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of the sacraments, had been revealed by the Holy Spirit, and taught by the apostles !

Infallibility is the result of these assumptions. All Roman catholics believe that "the church cannot err in faith or morals."* This virtually includes the infallibility of the Pope, since, according to the Council of Florence, he is "Head of the whole church, and the father and teacher of all Christians; and to him, in St. Peter, was delegated, by our Lord Jesus Christ, full power to feed, rule, and govern the universal church." That general councils, representing the whole church, are infallible, is also implied; but whether always, and under all circumstances, is more than questioned; that they have frequently erred, and contradicted each other, is not questionable, but plain matter of fact. There are some knotty points connected with this subject. Bellarmine, expounding Luke xxii. 31, 32, maintains that the Saviour promised to Peter and his successors that they should never lose the true faith, nor teach anything contrary to it. But history informs us that many popes have erred from the faith; and we know that there have been numerous schisms in the popedom, on which occasions two or more persons assumed the tiara, and that in several instances it is yet disputed which was the legitimate successor of St. Peter. What then becomes of infallibility? § Be this as it may, the obedient son of the church has no doubt that it exists somewhere. His faith is summarily comprised in those few words-"I believe in all things accord

*Catechism, p. 102.

+ Concil. Labbe et Cossart. Ed. Mansi, 1759, tom. xxxi. p. 1031. Blanco White's "Practical and Internal Evidence," p. 34. The words of the council are" Item, diffinimus sanctam apostolicam sedem, et Romanum pontificem in universum orbem tenere primatum, et ipsum pontificem Romanum successorem esse beati Petri principis apostolorum, et verum Christi vicarium, totiusque ecclesiæ caput et omnium Christianorum patrem et doctorem existere; et ipsi in beato Petro pascendi, regendi, ac gubernandi universalem ecclesiam a domino nostro Jesu Christo plenam potestatem traditam esse; quemadmodum etiam in gestis œcumenicorum conciliorum, et in sacris canonibus continetur."

De Rom. Pontif. lib. iv. c. 3. p. 973. Ed. Ingolstad. 1696.

§ A fine specimen of ingenious and conclusive argument is contained in a pamphlet, published a few years ago, entitled, "The Labyrinth, or Popish Circle; being a confutation of the assumed infallibility of the church of Rome; translated from the Latin of Simon Episcopius. By Richard Watson."

ing as the holy catholic church believes ;" and he willingly "promises and swears true obedience to the Roman bishop, the successor of St. Peter, the prince of the apostles, and vicar of Jesus Christ; and professes, and undoubtedly receives, all things delivered, defined, and declared by the sacred canons and general councils, and particularly by the holy Council of Trent; and condemns, rejects, and anathematizes, all things contrary thereto, and all heresies whatsoever condemned and anathematized by the church." +

Of such a church, the holy, the apostolic, the infallible, how great must be the power! How heinous the sin of rebellion against her mandates! How awful the condition of those unhappy beings who are without her pale! Her injunctions are placed on an equal footing with the behests of Heaven. The "will" of God, which we are taught to pray may "be done on earth," comprehends, it is affirmed, "all things which are proposed to us as the means of attaining heaven, whether they regard faith or morals; all things, in a word, which Christ our Lord has commanded or prohibited, either in person or through his church." Those who "fall into heresy, who reject what the church of God teaches," are declared to be guilty of a breach of the first commandment:§ they have committed mortal sin, and if they die in that state, must go "to hell for all eternity!" || Out of this church, it is positively Members of the Greek com

asserted, there is no salvation.

Challoner's "Garden of the Soul,” p. 35—a book which Mr. Butler calls "the most popular Prayer-book of the English Catholics." Mr. White's description of his own views and feelings, while a member of the church of Rome, will amply confirm the above remarks. "I grounded my Christian faith upon the infallibility of the church. No Roman catholic pretends to a better foundation. I believe whatever the holy mother church holds and believes' is the compendious creed of every member of the Roman communion.... I believed the infallibility of the church, because the Scripture said she was infallible; while I had no better proof that the Scripture said so than the assertion of the church that she could not mistake the Scripture." -Practical and Internal Evidence, p. 9.

Catechism, p. 506.

§ Ibid. p. 353.

+ Pope Pius's Creed. "Q. What is mortal sin? A. It is a wilful transgression in matter of weight against any known commandment of God or the church, or of some lawful superior. Q. Whither go such as die in mortal sin? A. To hell for all eternity."-Abstract of the Douay Catechism, p. 71.

munion, Protestants of every class and denomination, our Leightons, and Hebers, and Martyns; our Owens, and Baxters, and Howes; our Miltons and Lockes; our Whitefields and Wesleys; our Bunyans and Howards; are all included in the same condemning sentence. No matter what were their excellences: their piety might be seraphic, their benevolence godlike, their path like the "shining light" that illuminates and gladdens all nature: they have committed the unpardonable sin of refusing to pay homage to the man of the triple crown, and therefore the Roman catholic is bound to believe that they are lost for ever. The very children are taught this lesson.* The first lispings of the infant-the conclusions of the learned the declarations of the noble-the priests' instructions—the pontiffs' decrees-re-echo the sound, “Out of the Roman-catholic church there is no salvation!"+

* Douay Catechism, quoted above. The Roman-catholic child is taught that he is "made a member of Jesus Christ and his church, called to Christianity and the catholic religion, out of which all those who obstinately remain cannot be saved."-Catholic School Book, p. 122, 190.

"This true catholic faith, out of which none can be saved."-Pope Pius's Creed. "If we believe plain Scripture and the universal tradition of the fathers and all antiquity, heresy and schism are mortal sins; and therefore, in saying that heretics and schismatics are out of the state of salvation, his (the papist's) judgment is not uncharitable, because he advances nothing but a scripture truth."-Gother's "Papist Misrepresented and Represented,” p. 83. See also the "Encyclical Letter of Pope Leo XII." p. 15. the amiable Pascal expresses his thankfulness to God for his connexion with the "catholic, apostolic, and Roman church," and his desire to live and die therein, and "in communion with the Pope, its sovereign head." Out of this church, he adds, "I am thoroughly persuaded there is no salvation.”— Les Provinciales, Lett. 17.

Even

39

CHAPTER III.

THE RULE OF FAITH.

Rejection of the Council by the Protestants-Discussions on the Canon of Scripture Tradition — The Vulgate Version-and the Right of Interpretation-FOURTH SESSION-Decree on Scripture and Tradition-Manner in which it was received by Protestants-Explanatory Observations and Reflections.

THE proceedings of the council were carefully watched by the Protestants. They quickly perceived that it was altogether under the control of the Pope, and would issue no enactment contrary to the established order of things at Rome. Several publications were sent forth, declaratory of their views and feelings, one of which was written by Melancthon.* In these works, while they expressed their willingness to abide by the decisions of a council composed of learned and pious men, eminent for the fear and love of God, they positively refused to acknowledge the authority of the assembly at Trent. Their reasons were numerous and weighty. They objected to the presidency of the Pope, he being a party in the cause; to the Romish prelates, the appointed judges, many of whom were ignorant and wicked men, and all of them declared enemies of the reformation; to the rules of judgment laid down in connexion with Scripture, and treated with equal or greater deference, viz., tradition and the scholastic divines; to the method of proceeding already adopted, manifestly proving that the council was not free; and finally, to the place of meeting, rather an Italian than a German city, and at any rate too near the Pope's dominions to afford the assurance of security, should they feel disposed to go. The sequel of this history will shew how rightly they judged.

Immediately after the third session it was agreed that Scrip

* Intituled, "Causæ cur non sit probanda Synodus Tridentina."
† Seckendorf, 1. iii. sect. 33, § 130.

ture and tradition should be next taken into consideration; that it might evidently appear, De Monte said, what were the weapons to be used in contending with the heretics, and on what foundation the church of God rested. In pursuing their inquiries, and in the debates which followed, the members of the council now began to employ the divines who had repaired to Trent, and whose aid was of material service in all their subsequent labours. These Christian bishops were for the most part poorly skilled in theology, for which the pursuits of ecclesiastical ambition had given them little relish.

The reformers stedfastly maintained the sole and absolute sufficiency of the Scriptures;-tradition and the apocryphal books were entirely rejected by them; and they pleaded for the perspicuity of the word of God, which they affirmed was generally easy to be understood, and required neither gloss nor commentary. All these sentiments were condemned at Trent.

Although the apocryphal books were inserted by Jerome in the Vulgate Latin edition, it was notorious that he did not regard them as canonical.* It was probably in deference to his authority that some proposed to publish a twofold list, distinguishing the canonical from the apocryphal, in a manner resembling the method adopted by the Anglican church. There was much discussion on this subject, and the fathers behaved so clamorously that it was necessary to direct them to give their votes one by one, and to number them as they were received. The opinion of the cardinal Santa Croce at length prevailed, and it was agreed to receive as divinely inspired all the books commonly found in the Vulgate, notwithstanding the known declaration of Jerome, and the incontrovertible evidence of the ancient catalogues and the Jewish canon.

Respecting traditions there were as many opinions as tongues.† Some affirmed that Scripture itself rested on tradition. Vin

* He gives a catalogue of the books of the Old Testament, comprising those now found in our authorized version, and no other. He adds, “Ut scire valeamus quidquid extra hos est, inter apocrypha esse ponendum. Igitur Sapientia, quæ vulgo Salomonis inscribitur, et Jesu filii Sirach liber, et Judith, et Tobias, et Pastor, non sunt in canone," &c.-Prolog. Galeat.

"Tot sententias quot linguas tunc fuisse comperio."-Pallav. lib. vi. c. 2. Sarpi, lib. ii. s. 45-47.

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