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"burning charity," which this Church was so much in the habit of dispensing, when she possessed the power of doing so.

SECTION I.

"The doctrines of the Catholic Church," etc.] What the doctrines of the Roman Church are, has been already made generally to appear, from her own Creed or "articles of belief;" therefore here there can be no misrepresentation.

"Which are revealed by Almighty God."] This is a bold assertion then, it seems,―

I.-That Almighty GOD revealed the doctrine of TRANSUBSTANTIATION (Articles VI. and VII.) which is of such essential importance in the Roman system, and the denial of which was the means of bringing so many persons to the stake, in this country, in former times. But even so late as the tenth century, there were no settled opinions upon this subject in the Church of Rome.' In the year 831, Pascasius Radbert, a monk, and afterwards abbot of Corbey, published a treatise "concerning the sacrament of the body " and blood of Christ ;" and in 845, another edition of it, revised with care, and greatly enlarged; the doctrine of which amounted to the two following propositions :-

FIRST, that, after the consecration of the bread and wine in the Lord's Supper, nothing remained but the outward figure, under which the body and blood of Christ were really and locally present; and,

SECONDLY, that the body of Christ, thus present in the Eucharist, was the same body that was born of the Virgin Mary, that suffered upon the cross, and was raised from the dead.

This doctrine then was NEW, and, as might have been expected, excited the astonishment of many. It was therefore no sooner broached, than it was opposed with vigour by RABANUS, MAURUS, HERIBALD, and others; but more especially by the famous RATRAMN and JOHANNES SCOTUS, whom the Emperor CHARLES the BALD ordered to draw up a clear and rational explication of that important doctrine, which RADBERT seemed to have so egregiously corrupted. Thus were the most celebrated writers of that age, in the Roman Church, engaged in combating this new and monstrous doctrine. Whence it appears, that, as yet, so far from there being in that Church any fixed or universally-received opinion concerning the

' Mosheim's Eccles. Hist. Cent. IX. par. 2. c. 3. § 19, 20. and Cent. X. par. 2. c. 3. § 2. Du Pin's Eccles. Hist. Vol. 7. c. 7. p. 69.

in the hope that it will be received by all who read it with the same love of truth, and the same good-will, with which it is given.

SECTION I.

On the General Character of the Doctrines of Faith professed by the Catholic Church.

The doctrines of the Catholic Church are often characterized as erroneous, unscriptural, and unreasonable.

All those doctrines, and only those doctrines, are articles of Catholic faith, which are revealed by Almighty GOD.'

'There is one general and introductory observation resulting from this and the two following Sections, which, to prevent misunderstanding, is very important in this place; namely—

That the Church of ROME claims the same implicit belief for what she styles her "APOSTOLICAL and ECCLESIASTICAL TRADITIONS," as she claims for the HOLY SCRIPTURES themselves; and that the whole system of reasoning (if such it may be called) in these Sections is founded upon this principle. The latter of these she calls "the WRITTEN," and the former "the UNWRITTEN WORD of GOD;" and she holds, that BOTH have been equally the gift of DIVINE REVELATION.

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And this is a peculiarity in the Romish faith, which should have been distinctly stated, from the first, in the framing of this Declaration; for, otherwise, the Protestant, adopting the HOLY SCRIPTURES ALONE for the guide of his faith, would be reasoning upon a directly opposite principle; and, finding that these Romanists are attributing to DIVINE REVELATION doctrines, which he perceives to be repugnant to the spirit, as well as the letter, of these SACRED WRITINGS, which he knows to have been "given by inspiration of GOD,"-doctrines, moreover, which he cannot by any means refer to the times of PRIMITIVE Christianity, he might feel strongly disposed to accuse them of an insidious endeavour to impose upon the simple and unsuspecting.

But the least suspicion that this is the case, would effectually defeat the professed purpose of the Declaration, and consign to contempt and reprobation every thing it contains.

Yet, whether awed by the tyrannical authority of the Church, of which they are certainly the true sons, -or dazzled by the portentous glare of her assumed infallibility,-or for whatever other reason,—the Roman prelates in question have neglected this useful precaution, and have therefore exposed themselves irretrievably to this suspicion. This difference in the fundamental rules of faith of the Protestant and the Papist appears to be kept as far as possible out of sight: and the only

MANNER (that is, whether it were spiritual or corporal) in which the body and blood of Christ are present in the Eucharist,-the preponderancy was against the proposed innovation being admitted as an "article of belief."

I

Indeed, the term TRANSUBSTANTIATION was not so much as heard of in the Church of Rome before the twelfth century, when PETER de CELLES Bishop of Chartres, and STEPHEN Bishop of Autun, FIRST made use of that term.2 Nor was the thing itself ever established as a doctrine of that Church, till INNOCENT III. had the honour of so imposing it, at the fourth general council of Lateran, in

1215.3

But if this MYSTERY were of such importance in the Christian system, as the Articles VI. and VII. " of Catholic Faith" represent,why was it not revealed sooner? The Declaration palms this inconsistency upon "ALMIGHTY GOD!" "ALMIGHTY GOD!" But the voice of History irrefragably proclaims, that the doctrine of its existence was one of the inventions of the dark ages.

II. That Almighty GOD revealed the doctrine of PURGATORY; (Article VIII.) which is as firmly believed, and as zealously acted upon, in the Roman Church, as that of TRANSUBSTANTIATION, But this was never revealed by Christ, or his apostles. It was never heard of in the Church by name, before the latter end of the sixth century; when Pope GREGORY I. commonly called “ The " Great," ""who had a marvellous fecundity of genius in inventing, and "an irresistible force of eloquence in recommending, superstitious "observances," maintained expressly, that there is a PURGATORY, "for expiating the slight faults of those who have DESERVED this 66 grace, by the good actions which they performed in this life."4 Thus might this doctrine be said to have been established. But this, being only a purgation of slight and venial sins, is not precisely such a PURGATORY as is asserted in the Council of TRENT. It was reserved for this council, to establish the doctrine, definitively, and in its most rigorous sense, as an article of the Romish faith, by the following canon, decreed in its sixth session: "If any one shall say, "-that to every penitent sinner, who has received the grace of justification, the offence is so remitted, together with the obligation to

' Mosheim's Eccles. Hist. Cent. IX. par. 2. c. 3. § 19, 20. and Cent. X. par. 2. c. 3. § 2. Du Pin's Eccles. Hist. Vol. 7. p.

c. 7. 69. 2 Du Pin's Eccles. Hist. Vol. 10. p. 156. under the title PETER de CELLES.

3 Mosheim's Eccles. Hist. Cent. XIII. p. 2. c. 3. § 2. Du Pin's Eccles. Hist. t. xi. c. 6. p. 96. At this council there were present 412 bishops, 800 abbots and priors, besides the ambassadors of almost all the European princes. For the original words of this decree consult Labbe et Cossart. Concil. Lateran. IV. Decretum I. de Fide Catholica. 4 Du Pin's Eccles. Hist. vol. v. page 100. under the Life of St. Gregory.

passage throughout the whole Declaration, which could lead a Protestant a priori to suspect the existence of such a difference, does not occur before the commencement of the third Section, where it is said, that "the Catholic Church venerates the Holy Scriptures, as the written part of the word of GOD!"

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But, whatever grounds the Papist may be compelled to assume for the foundation of his faith,-the true Protestant will not be induced, by any artifice, to relinquish the vantage-ground on which he stands; resting his faith on the HOLY SCRIPTURES alone, and employing these SACRED WRITINGS, the free exercise of his own REASON, and the testimony of the purest ECCLESIASTICAL ANTIQUITY, for repelling any attempts, which may be, either openly or insidiously, made to under

mine it.

It is in this spirit, and with this design, that the following Remarks on the various parts of this Declaration are now offered to his consideration.

"temporal punishment, THAT he has no obligation REMAINING "to be PAID, either in THIS LIFE, or in THE NEXT in PURGATORY, BEFORE THE ENTRANCE INTO HEAVEN CAN BE OPEN 66 TO HIM,-let him be ANATHEMA."'

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III.-That Almighty GOD revealed the doctrine of "the INvo"CATION of SAINTS." (Article IX.) This is "an article of Ca"tholic Faith," which proceeds upon the false and fanatical assumptions, that "THE SAINTS reign with Christ," before their resurrection from the dead; that "they offer up prayers to GOD for us ;"—that therefore, their MEDIATION is requisite for our salvation;-that they are, consequently, possessed of OMNIPRESENCE, (an incommunicable attribute of GOD!) in order that they may hear the devout prayers of their votaries, at all times, and in all parts of the world;-and of OMNISCIENCE, (another incommunicable attribute of GOD!) that they may distinguish the prayers which are addressed to them in sincerity and truth, from those which are not so offered. But this doctrine, as might be expected, was utterly unknown to the Christian Church during the first three centuries: and this circumstance alone is amply sufficient to prove, that it is an innovation upon the pure and primitive principles of Christianity. The memory indeed of her martyrs and confessors had always, during this period of peril and persecution, been deservedly precious in the Church: but it was not till the fourth century, that the veneration for departed saints rose to any extravagant height. In the fifth century their number was greatly increased; "these saints," as Mosheim expresses it," being "canonized by the ignorance of the times." In the sixth century, an opinion was industriously propagated, "that the "that the prayers of departed "saints were of victorious efficacy at the throne of GOD, and were "to be purchased by offerings presented to the temples that were "dedicated to them." In the eighth century, a confidence in the merits of these imaginary mediators was represented as necessary to salvation. In the ninth century, a tutelary influence was ascribed to the departed saints; so that every country, every Church, and almost every private Christian had their particular patron among the saints,-a circumstance which prodigiously increased their number. But, finally, the Council of TRENT determinately settled these points, by the celebrated decree passed in its twenty-fifth session, commanding, in express terms, "the INTERCESSION and INVOCATION of "SAINTS."3

IV. That Almighty GOD revealed the doctrine of the idolatrous "VENERATION of the RELICS of the Saints; and of the IMAGES ' of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and of the other Saints." (Arti

' Du Pin's History of the Council of Trent, Sess. 6.

2 All this is evident by a general reference to the ecclesiastical history of these ages.

3 Du Pin's History of the Council of Trent, Sess. 25.

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