that despiseth you, despiseth me; and he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me1. Let him give an answer to these trying questions; or rather, let him express his shame and repentance for his feeble and wicked attempt to annihilate the power which our Redeemer has clearly left in his church; a power fully described by St. Paul, in a well-known passage: And he gave some apostles, and some prophets; and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints; for the work of the ministry; for the edifying of the body of Christ till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. That we henceforth be no more CHILDREN, TOSSED

TO AND FRO, AND CARRIED ABOUT WITH EVERY WIND

OF DOCTRINE, by the sleight of men, and the cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive 2.

3. When he argues against an infallible judge, because the effects intended have not been produced, he might with equal propriety argue against the Christian dispensation altogether, because the benevolent intentions of our Redeemer have not met with a due correspondence on the part of those whom he came to redeem. It really is a task, unworthy of the dignity of a divine, to

1 Luke x. 16.

2

Ephes. iv. 11, 12, 13, 14.

notice at any length such wretched and contemptible reasoning.

4. When he asks why the church of Rome, more than any other church, should be gifted with infallibility, I will confidently tell him, that he can easily collect the reason of this prerogative from the preceding observations. The church of Christ is clearly infallible, as we have seen: now every reformed church in existence has disowned the prerogative of infallibility; consequently, by their own admission, not one of them singly, nor all of them collectively, can claim to be that church, which was to be ruled FOR EVER by the spirit of God; which was to be the PILLAR and FOUNDATION of TRUTH; which was to teach ALL TRUTH; which was to enjoy the special and perpetual assistance of our Redeemer to the end. In fact, the whole Catholic church, acknowledg ing the Roman church to be the mother and mistress of all churches, and the Pope of Rome to be the successor of St. Peter, was the only universal or Catholic church on earth, when the "Reformers" commenced their apostacy. This statement is acknowledged both by Luther and Calvin: "At first I stood alone," says the former. "We have been constrained," says the latter, "to separate ourselves from the whole world1." If therefore Christ always had a church on earth to be

1 Primo solus eram, Luther Præf. Oper. A toto mundo discessionem facere coacti sumus. Calvin, Epist. 141.

preserved inviolate to the end of time, the only church then in existence, can lay an exclusive claim to the dignity of being considered the true and legitimate spouse of Christ.

5. When the catechist asserts, that we cannot decide the disputes among ourselves by this boasted infallibility, he confounds two things totally distinct in their nature, and widely different in their consequences: I allude to articles of faith, as terms of communion, on one side, and to matters of individual opinion on the other. In articles of faith, we all agree without the smallest hesitation; and this from an intimate conviction that Almighty God, after all his divine assurances, will never suffer his church to go astray. As to matters of opinion, they are left to the discretion of those who may choose to exercise their own judgment and ingenuity, without violating the precious deposit of faith. The motto of the Catholic may be said to be the well-known sentence of St. Augustine:

In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas.

QUESTION XXIV.

Why do you find fault with the church of Rome for not suffering the common people to read the Bible?

ANSWER.

J

"

1. Because in doing so they act contrary to the command Christ gives to all, to search the Scriptures. John v. 39.

2. Because what they forbid, the apostles commend; as we see in the example of the Bereans, who are commended for reading the Scriptures. Acts xvii. 11.

3. It is contrary to the practice of the primitive church, in which the fathers earnestly exhorted the people to an assi duous and diligent reading of the Scriptures.

4. It agrees not with St. Paul's counsel and exhortation, 1 Thess. v. 7, I charge you that this Epistle be read to all the holy brethren.

5. It was the duty of the Jews to have the law in their houses,

and to read it to their children. Deut. vi. 7. And therefore must be much more the duty of Christians, to read or peruse the Gospel, as being a people living under a greater and richer economy.

6. Whereas it is pretended that the Scriptures are obscure, and

that this prohibition is to prevent heresies. We answer, that the Scriptures are not so obscure in places relating to things necessary to salvation, but that they may be understood by the laity. And as to the plea of preventing heresies, that is only a pretence, no argument, since they might as well forbid people to eat or drink, for fear they should abuse that liberty.

OBSERVATIONS.

AGAIN We have to complain of misrepresentation in stating the practice and discipline of the Ro

man Catholic church, in the regulation of that attention which is justly bestowed by the faithful on the sacred Scripture. It is not true that the church refuses to the people the use of the Bible: the pastors of the church have uniformly encouraged and patronised the publication of the sacred volume; and, in many instances, have themselves given various editions of the Scripture in the vulgar tongue. This practice has been observed in every Catholic country; and surely to what purpose can such editions serve, but to administer to the wants of that portion of the faithful, who are unacquainted with the learned languages. This prohibition, therefore, of using the food of the divine word, is a calumny which has a thousand times been repeated, and as often been denied.

But what is the real ground of the charge, the truth or falsehood of which, it should seem, might so easily be verified? This may easily be ex plained in a small compass. Those who would have the candour to learn the present discipline of the Catholic church from the authentic and authorized source of the Council of Trent, might easily satisfy themselves, that the utmost diligence is constantly recommended to the pastors of the church, to feed their flocks with the food of the divine word'. But while this general charge is given to the pastors, to instruct the people in the doctrine of the Scripture, the church, like a ten

'Sess. 5. de Reformat. c. 2. item Sess. 24. c. 4.