£ ; '-;'.'' : ; |'. ; fi'wl-Mj-'SV'w pM IMk ) f^i; ;|:^i s ^?*sl: i-^1^ 'f '1'**^ -^ *-^^i* ?* ^i»-* ^ *-t !*: ■ ^ i^ ^f^ ^: j " t^f 5 '■-;.; ,] B jjj| ! .SSjIyiifc' 'Sjfhi! •'.'.'• iffltHMlai IliBSiSfflflScflamli CTiw)^^lg(CT^^Mffi BSfSBiHfp 1 ' v ■■'■;',' '•'■' iliriliir^'^ ifill '•'■'; . '(«" • 9 BSPlIiliMii l$|i§ j | ilili ■BliP M^^^UnwH^*K'l^»«H^I*yi^wl^w9SSdJI88 I:;!; wm 11 » lli<;tltllll|3i ■mi /iltKELEY\ LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF VcAUFORNIA Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2008 with funding from Microsoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/christiandenominOOkrulrich CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS OR A Brief Exposition of the History and Teachings of Christian Denominations Found in English-Speaking Countries. BY FATHER VIGIL1US H. KRULL, C. PP. S. FIFTH EDITION. ST. JOSEPH'S PRINTING OFFICE, COLLEGEVILLE, IND. 1913. NIHIL OB ST AT. Augustinas Seifert, C. PP. S., Censor Deputatus. IMPRIMATUR. ^ Hermannus Josephus, Episcopns Wayne Castrensis. Wayne Castris, die 22. Julii 1911 LOAN tfACK Copyright, 1911, By V. H. Krull, C. PP. S. INTRODUCTION. 3RI57 In offering this book to the public, I pro- pose to furnish my readers with a brief, but reli- able exposition of the history and teachings of the different Christian denominations found in this country: the name of the various founders together with a short sketch of their work and views; the time of the origin and the main teach- ings and practices of the many Christian denom- inations. The extensive extracts from the works of the Fathers and other ecclesiastical writers of the early Church will undoubtedly be of interest to the earnest Christian. With the help of God's grace and the aid of Holy Scripture and sound reason, turning the flash-light of true history upon every organization mentioned in this book, we can easily detect and distinguish the true Church, which Jesus Christ, the Son of God, founded, from any and every pure- ly human institution. "Seek and you shall find." If this book brings my readers nearer to Jesus, "who loved us, and washed us from our sins in His blood,'' I consider my work amply repaid. THE AUTHOR. 855 CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. Jesus Christ the Originator of Christianity and the Founder of the Catholic Church. Hundreds of years before He was born at Bethlehem of the ever Blessed Virgin Mary and the angels of heaven and a wonderful star announced His advent, the divinely inspired prophets of old minutely fortold the signs of the time, the cir- cumstances of the birth, and the whole life-story of Jesus Christ. The elements of nature obeyed His voice: He calmed the storm on the sea, dranged the wa- ter into wine, twice miraculously multiplied the loaves of bread, and healed all kinds of disease. The bouncing waves of the raging sea served Him as a solid pathway as He walked over them and hastened to His frightened disciples. "It is I ; be not afraid." St. John 6; 20. He spoke with divine authority as He pointed out the way of salvation. Even His enemies de- clared : "Never did man speak like this man." St. John 7; 46. "The people were in admiration at his doctrine. For he was teaching them as one having power, and not as the scribes and Phari- sees." St. Matth. 7; 28, 29. 7 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH Jesus drove out evil spirits. "And devils went out from many, crying out and saying: Thou ant the Son of God. And rebuking them he suffered them not to speak; for they knew that he was Christ." St. Luke 4; 41. "And having called his twelve disciples togeth- er, he gave them power over unclean spirits to cast them out and to 'heal all manner of diseases, and all manner of infirmities. And the names of the twelve apostles are these : The first, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the publican, and James the son of Alpheus, and Thaddeus, Simon the Cananean, and Judas Is- cariot, who also betrayed him." St. Matth. 10; 1-4. These twelve Apostles Jesus sent out to preach His gospel, to help in saving souls. He ap- pointed St. Peter as the visible head of the whole Church. When St. Peter made a public profession of his faith and said to Jesus: "Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God,'' Jesus said to him: "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hatfto not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my dhurch, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also 8 JE'SUS ORIGINATOR OP CHRISTIANITY in heaven : and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven." St. Matth. 16; 16-19. At the sea of Tiberias in the presence of Thomas, Nathanael, Jo'hn and James, Jesus said to Simon Peter: "Simon, son of John, lovest thou me more than these? He saith to him: Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith to him: Feed my lambs. He saith to him again: Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? He saith to him : Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee, lie saith to him: Feed my lambs. He said to him the third time: Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved, because he had said to him the third time: Lovest thou me? And he said to him: Lord, thou knowest all things: thou knowest fhat I love thee. He said to him : Feed my sheep." St. John 21 ; 15-17. Lambs and sheep constitute the entire flock. Jesus loved to call himself the Good Shepherd. St. Peter was to feed His flock; that is to say, St. Peter was appointed by Him as the supreme visible head of the Church. Jesus founded but one Church. He called it the kingdom of Heaven, and likened it to a vine- yard, to a grain of mustard-seed, to a garden, to a field, to a sheepfold, to a flock, to a net, to a banquet, to a house built on a mountain. All these figures, as well as His direct words to St. Peter, indicate that His Church is one. He founded but one Church for the salvation of all mankind. As 9 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH a matter of fact, every reader of the holy Bible knowa that Christ established but one Church. Neither have I ever met a man, be it on missions to non-Catholics or in discussions with Protestant ministers, who ever asserted that Christ founded more than one Church. After Jesus Christ 'had labored and preached and manifested His divinity by miracles, He was sentenced to death on account of His assertion : "I am the Son of God." St. Matth. 27; 43. He died for the redemption of the world. As He had repeatedly foretold, He by His own omnipotence rose on the third day from the dead. By His glorious resurrection He gave to the world a convincing proof that He is God. For forty days after His resurrection He appeared to His disciples and spoke to them of the kingdom of God, of the coming of the Holy Ghost, of the primacy of St. Peter, and of many other important things. Shortly before His ascension into 'heaven Je- sus said to them : "All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Going therefore, teach ye all nations ; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you : and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world." St. Matth. 28; 18-20. Jesus is with His Church all days, even to the consummation of the world. Hence His Church 10 JESUS ORIGINATOR OF CHRISTIANITY must last to the end of the world. It must con- tinue throughout all centuries. If so, then His Church is still in existence. And so it is. His- tory bears witness to the fact, that the Church which Jesus founded is still extant. The Churdh which Jesus founded is the only divine Churdh, is the only one which can save mankind. His Church is God-niade, all other churches are man- made. They are human in origin and in effect. All who earnestly desire to be saved must belong to the Church which Jesus Christ instituted and of which He plainly said: "The gates of hell shall not prevail against it." It will not do to say that the Church of Which the Apostles were the first bishops and teachers, was the true Church ; no, that Church continues to be the only true Church. Jesus remains with it. "Behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world." Neither may any person belonging to a rather new religion imag- ine that his church can save him, because it bears some resemblance to the Church which Jesus founded about 1900 years ago. No, the saving Church is not only like it, but it is identical with the Church of w*hich Jesus Christ is the founder. God established only one Church for the salva- tion of mankind. In that Church all the necessary means of salvation are deposited. Whosoever re- fuses to be a loyal member of the true Church and thus deliberately deprives himself of the 11 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH means of salvation will be lost. "He said to them : Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is bap- tized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned. " St. Mark 16; 15, 16. A purely natural organization, started by man, can never produce supernatural results. That is the true Churdh of which the incarnate Son of God is the founder, which bears the undeniable mark of historic continuity. It is the same Church with the same unalterable doctrines, the same neces- sary and helpful means of grace, the same divine sacraments, the same holy sacrifice and everything the same which Jesus Christ ordained as neces- sary for salvation. The visible head of that Church must be the legitimate successor of St. Peter, vest- ed with the same authority to feed the whole flock of Christ. Above all, tfhe true Church must date back to Christ. Any church., which is of a later date, is not the Churdh which Jesus founded, not the one which is to continue all days to the end of time. In matters of religion it will not do sim- ply to follow the fashion, as so many people seem to t'hink. There is only one saving Church. This is the Church which Jesus Christ founded almost 1900 years ago. "If he will not hear t*he church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican/' St. Matth. 18; 17. "There are some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a 12 JESUS ORIGINATOR OF CHRISTIANITY gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema. As we said before, so now I say again : If anyone preach to you a gospel, besides that which you have received, let him be anathema. For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. For I give you to understand, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not accord- ing to man. For neither did I receive it of man, nor did I learn it ; but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." Gal. 1 ; 7-12. St. Paul, therefore, strict- ly forbids any change of the gospel which he preached. No man, not even an angel, has a right to alter the gospel of Christ. That gospel was preached by all the Apostles long before the New Testament was written. It included a great deal more than the fragmentary narratives contained in the New Testament. At the end of his gospel, St. John expressly says : "But there are also many other things which Jesus did ; which, if they were written every one, the world itself, I think, would not be able to contain the books that should be written." St. John 21 ;25. St. Paul admonishes the Thessalonians : "Therefore, brethren, stand fast; and hold the traditions which you have learned whether by word, or by our epistle." 2 Thess. 2; 14. "Hold the form of sound words, which thou hast 'heard of me in faith, and in the love which is in Christ Jesus. Keep the good thing 13 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH committed to thy trust by the Holy Ghost, who dwelleth in us." 2 Timothy 1 ; 13, 14. Really, I do not understand under what pre- tense of logic or revelation any man of education can assert that the Bible is the sole rule of faith, and that reason, private opinion, is the sole in- terpreter. St. Paul emphasizes the necessity to stand fast and to hold the traditions, not to lis- ten to another gospel, not to be tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine. "This then I. say and testify in the Lord : that henceforward you walk not as also the gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind." Eph. 4; 17. The true Church positively teaches with di- vine authority what we must believe and do in or- der to be saved. Our private opinion must be in conformity with the tenets of the infallible Church. It would be the height of arrogance to presume that God's teachings and God's means of salvation should depend upon their being accepted or re- jected by a poor sinner. God teaches ; we must believe. He commands ; we must obey. He points out the way of salvation ; we must follow His di- rections. The authority to teach and to command Jesus Christ lodged with the Apostles and their rightful successors in office. Our duty it is to believe and to obey. This is the ordinance or rule of faith es- tablished by God. No person, not even an angel from heaven, has the right to interpret Holy 14 JESUS ORIGINATOR OF CHRISTIANITY Scripture in any sense different from the teaching authority of the Church. Any denomination maintaining that the Bible is the sole rule of faith and conceding to every fal- lible person the right to interpret the written rev- elations as he pleases, is essentially different from the Church which Jesus Christ founded and of which St. Paul was one of the Apostles. The purpose of the following pages is to point out the true Church and, with the help of God's grace, to confirm the members of the true Church in their belief and practice and to lead other souls into the kingdom of heaven; in other words, to bring my fellow-beings nearer to Jesus. "Grace be unto you and peace from him that is, and that was, and that is to come, and from the seven spirits which are before his throne. And from JESUS CHRIST, who is the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, who hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us a kingdom, and priests to God and his Father, to him be glory and empire for ever and ever. Amen." Apoc. 1 ; 4-6. 15 Testimony of Well Known Writers of the First Five Centuries. From the numerous writings of the early Fa- thers of the Church and other ecclesiastical writers who lived many centuries ago, but whose writings are still extant, we can easily cull unimpeachable testimony of the fact that the Catholic Church with its Pope at Rome is the same Church which Jesus Christ established for the salvation of im- mortal souls, and that every true Christian must obey this Church. For brevity's sake I cite only a few of the many able writers of the first five cen- turies of the Christian era. St. Clement, whom St. Paul (Phil. 4; 3) calls his fellow laborer, was according to St. Irenaeus the third successor of St. Peter (Peter, Linus, Anacletus, Clement). Tertullian informs us that St. Clement was ordained by St. Peter, the Apostle. History tells us that he was Bishop of Rome whilst St. John was still Bishop of Ep'hesus. The authenticity of St. Clement's first letter to the Corinthians cannot be called in question. This letter, or Epistle, as it is generally called, was written a few years before his death, which oc- curred about the year 100 after Christ. Pope St. Clement writes : 16 WRITERS OP THE FIRST CENTURIES "The Apostles have preached to us the Gos- pel, (which they had received) from the Lord Jesus Christ: Jesus Christ from God. Christ, therefore, was sent by God, and the Apostles by Christ. . .While preaching therefore in country places and cities, they appointed their first fruits — having proved them by the Spirit — bishops and deacons of those wiho were about to believe.'' No. 42. "So also our Apostles knew, through the Lord Jesus Christ, that contention would arise on account of the episcopal dignity. For this rea- son, therefore, having a perfect knowledge, they appointed the aforesaid (bishops and deacons) and then gave a rule for future succession, so that when these should die, other approved men migtht take over their ministry and office." No. 44. "It is shameful, my beloved, it is most shameful, and unworthy of a Christian conduct, that it should be heard that the most firm and ancient church of the Corinthians, on account of one or two persons, is in a sedition against the priests." No. 47. "Do ye, therefore, who laid the foundation of this sedition, submit to the priests, and accept a punishment unto repentance, bending the knees of your hearts! Learn to be subject, laying aside all proud and arrogant boasting of your tongues; for it is better for you to be found in the fold of Christ, than, thinking yourselves above others, to be cast out of its hope." No. 57. 17 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH St. Ignatius was a disciple of St. John, the Apostle and Evangelist, and became the third bishop of Antioch, St. Peter being the first. St. Ignatius succeeded Evodius in the episcopal see of that city, and governed the diocese down to the reign of Emperor Trajan. On his way to Rome (where he suffered martyrdom in the am- phitheatre), he wrote seven Epistles: namely one each to the Ephesians, Magnesians, Trallians, Ro- mans, Philadelphians, to the people of Smyrna, and to their bishop, his dear friend St. Polycarp. These letters are gems of Christian literature. In his Epistle to the Ephesians St. Ignatius writes: "It becomes you to concur in the mind of your bishop, as you really do. For your praiseworthy presbytery, worthy of God, is so aptly adjusted to the bishop, as strings to a harp... Let no man deceive himself; if a man be not within the altar, he stands deprived of the Bread of God... Whom- soever the Master of the 'house sendeth to govern His household, we ought to so receive, as we would receive Him that sent him. It is plain, then, t'hat we must receive the bishop as the Lord Himself. Obey the bishop and the presby- tery with an undivided mind, breaking one Bread, which is the medicine of immortality, an anti- dote that we may not die, but live for ever in Jesus Christ." No. 4, 5, 6, and 20. "Be ye careful to do all things in divine con- cord. This, because the bishop presides in the 18 WRITERS OF THE FIRST CENTURIES place of God, and the priests are as the senate of the Apostles and the deacons have confided to them the ministry of Jesus Christ." No. 6. "As therefore our Lord, being united with the Father, did nothing without Him, neither by Himself, nor by His Apostles, so neither do you do anything apart from the bishop and the presbyters. . .There is one Jesus Christ, than whom nothing is better. Wherefore, hasten ye all together as unto one temple of God; as unto one altar, as unto one Jesus Christ.'' Epistle to the Magnesians, No. 7. To the Trallians St Ignatius wrote: "Let all reverence the deacons as Jesus Christ, and also the bishop ; for he is the image of the Father, but the priests as the senate of God and the college of the Apostles. Without these one cannot speak of the Church." Trail. 3. 1. "Protect yourselves, therefore, against such as these men (heretics) ; and this you will do. if you are not puffed up, nor separated from the God Jesus Christ, and from the bishop, and from the regulations of the Apostles. He that is within the altar is clean; but he that is without, is not; that is, he that does aught without the bishop, the presbytery, and the deacons; he is not clean in conscience." Epistle to the Trallians, No. 7. "Love unity; avoid divisions; be ye followers of Jesus Christ, even as He is of the Father." Ep. to the Philadelphians, No. 7. "I cried out with a loud voice, with the voice of God ; hold fast to 19 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH the bishop to the presbytery, and to the deacons." Philadelphians, 7, 1. "May you all follow the bishop even as Jesus Christ follows the Father. . .Where the bishop ap- pears, there let the multitude be also; even as where Christ is, there is the Catholic Church." Epistle to the People of Smyrna, No. 8. In fact almost every paragraph of the Igna- tian letters emphasizes this unity of the Catholic Church under its divinely instituted tripartite hier- archy as absolutely necessary. St. Ignatius died about the year 107. St. Polycarp was instructed by the Apostle St. John. His own disciple, St. Irenaeus, says: "Polycarp was not only taught by the Apostles, and ihad held intercourse with those who had seen Christ but was also appointed by the Apostles as bishop over the church of Smyrna in Asia; he like- wise always taught this which he had learned from the Apostles, and which he also handed down to the Church and which alone is true." Against Heresies, Bk. 3, Chap. 3, No. 4. About the middle of the second century St. Polycarp went to Rome to consult with Pope An- icetus in order to bring about the desired uni- formity as to the day of celebrating Easter. When Statius Quadratus the Proconsul tried to persuade him to renounce Jesus Christ, St. Polycarp an- swered: "Eighty years I have served Him, and He never did me any wrong; how then can I blas- pheme my King, who redeemed me?" Encyclical 20 WRITERS OF THE FIRST CENTURIES Letter of the Church of Smyrna, No. 9. Pierced with a dagger St. Polycarp died for his faith, Feb. 23, 155. To the Philippians, No. 5, 'he gave this admonition : "Wherefore it is necessary to ab- stain from all these things, being subject to the presbyters and deacons as unto God and Christ." St. Justin, the philosopher, is the most re- nowned apologetic writer of the second century. He died a martyr's death about the year 167. In his dialogue with the Jew Trypho, No. 63, St. Jus- tin writes: "Likewise these words (Ps. 94; 7-13) plainly prove that because those who believe in Him are one soul and one synagogue and one Church, therefore this Church is addressed by the divine writings as a daughter, being established after His name and sharing the same; for we are all called Christians." Commenting on Malachias, chapter 1, verse 10, St. Justin writes in the same work: "Not even now is your race from the rising to the set- ting of the sun, but there are nations in which not even one of your nation has ever dwelt. But there is no race of men, — whether of barbarians or of Greeks, or, in fine, bearing any other name because they live in wagons, or are without a fixed home, or dwell in tents leading a pastoral life — among wlhom prayers and eucharists are not of- fered to the Father and Creator of the universe through the name oT the crucified Jesus." No. 117. St. Irenaeus, a disciple of St. Polycarp, was 21 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ordained priest by Pothinus, Bishop and Mar- tyr, whom he also succeeded as bishop of Lyons. He suffered martyrdom about the year 202. "For the Church, though spread over the whole world to the earth's boundaries, having received from the Apostles and t'heir disciples the faith in one God, the Father Almighty. . .and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God made flesh for our salvation, and in the Holy Spirit. . .having received this gospel and this faith, as stated be- fore the Church, though spread over the whole world, preserves it with the greatest diligence and care as if dwelling in one house; and these truths she uniformly holds, as having one soul, and one and the same heart; and these she pro- claims and teaches, and hands down uniformly, as though she had but one mouth. For although the world's languages are various, still the force of tradition is one and the same. And neither do the churches founded in Germany believe or deliver a different faith, not those in Spain, in Gaul, in the East, in Egypt, in Africa, or in the regions in the middle of the earth (i. e. Palestine and Jerusalem) ; but as God's 'handiwork, the sun, is one and the same throughout the universe, so the preaching of the truth shines everywhere and enlightens all men that wish to come to the knowl- edge of the truth. Nor does he who, amongst the bishops of the churches, is more powerful in word, deliver a different doctrine from the above 22 WRITERS OF THE FIRST CENTURIES (for no one is above his teacher) ; nor does he who is weak in speech weaken the tradition. For the faith 'being one and the same, it is neither in- creased by him who has ability to say much con- cerning it, nor decreased by him who can say but little... The whole Church has one and the same faith throughout the whole world, as we stated above/' Against Heresies Bk. 1, Chap. 10, No. 1, 2, 3. "Pointing out that tradition which the great- est and most ancient and universally known Church, — founded and constituted at Rome by the two most glorious Apostles, Peter and Paul, — derives from the Apostles, and that faith an- nounced to all men, which, through the succession of her bishops has come down to us, we confound all those who, in any way, whether through pleas- ing themselves, or vain glory, or blindness, and perverse opinion, assemble otherwise than as be- hooves them. With this Church, because of its high- er rank, every church must agree, that is, the faith- ful of all places in which the apostolic tradition has been always preserved by the faithful of all places. The blessed Apostles, therefore, having founded and built up that Church, committed the office of the episcopacy to Linus. Of this Linus, Paul makes mention in his Epistle to Timothy. But he was succeeded by Anacletus, and after 'him, in the third place from the Apostles, Clem- ent obtains that episcopate, — who had even seen the blessed Apostles themselves, and conferred 23 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH with them, and who had yet before his eyes the familiar preaching, and the tradition of the Apos- tles ; and not he alone, for there were at that time many alive who had been instructed by the Apos- tles... But this Clement was succeeded by Evaris- tus, and Evaristus by Alexander. Next to him, thus the sixth from the Apostles, Sixtus was ap- pointed; and after him Telesphorus, who also suf- fered a glorious martyrdom ; next Hyginus ; then Pius; after whom was Anicetus. And since Ani- cetus was succeeded by Soter, Eleutherus as the twelfth after the Apostles now holds the episco- pate. In this order, and by this succession, the tradition which is in the Churdh from the Apostles, and their preaching of the truth, 'have come down to us." Against Heresies, Bk. 3, Chap. 3, No. 2, 3. Origen, one of the most prolific writers that ever lived, of whom Epiphanius (Heresies, 64) asserts that he wrote six thousand books, and concerning whom Eusebius tells us that he kept busy seven amanuenses (copyists) by his dicta- tions, was a man of genuine piety. He died at Tyre in 254 or 255 at the age of seventy in con- sequence of many tortures he underwent while in prison for his faith. Being a man of steel, he has received the soubriquet Adamantius. He writes : "For just as we, after we have come to believe that Christ is the Son of God, and that we must learn the truth from Him, have ceased to seek it amongst all those that claimed it with false opin- 24 WRITERS OF THE FIRST CENTURIES ions, seeing that many amongst the Greeks and Barbarians promised it; so since there are many who fancy that they think the things that are of Christ, and yet some of these differ with those that were before them, let the ecclesiastical teaching be preserved, which has been handed down from the Apostles by the order of succession, and which remains in the churches even to this day. That alone is to be believed as the truth, which in nothing differs from the ecclesiastical and apostolic tradition." On the Principles, Introduction, No. 2. Speaking of St. Peter, Origen exclaims: "Be- hold, wih at is said by the Lord to that great foun- dation of the Church, that most solid rock, upon whom Christ founded His Church." Homily 5 on Exodus. Tertullian, a Priest at Carthage (died about 240), is highly esteemed by all students of patro- logy for the originality and individuality of his writings. His rigoristic views on all questions pertaining to morality led him in later years into the sect of the Montanists. His numerous works contain a rich store of information. He knew how to handle the most difficult questions of dog- matic and moral theology in a concise manner. "It is not lawful for us to introduce anything of our own choice, or even to choose that which any one may have introduced of his own choice. We have as our authorities the Apostles of the 25 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH Lord, who did not even themselves choose any- thing by their own will that they might intro- duce it, but faithfully delivered over to the na- tions the doctrine which they had received from Christ." On Prescription Against the Heretics, Chap. 6. "In short, if it is certain that that is truest which is most ancient, that most ancient which is even from the beginning, that from the beginning whio'h is from the Apostles ; it will in like manner also be certain, that that has been handed down by the Apostles, which 'has been held sacred by the Apostolic Churches. Let us see what milk the Corinthians have received from Paul; ...what the Philippians, the Thessalonians, the Ephesians read; also what the Romans close at hand trumpet forth, to whom both Peter and Paul left the Gospel sealed even with their blood. We have also the churches taught by John. For although Marcion rejects his Apocalypse, never- theless the succession of bishops, counted up to their origin, will stand by John as the author." Against Marcion, Bk. 4, Chap. 5. "But if any heretics dare to intrude on the apostolic age, that thus they may seem to have been handed down from the Apostles, we are able to say: Let them, then, make known the origin of their churches ; let them unroll the series of their bishops, so coming down by succession from the beginning, that their first bishop had for his authority and for his predecessor some one of 26 WRITERS OP THE FIRST CENTURIES the Apostles, or of the apostolic men, so he were one that continued steadfast with the Apostles. For in this manner do the apostolic churches in- dicate their origins ; as the church of Smyrna shows that Polycarp was placed there by John ; as that of the Romans adduces Clement, ordained by Peter; similarly, of course, the other churches show those, whom, having been appointed by the Apostles to the episcopate, they have, as transmitters of the apostolic seed." On Prescription against the Heretics, Ch. 32. St. Cyprian, who in 248 was consecrated Bishop of Carthage, his native city, wrote several treatises on religious topics and some sixty-five let- ters mostly dealing with the theological questions of his day. He gained the crown of martyrdom as one of the most glorious Bishops of the Catholic Church, Sept. 14th, 258. St. Augustine (On Bap- tism, III, 3, 5) calls 'him "Catholic bishop and Catholic martyr." St. Jerome, when passing a criticism on the writings of St. Cyprian (Letter 58, 10) says: "They run like the sweet and pla- cid waters of a pure fountain." Of the heretic \ovation, St. Cyprian remarks in his 52d letter to Antonianus (No. 24) : "That man, notwithstanding GocPs tradition, notwith- standing the unity of the Catholic Churc'h ev- erywhere compacted and conjoined, strives to make a human church, and sends his new apostles through diverse cities, in order to lay certain new 27 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH foundations of his own institution ; and though there have long since been ordained, throughout all the provinces and in each city, bishops, men advanced in age, sound in faith, tried in difficul- ties, proscribed during the persecution, he dares to create other false bishops over them, as if he would traverse the whole world in the obstinacy of Shis new attempt, or tear asunder the linked union of the ecclesiastical body by scattering the seeds of his discord; forgetful of the fact that schismatics always burn with zeal at the outset, but that that which they have begun unlawfully cannot have increase or growth, but at once be- gins to languish together with evil jealousy."... "Since we have these numerous and weighty ex- amples together with many others, whereby God has condescended to confirm the sacerdotal au- thority and power, what kind of men, thinkest thou, are they, who as enemies of the priesthood, and rebels against the Catholic Church, are not intimidated either by the Lord's forewarning threats, or by the vengeance of a future judgment? For neither have heresies sprung up, nor schisms been engendered from other source; but because the priest of God, is not obeyed nor attention given to this, that there is but one priest at a time in the church, and who for the time is judge in Christ's stead ; if the whole brotherhood would, according to divine instructions obey him, no one would agitate in opposition to the college of 28 WRITERS OF THE FIRST CENTURIES priests, etc." Letter 55 to Cornelius, No. 5. "Or is perhaps the dignity of the Catholic Church, and the faithful and uncorrupted majesty of the peo- ple within her, and even the priestly authority and power, to be set aside to such an extent that men who are set without the Church may tell us they wish to judge a prelate of the Church? heretics pass judgment on a Christian?" Ibid. No. 18. "He can no longer have God for his father, who has not the Church for Jhis mother. If any one was able to save him- self who was without the ark of Noah, then may he be saved who is outside, out of the Church. The Lord warns and says, He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth. He who rends asunder the peace and concord of Christ's Church, rebels against Christ. He who gathers elsewhere, outside the Churdh, scatters the Church of Christ. The Lord says, I and the Father are one; and again, of the Father, and the Son, and Holy Ghost, it is written, And these three are one. And does any one believe that this unity, proceeding from the divine stabil- ity and coherent in heavenly mysteries, (i. e. the unity of the Trinity as just shown) can be rent asunder in the Church, and be split by the dissent of conflicting opinions? He who holds not this unity, holds not the law of God, holds not the faith of the Father and the Son, holds not life and salvation." On the Unity of the Cath. Church, No. 29 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH 6. "For although we are many shepherds, yet do we feed but one flock; and we must gather and cherish all the sheep which Christ has purchased with His Blood and His Passion." Letter 67 (to Pope St. Stephen), N. 4. Lactantius, the "Christian Cicero," was for some time during his later years the tutor of the unfortunate Crispus, the son of the Emperor Con- stantine; this classic writer died probably at Trier about 330. Like Origen, Tertullian and Cyprian, he was a native African. He tells us: "The Catholic Church therefore is the only one that retains the true worship. This is the source of truth; this the dwelling-place of faith; this the temple of God ; whosoever does not enter this temple, or whosoever departs from it, stands a stranger to the hope of life and eternal salvation." Divine Institutions, Bk. 4, Ch. 30. Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea (died about 340) is called "The Father of Church History." He wrote an extremely valuable work in ten books on the history of the Church from its foundation by Christ down to the year 323. Speaking of Simon Magus, he writes : "But his success was not lasting. For at the same time, while Claudius was still reigning, the all-good and all-benevolent Divine Providence led to Rome the mightiest and the greatest amongst the Apostles : him, who be- cause of his virtues was the spokesman for all the others, Peter namely (to contend) against that 30 WRITERS OF THE FIRST CENTURIES mighty destroyer of Life. Armed with divine weapons, he (St. Peter) as God's valiant general, brought the precious merchandise of intellectual light from the East to the dwellers in the West." Ecclesiastical History, Bk. 2; Ch. 14. "After the martyrdom of Paul and Peter, Linus was chosen in the first place as Bishop of the Roman Church." Eccl. History, Bk. 3; Ch. 2. "He established over the whole earth His city, I mean His Catholic Church, and the assembly of pious men; of which city it is elsewhere said: Glorious things are said of thee, O city of God. And, The stream of the river maketh the city of God joyful. When, therefore, the prophet desired to behold this fortified city, he said, Who will bring me into the fortified city? or, into the city fenced around, for thus Symmadius translates: for the gates and doors and bolts of the divine powers fence it round, that it may not be oppressed by a siege. Therefore did the Savior say concerning it, I will build my church upon a rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Commentary on Ps. 59. "For the inventions of the enemies soon dis- appeared being refuted by the truth itself; be- cause while sect after sect appeared with their in- novations, the earlier ones always passed away, and splitting up into numerous and manifold forms would go to ruin in one way or another, the only true, the glorious, the Catholic Church, on the 31 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH contrary, remaining ever firm and ever the self- same in all things, still went on increasing and developing; and slhowed forth in brilliant light the venerableness, the genuineness, and the nobility, as also the reasonableness and the purity of its divine doctrine and mode of life/' Eccl. Hist., Bk. 4; Ch. 11. St. Athanasius, Patriarch of Alexandria, just- ly styled the Father of Orthodoxy and surnamed the Great, was a man of a very amiable disposi- tion. We are told that he knew by heart nearly the entire Holy Bible. Through the envy and hatred of the Arians he was sent into exile five times, but his return was always an occasion of great joy to the faithful. He died as Patriarch of Alexandria, May 2, 373. He is the author of many works, apologetic, dogmatico-polemical, his- torico-polemical, exegetical, moral, and arcetical. His literary works are deep and clear, combining simplicity of expression with sublimity of thought. In his first letter to Serapion (No. 28) we read: "But it will Jhardly be out of place to investigate likewise the ancient tradition, and the doctrine and faith of the Catholic Church, whidh the Lord communicated, the Apostles proclaimed, and the Fathers preserved ; for on this has the Church been founded, and if one falls away from this, he can by no means be a Christian or even be called such any longer." "The synod of Nicea was not held without reason, but it was brought 32 WRITERS OF THE FIRST CENTURIES about because of an urgent need, and for legitimate cause. . .Respecting Easter they wrote indeed, It has been decreed as follows, for it was then de- creed that all should obey; but as regards faith, they said by no means, 'It has been decreed,' but Thus believes the Catholic Church, and at once confessed what they believed, in order to show that their sentiment was not novel, but apostolic. And the things which they handed down in writ- ing were not invented by themselves, but they are the same things which the Apostles have taught." On the Synods, No. 5. St. Hilary of Poitiers was, like many others, converted from heathenism to Christianity by the perusal of Holy Scripture. He wrote a volumi- nous work in twelve books on the Blessed Trin- ity, several historico-polemical, a number of bibli- cal commentaries and a few beautiful liturgical hymns. He died as Bishop of Poitiers, Jan. 13, 366. "In sooth Peter's confession obtained a worthy recompense. Blessed is he that is praised as hav- ing directed bit thoughts and seen beyond the ken of human eyes, not regarding what was of flesh and blood, but recognizing by revelation the Son of God ; as being accounted worthy to be the first to acknowledge what was in the Christ of God. Oh, happy foundation of the Church, — being called by a new name — and a rock worthy of the building up of that which was to destroy the infernal laws and the gates of hell, 33 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH and all the bars of death. O blessed keeper of the gate of heaven, to whose authority are delivered the keys of the eternal por- tals; whose judgment on earth is an author- ity prejudged in heaven, so that the things that are either loosed or bound on earth may acquire in heaven a like state of settlement.' , Commentary on Matth. XVI., No. 7. "Assuredly, thy kindness must listen to the voice of those who exclaim, 'I am a Catholic, I will not be a heretic; I am a Christian, not an Arian, and better were it for me to suffer death in this world, than to violate the spotless virginity of truth, because of the domineering power of any private individual.' " To Constantine, Bk. 1, No. 2. St. Basil the Great, Metropolitan of Caesarea, a great theologian, an eloquent speaker, a mas- terly writer, but above all a man of indefatigable zeal for immortal souls, closed his most busy earthly career January 1st, 379. "Since the only begotten Son of God, our Lord and God Jesus Christ, by whom all things were made, declares, I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me, even the Father, and of myself I do nothing, and, I have received a commandment what I should say, and what I should speak; and as the Holy Ghost distributes gifts great and wonderful and worketh all in all, speaketh noth- ing of himself, but whatsoever He shall hear from 34 WRITERS OF THE FIRST CENTURIES the Lord that He speaks; how then, I ask, is it more necessary for the whole Church of God, careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, to fulfill what is said in the Acts, And the multitude of believers had but one heart and one soul; for no one demanded that his own will be done, but all in common sought in the one Holy Spirit the will of that one Lord Jesus Christ, who says, I come down from heaven, not to do my own will; but the will of him that sent me, even the Father, to whom he says, not for them only do I pray but for them also who through their word believe in me, that they all may be one. By these and many other testimonies which I pass over in silence, I am thus clearly and fully convinced that concord, agreeably to the will of Christ in the Holy Ghost, throughout the whole Church of God together, is necessary." On the Judgment of God, No. 4. St. Ephraem, the Syrian, is styled "doctor of the world," "lyre of the Holy Ghost," and "pillar of the Church." Many of his writings were read in the churches, as St. Jerome informs us. He is the author of numerous commentaries on Holy Scripture, and of the many poets of Chris- tian Syria he is the most renowned ; this "Prophet of the Syrians," as his admiring countrymen loved to call him, died in the year 373. "Thou hast also built a Church on earth, 35 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH which resembles the Church triumphant (in heaven) ; its foundations love impelled thee to lay, and grace presided at its completion. Thou hast also taken it as thy spouse, and hast made it thine at the price of thy blood. But since the wicked adversary of man, and his satellites and ministers, are striving to overthrow so glorious a structure, do thou, therefore, O Lord, guard it under thy protection, that the gates of hell may not prevail against it; that its inherent beauty perish not; that, in fine, its treasures, filled with every kind of wealth, fail not and be exhausted. Fulfill, O Lord, what thou didst promise to Peter, the prince of the apostles." Bk. 3, Paraeneses 62, Page 532. "Blessed be ihe chosen one, who has chosen the Catholic Church, that holy lamb which the devouring wolf has not consumed. . .Give heed, 'therefore, to my in- structions, as my disciples, and depart not from the Catholic faith, which I also, having received it in my boyhood, have preserved immovable; neither turn aside from it in any doubt. And if any one separated, whoso goes, or turns aside, in opposition to Go'd and his Holy Church, may he be forced down, breathing and living, into hell ...And if any one be lifted up against the Cath- olic Church, may he be smitten with leprosy, like the foolish Giezi." Book 2, Testament, Pages 242-243. St. Jerome, born at Stridon, 331, was bap- 36 WRITERS OF THE FIRST CENTURIES tized at Rome by Pope Liberius about 364 and ordained priest by bishop Paulinus of Antioch, 379. At the special request of Pope Damasus he undertook the monumental work of prepar- ing a more accurate Latin text of the entire Bible. He died 420. He writes: "My resolu- tion is to read the ancients, to try everything, to hold fast what is good and not to recede from the faith of the Catholic Church." Letter 119, to Minervius, No. 11. "They shall not fall that dwell on the earth, and have their resting place in the Church, which is the abode of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost.'* Commentary on Isaias Book 8, 26; 18. "There stands one in the midst of you whom you know not; and He will dwell there not for a short time, as in the syn- agogue, but for ever, as is verified in the Church of Christ." Comm. on Ezechiel 43; 9. "As the lightning cometh out of the east, and appeareth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Go ye not out, believe not that the Son of man is either in the desert of the Gentiles, or in the closets of the heretics; but, that from the east even unto the west His faith shineth in the Catholic churches.'' Comm. on Matth. 24; 27. "The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I consider the gates of hell to be the vices and sins, or at least the doctrines 37 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH of heretics by which, being seduced, men are led to hell." Comm. on Matth. 16, 18, Bk. 3. St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (died 430), by all odds the greatest of the ancient Fathers of the Church, and the greatest of its Doctors, possessed the creative power of a Tertullian, the ecclesiastical sentiments of a St. Cyprian, the dialectic precision of an Aristotle, the ideal speculative sublimity of a Plato, and a thor- ough knowledge of the human heart. He is the author of ninety-three works in two hundred and thirty-two books, without the many tracts and letters. Dr. O. Bardenhewer tells us : "He still passes for one of those mighty spirits that appear only at great intervals of time, but are destined to influence very powerfully the destiny of humanity. He has earned from all later gen- erations the title of a Second Paul, a Doctor Gratiae. No Father of the Church has, even re- motely, so magisterially affected the entire later course of philosophy and theology, as Augustine did. With princely generosity he scattered along his way ideas in which later thinkers found the materials for entire systems of doctrine. . .His writings are the faithful reflection of the teach- ings of the Church." Bardenhewer-Shahan, Pa- trology, P. 495. St. Augustine writes: "In the Catholic Church, not to mention that most sound wisdom, to the knowledge of which a few spir- itual men attain in this life, so as to know it 38 WRITERS OF THE FIRST CENTURIES in a very small measure indeed, for they are but men, but still to know it without doubtfulness — for it is not quickness of understanding, but sim- plicity of belief, that makes the rest of the masses most safe, — not to mention, therefore, this wis- dom, which you (Manichees) do not believe to be in the Catholic Church, many other things there are which most justly keep me in her fold. The agreement of peoples and of nations keep me; an authority begun with miracles, nourish- ed with hope, increased with charity, strength- ened by antiquity, keeps me; the succession of priests from the very chair of Peter the Apostle — unto whom the Lord after His resurrection committed His sheep to be fed — down even to the present pontificate keeps me; finally, the name itself of the Catholic Church keeps me, — a name which, in the midst of so many heresies, this Church alone has, not without cause, so held possession of as that, though all heretics would fain 'have themselves called Catholics, yet to the enquiry of any stranger: Where is the as- sembly of the Catholic Church held? no heretic would dare to point out his own basilica or house. These ties of the Christian name, there- fore, so numerous, so powerful, and most dear, justly keep a believing man in the Catholic Church." Against the Letter of Manichaeus, No 5. "That Church assuredly is one, which our ancestors called the Catholic, that they might 39 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH show by the name itself that it is throughout the whole world." On the Unity of the Church, N. 2. 'The Christian religion is to be held by us, and the communion of that Church which is Catholic and is called Catholic not only by its own members, but also by all its adversaries. For in spite of themselves, even the very heretics, and disciples of schisms, when speaking not with their fel- lows, but with strangers, call the Catholic Church nothing else but the Catholic Church. For they cannot be understood, unless they distinguish her by that name by which she is called by the whole world." On the True Religion, No. 12. St. Vincent of Lerin, Priest and Monk (died about 450), was one of the more prominent theo- logical writers of the fifth century. Under the pseudonym of Peregrinus he composed two high- ly esteemed Commonitoria. "While often in- quiring with great earnestness and the utmost attention, of very many men excelling in holi- ness and learning, how I might, by some cer- tain, and, as it were, general and undeviating way, discern the truth of Catholic faith from the falseness of heretical pravity, I have received from almost all something like this answer: That whether I, or anyone else, would fain find out the deceptions, and avoid the snares of the heretics as they spring up, and remain safe and sound in the sound faith, he ought, in two ways, to fortify, with God's assistance, his faith. First, 40 WRITERS OF THE FIRST CENTURIES that is, by the authority of the divine Law; and then, by the tradition of the Catholic Church. Here some one perhaps may ask, 'Seeing that the Canon of the Scriptures is perfect, and of itself enough and more than enough for every- thing, what need is there that the authority of the Church's understanding be joined unto it?' The reason is, because all men do not take the Sacred Scripture, on account of its very pro- foundness, in one and the same sense; but this man and that man, in this way, and that way, interprets the sayings thereof; that as many opinions almost as there are men, would seem to be capable of being drawn therefrom. For Novatian expounds it in one way, in another Sabellius, in another Arius, Eunomius, Macedo- nius, in another Photinus, Apollinaris, Priscillian, in another Jovinian, Pelagius, Celestius, in an- other, in fine, Nestorius. And for this cause it is very necessary, on account of the many doub- lings of error so varied that the line of interpretation, both of prophets and apostles, be directed according to the rule of the ecclesiastical and Catholic sense. Again in the Catholic Church itself, very great care is to be taken that we hold that which hath been be- lieved everywhere, always, and by all men. For Catholic is truly and properly that, as the very force and meaning of the word declares, which comprises all things in general, after a univer- 41 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH sal manner; and this is thus, in fine, attained, — if we follow universality, antiquity, consent. Now, we follow universality thus, — if we con- fess this one faith to be true, which the whole Church throughout the world confesses, — antiqui- ty, thus, if we in no wise recede from the senses which it is manifest that our holy elders and Fathers openly manifested, — consent, likewise in the same manner, if, in this antiquity itself, we ad- here to the definitions and sentiments of all, or at least of nearly all the priests and doctors to- gether. What then shall a Catholic Christian do, if some small part of the Church cut itself off from the communion of the universal faith? What, indeed, but prefer the healthiness of the whole body before the pestiferous and corrupt mem- ber? What if some novel contagion attempt to taint no longer a small part only, but the whole Church alike? Then, likewise, shall he see to it that he cleave unto antiquity, which is now utterly incapable of being seduced by any craft of novelty. What, if in antiquity itself, there be discovered some error of two or three men, or of some one city or province even? Then he shall by all means give heed that he prefer, be- fore the temerity or ignorance of a few, the de- crees, if such there be of a general council, uni- versally received of old. What, if some such case arise, wherein nothing of this nature can 42 WRITERS OF THE FIRST CENTURIES be found? Then shall he bestow his labor to consult and interrogate the collated sentiments of the ancients, — of those, to wit, who, though living at different times and places, yet remain- ing in the union and faith of the one Catholic Church, were trust-worthy teachers ; and whatso- ever he shall recognize that not one or two only, but all alike, with one unvarying consent, plainly, frequently, unswervingly held, wrote, taught, that, let him understand, is to be be- lieved by him without any doubt. . . To announce, therefore, to Catholic Chris- tians, anything besides that which they have received, never was lawful, never will be law- ful; and to anathematize those who announce anything besides that which has been once re- ceived, was never otherwise than needful, is every- where needful, ever will be needful. Which be- ing so, is there any one of so great audacity as to teach besides that which has been taught in the Church; or of such levity as to receive any- thing besides that which he has received from the Church? There cries aloud, and he cries aloud again and again, to all men, to all times, and to all places he cries aloud by his epistles, that ves- sel of election (St. Paul), that master of the Gentiles. ..that if any one announce a new dogma, let him be anathematized. . .Oftentimes pondering and reflecting on these self-same things, I cannot sufficiently marvel that such is 43 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH the madness of some men, such the impiety of their blinded understanding, such, in fine, their lust after error, that ;they be not content with the rule of belief once delivered and received from antiquity, but do daily seek after some- thing new, and ever be longing to add some- thing to religion, to change, to take away; as though it were not a doctrine from heaven, which once revealed suffices, but an earthly in- stitution, which cannot otherwise be perfected than by continuous amendment, yea, rather, cor- rection ; whereas the divine oracles cry out, Do not transfer the bounds which thy fathers have set; and, Do not judge over the judge; and, The serpent shall bite him that breaketh the hedge; and that apostolic saying by which all wicked novelties of all heresies have often, as a kind of spiritual sword, been cut off, and ever will be cut off: O Timothy, keep that which is com- mitted to thy trust, avoiding the profane novel- ties of words, and oppositions of knowledge falsely so called, which some promising, have erred concerning the f aith . ... Avoid, he says, the profane novelties of words; he did not say, avoid antiquities; he did not say, avoid ancientness; yea, rather, he shows what contrariwise he should follow. For if novelty is to be avoided, antiqui- ty is to be held to; and if novelty be profane, antiquity is sacred... But it is worth while to handle with greater care the whole passage of 44 WRITERS OF THE FIRST CENTURIES the Apostle: O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust avoiding the profane novelties of words! Who is at this day Tim- othy? But either generally, the universal Church, or specially, the whole body of prelates, who ought either themselves to have a complete knowledge of divine worship, or who ought to infuse it into others. What is, Keep the depos- it? peep it, he says, for fear of thieves, for fear of enemies, lest, while men sleep, they over- sow cockle upon that good seed of wheat, which the Son of man had sowed in His field. Keep, he says, the depositum. What is the deposi- tum? that is that which is committed to thee, not that which is invented by thee; what thou hast received, not what thou hast devised; a thing not of wit, but of doctrine, not of private assumption, but of public tradition; a thing brought to thee, not brought forth by thee; where- in thou must not be an author, but a keeper; not a beginner, but a disciple ; not a leader, but a follower. The depositum, he says, keep; pre- serve the talent of Catholic faith inviolate and untouched; that which is entrusted to thee, let that remain with thee, let that be delivered by thee... But, haply, some one says, shall we then have no advancement of religion in the Church of Christ? Let us have it indeed, and the great- est. For who is he, so envious of men, so hate- ful to God, as to hinder this? But yet in such 45 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH sort that it be truly an advancement of faith, not a change. Seeing that it is the nature of an ad- vancement, that in itself each thing grow great- er; but of a change that something be turned from one thing into another. Wherefore the un- derstanding, knowledge, wisdom, as well of each as of all, as well of one man as of the whole Church, ought, with the advance of times and ages, to increase and go forward abundantly and earnestly; but in its own kind only, in the same doctrine, to wit, in the same sense, and in the same sentiment. Let the soul's religion imitate the law of the body which as years go on, develops indeed, and opens out its due propor- tions and yet remains identically what it was. So also the doctrine of the Christian religion must follow those laws of advancement; name- ly, that with years it be consolidated, with time it be expanded, with age it be exalted; yet re- main uncorrupt and untouched, and be full and perfect in all the proportions of each of its parts, and with all its members, as it were, and prop- er senses ; that it admit no change besides, sus- tain no loss of its propriety, no variety of its definition." 1 Commonitorium, No. 1-29 passim. 46 Chronological List of Popes as Proof of the Apos- tolicity and Continuity of the Catholic Church. The continuity of any government may be ascertained by the uninterrupted succession of its chief executives. Upon the Declaration of In- dependence, July 4th, 1776, followed the grad- ual development of a new republic, of which George Washington was elected the first pres- ident in 1789. Now if I should want to prove to any one seeking such information, that the same republic is still in existence, the simplest way of doing this would be to establish the legi- timate claim of the present chief executive of this glorious republic to his rights as chief magis- trate. This I can do by showing that he was legally elected to the presidency, which office, though successively held by many, has never been abolished, nor has it ever been vacant for any considerable time. In other words, by enu- merating the names of all its presidents, I prove the continuity of the republic of which they were presidents. Similarly, the enumeration of the chief ex- ecutives of the Catholic Church, the bishops of Rome, engenders the conviction of the uninter- 47 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH rupted existence of the Catholic Church from the days of Jesus Christ until the present moment. As we saw in the preceding articles Jesus Christ appointed St. Peter as head of His Church. From Antioch, where the Prince of the Apostles was the first bishop, he came to Rome and established his see in the Eternal City. As head of the Church, St. Peter is called Pope. All his legiti- mate successors in the episcopal see of Rome hold the same supreme jurisdiction over the en- tire Catholic Church. Should any one of my readers feel inclined to doubt the correctness of the names or the chronology of the list, I ask them in all kindness to consult any reliable historian or any standard encyclopedia and compare results. Since quite a number of the Popes went by the same name, it will not be considered super- fluous to remark that it was only since the 13th century that the Popes began to add numbers to their names; Urban IV., 1261-1264, began this. Hence the enumeration of Popes with the same name of earlier date is the work of historians. Since Felix II., of the fourth century, was an antipope during the exile of Pope Liberius, his name does not appear on this chronological list. Stephen II. died three days after his election and was never consecrated as Pope. Some chro- nologists mention him among the Popes of the 48 LIST OF THE POPES eighth century; but I omit him on this list, as do most modern cataloguers. John XVI. of Piacenza was nominated by a faction only and posed as antipope 996-999. His name does not belong to the list. In the thir- teenth century Sept. 16th, 1276, Peter Juliani was elected Pope. He erroneously called him- self John XXL, whereas he should have chosen the numeral XX. There is no Pope John XX. If the reader keeps in mind that the legiti- mate successor in the episcopal see of Rome is at the same time the Pope of the whole Church, he will easily understand why the names of pretenders, the names of antipopes, are not found on this chronological list. 49 LIST OF THE POPES. First Century. St. Peter. St. Anacletus (sometimes called Cletus). St. Linus. St. Clement I. Second Century. St. Evaristus. St. Pius I. St. Alexander I. St. Anicdtus. St. Sixtus I. St. Soter. St. Telesphorus. St. Eleutherus. St. Hyginus. St. Victor I. Third Century. St. Zephyrinus. St. Lucius I. St. Callixtus I. St. Stephen I. St. Urban I. St. Sixtus II. St. Pontianus. St. Dionysius. St. Anterus. St. Felix I. St. Fabian. St. Eutychianus. St. Cornelius. St. Caius. Fourth Century. St. Marcellinus. St. Mark. St. Marcellus I. St. Julius I. St. Eusebius. Liberius. St. Melchiades. St. Damasus I. St. Sylvester I. St. Siricius. Fifth Century. St. Anastasius I. St. Leo I. St. Innocent I. St. Hilary. 50 LIST OF THE POPES St. Zosimus. St. Boniface I. St. Celestine I. St. Sixtus III. St. Symmachus. St. Hormisdas. St. John I. St. Felix IV. Boniface II. John II. St. Agapetus I. St. Gregory I. Sabinianus. Boniface III. St. Boniface IV Adeodatus I. or St. Deusdedit. Boniface V. Honorius I. Severinus. John IV. Theodore I. John VI. John VII. Sisinnius. St. Simplicius. St. Felix III. St. Gelasius I. St. Anastasius II. Sixth Century. St. Sylverius. Vigilius. Pelagius I. John III. Benedict I. Pelagius II. Seventh Century. St. Martin I. Eugene I. Vitalian. St. Adeodatus II. Donus (also called Dom- nus). St. Agatho. St. Leo II. St. Benedict II. John V. Conon. St. Sergius I. Eighth Century. Constantine. St. Gregory II. St. Gregory III. 51 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH St. Zachary. Stephen II. St. Paul I. St. Leo III. Stephen IV. St. Pascal I. Eugene II. Valentine. Gregory IV. Sergius II. St. Leo IV. Benedict III. St. Nicholas I. Adrian II. Benedict IV. Leo V. Christopher. Sergius III. Anastasius III. Lando. John X. Leo VI. Stephen VII. John XI. Leo VII. Stephen VIII. Stephen III. Adrian I. Ninth Century. John VIII. Marinus (also called Martin II). Adrian III. Stephen V. Formosus. Boniface VI. Stephen VI. Romanus. Theodore II. John IX. Tenth Century. Marinus II (also called Martin III). Agapetus II. John XII. Benedict V. Leo VIII. John X the priest anoints the sick Christian in the form of a cross on the five senses : eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hands and feet. In case of urgent need,. 71 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH the dying Christian is anointed under one form; the priest anoints the forehead of the dying. St. James, one of the twelve Apostles, writes : ^'Is any man sick among you? Let him bring in the priests of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick man: and the Lord shall raise him up: and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him.'' St. James 5; 14, 15. St. Caesarius, Archbishop of Aries (died 543), to whom the best critics attribute many of the Pseudo-Augustinian Sermons, writes: "As often as any infirmity supervenes, let him who is sick receive the Body and Blood of Christ; and then anoint his body, that that which is written may be accomplished in him; Is any one sick? Let him bring in the priests, and let them pray over him anointing him with oil, etc. See, brethren, that he, who in sickness has recourse to the Church, shall deserve to obtain both health of body and pardon of sins." Sermon 265, No. 3 (in Appendice St. Augustini). St. Innocent: "You have set down what is written in the Epistle of the blessed Apostle James, Is any one sick among you? Let him call the priests, and let them pray over him, anoint- ing him with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith shall save the sick man, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he has com- 72 THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS mitted sin, he shall pardon him. This, without doubt, ought to be understood, of the faithful who are sick, who can be anointed with the holy oil of chrism, which, having been pre- pared by the bishop, may be used not only for priests, but for all Christians, for anointing in their own need or in that of their relations." Letter 25th, Chap. 8, No. 11. VI. Holy Orders. The priesthood is preceded by four minor and two major Orders. Every priest has received seven orders. The Sacrament of Holy Orders is as old as the Church. "And Jesus coming, spoke to them saying: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to ob- serve all things whatsoever I have commanded you." St. Matth. 28; 18-20. "Do this for a com- memoration of me." St. Luke 22; 19. "Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall for- give, they are forgiven them ; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." St. John 20; 22, 23. "And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith, and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Par- 73 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH menas, and Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the Apostles ; and they pray- ing, imposed hands upon them." Acts 6; 5, 6. Origen: "Dost thou think that they who exercise the ministry and glory in the order of the priesthood, walk according to their order and do all things which beseem that order? In like manner, deacons, do they walk according to the order of their ministry? Whence then is it that we often hear men blaspheme, and say, 'See what a bishop/ or, 'What a presbyter,' or, 'What a deacon?' Is not this said, when either a priest or a minister of God, has dared to proceed in anywise contrary to the sacerdotal or Levitical order?" Homily 2 on Numbers. The so-called Apostolic Constitutions, com- piled about the year 400: "The bishop gives a blessing and does not receive it; he imposes hands, ordains, and offers sacrifice, he receives -a blessing from the bishops, but never from priests. The bishop deposes every cleric that deserves deposition, except a bishop, for this he cannot do alone. The presbyter (priest) gives a blessing, and does not receive it: he receives a blessing from the bishop and from a fellow-priest, in like manner he blesses his fellow-priest; he imposes hands, but does not ordain; he deposes no one, but excommunicates those under him, if they deserve this punishment. The deacon does not give a blessing, but receives it from the bishop 74 THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS and the presbyter; he baptizes not, he offers not; but when the bishop or the presbyter offer, he distributes (communion) to the people, not indeed as a priest, but as minister of the priest. '* Book 8; Chap. 28. St. Chrysostom: "And they praying imposed hands upon them. From this it is evident that they separated from the multitude; and they bring them, the Apostles do not lead them. Observe how the writer avoids redundancy; for he does not say how they were ordained, but simply that they were ordained by prayer. Because this is the ordination. The hand is imposed upon a man, but God works all, and it is His hand that touches the head of him that is ordained, if he be ordained in a manner he ought to be." Com- mentary on Acts, Homily 14, No. 3. St. Augustine: "When it is judged expe- dient for the Church, that such prelates on return- ing to the Catholic fellowship, should not exer- cise therein their honors, the sacraments them- selves of ordination are not taken away from them, but remain with them." Against the Letter of Parmenianus, Book 2, Chap. 13, No. 28. VII. Matrimony. Speaking of matrimony St. Paul writes : "This is a great sacrament; but I speak in Christ and in the Church." Eph. 5 ; 32. St. Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis (died 403) : 75 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH "The same holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church has been wont to save also those who are in venerable wedlock. . .Honorable therefore is mar- riage, seeing that He himself established it." Heresies, Bk. 1, P. 410. St. Augustine: "Matrimony possesses a threefold good: fidelity, offspring, and the sacra- ment. Concerning fidelity it is required, that -neither of the parties act in violation of the mar- riage ties ; concerning the offspring, that it be received with love, nurtured with kindness, and educated piously; and concerning the sacrament, that the wedlock be not dissolved, and that nei- ther, if divorced, be united to another." On Gene- sis, According to the Letter, Bk. 9, Chap. 7, No. 12. "Throughout all nations and men, the excellence of wedlock is in the procreation of children and in the faithfulness of chastity: but as regards the •people of God, it is also in the holiness of the sacrament, through which holiness it is a crime, even for the party that is divorced, to marry an- other, whilst the husband lives." De Bono Con- jugali, No. 32. "What, therefore, God hath joined together, let no man put asunder. Those that are well in- structed in the Catholic Faith know that God hath made marriage and that just as the union is from God, so divorce is from the devil. And for this reason, therefore, did the Lord being invited come to the wedding feast that He might confirm con- 76 THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS jugal chastity and show forth the Sacrament of Matrimony." Tracts on St. John ; Tract 9, 2. St. Maximus, Bishop of Turin (died about 465) : "The Son of God goes to the wedding feast that He may sanctify by the blessing of His presence what He had long before instituted by His power." Homily 23 (On Epiphany 7). 77 THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. Malachias, the last of the prophets, in the fifth century before Christ, delivered this mes- sage to the chosen people : "The son honoreth the father, and the servant his master: if then I be a father, where is my honor? And if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts. To you, O priests, that despise my name, and have said: Wherein have we despised thy name? You offer polluted bread upon my altar, and you say: Wherein have we polluted thee? In that you say: The table of the Lord is con- temptible. If you offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if you offer the lame and the sick, is it not evil? offer ft to thy prince, if he will be pleased with it, or if he will regard thy face, saith the Lord of hosts. And now beseech ye the face of God, that he may have mercy on you, (for by your hand hath this been done,) if by any means he will receive your faces, saith the Lord of hosts. Who is there among you, that will shut the doors and will kindle the fire on my altar gratis? I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts; and I will not receive a gift of your hand. For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation: for my name is 78 THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts." Mai. 1; 6-11. In these words God announced through His prophet that the priesthood and the sacrifices of the Jews would be abolished, that He would not receive a gift of their hands, and that a new sacrifice would be offered in every place among all nations, from the east to the west, from the rising of the sun even to the going down, and that He will be pleased with this new sacrifice, the clean oblation. This sacrifice will not be confined to Juda's capital, nor the priesthood to the descendants of Aaron and Levi. His sacri- fice as well as His priests will be among all na- tions, and on account of this His name is great among the Gentiles. In vain do you look for the fulfillment of this prophecy, unless you turn your attention to the holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The sacrifice of the Mass is the unbloody renewal of the bloody sac- rifice of Calvary. Under the appearance of bread and wine Jesus Christ offers himself for us to His heavenly Father. The first holy Mass, how- ever, preceded the bloody sacrifice of Calvary. Jesus Christ celebrated the first Mass at the Last Supper. The words of consecration which He made use of are still used by His priests. "Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke: and gave to his disciples, and said : Take ye, and eat. This is my body. And taking the chalice, 79 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH 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 sins." St. Matth. 26; 26-28. TEat the Apostles made use of the power conferred upon them, that they said Mass, may be seen from the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians, where he writes : "The chalice of benediction, which we bless, is it not the com- munion of the blood of Christ? And the bread, which we break, is it not the partaking of the body of the Lord?" 1 Cor. 10; 16. The chalice containing the blood of Christ is blessed in Mass, and the species of bread is broken at Communion, the partaking of the body of the Lord. For a sacrifice an altar is needed. St. Paul writes : "We have an altar, whereof they have no power to eat who serve the tabernacle." Heb. 13; 10. The meaning of this sentence is: those who serve the tabernacle, i. e., who adhere to the Jewish rite, have no right to partake of the sacrifice of the New Law. The Didache (meaning Doctrine or Teaching) is probably the oldest non-biblical writing of the Christian age. The unpretentious little treatise is certainly one of the most precious gems of ecclesiastical literature. It may be styled a Church Ritual; and, according to the best critics, it was written before the close of the first cen- tury most likely in Syria or Palestine. In the 80 THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS 14th chapter the author speaks of the Holy Sac- rifice: "But on the day of the Lord assemble and break the Bread and give thanks, — after having confessed your faults, that your sacrifice may be a clean one. But let no one who has fallen out with his brother assemble with you before they are reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be desecrated; for this is the sacrifice of which the Lord has spoken : In every place and at all times shall a clean oblation be offered to me; for I am a great king, saith the Lord, and my name is wonderful amongst the Gentiles." St. Clement (died about 100) : "They, there- fore, that make their oblations at the appointed times, are perfect and I . for those that fol- low the ordii of the Lord, do not err." 1 Letter to the Corinthians, No. 40. St. Ignatius: "Let no man deceive himself; unless a man be within the altar he stands de- prived of the Bread of God." Letter to the Ephesians, No. 5. St. Justin: "The oblation of wheaten flour, prescribed to be offered for those who were puri- fied from leprosy, was a type of the bread of the Eucharist which our Lord Jesus commanded us to be offered as a commemoration of the passion which He endured for those who are purified from all iniquity, that we at the same time may give thanks to God, both for having made the world and all things in it for the sake of man, 81 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH and for having delivered us from the wickedness in which we were; and for having overthrown principalities and powers, through Him, who, by the will of His Father, was made subject to suf- fering. Whence, God, as I said before, by Mala- chias, one of the twelve (minor prophets) de- clares of the sacrifices then offered by you: My will is not in you, saith the Lord; and I will not receive sacrifices from your hands : for, from the rising of the sun, even to the going down, my name hath been glorified among the Gentiles, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a clean host, because my name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord. Even then does He foretell concerning the sacrifices offered unto Him, in every place by us Gentiles; that is of the Bread of the Eucharist and of the Cup in like manner of the Eucharist." Dialogue with the Jew Trypho, No. 41. St. Irenaeus: "He took bread, which comes by creation and gave thanks, saying: This is my body. And in like manner He confessed the cup, which is of this creation of ours, to be His own blood, and taught the new oblation of the New Testament, which (oblation) the Church, having received it from the Apostles, offers to God throughout the whole world, to Him who grants unto us sustenance, — the first fruits of His own gifts in the New Testament, respecting which Malachias one of the twelve prophets, thus pre- 82 THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS dieted : I have no pleasure in you etc." Against Heresies, Book 4, Chap. 17, No. 5. Tertullian: "We make oblations for the dead on their anniversaries instead of their birthdays." On the Crown, No. 3. St. Cyprian of Carthage in Africa (d. 258) : "If Christ Jesus our Lord and our God is Him- self the Highpriest of God the Father, and offers Himself as a sacrifice to the Father, and command- ed this to be done unto a commemoration of Him, then truly does that priest perform the functions of Christ who imitates what Christ did, and offers a true and full sacrifice to God in the Church." 63d Letter, No. 14. St. Cyril of Jerusalem (386) : "After the completion of the spiritual sacrifice of the Mass, after the completion of the unbloody worship, we pray to God over the oblation of propitiation for the general peace of the churches. We all pray and offer this sacrifice for every one who is in need of help. We remember those who have al- ready gone before us, first the Patriarchs, the Prophets, the Apostles and the Martyrs, so that through their prayers and intercession God may look graciously upon our petitions; thereupon we pray for the deceased Holy Fathers and Bishops, and indeed for all our departed, since we believe that our prayers offered in the presence of this holy and worshipful sacrifice will be of the great- est utility to these souls. We offer up Christ 83 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH slain for our sins to obtain pardon from the good God for them and for ourselves." Catechesis 23; 8-10. St. Augustine: "Some communicate daily of the Body and Blood of Christ, others receive on certain days ; elsewhere no day passes where- on the oblation is not made, whilst in other places on the Saturday and the Sunday only, in others on the Sunday only." 54th Letter (to Januarius), No. 2. Thus we can adduce an abundance of testi- monies from the writings of different Fathers of all nations and of the earliest centuries, that the Catholic Church, which encircles the globe, offered even then unto God this clean oblation in every place, from the east to the west, and without intermission. At this very moment the sun rises somewhere in the world, where some of the many million Catholics live, and where the priests ascend the Altar to offer to God the holy Sacri- fice of the Mass. The prophecy of Malachias is literally fulfilled in the Catholic Church. 84 The Blessed Virgin Mary, the Great Mother of God and Our Dear Mother. Four thousand years before "the fullness of time" had come, God announced the coming of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Speaking to the serpent that had seduced Eve, He says : "I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel." Gen. 3; 15. It cannot be denied that almighty God and His archangel Gabriel and the Catholic Church have paid greater honor to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, than to any other saint. Seven hundred years before her coming, God inspired His prophet Isaias to deliver this message: 'Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel." Is. 7; 14. God exempted her from the stain of original sin. The Son of God called her by the endearing title of mother. The Holy Ghost overshadowed her and filled her with grace. Whenever an angel appeared to announce some divine message, he inspired the listener with awe and worded his sentences in an authorita- tive form as a superior speaking to an inferior. But when the archangel Gabriel came to announce 85 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH unto Mary that God had chosen her to be His mother, he greeted her in the name of God, praised her sanctity, her relation to the Lord, and her sin- gular blessedness among women. His words clearly indicate that he considered her superior to himself. Imitating the example set by God and His archangel, the Catholic Church venerates the Blessed Virgin Mary in a special manner. As God commanded His archangel to do, so every true Catholic does repeatedly during the day: he greets the Blessed Virgin Mary: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women." St. Luke 1 ;28. As the Son of God called her His mother, so the Catholic Church calls her the Mother of God. As the Holy Ghost overshadowed her and filled her with grace, so the Catholic Church exalts her; and with great solemnity annually celebrates in her honor a number of beautiful feasts. Who can reasonably blame the Church for honoring her, whom God so highly honored? What Christian will dare to rebuke that Christian who dearly loves the mother of Christ? Who can find any- thing objectionable in the title "Mother of God," if he believes that her Son is God? Why should anybody be afraid to do what God does? what His Church always did and still does? I, for one, feel happy that the Blessed Virgin Mary is really the Mother of God; and gladly do I confess my 86 THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY heartfelt love for her, proclaiming that I love the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, more than I love any other creature, and I hope to live and die with my heart aflame with love for her, whom Jesus called His dear mother. "And Mary said : My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in Go. 4 my Savior. Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth sil generations shall call me blessed. ,, St. Luke 1 ; 46-48. This prophecy which she uttered in the pres- ence of her cousin Elizabeth is literally fulfilled; all generations call her blessed. A few quotations culled from patristic literature may help to con- vince my readers of this fact. St. Irenaeus (died about 202) : "As Eve, through the discourse of a fallen angel, was se- duced so as to flee from God, acting contrary to His word; so also it was announced to Mary through the message of a (good) angel that she was to bear God, being obedient to His Word. And as Eve disobeyed God, so Mary was per- suaded to obey God, that the virgin Mary might become the advocate of the virgin Eve. And as the human race was delivered over through a virgin, so it is saved through a virgin." Against Heresies, Bk. 5, Chap. 19. Of all the many encomiums on the Blessed Virgin the most tender, the most touching, the 87 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH most exquisitely beautiful are those so lavishly scattered over the works of the soulful poet of far away Syria, St. Ephraem, who flourished to- ward the end of the fourth century. Here is one of these passages : "Thou and Thy Mother are the only ones, who are in every way perfectly beautiful, for in Thee, O Lord, there is no stain; no stain also in Thy Mother." From "Songs of Nisibis,"Xo. 27. St. Gregory of Nazianzus (died about 390) : "Saying this and still more (prayers addressed to God, the deliverer from all dangers and evil), she, (Juliana) suppliantly implores the Virgin Mary to aid a virgin in danger, and fortifies her- self with the medicine of fasting and of prostra- tion on the earth." Sermon on St. Cyprian of Antioch, No. 11. St. Epiphanius (d. 403) : "I hear that some one is divising some folly regarding the holy and ever-virgin Mary, and dares to speak ill of her. . . Whence this wicked temper? Whence this great audacity? Does not her very name bear witness against and convince thee, thou contentious man? Who ever, or what age ever presumed to utter the name of Mary the holy and, when asked, has not instantly added in reply, — 'the Virgin?'... And to holy Mary is added the epithet, 'the Vir- gin,' and this shall never be altered. For she the holy ever remained spotless. Does not nature itself instruct thee? Oh the unheard of madness! 88 THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY oh sad novelty !.. .How dare they attack the spotless Virgin ; she who was found worthy to be the dwelling place of the Son; she who was, for this very reason, chosen from among the thousands of Israel to be the vessel, and the alone memorable dwelling place of the (divine) birth... From that Eve the whole human race on earth has been derived. But, truly, from Mary life itself was born into this world, that she might bring forth Him that liveth, and become the mother of the living. . .Whosoever honors the Lord, honors His saint, too; and whoso puts dis- honor on a saint, puts dishonor on his own Lord ...Let Mary be in honor; but let the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost be adored." Panarion, or, as it is generally quoted, Heresies, Bk. 1. St. Ambrose (d. 397) : "Oh, the riches of Mary's virginity ! Like a cloud she rained upon the earth the grace of Christ; for concerning her was it written: "Behold the Lord cometh sitting upon a light cloud, truly light, she who knew not the burdens of wedlock; truly light, she who relieved this world from the heavy debt of sins. Light she was who bore in her womb the remis- sion of sins." On the Training of a Virgin, Chap. 13. St. Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria (d. 444) at the Council of Ephesus, 431, delivered several panegyrics on the Blessed Virgin, from one of which I quote: "Hail, holy Trinity, who hast call- 89 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ed us together into this church of Mary, the Mother of God. Hail, Mary, mother of God, vener- able treasury of the whole world; inextinguish- able lamp ; crown of God, virginity, scepter of orth- odoxy; indestructible temple; repository of the Illimitable; mother and virgin, through whom He who cometh in the name of the Lord is called blessed in the holy Gospel. Hail, thou who didst contain the Illimitable in thy hal- lowed womb ; through whom the Trinity is blessed ; through whom the precious cross is celebrated and venerated through- out the whole world; through whom angels and archangels are filled with gladness; through whom heaven exults; through whom demons are put to flight; through whom the tempter-devil fell from heaven ; through whom every creature,, swayed by the idol of madness, has come to the knowl- edge of the truth; through whom holy baptism is the portion of believers ; through whom is the oil of gladness ; through whom the churches have been built over the whole world; through whom the nations are brought unto penitence; and why multiply words? Through whom the only-begotten Son of God shone forth, a light to those that sat in darkness and in the shadow of death. Through whom prophets predicted; through whom Apostles proclaimed salvation to the nations; through whom the dead were raised; through whom kings reign ; through the Holy 90 THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY Trinity. And who amongst men is able to pro- claim (worthily) the thrice-glorious Mary!... Be it ours to worship the undivided Trinity, hymn- ing the praises of Mary, ever Virgin." Homily at Ephesus, P. 355-358. In the 39th sermon found amongst the works of St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, St. Basil of Seleucia calls her, "The Holy Virgin and Mother of God;" "Hail full of grace, who dost mediate between God and man," "O all holy Virgin, of whom who- soever utters all that is venerable and glorious, errs not against the truth," etc. Parisian Edition of the Works of St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, Orat. 39, Pages 205; 211, etc. Thecdotus, Bishop of Ancyra, who died be- fore 446, in his sermon on the Mother of God and Simeon thus paraphrases the angelic salu- tation : "Hail, thou perfume-breathing name; hail, thou most bright and lovely being; hail, most venerable memorial ; hail, salutary and spiritual fleece ; hail, clothed with light, mother of a bright- ness that knows no setting; hail, spotless mother of holiness ; hail, most pellucid spring of life-giv- ing waters, etc." Gallandis Edition Vol. 9. No. 3, P. 460. St. Peter Chrysologus institutes a contrast between Eve and the Blessed Virgin Mary: "It was Christ's will that as through Eve death came to all men, so through Mary life might return to all." Serm. 99. 91 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH As the author of the book, "Faith of Catho- lics" aptly remarks, concerning St. Proclus (died 446), "The addresses, to the blessed Virgin, of this patriarch of Constantinople, would fill a goodly pamphlet." I subjoin one of his extracts. "The holy mother of God, the Virgin Mary, has, on this occasion, called us here together; she that spotless treasury of virginity; that spiritual para- dise of the second Adam, the virgin and heaven, God's only bridge to men." Vol. 3, P. 404. Volumes upon volumes might be rilled with extracts from the works of able and saintly writ- ers of the past and present to show that from century to century the world over the Catholic Church has chanted and still proclaims the praises of the Mother of God and greatly relies upon her maternal protection. Two entire months of the year, May and October, are in a special manner dedicated to the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Thousands of churches are dedicated to her; a great number of confrater- nities bestow well-deserved extraordinary honor upon her; institutions of charity flourish under her special protection; and every practical Catho- lic greets her repeatedly during the day in the words of the archangel Gabriel: "Hail (Mary) full of grace, the Lord is with thee, etc." What our dear heavenly Mother predicted, is always fulfilled in the Catholic Church : all generations call her blessed. Experience and observation 92 THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY bear witness to the fact that the Mother of God takes a maternal interest in our welfare. The more we love and venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary, the better will we adore God and keep His command- ments. He who sincerely loves Jesus Christ will also respect and venerate His dear immaculate mother. He who believes that Christ is God, must call His mother, the Mother of God. And whosoever denies to the Blessed Virgin Mary the title of Mother of God, denies the divinity of her Son. Jesus is God. Mary, His mother, is the Mother of God. IP3P& 93 A BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF CATHOLIC DOC- TRINE. There is but one God in three distinct per- sons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. These three divine persons have one and the same divine na- ture. We call this the mystery of the Blessed Trinity. The second person of the Blessed Trinity, the Son of God, became man, assumed His human nature from the Blessed Virgin Mary, of whom He was born into this world over nineteen hun- dred years ago. He is the promised Redeemer whom the prophets foretold, the Savior of the world. He enlightened the world which was sitting in darkness and the shadow of death in consequence of the sin of disobedience of our first parents, original sin; and He finally died on the cross to save mankind from eternal death and to re-open heaven for us. He amply provided for the needs of every individual soul and depos- ited His means of salvation in the Church which He founded. He ascended into heaven and sent the Holy Ghost upon His Apostles, and He will come again at the end of the world to judge the living and the dead.. He who redeemed the world will also judge it. God created man to His own image and like- ness endowing him with reason, free will, and immortality. The human soul will live for ever. 94 SYNOPSIS OF CATHOLIC DOCTRINE Death, the separation of the soul from the body, came into the world through original sin. The Son of God, — who as the Son of the Blessed Virgin is called Jesus Christ, — atoned for this sin and all actual sins. Since Jesus Christ died for all, every one may be saved, if he co-operates to the best of his ability with the grace, which God gives to every one. No one is created for hell ; every one is created for heaven. But heaven is a reward. We have a free will : we can choose to do the good or the evil. We will be judged according to the use and abuse of our reason and free will. To help us and to guard us, God has given unto every one an angel, a ministering spirit, whom we call guardian angel. These angels belong to the world of spirits which God created in the begin- ning and are of the number of those who re- mained faithful to God at the time when Lucifer and his angels rebelled against Him and were hurled into hell, the place of everlasting punish- ment, created for the abode of the fallen spirits. At the moment of death, the soul of man appears before God to be judged according to his thoughts deliberately entertained, his words consciously uttered, his wilful deeds and volun- tary omissions of duty as well as his acts of heroic virtue. God is just. Those who die in the state of mortal sin are lost and sentenced to hell; but those who die in the state of sanc- 95 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH tifying grace, will enter the eternal joys of heaven. If, however, the soul is not entirely free from all defilement, such as smaller imperfections, venial sins, or temporal punishment due to sin, the soul will be purged of these defilements and thus be prepared to enter heaven. This state and place of purgation we call purgatory. The souls de- tained in it, we call the Poor Souls. We can be of some help to them in coming to God, by pray- ing for them, by offering up indulgences for them (an indulgence is a remission of temporal punishment due to sin), by giving alms or per- forming other acts of charity, and above all by having Masses said for them. We are in a posi- tion to help the Poor Souls. We believe in the Communion of Saints; i. e., in the union which exists between the Church Triumphant in heaven, the Church Militant on earth, and the Church Suffering in Purgatory. All loyal Catholics belong to the Church Militant. Whilst we extend one hand to help the Poor Souls, the members of the Church Suffering, we raise the other in suppli- cation to the Angels and Saints, the members of the Church Triumphant in Heaven. The angels and saints of heaven are forever infinitely happy with God. All their wishes are fulfilled, and none of their requests will ever be denied. God listens to their prayers. They can and do pray for us. We pray to them that they may in- tercede for us with God. We venerate them as 96 SYNOPSIS OF CATHOLIC DOCTRINE, friends of God. But more than any other saint do we venerate, love, and invoke the Mother of Jesus Christ, the ever Blessed Virgin Mary, who was never tainted with sin ; for she was conceived and born without sin ; and lived and died without ever committing any imperfection that would attain to the nature of a sin. As a dutiful child naturally esteems and venerates the heirlooms and portraits of his departed parents, so we pay honor and respect to the relics and pictures of the saints. This honor reflects upon the saint, the friend of God, and redounds to our spiritual benefit; for it inspires us with the heroism necessary to imitate the exalted example of the saints in serving God. It is thus a means of sanctification. Other, more essential, means of sanctification are the sacraments as has already been mentioned. Jesus Christ instituted seven sacraments. With- out baptism no other sacrament can be validly received . Through baptism all sins are effaced, original and actual, or personal, sins. Mortal sins committed after baptism are forgiven in the sac- rament of Penance to those who are sincerely contrite and humbly confess their sins to a priest who is authorized to absolve in the name of God. In Holy Communion Jesus comes to us under the appearance of bread. In holy Mass He offers Himself in our behalf to His heavenly Father. 97 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH His representative as head of the Church is the Holy Father, the Pope, who is infallible when- ever as head and teacher of the whole Church he speaks ex cathedra in matters of doctrine or morals. Infallibility does not mean impeccability; that is, it does not mean that the Pope cannot sin. He, like any other human being, has a free will and must use it for the good, if he wants to enter life everlasting. His position as head of the Church is in no way a guarantee of his sal- vation ; but it is a guarantee of the infallibility of his decision in decreeing what the Church is to believe as revealed. Infallibility does not mean that the Pope can invent some new doctrine, but it means that he can designate infallibly the teaching which the Church has always held, and point out and anathematize heretical innovations. The Catholic Church is infallible; for it is under the guidance of the Holy Ghost. The gates of hell shall never prevail against it. It is infallible in its teachings and means of salvation. 98 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS THE TRUE CHURCH. In the preceding chapters we have seen that the Church which Jesus Christ founded and to which He promised that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it continued throughout all the centuries of the Christian era: it still exists. This true Church is no other than the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church alone claims and proves theologically and historically that it is the only Church which Jesus Christ founded: it alone dates back to Him. Spread over the whole globe this Church of which God is the founder has at present about two hundred and ninety million members Though, like unto its divine founder, persecuted from the beginning, hated by all the enemies of the cross, the Catholic Church continues to flourish in its noble and sublime mission of saving immortal souls. It is for ever the mightiest bulwark against the wild and destructive forces in social life, the defender of virtue and justice, and the mother of numberless heroic saints, whose sanc- tity God attested by astounding miracles. During the last nineteen centuries the Catholic Church has witnessed the rise and the fall of many a nation. Kingdoms and republics that antag- onized the Church and stood at the zenith of their glory boasting of their tyranny over the Catholic 99 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH Church have sunk to the nadir of misery. They have passed into oblivion ; but the Catholic Church is still there and as glorious to-day as it was at any time. There is no doubt that it will continue its noble work of saving souls, even the souls of its present enemies. To save even its bitterest enemies from eternal damnation, to forgive in order to gain them for heaven: this is the attitude of the Catholic Church towards those who are blinded by prejudice against it. Akin to the con- duct of Jesus Christ towards His enemies is the attitude of the Catholic Church towards its per- secutors. "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." Jesus Christ is the strength of the Catholic Church, the center of its devotions, the magnet of its heroism, the cause of its many saints, and the reason of its stability. "Behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.'' Jesus dwells in the Catholic Church in the Sacrament of the Altar. The Holy Ghost abides with the Church and guards it against all error in doctrine. To belong to the Catholic Church means to be a member of the Church of which the God-man Jesus Christ is the founder: it means to be a member of the one and only true Church. This is the Catholic Church which Jesus founded upon His Apostles, of which St. Peter was appointed by Him the first head: "To thee I will give the keys of the kingdom . of heaven." "Thou art 100 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS THE TRUE CHURCH Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.** "Feed my lambs, feed my sheep." This is the Church which the Apostles spread the world over; which exists since the time of Christ as Christ established it. It has His teachings to- day as He gave them to His Church. It has the legitimate successor of St. Peter in the person of the Bishop of Rome, the head of the whole Church. It is Catholic, that is universal as to time and place: it exists without any break or interrup- tion since the time of Christ; it is found the world over, everywhere teaching the same doctrines, ev- erywhere using the same seven Sacraments, ev- erywhere offering up to God the same adorable sacrifice of the Mass, everywhere acknowledging the same supreme head of the Church, our Holy Father, the Pope. It is Catholic, for it is for the salvation of all mankind. Whosoever honestly and sincerely strives to become a member of the Church, no matter how poor or how rich, no matter what his nation- ality may be, he or she will be admitted into the Church. The Church bars no one from member- ship who seeks to save his soul in the manner ordained by God. If perchance you, kind reader, should wish to be received into the Church, all you have to do is to call on the Catholic Priest and tell him that you desire to become a Catholic. He will 101 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH tell you what to do„ and with God's grace you will be a Catholic some day, and as such expe- rience that real happiness, peace of conscience, and security of soul can be found in the Catholic Church, for it is a divine institution with Jesus dwelling in it. 102 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS. THE GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH. In the year 867 Photius, Patriarch of Con- stantinople by intrusion, caused a temporary schism between the Eastern and' Western Church. He had received orders at the hands of Gregory Asbestas, an excommunicated bishop. St. Igna- tius, the legitimate Patriarch, was dragged from prison to prison and cruelly persecuted by the intruder. The Council of Constantinople, 869, deposed and excommunicated Photius and declared Ignatius the lawful Patriarch of Constantinople. Three days after the death of St. Ignatius the excommunicated Photius, who had ingratiated himself with the emperor, was reinstated in the see of Constantinople. After this he was repeat- edly excommunicated. "The schism, for a time extinguished, was revived in 1043 by the haughty and ignorant Caerularius, Patriarch of Constantinople, who add- ed a few ridiculous accusations to the more weighty charges of Photius. At the request of Emperor Constantine IX., Pope St. Leo IX. sent three legates to Constantinople with a written refutation of the charges of Caerularius. The Patriarch and his party refused all communica- 103 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS tion with the legates, forbade them to celebrate Mass, and displayed such hostility to the plan of union proposed by the Emperor, that on the 16th xi>f July, 1054, the legates laid the document of the Patriarch's excommunication upon the high altar of St. Sophia's Church, and left Constantinople. All further efforts of union, even the deposition and banishment of Caerularius, failed to effect a permanent reunion. The haughty Patriarch and his party had succeeded in filling the minds of the populace with a blind hatred of the West- ern Church. The other Patriarchates of the East remained in union with the Holy See till the twelfth century, when they were gradually drawn into the schism. The Russian Church shared the fate of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, to which she was immediately subjected. But so imperceptibly did the schism enter Russia that their ritual books retain to the present day a series of prayers which express the faith in the Primacy of the Roman See in the fullest sense. It was only when the Greek Nicephorus became Metropolitan of Kief, that the Byzantine hatred of Rome was instilled into the Russian Church. But it was then too late to change the form of the liturgical books sanctioned by immemorial use." Guggeriberger, General History of the Christian Era, Vol. I, Page 290. Therefore the Greek Church, as a separate 'body, dates back to the eleventh century. It 104 THE GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH refused to obey the Church. It does not acknowl- edge the authority nor heed the voice of the shep- herd, whom Christ commissioned to feed the lambs and the sheep. "If he will not hear the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican." Matth. 18; 17. It is generally known that the chain is no- stronger than its weakest link; break one of the links and the chain is broken altogether. By violently tearing themselves away from the su- preme jurisdiction of the Pope the schismatics tore the chain which held them to the Church which Jesus built upon St. Peter: "Thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." St. Matth. 16; 18. Not all Greeks belong to the Greek Church. Many of them are true and devout members of the Catholic Church. These we call United Greeks, or simply Catholics. Those belonging to the Greek Church are called schismatics, because they separated from the true Church. They claim 127,541,718 members. 105 THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. Ey this title we designate the followers of 'Luther, a priest and monk, who fell away from the Catholic Church and started a new sect in 1520, the same year in which he was excom- municated. Lutherans,, however, prefer to date their church back to October 31st, 1517, the day on which Luther publicly affixed his no- torious ninety-five theses to the doors of the -castle church of Wittenberg. In any case, even the Lutherans admit that the church which Luther founded differs from the existing Catholic Church. The Lutheran Church is fifteen hundred years too late to be the Church which Jesus Christ founded ; for Jesus lived fifteen Jiundred years before the rise and spread of Lu- "•.heranism. Its very name designates it as a human institution, and history proves that it is nothing more. Luther is its founder; his followers are called Lutherans. They number about 50,000,000. In the wake of Luther's so-called reformation came rebellion, bloodshed and licentiousness. No true historian can ever cheat himself into the con- viction that Protestantism brought peace and hap- piness. On the contrary, it is an undeniable his- torical fact that Luther by his incentive talk and venomous pen, particularly by publishing his treatise on Christian Liberty destroyed peace and harmony throughout the Fatherland and caused 106 THE LUTHERAN CHURCH the riotous and atrocious, most bloody revolt of 1525, known as the Peasant War. During the carnage of the war Luther took the escaped nun Catherine of Bora for his wife. When the lawful princes were about to crush the rebellion and to protect themselves against the ever increasing fury of the mob, Luther turned against the peasants and urged the princes to dire revenge. 'Trick, strike, strangle! Slay front and rear, nothing is more devilish than sedition, etc." Such was Luther's advice, which undoubt- edly contributed to the slaughter of the deluded peasants. iBehold the dismal sight conjured by an apostate, a sinful, insubordinate, excommunicated man, the Father of Protestantism ! Over one thousand castles and convents were plundered, demolished and turned into ghastly ruins. Hun- dreds of hamlets were burnt to the ground. Thousands of defenseless people, relatives, even, were mutilated and most cruelly tortured by the disciples of misnamed religious tolerance. The land lay waste, whilst the homeless widows and orphans of more than one hundred and fifty thousand slain peasants went to strange villages asking for a morsel of food. Where formerly people had lived peacefully together, there rebellion and hatred entered, and despotism ruled with an iron hand. This universal curse of discord, de- vastation and despicable barbarism was the result 107 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS of revolt against the Church. The pretentious cry for reformation and freedom of conscience ; the plea of protesting against the Church, cannot efface the real names : rebellion and intolerance. Listen to what St. Paul says: "Now I beseech you, brethren, to mark them who make dissen- sions and offences contrary to the doctrine which you have learned, and avoid them. For they that are such, serve not Christ our Lord, but their own belly ; and by pleasing speeches and good words, seduce the hearts of the innocent." Rom. 16; 17, 18. Contrary to the doctrine of the Church, Luther denied the existence of purgatory and the utility of praying for the dead ; he abolished the invocation of saints; denied the indissolubility of -marriage; and granted permission to the Land- grave of Hesse, to marry a second wife and ridi- culed and renounced four of the seven Sacraments, retaining only Baptism, Holy Eucharist, and Pen- ance. Because his rank heresy of the justifi- cation by faith alone was diametrically opposed to what St. James asserts in his Epistle, Luther would not even bend his stubborn neck to an in- spired writer, but rejected that Epistle and blas- phemously called it an epistle of straw. The different Evangelical Lutheran churches, that have sprung up, or seceded so numerously since the time of Luther, agree in their interpre- tation of the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, 108 THE LUTHERAN CHURCH the Athanasian Creed, and the Augsburg Con- fession. Though none of the Lutheran ministers has any valid ordination from his church, though none of them can really consecrate, nevertheless the stricter Lutherans believe in the real pres- ence of Jesus Christ. They, however, differ with the Catholic Church in holding that the bread remains and Christ is in the bread ; whereas the Catholic Church teaches, what Jesus plainly said: "This is my body," the bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. So much is certain, when a Lutheran minister attempts to consecrate, the bread remains bread only, as it was before; but when a Catholic Priest consecrates at Mass, the bread and wine are substantially changed into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Lutherans have no Sacrament of Holy Orders. Without it, there is no consecration. In some of their teachings and in many of their practices the Lutherans are similar to the Catholics, for they have retained many of the good things which Luther took along from the Catholic Church. The Bible is one of these things. Would to God, that they had retained it, correct and complete, as they got it from the Church. Denying the efficacy of sacramental confes- sion, they pin their hope of salvation to faith alone. Jesus said to His disciples and their legi- timate successors: "Whose sins you shall for- 109 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS give, they are forgiven them ; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." St. John 20; 23. Entangled in the meshes of falsehood, it is hard for them to extricate themselves from the tightly woven net of prejudice and to behold and to love that Church, which Jesus founded about 1500 years before the birth of Lutheranism. A Few Remarks About the German Translation of the Bible. With many Protestants especially Lutherans the erroneous opinion prevails that Luther was the first who translated the Holy Bible into the German language. A number of complete Ger- man Bibles were printed about the year 1460. Luther was born in 1483. We cannot presume that he made any translations before his birth, neither in his infancy. On January the 27th, 1912, I spent some profitable hours in the valuable library of St. Benedict's Abbey, Atchison, Kansas, and there 110 THE LUTHERAN CHURCH I saw and partly read a German Bible, which was printed on St. Urban's day, 1487, when Luther was but a mere child. Another Bible in the Ger- man language which antedates Luther's trans- lation may be seen in the University of Notre Dame, Indiana. It is the second volume of a Bible printed in March, 1483, about seven months before the birth of Martin Luther. The place of publi- cation was Nuerenberg, and the printer was the famous Anthony Koburger. Luther did not give the Bible to the people. They had the Bible long before he was born. "Whereas the university at Erfurt contained an eight years course of the study of Holy Scrip- ture, he (Luther) seems to have ignored it en- tirely, giving all his attention to profane letters. Thus it may well be that, when later on he took to the reading of the Holy Bible, he found this precious treasure almost a new book to him, though it had been the most familiar of all books during the preceding centuries. So there are to- day thousands of Christian literateurs and scientists who have never read the Holy Gospels. The late historian, Joannes Janssen, in his monumental work, 'The History of the German People,' has forever dispelled the mist that used to surround the life of Luther with a halo of glory " Coppens' The Protestant Reformation, Pages 16, 17. The strict German Lutherans of to-day are, as a rule, honest and moral people. They have 111 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS their parochial schools and bring great sacrifices for the maintenance of the same. When once converted to the Church, they make very good Catholics. May God give this grace of conver- sion to many of them ! King Henry VIII. of England Against Martin Luther. Whilst Martin Luther hurled his unqualified slurs and calumnies against the Catholic Church and the Pope and ridiculed most of the seven Sacraments, Henry VIII. , King of England, hav- ing improved his natural talents by an education which was intended to prepare him for the Arch- bishopric of Canterbury, wrote his excellent work: "Defence of the Seven Sacraments" against Luther. He exposed Luther's many fallacies and called him a prevaricator, a corrupter of the Testament, a labyrinth of stupidity, a destroyer of both soul and body, a little know-it-all, and a pest to be avoided. Upon the receipt of this book Pope Leo X., bestowed upon Henry VIII., the title, "Defender of the Faith;" which title the rulers of England bear to this day. King Henry defended with heart and soul the independence of the Holy See until the Pope had to forbid him, to unjustly put aside his lawful wife, queen Cath- erine, in order to marry Anne Boleyn. Goaded on by his unbridled sensuality and encouraged by his many sycophants King Henry tore away 112 THE LUTHERAN CHURCH from the Church and became its blood-thirsty persecutor. In spite of his later crimes his Defence of the Seven Sacraments was not altered by him. We still possess it as he sent it to the Holy Fa- ther. Since it was written at Luther's time it undoubtedly furnishes some valuable and inter- esting information. For this reason a few ex- tracts are given here from the "Rev. Louis O'Don- ovan's edition," coyprighted by Benziger Broth- ers. "Let us therefore begin where he began him- self, with the adorable Sacrament of Christ's Body. The changing of the name thereof, calling it, 'The Sacrament of Bread/ shows that this man cannot well endure, that we should be put in mind of Christ's Body, by the name of the Blessed Sacra- ment; and that, if under any fair pretext, it were possible for him, he would give it a worse name. How much differs the judgment of St. Ambrose from this man's, when he says, Though the form of bread and wine is seen upon the altar, yet we must believe, that there is nothing else but the Body and Blood of Christ; by which words it clearly appears, that St. Ambrose confesses no other substance to remain with the Body and Blood of Christ in the Sacrament, when he says, That which is seen under the form of bread and wine, is nothing else but the Body and Blood of Christ. If St. Ambrose had only said Flesh and 113 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS Blood, without adding anything more, perhaps Luther would have said, that the bread and wine were there also; as Luther himself says, That the substance of the Flesh is with the bread, and the substance of the Blood along with the wine: but seeing St. Ambrose says, That there is noth- ing else but the Flesh and Blood, it appears that he is manifestly against Luther, who affirms, that the bread is with the Flesh, and the wine with the Blood. And though this which Luther says, were as true as it is false, viz. that the bread should remain mingled with the Body of Christ; yet was it not necessary for him to blot the name of the Body of Christ out of the Sacrament, in which he confesses that the true Body of Christ is." De- fence of the Seven Sacraments, Pages 212, 214. "In the meanwhile, let us truly examine how subtlely, under pretense of favoring the laity, he endeavors to stir them up to a hatred against the clergy: for when he resolved to render the Church's Faith suspicious, that its authority should be of no consequence against him ; (and so by opening that gap, he might destroy the chief est mysteries of Christianity), he began with that thing, which he forsaw would be praised and applauded by the people. For he touched the old sore, by which Bohemia had been formerly blistered, viz. that the laity ought to receive the JEucharist under both kinds. When first he be- 114 THE LUTHERAN CHURCH gan to handle this point, he only said, that the Pope would do well, to have it ordained by a general council, that the laity should receive the Sacrament under both kinds; but that being by some disputed with him, and denied, he was not contented to stop there, but grew to such a per- verse height, that he condemned the whole clergy of wickedness, for not doing it without staying for any council. For my part, I do not dispute the first: and though to me, no reasons appear why the Church should not ordain, that the Sacra- ment should be administered to the laity, under both kinds ; yet doubt I not, but what was done in times past, fn omitting it, and also in hinder- ing it to be so administered now, is very conven- ient. Nor can I believe that the whole clergy, (during so many ages), have been so void of sense, as to incur eternal punishment for a thing by which they could reap no temporal good. It further appears not to be a thing of such danger; because God, not only bestowed heaven upon these men, who did this thing themselves, and writ that it ought to be done; but likewise would have them honored on earth, by those by whom He is adored Himself. Amongst whom (to omit others) was that most learned and holy man Thomas Aquinas, whom I do more willingly name here; because the wickedness of Luther cannot endure the sanctity of this man, but reviles with his foul lips him whom all Christians honor. There 115 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS are very many, though not canonized, who are contrary to Luther's opinion in this; and to whom, in piety and learning, Luther is no wise comparable: among whom was the Master of the Sentences, Nicholas de Lyra and many oth- ers; to each of whom it behoves all Christians to give more credit, than to Luther. But pray, observe how Luther staggers, and contradicts himself: in one place he says, that Christ in his Last Supper not only said to all the faithful as permitting, but as commanding, Drink ye all of this : yet afterwards, (fearing to offend the laity, whom he flatters, with a view to stir up hatred against the priests,) he adds these words; not that they, who use but one kind do sin against Christ, seeing Christ did not com- mand to use any kind, but left it to every man's discretion, saying, As often as you do this, do it in remembrance of me: but, says he, they sin who forbid to give both kinds to such as are willing to receive them : the blame, says he, lies on the clergy and not on the laity. You see how clearly he first holds it for a command, and then says, it is no commandment, but a thing left to every man's discretion. What need we contra- dict him, who so often contradicts himself?" P. 214, 216, 218. "This worse than sacrilegious caitiff endeavors to scatter abroad the Church's most splendid congregation; to extinguish its pillar of fire; to 116 THE LUTHERAN CHURCH violate the ark of the covenant; and to destroy the chief and only sacrifice which reconciles us to God, and which is always offered for the sins of the people : for, as much as in him lies, he robs the Mass of all the benefits that flow from it to the people; denying it to be a good work, or to bring to them any kind of profit. In which thing I know not whether more to admire his wickedness, or his foolish hope; or rather his mad pride; who, seeing so many obstructions before him, as he himself mentions, brings noth- ing with him, whereby to remove the least; but seems as if he would go about to pierce a rock with a reed. For he sees, and confesses himself, that the opinions of the Holy Fathers are against him, as also the Canon of the Mass, with the custom of the universal Church, confirmed by the usage of so many ages, and the consent of so many people." Defence of Seven Sacraments, Page 254. "Luther so much commends faith to us, as not only to permit us to abstain from good works ; but also encourages us to commit any kind of action, how bad soever: Tor (says he) you see now how rich the baptized man is, who cannot lose his salvation, though willing to do it, by any sin whatsoever, except infidelity; for no sins can damn him, but only incredulity/ O most impious doctrine, and mistress of all impiety! so hateful in itself to pious ears, that there is no 117 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS need to confute it : adultery will not damn them ! Murder will not damn! Perjury will not damn! Is not parricide damnable either, if every one believe that he shall be saved, through the vir- tue of the promise alone in baptism? For this he openly asserts; nor do the words, which he presently adds, correct his sentence in any wise; but rather add to the force of it. For he saith, 'That all things, if faith return, or stand in the divine promise made by the baptized, are swallowed up in a moment in the same faith ; rather by the faith of God, for he cannot deny himself, if you confess him, and stick faithfully to his promise/ By these words, what else does he say, but what he has said before, that, 'Infidelity excepted, all other crimes are in a moment swallowed up by faith alone; if you confess Christ, and stick faithfully to his promise;' that is, if you firmly believe that you are to be saved by faith, whatsoever you do notwithstand- ing. And that you may the less doubt what he aims at, 'Contrition (says he) and confession of sins, as also satisfaction, and all these human inventions, will forsake you, and leave you the more unhappy, if you busy yourselves with them forgetting this divine truth.' What truth pray? 'This that no sins can damn thee, but infidelity only.' What Christian ears can witii patience hear the pestilentious hissing of this serpent, by which he extols baptism, for no other end but to 118 THE LUTHERAN CHURCH depress penance, and establish the grace of bap- tism for the free liberty of sinning? Contrary to what is that sentence of St. Hierom, which says, that Penance is the table after ship-wreck. But this agrees not with Luther; for he denys sin to be the ship-wreck of faith, and disputes it, as if that only word should totally destroy all the strength of faith. But beside Luther, who is ignorant that a sinner not only is not saved by the only faith of baptism, but also that the baptism will add to his damnation? And indeed deser- vedly ; because he has offended God, from whom he had the whole grace of baptism, and God exacts the more from him to whom he has given the more: therefore since faith becomes dead by wicked works, why can it not be said, that he suffers ship-wreck who falls from the grac* of God, into the hands of the devil? From which without Penance he cannot escape, or be renewed to such a condition that baptism may be prov- able to him." Page 300, 302. "It troubles me exceedingly to hear how absurd, how impious, and how contradictory to themselves the Irifles and babbles are, wherewith Luther bespatters the Sacrament of Penance. '' Page 318. "Now let any one judge of the truth of Lu- ther's opinion, who, contrary to the sentiments of all the holy Fathers, draws the Keys of the Church to the laity, and to women ; and says, that these 119 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS words of Christ, Whatsoever you shall bind, etc. are spoken not only to Priests, but also to all the faithful. Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, a man most excellent, and of known honesty, being accused at Rome to the people by Varius Suc- ronensis, a man of little sincerity; his accuser having made a long and tedious discourse; Scaurus confidently relying on the judgment of the peo- ple, not thinking him worthy of an answer, said, Romans, Varius Sucronensis says it, Aemilius Scaurus denies it; which of them do you believe? By which words the people, applauding this hon- orable man, scorned the idle accusations of the babbling adversary. Which discourse seems not more applicable to them, than to what we hear state : for Luther says, that the words of Christ concerning the Keys are spoken to the laity; St. Augustine denies it: which of them is the rather to be believed? Luther af- firms, Bede denies; which of them will you believe? Luther affirms, St. Ambrose denies; which of them has the greater credit? Finally, Luther affirms it, and the whole Church denies it; which do you think to be believed? But if anybody be so mad, as to believe with Luther, that he ought to confess himself to a woman; perhaps it may not be amiss for him also to follow the other opinion of Luther; in which he persuades us, not to be too careful in calling to mind our sins." Pages 336, 338. 120 THE LUTHERAN CHURCH "(Luther says), 'That God does nothing regard our works, nor has any need of them: but he has need that we should esteem him true in his promise.' What Luther meant by these words, he knows best himself. For my part, I believe, that God cares for our faith and our works, and that He stands in need of neither our faith, nor our works. For though God has no want of our goods, yet has He so much care of what we do, that He commands some things to be done, and forbids other things: without whose care, not so much as one sparrow falls to the earth, five of which are sold for two farthings." Page 348. "That Luther may understand that this Sac- rament is no new thing, or vain fiction ; but that it is so far from being void of grace, that it confers the Spirit of grace and truth: we will here relate what St. Hierom has written of this Sacrament of Confirmation. 'If the bishop im- pose his hands, it is on them who have been bap- tized in the true faith, who have believed in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, three Persons and one substance. But the Arian, who believes in no other (stop your ears, that you may not be polluted with the words of such monstrous im- piety), but in the Father alone, in Jesus Christ as a creature, in the Holy Ghost as servant to both; how shall he receive the Holy Ghost from the Church, who has not as yet obtained remis- 121 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS sion of his sins? For the Holy Ghost inhabits not, but where faith is pure, nor remains but in that Church which has true faith for her guide. If in this place, you ask why he that is baptized in the Church, receives not the Holy Ghost but by the hands of the bishop? Learn, that this observation is descended from this authority; because, after our Lord's ascension, the Holy Ghost descended on the Apostles, and we find the same to have been done in many places/ Hitherto St. Hierom. Which sentence is also confirmed by divers passages in the Scripture, and particularly by that in the Acts, which shews that the people baptized before in Samaria, received the Holy Ghost, when Peter and John came among them, and laid their hands upon them. I, therefore, admire how it should come into Luther's mind to dispute, that Confirmation is only to be accounted a rite and a ceremony, and deny it to be a Sacrament; when it is demon- strated, not only by the testimony of holy Fa- thers, and by the faith of the whole Church, but also by clear passages of Scripture ; that not only grace, but also, the very Spirit of Grace, is con- ferred by the visible sign of the bishop's imposi- tion of hands. Let Luther therefore forbear to con- demn any more the Sacrament of Confirmation, which the dignity of the minister, the authority of the Church, and the profit of the Sacrament it- self, commend.'' Pages 360, 362. 122 THE LUTHERAN CHURCH "This Sacrament, saith the Apostle, is great in Christ and the Church. How could he have more evidently refuted Luther, than by these words, which he so impertinently scoffs at, in contending that the Apostle had taken away the Sacrament from the marriage of man and wife, by saying, 'This Sacrament is great in Christ and His Church?* As if he should, by saying, the Sacrament of baptism is great in the washing of the soul, deny the baptism of the body to be a Sacrament ; or, as if he should, by saying, the Sacrament of the Eucharist is great in the Body of Christ, deny the species of bread and wine to be a Sacrament; or, as if by saying, that the Sacrament is great in the mystical Body of Christ, he should detract the Sacrament from the Body which He took of the Blessed Virgin. Who has ever seen any man swell with greater pride for so frivolous a gloss? For if the Apostle had been of his opinion, and willing his words should be so interpreted, as to show this Sacrament to be great only in Christ and His Church, without any reference at all to the marriage of man and wife; it would lessen the force of the weight of all those things, whereby, in that comparison of the two conjunctions, he had before commended mar- riage." Pages 372, 374. "But his (Luther's) denying Orders to be a Sacrament, is as it. were the fountain of all the rest; which, being once stopped up, the other 123 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS small springs must of necessity come dry of them- selves. 'This Sacrament (says he) is not known to the Church of Christ, but has been invented by the Church of the Pope.' In these few words are contained a great heap of absurdities and lies: for he makes distinction between Christ's Church, and the Pope's; whereas the Pope is Christ's Vicar, in that, over which Christ is the head. He says the Church has invented; when it has received it as already instituted, and therefore has not invented it. 'This Sacrament (he says) is unknown to the Church of Christ;' whereas it is most certain, that all parts of the world, which have the true faith of Christ, have Orders for a Sacrament." Page 398. "Otherwise, if Luther persists in his distinc- tion of the Pope's Church, from Christ's; and in saying that the one has Orders for a Sacrament, the other not; let him shew us the Church of Christ, which, contrary to the faith of the Papal Church, (as he calls it) knows not the Sacra- ment of Order. In the meanwhile it appears evi- dently, that, by asserting this Sacrament to be unknown to the Church of Christ, and that they are not of Christ's Church who are governed by the Pope; he separates, by both these reasons, from Christ's Church, not only Rome, but also all Italy, Germany, Spain, France, Britain, and all other nations, which obey the See of Rome; or have Orders for a Sacrament. Which people, be- 124 THE LUTHERAN CHURCH ing by him taken from the Church of Christ; it consequently follows, that he must either con- fess Christ's Church to be in no place at all, or else, like the Donatists, he must reduce the Cath- olic Church to two or three heretics whispering in a corner /' Pages 398, 400. "All men do unan- imously confess, (Luther only excepted) that the Apostles were by our Savior ordained Priests at His Last Supper; where it plainly appears, that power was given them to consecrate the Body of Christ, which power the Priest alone hath. 'But, says Luther, it is not a Sacrament, because there is no grace promised therein/ But pray, how, or whence has he this knowledge? 'Because (says he) it is not read in the Scripture!' This is his usual consequence: 'It is not written in the Gos- pels, therefore has it not been done by Christ/ Which form of reasoning the Evangelist over- throws, when he says, Many things were done, which are not written in this book." Pages 404, 406. "In this Sacrament of Extreme Unction; that Luther might be twice dirided himself, he twice scoffs the Church : first, because Divines, (says he) do call this Unction a Sacrament; (as if those he calls Divines were the only men who call it a Sacrament). Again, because they call it Ex- treme; to which, as to the second, he himself objects, after a joking manner, what he can never answer in earnest: For it might be rightly 125 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS called Extreme as being the last of four. After- wards, to shew that it is no Sacrament, himself first objects, what he forsees everybody will ob- ject against him, viz. the words of St. James the Apostle, 'If any be sick amongst you, let him send for the Priests of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil, in the name of our Lord: and the prayer of the faithful will save the sick, and our Lord will raise him up; and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him/ These words, (which, according to his own definition, most apparently testify Extreme Unc- tion to be a Sacrament, as wanting neither a vis- ible sign, nor promise of grace) he immediately begins, with most impudent confidence, to diride; as if they were of no manner of force. 'For my part, (says he) I say, that if ever there was folly acted, it is especially in this place/ And I, again on the contrary do affirm, that if ever Luther was mad at any time, (as indeed his madness appears almost in every place), he is certainly distracted here, in the Sacrament of Extreme Unc- tion, to an extreme height of madness.'* Pages 430, 432. "But though, as I said, I admire why Luther should be so much displeased at St. James's Epistle; yet, having read it more attentively, I wonder not at all : for, by the Apostle's writings, I find that he so narrowly touches Luther every- where, as if, by his prophetic spirit, he had plainly forseen him. For, when Luther under 126 THE LUTHERAN CHURCH the pretext of faith, despises good works; St. James on the other side, disputes, by reason, Scripture, and example, 'that faith without works, is dead/ Nor is it in one place alone, that by bitter words, he resists that prattling petulancy of Luther: 'If any one (says he) esteem himself religious, not bridling his tongue, but seducing his own heart, his religion is vain.' Besides Luther frets at this, which he sees very fitly may be applied to his own tongue. The tongue is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. Finally he perceives that what the Apostle has writ against contentious person is truly spoken against his own opinions. 'For (says the Apostle) who is wise and well disciplined among you? Let him show forth his works by a good conversation, in the meekness of wisdom ; because if you have the zeal of souls, and contentions be in your hearts, do not glory, being liars against the truth. For this is not wisdom descending from above, from the Father of Lights, but an earthly, beastly, and diabolical wisdom: for where zeal is joined with contentions, there also is inconstancy, and every naughty work. But the wisdom which is from above, is first of all shamefaced, then peace- able, modest, compilable, agreeing with good things, full of mercy and good works, judging with- out dissimulation. And the fruit of justice is sown in peace to the workers of peace.' These, gentle reader, are words which move Luther to wrath 127 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS against the Apostle: these, I say, are the words whereby the Apostle as openly touches Luther's petulancy, railings, wicked and contentious ob- jections; even as if he had seen him, and read his words. I question not but this Epistle, though never so much despised by Luther, will sufficient- ly prove to all Christians the Sacrament of Ex- treme Unction." "Defence of the Seven Sacra- ments." Pages 446, 448, 450. King Henry VIII. concludes his Defence of the Seven Sacraments with these memorable words: "But I beseech and entreat all other Christians, and through the bowls of Christ, (whose faith we profess,) to turn away their ears from the impious words and not to foster schisms and discords, especially at this time when most particularly it behooves Christians to be concordant against the enemies of Christ. Do not listen to the insults and detractions against the Vicar of Christ which the fury of the little monk spews up against the Pope; nor contaminate breasts sacred to Christ with impious heresies, for if one sews these he has no charity, swells with vain glory, loses his reason and burns with envy. Finally with what feelings they would stand together against the Turks, against the Saracens, against anything infidel anywhere, with the same feelings they should stand together against this one little monk weak in strength, but in temper more harmful than all Turks, all Saracens, all infidels anywhere." Page 462. 128 THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. The history of the Episcopal Church, also called Anglican Church, starts with the com- plicated love-story of an indecent, lustful, ruth- less, and brutal king. Henry VIII. of England secretly married Anne Bokyn, whilst Catherine, his lawful wife, was still living. A few months later Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, Henry's servile creature, pronounced the king's first mar- riage null and void. In the same year 1533 Pope Clement VII. annulled the decision of Cranmer and threatened the king with excommunication, if he should fail within three months to restore Catherine of Aragon to her rights and dignity as queen. The three months passed. The king spurned the papal threat. The following year, March 23, the Holy Father de- clared the second marriage of Henry VIII. invalid. Thereupon Henry VIII. forced the Parliament, and Convocation in spring 1534 to make the king, instead of the Pope, the spiritual head of the Church of England. During the No- vember session, 1534, his will was literally exe- cuted by the following enactment: "Be it en- acted by the authority of this present Parliament, that the king, our sovereign lord, his heirs and successors, kings of this realm, shall be taken, accepted and reputed the only supreme head on earth of the Church of England called Anglicana 129 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS Ecclesia.'' A formal renunciation of fealty to th§ Pope followed the ensuing year. An immoral king caused the secession of England from the true Church. The Church of England, as a separate church, dates back to the year 1534. A chasm of over fifteen hundred years yawns between the origin of the true Church and the scandalous establish- ment of the Episcopal Church. The Church, which Jesus founded, has existed about nineteen hundred years ; but the Episcopal Church is scarce- ly four hundred years old. It is not the true Church, nor by any means a branch of the same. It has a purely human origin. History proves that the origin is only too human. In the year 1554, through the influence of Cardinal Pole, England was reunited with Rome. The whole nation with very few exceptions re- joiced over this reunion with the Holy See. But the hope of religious peace was nipped in the bud. In 1559, the Parliament upon the advice of the notorious queen Elizabeth reimposed the oath of supremacy to be taken to the queen in all relig- ious matters, abolished the sacrifice of Mass under penalties of confiscation and death. The bishops refused to accept such an imposition. Some 3,594 parishes were deprived of their pastors, because these pastors refused to take the oath of spiritual supremacy to the ungodly queen. (Together with almost all, the Cardinal, Bishops and Priests re- 130 THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH mained loyal to the Pope). They were deposed and imprisoned. Thereupon Queen Elizabeth "through the plenitude of her ecclesiastical authority," invested Matthew Parker as Archbishop of Canterbury. Parker was consecated by the heretical ex-bishop Barlow, who probably was never validly conse- crated himself, and who moreover used the cor- rupted Ordinal of Cranmer, without believing in the Church, in the Sacraments and in the Sacrifice of the Mass. From Parker all Anglican ordina- tions are derived. His ordination and that of all Anglican clergymen is simply invalid. Though some Episcopalians love to appro- priate the name of Catholic and have many doc- trines and practices in common with the Catholic Church, it is in no way a branch of the same. It was a live-branch as long as it adhered to the tree of life. But it separated itself entirely from the tree, from the head and body of the Catholic Church, and is now in all reality a slave of the civil power. From 1588 until the death of CJueen Eliza- beth, a period of fourteen years, Catholics were most cruelly persecuted, the best of them were consigned to the scaffold for no other reason than their fidelity to the Catholic Church. They were simply butchered. Their homes were confiscated. Priests were hunted down and when caught were tortured to death. Ordinary Catholic people lost 131 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS their possession and citizenship for the reason that they attended Mass, or professed their loy- alty to the Holy Father. "Some had their ears bored with a hot iron; others were publicly whipped." Lingard's History of England, Vol. 5; Page 515. For further information of the cruelties enacted against law-abiding Catholics during the reign of Elizabeth see Lingard's His- tory of England, Vol. V., Pages 513-516. The Church of England is divided into "High Church," "Low Church" and "Broad Church." The "High Church" Anglicans regard the Church as a visible body organized under an equal confederated episcopal hierarchy. There- fore they do not admit a supreme visible head. They believe in the seven Sacraments and in the power and authority of their bishops and lower clergy, whom they love to call priests. By their much-vaunted "branch theory," they attempt to prove the apostolic succession of their bishops through the Catholic Church, which they prefer to call the Roman Catholic branch. Ever since the "Tractarian Movement," which began at Oxford in 1833 and flourished under Pusey and Newman, the High Church through the study of the Fathers has come back to many Catholic tenets and practices. In consequence of this movement some re- turned to the Catholic Church; others copying most of our doctrines, practices and ritual ser- 132 THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH vices without admitting the primacy of the Pope and thus without entering the Catholic Church imitate it as closely as possible. They are known by the name of "Ritualists." Many of these rit- ualists lean towards union with the Holy See, and it is these that furnish most of the converts to the Church. The "Low Church'' looks on the Christian Church as an invisible society united by a purely spiritual bond; it denies the efficacy of the Sac- raments. The "Broad Church" Anglicans advocate most liberal toleration of conflicting doctrines and prac- tices in the English Church. Thanks to the grace of God and the deep studies which many of the Episcopal ministers are making of late, very many Episcopalians of all ranks have returned to the Catholic Faith. In October, 1909, a whole religious community of Episcopal Friars and Sisters at Graymoor, N. Y., came over in a body to the Catholic Church. Since that time another community of Sisters has fol- lowed their example. These converts have one advantage : they know of the existence of seven Sacraments and many practices of the Church ere they enter; for the High Church Episcopals believe in seven sacraments, recite prayers, attend vespers and conduct devotions very similar to those of the Catholic Church. The membership of the Epis- copal Church is rated at 29,200,000. 133 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS The clergy of the High Church and of the Ritualistic Movement receive a good solid educa- tion. Many of them lead a life of voluntary cel- ibacy. Let us hope that the better members of the Anglican establishment, who pray for the unity of the Church, may soon enter the true fold of Christ and find rest of soul. A prayer for the conversion of England is strictly in ac- cord with the cordial wish of our Holy Father. Since of late years many members of the Anglican Church venerate the Blessed Virgin by the daily recital of the rosary, we have reasons to hope that the ever-increasing influx from this denom- ination into the Catholic Church may continue: that many Episcopalians may find rest and se- curtiy in the Catholic Church. After a thorough inquiry into the claims of Anglican Orders, Pope Leo XIII., in 1896, came to the "settled and irrevocable" conclusion that they are "utterly null and void." All Anglicans, who sincerely wish a reunion of the Episcopal with the Catholic Church, must return unconditionally to the Church, from which their good ancestors were forced to sepa- ate themselves by a brutal king and then again by a wicked queen and an unscrupulous Parliament. With a maternal solicitude, the Catholic Church, as a good mother, awaits the return of her once fair daughter of England. 134 PRESBYTERIANISM. As a system of church government, Presby- terianism took shape in the "Institutes" of John Calvin. They assert that the government of the church belongs to the elders instead of to the bishops. The presbyteries, or associations of teaching and ruling elders, constitute the govern- ing body. Without believing in the Sacrament of Holy Orders, these elders impose their hands upon the candidates and then call that ordination. Their highest court is the "General Assembly" composed of an equal number of ministers and ruling elders, delegated by the presbyters. John Calvin is the accredited founder of the Presbyterian sect. John Knox (d. 1572), one of his disciples, a degraded apostate priest, who on ac- count of his implication in the assassination of Cardinal Beaton, 1546, was chained to the gal- leys and served as prisoner for a year and a half. When released he began to preach Calvinistic doc- trines and thus established Presbyterianism in Scotland. He agitated with might and main against the Catholic Church, against the holy sac- rifice of the Mass, and all distinctly Catholic prac- tices. In his fury against the Church, he roused the people by inflammatory harangues to a pitch of frenzy, encouraged them to enter the churches by violence, to break tKe images of the saints and even those of our Lord, to sack the churches and set 135 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS ■on fire the monasteries. This was done by the people of Perth. "The work of vandal destruction spread over a great part of the country. Among the historical edifices destroyed was the Carthu- sian monastery of Perth, the burial place of kings and queens, the magnificent cathedral at St. An- drew's, and the venerable abbey and palace of Scone, where the Scottish kings had been anointed and crowned for centuries. The lords of the Con- gregation received an important accession in the persons of Lord James Stuart, the half-brother of Mary Stuart, and the earl of Argyle, who became the heads of the revolutionary movement. Burn- ing and destroying on their way, the lords marched upon Edinburgh, sacked and demolished every religious edifice in the city, robbed the royal treasury and took possession of the mint." Guggenberger History of the Christian Era, Vol. 2; Page 216. Now this John Knox, the instigator of van- dalism, bloodshed and rebellion is the acknowl- edged champion of Presbyterianism. The open en- ■emies of the Catholic Church honor him as one of the greatest reformers that ever lived. But history is a stubborn recounter of actual facts. "The evil that men do lives after them." In his flattering history of Presbyterianism, William H. Lyon, the author of "A Study of the Sects," makes the following statements : "As a sect its most remarkable history and influence was in 136 PRESBYTERIANISM Scotland, where its champion was John Knox. It became to the country what Episcopalianism was in England, — the rallying point of the nation against the ecclesiastical and political tyranny of Rome. In 1560 it became the Church of the kingdom ; equally hostile to Catholicism, which it made punishable by death, and to Protestant dis- senters." The alleged ecclesiastical and political tyranny of Rome has its origin in the over-heated brains of disgruntled, excommunicated public sinners and in the unbalanced minds of avowed bigots and per- secutors of the Catholic Church. Calvin's unfounded assertions are to a great extent the doctrines of the Presbyterian sects. He maintains that God had ordained the fall of man. As he says: "Cadit igitur homo, Dei providentia sic ordinante;" which means, "Man fell, because the Providence of God ordained it so." Institut., Lib. 3. Whereas Holy Scripture plainly indicates that Adam fell by the abuse of his freedom : he voluntarily ate of the forbidden fruit. Calvin, however, makes God the author of that sin. To impute a sin to God is blasphemy. Calvin gives the following explanation of predes- tination: "We call predestination that enternal de- cree of God, whereby He hath determined what the fate of every man should be. For not to the same destiny are all created: for, to some is allotted eternal life ; to others eternal damnation. Ac- 137 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS cording as a man is made for one end or for the other, we call him predestined to life, or to death." Lib. 3, P. 337. From this and many other passages of Calvin's own writings it is evident that he taught abso- lute predestination and reprobation. His teaching concerning predestination may be summarized in this sentence: Do what you please God will send you to heaven or to hell, not in consequence of your work, but simply because of His immutable eternal decree. Predestination of this kind is one of the distinctive teachings of the Presbyterian denomination. In order to justify, as they think, their predestination theory, Presbyterians are wont to quote St. Paul. But St. Paul never even hints at a predestined eternal damnation. Their iavorite text taken from St. Paul's epistle to the Ephesians is the following: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with spiritual blessings in heavenly places, in Christ: as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and unspotted in his sight in charity. Who hath predestined us unto the adoption of children through Jesus Christ unto himself: according to the purpose of his will : unto the praise of the glory of his grace, in which he hath graced us in his beloved son. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the remission of sins, accord- ing to the riches of his grace, which hath super- 138 PRESBYTERIANISM abounded in us in all wisdom and prudence, that he might make known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in him, in the dispensation of the fullness of times, to re-establish all things in Christ, that are in heaven and on earth, in him. In whom we also are called by lot, being pre- destinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things according to the counsel of his will. That we may be unto the praise of his glory, we who before hoped in Christ: In whom you also, after you had heard the word of truth, (the gospel of your salvation ;) in whom also believing, you were signed with the holy Spirit of promise, who is the pledge of our inheritance, unto the re- demption of acquisition, unto the praise of his glory." Eph. 1 ; 3-14. In this whole passage St. Paul not even alludes to it that God had ever predestined any body for hell. As a matter of fact, hell is a punishment for mortal sins: for bad acts wilfully committed. The wilful abuse of rea- son and free will deserve punishment. In harmony with his unchristian theory of fatal predestination, Calvin holds that sanctify- ing grace is distinct and separate from the Sacra- ment of baptism, as a visible sign, and that this grace is only given to those who are predestined for heaven, and withheld from those whom Cal- vin by an imaginary eternal decree predestines for hell. 139 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS Besides baptism, Presbyterians also believe in the Lord's Supper. But in this as well as in the other Sacrament do they separate sanctify- ing grace from the actual reception of the Sacra- ment. If a non-elect person receives the Lord's Supper, he receives but bread and wine; but if the justified receive the same species they re- ceive Jesus Christ spiritually. Presbyterians do not believe in a bodily presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Eucharist. Since no Presbyterian minister as such re- ceived valid ordination, or the Sacrament of Holy Orders, none of them has the power to conse- crate, to change bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Therefore when Presbyterians receive what they call the Lord's -Supper, they actually do not receive anything but bread and wine. They receive nothing spiritually except punishment for thus violently .misinterpreting the plain words of Jesus Christ: "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 chalice is the new testament in my blood : this do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of me." 1 Cor. 11; 24, .25. "This is my body, which shall be delivered for you ;" therefore it is in all reality (and not in spirit only) the same body which was deliv- ered for us on the cross, the day following. 140 PRESBYTERIANISM Like the Lutheran denomination, Presbyter- ianism is divided into very many sects, each of them differing from the other. We hear of "Reg- ular Presbyterians,* "Old School Presbyterian/' "New School Presbyterian," "Associated Presby- terian,'' "Reformed Presbyterian," "Northern Pres- byterian," etc. The World's Almanac of 1911 estimates the number of Presbyterians at 12,250,000. However, Dr. W. H. Lyon is statistically more correct when he asserts, "There are said to be over 20,000,000 Presbyterians in the world, including, however, the Reformed churches." That the Presbyterian denominations cannot lay claim to a divine origin is conclusively proved by history. As a rule Presbyterians are laboring under many prejudices against the Catholic Church, though some of them are fair-minded and friendly toward the Catholics. Sincere converts from Presbyterianism to Catholicism are becom- ing more numerous from year to year. In the book "Distinguished Converts to Rome in Amer- ica" (published 1907), we find twenty-four Pres- byterians, among them six Presbyterian ministers and five sons and two daughters of ministers. 141 CONGREGATIONALISTS. Owing to the influence of radical Protestant- ism, several of the ministers and members of the State Church of England were dissatisfied with the retention of so many Catholic rites, ceremon- ies, and practices, which they considered "popish tendencies." Thus innumerable factions arose with the avowed tendency of purifying the An- glican Church of all ceremonies and practices, which to them seemed unsqriptural. These Puri- tans went so far as to decry as adolatry the wear- ing of a surplice, the use of the sign of the cross, kneeling at Communion, and invoking the saints. In spite of fines, imprisonment, tortures, and several executions, these factions increased and were known as Independents. At the age of thirty, Robert Brown wrote and circulated a num- ber of pamphlets in which he assailed the State Church in unmitigating terms and propounded and advocated a new system of congregationally independent church government. He is regarded as the Father of modern Congregationalism. His stay in England being very unpleasant, Brown with some followers went to Holland. Several congregations were organized there, of which that at Leyden under the pastorate of John Robinson was the most flourishing. However, a stay in Holland seemed undesirable to many of the mem- 142 CONGREGATIONALISTS bers, while a return to England appeared hopeless. In this predicament, over one hundred Puritans, or Independents, resolved to seek a peaceful home in the New World. Under the leadership of Elder William Brewster and Deacon Carver these "Pilgrim Fathers" set sail in the Mayflower, and in December, 1620, finally landed at Plymouth. The Puritans in America gradually adopted the name of Congregationalists. Though history informs us that the slightest dissent with their preachers on Gospel truth was punished with scourging, exile, and even death, it is a peculiarity of Congregationalism that each congregation is entirely independent of any other Congregational community and that neither coun- cil, nor synod, nor any association of minister? has any right to prescribe to any particular congre- gation and that all pastors are of equal rank with regard to jurisdiction. No congregation can dic- tate to another. No council has the right to dic- tate, but only the privilege to advise. Every congregation enjoys autonomy. The spread of Congregationalism consists in a multiplicaiion of independent parishes. The ministerial associa- tion, the ministers in general, have the right to sanction or to reject a minister; but they do not make the appointments. The congregation sends out a call to one or more ministers for a trial sermon. If he meets with the approval of the majority of the congregation he may be accepted. 143 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS The natural danger in such a system is that the wealthier classes will bear undue influence on the teaching of the ministers. In their endeavor to eradicate local vices, chastise personal scan- dals, and warn against dangerous amusements, as well as in their doctrinal sermons, the min- isters have to be very careful not to offend; other- wise their services will be no further required. In short, Congregationalists assume the right to do as they please and hire a minister for the pur- pose of influencing them to please to do what is right. Now if the minister succeeds in this, they are both doing well. This assertion I make as a deduction of their parish autonomy, and by no means do I want to insinuate that the Congregationalists are in any way inferior in their morality or piety to other Protestant denominations. Congregationalists believe in some spiritual apostolicity of the Church, an apostolicity, they say, which has nothing to do with personal suc- cession. That apostolicity, they claim, was not always in the Church; but nevertheless it must have existed somewhere, for they claim to pos- sess it now, even though they did not exist be- fore the seventeenth century. Their apostolic- ity, like the fancies of a fairy tale, has only an imaginary existence. Their theology at first was strictly Calvinistic, but during more recent times, they have drifted 144 CONGREGATIONALISTS more and more towards rationalism of the Uni- tarian type. They differ from the Baptists in conceding to parents the right of hav- ing their children baptized in infancy. In their self-government, they differ from all earlier denominations. However, they imag- ine that every Christian denomination is a part of the one true Church, though not as purely as their own. According to their theory, all Christians belong to the spiritual catholic church. In this sense they recite the words of the Apostles' Creed : "I believe in the one, holy catholic church, the communion of saints." That there was no such parish autonomy in apostolic times is evident from the Acts of the Apostles. Since Congregationalists maintain that the Acts of the Apostles vouch for their theory of self-government, I deem it in place to cite a few quotations fiom those same Acts in order to show that they make a mistake in trying to prove the legitimacy of such independent government from that inspired source. "But Paul choosing Silas, departed, being delivered by tin brethren to the grace of God. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches, command- ing them to keep the precepts of the apostles and the ancients." Acts 15; 40, 41. "And as they (Paul and Timothy) passed throug'h the cities, they delivered unto them the decrees for to keep, that were decreed by the apostles and 145 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS ancients who were at Jerusalem." Acts 16; 4. Not the congregation, but the ancients of the church of Ephesus, received this instruction from St. Paul: "Take heed to yourselves, and to the whole flock, wherein the Holy Ghost hath placed you bishops, to rule the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood." Acts 20; 28. According to the World Almanac of 1911, the Congregationalists of all descriptions number 6,- 150,000. 146 ANABAPTISTS. The Anabaptists — so called on account of their practice of rebaptizing those who had been baptized in infancy — followed in the wake of Lu- theranism. Nicholas Storch, a cloth weaver and disciple of Luther, began to preach against in- fant baptism at Zwickau, Saxony. From among his adherents he chose twelve apostles and seventy disciples. In the year 1521 they were banished from Zwickau and came to Wittenberg. There Storch posed as a prophet, pretended to have visions and prophetic dreams, denounced all pro- fane knowledge, rejected infant baptism, tried to impress his hearers with the alleged necessity of rebaptism and advocated his Free Republic of Christ, a commonwealth without either ecclesias- tical or civil authority. Thomas Muenzer, and Andreas von Bodenstein, who is better known as Karlstadt, the name of his birthplace, Mark Thomas, Mark Stubner, Martin Cellarius, and a host of others assisted Storch in rousing the pop- ulace to such a pitch of fanaticism that they de- stroyed altars, statues, and holy pictures in the churches. "Undeniable as is the original affinity between the Anabaptists and the Lutherans, yet this affin- ity soon changed into a mutual opposition the most decided. An indescribable confusion pre- 147 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS vailed in the minds of the new sectaries, and a fearful fanaticism drove them on to every species of extravagance and violence; and as they had the inmost conviction of doing all things by the impulse of the Divine Spirit, all hope of opposing their errors by rational instruction was utterly fruitless. Muenzer was deeply implicated in the war of the peasants." J. A. Moehler, Symbolism, Article 55. In the year 1522 Luther left the Wartburg and hastened to Wittenberg to denounce and oust the fanatic leaders, Storch, Muenzer, and Karl- stadt from that city. He succeeded in banishing them. Thomas Muenzer started a commonwealth in Mue'hlhausen, led his people to war and was de- feated. He was executed in the year 1525, having been reconciled with the Church. Storch died 1525 at Muinich; Karlstadt at Basel in the year 1541. Louis Hetzer, another Anabaptist leader, took twelve wives and openly defended adultery as pleasing to God. He was beheaded at Constance 1529. In 1534 the Anabaptists assumed the dicta- torship at Muenster in Westphalia. People were rebaptized in crowds. Those who refused to submit to a second baptism were abused and ban- ished from their own city. They joined their Prince-Bishop who led an army against the usurp- 148 ANABAPTISTS. ers at Muenster. John Bockelson was one of their principal instigators. John von Leyden proudly conducted himself as the tyrant-king of the New Sion (Muenster). He had seventeen wives. His fanaticism rose with his much vaunted success until his utter defeat in 1535. John von Leyden was executed together with his chancellor Krecht- ing and the "royal executioner" Knipperdolling. Their bodies were placed in an iron cage and suspended from the steeple of St. Lambertus church. This put an end to Anabaptism at Muen- ster. After this the Anabaptists were persecuted everywhere; and for a number of years their his- tory was written in the blood of their members. These Anabaptists had announced a free re- public of Christ, a perfect life, in which neither rulers nor laws, not even the Bible would be needed, but wherein the moral law written in man's heart would be the guiding norm of life. They dreamt of perfect equality among men, of free love, and the abolition of all hostilities and wars at the very time when human blood flowed so copiously on the battle-fields. These Ana- baptists believed themselves destined to prepare the way for the approach of their imaginary mil- lennium. They did not baptize their children, but allowed them to grow up in the state of original sin exposed to tjie danger of dying de- prived of sanctifying grace. Jesus said to Nico- demus : "Unless a man be born again of water 149 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the Hngdom of God." St. John 3 ; 5. For an Anabaptist both Baptism and the Holy Eucharist have only a figurative significa- tion. When Jesus Christ tells us of the absolute necessity of Baptism in order to enter the king- dom of God; they foist their foolish opinion of a figurative signification upon their members. When Jesus Christ plainly says with reference to the Blessed Eucharist: This is my Body; This is my Blood; they maintain that it is only a figure and a sign of mutual love, the same as any ordi- nary banquet or luncheon. "With peculiar bitterness did these sectarians declare themselves against the Lutheran doctrine of Justification, and in this respect, they almost come round to the Catholic point of view." J. A. Moehler, Symbolism, Art. 57. Some of them admitted original sin, others denied it in order to assail infant baptism. Some Anabaptists denied the divinity of Christ; others, that He received His human nature from the Blessed Virgin Mary. Some asserted that finally all would convert, not even excluding the devil himself; others main- tained that the souls of the departed are in a state of sleep until judgment day. These, however, were the opinions which some Anabaptists tried to force upon the faithful ; but as the learned Moehler remarks in his "Symbolism": they "should not be considered as strictly Anabaptist; for, in part, 150 ANABAPTISTS they were in direct opposition to other maxims of the sect. It is, on the contrary, to be pre- sumed that at the commencement, amid the gen- eral religious ferment of the age, a multitude of men joined the Anabaptists without having any- thing akin to them, save a dark fanaticism and con- fusion of ideas. But in general the remark holds good that the first Anabaptists had neither a com- pact system of theology, nor any body of doctrines however ill-connected, which all uniformly professed. If we consider that their sect had not originated in one man as the common center of all ; and that the leading idea, round which all revolved, though powerful enough to inspire enthusiasm, was yet, in a doctrinal point of view, unproductive; if we consider, moreover, that the dark feelings by which all were animated and impelled had not received a definite expression in any public for- mulary, — a circumstance which gave occasion to a general complaint on the part of their adver- saries, — we shall feel the less surprised at the fact above mentioned." J. A. Moehler, Symbol- ism, Article 58. Moreover the Anabaptists main- tained that any one who felt himself moved, as he thought, by the Spirit, should prophecy and preach. 151 MENNONITES. Menno Simonis, formerly pastor of the Cath- olic congregation in Withmarsum, Holland, be- came prominent as an Anabaptist organizer in 1536. He disavowed any sympathy for and con- nection with the fanatic Anabaptists of Muenster. But he rejected infant baptism. He strove to moderate the social upheaval of the sect, urged them on to lead a quiet life, forbade them to take an oath and to carry weapons, and emphasized strict obedience to authority. He found a great following. In the year 1561 he died to the great regret of his followers, who are called Mennonites unto this day. Even during his life-time, his ad- herents divided into two factions, the "Fine" and the "Coarse" Anabaptists, or Mennonites. The "Fine" faction claims to adhere closer to the au- thority of the older Anabaptists, whereas the "Coarse" more closely resemble other Protestant sects. As we find them in this country, the Men- nonites generally are good, honest, obedient citi- zens, somewhat secluded, industrious and modest both in dress and demeanor. Converts from the Mennonites make good loyal Catholics. Though all authors of repute maintain that Mennonites and Anabaptists are interchangeable terms, the Mennonites themselves call in question their descent from the earlier Anabaptists. 152 MENNONITES. While the Mennonites admit that the sinful- ness of Adam was inherited by all his children, they do not believe in the transmission to pos- terity of the sin itself. They claim that the guilt of sin was not incurred by his progeny. This inherited sinfulness inclines man to sin. They do not deny the free will of man. Schyn, in his History of the Mennonites (Historiae Mennon- itarum plenior Deductio, Article V, P. 176) tells us: "Eidem jam lapso et perverso inerat facul- tas occurrens et a Deo oblatum bonum audiendi, admittendi, aut rejicicndi, i. e., "Even after his fall and perversion man had the faculty to listen to, approve of, or reject the good that presents itself and is proffered by God." They maintain that on account of the effused Blood of Jesus Christ, we, by living faith which worketh charity, acquire true justice, the condon- ing or the forgiveness of all past and present sins. They do not believe in the Sacrament of Penance and overlook the fact that Jesus Christ gave the power to forgive and the power to re- tain sins to His Apostles and their rightful suc- cessors, and that the condition for the forgive- ness has been placed by God and must not be placed but be fulfilled by the sinner. "He breathed on them ; and He said to them : Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them ; and whose sins you shall re- tain, they are retained/' St. John 20; 22, 23. Con- 153 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS trary to the earlier Anabaptists, the Mennonites declare against polygamy. Their ministers are elected and then confirmed by the imposition of the hands on the part of the elders. The washing of feet of the traveling brethren is one of their ceremonies. Impenitent sinners among them are exhorted, and if they do not improve upon this exhortation they are excommunicated, and then must be shunned even socially. The aggregate membership of the Mennonites is about 250,000. According to the Religious Statistics in the "World Almanac of 1911," there are 55,007 Men- nonites in the United States. They are split up into as many as fourteen different bodies. 154 BAPTISTS. Though the members of this denomination delight in boasting of their origin as that of the primitive Church and refuse to acknowledge any name of a human founder of their sect, it is nev- ertheless an historical fact, that their origin dates back to the beginning of the seventeenth century, and moreover that their sect was not founded in Palestine but in England. Dr. Armitage, a Baptist, in his book, "A His- tory of the Baptists," made a vain attempt to trace the Baptists, even before they existed, by their vital principles and practices from the time of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ until the year 1886. It is generally known, not only among philosophers but among all people blessed with common sense, that a thing cannot act before it exists. The Baptists certainly had no practices before they were in existence. Their practices at most may be similar to those of others who lived before them ; but their own principles and prac- tices do not antedate their origin, which, as his- tory tells us, was in the seventeenth century. For the love of truth Baptists ought to admit the his- torical fact of their very recent origin, and should not attempt to foist their pet-theory of an imag- inary apostolicity upon the world. Historians will not be deceived by them; and other people, too, have a right to know the truth. 155 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS W. H. Lyon in "A Study of the Sects," P. 119, says: "It was in Holland that the English In- dependents, or Brownists, first came into contact with Anabaptist doctrines; and one of their min- isters in Amsterdam, the Rev. John Smyth, be- came a convert to them, and formed a new church, part of which came to London in 1612. The early history of the sect there is uncertain; but it is known that the church existed in 1633, and from that time adherents multiplied fast." The most reliable information we get from Hergenroether in his excellent Kirchengeschiclite, Vol. 3, P. 533. He writes : "The Baptists originated in England about the year 1608, independent of the Mennon- ites of Germany and Holland. They obtained some prominence after the year 1688. They ad- ministered Baptism (to adults only) by immersion and tenaciously adhered to the Calvinistic doc- trines of predestination and justification, cele- brated the Sabbath instead of the Sunday and en- tertained antinomian views." In common with other denominations, they maintain that the Bible is the only rule of faith and religious practice, and that, moreover, every body may interpret Holy Scripture according to his own private notions vwithout any guidance save his own human knowledge. This is their doc- trine in theory; in practice every parishioner is expected to adopt the views of the preacher. Pri- vate interpretation of the Bible after all amounts 156 BAPTISTS to this : read and interpret the Bible as you please, but be sure to agree with the notion of your minister and the general view of the con- gregation, for by them you will be damned, if you don't. Baptists hold that baptism, in order to be valid, must be by immersion and can be validly administered by those only who profess personal faith in Jesus Christ, and can be validly received by those only who have an intelligent faith. They reject infant baptism. As to their mode of baptism, namely by im- mersion, it is the one that was generally prac- ticed in the early days of the Church. If all other conditions requisite for baptism are com- plied with, then immersion is valid baptism. Im- mersion, however, was not the only mode of bap- tism used in the earlier days of the Church. Upon the sermon of St. Peter at Jerusalem on Pentecost-day about three thousand converted and were baptized the same day. Now, it seems hardly possible that these three thousand were baptized by immersion, even if all the disciples kept on immersing the converts till midnight. The general opinion is that these three thousands were not baptized by immersion. So much is certain, there is no passage in Holy Scripture from which we might infer that they were led to the flowing water and then immersed. "They therefore that received his word were baptized; and there were 157 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS added in that day about three thousand souls." Acts 2; 41. Take the case of the eunuch, whom St. Philip converted and baptized in the river; even there we have no reason to suppose upon the authority of the Bible only, that baptism was by immersion ; it may have been by pouring the water on the convert. "They went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch : and he bap- tized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took away Philip ; and the eunuch saw him no more. And he went on his way rejoicing." Acts 8, 38, 39. When a person goes down into the water of a river it simply means that he descends from the bank of the river into the water. It does not imply that the person gets under the water with his whole body, head and all. Neither does the Scripture suggest such a clucking here. For both went into the water. If both were entirely under the water how could Philip baptize? If Philip was not under the water, but simply in the water, then the eunuch was not under it either, for the Bible says: "They went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch." When a person gets out of a river, he comes up out of the water. Holy Scripture does not suggest any immersion in the baptism of the eunuch. How he was bap- tized is a matter of conjecture: the Bible does not tell us. With those that want no tradition in religious matters, but claim to take the Bible 158 BAPTISTS for the sole rule, the cases so far mentioned can- not be adduced as proof of their immersion theory. The expression of St. Peter (Acts 10; 47), seems to exclude the idea of baptism by immer- sion. "Then Peter answered: Can any man for- bid water, that these should not be baptized, who have received the Holy Ghost, as well as we?" Now to forbid water rather implies to prohibit taking, or using, or receiving, water. In this in- stance it means the receiving of baptismal water, the water of baptism, without indicating the mode of procedure. Baptists refer to the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans, Chap. 6, V. 4, as a proof of their as- sumption that immersion can be proved from the Bible. Let us read that text and see whether it proves anything in favor of their mode of baptism : "For we are buried together with him by baptism into death ; that as Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life.'' Rom. 6; 4. I candidly admit that with the aid of tradition we can prove bap- tism by immersion from this passage; but with- out this assistance, the words do not prove it; for St. Paul does in no way speak here of the mode of baptism, but merely institutes a comparison to urge the faithful to walk in the footsteps of Christ. Buried by baptism, if buried means simply cov- ered, might mean to be soaked by rain, to be saturated by pouring or sprinkling. If buried by 159 ±jL> .^. OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS baptism is spoken in a figurative sense, then it will not do to draw a literal meaning from it. Upon the authority of the Fathers, I believe that the passage in question, refers to baptism by immersion. But Baptists acknowledge no such authority. They use another passage of Scripture in proof of their teaching with regard to baptism by immersion. It is taken from the Letter of St. Paul to the Colossians, Chap. 2, V. 12: "Buried with him in baptism, in whom also you are risen again by the faith of the operation of God, who hath received him up from the dead." Buried with him in baptism, if taken literally, would imply, that actually put under water we were with Christ, or together with Him covered with water. The meaning of the expression 'buried with him in baptism' the Bible nowhere explains. People who do not acknowledge tradition, should be slow to venture an opinion on this text. I might bring a similar text with a figura- tive meaning, and assert that sprinkling of the heart and washing of the body was the original mode of baptism. St. Paul furnishes the text. "Let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with clean water." Heb. 10; 22. But what would you think of me, if I as- serted, contrary to all denominations, that baptism 160 BAPTISTS must be in a mode similar to the floating of the ark of Noe? St. Peter writes: "He preached to those spirits that were in prison : which had been some time incredulous, when they waited for the patience of God in the days of Noe, when the ark was a building: wherein a few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water. Whereunto baptism being of the like form, now saveth you also." I. Peter 3; 19-21. However I do not maintain such folly; for I am aware of the fact that figurative speech must be taken in a figurative sense, which in this instance conveys the following idea : as the ark was the means by which the eight per- sons in it escaped the deluge, so baptism is a means of your salvation, a means of escaping eternal damnation. Anybody who tries to prove from the Bi^e that immersion is the only valid mode of bap- tism, attempts the impossible. The Bible does not vouch for such an assumption. On the con- trary, the Bible, as I have proved, suggests the idea that baptism was not always administered by immersing the person. The Catholic Church maintains that baptism by immersion, by pour- ing, and by aspersion or sprinkling, may be valid; that whenever the form and matter of baptism, i. e. the words and the water, are administered at the same time with the intention to baptize an un- baptized human being, a valid baptism takes place. For various reasons, however, the Church pre- 161 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS scribes baptism by pouring. Except in cases of necessity, the other modes are at present illicit at least in the Latin Church; but they are valid nevertheless. Baptists reject infant baptism as unscriptural. But their rejection of infant baptism is rather un- scriptural, nay even anti-scriptural. The Bible no- where forbids infant baptism. The forbidding of infant baptism is therefore unscriptural. The Bible tells us that, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (St. John 3; 5); and that the little ones %re destined for the kingdom of God : "for the kingdom of heaven is for such" (St. Matth. 19 ; 14) ; if they are destined for it and cannot enter it without being born of water and the Holy Ghost, i. e. without baptism: then child- ren must be baptized. The rejection of infant baptism is, therefore, anti-scriptural. That child- ren of converts to Christianity were baptized is suggested in the Bible. Of the keeper of the prison it is said: "He himself was baptized, and all his house immediately." Acts 16, 33. To all his house probably some little ones belonged. "And I baptized also the house- hold of Stephanus." I. Cor. 1; 16. "And Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, be- lieved in the Lord, with all his house ; and many of the Corinthians hearing, believed, and were baptized." Acts 18, 8. 162 BAPTISTS Baptists regard baptism as a mere symbol, as a sign, but not as a means of cancelling sins. "But Peter said to them : Do penance, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins: and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Acts 2; 38. "And now why tarriest thou? Rise up, and be baptized % , and wash away thy sins, invok- ing his name. " Acts 22; 16. "For you are all the children of God by faith, in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ." Gal. 3 ; 26, 27. Baptism, therefore, according to Holy Scripture is a means of washing away sins, the putting on of Christ which implies conferring sanctifying grace and a right to the kingdom of heaven. It is not a mere symbol. It is more than that: it is an absolutely necessary means of salvation ; but it may be re- ceived either actually, or by baptism of blood, (martydom) or by desire. With reference to the Blessed Eucharist, the Baptists believe in a merely symbolical mean- ing of the Last Supper. St. Paul held a different view: "Take ye, and eat; this is my body, which shall be delivered for you." 1 Cor. 11 ; 24. The body of Christ that was delivered for us on Calvary was not a mere symbol, but an actual body. The same actual Body He gave to His disciples, say- ing: "Take ye, and eat." The symbol theory is unscriptural. Such is the irony of fate, or better 163 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS the anomaly of facts, that heretics claim to be scriptural in the very things, where Holy Scrip- ture is plainly against them. The true Body and Blood of Jesus Christ were given by Him to His Apostles. True Christians still receive the same Body and Blood substantially in Holy Commun- ion. As might be logically expected, private in- terpreters of the Bible will have divergent private views, and those wanting all requisite knowledge to read and interpret the Bible intelligently will come to some foolish conclusions. So it happened. The Baptists, as well as other private interpreters of the Holy Bible, began to quarrel among them- selves on some doctrinal points or on some relig- ious practices and disintegrated, into various sects. Roger Williams who organized the first Baptist congregation in America, in Rhode Island, 1639, soon saw where private interpretation leads to. Some of the better known Baptist denominations in America are mentioned here. The General Baptists are those Baptists who believe, as we Catholics do, that Jesus Christ died for all mankind. "But all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Christ; and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. For God indeed was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing to them their sins; and he hath placed in us the word of reconciliation." 2 Cor. 5; 18, 19. Speaking of the sin of Adam 164 BAPTISTS and the redemption through Christ, St. Paul says: "Therefore, as by the offence of one, unto all men to condemnation ; so also by the justice of one, unto all men to justification of life.'' Rom. 5 ; 18. The Particular Baptists maintain that Christ died for the elect only, and that they themselves belong to these elect, the chosen few. The Seventh-Day Baptists, who formerly went by the name of "Sabbatarian Baptists" in Eng- land, observe the seventh day instead of the Sun- day. This is in perfect harmony with their rule of faith, Scripture only. The Six Principle Baptists have six princi- ples, or doctrines : Repentance, Faith, Imposi- tion, Baptism, Resurrection, and the Eternal Judg- ment. The Dunkards, or "German Baptists," also called "Brethren," were founded in Germany by Alexander Mack about 1708. They baptize adults only by threefold immersion and seek to be ex- cessively simple" in language, habits, dress and demeanor. The Free Baptists came into existence in New Hampshire in 1780 through the efforts of Benja- min Randall. Being dissatisfied with Congrega- tionalism there, he went to Berwick, Me., where he joined the Baptists. But he did not believe in unconditional predestination as the rest of the Baptists in Berwick did, who were strictly Cal- vinistic. In his sermons he frequently spoke of 165 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS a general atonement and the sinner's ability to accept Christ. For this reason he was disfellow- shipped. Then he organized the first Free Bap- tist congregation at Durham, N. H., without really intending to start a new sect. In 1851 the ceremony of feet-washing, which until then had been obligatory, became optional. In consequence of which, some Free Baptists have done away with it. They do not insist on baptism in their own denomination as a requisite to partake of the Communion of the Lord's Table, but practice an "open communion." We must bear in mind that their so-called communion is nothing more than eating and drink- ing together in memory of our Lord's Passion and Death. For such common eating and drink- ing baptism is certainly not necessary. But for the reception of "what Catholics understand by Holy Communion; namely the partaking of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, baptism is neces- sary; for Holy Communion must be received in the state of sanctifying grace and by a Christian only, but baptism is the only door to Christian- ity. No unbaptized person is a Christian. The Primitive Baptists, also called Old School, Anti-Mission and Hard Shell Baptists date back to the year 1835. They are opposed to missions, Sunday schools, and to all religious institutions. Their religion is extremely gloomy, being that of rigid Calvanism: total depravity of human na- 166 BAPTISTS ture, and unconditional election and reprobation. The Separate Baptists of today have this in common with the Free Baptists that they do not hold the harsh and absolutely false theory of Calvanistic predestination and reprobation. They believe in God's justice, but like all Baptists re- ject infant baptism and nearly all the Sacraments. The United Baptists arose about the middle of the 18th century when a futile attempt was made to unite the Regular and the Separate Bap- tists. The result was an additional denomination. Feet-washing is one of their important ceremonies. The Old-Two-Seed-In-The-Spirit-Predestinar- ian Baptists, like the Man cheans of old, believe in two eternal principles, one good, the other evil, which they call the seed of life and the seed of death. They originated during the first half of the nineteenth century. The Winebrennerians, the followers of John Winebrenner, who adopted the pretentious desig- nation of "Church of God," date back to the year 1830. Their three ordinances as mere symbols are Baptism, Feet-washing, and the Lord's Sup- per. Their church government is congregational. The Campbellites, also known as Disciples of Christ, or Christians, came into existence about the year 1817. Thomas Campbell and his son Alexander were their first leaders. They claim to believe in the Bible without any creed. Though they maintain not to hold any creed, their creed is 167 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS that the Bible is the unerring and all sufficient word of God. A belief in the Bible without a creed is an impossibility. He who considers the Bible the unerring word of God has at least that creed. Campbellites care little for logic and principle. Their literature is poor and consists largely of ranting (without proving anything) against other Christian denominations, especially Catholics. Admitted that the Holy Bible is God's unerr- ing word, it by no means follows that every reader or even any reader of the Bible is exempt from error. A person who has not the requisite knowl- edge cannot read the Holy Bible intelligently much less unerringly. The generality of mankind does not acquire this knowledge. Does not the history of Protestantism prove sufficiently that private in- terpretation and the arrogant claim of individual infallibility in reading and explaining the Bible has led to the most contradictory creeds? The reader of the unerring word of God is very liable to err. Such is the lesson of history. People who altogether reject Tradition can never get at the true meaning of many biblical passages. "Thou wilt obtain the knowledge full and entire of the Christian religion only in connection with its essential form, which is the Church. Look at the Scripture in an ecclesiastical spirit, and it will present thee an image perfectly resembling the Church. Contemplate Christ in, and with His creation — the Church — the only adequate author- 168 BAPTISTS ity — the only authority representing Him, and thou wilt then stamp His image on thy soul. Should it, however, be stated, in ridicule of this principle, that it were the same as to say: 'Look at the Bible through the spectacles of the Church;' be not disturbed, for it is better for thee to con- template the star by the aid of a glass, than to let it escape thy dull organ of vision, and be lost in mist and darkness. Spectacles, besides, thou must always use, but only beware lest thou get them constructed by the first casual glass-grinder, and fixed upon thy nose." Dr. J. A. Moehler, Symbolism, Article 39. Baptists of all descriptions throughout the whole world number about 9,230,000. 169 MORAVIANS, OR BOHEMIAN BRETHREN. Moravians, or Bohemian Brethren, date back to the first part of the eighteenth century. There was a society with the same name previous to this, but it lasted only 94 years. It was organized in 1457 in Moravia and governed by twenty-eight elders according to mutually adopted principles of doctrine. Their usual name was "Brethren and Sisters of the Law of Christ" or simply "Brethren." At their synod at Lhotka, they agreed to separate entirely from the Catholic Church. Three of their men were consecrated bishops by the Waldensian bishop Stephen. They soon dis- banded partly on account of internal troubles but mainly on account of persecution. Most of them joined Protestant denominations. The so- ciety was almost totally dismembered. In 1722 Nicholas Louis Count Zinzendorf, a Lutheran, organized a religious community on his estate Berthelsdorf, Saxony, under the pastorate of Andrew Rothe. Among the members were people from Moravia. After five years the new re- ligious colony numbered about 300. Disregard- ing dogmatic differences Count Zinzendorf urged them on to what he considered practical piety. The colony increased. A new congregation was organized on the Hutberg, which received the name of Herrnhut. From this name the appel- 170 MORAVIANS lation Herrnhuters is derived, a name by which these people are called in Germany. Factions arose. Most of the members were dissatisfied with Andrew Rothe. In order to unite the quarreling factions, Count Zinzendorf became bishop, and twelve elders were elected by the people. All went by the name of "Brethren." Later on Count Zinzendorf assumed the title "Ordinary of the Brethren." He died 1760. These Brethren, or Moravians, as they are more frequently called, have set formulas universally used for infant baptism and for the bap- tism of adults. Before they receive the Last Sup- per, they hold a love-feast, make a general con- fession of sinfulness and receive some admonitions and practical instructions from their minister. Communion, or, as they prefer to call it, the Sac- rament of the Lord's Supper, is received kneel- ing. Moreover, they have conformity in their rites of confirmation, ordination, and the burial of the dead. Formerly they frequently resorted to casting lots in order to divine the will of God. The selection of young couples for marriage was likewise by lot. Feet-washing is one of their liturgical services. The highest legislative author- ity among the Bohemian Brethren is vested in the General Synod held once every ten years. In virtue of 'the cross and blood theology* the Moravians, or United Brethren frequently med- itate (and their ministers, as a rule, often preach) 171 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS on the sufferings and the bloody death of Jesus on the cross; which praiseworthy practice has a good moral influence on their daily life. Undoubt- edly, when members of this sect get the grace of conversion to the Catholic Church, they are well prepared to appreciate the devotion of the Way of the Cross and the grand ceremonies of Holy Week. In the United States the little society of Bohemian Brethren or Moravians numbers 20,369. 172 FRIENDS, OR QUAKERS. George Fox, born in Leicestershire, 1624, a shoemaker by trade, is the founder of this Chris- tian denomination. He began to preach his new religion in 1647, and died January 13, 1691. His followers call themselves the Society of Friends; by outsiders they are more generally styled Quakers, which term, though originally a nick- name, is no longer considered such. Their central dogma, towards which everything in their teaching and practice converges, is the doc- trine concerning the "Inner Light,'' a sort of in- dividual inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Sacra- ments, creeds, 'and councils are adjudged super- fluous external practices. Human learning, though valued, is not considered necessary in their min- istry. Their meetings, as a rule, commence in si- lence. Every body is supposed to pray to the Holy Ghost for light. If any one, man, woman, or child in the congregation believes himself or herself moved by this "Inner Light," this person gets up and speaks "by the Holy Ghost." As a rule, their ministers do not receive a stipulated salary, but are supposed to do their work for the love of truth or instruction. The members of the Society may give liberally towards trie support of the minister, who is permitted to accept what- ever is offered him as long as he does not use his ministry for the precise purpose of making 173 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS money. Generally speaking, they have no regu- larly ordained ministers. The liturgy of the Friends is as simple as you can imagine it. They believe that all sym- bolic rites were abolished by our Savior on the cross and that He announced this in the words : "It is finished," "It is consummated.'* Actually, Jesus indicated by these words that His passion was consummated, that His death was at hand, and that through His passion and death redemp- tion was completed. Jesus never referred to the abolition of Christian symbolic rites at any time in His life; in fact He instituted them. The word "Trinity" is in disfavor with them, since they cannot find it in the Bible ; but never- theless they believe in the Blessed Trinity, or as they would say: in the Godhead of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which, however, really means the same. The Friends are truly advocates of peace. They were foremost in advocating the abolition of slavery, not by war, but in a peaceable way. Wars are looked upon as abominations, which they undoubtedly are. Balls are branded as "nurseries of debauchery and wickedness." But in spite of this prohibition it sometimes happens, as is the case with members of all denominations that young couples transgress the precept of well-meaning ministers, perhaps more on account of youthful levity than from any evil intent. Sacred concerts, oratorios, and 174 FRIENDS operatic singing, the Friends do not permit. They try to foster interior devotion to the best of their knowledge, and avoid cursing and swearing. In their dress and mode of living they are very sim- ple and modest and well worthy of imitation in these days of fashion and high living. Owing to doctrinal disputes, the Friends soon began to split into dissenting sects such as Ortho- dox and Hicksite, Wilburite and Primitive Quak- ers. In America they number about 119,600. Converts from the Society of Friends to the Catholic Church appreciate the wealth of spiritual aid, the well nigh unlimited opportunities of lay- ing up treasures for heaven, which the Catholic Church, wherein Jesus dwells, offers them. 175 METHODISTS. John Wesley, born in 1703 as the son of an Anglican minister, is recognized as the founder of Methodism. Without at first intending to leave the Established Church, he established another, which he intended as a revival within the churches. With his brother Charles, George Whitefield, and several other students at Oxford he held small evening meetings for spiritual meditations. John was the organizer, his brother Charles the poet, and George Whitefield the orator of the move- ment. In their studies as well as in their meet- ings, they proceeded methodically. For this reason they were soon nicknamed Methodists. In the year 1728, John Wesley was ordained as minister of the Anglican Church; though he never obtained charge of a parish nor ever gained the friend- ship of other Anglican clergymen. From the Mo- ravians (Herrnhuters), he copied his pietistic views of conversion, Spirit assurance and other eccentricities. On the 1st of May, 1738, some forty or fifty of his followers agreed to meet with him every Wednesday evening and to spend some time in prayer, spiritual conversation, and singing. These meetings were opened and closed with prayer. Methodists date their denomination back *o May, 1738. It is said that on May 24, 1738, John Wes- 176 METHODISTS ley experienced that desirable sudden change within himself which he henceforth endeavored fo produce in others. For a time some of his ministers preached in the open air. But as early as May, 1739, the corner-stone of the first Meth- odist meeting-house was laid in London. The Wesleys drew up a set of articles of doc- trine (twenty-five in number), which were in- tended to serve as a broad basis on which all Christians might unite; which pious wish, need- less to say, was never realized. Any one who was anxious "to flee the wrath of God, to come and to be saved from sin" was deemed fit for ruembersbip. The sins of cursing, Sabbath-break- ing, intoxication, cheating, fighting, vanity in dress and other prevalent evils were strictly for- bidden. On the other hand, the corporal works of mercy John Wesley highly recommended to all his followers. Besides, he inspired his lis- teners with religious enthusiasm. Though he himself professed his belief in the seven Sacra- ments, his followers, Methodists in general, admit only two: Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Even during the liftetime of the above men- tioned founders, there was a schism in their own ranks. The followers of Whitefield sternly clung to the cheerless and gloomy doctrine of Calvan- istic predestination, while this was rejected by the Wesleyan Methodists. Infant baptism is commanded, because in- 177 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS fants belong to the Kingdom of God. For a Meth- odist, however, baptism is merely a sign of the regeneration which the recipient obtains previously to the reception of baptism. In this as in many other things Methodism differs from the Catholic Church, which teaches that baptism bestows sanc- tifying grace, makes the recipient a child of God, and an heir of heaven. Jesus said to Nicodemus : "Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." St. John 3; 5. Without baptism, the being born of water and the Holy Ghost, no man can enter the kingdom of God. Now Jesus wants the little ones to belong to this kingdom; for He said: "Suffer the little children, and forbid them not to come to me: for the kingdom of heaven is for such." St. Matth. 19; 14. They must be baptized in order to enter the kingdom of God. Original sin must be effaced. "But Peter said to them: Do penance, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins." Acts 2; 38. Baptism, therefore, remits sin. "Rise up, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, invoking his name." Acts 22; 16. St. Paul writes : "Not by the works of justice, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us, by the laver of regeneration (baptism), and renovation of the Holy Ghost; whom he hath poured upon us abundantly, through Jesus Christ our Savior: that, being justified by his grace, we 178 METHODISTS may be heirs, according to hope of life everlast- ing." Titus 3; 5-7. With the Methodists the Lord's Supper is merely a memorial of the passion and death of Jesus Christ. They receive bread and wine, imag- ining at the same time that Jesus comes to them in a spiritual manner. Imagination and emotion play a great part in Methodism, in contradistinction to Catholicism, where facts and reason are in perfect harmony with the revelations of God. Since Meth- odists reject Tradition and in contradistinction to the universal voice of early Christianity consider the Bible the sole source and rule of faith, — that very Bible of which the Christians of the first half of the first century could have no knowledge, since it did not as yet exist, — they cannot convince either themselves, or others, that they being of such recent date, constitute the Church whicn Jesus founded entirely without the Bible. He quoted the Old Testament; but He never even hinted to it that the Old Testament was the sole rule of faith. He did not quote the New Testa- ment, because it was not as yet written. For it is well known that the New Testament was written after the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven. St. Paul gives this advice: "But we ought to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, be- loved of God, for that God hath chosen you first fruits unto salvation, in sanctification of the spirit, 179 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS and faith of the truth: whereunto also he hath called }ou by our gospel, unto the purchasing of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren stand fast; and hold the traditions which you have learned, whether by word or by our epistle." 2 Thess. 2; 12-14. The following are the principal Methodist bodies: The Methodist Episcopal Church. It was or- ganized at the"Christmas Conference" at Balti- more, 1784. Asbury was unanimously elected as superintendent, which name was changed to bishop in 1788. Episcopal Methodists are Wesleyan in doctrine and liturgy. M. E. is the abbreviation used to designate this branch of Methodism. The Methodist Protestant Church was formed by some expelled Methodist Episcopal members and others who freely left the aforesaid denomina- tion because it would not extend governmental rights to laymen. It, too, started at Baltimore, Nov. 2, 1830. It has no bishops. The Wesleyan Methodist Connection was the result of an anti-slavery movement at Utica, N. Y., 1843. It has neither bishops nor travel- ing preachers, and it does not permit its mem- bers to belong to secret societies. The Congregational Methodists seceded from the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1852. They are Wesleyan in doctrine, and Congregational in polity. 180 METHODISTS The Free Methodist Church was organized by dissatisfied members of the M. E. Church, at Pekin, New York, 1860. They claimed that the M. E. Church had forsaken the original simplic- ity and spirituality of Methodism ; that the preachers were at variance among themselves on doctrinal points; that the discipline was too lax; that the old simplicity of dress had given way to extravagance of apparel ; that rented pews had taken the place of free seats; that choirs took the place of congregational singing; that members of secret societies were tolerated, etc. Instead of bishops, they have general superintendents. The use of intoxicating drinks and of tobacco, super- fluous ornaments of dress, and joining secret so- cieties are strictly forbidden among the Free Meth- odists. Direct witness of the Spirit (excitement) ; entire sanctification; eternal reward and punish- ment, are some of their express doctrines. The New Congregational Methodists origin- ated in Georgia, 1881, and are similar to the Con- gregational Methodists. The Independent Methodists date back to 1810. They acknowledge no central government. Other minor denominations among the Meth- odists are: Primitive Methodists; Bible Christ- ians; United Methodist Free Churches; Welsh Calvinistic Methodists (Whitefield's harsh Calvin- istic view of election and reprobation,) ; African M. E. Zion Church; Union American M. E. ; Afri- 181 METHODISTS can M. E. Church; African Union Methodist Prot- estant Church; Zion Union Apostolic Church (founded in Virginia 1869) ; Colored M. E. Church ; etc. With all its varied shades of doctrine and polity, and its many distinctive denominations, Methodism in English speaking countries num- bers only 18,650,000 adherents (World Almanac of 1911). In this country there are 6,477,224 Methodists. 182 UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST. Philip William Otterbein, born in Germany 1726, became a minister of the German Reformed Church and later on the main founder of the de- nomination known as United Brethren in Christ. In his booklet, "The Church of the United Brethren in Christ;' William M. Weekley, a U. B. bishop, writes : "Martin Boehm, Otterbein's earliest fellow-helper, was a member of the Men- nonite Church. They first met at a great meeting held in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1767. As Otterbein listened to Boehm's sermon on Sab- bath morning, he was deeply impressed by the simple, tender Scriptural message, and before the preacher could take his seat, Otterbein, quickened anew by the truth, and rejoicing in a new found fellowship, clasped Boehm in his arms and ex- claimed, 'We are Brethren!' The effect upon the great audience was electrifying. Some were bathed in tears, while others shouted aloud for joy. All hearts seemed melted into one. There and then the United Brethren Church had its ori- gin." Page 3, 4. Therefore the United Brethren Church had its orign in Pennsylvania and not in the Holy Land, where the true Church originated; it was started in 1767 and is so many years separated 183 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS from the time when Jesus Christ, the founder of the Catholic Church, was born. The first U. B. Conference was held in 1789. Philip W. Otterbein died as first bishop of the United Brethren Church in 1813. Bishop Boehm, the co-founder, had died one year before. Bishops of the United Brethren Church are not ordained and are not made overseers for life, but are elected by the General Conference, which meets every four years and is composed of an equal number of ministerial and lay delegates chosen by the annual conferences. The ministers are chosen, not sent. In polity this denomination is similar to the Methodist Episcopal Church, i. e., it presents a fusion of the episcopal, presby- terial, and congregational systems. It has a de- fined creed, a confession of faith, which, however, lacks precision. For example, instead of saying: "We believe in one God, in Whom there are three distinct persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost," they say: "We believe in the only true God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost equal in essence or being with the Father and the Son." In their first article of faith they maintain that the Bible is "the only rule and guide in faith and practice." By what the first Christians, who lived before the New Testament was written, were ruled and guided is not even aluded to. Jesus never said that the Holy Bible (of 184 UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST which that part which we call the New Testa- ment did not as yet exist when He lived on earth visibly), should be the only rule and guide in faith and practice; but we read in the same Holy Bible that Jesus said to His eleven Apostles shortly before He ascended into heaven: "All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Going therefore, teach ye all nations: baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you : and behold I am with you all days, even to the con- summation of the world." Matth. 28; 18-20. Differing with the true Church, which always believed in seven Sacraments, the United Brethren believe in two only; viz., Baptism and the Lord's Supper; "but the mode of baptism and the man- ner of observing the Lord's Supper are always to be left to the judgment and understanding of each individual. Also, the baptism of children shall be left to the judgment of believing parents." Confession of Faith, No. 7. They say : "We believe that penitent sin- ners are justified before God, only by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and not by works ; yet good works in Christ are acceptable to God, and spring out of a true and living faith." No. 9. The Apostle St. James, a kinsman of our Lord, teaches a dif- ferent doctrine. His is the teaching of the true Church. He writes: "What shall it profit, my 185 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but hath not works? Shall faith be able to save him? And if a brother or sister be naked, and want daily food: And one of you say to them : Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled; yet give them not those things that are necessary for the body, what shall it profit? So faith also, if it have not works, is dead in itself. But some man will say: Thou hast faith, and I have works : shew me thy faith, without works; and I will shew thee, by works, my faith. Thou believest that there is one God. Thou dost well : the devils also believe and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abra- ham our father justified by works, offering up Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou, that faith did co-operate with his works : and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled, saying: Abraham believed God, and it was reputed to him to justice, and he was called the friend of God. Do you see that by works a man is justified; and not by faith only? And in like maner also Rahab the harlot, was not she justified by works, receiving the messengers, and sending them out another way? For even as the body without the spirit is dead ; so also faith with- out works is dead." James 2; 14-26. Though the United Brethren claim that the Holy Bible is the only rule and guide in faith and practice, nevertheless they hold the tradi- 186 UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST tion, which is not biblical, of keeping holy the Sunday instead of Saturday. They profess: "We believe that the Christian Sabbath (Sunday) is divinely appointed ; that it is commemorative of our Lord's resurrection from the grave, and is an emblem of our eternal rest ; that it is essential to the welfare of the civil community, and to the permanence and growth of the Christian Church, and that it should be reverently observed as a day of holy rest and of social and pubilc wor- ship." No. 12. The main literary organ of the U. B. Church is "The Religious Telescope." In consequence of a schism, which occurred in 1889 in connection with the revision of the Confession of Faith and the constitution, there are today two distinct bodies of United Brethren. A small minority continued to stand by the "Old Constitution" with its pro- hibition attitude on the liquor question, secret societies, and war. The U. S. Census Statistics (1906) credit the denomination with 296,050 com- municants; of this number upwards of 70,000 are found in the state of Ohio with Dayton as its principal center of activity. The denomination is also represented in Germany, and it maintains missionaries in the Phillippines, Japan, and China. — -&m- — 187 ADVENTISTS. There are six Protestant sects of Adventists in this country: "Evangelical Adventists," "Ad- vent Christians," "Seventh Day Adventists," "Church of God," "Life and Advent Union," and "Age-to-come Adventists." Their common belief is that Jesus Christ will speedily come and personally commence His much mooted hypothetical Millennium. Moreover they agree in rejecting infant baptism, thus depriving children of the possibility of entering the kingdom of God ; for "unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the king- dom of God." St. John 3; 5. Adventists baptize adults by immersion. The Evangelical Adventists date back their origin to William Miller (1781-1849), who, after a close but idiosyncratic study of the Biblical proph- ecies, announced that the end of the world would come in 1843. Of course it did not come. Snow, his disciple, fixed the date for Oct. 22, 1844. But happily that day and year passed without the dread catastrophe. In 1845 these visionaries or- ganized under the name of Evangelical Adventists. They believe that all will rise on Judgment Day: the just to reign with Christ during the Millen- nium and later on with Him in heaven ; the wicked will be condemned to hell. Membership 1147. 188 ADVENTISTS The Advent Christians, founded in 1861, main- tain that the souls of the dead slumber and remain unconscious till Christ comes again. They assert that Christ will annihilate the wicked, whereas the just will live for ever. Evidently, they never grasped the meaning of the following words of Jesus Christ: "And these (the wicked) shall go into everlasting punishment: but the just, into life everlasting." St. Matth. 25 ; 46. In order to show what Christ meant by everlasting punishment, I shall quote His own words: "Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire which was pre- pared for the devil and his angels." St. Matth. 25 ; 41. When the wicked go into everlasting punish- ment, they go down living and conscious into the everlasting, never-ending flames of hell. This is Bible truth; the teaching of the Godman Jesus Christ. According to the census report the Ad- vent Christians have 26,799 members. The Seventh Day Adventists celebrate the seventh day of the week instead of Sunday. They teach the utter annihilation of the wicked on Judg- ment Day, a doctrine, as we saw in the preceed- ing paragraph, evidently contrary to the teaching of Christ. Mrs. E. G. White is their presump- tuous interpreter of the prophecies of the Bible. They organized in 1845. Their number is 61,427. The Church of God as a body dates back to 1865 and is made up of such members of the Seventh Day Adventists as refuse to acknowledge 189 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS the supposed prophetic gift of Mrs. White and the forced application of Apocalypse 12; 11-17, to the United States of America. It counts 611 mem- bers. The Life and Advent Union was started in 1848, but not fully organized until 1860. Mem- bers of this sect concede eternal rest to the damned by asserting that the wicked will sleep for ever. It is a dreamy religion with a member- ship of 3,800. The Age-to-come Adventists organized in 1851. They believe that the human soul is material and slumbers in the grave until the com- ing of Christ on Judgment Day, when the just re- ceive life from Jesus Christ and the sleepy souls of the wicked pass out of existence. This absurd teaching is not only contrary to what Jesus plainly taught concerning the everlasting punishment of the wicked, but it is also diametrically opposed to sound philosophy. The human soul, God's image and likeness, will exist for ever and for ever be conscious of its being. This body numbers 2,872 -adherents. 190 CHRISTIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN ZION. DOWIEITES. John Alexander Dowie was born in Edin- burgh, Scotland, in 1847. In order to get reliable information concerning this man, after whom the Dowieites are named, I wrote a letter of inquiry to his successor, W. G. Voliva, who promptly or- dered his ecclesiastical secretary to furnish me the desired information by answering my letter and liberally forwarding some of their more im- portant literature. The letter written, July 25, 1911, by G. L. Carey, General Ecclesiastical Sec- retary of Zion City, 111., offers the following in- formation. Dr. Dowie, who was born in Edinburgh,. Scotland, and who was brought up in Aus- tralia, and entered the Christian ministry in that country, doing a large amount of work, came to America landing at San Francisco on June 7, 1888. After working actively in many states along the Western coast preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and being used of God in the healing of many persons, he arrived in Chicago in July,. 1890, taking up his residence in Evanston. In the city of Chicago, he labored for a num- ber of years with great success, though, at first, he had many difficulties and the work assumed only small dimensions. After reaching a certain point,. 191 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS however, before which, I might say, he had been severely tempted to give up the work, the tide of victory came, and from that time on the work grew with great strides. Great crowds of people were attracted to him, and many wonderful healings took place; and his name became a household one throughout the civ- ilized world. Regarding his preaching, I might say that Dr. Dowie "rung the changes" on repentance call- ing upon men and women to forsake all sin and the customs of the world which were, in any way, injurious to man. Very prominent in his teaching was the sub- ject of Divine Healing that made h'im so re- nowned. His claim was that the Holy Scriptures taught that men must forsake all earthly physi- cians, and that God alone is the Healer of His people. He stood very strongly for a holy Church. He opposed many things which he found existed in the churches, and it was his opposition to these things that made him many enemies. Dr. Dowie, however, was a man who was not only bold on the platform concerning the posi- tions which he took, but those who knew him found that he was a man with a great heart of love ; so that whilst he had many enemies, he had many friends amongst those who were not affili- ated with him in Church life. 192 DOWIEITES For many years, Dr. Dowie had the vision of a Zion City; and when the opportune time ar- rived, he took his first step in realizing this, his cherished ambition, and Zion City was inaugur- ated really when the portion of ground known as "The Temple Site" was dedicated on July 14, 1901. Zion City was founded for God's people and was intended to be an illustration of applied Christianity. The lease which Dr. Dowie adopted for persons taking up residence and other prop- erties here was a unique one, forbidding alcohol, tobacco, theatres, secret societies, swine and swine's flesh, and many other things. Many people came here and much money was poured into Zion's coffers, and great progress was made and a wonderful city established. Trouble- some times, however, came along owing to mis- management; and then Dr. Dowie took sick and passed away; but the man, Wilbur Glenn Voliva, whom Dr. Dowie had chosen to be his successor, had already been recalled by him from Australia to take up the reins. General Overseer Voliva has gone right ahead with the work of standing for the same truths and principles as Dr. Dowie stood for. It is true he has met with some opposition, but this opposi- tion is daily weakening, and there is no doubt as to the outcome. Mr. Voliva has had great success during the 193 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS last three years since he commenced to purchase back from the Receiver of the Zion Estate var- ious properties in the city, culminating with the purchase from the Receiver of the remainder of the estate. The preaching of Zion has, for its keynote, the Kingdom of God; and Zion City is intended to be an exemplification, as far as it is possible to make it, of the Kingdom of God on earth. It is only a beginning, it is true but we believe it is a beginning. ,, So far the letter. Alexander Dowie called his religious organ- ization "The Christian Catholic Apostolic Church," and, after meeting with many disappointments among his adherents, he died March 9, 1907. W. G. Voliva succeeded him, whilst the Dowieites were divided into two factions ; some stubbornly refusing to acknowledge Voliva as General Over- seer of Zion City, others preferring his executive abilities to those of the Dowie family. The Dowieites believe in the Blessed Trin- ity. They adore Jesus Christ and venerate the Bible as the inspired book of God. Dowieites ad- mit that hell fire is, as Christ says, everlasting. They believe that good works are necessary as well as faith. The following extract from Vo- liva's "Leaves of Healing," July 23, 1911, will show this: "The Apostle says that a fountain cannot send forth at one time, both sweet and bitter water. God does not like any "half-way" 194 DOWIEITES service. When you come to this altar, you put your whole being down there — your all : your spirit, your soul, your body, your memory — every- thing that is precious to you that is good iox something — God does not want any trash, nor any whiskey, nor any tobacco. If a man has a whiskey store, or a tobacco store, he does not consecrate it to God; he cannot, for God will not accept it. God wants a pure, holy sacrifice: a clean man." Since Dowieites presume that it is wrong to have a tobacco store, they cannot con- secrate it to God: they have to stay out of that business. The Lord has nowhere forbidden the traffic of either whiskey or tobacco. The abuse, however, of either article is a sin against the fifth Commandment: "Thou shalt not kill." In 1896, when Dowie was trying to form his new church, he made the following assertion con- cerning baptism : "I am a firm believer in Bap- tism as essential to a full and perfect Obedience, but if you desire to make Baptism a test of Christian Fellowship, I decline to be in such a Church, because I was a Christian before I was immersed." — A Voice from Zion. Dowieites are baptized by threefold immersion. They do not believe that a person becomes a child of God by baptism ; but hold, on the contrary, that one must be a child of God previous to immersion. Here they are at variance with the saying of Jesus Christ: "Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man 195 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." St. John 3; 5. In the Acts we read: "Do penance, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins. ,, Acts 2; 38. Before original sin and other mortal sins are remitted, a person cannot be called a child of God. Dowieites have communion services in mem- ory of the Last Supper, during which they receive bread and wine ; and whilst they partake of this, they implore God that this eating may result in a spiritual communion and partaking of the Blood of Christ. Their notion on the Blessed Eucharist is about as hazy as can be imagined, whereas the words of Jesus are as plain as they can be : "This is my Body. This is my Blood." Dowie once said: "There can never be a new church unless it be a false church. That whic'h is true with regard to Church organization is not new ; and that which is new is not true." A Voice from Zion, P. 43. On the next page he maintains : "The Church of God in each genera- tion must be a Building whole and complete in itself, and must be such a Building today in the nineteenth century, as it was nineteen centuries ago." Nineteen centuries ago, as may be seen from the Testimony of Well Known Writers of the First Five Centuries, in this very book, page 16 et seq. Christians believed in the unin- terrupted continuation of the Church which Jesus 196 DOWIEITES founded; they believed in the necessity of bap- tism for the forgiveness of sins as a means of becoming a true Christian ; they professed their belief in the Real Presence and in fact in all the teachings which the members of that same Church believe and practice today. The Church of "Prim- itive Christianity," to which Dowieites are fond to refer, continues throughout all ages, teaching and believing everywhere the same. Dowie's associate, Mr. Calverly, a former Methodist, made this remark anent Christianity: "What we have left has been handed down prin- cipally from the Apostate Roman Catholic Church — a miserable institution." Suffice it to add that Calverly's "miserable institution" is in no way the real Roman Catholic Church, but simply a creation of his deeply prejudiced mind; but it is true that what is left of Christianity, and thanks to God all is left of it, has been handed down and is being handed down by the Roman Catholic Church. As far as I can gather from his writings and sermons, Dowie spoke respectfully of the Catholic Church and its means of salvation. Speaking on St. John 20 ; 23 he remarks : "I know that some may think immediately that this approaches per- ilously near to Rome. I do not care a pin; if the Roman Catholic Church has a truth I am going to say it, and I do not care who takes the other side." A Voice from Zion, P. 11. It is a pity that 197 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS Dowie did not know much about the Catholic Church, otherwise he would have said the truths of this Church and led his people into it. He failed to do it. Therefore, he was either ignorant of what the Catholic Church teaches or he was not sincere in his statement. Every month the Dowieites are supposed to come to their temple and make a general confes- sion of repentance and of faith. On such occasions Dowie would ask them: "Do you mean it?" Up- on the answer: "I do mean it," he would assure them that their sins were forgiven. He was in no way a legitimate successor of the Apostles, and therefore he had absolutely no right to assure them of a thing of which he himself knew nothing. To the Apostles and their rightful successors was given the power to forgive and to retain sins. Jesus, addressing His Apostles, said to them : deceive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." St. John 20; 22, 23. The government of Dowie's new church is monarchical; and the members love to call it The Kingdom Movement of Zion. We have no ad- verse criticism to offer on their pious endeavor ito keep other denominations out of their city. Moreover we add that it is pleasing to God to pray for the recovery of the sick; but it is dis- pleasing to Him to refuse to make use of the 198 DOWIEITES medicinal helps which He has prepared for us in nature, of which He Himself is the author. It is wrong, anti-biblical and diametrically opposed to God's own verdict, to say that it is sinful to have recourse to a physician. Dowieites believe that God inspired the writers of the Bible. In the Bible we read : "Honor the physician for the need thou hast of him : for the most High hath created him. For all healing is from God, and he shall receive gifts of the king. The skill of the physician shall lift up his head, and in the sight of great men he shall be praised. The most High hath created medicines out of the earth, and a wise man will not abhor them. Was not bitter water made sweet with wood? The virtue of these things is come to the knowledge of men, and the most High hath given knowledge to men, that he may be honored in his wonders. By these he shall cure and allay their pains, and of these apothecary shall make sweet confections, and shall make up ointments of health, and of his works there shall be no end. For the peace of God is over all the face of the earth. My son, in thy sickness neglect not thyself, but pray to the Lord,, and he shall 'heal thee. Turn away from sin and order thy hands aright, and cleanse thy heart from all offence. Give a sweet savor, and a memorial of fine flour, and make a fat offering, and then give place to the physician. For the Lord created him : and let him not depart from thee, for his 199 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS works are necessary. For there is a time when thou must fall into their hands: and they shall beseech the Lord, that he would prosper what they give for ease and remedy, for their conversa- tion. He that sinneth in the sight of his Maker, shall fall into the hands of the physician." Ec- clesiasticus 38; 1-15. Though the Dowieites, as well as the Eddy- ists, or "Christian Scientists," refuse medical aid, they must not be confounded with the latter. Dowieites are Christians; "Christian Scientists" are not. Dowieites hope that God cure them; Eddyists pretend to cure by sheer mental effort. There is an essential difference between Faith- Cure and Mental Healing. Dowieites adore Jesus Christ, Eddyists do not; they deny His divinity. Dowieites believe in the necessity of penance and good works in order to gain heaven; Eddyists deny sin, death, hell, and all consequences of sin. Dowieites believe that God is the Creator of Heaven and earth; Eddyists maintain that every- thing is a part of God or, to use their own lan- guage, that God is All in all, that He is the only Mind. The Dowieites in general are well-meaning people. They pride themselves on belonging to the "Christian Catholic Church." May God grant them the grace really to become members of the Chris- tian Catholic Church which Jesus founded not in Zion City, but in Palestine some nineteen hundred 200 DOWIEITES years ago, and which still exists as He Himself foretold, and which is none other than the Catho- lic Church of which the Pope at Rome and not the Overseer at Zion City is the supreme visible head. According to the Statistics of 1911 as given in the World Almanac, the membership of this sect is 5,865 ; though the Dowieites themselves claim many more adherents. 201 SALVATION ARMY. Salvationists. William Booth and his wife Catherine, both preachers of the Methodist New Connection, since 1865 devoted a great deal of time to the noble work of instructing and bettering the inhabitants of the lowest slums in London, thus trying to lead all classes of profligates, thieves, drunkards, liber- tines and vagabonds to a better life. Moreover they preached to all who cared to listen to them. They went from city to city and succeeded in •gettirg co-laborers and gradually established small societies, which they called "Christian Mis- sion." In 1878 William Booth changed the name of "Christian Mission" to that of "Salvation Army." By that time he and his wife had over a hundred co-laborers. They made converts among the •ciasses mentioned and also among other people who were not affiliated with any particular church organization. The head of this imitative military band is called General. In fact the military idea is car- ried out in their uniforms, discipline, titles, and ■services. Their local associations are called "corps," their ministers, both men and women, ""officers," their public prayers "knee drills," their public religious exercises "skirmishes," etc. We see them in cities with their banners, making •all kinds of noise with drums and cymbals and 202 SALVATION ARMY. shouting "hallelujah." Whilst one of them speaks,, the others applaud, and women wave their hand- kerchiefs. In connection with some well-meant address, some of them will step out to tell the story of their conversion. Though the story is often told in the most uncouth manner, the pur- pose of it all is to give glory to Christ, who saved them, and induce other similar sinners to quit sin and lead a better life. As might be expected, many of the enthusias- tic converts relapse after a short time, and great scandals occur; for which, however, the Salva- tion Army ought not to be blamed. Some remain firm in their good resolutions and henceforth lead an honest life. Imitating the Catholic Brothers and Sisters of benevolent institutions, the Salva- tion Army helps to feed the hungry and to take care of the needy. Members of the Salvation Army are not known as church-goers, on the contrary they pre- fer to parade on the public streets. Mohammed- ans and heathens, as well as Christians, can be- come members of the Salvation Army without changing their creed. The Salvationists do not even consider baptism and Holy Eucharist in any way necessary for salvation. In their meetings doctrinal disputes are to be avoided; but all are supposed to believe that mankind was totally cor- rupted by the fall of Adam; that contrition and penance are necessary; that justification is accom- 203 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS plished solely through the belief in the atoning blood and merits of Jesus Christ and the witness of the Holy Ghost; that all mankind will be judged on the last day; that heaven is the eternal reward of these that are saved, and that hell is the eternal punishment for those who are lost. The Salvation Army wisely makes no pretense of being the one true Church. In the United States this denomination counts at present 26,850 adherents divided into two bodies, the Salvation Army established by Booth and the American Salvation Army, which seceded from the former in 1882 under Moore. The orig- inal organization is primarily philantropic, the latter primarily religious. 204 MORMONS, OR CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS. Joseph Smith, born in Sharon township, Wind- sor Co., Vermont, Dec. 23, 1805, is the founder of Mormonism. He claimed that a heavenly mes- senger by the name of Moroni appeared to him on the night of Sept. 21, 1823, who revealed to him three times that a complete record written upon gold plates with two transparent stones in silver bows like spectacles, by means of which the ancient record could be read, were deposited in the earth, in a hill (which was shown him), near Manchester, Ontario Co., New York. He, moreover, states that this angel placed these rec- ords of gold and the stone spectacles, called Urim and Thummim, into his hands on Sept. 22, 1827. Sitting behind a blanket to shield these records from profane eyes, the two stones upon his nose, Joseph Smith, the visionary, (so he says) began to read these records, the wonderful Book of Mormon. What Joseph Smith read by means of stone spectacles, Oliver Cowdery wrote down. Joseph Smith had never learned to read or write well, for his schooling had been somewhat neglected. The "Book of Mormon" was published 1830. It contains a peculiar Testimony of Three Wit- 205 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS nesses, who claim that they saw the plates. Since I have the book before me, as I write, I quote a few sentences of the testimony of the three wit- nesses : "And we also testify that we have seen the engravings which are upon the plates; and they have been shewn unto us by the power of God, and not of man. And we declare with words of soberness, that an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and the engravings thereon." The names signed are: Oli- ver Cowdery, David Whitmer, Martin Harris. Several years afterwards all these three witnesses quarrelled with Smith, renounced Mormonism and declared that their testimony in the Book of Mormon is false. When Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris admitted the falsity of their testimony in the Book of Mormon, eight other witnesses with equal soberness asserted that they saw the plates from which Joseph Smith translated by the aid of stone spectacles. Xobody else ever saw these golden plates. The imposition is very palpable. Although re- peatedly and loudly demanded, these supposed golden plates have never been forthcoming. Even among the Mormon leaders the knowledge of those fabulous plates and wonderful stone spectacles is at most traditional. Though his neighbors witnessed against Jo- seph Smith, and many held him up to ridicule, he 206 MORMONS succeeded in organizing his church at Fayette, N. Y., April 6, 1830, under the pretentious name of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He himself was accepted by his disciples as their first elder, and was subsequently honored by them as prophet and revelator. In 1843, when his lawful wife was jealous because of his cohabiting with other women, Joseph Smith, had another vision which resulted in establishing polygamy, which he taught and practiced. Others followed his ex- ample. This public scandal caused the trouble at Nauvoo, 111., between the Mormon militia and the U. S. soldiers. The governor of the state per- suaded the two Smiths, Joseph and Hyrum to surrender and stand a trial. But whilst they were in prison at Carthage, a mob overpowered the guards and shot and killed Hyrum Smith in- stantly. Joseph Smith used his revolver on the mob, but when his charges were exhausted in his attempt to escape, he was shot and fell to the ground dead, June 27, 1844. Thus died the founder of Mormonism, the advocate of polygamy. Soon after, Brigham Young was chosen first president of the Mormons. In 1845 the Illinois legisature repealed the Nauvoo charter. A year later Brigham Young went west and finally ar- rived in Salt Lake Valley, July 24, 1847. Salt Lake City was founded by the Mormons that same year. It became their lasting home. Brigham Young was not only their spiritual 207 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS leader, but upon the acknowledged petition sent to President Millard Fillmore, he became their rightful governor, 1850. The practice of polyg- amy has brought them repeatedly into conflict with the laws of the land. It may seem strange to the reader that the Book of Mormon forbids polygamy, whereas the founder of Mormonism practiced it to such an extent that sixteen women testified against him on account of this vice. In the book of Jacob (the third book in the Book of Mormon) chapter 3, V. 27, we read as follows : "Wherefore, my brethren, hear me and hearken to the word of the Lord ; for there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife ; and concubines he shall have none." Joseph Smith, in spite of this, es- tablishes polygamy as perfectly in harmony with the will of God. The Mormons have a wrong conception of the fall of man. They believe: "Adam fell that men might be ; and men are, that they might have joy." 2 Nephi, 2 ; 25. In other words they imag- ine that Adam's sin was that of lust. Holy Scrip- ture says plainly: "And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and fair to the eyes, and delightful to behold : and she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave to her husband who did eat." Gen. 3 ; 6. They believe in the necessity of baptism. "And now, if the Lamb of God, he being holy, 208 MORMONS should have need to be baptized by water, to fulfill all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to be baptized, yea, even by water." 2 Nephi, Chap. 31, V. 5. More- over they believe in the incarnation of the Son of God. "And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem (?) which is in the land of our fore- fathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed, and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God." Alma, Chap. r, V. 10. Mormons believe in the Blessed Trinity as is very plainly seen from different passages in the Book of Mormon ; they believe, too, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; that all men through the atonement of Jesus Christ may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. By ordinances of the Gospel they under- stand : Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins ; Repent- ance, and Laying on of hands for the gift of tie Holy Ghost. According to Elder M. F. Cowley, in his book "Cowley's Talks On Doctrine," page 83: "The Latter Day Saints regard our Heavenly Father as possessing an actual tabernacle of flesh and bones (not blood), and that in His image man is created." We know by the authority of St. John that Jesus said: "God is a spirit." St. John 4; 209 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS 24. On another occasion Jesus said: "A spirit hath not flesh and bones." St. Luke 24; 39. The Mormon flesh and bone theory of God is wrong; for God is a spirit and a spirit has not flesh and bones. "As Latter Day Saints we believe that all creation existed spiritually before the physical or- ganism was brought into existence." Cowley's Talks on Doctrine, P. 154. They base this theory upon Genesis 1 ; 24, by confounding spiritual ex- istence with kinds of creatures. And God said: "Let the earth bring forth the living creature in its kind, cattle and creeping things, and beasts' of the earth, according to their kinds. And it was so done." Gen. 1 ; 24. On marriage Mormons hold this opinion: "We believe that God ordained the union of the sexes in marriage, not only for time but for all eternity." Cowley's Talks on Doctrine, P. 274. Jesus teaches a different doctrine. When the Saducees trying to argue against the resurrection, brought the example of one woman who had been successively married to seven brothers and then died, they asked Jesus: "At the resurrection therefore whose wife of the seven shall she be? for they all had her. And Jesus answering, said to them: You err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they shall neither marry nor be married; but shall 210 MORMONS be as the angels of God in heaven." Matth. 22; 28-30. Abortion and other practices of the race sui- cide category scarcely ever occur among the Mor- mons. As a rule they have large families. "Be- cause the children are numerous they are not weaker, but usually stronger in body and intel- lect than in communities where the blighting curse of a reprehensible modern custom prevails. The wives of men thus taught and convinced of the sacredness of their procreative functions are healthier and happier in the home than are wives and mothers in other communities." Cowley's Talks on Doctrine, P. 276. Mormons dream of a happy Millennium when the Savior will visibly dwell and reign on earth in peace and universal happiness for one thousand years at Zion, the holy city of Jerusalem. He will put His feet on Mount Olivet, "and the mount will cleave in twain." The Jews will con- vert to Jesus and will be baptized for the remis- sion of their sins. The total number of Mormons, or Latter Day Saints is about 400,650. In the l'n ; *ed States there are 256,647 communicants divided into two sects; the smaller one with 40,851 adherents has always been opposed to polygamy. It was organ- ized in 1853. 211 PRETENDING TO BE CHRISTIANS. UNIVERSALISTS. James Relly, an associate of Whitefield in preaching Calvinistic Methodism gradually ex- changed his severe views of predestination for the other extreme of ultimate salvation for all, good, and bad alike about 1750. He succeeded in gathering a congregation of adherents in England. One of his preachers, John Murray, came to America in 1770 and began to preach Relly's tenets in Boston. All who adopted this extremely optimistic view were called Universalists. The sect was organized on this continent in 1785. John Murray died 1815. Universalists uniformly believe that ultimately all mankind will be saved. Some of them main- tain that all go straight to heaven as soon as they die; others hold that the wicked will be punished for a while, but that none will be pun- ished everlastingly. They do not believe in the existence of hell. Of Jesus they speak as of a man divinely sent and gifted with spirit and power above all other created intelligences ; they regard Him as a superior being in whom God displayed the brightness of His glory. They deny the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity and thus the Godhead of Jesus Christ. When they speak of 212 UNIVERSALISTS His divinity, they simply mean that He was di- vinely sent and that God in a special way mani- fested Himself in Him. In this sense they ad- mit His "divinity," but they flatly deny His "Godhead." In brief, they do not believe that He is God. Whenever the utterances of Christ are too plainly opposed to their views they resort to quib- bling. If they actually believe that Jesus "is gifted with spirit and power above all intelli- gence," they ought to admit the truth of His statements. Now Jesus says that on the last judgment day the King "shall say to them also that shall be on his left hand: Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire which was pre- pared for the devil and his angels." St. Matth. 25; 41. He plainly states that the punishment will last as long as the reward; for He says: "And these (the wicked) shall go into everlasting punishment; but the just into life everlasting." St. Matth. 25 ; 46. The Catholic Church teaches that there is a chance of salvation for all, even for the greatest sinners, if they co-operate with the grace of God and thus sincerely convert, if they do what God wants them to do, and becoming thus reconciled with Him die in the state of sanctifying grace. But those who die in mortal sin, are lost for ever. Death cuts off for them the opportunity of salvation. A mortal sin is a willful transgression 213 PRETENDING TO BE CHRISTIANS of the law of God in an important matter. Full knowledge of the evil, the full consent of the will, and an important matter in which the sin- ner offends, is necessary to constitute such a mortal sin. If a person repents of this sin, God as a kind Father, is willing to for- give; but if the sinner does not repent, he re- mains in the malice of the evil and dies as an enemy of God. It stands to reason that God does not reward His enemies with everlasting happiness in heaven. Their moral persuasion of leading people away from sin and to the practice of virtue is curtly given in the "Profession of Faith," which was adopted at Winchester, N. H., 1803, and in which we read: "We believe that holiness and true happiness are inseparably connected, and that believers ought to be careful to maintain order and practice good works ; for these things are good and profitable unto men." Article 3. Universalists, of course, have not a shadow of a claim to be the Church which Jesus founded; though they are not quite so un-Christian as the Unitarians, with whom they also differ in hold- ing at least some sort of supernatural inspiration of the Bible. The membership is given as 64,158. 214 UNITARIANS. The first congregation of Unitarians was gath- ered in London about the year 1645 by John Biddle. He is called the "Father of English Unitarian- ism/' Church history shows that individuals and temporary sects with tendencies similar to the Unitarians appeared spasmodically in the course of the Christian era. "The founder of the present organized body of English Unitarians was the Rev. Theophilus Linsley, who left the Church of England and gathered a Unitarian congregation in Essex Street, London, in 1774, which included many noted peo- ple. He was followed the next year by Dr. Jo- seph Priestley, famous as a man of science, and especially as the discoverer of oxygen. The law at that time held the denial of the Trinity to be blasphemy, and it was not until 1813 that Unitar- ians were placed on a level with other Dissen- ters." W. H. Lyon, A Study of the Sects. The theology of the Unitarian sect is of a negative character and consists mainly in a denial of Christian doctrines and practices. Uni- tarians reject the doctrine of the Blessed Trin- ity: the dogma of three persons in one God. Moreover, they deny the divinity of Jesus Christ, His supernatural birth, His vicarious atonement, and the institution of His saving sacraments. 215 PRETENDING TO BE CHRISTIANS Original sin and eternal punishment are not ad- mitted by them. In short, Unitarianism is simply a negation of Christianity. They take from the Bible what suits them and question the authen- ticity of such passages as do not agree with their opinions. Though esteeming the Bible as a mas- terpiece of literature, they deny its divine in- spiration. They deny all sacraments, but in spite of this generally adhere to the rite of infant bap- tism, and hold the Lord's Supper, which they have in their churches as merely commemorative of the death of Christ, as that of a martyr and as ex- pressive of spiritual communion with Him. Unitarians claim to be Christians and main- tain that Christ is their model man. But all those who deny the divinity of Christ, who deny that He is God, have no right to the name of Christian. The prophets inspired by God had foretold that God would redeem the world. They desig- nated Jesus Christ, the Son of the Virgin, whose birthplace would be Bethlehem, as the redeemer. For a more complete information on this topic, so dear to all who love Jesus Christ, I refer the reader to the booklet, "A Prophetic Biography of Jesus Christ," which may be procured at "The Messenger,' , Collegeville, Indiana, for 35 cts. a ccpy. Jesus proved His divinity by His miracles, His prophesies, His repeated testimony, and es- 216 UNITARIANS pecially by His own resurrection from the dead which He had foretold. Therefore Jesus is God. That He publicly claimed to be the Son of God was so well known that His enemies used this dec- laration as an argument against Him, to condemn Him to the cross. "Again the high priest asked him : Art thou the Christ the Son of the blessed God? And Jesus said to him: I am." St. Mark. 14; 61, 62. Read the accounts of the passion of Jesus as recorded in the last chapters of the gos- pel of Sts. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. From the time of Christ unto the present day the enemies of Christ have denied His divinity. They should not arrogate to themselves the name of Christian. We know that Unitarian literature is directed against Christ's divinity. Unitarianism in its dogmatic tenets is no more Christian than Judaism, Mohammedanism or heathenism. In practice they may resemble the Christians more than heathens generally do. No Christian can at the same time be a Unitarian. In this country the Unitarians are credited with an affiliated membership of only 70,542, but there are, alas, millions of nominally Christian unbelievers of their type. 217 UNITED SOCIETY OF BELIEVERS. SHAKERS. Ann Lee is the foundress of the United So- ciety of Believers, better known as Shakers. She was born at Manchester, 1736, and became the mother of eight children, but lost every one of them in death. The loss of her children made the woman deeply melancholy and temporarily insane. During these fits of mental suffering she muttered unintelligible words, which her admirers explained as strange tongues and conversation with the spirits. Being persecuted in England, she came to America, where she succeeded in gathering a sect into a communistic body about the year 1774, who were soon known by the name of "Shakers." Ann Lee was called the Elect Lady and was venerated as the leader and even as a dispenser of graces. She died in 1784. The Shakers do not believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ, but regard Him as a created being, superior to all other creatures. At first their so- called religious meetings were exceedingly boister- ous. They started their meetings with shaking the extremities of their bodies, worked themselves into a nervous fit and then began to hop and jump up and down the floor, clapping their hands and shouting with frantic glee. All of a sudden the leader, or elder, would call them to order. They 218 SHAKERS would stop and listen to his discourse. After which they would pursue their boisterous dancing until becoming completely exhausted. Even at this date the imaginary divine service of the Shakers is mainly a jumping, clapping, and shouting affair. It is anything but Christian. In their meetings many conduct themselves as veritable maniacs. The total membership as given in the World Almanac of 1911 is 516. 219 CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM. Emmanuel Swedenborg, born Jan. 29. 1688, the son of a Swedish Lutheran bishop, a scholar of considerable eminence and author of many- philosophical, mathematical and exegetical works, is the founder of the "Church of the New Jeru- salem." He expects us to believe that God in a solemn manner had destined him to introduce a new and permanent era of Christianity, that the heavens had opened to his gaze and the mysteries of God were unfolded to him, and many other wonderful things. Swedenborg claims that the New Jerusalem, the kingdom of God on earth, commenced on June 19th, 1770, on the very day on which he had completed his literary work: "True Christian Religion; containing the Universal Theology of the New Church"; and that upon its completion Jesus Christ sent out His Apostles through the entire spiritual world to announce to the spirits the glad tidings that henceforth God's kingdom was to remain for ever and ever. Thus the Church of the New Jerusalem was established in 1770 upon the mere, albeit per- haps honest, presumption of the visionary Emman- uel Swedenborg. In his alleged visit to the spirit-world he found Luther not as yet converted from the wrong doctrine on justification and consequently still 220 CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM. barred from heaven, and Calvin, he saw in hell on account of his stubborn refusal to abandon his false predestination theory. This is given in his book 'True Religion, etc.," Vol. 2, P. 553 sequ. Swedenborg does not hold the Lutheran doc- trine of justification by faith alone, but he in- sists upon the practice of charity, upon good works; neither does he in any way agree with Calvin on fatal predestination. But he denies original sin, the necessity of redemption, the Blessed Trinity, and five of the Sacraments, retaining Baptism and the Eucharist. In his interpretation of the Bible, or rather part of the Bible, for he does not believe in the Acts of the Apostles, nor in the letters of St. Paul, he ignores the literal sense and explains passage upon passage in an allegorical sense. This vo- luminous exegetical work is called "Arcana Coe- lestia." To give the reader a better knowledge of his mode of interpretation, I adduce a few quo- tations from the first volume of his "Celestial Arcana." "1. That the Word of the Old Testa- ment includes arcana of heaven, and that all its contents, to every particular regard the Lord, his heaven, the church, faith, and the things relating to faith no man can conceive who only views it from the letter. For the letter, or literal sense, suggests only such things as repect the externals of the Jewish church, when, nevertheless, it every- where contains internal things, which do not in 221 PRETENDING TO BE CHRISTIANS the least appear in those externals except in a very few cases, where the Lord revealed and unfolded them to the apostles — as that sacrifice is signifi- cative of the Lord — and that the church of Ca- naan and Jerusalem are significative of heaven, on which account they are called the heavenly Canaan and Jerusalem — and that Paradise has a like signification. 2. But that all and every part cf its contents, even to the most minute, not ex- cepting the smallest jot and tittle, signify and in- volve spiritual and celestial things, is a truth to this day deeply hidden from the Christian world, in consequence of which little attention is paid to the Old Testament. This truth, however, might appear plainly from this single circumstance: that the Word being of the Lord, could not possibly be given without containing interiorly such things as relate to heaven, to the church, and to faith. For, if this be denied, how can it be called the Word of the Lord, or be said, to have any life in it? From whence is its life, but from those things which possess life? that is except from hence, that all things in it, both generally and particu- larly have relation to the Lord, who is the very Life Itself? Wherefore whatsoever does not in- teriorly regard Him, does not live; nay, whatso- ever expression in the Word does not involve Him or in its measure relate to Him, is not di- vine/' Arcana Coelestia, Vol. 1 ; No. 1, 2. Swedenborg goes to the extreme in his alle- 222 CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM gorical interpretation of Genesis; for here he en- tirely ignores and at least apparently denies the literal sense. He offers no proof for the correct- ness of his allegories except an appeal to a crea- tion of his phantasy which he calls the "Most Ancient People" and tells us: "It was well known in the most Ancient Church." "In the beginning God created Heaven, and earth." Gen. 1; 1. By create Swedenborg under- stands to regenerate; by earth he denotes man, who was void of good, and empty of truth. "And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God moved over the waters." Gen. 1 ; 2. Swedenborg offers this allegorical explanation: "The faces of the abyss (deep) are the lusts of the unregenerated man, and the falsities thence originating of which he consists and in which he is totally immersed." A. C., V. 1, No. IB. "By the Spirit of God is meant the mercy of the Lord, which is said to move, or brood, as a hen broods over her eggs." A. C. P. 7; No. 19. From these few passages it becomes manifest that Swedenborg's interpretation may be very ap- propriately styled : An ingenious play of fancy. His form of Baptism gives us a clue to his opinion on the Blessed Trinity. Members of the Church of New Jerusalem use this formulary: "I baptize thee into the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is Father, Son, and Holy Ghost/* 223 PRETENDING TO BE CHRISTIANS This excludes three distinct persons and includes a threefold manifestation of one and the same person. Swedenborg and his adherents profess to believe in the Godhead of Jesus Christ. Jesus is God, the Eternal Truth. But He said : "I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, that he may abide with you for ever." St. John 14; 16. Hereby Jesus indicates that His Father is a person different from Himself, and the other Paraclete is neither the Father nor Himself, but a distinct third person. "But the Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I shall have said to you." St. John 14; 26. The formulary used by the Swedenborgians is not scriptural ; it is not the one that Jesus Him- self has given us, "Going, therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." St. Matth. 28; 19. Even if we admit that E. Swedenborg pos- sessed great learning and well deserved fame, we cannot ignore the fact that his writings betray a lamentable ignorance of Church-History, of the early Fathers, and of the dogmas held the world over. This total ignorance of ecclesiastical and dogmatic history leads him to the gratuitous as- sertion that the Council of Nice fabricated a new and erroneous notion of the Trinity. His whole 224 CHURCH OF THE NEW JERUSALEM. system of doctrines is dreamy and full of incon- sistencies. Though the author and founder of the Church of the New Jerusalem is extremely sober and ear- nest, nevertheless his writings contain abundant matter for amusement or ridicule. That J. A. Moehler holds a similar opinion will appear from the subjoined passage: "Swedenborg shows great pettiness, and even childishness, in making a sort of fire-work out of Holy Writ. In the spiritual world, says he, where the Bible is preserved in holy chests, in the sanc- tuary of the Temple, it is regarded with respect by the angels; (here the fire-work starts) and it is as radiant as a real star, and, at times, like the sun and its glimmering splendor forms the most magnificent rainbow ! If anyone, with his hands or clothes (?), touch the Bible, he is immediately environed with a brilliant fire, and he appears as if standing in the midst of a star bathed in light!" Doctrinal Differences, P. 468, 469. Swedenborg died, March 29, 1772, at London, where he claimed to have received his doctrines from God. His death was owing to a stroke of apoplexy which had disabled him since 1771. The World Almanac of 1911 divides the Swedenborgians into "General Convention" and "General Church" and gives the total membership of the Church of the New Jerusalem in this country as amounting to 7,243. 225 CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST. "CHRISTIAN SCIENCE," OR EDDYISM. The denomination which calls itself the Church of Christ, Scientist, but which is more properly styled Eddyism after its foundress, is neither Christian nor scientific in spite of the fact that it has come to be named Christian Science. It was founded 1876 at Boston, Mass., by the late Mrs. Mary Baker Glover Patterson Eddy. Her maiden name was Baker; the other names she acquired by marrying Mr. Glover, then Mr. Pat- terson, from whom she was divorced and during whose lifetime she became the wife of Mr. Eddy. The sum total of "Christian Science" tenets is contained in her book, which was published in 1875. It is called "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." From the contents of this book, as well as from the articles in the Christian Sci- ence Sentinel, the Christian Science Monitor, and other publications, we infer that the "Christian Scientists'" great hobby is "mental healing;" i. e., getting rid of the idea that there is really such a thing as matter, sickness, sin, and the conse- quences of the same. "Christian Scientists" do not believe in the Blessed Trinity: they do not believe that there are three distinct persons in God. They deny the divinity of Jesus Christ, whom they divide into two persons. Angels are not considered spirits 226 SCIENTISTS, EDDYISM. among them, but only divine messages, instead of messengers. Tfiey deny the creation of man, the maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the fu- ture resurrection of all men as well as the resur- rection of Jesus Christ, ignoring on this topic both history and Holy Scripture. Original sin, death, and hell are branded as delusions. Science and Health with Key to the Scrip- tures" contains the following sentence in the 169th Edition on page 140: "Man is neither young or old. He has neither birth nor death." On page 107 we read: "The sensation of sickness and sin exists only in be- lief"; and on page 172: "If God is admitted to be the only Mind and Life there ceases to be any opportunity for sin and death." "Christian Scientists" maintain that God is the only Mind and Life. In a leaflet entitled : "The Real and the Un- real," the Christian Scientist S. J. Hanna writes: "We wish it distinctly understood that our text- book does not treat sin, sickness, and death lightly, as some seem to think. On the contrary, it teaches that, humanly speaking, they are to be overcome and destroyed as Jesus and his disciples overcame and destroyed them. It teaches that it was a solemn mission of Jesus and his disciples to prove the unreality of sin, sickness, and death by detroying them, and that it is the duty of Jesus' followers in all ages to strive to learn the 227 PRETENDING TO BE CHRISTIANS divine law by virtue of which he did this, and having learned it to practice it in the interests of suffering and dying humanity." "Mental healing" in this case, according to their theory, would consist in getting rid of the idea of sin, sickness, and death. But as a matter of fact, the idea is not identical with sin, sick- ness and death ; and therefore even if you succeed in ignoring sin, the sin remains, unless it is re- pented for and forgiven. Mrs. Eddy tried hard to ignore death, but in spite of this she died Dec. 4, 1910. The fallacy of their reasoning is appar- ent. They advise people to fight a phantom, to 'destroy something unreal, and to look upon actual things and occurrences as mere delusions of mor- tal mind. Under the guise of mind, they idolize the 'body. I have perused their literature : "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures"; "Christian Science Sentinel," a weekly magazine; "The Christian Science Monitor," a daily paper; and the tracts "True Orthodoxy"; "Brotherhood of Man"; "How Should the Sick be Healed"; "Christian Science Business Life"; "The True Law"; "Les- sons from a Workshop"; "Healing the Sick"; "There Is Rest and Peace on Earth"; and "The Real and the Unreal"; but I fail to find any pas- sage treating of virtue, on how to serve God, on self-denial, on penance, or on anything whatso- ever which brings the soul nearer to Go'd. The 228 SCIENTISTS, EDDYISM. whole lesson taught by them is: idolize your body; take care of the body, but avoid the physi- cian and refuse medicine; be your own doctor by concentrating your thoughts upon the idea, that sin, death, and matter is all a delusion; or as the foundress of "Christian Science" puts it: "When the Science of Being is understood, every man will be his own physician, and Truth will be the universal panacea." Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, P. 38. Their tenets are anti-christian and absolutely materialistic. All they retain of Christianity is the name, the misnomer: Christian Science. Sac- raments and other means of grace are unknown, in their teachings. But one thing can be said to their credit: their literature is pure. They are supporting a clean daily, their own Christian Science Monitor,, which so far has been free from all sensational- ism and lewd details of scandals, and in this re- spect is far superior to any other English daily paper in this country. They are making great propaganda for their cult and distribute their literature most liberally among the people. This means liberal contributions on the part of their members, who are eager to disseminate "Christian Science" tenets. That many of them are sincere cannot be questioned. For a more complete statement of what "Christian Science" stands for, and in what 229 PRETENDING TO BE CHRISTIANS instances the teachings of "Christian Scientists" clash with the teachings of Jesus Christ and the verdicts of common sense, I refer my reader to my book on "Christian Science," called : "A Com- mon Sense View of Christian Science," which book may be obtained through any of the leading Cath- olic Publishing houses at 25 cents a copy. The Christian Scientists claim over a mil- lion members in this country, though the latest Religious Census (1906) credits them only with 85,717. 230 INDEX OP CONTENTS. Christian Denominations 3 Introduction 5 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. Jesus Christ, the Founder 7 Writers of the First Five Centuries 16 Chronological List of Popes 47 The Seven Sacraments 56 The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass 78 Mary, the Mother of God 85 Synopsis of Catholic Doctrines 94 The Catholic Church is the True Church 99 OTHER CHRISTIAN DENOxMINATIONS. The Greek Orthodox Church 103 The Lutheran Church 106 King Henry VIII. Against Luther 112 The Episcopal Church 129 Presbyterianism 135 Oongregationalists 142 Anabaptists 147 Mennonites 152 Baptists 155 Moravians, or United Brethren 170 Friends, or Quakers 173 Methodists 176 United Brethren in Christ 183 Adventists 188 Christian Catholic Church in Zion 191 Salvation Army 202 Mormons, Latter Day Saints 205 PRETENDING TO BE CHRISTIANS. Universalists 212 Unitarians 215 Shakers 218 Church of the New Jerusalem 220 Christian Science, or Eddyism 226 ALPHABETICAL INDEX. A Adventista 188 Advent Christians 189 African M. E. Church 181 African M. E. Zion Church 181 African Union M. P. Church 182 Age-to-Come Adventists 190 Ambrose, St 66 Anabaptists 147 Anglican Church 129 Anglican Orders 134 Anti-Mission Baptists 166 Antiquity, Argument 42 Apologetic Writer 21 Apostles, their names 8 Apostolic Constitutions 74 Apostolicity, Argument 47 Associated Presbyterian 141 Athanasius, St 32 Augustine, St 38 B Baptism, Sacrament 56 Baptists 155 Basil St 34 Bible Christians 181 Bible Translation 110 Biddle John 215 Blessed Virgin Mary 85 Booth William 202 Brief Synopsis of Catholic Doctrines 94 Brigham Young 207 Broad Church 133 Brown Robert 142 C Caesarius, St 72 Calvin John 135 Calvin's Assertions 137 Campbellites 167 Catholic Church 7 Catholic Church, True Church 99 Christ Jesus, Founder of the Catholic Church 7 Christ Jesus the Son of God 7 Christian Catholic Church in Zion 191 Christian Church 167 Christian Science 226 Chronological List of Popes 47 Chrysologus, St. Peter 71 Chrysostom, St . . . 67 Church of England 129 Church of God, Adventists 189 Church of God, Baptists 167 Church of Christ, Scientist 226 Church of the New Jerusalem 220 Clement, St 16 Colored M. E. Church 101 Confirmation, Sacrament 60 Congregational Methodists 180 Congregationalism 141 Cyprian, St 27 Cyiil of Alexandria, St 89 Cyril of Carthage 83 Cyril of Jerusalem, St 83 D Didache 57 Disciples of Christ 167 Dowie John Alexander 191 Dowieites 191 Dunkards 165 E Eddy, Mrs. Mary Baker 226 E-ddyism 226 Ephraem, St 35 Epiphanius, St 75 Episcopal Church 129 Eucharist Holy 62 Eusebius 30 Evangelical Adventists 183 Extreme Unction, Sacrament 71 F Free Baptists 16b Free Methodists 181 Friends, Quakers 173 Fox, George 173 Q General Baptists 164 Gterman Baptists 165 Greek Orthodox Church 103 Gregory of Nazianzus, St 88 H Hard Shell Baptists 166 Henry VIII. Against Luther 112 Hicksite Quakers 175 High Church 132 Hilary, St., 33 Holy Orders, Sacrament 73 I Ignatius, St 18 Independent Methodists 181 Innocent, St 62 Introduction 5 Irenaeus, St 21 J Jerome, St 36 Jesus Christ, Our God and Redeemer 7 Justin, St 21 K Kingdom Movement of Zion 198 Knox Jofon 13? L Lactantius 30 Latter Day Saints 205 Lee Anna 218 Life and Advent Union 190 Lindsly Theophilus 215 Low Church 133 Luther Martin 106 Luther and Bible Translation 110 Lutheran Church 106 M Mary, the Mother of God 85 Mass, Sacrifice 78 Matrimony, Sacrament 75 Maximus, St 77 Menno "Simonis 152 Mennonites 152 Methodists 176 Methodist Episcopal 180 Methodist Protestant 180 Miller William 188 Moravians 170 Mormons 205 Murray John 212 N New Congregational Methodists 181 New School Presbyterians 141 Nilus, St 68 Northern Presbyterians 141 O Old School Baptists 166 Old "School Presbyterians 141 Old Two^Seed etc., Baptists 167 Orders Holy, Sacrament 73 Origen 24 Orthodox Greek Church 103 Orthodox Quakers 175 Otterbein, Philip William 183 P Pacian 59 Particular Baptists 165 Penance, Sacrament 68 Peter Chrysologus, St 71 Photius 103 Physician and Bible 199 Pilgrim Fathers 143 Polycarp, St 20 Presbyterianism 135 Primitive Baptists 166 Primitive Methodists 181 Primitive Quakers 175 Q Quakers 173 It Reformed Presbyterians 141 •Regular Presbyterians 141 Relly James 212 Ritualists 133 Roger Williams 164 S Salvationists 202 Sacrifice of the Mass 78 Salvation Army 202 Scientists 226 Separate Baptists 167 Seven Sacraments 56 Seventh Day Adventists 189 Seventh Day Baptists 165 Shakers 218 Six Principle Baptists 165 Smith John 205 Smith Joseph 205 Storch. Nicolas 147 Swedenborg, Emmanuel 220 T Tertullian 25 Theodoret 68 Theodotus 91 Testimony of Early Writers 16 Tractarian Movement 132 U Union American M. E. Church % 182 Unitarians 215 United Baptists 167 United Brethren 170 United Brethren in Christ 183 United Methodist Free Church 181 United Society of Believers 218 Universalists 212 V Vincent of Lerin, St 40 Virgin Mary 85 W Welsh Calvinistic Methodists 181 Wesley Charles 176 Wesley John 176 Wesleyan Methodist Connection 180 Wesleyan Methodist 177 White Mrs 189 Whitefield George 176 Wilburite Quakers 175 Winebrennerians 167 Z Zinzendorf, Count Louis 170 Zion Union Apostolic Church 182 U.C.BERKELEY LIBRARIES CDM3b3 c mSE