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TORONTO: C. BLACKKTT ROBINSON, 5 JORDAN STREET. 1880. Ll ••'■y,r.f'':^ii , 'I I THE RULE OF FAITH AND PRIVATE JUDGMENT- WE propose calling attention to the relation which the rule of faith and practice necessarily sustains to private judg- ment. By the rule of faith and practice is meant whatever God has been pleased to make known to us for our guidance. All theists must acknowledge that every statement, written or un- written, which has sufficient evidence of its divine origin, demands our faith, or our obedience, as the case may be. "Our rule of faith," says Goode, in his valuable wovk on this theme; " is the whole of that testimony we possess respecting religion we can prove to have a divine source and authority. By that our faith is to be directed and mei sured ; and, therefore, it is properly called the rule of faith." p. 15. There are three theories of the Rule of Faith, viz.: — The Protestant, the Tractarian, and the Romish. According to the Protestant view, it consists of the Holy Scriptures. These are believed to be distinguished by four characteristics which fit them to be a sufficient rule, viz. : — In- spiration, completeness, perspicuity and accessibility. According to the Tractarian idea, it consists of the Bible and ancient tradition. The tradition to which Tractarians appeal is that of the undivided Church, or the Church prior to the division into the East and West. For about six centuries, or while the Church remained undivided, it was infallible, or prac- tically infallible, as a witness to the truth, and its voice may be listened to as the voice of God. But since the division no part i)i the Church may claim that infallibility which is an attribute of the whole. According to the Romish theory, it consists of the Word of God and tradition, as authenticated and explained by the living infallible Church, or, as Dr. Milner expiesses it in his " End of Controversy," p. 1 25 : — " The whole Word of God, written and 3^!r'(1 THE RULE OF FAITH AND PRIVATE JUDGMENT. unwritten ; in other words, Hcripture and tradition, and these as propounded and explained by the Catholic Church." In comparing these three views of the rule of faith, the Pro- testant, by its simplicity, naturally commends itself to those who are looking for a practical guide to direct them in the way of life. The Bible alone is certainlv a much leas complex and cumbrous rule than the Bible and the traditions of six centuries — traditions which are held to be both interpretative and sup- plementary to its contents. And no one can question that it is vastly more simple than the Romish rule, which embraces not only the Bible but the traditions of eighteen centuries, and'all the utterances of a living infallible Church since the apostolic age. There is, however, one objection, which Tractarians and Romanists with united voice urge as absolutely fatal to the Protestant rule of faith. It is said to make our faith rest en- tirely on the uncertain processes of human reas-on, or on private judgment. We have, by the exercise of our natural powers to discover what is Scripture, and then, when we have discovered it, we have to interpret it for ourselves. And as human reason is notoriously prone to err, what certainty can we have that it has led us right when it is not guided by an unerring teacher 1 We are asked, " Where did you get your Bible from 1 " Are you certain that you have a correct list of the books of the Bible ? How do you know that they have come down to you uncorrupted? How do you assure yourselves that they are inspired, and that they have been correctly translated 1 And amid all the varying interpretations, what assurance have you that the sense which you attach to them is the correct one ? We are given to understand that unleL.c4 we have an infallible Church to teach us what is Scripture, and what Scripture means, we can never reach certainty, or feel that we have a rule which we can follow with confidence. Nothing can be more legitimate than to try any theory by the tests which its chosen champions apply to an opposing system. In this lecture we hope to shew that, while the force of the objection against the Protestant rule of faith has been greatly exaggerated, the same objection lies with increased force against the rules embraced by Tractarians and Romanists. We hope to make it apparent that, if uncertainty necessarily at- taches to whatever rests upon the exercise of private judgment, these rules of faith secure no exemption from it. I. For the sake of comparison, we may glance at the mental these |e Pro- those je way |x and Ituries sup- ISLtit }B not id'aJI itollG THE RULE OF FAITH AS^ PRIVATE JUDGMENT. 5 process by which the Protestant may determine what is his rule of faith and what it means. 1. By the ordinary laws of historical and literary evidence, he can learn that the books of the New Testament were written by the men whose names they bear, and that they have come down to us with reliable purity. There is no body of ancient writings for whose authorship and purity, one tithe of the evi- dence can be adduced. These books are remarkable for their freedom from onachrorisms, for their sobriety, candour, moral elevation, and manifest truthfulness. They bear every mark, external and internal, of having been written at the period to which they are usually ascribed, and by men of competent in- formation and thorough honesty. They must, therefore, be accepted by all candid men as historically trustworthy. But, if they are regarded as worthy of the credit due to the best class of merely human writings, they must be accepted also as the record of supernatural revelation, for it lies upon their surface that they profess to be this. This, however, stops short of in- spiration. And while such writings, as we have described, would be very valuable as giving, upon the whole, a substan- tially correct view of that system of truth which God had re- vealed, they could not be quoted as entirely free from the measure of error which clings even to the best of merely human writings. 2. When we inquire into the evidence of the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, the Protestant does not find the evidence very complicated. Indeed, we may safely affirm that if a man, whose mind is not warped by prepossessions, reads the books of the !N ew Testa- ment as documents which are historically trustworthy, he will find himself almost insensibly carried forward to the conviction that they are something more. He may not, in every case, be able to state his reasons clearly, but it does not follow that he has no reasons, or that they may difier in substance from those formulated by a man of mental discipline. Were the people of this city asked why they repose confidence in the best known and most trusted of the citizens, probably few of them could give a very distinct statement of their reasons. But it would not follow that they had no reasons, or that their reasons dif- fered materially from those of the man who could place them in the most effective and orderly array ; and still less would it follow that, if they had a right to an opinion at all, it must be because they had placed themselves under the guidande of a II f • THK RULE OF FAITH AVn n» ^. ^ ^ "" ^^^ PRIVATE JUDGMENT who accept the New Teltl^ml . '*''''°* ^^^ questioned bv tho«« forth do not allow 'us to Iny th^t k""^"^^*^^'^' ^« '^^r^'t God whose word must rule our faith V\ ^ ^^^^^^' ««nt from that Christ and his apostles um'fn .' ^"* '^ ^« ^^"aliy evident Peter ui. 2 and 15.16). (T^tf "H*™"**"- and authoritwo the ]Sew Testament were iS^ ^r*^*- ?»>•' of the boots if rctUTnrir'^.iStC^^^^^^ \hem the 7 those ly trust- ere set t from videnfc Testa- ide aij pturee e dis- ration onest orifcy not Ube ually find ures, -y (2 \kao{ a the I the the and %r. the lot, ih- Id, >re « In r- e e THE KULK OF FAITH AND PKIVATE .JUDGMENT. 7 Scriptures, adds, " Yet notwithstanding our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit, bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts." (Ch. i. 5). This statement supposes that there is a self -evidencing power in God's truth, which is recognized by the heart which is made receptive of the truth by the gracious work of the Holy Spirit. It is quite true that this persuasion of the infallible truth and divine authority of the Holy Scriptures, does not admit of be- ing presented in the form of a demonstration of the inspiration of every separate verse of Scripture. In reality, it supersedes the necessity of such a demonstration. When we see the sun, we do not need any proof that it is a luminous body. When we listen to the enrapturing strains of Handel or Haydn, we need no demonstration of their sweetness. We are so consti- tuted that we can, within certain limits, distinguish truth from falsehood, right from wrong, and beauty from deformity. And in like manner, when our fallen nature is renewed by grace, it has power to recognize moral and spiritual truth. And in pro- portion as the good work goes on within, the heart responds to an ampler range of truth. And as the truth received is prac- tically acted upon, our capacity for tasting and seeing it grows apace. It is not a little remarkable that Cardinal Wiseman is compelled to have recourse to this very idea, in order to prop up the conviction which he endeavours, by an appeal to private judgment, to evoke on behalf of the Church as an infallible teacher. He supposes that the grace of faith is infused in bap- tism, which regenerates, and then, when the truth is presented to the mind, it is " believed on substantial g ounds, and under the influence of a living and heavenly principle." (Lectures on the Cath. Ch., p. 75). We believe that reg'f -ating grace is not tied to baptism, but is dispensed accoru ig to God's sovereign good pleasure, and the soul, thus renewed, embraces the truth, when it is fairly presented to it, and rests upon its infallible truth and divine authority, with a full assurance which is due to " the inward work of the Holy Spirit, bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts." II. >Ve must now inquire, whether those who embrace the Tractarian rule of ^aith escape from the uncertainty supposed to be incid' it to t. ^ exercise of private judgment. Can they either disc >ver, or iterpret \ h*'ir rule of faith, except by the exercise o^' their natu il powers ? They evidently labour under the delusion that tlies can. • 8 THB RULB OP FAITH AND PRIVATE JUDGMENT. But how do they discover that the Church was infallible, or practically infallible, before the division into the East and West 1 If they say that it is from the Bible, then they must by !bhe exercise of reason and their natural powers of investiga- tion have discovered what books constitute the Bible, and that they have come down to us in purity, and have been, unless the inquirer is familiar with the original, correctly translated. He must be able by the exercise of private judgment to inter- pret them so far, at least, as to ascertain that the Cliurch was constituted by its founder an infallible body. All this he must do by the exercise oi his private judgment. But no house can be more secure than the foundation on which it rests. This house rests on private judgment, or on nothing. But not only does the Tractarian rely upon his reason to dis- cover the Scriptures, and through them to assure himself that Christ established a Church upon earth which was infallible, until it became fallible, but he trusts his private judgment to do still more for him. The limitation of the infallibility of the Church to the first six centuries, necessarily throws him en- tirely upon Protestant ground, both in reference to the discovery and interpretation of the rule of faith. He has no living in- fallible guide to point out to him the books which should find a place in his canon, or to determine the tradition ^ which may be regarded as the genuine expression oi: the mind of the un- divided Church. He can discover his rule of faith, only by a purely Protestant exercise of his private judgment upon the historical and literary data which have come down from these early ages. Had the traditions of the first six centuries come down so well marked out, and clearly defined that there never was, or could be, any reasonable doubt in reference to them, the appeal to tradition might have been invested with a greater degree of plausibility. But only gross ignorance of the facts could lead anyone to entertain such a notion. It is well known that on many points of great importance, the traditions of the early centuries are exceedingly uncertain. On nearly all controverted points of doctrine, plausible patristic authorities can be quoted on both sides. The Latins and the Greeks are not agreed even as to the books which constitute the Canon of Scripture. The former accept, and the latter reject the Apocrypha. The ancient fathers were not agreed in reference to the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son, and the East and the West are divided upon it still, while each professes to hold the genuine tradition of the undivided Church. Fierce contro- 1 ve B 1 Bt e( 4 w i a b ( r c 1 THE RULE OF FAITH AND PRIVATE JUDGMENT. 9 M^ibie, or '^ast and *®y must 'vestiga- *nd tiat ^> unless f'HsJated. to inter- 1 Was »e must fuse can This *o dis- pf that tilibJe, 'ent to llity of pni en- Jovery |ng In- dfind J may le un- by a ' the 'hese ome 3ver the iter icts wn -Jy ed 3d m e t B ) versies raged in regard to the proper time for celebrating Easter. Both parties, with e^ual ignorance of the Gospel, laid great stress on the observance, and on the time, and both claimed, with equal confidence, the warrant of an unbroken tradition. And while various views, in regard to the second coming of Christ and His millennial reign, appear in the early fathers, there can be no doubt that from 150 to 250 A.D., views prevailed in the Church, which are rejected by the majority of those who now I'egard tradition as an element in their rule of faith. In these circumstances, it is evident that the Tractarian can discover the })Ooks of the Scriptures, and the genuine traditions of the primi- tive Church only by his private judgment. Cardinal Manning has pointed out with great clearness that the Tractarian ascertains and interprets his rule of faith in the same way as the Protestant, viz., by the use of his individual reason. The Protestant applies it to Scripture, the Tractarian to Scripture and antiquity. " But these are identical processes. The matter differs in its nature and extent, the process is one and the same." "There are some," says the Cardinal, "who appeal from the voice of the living Church to antiquity ; professing to believe that while the Church was united it wa.i infallible ; that when it became divided it ceased to speak infallibly ; and that the only certain rule of faith is to believe that which the ChurcJi held and taught while yet it was united and therefore infallibh •. Such reasoners fail to observe, that since the supposed division, and cessation of the infallible voice, there remains no divine certainty as to what was then infallibly taught. To affirm that this or that doctrine was taught then where it is now disputed, is to beg the question. The infallible Church of the first six centuries — that is, before the division — was infallible to those who lived in those ages, but it is not infallible to us. It spoke to them ; to us it is silent. Its infallibility does not reach to us, for the Church of the last twelve hundred years is by the hypothesis fallible, and may therefore err in delivering to us what was taught before the division. And it is certain that either the East or the West, as it is called, must err in this, for they contradict each other as to the faith before the division." (Temporal Mission of Holy Ghost, page 86). We may see, hereafter, that this reasoning has bearings which the Cardinal scarcely perceived ; but, as against Tractarians, its cogency is undeniable. After all their declamation against pri- vate judgment, they have nothing else to guide them ei^er in 10 1 ' f fit iii THE fiulE OF FAfTfi ».,„ "" *'•" ''"'VATE JlrDGMENT. the discovery „. • .. . " ■^»' ^^''^ •'I'^oment. . iiiff mnrio fif- ,. ® traditions of siy no«+. . ""^^ <^^ Scripture, n,.r ' I'"^" ^'^^ unwritten w! i ''^ ""'^^ expound God's Proves that Tractarians W /L '""^'^ '^^^ ^^^^ ^i'- Manidn ' thrown uoon Pr,^^ ? ' -^ *"® necessities of +i,«,- , ' ^"^""^ng ^^xamined the subject are 'tl"''' "■"'^ *'"'^'' -»«> h~t some foundation for 7hl "^ ° "nagine that there m„!f k -I he Church, it is .l.,- T «ispel the iJlusion Bible and traditio" btt "ho /".f^"*""**'' and \terprets the terprets its utterances' slf'"'""'*'<'^ the Church'^ «„d „ ;? any less an exeSse „f it ■K''° °"^ ''an imagine ?hat V -■;? infallible Cch a^d 't" d ,"' T" »» *-over the mfan.be utterances, th» "to udt 7.?'' ''"? '"'^^P^^t it^ words 4 r °* «"<'• and to^SrmL! ^, '"''™"« ""^t *he words. Andnoonecertainlv^»r A *''* 'mport of their and not . real ait "att" Tt 5' P"""*^ ""'^ » --in. " -- - '*« own e.atio„.^::':,utrcS?c^:Sti' h^ faitij. Uoient is Ftestant. pee and f" his in- pWpture, r^y hav- Pterpret of the JDi brace pstants 'anists every- 'st dis- lave a God's > are |o rent it are es a.s- 9 not St be t of the ill- it ;he its he ir k THE RULE OF FAITH AND PRIVATE JUDGMENT. 11 f esses to be such an organ is a divine creation, and that God still continues to speak through it. This we can only do by the exercise of our individual reason. Then, having discovered that this organ speaks authoritatively for God, we must judge of the meaning of its declarations. The only difference between Manning and the Protestant is that he substitutes the Church for the Bible, as the proximate ground of faith. In the Car- dinal's words, " The matter differs in its nature and extent, the process is one and the same." No doubt many devout persons in the Romish communion, who declaim about the uncertainties of private^udgment, fail to perceive this. They take for granted that the Bible is diviiie, and go to it without reserve to prove that Christ has established an infallible Church, and then they go to the Church to prove that the Bible is inspired. This process has admirable simplicity. The misfortune is that almost anything under the sun can be established by the same kind of logic. This vicious circle is quite satisfactory to multitudes in the Church of Rome. For again, to borrow the felicitous language of Manning, " they who hold it are of two classes: either pious persons, who make a conscience of not reasoning about the grounds of their faith, or such as are still simply entangled in a circle which is never discovered." If, therefore, the Romish rule of faith does not rest on private judgment, it rests on nothing, or on what is equivalent to it, on a vicious circle. In the nature of things it cannot be otherwise. Had we lived in the days of our Lord and His Apostles, and listened to their message, two questions would have demanded an answer, and that answer could have V)een obtained only from the exercise of our private judgment upon the data before us, viz.: — (1) Is the messenger who speaks from God ? and (2) What does his message mean '? There m no conceivable rule of faith which does not, in some form, raise these two questions, the first before it can be reasonably ac- cepted as a rule of faith ; and the second, before it can be of any practical use for our guidance. We have examined somewhat carefully the train of argument by which Cardinal Wiseman endeavours, in his Lectures on the Catholic Church, to establish the rule of faith, and certainly no Protestant ever made it more completely dependent on private judgment. It is simply an appeal throughout to private judg- ment to establish the infallibility of the Church. And when he has developed this line of argument, he supplements it by a reference to the fact that there is a self-evidencing power in -T /•■ 12 i|: 'I •"h. which 1«»^„ . . "^^-•'UDO-.^T. <'/"»« truth, which J. . ""'^'' '•""""»^- *t once fn ^J.1- ^ ^^ads a hparf « "Ot explain. It 1. "/"''' « « point whir-li *^*"'°''^'™te the ."Pon Private judli,^•'*''^'y ^^--m^ tW*f. ^f''''"" d^: "Pon private i^'^y ^ ^fely affirml?\f **« Ca, than those devoL^ «omish rule of faW "^ *scovery and **e extent t^M^^ .!1?°° '* by the ^it^f «%.foJd g^aW « 'he Protestant Jo^nlh the Eo^anistT^ltnT'^^^^^ »f " 's not difficnlf t *'°" « sand, the «„"??«''«' to build ean hare any ran" ,*° P<='-eeive that tf,. d "^^ '"* fog-bant' "naidedpowers *^f,?'""' 'he livine r^f '^'^"'^'•ed the voic! necessar, te e^S 1 *".^. *«™'ntt„"''*'>''''»« "b'oh muetbegonfth" ""f '*« steps of thf ^ Scriptures. «an be an availabi" '?5°"«h, before infa»ih-r! '"^'"^^ Process tered. He sums ,> • '"« difficulties whf ^'^^^. so as to *vine authoritTt^'tff oi; ^^''o words J!«o "«'' ''^ «"<=<">»- nty sanctions th! ^ ?''""-'=h~the CWl, .^"°"'- gives "PPlies also tl tmditin"""' °^ Scripture "V"" **'»' ""'ho ...B-t before wo c^ "k^. '*'"' ""^'hod ^:^'^^^^.^!Z *° '^-oice Of where alone L ? * '^"■"^^ "s, at onTlV^r''^''''''^ of His Cardinal reLjnleTtr "*'" '''^ CeSalv t^" ''««'»»'en for the infallifSir ofiLTr'""". andi^^^r"""- ^'^^ ^^ and settJe seven r,fy Spirit f ^«e mind. IS power of ry of the ff ^"aj does bours laid C^'-y and pa greater ^nd,if cojinec- **estant's ^«ess of to buiJd. og-bant. ;fo^e ie he voice ifch iis Rations, 'cii are Ptures. process ^iurch leering ■ourae y to ) the 18 to oun- ives tho- iod of ris t, le t t THE RULE OP FAITH AND PRIVATE JUDGMENT. 18 distinct, but related investigations, before it can, via Romana^ reach infallibility — : 1. By a careful examination of the- evidences, external and internal, we must ascertain that the Scriptures, but especially the four Grspels, are historically trustworthy. At the outset of his argument, the Cardinal seems to confine himself to the four Gospels, but in the course of it, he ranges freely over both the Old Testament and the New in search of something which can be construed to favour the infallibility of the Church. This, of course, lays upon him the duty of establishing the credibility of all the books which he quotes. The Cardinal indicates with clearness how this can be done. We recognize, of course, the fundamental importance of the four gospels, with which he specially deals. The writers were largely eye-witnesses of the leading facts they report, and by their lives gave the best assurance of their veracity. They wrote at the period to which tlieir writings are usually ascribed, and their productions have come down to us with reliable purity. We cannot, therefore, refuse to them the credit due to the best class of merely human writings ; they are histo ically trustworthy. The argument in favour of this position is sketched by the Cardinal much in the same way as by Protestant apologists. Up to this point the Romanist, in search of an infallible Church, and the Pro- testant, ill search of an infallible Bible, walk side by side. And it should be noted that in order to reach the position common to both, viz., that the Scriptures are historically trustworthy, the inquirer has to complete by far the most arduous part of that " long course of protracted and severe inquiry" thi'ough which the Protestant must o.rrive at his rule of faith. This position is gained, as the result of the careful examination of the wide field of the evidences of Christianity. This position fairly established, we have only to examine the facts and pheno- mena of Scripture, in order to discover that the sacred writers were guided by divine wisdom. If they are regarded as honest and intelligent men, they must be held to have left us an inspired record as our rule of faith and life. The Protestant, therefore, has almost reached his goal and found his rule of faith, when his Romish neighbour is just setting out on his long- pilgrimage. If the credibility of the books of the New Testa- ment is acknowledged, the divine mission of Christ must, of course, be recognized. For the record of His birth, life, death, and resurrection admits of no other view. His superhuman career stam]>s divine authority upon His words and acts. 14 THE RULE OP PAITH AND PRIVATE JUDGMENT. •2. We must discover that Christ has established a Church upon earth. This lies sufficiently on the surface of the New TeHtament to be easily decided, even before the inspiration of its books is known. Viewing the gospels and epistles simply as reliable historic records, they certainly shew that Christ «HtabliHhed a body which is called the Church. The word ooours Heveral times in the discourses of Christ, and the later books of the New Testament leave no room to question the fact. If the first of these steps can be taken with a sure foot, no one need stumble «eriously at the second. But the seeker for a living infallible Church soon reaches more difficult ground. He must ascertain the nature of the Church. Is the sense in which the word church is used in Scripture one, or manifold? If the word is employed in various senses it may lead to the motit H(5rious error to confound these meanings of the term with t»ach other. Komanists usually take for granted that the word means what the necessities of tneir argument require, and when tliey define the term, their definition is not drawn from the use of the word in Scripture, but from what the Church of Roniv^ Jiow is. Bellarmine defines it thus ;— " The Church is a society of men on earth united together by the profession of one and the se'f-same Christian faith and the communion of the same Hacrainents, under the government of lawful pastors, and especi- ally the Roman Pontiff" (De Eccl. Lib. iii., cap. 2). This definition suits the Church of Rome exactly, l>ut it never could be drawn by any legitimate process from Scripture. It h evidently most essential that the inquirer should know whether this is the true idea of the Church, as brought before lum in Scripture. Is it a visible society marie up indiscrimi- nately of good and bad men, who make a certain profession of faith, enjoy certain sacraments, and live Tinder a defined govern- inout j or, is it the true body of Christ, composed of the saints and faithful in Christ Jesus, of all who have been, of all who are, and nil who shall be gathered into one in Christ^ Which of these definitions describes the Church to which Christ pro- nuHod that the gates of hell should not prevail against it? This is a vital (question ; for if we apply to a corrupt visible organization, like the Church of Laodieea, the pi'omises made to th(J mystical body of Christ, we may find ourbelves holding that an apostate society, which our Lord has spewed out of his mcuth, is tlie true spouse of Jesus Christ. There aro several things which should make the Romanist cal THE RULE OP FAITH AND I'HIVATB JUDGMENT. 15 Piration of /es simply M^ Christ The word *ie later fstion the **. no oiif er for a ^^e sen.se aanifojcl ? d to the '^m with 'he Word '^fi when ,*he use J^oniv.^ society o^ie anci 6 same especi- '>ut it pture. ^now before 'riini- oii of v^ern- lints who hich pro- it? bJe ide ng J is •St feel, to say the least of it, very uncertain that he has reached the true idea of the Church: — (1) He hae neither an iiifallihle (!hurch to guide him nor an infallible Bible to instruct hint, fie is, as yet, only in search of an infallible Church, and until hf3 has found it, and it has informed him that the Bible is inspired, the Scriptures are to him only a valuable collection of human writings. How then can he know, even if his private ijiterpretation of the language is correct, that the words tht»rnseen wont to predicate certain dis- tinguishing marks of the C/hurch, such as unity, sanctity, catholicity, and apostolicity. But it is only by degrading these terms to a low and non'tialuraf nense that they can be predi- cated of a society made np of all sorts of men, and including, as Bellarmine says, " even rtjprobates." In no sense which has moral or religious signiticancr*, can these predicates be attributed to such an organizR-tion, But these notes all belong in their full and natural significance to the Church, viewed as the body of Christ, as the sacraniental lujst of God's elect. This Church is one, because the Divine Hpirit dwelling in it animates with a com- mon life all its members. It ij^ holy, because the Holy Spirit begins and in due time perfticts a gracious work of renewal in the hearts and lives of its members, by which they are all made holy as God is holy. It ih catholic, because it embraces the entire number of the saved of all lands and ages. And it is apostolic, because all within its fellowship cordially hold the true faith taught by the founders of Christianity, and rest upon Christ alone for salvation. We shall, liowever, Biippose that none of these difficulties stag- 16 THE KULE OP FAITH AND PRFVATH .M'D(JMKNT. ger the inquirer. We Hhall imaKiiu* thftt to bo granted which certainly can never be proved, vi/. : that thn Romish idea of the Church is the Scriptural one. Tha nfxt «tep which must be taken is to answer the question, 4. Which of ail the existing Chuvolies in the true Church? If the Church which Christ has OHtablishcd is, in its true idea, a visible organization, and Ito lias promised that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, timii, of course, it survives somewhere. But where is it 1 There aro at least seven ancier* Churches which trace their organization back to the Apostolic age, and each of which claims to bo the very (Jhurch which Christ founded on a rock, The Hyrian Christians claim Peter as the first Bishop of Antioch, and whatever dignity and authority that may impart to them. And, while it is quite un- certain whether Peter ever saw ttoine, the New Testament shews that he resided for a time at Aiitloah. No person, with an ordinary knowledge of history, can ((uestion that the Greek Church can trace back the unbroken oontinuity of its history to the Apostolic age, quite as easily as tho Church of Rome. It is quite true that, while the Greek Church has only some 80,000,000 of adherents, the Church of Ronie 1ms many more. But t' uth can scarcely be determined by a majority vote. And if it could, the vote would be fatal to the Clutrch of Rome ; for the most reliable statistics shew that there are some 30,000,000 more professing Christians outside of the ( !htirch of Rome than are to be found within its pale. It is evident that the claims of all these ancient Churches must bo examined separately by each inquirer, in order that he may disuover the true Church. The man who does this thoroughly will find it no small under- taking. And let it be observed, that th(« inquirer has to exam- ine the claims of all these Churches without the aid of an inspired Bible to guide him. He has as yet only got a col- lection of human documents by which to test the pretensions of these rivals. It is safe to say that tht» youngest child living will reach the grave, long before, by such an investigation, his private judgment will lead him to any solirl or satisfactory con- clusion. And yet this is only one step involved in that method by which Cardinal Wiseman recommends us to seek for the rule of faith. But we shall suppose that, guided by his private judgment and the light of history, the inquirer reaches the conclusion that the Church of Rome is the true Chureli. Has he assured himself of a living infallible teacher to guide* him into the cer- { 5. .... or FAITH K^- -^^^^''^ ^"""^'"'• 17 THE KULB OF FAITH A. ^^^^^ this 1«;»8^*8« °° «^°' ^»„ kept cotapletdy t™ ^.^^st vrUl entirely bom /'^T^ti^ately held to teach « ^^^^j ^^o^, language can be ^gw ^^^ ^j,,, ^ Jl not tali ^^^„„g »As have a V^X^^^^^-^^'^^TrfCtJ--'^^^^ *'?"" or deadly sin. ™e Ap . 5 t je, have a _^^^; t,„ • in reference to every _^jj ^^^ge cu ^^^^ ^^^ the Holy One, and ye «« abidcth in you, ana y j^^^j, *'hiSi yehaverec^;*" »- ^ ,^ ^me anomUng t .^ to^raiX-SirSi^ :nrS^fetoestahlishtheii.a,«^^^^^^ has given the Imng Ch«c^ specially jet apart to ^^^^ ^, 4, her to have a cto o ^j^^ teaching J mj institutions „e require to know « ^ ^^^^ „ her va ^ maintains an order 01 ■ that «'?y *JS „eh deems her- ot learning, and no ^e im »^ p,,,i,y terian Churcb ^^^^^ they are not intal^e^ ^^^^1,_ and sto h^ j, tj^e self called of God *» J^f^ji to the work, and, a ^^^^ ^en who are Bpe^j^^^ftfbe infallible, ;e^W« ^^^ ^ests teaching is ^^f^^at least, qn^e as ^^^^food-fearing peo- thather r»^^[, ^^f'^n int^^Wgent. ""^S of teaching God of Rome in trai>'"g , ^^ ty,e only "?". .^iiMe teaching, pi. To take for g^"^^* ™„d His cause is intaUiWe ^^ ^^ '^ould have "^Pr^le question. We fow ^at ^^ ^^^ i3 really hegg-ng *e^ers to their own families, b ^^^^^, ?:rthrr;-^'^"^"^"'^''"^ riT" 18 A! THE RVLE OF PAITR avi. « J-AITH AND PRIVATE JUDGMENT. We cannot get a vote nf fV ■ '»»*™<^tion of mknkinrf Jlfc.de what « tru«,. We latV"'""! "'J^" <" «on,anTste t„ ■nfallibihty 1 On this vital noTI^Mi "'"'' *''" ^'ha" ^e lind -f^n^^ytrSnaTo:;^-^^^^^^^^^ Ch„ch her PO^ed two P:;ete SuTa"S t'° '"-^ ^°p' ''«* he/t ^an to fill the vacant chair it " T^' »•"• "'ectcd a'^new Koma„,sts must have been on.ewha "° T?*™' "">* d«vo.H W.ty was to be found du„'°g ^ * ^r"-'*!" *J -e infall - fc "« great schism when, for a f 4. 'I 1 THE RULE OP FAITH AND PRIVATE JUDGMENT. 19 *o the %; for I to civil le that >f that [pvered ^^ivate living >!' the '^ind. Its to Its or tind have 'onie lat it 'erai hile ? to aiJi- > to er- rst )r. !ie r- ;e 8 period of 37 years, two lines of Popes were reigning, one at Rome, and another at Avignon. So groat was the uncertainty which prevailetl in the C.hurch of Rome upon this vital ques- tion, that when the test vote was taken in the Council of Rome on the dogma of the personal infallibility of the Pope, eighty- eight bishops voted nay, sixty-two gave only a modified appro- val, and seventy, who whci-e in Rome at the time, absented themselves from the vote. For more than 1 ,800 years, therefore, the best informed Romish divines were uncertain where the infallibility of the Church resides. And as the Church of Rome may be supposed to have searclied with due diligence, during the past centuries, for what she has proclaimed so urgently necessary, two inferences, looking in one direction, may be safely drawn, viz. : (1) that if the Church of Rome survived for eighteen centuiies without knowing where to find a living infallible teacher, the private inquirer need not be greatly cast down should he also fail to discover the organ of infallibility ; and (2) that if the Church of R'>me, with all her facilities for prosecuting the investigation, required more than 1800 years to discover where infallibility resides, the private inquirer may as well abandon the search at once, unless he has the assurance that he will outlive the years of the antedilu- vian patriarchs. But we shall suppose that the inquirer is stumbled with none of the difiiculties which lie in his way. We shall sup- pose that even stubborn historical facts are not obstacles in his path, and that his private judgment, without any guidance from an inspired Bible, reaches the conclusion that the Pope is per- sonally infallible. Are the labours of private judgments now ended 1 Has he found, at last, the unerring voice to which he can listen with confidence? By no means. The inquirer thinks he has learned that the Pope is personally infallible. But is he infallible in everything he says 1 Certainly not. It is only when he speaks ex cathedra. The next step which the inquirer must take is to answer the question, 7. When does the Pope speak ex cathedra ? One would sup- pose that this is a very simple question. It might be imagined that whenever " the Pope has spoken publicly on &, point of doctrine, either of his own accord, or in answer to questions addressed to him, he has spoken ex cathedra, and so, no doubt it would be held, if it were not thought desirable to except certain inconvenient decisions of Popes from the privilege of infallibility, accorded generally in other cases," It is rather 20 THE RULE OF FAITH AND PRIVATE JUDOMRNT. I'i:: In ; h awkward to assert infallibility of the doctrineH taught by Hon- orius, Vigilius, and other Popes who have publicly sanctioned heresy. Hence there are no less than four or five distinct theories among Romish divines who hold the personal infalli- bility of the Pope, as to when he speaks ex cathedra and when he does not. Vide Edgar's Variations, etc., p. 190-191, and Janus, p. 327-329. And as it has never been decided which of those theories is correct, no man living can certainly know when the Pope gives an ex cathedra decision. The Romanist therefore, after all his laborious investigations, has reached a point where everything depends on private judgment. It is difficult to take in the folly of the process by which the Romanist professes to escape from the uncertainties of private judgment, and gain for himself a living infallible teacher to authenticate and explain to him the Bible and tradition. He enters on an inquiry conducted solely by his unaided reason — an inquiry involving at least seven distinct, though related in- vestigations, an error in reference to any one of which will vitiate the conclusion. And when his dreary work is ended, he finds that he has reached a point where everything depends on his private judgment. In the pages of Dante, we have brought before us the moun- tain of Purgatory. It is vast in size and conical in shape, rising steep and high out of the Southern Ocean, at a point antipodal to Mount Zion. Around this mountain run seven terraces, on which are punished the seven deadly sins. Rough stairways, cut out of the solid rock, lead up from terrace to terrace, until the summit is attained, where stands the terres- trial paradise. Surely Dante spoke in parables ! For here we see the poor Romanist, in order to escape from the infirmities of individual reason and gain something higher and better, toiling up seven terraces, as hard and rough as any which Pur- gatorial discipline can present, and when he has reached the summit, he discovers that he has gained only the terrestrial paradise of private judgment. The Romish rule of faith is extolled by its advocates, be- cause it saves us from the uncertainties incident to the ex- ercise of the individual reason, by securing for us a living infallible teacher who renders us two services of priceless value : he authenticates to us God's Word, written and un- written, or Scripture and tradition, and he gives us their true interpretation. W« have seen that so iait as authentication is concerned, I* the a o^^ Bibl^ Chtti and plial ^udj .4,TH A»D i-BIViTK JUDOMWT. tl ,,e KomiBh method *- -J^™ .l^r^tUenUoate the "•^u the department ot^»^^l[,«,;,„ted for a to, whUe pr.v»t^ SS. The fact that «-?;««J»PP:: <=>"'"?f, ^^'S S» tion, o! Soript^o^nd t^^^^ni interprets the OU^ndPa^ StvTFirBt Epistle, ^-ut the^|^f"ifchuroh interpretataons much as other portions o£ the Bibl^ « oh»raot«nst.cs Tdogmatic utterances, are posses^ 01 ;„t^^,eted, and :: So Vure, they r«,»a^. W- B-ptuj:; the Church is private the only interpreter ttiat cau ^ ^«tely only when underB^-^^ ^^ ^ ^ one who understands the real natuj^ j' J uncertainties rkm that it offer, any doo^o^e^^^^^^^^ f r ^^ , of private Judgment For^^ H, has not inspired Popes to write infallible buUs^^ o ^^^ u^derBtood, how can „.» to understand them. A* ^ney » tradition 1 Our ZXZ tl^e testing evtW*;,^'^;; e^,. « ^ey «e minds are left either to utter vac , ^^y *?'* ;o "^-^-nfth:;r ^-de^^od! we ^^^^^^^^jt guidance. It tney ay« „„iparnod man cannot unaersua ft dead letter, or something wors'j, • > ■".