NOVELTIES, SUPERSTITIONS, AND IDOLATRIES, and published for the creed of the modern Church of Rome, December 9th, 1564. 1. I most steadfastly admit and embrace Apostolical and ecclesiastical traditions, and all other observances and constitutions of the same church. 2. I also admit the Holy Scriptures, according to that sense which our holy mother the church has held, and does hold, to which it belongs to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the Scriptures, neither will I ever take and interpret them otherwise than according to the unanimous consent of the fathers. 3. I also profess that there are truly and properly seven sacraments of the new law, instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord, as necessary for the salvation of mankind, though not all for every one; to wit, Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Orders, and Matrimony, and that they confer grace, and that these, Baptism, Confirmation, and Orders, cannot be reiterated without sacrilege; and I also receive and admit the received and approved ceremonies of the Catholic Church, used in the solemn administration of all the aforesaid sacraments. 4. I embrace and receive all and every one of the things which have been defined and declared in the Holy Council of Trent, concerning original sin and justification. 5. I profess, likewise, that in the Mass there is offered to God a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead and that in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist there are truly, really, and substantially the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that there is made a conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the blood, which conversion the Catholic Church calls transubstantiation; I also confess, that under every kind alone Christ is received whole and entire, and a true sacrament. 6. I constantly hold that there is a purgatory, and that the souls therein detained are helped by the suffrages of the faithful. 7. Likewise, that the saints reigning together with Christ are to be honoured and invocated, and that they offer prayers to God for us, and that their relics are to be held in veneration. 8. I most firmly assert, that the images of Christ, of the Mother of God, ever virgin, and also of other saints, may be had and retained, and that due honour and veneration are to be given them. VOL. II.-January, 1840. 9. I also affirm, that the power of indulgences was left by Christ in the Church, and that the use of them is most wholesome to Christian people. 10. I acknowledge the Holy Catholic Apostolic Roman Church for the mother and mistress of all churches, and I promise true obedience to the Bishop of Rome, successor to St. Peter, prince of the Apostles, and vicar of Jesus Christ. 11. I likewise undoubtedly receive and profess all other things delivered, defined, and declared by the sacred canons and general councils, and particularly by the Holy Council of Trent; and I condemn, reject, and anathematize all things contrary thereto, and all heresies which the Church has condemned, rejected, and anathematized. 12. I, N. N., do at this present freely profess, and sincerely hold, this true Catholic faith, without which no one can be saved, and I promise most constantly to retain and confess the same, entire and inviolate, with God's assistance, to the end of my life. The document before you has never been brought out except to my own congregation in Ireland, before whom I laid it. But I leave this copy with my dear brother, your rector, if he will accept of it, to print for the Protestants of Whitchurch, so that when the Jesuits, who, as I shall show, are very near, come amongst you, and ask "Where was your church before Luther?" you may be able to show what the creed of the infallible church is, and what are the novelties, superstitions, and Idolatries added by the Pope which have never been even confirmed by a general council, but which have been adopted by the bishops and imposed upon the people all over the Romish nations of the world. (Applause.) But let me call the attention of all present, but especially of my Rev. brethren, to the mode of dealing with these novelties; and for this purpose I would entreat their attention to the second article in this new creed, which is, "I also admit the Holy Scriptures according to that sense which our holy mother the church has held, and does hold, to which it belongs to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the Scriptures, neither will I ever take and interpret them otherwise than according to the unanimous consent of the fathers." This is the text by which the minds of the poor Romanists are enslaved and degraded. This is the text that is the foundation of the Education Board of Ireland. (Hear.) This is the foundation of the Popish system of education that is entrusted to that spiritual star-chamber, the Privy Council of England. (Cheers.) It is a lie, and there is not a priest in the Church of Rome who does not know it to be so. (Cheers.) I will prove how they know it. Let us just consider it. "I admit the Holy Scriptures according to that sense which our holy mother the church has held, and does hold." Now if any one should say, "I admit the Holy Scriptures according to the sense in which the Privy Council of England has held, and does hold," the first question would be, "Pray what is that sense?" Has the Privy Council been so good, since it took the education of the people into its hands, as to compose a sense of the Scriptures, and give it to the people? No. How, then, can they hold the Scriptures according to the sense in which the Privy Council holds them, if they do not know what that sense is? This is quite plain. Well, then, when the holy mother the church tells us we are to hold the sense of the scriptures which she holds, the question is, "Pray what is that sense?" (Hear and cheers.) Now I have challenged every Popish priest in Ireland, some of them by name-Dr. Doyle, Dr. M'Hale, Dr. Murray, and Mr. Maguire-to come forward, if they could, on the platform, to prove the truth of this article of the creed of the Church of Rome, and show that she has interpreted any one portion of the Scriptures, and to give the church's sense to the people. Not a single individual has dared to answer the challenge. Why? Because, they are conscious it involves them in a difficulty from which they feel there is no escape. If they were to confess they could not give the Church's interpretation, then they must prove by the confession they know the article to be false, and so they must prove the falsehood in their answer. If they pretended to come forward to give to the people the Church's interpretation, then they must be unable to produce it, and prove the falsehood on the platform; in either case then they must prove it to be a lie, because the church has never determined the sense of the Scriptures, and therefore has no sense to give. (Cheers.) But they hold this bugbear-(hear and cheers)— the authority of the church-the mystery of iniquity, that dark, damnable spiritual tyranny-they hold this bugbear over the consciences of the poor unfortunate Roman Catholics, and they are afraid to read the Bible, afraid to exercise the understanding which God has given them in reading his word, yea, even afraid to ask according to God's most blessed promise, "If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him." They are afraid to ask their God for wisdom to direct them in reading the Bible, because the priest tyrannizes over them with the conscious lie, that they are to receive it according to the sense in which the church holds it, when it is well known that the church never has taught, and cannot teach, the sense of a single chapter. (Cheers.) See how this marks the apostacy,—" Speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their consciences seared with a hot iron. (Hear.) On this point I speak from my own experience. Many persons dislike controversy. I remember the time when I disliked it myself, feeling that I was not prepared, and afraid that the cause of truth might suffer through my incompetence; and the very first thing that gave me encouragement on considering the matter carefully and diligently, was the reflection that this article was a lie, and that if the priests were boldly called out they dare not appear. Accordingly I did boldly and plainly challenge them; and I would just say to my reverend brethren, whenever you come across a Popish priest you may silence and put him down before the whole country by this simple challenge: "You have got twelve articles of your infallible church. They are false, idolatrous, and superstitious. I put them to this proof: I give you your choice of the twelve; I say the second one is false, and I say you know it to be false, and I challenge you to prove one or all of the rest by the second. Take your choice of the whole Bible, from beginning to end, and tell me any single one of the articles of that creed that you or your church can prove out of the Bible. Give us your church's sense of one chapter, and prove any one of these twelve superstitions by that chapter." Not a man of them will dare to answer you, because they all know it is a lie. This simple engine, this lever will overturn the power of the papacy, if brought faithfully to bear on the tyrannical priesthood before the people. (Hear.) Therefore, when we look at the ancient creed of the holy catholic church-when we look at the novelties, idolatries, and superstitions which the papacy has added to them-we remember that this creed will stand the test of God's word, and we beseech our dear brethren to try all our doctrines by the test of that word. We preach as God has given us light, and, as we conscientiously believe, according to the holy truth of the ancient catholic creed, by preaching that gospel on which the creed is built; and we appeal to our brethren to try and examine, according to God's word, our doctrines. We do not shut up the Bible, because we have nothing to conceal. We throw it open, because we earnestly desire-yea, it is the delight of our hearts-that our dear people should be instructed in God's word, as their best means of salvation from the cradle to the grave. (Cheers.) So that when we show that this ancient creed will stand the test of God's word, and show you the apostacy of the modern church of Rome, we would appeal to the Roman Catholics themselves, and ask them to join with us in passing this resolution: our forefathers protested, and we protest against Popery, as an apostacy from the pure faith of the holy catholic church. If one be the faith of the ancient church revealed in the Bible, the other is an apostacy, that shrinks and trembles at comparison with the word of God. (Hear, hear.). |