IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 Mi im l^ IIIIM ^ IIIIM M 11= 1.4 111.6 t->i m» ^/ w /,. ^y Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WSBSTER.N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 M ^ \ V ^f-. % i\ \ 6^ %^ '^^ • ^ J » .V A y CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHIN/I/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques Technical and Bibliographic Notaa/Notet tachniquaa at bibllographiquaa The Instituta has attamptad to obtain tha bvat original copy availabia for filming. Faaturas of this copy which may ba bibliographically uniqua, which may aftar any of tha imagas in tha reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. D Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur I I Covers damaged/ Couverture endommagde Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaurie et/ou pellicul^e Cover title missing/ Le titra de couverture manque Coloured maps/ Cartes gAographiquea en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Relii avec d'autres documents D D n Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La re liure aerrie peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distorsion le long de la marge intirieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajouties lors d'una rastauration apparaissent dana le texte. mais, lorsque cela Atait possible, ces pages n'ont pas M filmAes. Additional comments:/ Commentaires supplAmentaires; L'lnstitut a microfilm* le meilleur axemplaire qu'il lui a itt possible de se procurer. Las details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-^tra uniques du point de vue biblicgraphique. qui pttuvent modifier una image reproduite, ou qui peuvent axiger una modification dans la m«thode normaie de filmage sont indiqute ci-dessous. r~| Coloured pages/ Pagea de couleur Pages damaged^ Pages endommagies □ Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages restaurdeb et/ou pelliculAes 0P signlfie "A SUIVRE". ^e symbole V slgnifie "FIN". Laa cartee, planchea. tableaux, etc.. peuvent 4tre flim4e i dee taux de rMuction r^}ff«rer.ts. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul cllch4. il est film* i partir da I'angle supMeur gauche, de gauche A droite. et de haut mn bee. en prenant le nombre d'Imegea n^caasaira. Lea diagrammae suivants illuatrent la m^hode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 COMPARISON OF THE CREEDS OF THK ^^ Catholic anb |loman Cd|oIic (!L|wr%)5* A SERMON PREACHED IN ST. PAUL's CHURCH, WB8T GWIllIMBURT, ON SUNDAY, 17th AUGUST, 1862, ON THB OCCASION OF THB RECEPTION OP A CONVERT FROM THE CHURCH OF ROME. BY THB REV. JOHN FLETCHER, A.M., INCUMBENT OP BRADFORD, AND WEST OWILLIMBURT. TORONTO: TTP-WnV PnWflPT.T. TTTVn. flTTJ-p-OT 1862. COMPARISON OF THE CREEDS OF THB CATHOLIC AND ROMAN CATOHLIC CHUKCHES. '' Thus saith the Lord, Stand yo oa the ways and see and ask for tbo old paths which id the good way, and waJkye in it, and yo shall And refreshment for vour souls." •' Jeremiah, yi., 16. Before commencing the consideration of the subject of which notice has been given, I think it necessary to acquaint the congre- gation that the book which I hold in my hand, and from which the text has been taken, is not that from which I usually preach. This is the Douay Bible, not the authorised version. I take my text from this version because I consider that on an occasion like the present it is only reasonable to suppose that there may be Roman Catholics in the Church, and 1 wish them distinctly to understand that we do not treat their version with disrespect, but on the con- trary, esteem it (with the exception of the Apocrypha) as a trans- lation of the sacred records, though not as correct, as simple, or as intelligible as the authorised version ; and further, that they may be enabled to perceive, that in discussing with them the diflFerences between our respective churches, we are not afraid to meet them upon their own ground, and to shew from their own version of the scriptures that the peculiar doctrines of their church are false and unscriptural. I mention this circumstance for the information of the members of my own congregation also, for as I trust that they are all ac(iuainted with the Book of God, they may perceive a trifling diflference in the text as read to them and as they know it to be in their own Bibles, and may possibly mistake the reason of this dif- ference. I desire that between me and my people th re should be no misapprehensions or diflFerences, but that aa thjy know the ground of my actions they may be able to appreciate my motives, and co-operate with me in the work which as churchmen we have in hand. Any other passage of Scripture that I shall think it my duty to quote in support of the several principles I may lay down shall be also taken fi-om the Douay Bible. ' Having made this preliminary explanation, I shall now proceed to the discussion of the subject appointed for our consideration on this occasion. It has always been the practice of the church of which I have the honour to be a minister, to support her ceremonies, her discip- line, and her doctrines upon their agreement with the sacred records and after these upon their conformity with the concurrent voice of antiquity. She does not fear a reference to the judgment of the primitive church. She courts such a judgment. The following is her language upon this point: "If they think much that any of the old [cereiwonies] do remain, and would rather have ail 4enie4 i aview, then such men granting some ceremonies convenient to be had, surely where the old may well be used, there they cannot reasonably reprove the old only for their age without learning of their own folly. For in such a case they ought rather to have reference unto them for their antiquity if they will declare them- selves to be more studious of unity and concord than of innovations and newfangleness, which (as ranch as may be with true setting forth of Christ's religion) is always to be eschewed."* In following this course she treads in ihe footsteps of the primitive church, if we may judge what these were from the lollowing language of a writer who lived in the latter part of the second century : " This rule holds good against all heresies. That which is first is true, that which is more modern is corrupt."f It is in this way that she meets all opponents. She claims to be the old church, the true church, the catholic church ; and she says to all other claimants to that position, " Stand ye on the ways and see, and ask for the old paths which is the good way, and walk ye in them." I shall therefore take this course in the examination of my subject, and I trust that I shall make it perfectly plain to all sincere enquirers that the creed of the church is ancient and Catholic, and the creea of the church of Rome is a modern innovation, uncatholic and unscriptural. I must first, however, prepare the way by explaining to yoa what I mean by ancient and catholic. By ancient I do not understand that which can claim the existence merely of a few centuries, or even of a thousand years, but that which can look back to the very beginning of our dispensation, to the time when Christianity sprang forth pure and perfect from the hands of its Author, through the instrumentality of His apostles and prophets, not to the fathers only, (by which title I mean the catholic writers of the first six centuries,) but to the fathers of the fathers, the prophets, the Apostles and the evangelists by whom God was pleased to make known unto us the way of salvation. We are so much in the habit of hearing the Church of Rome boast of her age that we are almost disposed to yield to her the palm of antiquity, but this course is altogether wrong; the peculiar doctrines of the Church of Rome are not ancient; they are modern corruptions, indeed the confirma- tion of those doctrines is of a later date than the confirmation of ber own creeds by the Church of England. This assertion may ap- pear strange to the Roman Catholic members of this congregation, but it is strictly and literally true. The Articles of the Church of England were agreed upon in the year 15G2, exactly 800 years ago. In these articles it is said that "The three creeds, Nicene Creed, Athanasius's Creed, and that which is commonly called the Apostles' Creed, ought thoroughly to be received and believed, for they may be proved by most certain warrants of holy scripture. J The creed of the Council of Trent which contains the confirmation of the doc- trines of the Church of Rome, was published by authority of Pope Pius IV. in the year 1564, consequently the Church of Rome in its state of consolidated error, is two years younger than the Church • Preface to the Book of Commou Prayer, "Of Ceremonies, why some be abol- ished, and some retained." t TertuUian, A.D. 194, Adv. Prax., Cap. 2. X Article 8th. J •^ ««i.. T- n ^- T } of England in its state of completed reform. This may, however, appear to some in the light of a quibble. I shall therefore proceed firther, and prove that the creeds of the Church of England are those of the primitive church, and that consequently she i3 the ancient, the Catholic Church, but that the latter portions of the creed of Pope Pius the fourth, containing the peculiar doctrines ot the Church of Pvome, are modem innovations, and therefore un- catholic. , xi • 1 f „„; The term catholic conveys to my mind not only the idea ot uni- versal reception, but also of purity of doctrine and worship— uni- versal or rather general reception alone will not constitute caiho- lioity, for if it did, Arianism, which once over-spread the face or the Cliristian worid, would have been the Catholic Church, but this neither the Roman Catholic nor tlie orthodox Protestant will allow ; we must conseciuently look for some other mark by which 've can decide upon the nature of the true Catholic Church, and a Utile examination of the writings of the fathers of the early churches will enable us to discover what those marks are. " Ihat church alone" (says one) " is catholic which returns the true worship of Ood."* Wo claim for the Church of England that her worship is true without any admixture of error. We therefore assert that she is catholic. On the other hand we say that in the worship of the Church of Rome there are certain things from which the primitive church turned away with complete abhorence ; that her worship in these respects is not true, and therefore that^ she is not catholic. " That which has been believed every where (says another) " at all times and by all Christians, that is truly and properly catholic, which the force and very reason of the naino declare."t The creeds of the Church of England stand this t^st, they are therefore catholic— the peculiar doctrines of the Church ot Romo as contained in the 12 last articles of the creed of Pope 1 las IV. do not stand it, they are therefore false and un-catholic. But my Ro'/.an Catholic friends may say " this is mere assertion. We require something more than this to satisfy our minds that the faith of ou' fathers is false, and that the claim that our church i-uts forth to be the only true catholic church is a base and uiifoutuled assumptio.i." I shall now proceed to the proof of the positiuns that I have laid down, and in doing so it will be necessary to t.ke a short review of the history of the use of creeds in the church. At lirst the candidate for the privilege of Christian baptism was required to testify to his belief in but few of the great doctrines of Christianity; when the faith was pure and heresy had not introduced its poison into the beauteous form of the body of Christ, the simple expression of the acknowledgment of belief in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit was considered sufficient to admit the professor of it to the Christian communion, but by d'-grees errors crept in, and it was found necessary to counteract these eri-ors by the enlarge- ment of the formula of belief. In this way during the lifetime of the apostles, or in the immediately succeeding age, that form of faith was composed which goes under the name of the Apostles' Creed. We have the most satisfactory evidence that in the * Lactantius, A.D. 306, Div. Instit., Lib. 4, Cap. 30. f Vincent of LerinSj AD. 434, Commonit, adv. Ilaere?. 1 second century of the Cbrtstan era it was used in the atlmission of Catechumens to baptism, and in certifjing to the orthodoxy of per- sons who had been elected to the eacred oflRce of bishops in the Church of Qo<\. This form was found sufficient to answer these ends until the beginning of the fourth century, when heresy of a new kind appeared— nn individual ^^ had then the boldness to teach that the Son of Qod, the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his person, was not in reality divine, that ho was only t'le first of creatures. To counteract the evil effects of this false teaching a council was convened which met at Nice in the year 325, niid put forth an exposition of tlie faith of Christians, almost in the words of that form which 1 have just recited to you from the Lord's table, and which goes under the name of the Niceno Creed. In this form tl.o supreme divinity of the Son was clearly cxprc!?scd, so tliat no person could be called a Catholic Christian who would deny that Jesus Christ was in the highest sense God; but there was not the same precision nianifested with respect to the Divinity of tlie Holy Ghost. The formula, as put forth by that council, tcrnnnatcd with the words, " And in the Holy Ghost." After a short time another form of heresy presented itself which pretended to acquiesce in the truth of the doctrine of the Nicene Creed, but denied the divinity and personality of the Holy Ghost; another council was thereupon called to settle this point, which met at Constantinople in the year 381, and enlarged the creed into its present form, with the exception of a single word, f which was afterwards added to it, and which contains a perfectly true and scriptural doctrine. This creed thus put forth in its shortev form ]jy the first General Council at Nice, and published in its more complete and perfect form by the second General Council at Con- stantinople, is the Catholic Creed, and that church which holds to it alone without addition or diminution, is the Catholic Church ; and the Church which has added to il.^ articles doctrines that were not known wlien it was composed is not catholic. After the lapse of another half century, the circumstances of the churcli required that another General Council should be convened, which met at Ephesus, in the year 431, and after considering the formulaof the Church's faith, issued the following decree: "The holy synod decreed that it should be lawful for no one to profess, to write, or to compose any other form of faith than that defined by the holy fathers who with the Holy Ghost had been assembled at Nice. But they who shall have dared to compose or to profess, or to offer any other form of faith to those wishing to be converted to the acknowledgment of the truth, whether from Paganism or from Judaism, or from any sort of heresy ; if they were bishops or clergy- men, the bishops should be deposed from their episcopacy, and the clergy from their clerical office, but that if they were laymen they should be subjected to an anatheraa."| * Arius, Circ, A.D. 315. The doctrine of the mere humanity of the Saviour had been previously broached by Theodotus, the tanner, about the year A.D. .iOO. This individual was excommunicated for his heresy by Victor Bishop of Rome, and the notion remained dormant until it was resuscitated by Anus, as mentionea &>l)OV0 t Filioque, and from the Son. X Canon 7- r 1 i ¥> Another General Council was convened in the year 461, which met at Chaloedon, and published a decree of concurrence m the formula of faith of the Nicene and Coustantinople Councils in the following words : » , / • * "The Catholic faith delivered by the holy 318 fathers, (viz., at Nice,) and by the holy 160 fathers, (viz , Constantinople,) also by the other most holy and glorious fathers, (viz. at Ephesus, ) wc guard, and according to that we believe. The most reverend bishopsexclaimed : No person makes any other exposition of faith. We neither attempt nor dare do so, for the fathers have taught, and in writings arc pre- served those things which have been set forth by them, and others than the«o we cannot speak. Those principles which ore set forth are sufiicient. It is not lawful to make any other exposition. * That is the catholic creed, whicii was coiuintnced at Nice, completed at Constantinople, sanctioned at Ephesus, niul con- firmed at Chalcedon. These four councils are acknowledged as general by both Roman Catholics and Protestants, and their decrees are entitled to universal respect and obedience, and there- fore the church that receives these decrees and holds to the verity ^ of that creed is catholic, and the church that adds to them is not only un-catholic, but has brought upon herself the anathema of the third general council. , i i And not only do these four councils, which are acknowledged as general by the Churches of Rome and of England, establish and confirm the catholic faith, but other councils both provincial and so called general, whose authority is acknowledged by the Church of Rome but rejected by the Church of England, do also confirm it Thus the council that met at Laodicea, in Thrace, A.D. 347, in the pontificate of Julius, and which was completely under his influence, declares that "Nothing more should be written touch- ing the faith, but all should rest satisfied with the faith confessed by the Nicene fathers, because it was deficient in nothing."! The council of Ariminum, in Italy, A.D. 359, says «' We are children of the Nicene fathers, but if we should dare to take away any thing from what they have written, or add any thing to it, we should be spurious children as being accusers of what they did who de- livered an exact rule of faith.":|: The 2nd council of Constanti- nople, called by Roman Catholics the 6th General Council, ratifies that creed when its members declare '« We have taken care that the foundation of faith may remain inviolate according to the tra- dition of the holy fathers.''^ And what may appear strange the council of Trent, that very council which promulgated the new doc- trines of Romanism, in one of its early sessions confirmed the N'cene Creed. The following are the words of the decree- passed by the council for this purpose :— " In the name of the Holy and undivided Trinity, of the Father, and the Son, and the Ho y Ghost, the holy oecumenical and general d wor'is deserve to attain to everlasting life."* But this creed falls coa'ipletely into the shade when compared with that put forth by the Council of I'lent in the year 1564, which embodies in it nearly every one cf ibc errors of ihe Church of Rome, and requires that these errors r.hall be believed as neces- • Labtoei'8 et Coseart Tom. 11 pars 1, p. 142, Pai jb 1671. m 11 per- .1 Bary to salvation. I ahall now read to you this remarkable con- fession of faith, which is required to be observed and sworn to by all persons taking any office whatsoever in the Church of Rome : — «« I, N., believe and profess, with a firm faith, all and every one of the things which are contained in the symbol of faith which is used in the Holy Roman Catholic Church, viz. : — 1 belive in one God, the Father Almighty, &c. Here follows word for word, even including the Amen, the Nicene Creed which you have just heard me read from the Lord's table, after which the form proceeds : — 1. I most steadfastly adirit and embrace apostolical and eccle- siastical traditions, and all other observances and constitutions of the church. 2. I also admit the holy .scriptures according to the sense which our holy mother the church has held and does hold, to which it belongs to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the scriptures ; neither will I ever take and interpret them otherwise than according to the unanimous consent of the fathers. 3. I also profess that there are truly and properly seven sacra- ments of the new law, instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord, and necessary for the salvation of mankind, though not all for every one, to wit., Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Order, and Matrimony, and that they confer grace, and that of these baptism, confirmation, and order, cannot be reiter- ated without sacrilege, and I also receive and admit the received and approved ceremonies of the Catholic Church used in the solemn administration of all the aforesaid sacraments. 4. I embrace and receive all and every one of the things which have been defined and declared in the holy council of Trent con- cerning original sin and justification. 5. 1 profess likewise that in the mass there is offered to God a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead, and that in the most holy sacrament of the eucharist there are truly, roally and substantially tlio body and blood together with the soul and divinity of onr Lord Jei^us Christ, and that there is made a conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the blood, which conversion the Catholic Church calls transubstantiation. I also confess that under either kind alone Christ is received whole and entire, and a true sacrament. 6. I constantly hold that there is a purgatory, and that the souls therein detained" are helped by the suffrages of the faithful. 7. Likewise that the saints reigning together with Christ are to be honoured and invocated, and that they offer prayers to God for us, and that their relics are to be held in veneration. 8. I most firmly assert that the image of Christ, of the mother of God, ever virgin, and also of other saints, may be had and retained, and that due honour and veneration are to be given them. 9. I also affirm that the power of indulgences was left by Christ in the church, and that the use of them is most wholesome to christian people. 10-. I acknowledge the Holy Catholic Apostolic Roman Chui'ch for the mother and mistress' of all churches ; and 1 promise true 12 obedience to the Bishop of Rome, successor to St. Peter, Prlace of the apostles, and vicar of Jesus Christ. 11. I likewise undoubtedly receive and profess all other things delivered, deflued, and declared by the sacred canons and general councils, and particularly by the holy council of Trent; and I condemn, reject, and anathematize all things contrary tliereto, and all heresies whicli the church has condemned, rejected, and anathematized. 12. I, N., do at this present, freely profess, and truly hold, this true catholic faith, without which no one can be saved ; and I promise most constantly to retain and confess the same entire and inviolate, with God's assistance, to the end of my life. And 1 will take caro, as far a« in mc lies, that it shall be held, taught, and preached by my subjects, or by those, the care of whom shall appertain to me, in my office. Tiiis I promise, vow, and swear, so help me God, and these holy gospels of God." These twelve articles constitute the peculiar creed of the Church of Home, they are a direct violation of the decree of the council of Ephesus, they are altogether opposed to tLe belief of the primitive church, they are directly contrary to the sacred scriptures, they are therefore not catholic, and the church that holds them is not the Catholic Church. It would be absolutely impossible to condense into one discourse a thorough examinati'm of the several errors contained in this creed, each article requires for its consideration more time than is generally allotted to the delivery of one or two sermons. I must therefore content myself with a brief glance at a few of the subjects that will occupy least time in their consideration, and shall select for this purpose tradition, the canon of scripture, the unanimous consent of the fathers, communion in one kind, and prayer to saints. The tests to which I refer these subjects are the voice of antiquity and the word of God ; and remember, Roman Catholics, that the version which I am now about to quote is your own version, you cannot say that I am binnging against you a per- verted translation, for this has been published by one of your own bishops, and has received his full sanction. Tradition is contrary to the word of God, for the Saviour himself reproved the Jews, who like the Roman Catholics had added to the written word their unwritten traditions. Hear what he says upon this subject, *' Leaving the commandments of God you hold the tradition of men, the washing of pots and of cups, and many other things you do like to these. And he said to them, AVell do you make void the commandment of God that you may keep your own tradition, for Moses said honour tby fathe:; and thy mother, and he that shall curse father or mother dying let him die ; but you^ say if a man shall say to his father or mother Corban, (which is a gift,) whatsoever is from me shall profit thee ; and further you suifer him not to do anything for his father or motlier, making void the word of God by your own tradition which yon have given forth." (Mark 7, 8. 10.) Here the Saviour himself tells us that tradition makes void the word of God, it cannot consequently be proper to introduce it or to rest upon it. The same sentiment is expressed by the fathers of the primitive church. I shall now give you the opinion of one of i L ♦* ] i i ^1 13 them, Cyprian, who lived in the year 250, and died a martyr for the truth, and is honoured as a saint in the Roman Calendar. " From whence," says he, " is that tradition. Whether has it come down from the authority of the Lord and the gospels, or from the commands and letters of the apostles ? For that those things which are written are to be done, God testifies and sets before Joshua, saying, 'The book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do all things which are written therein.' "* Here is the language of another of the fathers, who is also a saint in the Roman Calendar, Basil the great : «' It is a manifest faUing away from the faith, and a charge of arrogance either to reject any thing of what is written, or to introduce any thing of what is not written." ■}• Tradition is therefore one of those things that cannot stand the test of Vincent of Lerins, which I gave you in a former part of this discourse. It has not bean received every where, at all times, and by all Christians, it consequently is not catholic, and the church that has introduced and now rests upon it cannot be the Catholic Church. You are aware that the Roman Catholic Church has received as canonical several books which she calls scripture, which are alto- gether rejected by Protestants. There is no question about the books of the New Testament. The only doubt is with regard to those books which she considers a portion of the Old. Here that rule with which I commenced my discourse is of the greatest advan- tage : *' That which is first is true, that which is more modem is ■corrupt." Which is the first, which is the more modern ? I shall answer this qnestion in the words of Melito, a writer who lived in the year 170, and who devoted a good deal of attention to the con- sideration of the matter : ♦' When 1 was in the East," says he, " and come to the place itself in which these things were formerly preach- ed and done, I learned diligently the books of the Old Testament, and I send you a list of them subjoined beneath. These are the names, 5 books of Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua the son of Nun, Judges, Ruth, 4 books of Kings, 2 of Paralipomenon, the Psalms of David, the Proverbs of Solomon, which is also called Wisdom, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, Job, the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, the twelve prophets in one book, Daniel, Ezekiel, Ezra." t ^ .„ t ^ vl The Roman Catholic members of the congregation will, I doubt not be greatly surprised to hear that in this the first Christian catalogue of the books of the Old Testament, not one of those which we call Apocryphal is enumerated, but that it contains all the books of our canon, and no others. The onlydifi'erences between it and ours are, that the books are not arranged in the same order, and the 4 Books of Kings are called by us, 2 Books of Samuel and 2 Books of Kings ; and the 2 Books of Paralipomenon are called the 2 Books of Chronicles. The next catalogue which comes to our hands is that of the Council of Laodicea, which met about the mid- dle of the 4th century, and is exactly the same as that of Mehto, • Ep. 74 ad Pompeium. tDrt Fide Cap. 1, Tom. 2, p. 2ol, Bened. Ed. + Ann-^ Pp'-'V. W.r>.». Hist. Lib. 4.caD. 26. 14 A «f A„r Phnrcb As the canons of this council were received and of our c»5«;f ; J^^^^^ ;^ Council of Chalcedon, they are of and «<>"?'-'"«^„^y ;^;„a^ecJ?dinrto the 11th additional article of ?hTcTe"i orl^.e"!forcU^ ahould be undoubtedly received ^IriTome to the consideration of the -t-P-^^ffj^ 13 no sucn imub ' » ^j^ ^jg. ^his point as they pretation of the Word of God. A»iey a ^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^.^ IS one passage And^l say to ^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ p^^, *^ M """'ll^t '' Ma^xvi 18.' On this passage Father Launoy. vail against It. " ^*"-^r^ • '° ^iter gives 17 extracts from the a celebrated ^.^^^.f/^^f^^^^^^^^^ spoken of as the rock ; writings of early Fathers xnwhi^^^ P ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^ 8 passages in which he church is s ^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ .^ i'uef th^rotk anf I'p^^^^^^^^ -bich says that the, Church is called tne rocK , auu r & another instance of built upon Chn«t as the roek^ ^ .^ ^ ^^^^ unanimity, ^he passage is .r «.0*her foundation doctrine of P";g«f or^nd r^^^^^^^ ^^^^ Tf^Tm^^'Sd u^^^^^^^^^^ gold silver, precious stones, jf any mnn o""" l' , ^k shall be manifest, for the wood hay, stubble every ma ^^^ ^^ revealed in fire, himself shall be saved y«\f. f„ ^4^0^^ the^e are five difficul- Cardinal Bdlarmine tells us t^^^^^^^^ are ^^^^^.^^^^ ties-l. Who are the h^^^ders ^. ^^^^ ^^^^^ 3. What is the dY^^^.^^^^^^tfs meant by the expression, he shall try the work? And 5. Wha^ is mea y ^^y^^ difficulties he be saved so as by fire. . ^^^ on ine ^ j^^ gives two diftW opinion ;- ^Jath^rs^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^, fo?rV is thswha the Council of Trent calls the unanimous ^° '^ f nf fhp fathers'^ I again repeat that such unanimity is consent of the lathers • J,"S , , ^^ j ^efv the whole Roman impossible to be discov r d ^ that^ I^ de^y ^.^ ^ ^^^ ^'l tLrtention^^^^^^^^^^ Catholics in this congregation call the attention 01 t foundation no man can lay but to the first port on of it . Other loun ^^ ^^^^ ^^.^ .^ 15 adhered to that only fourdatinn there wou'd now be no occasion to prove that she is uncatholic and unscriptural, and if she would now at last '• look unto the rock whence you are hewn, and to the hole of the pit from which you are dug out" (Isaiah 6, 11, D.V.) we would receive her with open arms and gladly welcome her back to the faith once delivered unto the saints. The next subject that I have marked out for our consideration is communion in one kind, which will require from me but very few remarks You are aware that with us both the clergy and the laity receive the Lord's Supper under both its elements of bread and wine, but that in the Roman Catholic Church the clergy receive both elements, but the laity are robbed of one-half of the sacrament. Which of us is right ? Which follows the true catholic custom ? Lis- ten to the language of the Council of Constance, the very council which at so late a date as the year 1414 robbed the laity of the Roman Catholic Church of their undoubted and scriptural right. «' Christ did after supper institute this holy sacrament, and adminis- tered it to his disciples in both kinds of bread and wine."* But you may say that the disciples to whom the first sacrament was administered were all clergy, and that consequently this is no proof of the right of the laity to receive the wine. Listen, then, to the same council on the point of the laity receiving the cup: " This sacrament was received by the faithful under both kinds in the Primitive Church," and yet with the possession of this knowledge she dared to change the mode of the administration of the Lord's Supper nearly 1,400 years after its institution, during which period the whole church had received it as Christ had first adminis- tered it. I shall now come to the proof of these assertions, and 1 will first read to you the account of the institution of the Lord's Sup- per as given in the 11th chapter of the 1st Epistle to the Corin- thians according to the Douay version, *' I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread and giving thanks broke and said, take ye and eat, this is my body which shall be delivered for you, this do for the commemoration of me. In like manner also the chalice after he had supped, saying. This is the New Testament in my blood, this do ye as often as you shall drink for the commemoration of me, For as often as you shall eat this bread and drink the chalice, you shall shew the death of the Lord until he come. Therefore, whosoever shall eat this bread or diink the chalice of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, but let a man prove himself and so let him eat of that bread and drink of the chalice, for he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh judgment to himself not discerning the body of the Lord." (l Cor. xi., 23-29.) Will not the most uncducat^ - iimongst us at once perceive that the person who, according to this account, had the right to eat the bread had also the right to drink of the chalice, and that every man, not every priest merely, who proved himself might eat of the bread and drink of the chalice. I shall now give you a single quotation from * Conci. Constance, Seas, 13, Apud Labb. et Cossart. Tom. 12, p. 90, par. 1672. 16 ?Sbe cup oftlesad blood, but let them'either receive the Intiie sacrament or be kept away from the entire, because a division :? one and the same mystery cannot take place without great sacn- ?pJe''* No p-otestant could make use of stronger language. We may therefore say that the church which has dared to pe[Petrate K J'great sacrilege'' has in this respect also deprived herself of any claim to the title of the Catholic Church. We now come to the last subject that I have marked out for our considSoT-Prayer to Paints. And will it bej>;l;«:;^^ Roman Catholic members of the congregation that there is not a folUary leg! imate example of prayer to saints throughout the Ihole of their Bible. There are three instances given in the mdex To that Bible of prayer to angols ; but when we refer to the passa- les we find that ?n those places the being called by the name angel i^s no less a person than the Lord God of Hosts himself. I repeat turrc is not a solitary legitimate example of prayer to saints hoSghout the whole 'Dou'ay Bible. There is ^owe-r one a.d nnlv one instance recorded there, and Roman Catholics 1 shall T.l rpad t for you Judge for yourselves whether it is one that is wthy of your^im tadon^ ..There was a certain rich man who was clothedCpurple and fine Unen and feasted sumptuously every Ty and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus who lay at his ffafe full of sores desiring to be filled with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table Ind no one did give him ; moreover he dZ come an^ licked his sores. And it came to pass that the beggar d"d and was carried by the angels ir^o Abraham^ bosom and the rich man also died and he was buned in hell, »«•! J^mg nn hiseyes when he was in torments he saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarufil hTs bosomyand he cried and said, Father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip he tip of his Sin wTt^r to cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame And AbraTam Paid to him. Son remember that thou did'st receive ^oodTMncs Si thy life-time and likewise Lazarus evi things but now he U comforied and thou art tormented, and besides all this, between us a™d you there is fixed a great chaos so that they who would pa^s from hence to you cannot, nor from thence come hither And he said Then father I beseech thee that thou would st send Wm to my father's house, for I have five brothers, that he may Je^ify unfo them lest the'y also come into this place of torments \ 5 I "r"^»- ««^d to him. They have Moses and the prophets, let Them^hear thmT but he said. No Father Abraham, but if one went I ♦ Ap. Gratian. Deer. Can. Comperimus de Consecr. dist. 2, cap. 12. 17 I t .. to them from the dead they will do penance ; and he said to him, if thev hear not Moses and the prophets neither will thoy believe if one^rise from the dead." (Luke IG, 19-21, D.V.) This is the only instance of prayer to a saint that can be found in the whole scriptures. And now I ask you as reasonable men is it one that you think deserves imitation ? It was offered up m hell. The wretched being who gave utterance to it was a lost soul, and the return he received was a complete rejection of his prayer. Think of this before you again offer up a prayer to those who are unable to afford you any help. * I know that the generality of Protestants are not acquainted with the character of those prayers which are recommended to Roman Catholics in the authorized publications and private books of devotion. Hero is a book compiled by a Roman Catholic priest and sanctioned by a Roman Catholic Archbishop-" What every Christian must know and do" by the Rev. J. Furniss, printed by Duffy the Roman Catholic bookseller of Dublin, and bearing upon its last page the following sanction. Imprimatur, Taulus CuUen, Archiepiscopus Dublinensis. Here is a sample from it of the nature of prayers to saints : Heart of Jesus I r.dore Thee, Heart of Mary I implore thee ; Heart of Joseph, pure and just. In thoso three hearts I put my trust* But this prayer is orthodox compared with the following fearful specimen of blasphemy which is extracted from the Glories of St. Joseph, published by Grace, another Roman Catholic bookseller in "'Most adorable Jesus, most admirable Mary, most amiable Joseph, wonderful Trinity of three persons, the most holy that ever have been or ever shall be in this world, prostrate at your feet in union of all the humility and devotion of heaven and earth, I hail, honour and love you in every way in my power. 0, most desirc.ble Jesus, 0, most amiable Mary, 0, most dear Joseph, I give myself up entirely to you-take possession of me for ever. O holy Trinity, I offer and consecrate to you the three faculties of my soul, 0, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, most blessed Trinity, bless me with the triple benediction of the thrice holy Lord, f No lan- guage is sufficiently strong to express the feeling of intense abhor- rence with which a true catholic views such a blasphemous address. The Trinity to whom he offers and consecrates the faculties of his soul is the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, but the Trinity to whom the Roman Catholic is directed by the Glories of St Joseph to give himself up entirely is the adorable Jesus, the admirable Mary, the amiable Joseph. I shall now give you another extract from the same work which in its present form is extreme blasphemy, but which, if altered by the substitution of Jesus for Joseph would be pure and orthodox Christianity. " Pius VII. by a rescript of 'the 6th of September, 1804, granted an indulgence of one year, applicable to the souls in purgatory, to all the faithful every time they would devoutly repeat the following ♦What every Christian, &c. t Glories of St. Joseph, (llichard Grace, Dublin, 1853.) Pious Address to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Title page. From the Christian's 18 hymn in honour of the Patriarch St. Joseph, the foster father of Jesus Christ, and the chaste spouao of the blessed Virgin Mary : Whoever bless'd with health would spend Life's transient day, and calmly end That day without a fear, To Joseph let them turn their eyes, To Joseph let their prayers arise, And he their prayers will hear," &c. * Those, then are some of the prayers which are offered by Roman Catholics to the saints departed. Do they in this matter act in accordance with the ancient Catholic Church ? You may decide this point when you compare the quotations that I have read to you ^ith the following extracts from the writings of Augustine, a saint in the Komnn calendar, who is deservedly esteemed both by Catholics and Roman Catholics : " Let not our religion consist in the worship of dead men, because if they lived piously they are not esteemed such as would desire that kind of honour, but would have him to be worshipped by us by whose illumination they rejoice to have us partners with them in their merit. They are therefore to be honoured for imitation, not to be worshiped for religion."t I have thus shewn you from theye portions of the Creed of Pope Pius, the authorised creed of the Roman Catholic Church, that her practice is contrary to scripture, and in direct opposition to the usage of the ancient Catholic Church. Did my strength allow me to do so, or your time permit it, I would continue the consideration ot the remaining portions, and shew from them that in those also She IS uncathohc and unscriptural, but at present it is impossible that this can be done. What I have been able to bring before you IS, however, sufficient to establish the position that I have laid down at the commencement of this discourse, that the Church of lingland in holding to the Catholic creeds without addition or dimi- nution IS the Catholic Church, but that the Church of Rome through her addition of 12 articles to the Nicene Creed at the Council o^ irent has brought upon herself the anathema of the General Council ot Lphesus and has deprived herself of all right and title to be con- sidered catholic, or orthodox or scriptural. In conclusion, remember, my Roman Catcholic friends, that the old church IS true catholic and scriptural, and that the pew church is false, uncathohc, and unscriptural. Exercise your j»udgments • you are capable of using your reason in secular affairs, why do voii not use It in religious matters ? Examine which is the new church Tvhich IS the old. Th. soul is of too much value to be lost through resting upon the word of any fellow mortal, therefore judge for yourselves: ''Stand ye on the ways and see and ask for the old paths which IS the good way, and walk ye in it, and you shall find refreshment for your .ouls." And now to God the Fafher, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, be ascribed, as is most due, all honour and glory, adoration and praise, world without end .— Jos ^-°"^^ °^ ®*- -Joseph. From the Hym.is and Prayers !n Honour of St. fDe Vera Religione, Cap. 65, Tom. 1, p. 317.