The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-03-22 00:00:00

LECTURES ON THE CREED OF POPE PIUS

The third of the series of lectures, in nid of the funds of
the Protestant Association, on the creed of Pope Pius the
Fourth, was delivered on the evening of Friday last, in the
Music Hall, Bold-street, by the Rev. J. Lyons, of Bolton,
' and formerly of All Saints' Church, in this town. There was
a numerous and highly respectable auditory present. The
Rev. Fielding Ould took the chair.
The subject of the lecture was the third article of the creed
of Pope Pius—" I do also profess that there are truly and
properly seven sacraments of the new law, which sacraments
were instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord, and are necessary
to the salvation of mankind, altlemeh all the sacraments be
not necessary to every person, namely, baptism, confirmation,
the Lord's slipper, penance, extreme unction, orders, and
matrimony ; that they do confer grace ; and that three of
them, namely, baptism, confirmation, and orders, cannot be
repeated without sacrilege. Ido also receive- and admit the
received and approved rites of the Catholic Chinch in the so-
lemn administration of all the sacraments before mentioned."
Mr. LYONS commenced his lecture by observing that this
article contained certain assertions which bad been at all
times matters of very considerable controversy in the Church
of Christ. It contained assertions not only with regard to
certain ceremonies or rites called sacraments, but it also en-
tered into the consideration of the reiteration of orders ; and
then it spoke of certain received and approved ceremonies of
the Catholic Church used in the administration of the afore-
said sacraments. The times in which we lived were no more
free from controversy respecting these subjects than past
eras of the Church of God ; for, unfortunately, it was now
known to all persons that considerable division prevailed in
the minds of men respecting these three subjects—the sacra-
ments, the repetition of orders, and certain things called rites
and ceremonies of the Catholic Church. Some years ago it per-
haps might have been unnecessary to have entered upon two of
these subjects, the repetition of orders and the received and
approved ceremonies of the Catholic Church, but in conse-
quence of certain circumstances that had taken place within
the last few years, and the publication of certain tracts that
had been largely disseminated throughout this country, he
might be permitted, without departing from the subject in
hand, very briefly to draw attention to both of these subjects
—the reiteration of orders, and what were asserted to be the
received and approved ceremonies of the Catholic Church in
the administration of the aforesaid sacraments. It must also
be well known to all persons that, respecting sacraments,
there was a division of opinion among men—that upon the
one hand they had been too much prized, and upon the other
they had been depressed far below the estimation in which
we ought to hold nn institution of the Lord Jesus Christ.
By some persons they had bee❑ so unduly exalted that they
thought the opus operat urn, or the thing dune, was quite
sufficient to confer the promised grace, consequently they
made the administration of the sacraments, and the con-
fering of the promised grace, as absolutely inseparable
one from the other. There were others who took the oppo-
site ground, and who used baptism and the Lord's supper as
mere ceremonies, to which no blessing might be attached, and
to which no special promise of God was given. Upon the
subject of the sacraments he would read a few extracts from
a work well known in the Church of England, embodying the
sentiments of our church. Mr. Lyon then read some pas-
sages from Bishop Jewell's Apology for the Church of Eng-
land, defining the sacraments which Christ commanded us to
use, and proving that, according to scripture, there could be
only two. This statement, he continued, was received by
the Church of England at the period of the reformation, and
it embodied within it all the various statements which were
made throughout our baptismal and our communion services.
Believing, as he did, that theme was a wide and impassable
gulf between the Church of England and the Papacy, vet be
would attempt to narrow the ground of the disagreement be-
tween them as much as he possibly could ; but, at the same
time, never abandon one jot or tittle of principle. Taking
this view, then, he must necessarily, in the first instance,
examine into the meaning of the word sacrament. The rev.
gentleman then entered into a critical examination of the term,
and shewed that many of the ancient fathers, whom be quoted,
held it to include only baptism and the Lord's supper; but
that the Church of Rome had ceased to use it in its limited
sense, and had extended it, contrary to the meaning of the holy
scriptures, to confirmation, penance, extreme unction, orders,
and matrimony. The first question, then, which he had to
examine was this—were there five truly and properly sacra-
ments instituted by the Lord Jesus Christ ? and the second
question would be, whether the ceremonies used in the
administration of all these were the received and ap-
proved ceremonies of the Catholic Church: It was not
his intention to enter upon the subject of baptism or
the eucharist of the Lord's supper, because we and
the Church of Rome were agreed that they were instituted
by our Lord Jesus Christ, and that they are the visible signs
of invisible grace. It was true there were differences of
opinion between us with regard to the transubstantiation of
the elements in the Lord's supper, but that did not strictly
come within the present subject. All he had to enquire into
was the asserted sacramentality of these five,—confirmation,
penance, extreme unction, orders, and matrimony. The Rev.
gentleman then entered upon this task, but at such a length
that it is totally impossible for us to follow him in his argu-
ments. Every one of these so-called sacraments was tested
by Scripture and antiquity ; that of orders was dealt with in -
a style of reasoning which carried conviction to the minds of
every hearer, and his examination of the validity of the
ordination by the popish church of ministers who had gone
over to her from the Church of England, exhibited an im-
mense fund of ecclesiastical and historical research. lie
clearly established from the evidence of facts, that in this re-
spect the church of Rome is not consistent with herself. He
next considered, at great length, the ceremonies of the popish
church in the administration of the Eucharist of the Lord's
supper, entering largely into their history, in the course of
which he shewed that the followers of time Posey heresy were
now absolutely adopting popish ceremonies in its administra-
tion. It is of course quite impossible, to convey an adequate
idea, within the space to which we are limited, of the exten-
sive range of subjects to which the icy, gentleman adverted ;
suffice it to say, that the entire lecture was distinguished by
profound learning and unaffected piety. In conclusion, be
declared that in all he had said he was animated by love for .
the souls of his Roman Catholic fellow-countrymen. He
then resumed his seat amidst loud cheers.
The Rev. TuoMAs NOLAN then came forward and moved
a vote of thanks to Mr. Lyons, for the learned and con-
vincing lecture ilith which be had favoured the meeting.
Mr. JOHN InwAnn seconded the motion, and it was car-
ried amidst treat applause.
Mr. LYONS briefly returned thanks, and in the course of
his observations, he congratulated the Protestants of this
town on the temper and forbearance which they had shown
on St. Patrick's day notwithstanding many provocations.
The Doxology, " Praise God from whom all blessings
flow," was then sung ; and the meeting separated.
The next lecture, on the fourth article of the creed of Pope
Pius, will be delivered on the evening of Friday week, by the
Rev. W. Falloon, curate of St. Jude s.

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