Popery and Infidelity should be leagued in brother- hood. In the third place, The doctrine of transubstantiation tends directly to atheism. •* The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth forth his handiwork." ** The invisible things of God, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being under- stood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and godhead ; so that they are without excuse." We appeal to the evidences of design in nature as palpable proofs of the existence of a great, original, designing mind ; and we appeal to the continued existence, the order, and the regu' v inducted movements of nature, in evidence of God's •ipfai' ending agency. An inspired penman recognises the argument aS Bound, and pronounces those heathen philosophers inexcusable who Titisisted this evidence, and " worshipped and served the creatui •> T'other than the C itor/' and who, from the hardness t John, XX. 91, of their b God in tl had a ver; relied on. more thai design m: position, his OT^n Certainty eiiilted i heads be In th ation, w and ext: with a ] We ' creates that ta] gates o ment o abuse ( is thro his ma bread necess in the apostl hadfi resull to off duly agen< ON THE ECCHARIBT. 21 , ^1- • 1^^.. nf ain ♦* did not like to retain of their hearts and he.r l"-/ -4^ J*",, «„„^;^ ^ey God iu the.r knowledge. ^n Jh "ry ^^^ _^ ^^^ ^^ ^ iiorl n. vprv valid excuse, me lesumwuj had a very vai ^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^ ^ „„tt„g relied on. -^"^I'^^^W- The supposed evidences of more than a creation ot the lancy. x"« ff irJ m!, be all a deception. Man may be placed m such a S!r™rpr tf atiiclL ; and the most S 1:1' estlished verities of rdigion may bow the.r ^uh its necessary concomitants, me sacrince ui tuo :rexret -cZ nioessarily invests fallible and erring men iCwer that is unnataral and altogether unreasonable. ^ We rit say. as Roman Catholics aver, that the pnest hi maW If the priest is pleased t« bless the elemenUof WaTtnd w ne, according to the prescribed fonn, the effec rs:;Mo;s;ana.of..2--;-^^^^^^ t:r rriol^a r::^ ^^d Jrcelving that he Td Stfto be healed, said, and said with absolute certamt, of iu ' tl up thy W and walk." K the priest be pieased r:^r up *e " unbloody sacrifice." as it is called, and mass . du^^erformed, a substitutionary oblation - Presented ^'^f, amy pen , ^^^ „ j^^^ ^^^ perfect agency, ana a ruucwoi o. 2fi REPLY TO DR. OAHILL oblation, is, by the spell of words and the magic of forms, suc- cessfully effected. If the priest pleases to give the consecrated wafer to the^iyinig man, hia sins are supposed to be washed away, and a comfortable viaticum secured for the lengthened jouraey that is before him. On the other hand, if the priest shall not be pleased to do all this, either perhapis because he is not in a mood for it at the time, or because he has a secret dislike to the worshipping applicants, or perhaps because his selfish aud mer- cenary inclinations have not been sufficiently gratified, then, what is the consequence ? The act of creation is not performed. The sacrifice of the mass stands over for the time. The pro- vision for eternity is not administered, and what then ? Souls are lost ; or at the very least are subject to woes all but interminable. There is here a palpable assumption, on the part of man, of powers and prerogatives which do belong, and which can belong, to God only. The charter which secures such tremendous immunities to any class of human beings would require to be clearly defined, and authentic beyond the possibility of a doubt. Indeed, the very claim to such a charter, advanced as it has been by the adherents of Popery and kindred institutions, has in all ages proved the most tre- mendous instrument of priestly domination ; and the doctrines of which we are now speaking may be said to owe their exist- ence, or at least their consolidation, to the growing wish on the part of the priests of Rome to aggrandise their power. From the ninth to the thirteenth century, the darkest portion of that dark age which for a thousand years settled over Europe, a feeble struggle was kept up betwixt the adherents of the Papacy on the one hand, and the slender remains of reason and common sense on the other ; till at length, about the middle of the latter of these centuries, traneubstantiaticn, with its wicked and soiil-deluding accompaniments, gained their ettfil] of Rome, portion o^ fast these Just in pi over the every fre in adami Do Pi By no n stances ' talismar natural in all pi believe and glo all thin was offi who re no moi real p dieny I .soul-re even t naturt peculi beiiev to im the fl sainti cogni and < w OK *HE EtrOHATBT. 23 their end, ia the s»bjug«tio« of Europe to the sovereign Pontiff of Rome Up »» the present day, Poper, has retained a large Irtion of her spiritual supremaey by so strenuously holding L these her imsponsible and undefinable clauns ; and i is just in proportion as she advances in her assumed dominion Cr2sL of men, that she paves the way for unhinging elery L institution, andforbinding the mass of a community in adamantine chains. Do Protestants deny the doctrine of the " '«» Pf««=»;« ! Bv no means. We deny thedogma of a transmutation of sub- SnTes while the accidents remain We scout th^not.n talismanic charm in the words of a priest, '^^^f^^'f'' naCrimpossibility the presence of the same material veh^le ZZ Pl-s of the world at one and the --— ^ J beli-ve that " the heavens have received Christ m his holy S'l ified humanity, " until the times of the restitution of Trt n« " We rely on the " one sacrifice " for sms which l^-Itheendofages;" and we tremble for those X Jet it. inasmuch as we believe that there " remaineth lo mo e sacrifice for sins " We deny the notion of a co.^o- irpresence on the part of the Redeemer; but we do not 7lu^"reah>reseuce:' Yes; we delight to rehearse hu. tlSeshing words of promise: " Lo, I am with you ab,ays Tven to the end of the world." We believe, that in his divine Xe, he is ever present in the ^semblies of his s.n.s, and neculiarly present with them at the communion table We hie hat the spirit of Christ is present also as the comfortor Jolmprint truth on the heart, to strengthen faith, and to fan the flame of devotion. We believe "in the communion of aLl " ■' lu tbe cup of blessing, which we bless/' we do re- r;ise"thecoinmunio.oftheblo„dofChrist;-^ind^ and desire to feel, that all who " love our Lui>. Je=a» 24: BEPLT TO DR. CAHILL ON THB EUCHARIST. •cerity," are " one body and one bread." Our earnest prayer is, " that God may send forth his light and his truth to guide us to his holy hill," that we may go unto him as "our exceeding joy." We desire that the ordinance of the supper may be blest to every participant, for strengthening faith and animating obedience ; and we pray, that when the purposes of God's provi- dence here with us are served, our exercises in the temple below may be exchanged for the higher and holier services of *' our Father's house " above.