^ R K E L £ V >^ ( JftS^ ) CATHOLIC RELIGION CATHOLIC RELIGION A STATEMENT OF CHRISTIAN TEACHING AND HISTORY BY CHARLES ALFRED MARTIN MEMBER OF THE CLEVELAND APOfiTOLATB Author of •♦Cana," "Follow Me," Etc. POPULAR EDITION B. HERDER BOOK CO. 17 South Broadway, St. Louis, Mo. AND 68 Great Russkli, St., London, W. C. 1919 2JIHIL 0B8TAT Sii. Ludovicif die 26, Junii, 1913 F. G. Holweck, Censor Librorum, IMPRIMATUR Sti, Ludovici, die 28. Junii, 1913 »{* Joannes J. Glennon. Archiepiscopus Sti* Ludovici ^OAN STACK Copyright, 1913, by Joseph Oummersbach All rights reserved Made in U, S, A, /^3^ I1M INTRODUCTION The story is told of the late Santicel Stehman TTalde- mafif the distinguished naturalist of the University of Pennsylvania and founder of the National Academy of Sciences, that when asked hy his friends what brought him to the threshold of the church, he would reply: — '^Bugs!" Then with good nature he answered their astonish- ment hy explaining that even the smallest insect pre- served in his cabinets, possessed the organism neces- sary for its proper actiinties. Head and members he always found working together as one body. His science thus led him to expect that if a church — as the embodiment of religion, were really part of the divine plan, and so had its place in the world, that church would be equipped by the common Creator, tvith the organization and means of action proper to it, as carefully at least, as is the beetle of a day. What his hypothesis demanded, Professor Haldeman believed he found realized in Catholic Christianity. Men are commonly enough impressed by the social organization of the church. A society of almost 300 millions of human beings, natives of every race and land, speaking a hundred different languages and dialects, boiind together by no political ties or material poiver or interests, ** Greek and barbanan, black and white, bond and free," a human Babel otherwise, — yet standing as a unit in their faith, working out the same philosophy of life in every possible condition of society, a brotherhood of intellectual conviction and iii iv INTRODUCTION 'moral determination, the hisJwps reaching every lowly member through the parish priests and uniting all through their union ivith the Bishop of Rome, the church has endured for 1900 years, an institution unique in human history. No less remarkable than the external solidarity of the church, aiid indeed the secret of it, is her consist- ent and coherent system of teachings and practices. From the mighty moral principles that reach down to the depths of human nature, to the symbolic regalia of her holiday pageants, all the church's doctrines of faith and precepts of morals and forms of^ worship are related to a few great truths, and are, in their time and place, the natural and proper expression of those truths. Scientists as well as poets have come to catch the music of the spheres. We know that in nature noth' ing is without meaning or out of place. If the tiny violet is not indispensable, at least it has grown nat- urally from its sod. Whatever is real and living in the physical world, we find to belong to the universal sum of its reality and life, and to be related to all things else. We observe this fact the more we appre- ciate the revelations of scientific research presenting to our eyes multitudinous life hidden till now from the foundations of the earth, and to our mind the infinite exactness of the laws of nature, in their interdepend- ence and ramifications uniting the whole cosmos into one throbbing life, as it loere, ivith all its unnumbered members working together for the common good. So in religion the truths of faith and the acts of worship which spring from them, are properly co- ordinated and subordinated members of an organic whole. They are, from their point of view the ex- pression, and in their province the law, of the consti- tuted order of things. We all of us are morally related to each other and to God, Religion is the INTRODUCTION v destimj of man in his union with God who is Truth and Love and Life Eternal. The present little ivork attempts to give in a single volume what might he called a hird's-ej/e-view of re- ligion. In a popular way, the author endeavors to review the great facts of religion, as they have de- veloped binder *Uhe providence of God and the folly of man'': and to present them in their relation to each other and to human life. In suggesting an introduc- tion to the greatest subject that has occupied the human mind, he desires to write, as much as possible, in the language of daily experience and unth a view to pra^ctical needs. The exhaustive treatment of the subjects and their more technical phrasing are left to the books of the philosopher and the theologian, the historian and the mystic, which arc mentioned in the Bibliography. The first part of the work briefly touches upo^i the religious needs and ideals of humanity — often vestiges of great truths that suggest a lost inheiitance of knowledge — perceived by poets and philosophers and expressed by them beautifully but darkly, without the surcness and fullness of revealed truth: and so leads up to the historical facts of the Incantation of Jesus Christ and the supernatural revelation perfected in Ilim. . The second part deals with the Christian Church, its origin and authority as a society and a teacher, and its relation to the Bible and to the religion of Christ. The third part deals with the practical and ultimate work of the Church, in the Sacraments that consecrate the several stages of the Christian's life. The fourth part presents a perspective sketch of the history of^ the Christian religion from its origin to the present time. The wise reader will not expect that which is im- possible. The book of the biologist is not life. It vi INTRODUCTION mai/ analyze certain conditions of life and ohserve cer- tain functions and may call a nicer attention to the life that is all around us. Meantime life is more than the hook. The scientist knows only too well, how ex- ternal are his observations, and how almost completely the mystery — life, ever eludes his most delicate touch. So religion is more than the words that are written ahout it. The apologist must he content, digging down through human nature and history, to touch the solid foundations of religion, to record the history of its expression in words and deeds, to trace the origin of its organized activities, to ohserve its effects on the individual and society, and to analyze somewhat their causes. All this is good and use fid and interesting as is the lahor of the hiologist. The theologian knows that his words do not exhaust the mystery. Yet the reader may learn much of the power which makes the pious mother seem as an angel in her home. CONTENTS Iiitro : **the Father and I are one.''^ On this and other occasions, as in His encounter with the Jews about the Sabbath,* and His claim to have existed before Abraham was born,^ the Jews ''took up stones to cast at Him," because as they said, ' ' being a man thou makest thyself God. ' ' ^^ Thus His enemies understood Jesus to speak of Him- self. When He said of Abraham — who had lived some 2,000 years before Christ's appearance on earth — ''before Abraham was made, I am," the Jews caught the contrast between His own claim of un- created being and the creation of their national pa- triarch; and understood His eternal I AM, as a synonym of Deity. ' ' ^^ Some critics contend that Je- sus withdrew His claim and placed Himself in the same class as His hearers who are as God because they receive the word of God. On the contrary, Jesus differentiates Himself from them, saying that if they are so called, a fortiori is He free from blas- phemy in so calling Himself.^- In His trial before Caiphas, the High Priest re- ferring to the charges brought against Jesus, de- manded of Him: "I adjure thee by the living God, to tell us if thou be the Christ, the Son of God." The question reveals that the people understood Jesus as claiming to be the Messiah, the long ex- pected Christ. The question was clearly put and excluded all subterfuge. The answer of Jesus was no less precise : ' ' Thou hast said it. I am. ' ' ^^ Its significance was fully realized. The High Priest tore his garment, exclaiming: "He has blasphemed: He is guilty of death." Jesus was taken to Pilate with the accusation: "We have a law; and accord- 7 John 10, 24-39. "Ex. 3, 14. 8 John, 5, 18. 12 John 10, 34-36. »John 8, 58. " ^t. 26, 63; Mk. 14, 62; Luke 22, 71. 10 John 10, 33. DILEMMA OP UNBELIEVERS 41 ing to the law, He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God." And for this truth Jesus died. 7. DILEMMA OF UNBELIEVERS. In view of the esteem in which, after 1900 years of scrutiny, the greatest minds of the race hold the character and influence of Jesus Christ, a dilemma is forced upon the unbeliever when he considers the idea Jesus had of Himself and communicated to His associates. If Jesus is not the God-Man, what is He ? To attack the testimony that Christ gives of Himself, is to suppose either that through lack of intelligence He could, in good faith, be mistaken about His own nature; or else that through lack of sincerity, He intended to deceive others. In either case Jesus -would sink to the lowest level. He would be either a designing knave or a mis- taken fool. A great man may be mistaken in many things and still be both honest and wise. But to be deluded with the hallucination that he was God, would leave a man neither wise nor great: while to lead others into such an error, without sharing it himself, would be the most monstrous imposture. Is Jesus Christ the knave or fool, whichever it be, of the logical infidel, or is He the Messiah of the Christian? As Jesus presents Himself to the world. He must be all or He must be nothing. He must crumble into dust or we must fall at His feet. Ad Absurdum. Is it probable that the one ideal character which the human race has produced, should be likewise its supreme impostor? or that the most civilized peoples have bowed down before a delirious dreamer, their proudest spirits counting themselves unworthy to be named with him? Is it credible that the influence which through the ages 42 JESUS CHRIST has been most beneficent, inspiring every virtue and every loving service, should be the memory of a de- ceiver? or that the teachings which have been cher- ished as the highest wisdom and a revelation from God, should be the ravings of a madman? Is not such a supposition an affront to the sanity of the race ? a turning into a Babel of confusion of our no- blest history and highest aspirations? It is true that infidelity seldom has the hardihood to follow its principles to these logical conclusions. But it avoids them only by stopping short of accounting to itself for the mystery of Christ, whose claim of divinity it denies. Role of Divinity. If Jesus was not divine. He needlessly created for Himself unaccountable difi&- culties in making such a claim. Thenceforth it be- comes necessary that in all His actions He should sustain the role of Divinity. Even in His death, He must afford proof of this divine nature. Was this humanly possible? No historical personage before or since, has set himself up as God. It is the first and last time in history. Man is not capable of ut- tering so bold a falsehood. The title of Prophet or Messenger of God would perhaps have been probable and serviceable. But the title of very God added nothing but difficulties to His enterprise. Does the character of Jesus Christ sustain this role of Divinity which He assumed? Or does He at times, as the impostor sooner or later must, fall be- neath the sublime in His thoughts ; reveal the weak- ness of the human heart in His feelings ; grow fright- ened at the temerity of His own claims; lose confi- dence in Himself and hesitate in His actions ; and so betray Himself ? No ! Absolute confidence in Him- self never failed Him for a single hour. His very forbearance to employ any of the ordinary human meens — ^politics, power, schools of philosophy or sci- THE RESURRECTION 43 ence — to insure the success of His work, proves His inflexible resolution and the omnipotent energy of His will. Meantime His heart was open to men as the sanc- tuary of tenderness and purity : and after 1900 years of scrutiny, it cannot be said that it ever fell below the divinest ideals ; much less that it was ever domi- nated or even disturbed by an unworthy impulse. He challenged the world to convict Him of sin ; and in His presence alone, calumny and envy are silent. His intelligence is sublime — not as of even the great- est men, half a dozen times in a whole life — but with a continuous elevation. He reveals His conceptions of the Deity and of moral life. They are not the affectations of the pretender who might have pre- sented, as his model of divine dignity, the Jupiter Tonans of the Pagans. The conceptions of Jesus are at once most simple and most profound. Though unthought of by men until revealed by Him, they are universally recognized as incompara- bly vital and true — the worthy revelation of the di- vine. 8. THE RESURRECTION. As an evidence of His divinity, Jesus continually appealed to His resurrection, in whicn miracle He wished, as it were, to summarize His credentials. Investigation of this historical fact indeed reveals it as proof comprising in itself all the other evidences of Christ's divine mission. St. Paul was ready to stake everything on its testimony: *'If Christ be not risen, your faith is also vain. ' ' ^ Those who would call into question the divinity of Christ, seek to discredit the resurrection. Unable to controvert the evidence of the Savior's life and acts after His ^Cor. 15, 14. 44 JESUS CHRIST crucifixion, Strauss had recourse to the desperate expedient of denying the reality of the death on the cross. Renan concedes that Jesus actually died on the cross, but asserts that Magdalen was the dupe of a fervid imagination in declaring that she saw the risen Lord. The French infidel seemed to forget that Magdalen was only one witness among hundreds who, under a variety of circumstances, beheld the risen Christ. Harnack and some of the Modernists admit the death of Jesus and the belief of His dis- ciples in the resurrection; while they urge that it was only a spiritual resurrection, true indeed in faith but not in history. Thus one antagonistic theory contradicts another. Doubt. The following incident related of one of the disciples of Jesus, makes us the more ready to believe their writings — viewed even humanly as mere historical documents — when they record the facts of the first Easter Sunday. ^'Now Thomas, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples there- fore said to him: 'We have seen the Lord.' But he said to them: 'Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe. ' And after eight days again His disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus Cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said: 'Put in thy finger hither, and see my hands ; and bring hither thy hand and put it into my side; and be not faithless but believing.' Thomas answered and said to Him: 'My Lord and my God! '"^ Though Jesus had foretold His resurrection, and thus His disciples might have been somewhat pre- pared for that event, Thomas was not the only one 2 John 20, 24-29. THE RESURRECTION 45 who hesitated, till forced by the evidence of his own senses, to believe that the Master whom he had seen expire on the cross and buried in the tomb, had indeed risen from the dead and was again liv- ing and speaking with men. So far were they from being over-creduloiis, that when the first reports of the resurrection reached the Apostles, they regarded them as dreams and did not believe them.^ Even when certain of the Apostles actually saw the risen Christ and spoke with Ilim, they would hardly trust their own eyes; and could find little credence with their brethren.* Evidence. Yet in spite of this skepticism which refused to believe till convinced by indisputable proofs, all of the Apostles were soon rejoicing in the triumph over death of their Master, and proclaim- ing His resurrection as an evidence of His divinity and of the truth of His teachings. They had beheld the indisputable proofs and were convinced. They had seen the Savior: and the circumstances under which Christ appeared after His resurrection prove that the disciples were not deceived. He was seen not only by the Apostles ° but by many, even by more than five hundred brethren at once. He ap- peared not once only, but repeatedly during forty days, till His ascension. He spoke and ate with His disciples and showed them the marks of His wounds and commanded them to touch those sacred scars. Even the enemies of Christ had unwittingly taken measures that proved further evidence to establish the fact of His resurrection. They made certain that he was really dead before they allowed His body to be taken from the cross ; even going to the excess of piercing His body with a spear, after hav- ing pronounced Him dead.^ Moreover, knowing » Luke 24, 11 ; Mk. 16, 11. * Luke 24, 37. «John 20, 19-26; Mk. 16, 14; Mt. 28, 16-18; I Cor. 15, 6; Acts, 1, 1-9. «John 19, 34. 46 JESUS CHRIST that Jesus had prophesied that He would rise after three days, as a precaution against the possibility of His body being stolen by His friends or of any other deception, influential Jews had demanded of Pilate that a guard of Roman soldiers be stationed at the grave/ In spite of the guard of soldiers, and the stone barriers of the tomb, an3 the icy grip of death, Jesus came forth on Easter morn to the astonishment even of His Apostles; manifesting His divinity by the fulfillment of the prophecy and by the display of the miraculous power to which He had repeatedly appealed as the final credential of His mission.^ Faith. The fact of the resurrection with its sig- nificance for Christian faith, has providentially come down to us proved by evidence adequate to such a mightily important event. The Apostles were intel- ligent and reliable eye-witnesses of the risen Lord. Their slowness to believe the marvel except upon the evidence of their own senses, shows that they were as little moved by the impulse of enthusiasm as is the modern scientific observer. Their truthful- ness and sincerity are manifested in their whole con- duct. Though they soon experienced that the preaching of the resurrection of their Master would lead to their own persecution and death, with the di- vinely fearless strength of men who know that they proclaim a truth transcendently great, the Apostles continued to preach everywhere the resurrection, till one be one, they laid down their lives as martyrs for the divinity of Jesus Christ. 9. A STANDING MIRACLE. There are other facts throwing light on the life of Jesus Christ, which taken together constitute 'Mt. 27, 62-66; 28, 11-15. «Mt. 12. 38-40- 20. 19; 27, 63; John 2, 18-21. A STANDING MIRACLE, 47 overwhelming evidence of His Divinity. The his- tory of the Old Testament, covering as it does a period of several thousand years, is a record of the expectation of a Messiah. It contains the history of the family from which the Messiah was to spring. It chronicles the hope of a Savior, ever growing from the dim promise in Genesis,^ to the revelation of His life and death in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Dan- iel. Jesus Christ declared that these Scriptures spoke of Himself.*- Certainly He alone fulfills and explains the Hebrew covenant and the exp*ectation of the nations. The life of Jesus, His birth. His teachings. His miracles, reveal His divine character. Even the quiet days of Christ's early ministry, when from village to village. He went about doing good, ex- emplifying in His unstrained charity, His calm wis- dom. His simple dignity, at once the ideal life of man and the attributes of God, are for many souls whom meditation has made appreciative of that life, satisfying evidence of His divine Sonship and union with the Father. There is before the eyes of the world even to this day, a standing miracle bearing witness to the divin- ity of Jesus Christ. We look back to the carpenter of Nazareth, living for some thirty years in His ob- scure village. Remote from the centers of intel- lectual life. He is, by His social position and environment, cut off from the opportunities of human education and large experience. He is the scion of a race narrow and self-centered. He sud- denly announces that He brings religious teachings for all nations and for all ages. He prophesies that His Kingdom will triumph and endure to the end of time, even while He himself goes to the cross after only two or three years of public life. Dying He »Gen. 3, 15; 49, 10. »John 5, 39-46; 4, 26; Act. 18, 28. 48 JESUS CHRIST leaves behind Him no single written word, no polit- ical alliance, no philosophical school; only a dozen common laborers to continue His work. After the lapse of 1900 years, we behold about us, the splendid fulfillment of His promises which when uttered, seemed by every canon of human criticism, to be meaningless dreams utterly incapable of real- ization. We are confronted with the fact that His Apostles have actually taught the nations. Their message reveals ever deepening worth, as we are more able to understand and appreciate its vital truths. While the institutions and dynasties and very civilizations of His day have all passed away, Jesus Christ remains, and His Kingdom covers the earth. In the presence of this standing miracle, we may well bow our heads before the mystery and say, with the centurion at the cross: ^* Truly this is the Son of God. "3 10. THE GOD-MAN. Christians speak of the mystery of the human and divine in Jesus Christ, as the mystery of the Incar- nation: *'The Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us."^ In Christ, God has sent to us not merely a prophet, but His Son who is ' ' the effulgence of His Glory and the figure of His substance. " ^ In Christ is the Incarnation of the divine Wisdom. He is the second person of the Trinity, the Word or mental image of God's substance generated by the eternal act of the Father's self-knowledge. ^'No man knoweth the Son but the Father, neither know- eth any man the Father, save the Son and those to whom the Son will reveal Him. ' ' ^ Though the In- carnation has been the object of study of the great- est minds, a mystery it must ever remain. We can » Mt. 27, 54. 1 John 1, 14. » Heb. 1, 1-3. » Luke 10, 22. THE GOD MAN 49 know many things about it, but we can never hope to comprehend it. In th^ person of Jesus Christ are united the human nature of His earthly Mother Mary, and the divine nature of His eternal Father. He is a man, like unto us in all things save sin : and He is God. Christ comes to the world as its Redeemer, enlight- ening us by His faith and enlivening us by His grace. Man falls through desire of false wisdom,- and is redeemed through the substantial "Wisdom of the Godhead."* The work of Jesus Christ rises above the order of nature to the supernatural. He reveals divine truth as it would never have dawned upon unaided human reason. He provides us means to a union with God utterly surpassing any hope of our own merit or power. He opens up the way leading to the beatific vision of God, Tviiich is not the due of man but the gracious favor of .Heaven. Though in this world, His kingdom is not of this world. In the midst of nature, His subjects already dwell in the supernatural state. His grace does not destroy human nature but presupposes it and elevates it. He came that we may have life and have it more abundantly. To His words and works and His whole plan of salvation, the key is, the supernatural. The divine Word that is tlie Son of God by nature, ena- bles us to become the sons of God by adoption, whereby we may truly call God our Father.® Christ, the Son of God, calls upon all men to fol- low Him. He comes speaking as one having author- ity. *'I am the way, the truth and the life. Follow Me."* He is the vine only in union with which, can the branches bear fruit or live. He demands a complete self-surrender — the giving up of father and mother and home, if these stand in the way of dis- * St. Thos. Sum. Theol. III. Q. 3. A. 8. • 6 Rom. 9, 4; 8, 15-23; Gal. 4, 5; Eph. 1, 5. •Mt. 7, 29; John 14, 6; Mt. 16, 24. 50 JESUS CHRIST cipleship with HimJ To open our minds to His message and to conform op.r wills to its every pre- cept, is at once the highest wisdom and the essential duty. Under His standard men find the sense of security and inner strength and spiritual life which led St. Paul to say: *'If God be with us, who is against us ? Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor might, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ' ' * 11. RESUME OF PART ONE— THE FOUNDA- TIONS OF RELIGION. We have seen that the foundations of religion are God and the soul. Religion exists because God and man exist and have relation to each other. Cor- rectly speaking only the true relation between man and God is worthy of the name religion. In this absolute sense there is only one religion as there is only one truth. The word is used in a loose sense to cover what might be called man's attempts at re- ligion. Again in a more proper sense we speak of natural religion and supernatural religion. As man has been called by God to a supernatural destiny and God has in a supernatural way revealed to us His divine will and plan of our salvation, the^true religion is actually supernatural. It is the relfgion of Jesus Christ. As all men are related to God, every man has his religious responsibilities. Only the thoughtless say they have no religion because they have enrolled themselves in no religious society. One may not live up to his religious duties or even be fully informed of them ; but each and every one has relation to God »Mt. 10, 37. "Rom, 8, 39. RESUME OF PART ONE 51 as creature to Creator, as child to Father. We can no more get away from that relationship than the son can make cease his relationship with his par- ents. It is true, the ingrate may shamefully repudi- ate and cast out his father and mother; but their son he remains. To understand this bond as it is revealed to us in God's will, is to know our religion. To live in harmony with this truth, is to practice our religion. As union with God, in knowing and doing His will, brings man's life into harmony with trutii, the true religion makes possible man's highest development. It alone teaches him to make all his deeds work to- gether towards his supreme end. Even in this life religion begets action. *'A11 epochs,'' says Goethe, *'in which faith is dominant, are brilliant, elevating, and pregnant for the present and the future. Those on the contrary that are under the sway of a mis- erable skepticism, dazzle for a moment, but are soon forgotten, because worthless in the knowledge which bears no fruit. Unbelief belongs to weak, shallow and retrograding minds.'' It could not be other- wise. Ideals and earnest convictions alone can arouse man to heroic deeds. Doubt can destroy, but it has no power to create or renew. Uncertainty on the supreme problem, the very meaning of life, stuns the best energies of man and depresses and paralyzes the soul. **If I had the gift of faith in my hands," said Thiers, *'I would pour it over my country. I prefer a hundred times a nation with faith, to one without. The former has more enthu- siasm for enterprise, more heroism in defending its greatness." The man of faith is no Ploszow'ski with his hope- blighting "cui bono." He is no cynic, to whom ' ' life is but a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing." He can find triumph in 52 JESUS CHRIST failure. He is neither a server of time nor a slave of men. He lives and dies for the highest good, con- scious that he works with God and for eternity. "Believers have been world-compellers and world revealers. They have conquered with Paul; they have founded empires with Charlemagne ; they have written epics with Dante and Milton; they have read the secret of the stars with Copernicus and Kepler; they have sailed the seas of darkness with Columbus ; they have cleared the wilderness for the people's rule with the Puritans. Life's current has welled within them in a clear, perennial, fresh-flow- ing stream; and they have faced death himself, be- lieving that he unlocks the door, through which we pass to God by whose throne flows life's full tide." ^ We have seen that Jesus is the Christ, the divine Son of God, bringing to our race, truth and grace and so eternal life. The teachings of Christ, the means by which He raises the individual soul to union with God, the instruments by which He con- tinues His work in the world and establishes His reign among men, will be the matter of the following chapters. * Spalding, "Religion, Agnosticism and Education." PART TWO CHAPTER IV THE CHURCH AS A SOCIETY 12. THE CHURCH FOUNDED BY CHRIST. As one reads the history of Jesus Christ, he is im- pressed with the fact that Christ gathered His fol- lowers into a society furnished with definite social organization and with certain sacramental rites. This social union was at once the inevitable fruit of Christ 's precepts of love and mutual helpfulness, and His chosen means by which His influence would be spread through the world and preserved to future generations. The Kingdom. Christ came to exalt the individ- ual in virtue ; to bear witness to the truth ; to exem- plify the highest love; to unite men with God, and with one another as brothers under the one Father; to break down the barriers of ignorance and wrong, of caste and race-prejudice; to make the world a great spiritual empire — the ''Kingdom of God'* on earth. That the kingdom may exist ''within you/' it exists likewise without.^ Through organization, Christ planned to carry on His work. He repeatedly speaks of the kingdom in the terms and under the figures of a visible soci- ety. He calls His followers the Kingdom of »LuTce 17, 21; Mt. 6, 10. 53 54 THE CHURCH AS A SOCIETY Heaven.^ He likens them to a fold of sheep led by shepherds ; ^ to a mustard seed destined to grow to a mighty tree sheltering the birds ; * to leaven which will leaven the world ; ^ to a field in which are found tares as well as good wheat ; ^ to a net with good and bad fish ; '' to a vineyard with its master and la- borers.^ He calls them His Church.® Christ gives to the Church the essential features of its constitution. To represent Him in a special way and to act as His ministers or agents in spread- ing and perpetuating His work, He selects from among His followers, the twelve apostles.^*^ These he appoints the shepherds of His flock.^^ He clothes them with authority to govern the brethren.^^ Into the mouth of these, His teachers accredited to the world, He puts the preaching of His Gospel.^^ Into their hands He entrusts the administration of the sacred rites of the new covenant." To one of the twelve He gives the **Keys of the Kingdom," ^^ the symbols of the preeminence of him who being the servant of the servants, is the leader.^^ Membership in this society was conditioned by the initiatory rite of Baptism ^^ and marked by the frequent reception of the Eucharistic Sacrament.^® It is open to all men. All the sheep of the divine shepherd must be brought into this fold.^^ ^Mt. uses "Kingdom of Heaven" 34 times; others use "K. of God." 'John 10, 14. *Mt. 13, 31. "Mt. 13, 33. •Mt. 13, 24. »Mt. 13, 47; 4, 19. •Mt. 20, 1. •Mt. 16, 18. Word used over 100 times in N. T. "Mk. 8, 13. "John 21, 17. «Mt. 18, 18. "Mt. 28, 18. "Mt. 28, 19; Luke 22, 19; John 20, 28. «Mt. 16, 19. "Luke 22, 26. "John 3, 5. "L Cor. 11, 23-29. "John 10, 16. CHURCH FOUNDED BY CHRIST 55 Unity. Christ foresaw how the Church would develop in its details in order to accomplish its mis- sion in every environment. He saw, too, how this work would be hampered by the human tendency toward disunion. To insure the permanence of the Church and the success of its work, He promised that the Holy Spirit will abide with it to the end of time.^^ The powers of evil shall not overcome it.^^ After His last supper Christ prayed that all His fol- lowers, both the apostles and those who would come to believe in Him through their preaching, might continue in a unity which would be seen by the world and from which the world might know that He was sent of God.^2 So the Church of Christ was to be a public and visible society, whose members bound together in a common faith and love, would, pre- cisely by this unity, convince the world of their di- vine origin. After the departure of Jesus, we find the apostles acting together as a society. They hold legislative council.^^ They appoint fellow-workers.^* They sit in judgment of the brethren.^^ They cut off unwor- thy members.^* Their work required this organiza- tion; the work of teaching with mutual council and agreement; of charity with needful cooperation; of sacramental worship with tepples and worshipers. The Master has ordained this organization. All who would be His disciples, must henceforth enlist beneath the banners of His Kingdom; and contrib- ute of their particular talents to the common effort to propagate His truth and promote His love. The Church is the embodiment of the Christian reli- gion. The Church. It is the necessity of our earth, that the spirit of institutions, as well as the souls of men, ^ojohn 14, 16. »Act. 15, 28. 20 Act. 5. 3. =»Mt. 16, 18. "Act. 6, 5. 2«I. Cor. 5. "John 17, ^1. 56 THE CHUECH AS A SOCIETY must have a body, if their influence is to be ade- quately exercised. Only in the organization of our Eepublic in 1776, did the spirit of our national lib- erty — and all that the history of that phrase means — receive the tangible and efficient shape that we may call its body. Organization enables us to enjoy and defend our freedom; to bequeath it to our chil- dren; and to make it the privilege of other men. In our present millions of people, our complex laws, foreign relations and machinery of government, the heroes of Valley Forge would hardly recognize the little federation of 1776. Yet we, America of the twentieth century, are but the development of that humble beginning. A man does not prove his identity by returning to his cradle. Our many laws exist only to protect our liberty: our manifold rela- tions, only to promote the happiness of all in our different conditions. The highest national virtue is still the patriotism that would live and die for the country. Worthy citizenship is still the sufficient honor. The darkest crime is still treason against rightly constituted authority. Like our Republic,^^ the Church has grown. The mustard seed has become a mighty tree. The leaven has leavened the world. Cockle has indeed appeared amid the good wheat ; but it is no part of the wheat. The kingdom has been assailed by all the powers of evil; but the gates of hell have not prevailed. The Church has not left Christ in the poverty of Beth- lehem. She has enlisted in His service the highest culture and eloquence. She has beautified His tem- ples with every art. She has glorified His Cross on her steeples. She herself has developed, as develop she must, if she would live. But she has not changed. To unite men with God and with one an- " The CRurch is a society sui generis, having some features of both empire and republic, while belonging to a different order from either. THE HEAD OP THE CHURCH 57 other, to mold lives in the image of Jesus Christ, is still her one work. That the Spirit of God might be within us, His Church has been without. She is a continuation through the ages, of the Incarnation. The history of the Church is the history of Chris- tianity in the world. 13. THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH. Following the analogy of the human body, with its various members working together harmoniously under the direction of the head, nature teaches us the necessity of placing a leader at the head of any society of men, in order to hold its members to- gether and enable them to carry out its purposes. This is the conception of society, as opposed to the unmarshalled mob ; of law and order, as contrasted wuth anarchy. The business, social, political or mil- itary organization must have its proper head. The town has its mayor, the state its governor, the re- public its president as the representative of the cen- tral authority that unites its citizens. So essential to the well-being of the republic is the chief execu- tive officer considered, that with him, is always elected a vice-president; and provision is made for the legal succession of even further subordinates, to take the presidential chair in case of necessity. In the United States, Maine is uilited with New Mexico, Oregon with Florida, through their com- mon union with the central authority of the country at "Washington. All our hundred million citizens stand as one man in civic strength, because each ac- knowledges the leadership of the president, in whosie person the nation is made one. Within the proper sphere, union with the central government at Wash- ington and with its representative, the president, is the test of loyalty and patriotism. Rebellion against 58 THE CHURCH AS A SOCIETY the constituted authority, secession from the union, is treason, which brings down upon the offender loss of citizenship and liability to death. Christ's Headship. What our human wisdom teaches us to do for any organization which we wish to deal successfully with men, Christ's divine wis- dom led Him to do for the Church which He founded to carry on His work among men. He gave to His Church a visible head. Christ Himself is ever the invisible head of the Church, as He is, in a sense, the invisible head of the nation. By His authority ''Kings rule and law-givers decree just things.'' But the Church, like the Republic, being a visible society, made up of and for visible men, stands in need likewise of a visible head. Christ indeed is our King. He is the divine Sovereign of the King- dom. He is indeed the Head of the Church, com- municating His own spirit to the members of His mystic body.^ He still guides His earthly flock; only not in visible person, as He did in the days of His sojourn on earth ; but through the hands of His apostles and their successors, human instruments through whom He works and with whom He abides to the end of time.^ Christ's Vicar. The Gospel history tells us that from among the twelve apostles, it was Simon Bar Jona, better known as St. Peter, whom Christ ap- pointed the leader among the apostles, the father of the brethren, the chief pastor of the Church and the highest representative of Himself after His own departure from this world. Simon Peter is coristi- tuted the visible head of the Church; the rock of central authority on which the Church is built up and its members held together in the unity of faith and the bond of charity. 11. Cor. 12, 27. 2Mt. 28, 18. CHRIST ESTABLISHED PAPACY 59 14. CHRIST ESTABLISHED THE PAPACY WITH PETER AS THE FIRST POPE In the mind of Jesus Christ, the workings and needs of the Church were all foreseen and provided for. The plan of the divine architect neglected no essential point. Simon was chosen ^ and his future ofifice designed by the Master, before the day when Andrew brought his brother to Jesus, saying: **We have found the Messiah.'* At that first meeting with Simon, Jesus gave a hint of what the future was to bring. Looking upon the fisherman. He said : *'Thou art Simon the son of Jona. Thou shalt be called Cephas" — which, as St. John explains, is by interpretation a rock.^ Cephas. What the Lord meant by these words, the apostles were to learn later on. Before hearing their solution, we shall look carefully at the strange word, Cephas, used by Christ. Cephas is a noun of the Syro-Chaldaic language, the tongue (a mixture of Hebrew and Chaldaic) used by the Jews after the Babylonian captivity. As the Gospel notes, Cephas means a rock.^ The word Peter, by which we com- monly designate the Apostle Simon, is the Anglicized form of petra, the Greek word for rock. We are familiar with this root in the word petrified, by which we describe wood or other substances that have turned to rock. Children are now often called after the great apos- tle, and the word Peter has become to most people merely a convenient name, like John or Thomas. But it had never been a man's name before Christ gave it to Simon to signify his destined office in the Church. The half Greek translation, Peter, might easily lead the uneducated to miss the very point and force of what really Christ said to Simon. As iJohn 15, 16. ^John 1, 42. 60 THE CHURCH AS A SOCIETY the whole New Testament, except perhaps the Gos- pel of Matthew, was written in Greek, the form, Peter, would easily be carried into our language as the name of the apostle. .In plain English what Christ said to Simon was: ''Thou shalt be called the Rock.'* Other Jews, including Abraham, Sarah, John the Baptist and Jesus Himself,^ had been given mystic names significant of the office to which they were destined. Doubtless Simon and his friends wondered what was presaged by Jesus naming him- the Rock. The Great Commission. We read in the Gospel,* the story of the great commission given by Christ to Simon. ''Jesus came into the quarters of Csesarea Philippi and asked the disciples, saying: Who do men say that the Son of Man is? But they said: Some, John the Baptist ; some Elias ; others Jeremias or one of the prophets. Jesus said unto them : But who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art the Christ, the Son of the liv- ing God. And Jesus answering said unto him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar Jona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in Heaven. And I say unto thee that : Thou art Peter (Cephas, Rock), and On this Rock I will build my Church; 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 on earth, shall be bound in Heaven: and Whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven." The Rock. Let us study this commission. ' ' Thou art Peter and on this Rock I will build my Church. ' ' The Church built by Jesus Christ is essentially asso- »Mt. 1, 21. *Mt. 16, 13-19. CHRIST ESTABLISHED PAPACY 61 ciated with Simon Peter. Simon proclaiming the faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, is the Rock on which the Church is built. The wise architect builds his house upon a solid founda- tion to hold it together and protect it from wind and storm and enemies. So the Church, the society of the faithful, is founded by Christ upon the rock of a central authority which will hold it together and be the citadel of union and protection. This central authority is established concretely in the per- son of Simon Peter. That Christ identifies Simon and the Rock on which He builds His Church, is more clearly indi- cated by His words in the oriental tongues, where the very same word is used both times. In the Syro-Chaldaic, which Christ spoke, the word is Cephas. In the cognate Syriac we read: Anath Chipa vcJiaU hada Chipa. Thou art Peter and on this rock. This identity of expression is somewhat obscured in the Greek, where the commoner form petra is properly turned to the masculine form, petros, when applied to the Apostle. Thus: — *• 8u ci Petros Tcai epi taute te Petra, Thou art Peter and on this Rock. The Latin version follows the Greek: Tu cs Petrus et super hanc Petram. Thou art Peter and on this Roch. The identity is well preserved in the French: Tu es Pierre et sur cette Pierre. Thou art Peter and on this Rock. 62 THE CHUECH AS A SOCIETY Peter, as we shall now call him, does not become for the Church a different foundation from Jesus Christ. The Church is built on Christ, who is the chief cornerstone and foundation. It is built on all the Apostles. But in a particular way, it is built on Peter as the rock of visible authority and the high- est representative of Christ. ^'Note too, the Rock is not the man Peter apart from his faith. For his name is given him because of his*faith.^ Nor is the Rock the faith apart from the man. *Thou,' says Christ, ^art the Rock. ' The Rock is Peter hold- ing and declaring the divinely given faith. '^ The Gates of Hell. "With Peter its rock of central authority, is linked the promise of Jesus Christ to His Church, that * ' the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. ' ' ^ Error and sin and all the passions of men and all the cunning and fury of evil spirits may besiege and storm the citadel; but they shall not overcome it. Christ is the wise man who built His house upon a rock; the rains descended, the floods came, the winds blew and beat upon that house : but it fell not because it was built upon the rock."^ Keys of the Kingdom. *'I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.*' The keys are the symbols of authority. This is a figure coming from the days of walled cities and castles, when the high- est officer controlled the keys.^ The Kingdom of Heaven, like the Kingdom of God, is used in the New Testament to signify the Church.^ Hence upon Pe- ter, Christ bestows the symbols of highest authority in His Church. Peter's Authority. Lest perhaps men might fail to realize His meaning and intention, Christ drops BMl. 16, 17. •Mt. 16, 18. »Mt. 7, 25. •This figure found Is. 9, 6; 22, 15-22. Apoc. 1, 18; 3, 7. » "Kingdom of Heaven" used 34 times, now for the elect, now for the visible Church. CHRIST ESTABLISHED PAPACY 63 the metaphor and in plainest speech concludes His commission making Peter His vicar in the Church: * * Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven : and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.'* Servant of the Servants, To be the lowliest rep- resentative of God — as priest in the parish or parent in the home — is to be the servant of others for the love of God and the good of men. To be the high- est representative of God, is to be the servant of the servants. Thus the divine Master explained the of- fice and larger responsibility which He laid upon Peter. The night before Jesus died, when perhaps the disciples felt they would soon be without His visible presence, some of them discussed among themselves, who of them would be the greater in the Kingdom. Jesus showed that if one will be the greater, it is only because upon him will be placed the greater care and labor as the servant of all. And He promised that Peter will be the Father Apostle, to hold together the company when Satan will strive to scatter them as chaff before the wind ; and that Peter, with God's grace, will confirm the faith of the brethren.^<> "Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith shall fail not; and thou being converted, strengthen thy brethren." ^^ The Chief Pastor. Before His ascension into Heaven, Christ gathered His Apostles around Him and again singling out Peter from the rest. He con- stituted him the pastor of His whole flock. Christ commissions Peter to feed both the lambs and the sheep. To his special care, the Master entrusts all, '"Luke 22. 24-32. ""■ Note the plural you — all of you, and the singular thee — ^Peter: and Christ's prayer for Peter to whom He entrusts the others. 64 THE CHURCH AS A SOCIETY both the little ones and their elders ^^ who would bring forth the spiritual lambs into the fold. *' Jesus said to Simon Peter: ^^ Simon, son of John, lovest thou me more than these ? He said to Him ; Lord thou knowest that I love Thee. He said to him: Feed my lambs. He said to him again : Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? He said to Him: Yea, Lord, Thou know- est that I love Thee. He said to him : Feed my Lambs. He said to him the third time: Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved that He said to him the third time, lovest thou me. And he said to Him: Lord, Thou knowest all things: Thou knowest that I love Thee. Jesus said to him: Feed my sheep." Thus Christ constituted Peter the pastor of His whole flock, the father among the brethren, the rock of central authority in the society of His followers. The Church, as a society would need a visible head. In this act, Christ provided it. Throughout history we find the Church constituted with a chief officer. He is called the Pope, that is the father. Before we find the Pope in history, we find him in the Scrip- tures. The constitution of the Church is divine; it is the work of Christ. The Papacy is part of that constitution. Peter is the first Pope, the pastor of the Universal Church: "The pilot of the Galilean Lake; Two massy keys he bore of metals twain, The golden opes, the iron shuts amain." i* " Laity and clergy make up the fold. Peter is over all. Elsewhere Christ uses same figures, calling false teachers wolves in sheeps' cloth- ing. " John 21, 13-17. " Milton. Church compared to boat. Jerome, Chrysostom, Augustine and other fathers were impressed by Christ teaching from Peter's boat and calling him the Fisherman of Men. Luke 5, 1-10. PRIMACY OF PETER 65 15. THE PRIMACY OF PETER IN THE FIRST DAYS OF THE CHURCH. Immediately after the Ascension of Christ, we find Peter standing in the midst of his fellow Apos- tles, as their leader. In the first half of the Acts of the Apostles,^ which is almost the only history of the first few years of the Church, Peter is the one towering figure. He is the first to preach to the Jews in Jerusalem.^ He is the first to receive the Gentiles.^ He is the first through whom God exer» cises miraculous power.* He conducts the election of a successor to Judas.^ He judges Ananias and Saphira, who fall dead at his feet.** He speaks at the Council of Jerusalem and ''all the multitude hold their peace.'' Before Peter spoke there was much disputing. Afterward James and the others speak only to agree with his judgment.'' Peter is cast into prison: all the Church is aroused till he is delivered by a miracle.® ''To see Peter," Paul goes up to Jerusalem, and remains with him a fort- night.® Doubtless Paul saw the other brethren too, but he emphasizes the leader. At another time, when Paul did not agree with Peter about a matter of policy,^^ — where one may have his own opinion and differ in it from a superior officer, — he records the incident as something worthy of note: and his mentioning it, the way he does, is a testimony to Peter's primacy. ^ Later Chapters Luke devotes to journeys of Paul 'Act. 2. l-I. J J . »Act. 10. ♦Act. 3. "Act. 1, 15. •Act. 5. »Act. 15, 7. 8 Act. 12, 5. "Gal. 1, 18. ^^ Gal. 2, 11. In truths of faith the Ap. were agreed, being undee inspiration of Holy Ghost. Matters of policy might be left to theii human wisdom. 66 THE CHURCH AS A SOCIETY Exercise of Office. In view of what occurred dur- ing the passion of our Lord, how unnatural and un- likely it would have been for Peter to thus assert himself as he did, or for the others to have per- mitted him to do so, had not he and they realized that he was vested by Christ with an authority and had a special office to exercise. It would have seemed more becoming for Peter to take the lowest place in the assemblies of the Apostles, to cultivate silence, and to avoid prominence; instead of ^'rising in the midst'' and leading his confreres. But in Peter and indeed in all the Apostles, Christ was using weak human instruments; and it was after the repentance of the one and the forgiveness of the other, that the trust was given, '*Feed my lambs, feed my sheep." Peter First. The primacy of Peter was testified to by the other Apostles in various ways, by their writings as well as by their acts. Thus it is signifi- cant that in the four Gospels alone, the name of Peter is mentioned as often as 91 times, while St. John's name, which comes next to his, is mentioned only 38 times throughout the entire New Testament. In the Acts the name of Peter occurs over 50 times, whereas the next after his is mentioned only eight times.^^ In the whole New Testament Peter is mentioned some 180 times. Four times the New Testament gives a list of the twelve. The name of Judas is always placed last, not by accident, as all will readily understand, but with good reason. The others find different places in the several lists, ex- cept Peter, who is always placed first. Elsewhere too, when Peter is mentioned with other Apostles, he is given the first place.^^ Neither was this by acci- dent. As Matthew says: *' Peter was the first": " Prince of the Apostles, by P. J. Francis. "Mt. 17, 1. Mk. 14, 33. Luke 22, 8. John 21, 2. ST. PETER IN ROME 67 not the first in age, nor the first to join Jesus, but the first in authority. Lists of the Apostles. Matthew X-2. Mark. III16. Luke VI-14. Actt 1-18. 1. The first Simon Simon Peter. Simon Peter. Peter. Peter. 2. Andrew. James Zeb. Andrew. James Zeb. 3. James Zeb. John. James Zeb. John. 4. John, Andrew. John, Andrew. 5. Philip. Philip, Philip. Philip. 6. Bnrtholomew, Bartholomew. Bartholomew. Thomas, 7. Thomas. Matthew. Matthew. Bartholomew. 8. Matthew. Thomas. Thomas. Matthew, 9. James Alp. James Alp. James Alp. James Alp, 10. Thaddaeus Thaddaeus Simon Zeal. Simon Zeal. (Jude). (Jude). 11. Simon Zealotcs. Simon Zeal. Jude (Thad.) Jude (Thad,) 12. Judas Iscariot. Judas Iscariot. Judas Iscariot, 16. ST. PETER IN ROME. Sienkiewicz, in his masterpiece, **Quo Vadis," paints a picture worthy at once of his historical learning and his artistic skill. The Emperor Nero is entering Rome from a triumphant tour of the East, and the populace crowd the pavements to ad- mire the gorgeous spectacle. The emerald through which the tyrant scrutinized the crowd, rested upon an humble, gray-haired Jew jostled in the throng. For a moment their eyes met. In that moment two world powers were gazing at each other. The one, at the time triumphant, founded on might of arms and wealth, seemed destined to last forever: but was soon to fade away. The other, unknown and insig- nificant, was to rise up in spiritual dominion and seize forever the city and the world. The Jew was the Apostle Peter. It is a matter of history that Peter lived in Rome and from that center of the world empire, labored 68 THE CHUKCH AS A SOCIETY for the struggling infant Church. The years of Peter in its Bishopric are estimated at 25; though they were not spent in Rome alone, but in many jour- neyings. From his letter to the Romans, we learn that Paul, too, realizing no doubt the strategic value of the capital city, planned to reach Rome. Both saints sanctified the eternal city by their martyrdom, under the Emperor Nero, in the year 67. Peter was crucified like the Master, only with his head downward. Paul, being a citizen of the empire, escaped this ignominious death of the cross, only to have his head struck off with the sword. Rome Providential. In the providence of God, the empire of the Caesars prepared the way for the spread of the Christian religion. All the nations of the civilized world and many barbarous tribes paid tribute to Csesar. Roman law and arms held all the provinces under the spell of the siren of the Tiber. Her Latin and Greek, like her coins, were current in the east and the west. They had broken down the barriers of distance and race; and were found everywhere — on the tongues of her merchants and soldiers, in the outlying camp of British York, and with the Hebrew of Palestine, on the cross of Cal- vary.^ Rome was the head and center of this im- perial dream realized then, and neither before nor since. All roads led to Rome and from Rome. Over them marched soldiers crowned with the victory of war; and captains of industry bartering the mer- chandise of Egypt and Syria for the slaves of Greece and Gaul. Along them, backward and forward, sped wing-footed couriers bringing to the ends of the earth the decrees of the senate; and to the eapitol, the heart throbs of the world. Rome was the world center of commerce and government. Would she iJohn 19, 9. ST. PETER IN ROME 69 not be the strategic point from which to spread the religion of Christ to the nations of the earth? Might not apostles march over her roads as sol- diers of the cross; bearing the torch of divine light to those that sat in the darkness of paganism, and the tidings of salvation to the slaves of sin; and re- turn crowned with the victory of peace ; or remain, wreathed with the crown of martyrdom? The Ro- man empire seemed a providential instrument for the spread of Christ's kingdom on eaHh. And to Rome came thp chief apostles, Peter and Paul. Voice of History. That Peter was in Rome, is the unbroken tradition of the ages. In the face of this teaching of all historians worthy of the name, it has been denied that Peter was in Rome. But the denial arose not from historical criticism but from theo- logical polemics. It was unheard of till the reli- gious controversies of comparatively recent times seemed to need it as an argument. The best answer to this denial is to cite the names of a few of the many illustrious non-Catholic historians who, with all the ancient writers and the Catholic scholars, teach St. Peter ^s presence in Rome. Such are Gro- tius, Cave, Lardner, Whitby, Macknight, Hales, Claudius, Schaff, Mynster, Neander, Steiger, De Wette, Wiesler, Credner, Bleck, Hilgenfeld, Man- gold, Renan, Myers, Whiston, Leibnitz. The Dictionary of the B'ible - says: *' There is now an almost unanimous agreement among scholars that the Apostle Peter suffered martyrdom in the Eternal City, the only point of